Author: Robert Greenberger

Late reshoots usually mean a film is in trouble but that’s not necessarily the case for the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.  Stars Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly were summoned back by 20th-Century Fox for “rather extensive” reshoots according to IESB. The reason though may have more to do with readying the December 12 release for its just-announced IMAX debut.

The film has had a troubled production, with principal photography beginning in December 2007, later than anticipated, causing the studio to move the release date from May to December 12.

Production wrapped on March 19 and people got their first glimpse of the film with a teaser trailer over the summer.  The script also received a scathing review at Ain’t it Cool News while controversy over the depiction of the unseen Gort erupted.

Director Scott Derrickson defended the process of designing the giant robot, describing his version as being more organic than mechanical. Regardless of the final appearance, Weta Digital performed the work.

Shawn Christensen, lead singer for stellastarr*, has sold a science fiction screenplay to Warner Bros. in a pre-emptive deal.  The studio, according to Variety, is fast tracking the project which they have assigned to producer Dan Lin.

Karma Coalition is said to be about a falsely accused fugitive who embarks on a quest to uncover the truth behind his wife’s death before the world comes to an end. Christensen is said to have written this while recording the band’s forthcoming third album.

Lin is also producing several comic book-related projects such as the stalled Justice League film and the adaptation of Image’s Hiding in Time. Lin is also a listed executive producer on the studio’s Terminator Salvation.
 

Danny Boyle may switch from zombies to fantasy as his next project may well be an animated adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Truckers. He will collaborate on the screenplay with Millions scribe Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Boyle told Coming Soon that Truckers, the first volume of the Bromeliad trilogy, will be done in association with DreamWorks, which acquired rights to the books in 2001. "[Animation is] a weird different discipline, it’s very strange," Boyle told the website. "You’re more like a ringmaster, kind of organizing this huge army of illustrators who can change the movie. It’s really weird. They often do scripts and they have no gags in them at all, but then you see the finished film and it’s full of funny gags, and they say that it’s not in the script, that all comes through the process of the animators. It’s like learning the skill of letting certain ones of them off their leash to do the gags."

Truckers was first published in 1989, followed in 1990 with Diggers and Wings. The story features Nomes, little beings coexisting on Earth with humans who eventually learn of their origins and work towards returning “home”.
 

Heidi MacDonald’s The Beat has a nice breakdown of the various news nuggets that came out of the just-concluded Diamond Retailers’ Summit in Las Vegas. Here are some of the highlights from the two majors:

In addition to Dark Reign, Marvel announced that television ads will run to promote Secret Invasion and The Stand miniseries.

The company recognized the success of its Invincible Iron Man series and has planned one for next May when X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens, joining Wolverine, Wolverine: Origins and Wolverine First Class. Similarly, three new What If ?one-shots will explore fresh takes on major events.

Marvel is gearing up for its 70th anniversary and part of the plans will include a new Marvel Index, a second volume of Marvel’s Greatest Collections and the inauguration of trade paperback versions of their Masterworks, commencing in January and continuing with one title per month.

In storylines, the third Marvel Zombies miniseries will be set in the core Marvel universe and they promised the return of the mutant Psylocke. Teases included Sinister 666, a female Black Panther.
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