Author: Robert Greenberger

James Bond and Batman may rival one another for who has the best gadgets, but the British espionage agent bests the Caped Crusader where it really counts.  In the current issue of Condé Nast Portfolio, on sale today, an article calculates how much the franchise has earned since its inception. Ian Fleming’s literary creation has generated $13.8 billion in business from the first novel through the most recent film, Casino Royale. His next film, November’s Quantum of Solace, will only add to those numbers.

The article breaks down the categories and estimates that the original 14 Fleming books in addition to the 30 authorized sequels and related titles have brought in a cool $1 billion on their own.  The article notes that Sebastian Faulks’ novel, Devil May Care, released earlier this year became the fastest selling hardcover fiction title in Penguin’s history despite poor reviews. The appetite for Bond fiction remains large.

The film series, from Albert Broccoli and his heirs, began in 1961 with Sean Connery portraying the spy in Doctor No.  The official 21 films alone have brought in $11.6 billion plus whatever the original Casino Royale and Connery’s return in Never Say Never Again added to the totals.  Home video sales are estimated to have generated $400 million before the Blu-ray releases coming shortly from Fox Home Entertainment.

Bond remains a licensing machine with video games accounting for $812 million alone plus other toys and games in the mix.

The article notes that other huge money machines include Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, and Batman.
 

Swedish director Tomas Alfredson, in America promoting the release of his acclaimed Let the Right One in, seems to have softened his stance against an English-language remake. As we reported last week, he was critical of the need to reinterpret his efforts.  Now, he told Sci Fi Wire that it’s okay for Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) to try his hand at adapting the novel his movie was also based on.

"Who knows? Maybe he sees something different in the source material," Alfredson said. "Maybe he will come up with something different. I don’t know. I am not involved with that, and I wish them well."

The “them” includes producer J.J. Abrams who actually purchased the rights to John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel although it will be made under the Hammer Films banner.

The novel concentrates on the relationship between an adolescent boy and a vampire.  The director reflected on the world’s fascination with the genre. "It is a 360-page book, and there are a lot of subplots and characters that we had to take out," Alfredson said. "I decided to follow the love story. I fell in love with that part of the story.

"It seems like they come and go every 20 years, but, honestly, I cannot remember seeing a vampire movie," he said. "I think I did as a kid, see something with Bela Lugosi, but I never read Dracula. … I think that it has to do with the animals inside of us. They are very much an archetype. We have suppressed the animal part of ourselves, and maybe it’s a reaction to that, I don’t know." 
 

Neal Hefti, composer of the memorable Batman television theme music, passed away on October 11. He was 85 and had been in poor health for some time his son Paul reported.

In a career spanning many decades, the big band trumpeter was finally known for the theme in addition to other memorable film and television scores including The Odd Couple.

Hefti’s catchy “Batman Theme” was released as a single and went as high as #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A version by the Marketts did better, cracking the Top 20 at #17.  The theme song has been covered throughout the years by the Who, the Kinks, and virtually every surf-band on Earth.

A 1966 episode of the television series Hullabaloo, hosted by George Hamilton, featured two dozen girls dressed in faux-Batman costumes dancing to the LP version of the theme song.

His career began with writing musical charts for Nat Towles before moving on to compose and arrange for Woody Herman.  Through the 1940s he had his own band from time to time but largely worked for other performers.

As live music waned in favor of recordings, Hefti changed gears and began writing scores for both television and movies.  His credits include Sex and the Single Girl, How to Murder Your Wife, Synanon, Boeing Boeing, Harlow, Lord Love a Duck, Duel at Diablo, and Barefoot in the Park.

He received Grammy Award nominations and prizes for "Jazz Pops" (Li’l Darlin’, Cute, Coral Reef) as artist, two awards for "Basie" (Li’l Darlin’, Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer, three nominations (one award) for the Batman TV score, two nominations for the Harlow movie score (Girl Talk), and two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.
 

We adore Hard Case Crime and their line of hardboiled crime and mystery tales from new and famous authors.  Founder Charles Ardai just announced that he will publish, for the first time ever, a Lester Dent novel, Honey in his Mouth. The creator of Doc Savage had written the story intended for the Gold Medal line of books that are a direct ancestor to Hard Case.

Similarly, a previously unpublished Roger Zelazny mystery, Dead Man’s Brother, will finally see the light of day in February, the first new Zelazny novel in 15 years. Found more than 30 years after it was written, it’s the only new book by the author since his death a decade ago. The breathless back cover copy tells us: “Once an art smuggler, now a respectable art dealer, Ovid Wiley awoke to find his former partner stabbed to death on his gallery floor. That was strange enough—but when a CIA agent showed up to spring him from NYPD custody, things got a lot stranger.

“Now the CIA is offering to clear up the murder charge, but only in return for a favor: They want Ovid to fly to Vatican City and trace the trail of a renegade priest who has gone missing with millions in church funds. What’s the connection? The priest’s lover, a woman Ovid knew in his smuggling days… “Those who’ve read early copies have been effusive with their praise.

Now out, is The First Quarry, featuring Max Allan Collins’ early crime character. He wrote his first Quarry book in 1976 and has periodically revisited the character ever since, most recently in last year’s Hard Case release, The Last Quarry.  This book, the eighth, goes all the way back to the hitman’s beginning.
 

David Fincher, while promoting his next feature, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, told reporters that the film adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama was likely dead. Despite the most recent draft of a script being delivered in April, financing proved difficult for the classic novel.

"It looks like it’s not going to happen,” the director was quoted as saying over at First Showing. “There’s no script and as you know, [Morgan Freeman’s] not in the best of health right now. We’ve been trying to do it but it’s probably not going to happen."

The actor was the person to begin developing the property for much of this decade with Fincher coming on soon after. Freeman, though, was badly injured in a car accident back in August.

Freeman told the website last year, that "it’s a very intellectual science fiction film, a very difficult book to translate cinematically." A 30-mile long cylinder is found in the solar system and a crew of astronauts is sent from Earth to explore the extraterrestrial object. Published in 1972, it went on to win the Nebula, Hugo and Jupiter Awards.

Revelations Entertainment, Freeman’s production outfit, holds the screen rights and they contracted with Fincher in 2001.  The most recent screenplay was written by Stel Pavlou, a writer perhaps best known for his prose stories in the Doctor Who Short Trips anthologies.
 

Home Media Magazine has reported that Platinum Studios has formed an advisory board, featuring a dozen executives from print and mass media to help CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg guide their print-to-film projects.

“The vast experience and success with various forms of entertainment that each advisory board member brings with them will allow Platinum to access additional contacts in the film, television, online, retail and video game industries and in development of the 5,600 comic characters and storylines in the Platinum Studios portfolio,” Rosenberg said. “I am excited by each and every member’s willingness to join the Advisory Board and support Platinum in a more formal role.”

Rosenberg’s ambitious total includes Platinum-generated properties in addition to other comic publishers’ whose film rights they represent such as the forthcoming Witchblade film based on the Top Cow character.

The board is comprised of Richard Fowkes, head of business affairs for Legendary Pictures and former EVP in charge of business affairs for the motion picture group at Paramount Pictures; Andrea Hein, former president of Viacom Consumer Products and current EVP of First Wives World; Mark Canton, former chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and current chairman of Atmosphere Entertainment; Michael Helfant, former president and COO of Marvel Studios; John W. Hyde, former president and CEO of Film Roman and current chairman of Rehab Incorporated; Gale Anne Hurd, chairwoman of Valhalla Motion Pictures; Jerry Katzman, former vice chairman of William Morris Agency; Steve Milo, former president of new media for Marvel Comics; Ed Dille, chairman of Fog Studios; Gareb Shamus, founder of Wizard Entertainment; Charlie Weber, former CEO of Lucasfilm; and Glenn Rigberg, president of Rigberg Entertainment Group.

Platinum has angered creators over payments and legal issues stemming form their recent purchase of Wowio.  While they continue to publish comics both in print and on the web, none have broken through as major creative successes. They do have numerous projects in various stages of development.  Most notable among the list is Cowboys & Aliens which DreamWorks is developing and has Robert Downey, Jr. attached to star.

Platinum was formed in 1997 after Rosenberg exited Malibu Comics in the wake of its purchase by Marvel Comics.  He has been slow to develop Platinum through the years and didn’t really begin releasing titles until late 2006 despite years of development. On September 25, 2006, Platinum pruchased DrunkDuck, a webcomics site and began a strong didigtal initiative that led to the purchase earlier this year of Wowio.

Their media initivative has been limited to the Showtime series Jeremiah, based on a European properrty licensed by the studio. Platinum Studios posted net losses of $4.3 million in 2006 and $5.1 million in 2007.