Author: Robert Greenberger

At Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild 25th anniversary celebration of The Greatest American Hero, creator Stephen J. Cannell confirmed once and for that a feature film version is coming. Disney has carried the project on its development list for several years but the current boom in super-hero movies seems to have moved it off the backburner.

"We’ve written a screenplay, and we’ve hired a director, and we’re in the midst of putting this together for the future," the prolific producer said, according to Sci-Fi Wire.

After the announcement, Connie Sellecca took the mike and grilled her former boss. "I’m going to put Stephen on the spot," Sellecca asked. "Cameos for us?"

"Absolutely guaranteed," Cannell responded. "More than cameos: acting jobs."

"I took a sneak peek at the [feature] script, and it’s absolutely charming and wonderful," William Katt confirmed for the crowd. "I know people are going to love it." Katt made headlines this summer with word that he was cowriting a new GAH comic book series with producer Chris Folino. The comic is due from their Catastrophic Comics this November.

The actors, including Robert Culp, discussed how much fun they had shooting the series and looking forward to reviving their characters, first in a series of animated web shorts.

Word is that Stephen Herek (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) is on board to direct although Cannell did not mention his name.

Although he arrived first in 1973, Heathcliff was pretty quickly eclipsed as king of the cartoon cats by Garfield, who arrived just five years later.  Created by George Gately, the strip was filled with gentle humor and was quickly added to papers turning him into a quiet star. The strip can be found in over 1000 newspapers via the Creators Syndicate.

After Gately passed away, the strip as taken over by his nephew, Peter Gallagher in 1998. Now, FitzRoy media has signed a comprehensive licensing deal with Gallagher that will include  animated feature films, direct-to-DVD releases and location based entertainment projects.

The tabby has previously been seen in animated form starting with a 1980 animated series from Ruby-Spears which is noteworthy only because it was Mel Blanc’s last original voice role. DIC revived the character for a new series in 1984.

Additionally, Marvel’s Star Comics imprint release a comic book adaptation with new longer adventures which lasted for a healthy 56 issues.
 

Director D.J. Caruso, while out promoting his forthcoming Eagle Eye, has expressed interest in heading to Asgard for his next project.

While talking with IESB, he said, “You know…I would definitely tackle [Thor] and I sort of wrestled with it before and I was always a fan of Thor growing up as a kid. I know that they [Marvel] have a script, but there’s something, there’s a fear I have about Thor and depending on what Thor story you want to tell, whether you want to bring Thor into the modern world or if you want to go back to Asgard and get the history of what’s happening between him and his brother and dad. That’s one I’ve always been interested in and it also would be, it would be a monumental task so, I could definitely see myself getting myself into that.

“I have had some talks with Marvel about it but I have not seen a screenplay. It could be something that I am interested in.”

Caruso, who also directed Disturbia, is the first director attached to the project since Stardust’s Matthew Vaughn was associated with the project last year.  Thor remains on Marvel/Paramount’s schedule for a Summer 2010 release along with Iron Man 2.
 

Harvey Pekar: Conversations is a new collection of interviews with the celebrated graphic novelist.  Now available from the University Press of Mississippi, the book spans 25 years of interviews that have been drawn from a wide variety of places, from fanzines and radio to The Washington Post. The book was assembled by Mike Rhode who is editor International Journal of Comic Art and blogs about comics.

The creator American Splendor and subject of a biopic, Pekar has a lot of conversations about life in this country that make for fascinating reading.  The 240-page book comes with 20 illustrations and is available in a $50 hardcover or $22 paperback.
 

With Iron Man coming out on DVD (in a variety of formats and editions) on September 30, Paramount Home Video has begun letting websites sneak peek some of the extras to be found on the discs.

We have three such links for you this morning.  First there’s one on the costume design, then one on flying, and finally one on Robert Downey, Jr. being prepped for the suit.

Enjoy.

Last night, Marvel hosted a presentation during Diamond Comics Distributors’ retailer summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, where their next big crossover was announced. Writer Brian Michael Bendis took the stage and said Dark Reign will shine a spotlight on the Marvel Universe in the wake of Secret Invasion, which concludes in November.

Similar to SI, the titles participating in Dark Reign will carry distinctive trade dress.

With the Skrull invasion of Earth reaching its climax, Bendis took the opportunity to discuss how the Avengers titles, which he writes, will be altered.  He announced his departure from Mighty Avengers after issue #20 to move to yet another spin-off, Dark Avengers. Joining him will be Mike Deodato, who just left illustrating Thunderbolts.

Bendis also promised his next series with artist Alex Maleev, Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD, was still forthcoming.

Marvel went on to formally announce a new Ultimates title, Ultimate Avengers, from writer Mark Millar, which can be expected during the first quarter of 2009. With the revamping of the Ultimates universe forthcoming, this is likely the replacement for The Ultimates.

Confirming that the black and white teasers that have been around for weeks now are something new, they announced Marvel Noir, a new sub-imprint that will kick off with X-Men and Spider-Man titles. No creative teams, format or scheduling was mentioned.

Marvel Comics is continuing its support of Stand Up To Cancer by offering an Iron Man 2 Vip Package over at eBay. Similar to the just concluded Spider-Man 4 auction, the winner and a guest will receive:

A one day visit to the set, a walk on part documented by the unit photographer, tickets to the Los Angeles premiere of the film in April 2010 and a chance to walk the red carpet. 

Earlier today, the bidding was in excess of $5000 and the auction ends on September 15.