Author: Robert Greenberger

Don Wilder the writer for the Crock comic strip, died this morning at age 74 reports Editor & Publisher.  According to King Features Syndicate, which distributes Crock to more than 200 newspapers, Wilder was also drawing and went on to get his bachelor’s degree from East Tennessee State University. 

The commercial artist began work as a technical illustrator including a 17 year stint as a visual-information specialist for the CIA.  He also did work for Lockheed Aircraft, RCA and General Electric before moving to comic strips in the 1970s.

The Virginia resident created the strip with Brant Parker, best known for his work on the Wizard of Id, in 1975.  After Parker died, Wilder collaborated with artist Bill Rechin.

No word as yet from the syndicate as to what will happen to the strip, which has been a gentle parody of life in the Foreign Legion.
 

Director Guillermo del Toro has signed with HarperCollins imprint William Morrow for a trilogy of vampire novels which he will cowrite with Chuck Hogan. The Stain, kicking off the event, will be released next summer.

According to Variety, the story will “revolve around an invasion of New York City by a vampiric virus. Series will trace the roots of the vampiric race back to its Old Testament origins.”

Hogan has previously wrriten thrillers including The Standoff and The Blood Artists.  His Prince of Thieves was recently optioned by Warner Bros which Ben Affleck will direct and star in.

Don’t expect the director to adapt his own works, though.  He’s committed through 2017 with the two film adaptation of The Hobbit followed by Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Slaughterhouse-Five for Universal.  He’s also committed to adapting Dan Simmons’ Drood into a feature film.
 

These days, a convention isn’t worth attending unless you can buy show exclusive merchandise.  The 9th annual Baltimore Comic-Con is offering the following for fans this weekend:

•    Aspen – Michael Turner variant cover for Fathom 2.

•    Marvel
   o    Frank Cho Secret Invasion 6 variant cover
   o    Mike Wieringo HERO Initiative:  Marvel Apes cover
   o    John Romita, Jr. U.S. Exclusive Amazing Spider-Man 568 variant cover

•    PopFun – Exclusive Batman Toon Tumbler

•    Top Cow – David Finch Dragon Prince 1 Baltimore Comic-Con variant cover

•    3 Finger Prints – The 3 Geeks:  Can Anyone Stop the Slab Madness?! variant cover

And of course, there are the recently announced show exclusives from ComicMix.
 

Just the other day we were mentioned that Hammer Films is back in action and now the trades report that Matt Reeves has signed with them to write and direct the English language remake of Sweden’s smash hit Lat Den Ratte Komma In (Let the Right One In).

Reeves, who earlier this year, helmed the hit Cloverfield, is expected to direct the project in 2009 for 2010 release. Before that, Reeves is at work on Invisible Woman, a non-fantastical drama about a desperate housewife.

The internationally acclaimed vampire film will have a brief run this fall in the states before being released on DVD in January. The film tells of a young boy who befriends a woman who comes to town but when you’re telling a vampire story you know things won’t end well.
 

Will Smith will return as Robert Neville in a prequel to I Am Legend.  The movie, based on the classic Richard Matheson novel, did well enough at the box office, earngin $584 million worldwide, and in home entertainment sales to merit revisiting the bleak world of the near-future.

Director Francisd Lawrence is expected to return to the Warner Bros. film announced yesterday. Akiva Goldsman and James Lassiter will also be back as producers. D.B. Weiss (The Game) will provide a new script that will likely deviate further from the novel.

Disney announced at their major presentation on Wednesday that they have accelerated the production of Cars 2 and have rescheduled its launch to 2011.

John Lasseter told the rapt audienced that the idea for the story developed as he did worldwide publicity for the first film.  The international settings got him to wondering how the Cars themselves would react to the exotic locales. Mater and Lightning McQueen will be in a global road trip as a result.

Additionally, a series of shorts, Mater’s Tall Tales, will be produced by Pixar in additional to the full-length theatrical sequel. The shorts will first be seen on the Disney Channel and will front feature films in movie theaters.

Cars, released in 2006, earned $462 million worldwide, but despite middling reviews, became a merchandising bonanza for the studio.

As a result, look for a 12-acre Cars Land at the revamped California Adventure in Anaheim, California.  The attraction is scheduled for 2011 opening in time for the film.