Author: Robert Greenberger

Dante’s Inferno is one hot video game.  It must be considering Universal Pictures won a bidding battle for the unreleased Electronic Arts game according to Variety. The game, due out sometime in 2009, was optioned against a multi-million dollar purchase price, beating out Paramount, New Regency and MGM late last week.

Eric Newman and Marc Abraham of Strike Entertainment will produce the film version in conjunction with EA Entertainment.

While this was the first time EA sold movie rights to a game prior to release, it’s certainly not their first trip to Tinseltown. They have deals in place for The Sims at 20th- Century Fox and producer John Davis plus Mass Effect which is in development with producer Avi Arad. Universal and EA have danced before with Scott Z. Burns writing the adaptation of the Army of Two game.

Dante’s Inferno was written by Dante Alighieri in the early 1300’s and is the influential poem telling of Dante’s imaginary journey through the nine circles of hell.

Writer/Producer Michael Green has signed a two-year deal Universal Media Studios where he is showrunning the NBC midseason series Kings.

"There is no more important new show to the network and the studio than that," UMS president Katherine Pope told The Hollywood Reporter. The series, inspired by the Biblical story of King Saul and King David, depicts a fictional monarchy and stars Christopher Egan and Ian McShane. The show is currently anticipated to take over the Thursday at 10 spot which ER has held for the last 14 years.

Pope and NBC’s drama president Katie O’Connell reportedly challenged Green to come up with his most audacious idea.  He came back with Kings which excited everyone who read the premise. Everyone, that is, except entertainment president Kevin Reilly.  When he left and was replaced by executive vice-president Teri Weinberg, she gave the series the go ahead.

"He is like the Rosetta Stone of writers," Pope said. "He’s one of those guys who is incredibly versatile and shines at whatever genre he does."

"I wanted to tell a story about a world where people are hopeful and believe in their governors even though they are flawed," Green told the trade.

Green, known to readers for his work on Superman/Batman, also was a co-writer on the Green Lantern feature film.  He began his television writing career by working for the first season of HBO’s Sex and the City. His other credits include Everwood, Smallville, and more recently Heroes.

He wrote the lead role of Silas for Deadwood’s McShane and was delighted when the actor accepted.  The first four hours of the series are being directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine, I Am Legend), giving the series a consistent look at feel from the outset. The series will also feature Brian Cox and Macaulay Culkin in recurring roles.

CHUD reports that 20th-Century Fox has been quietly putting together a team to produce a remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. The original Conquest featured Roddy McDowell as Cesar the first ape to speak and is set chronologically prior to the original Planet. The 2001 remake from Tim Burton was a box office failure (any profits realized came from merchandise and home video).

This version is entitled Genesis: Apes and has been written by the team of Rick Jaffa (The Relic) and Amanda Silver (Eye for an Eye). While the 1973 original was set in the futuristic 1991, this will be a modern day affair.

CHUD writes, “In this version Caesar is the result of a genetic scientist fooling around with the nature of things. When the baby monkey exhibits intelligence and the ability to talk, he takes the cuddly thing home to his wife, who is unable to bear children. Things go surprisingly well for a number of years until Caesar grows up and sees mommy getting attacked. The dutiful son steps in and accidentally kills the attacker.

“Here’s where it takes off. In a scene paralleling Charlton Heston in the cage in the original Planet of the Apes, Caesar ends up in custody at an Ape Conservatory where he and the other apes are abused mercilessly. Caesar finds himself a primate without a world – he’s as smart as humans but will never be one of them (and is in fact tortured by them) and he’s initially rejected by his monkey brethren.”

This is the 40th anniversary of Planet of the Apes and 20th has celebrated with Planet of the Apes: 40 Year Evolution Blu-ray Collection, which hits stores tomorrow. The set includes all five Planet of the Apes films on Blu-ray for the first time, including Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape From the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (an unrated version with eight additional minutes of material), Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and the 1968 original Planet of the Apes.

Blue Beetle writer John Rogers has created and will executive produce Leverage for TNT. The other executive producers include Dean Devlin (Independence Day) and Chris Downey (The King of Queens) for Electric Entertainment.

According to a studio press release, “As a former stand-up comic with a degree in Physics, Rogers uses subtle comedy, high-tech gadgetry, movie-like theatrics and superhero talents in each of his scripts for Leverage. The up-and-coming ensemble cast, led by Academy Award Winner, Timothy Hutton, brings Rogers’ words and storylines to life. This caper show follows a team of thieves, grifters and hackers who act as modern-day Robin Hoods, using their specialized talents to steal from the rich and give back to the regular guys. Much like the thrilling twists and turns found in Blue Beetle and Transformers, Leverage offers high-octane energy with every heist!”

The series will also star Gina Bellman (Jekyll), Christian Kane (Angel), Beth Riesgraf (Alvin and the Chipmunks), Aldis Hodge (Supernatural), and Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica)

Rogers’ writing career began as a Story Editor on Cosby and has included work for Sci Fi Channel’s Eureka, the failed WB pilot adapting WildStorm’s Global Frequency, and the telefilm Red Skies. He was also a screenwriter on Michael Bay’s Transformers and 2004’s Catwoman.

Rogers joined Keith Giffen as co-writer on the latest incarnation of the Blue Beetle and then became sole writer.  The current version, a teenaged Latino, will be seen on the first episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, airing November 14.  Leverage will debut on TNT on December 7 at 10 p.m.
 

Tooznone reports that Marvel Animation has confirmed the cancelation of the Hulk: Gamma Corps animated series.

Instead, much of the story development will find its way into the recently announced The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes series.

Hulk: Gamma Corps was originally announced last year as a tie-in with the Incredible Hulk film. The series was in active pre-production when the Avengers concept got approved and it was felt the two should be combined according to Joshua Fine, Director of Animation Development for Marvel Animation.

"It became apparent to us that the creative work that was being done to bring Hulk’s world and his villains to life was too good to relegate to his universe alone, and would be much better suited as part of an full-on Avengers scenario," Fine told Toonzone.

The Avengers animated series will arrive on television in fall 2011, after the live-action Avengers film debuts in July.  The feature film is currently thought to feature the heroes gathering together to bring stop the Hulk’s threat once and for all. That theme will be played out in the animated series.

Columbo is one of television’s most beloved characters thank to the sophisticated writing of Richard Levinson and William Link in addition to the performance from Peter Falk.  The rumpled detective appeared for seven seasons on the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie and then returned for a series of telefilms in the late 1980s.

All seven seasons were collected between 2004 and 2006 with the 1989 set of telefilms released in 2007.

Universal is finally releasing the 1990 set of telefilms on February 3 according to TV Shows on DVD. The set of six episodes will come on three discs and retail for $26.98.  The titles for the record are:

•    "Columbo Cries Wolf"
•    "Agenda for Murder"
•    "Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo"
•    "Uneasy Lies the Crown"
•    "Murder in Malibu"
•    "Columbo Goes to College"

Guest performers include Deidre Hall (Days of our Lives), Ian Buchanan (The Bold and the Beautiful), Gigi Rice (The John Larroquette Show), Louis Zorich (Mad About You), Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner), Stanley Kamel (Monk), Denis Arndt (Picket Fences), Bruce Kirby (Kojak), Helen Shaver (Poltergeist: The Legacy), Ian McShane (Deadwood), Teresa Ganzel (Transylvania 6-5000), Nancy Walker (McMillan & Wife), Dick Sargent (Bewitched), baseball great Ron Cey, Brenda Vaccaro (Midnight Cowboy), Andrew Stevens (Emerald Point N.A.S.), Katherine Cannon (Beverly Hills 90210) and Robert Culp (Greatest American Hero).