Category: News

The Phantom never dies.  From father to son, the legacy is passed on, protecting Africa from evil in all forms dating back 21 generations.  A second generation live-action film about the ageless hero was announced by Symington Productions according to the Associated Press.

Producer Bruce Sherlock obtained the rights to explore the themes in The Phantom Legacy.  He had been an executive producer on the 1996 Paramount Pictures Phantom, which starred Billy Zane as the Ghost Who Walks. The movie suffered from poor marketing but was better than most recall.

The new film, to be shot down under where Symington is based, is budgeted at $87 million and screenwriter Tim Boyle said the movie will focus on the “Father/Son relationship, and what it means to be The Phantom. The film will be set in the present day and will deal with the concept of destiny."

"It has the makings of a blockbuster," Sherlock told the AP. "There’s some surprises that will thrill the Phantom fans worldwide."  No casting was announced but production should begin in the second half of 2009 for 2010 release.

The Phantom is also being developed by Daniel and Charles Knauf for Sci Fi Channel, exploring the next generation Phantom whose father dies before there could be any training.

 “In our story, we have a break in the lineage. The 22nd Phantom, the one we all know and love, his wife and his son died in an automobile accident. So when he died, there was no one to take over,” Daniel Knauf explained. “But it turns out the son survived and has been raised by a foster family and has no idea who he is. They find him through a fluke when he’s arrested on a trespassing charge, and he ends up getting his DNA into CODIS [the national DNA database]. The people in Bangalla who are still part of the Jungle Patrol — which we call Bpaa-Thap (which literally translates to ‘Jungle Patrol’) — they find him and decide to bring him in and train him. So it’s a whole new game for this kid. So he’s very conflicted, as far as who he was and who he thinks he is.”

Meantime, the character remains published in comic strips around the world in addition to Moonstone’s long-running comic book about to be rebooted in 2009.  Dynamite Entertainment also has the rights for a Phantom comic book and has brought in Alex Ross too help modify the look although their incarnation is at least two years away.

The Phantom, introduced in 1936, is considered by most as the first costumed adventure hero, the first super-hero of the 20th Century. Written by Lee Falk from 1936 through his death in 1999, the feature has been a global sensation.
 

Todd McFarlane told Game Pro that he is eager to begin work on a new Spawn feature film.

“Yeah, you know…ever since Iron Man came out, the phone’s been ringing,” McFarlane admitted. “A movie studio CEO called me today, actually: ‘I just wanna say we’re interested. But I think he was the last of the big studios to call me! But I’m still of the mind that [a Spawn movie sequel] is a lower budget, cooler, creepier movie. When we get there, it’ll get made. [This goes back to something I said a few years ago], which is that the movie studios will start burning through the A and A- characters. They did a fantastic job with Iron Man, who I don’t think many fans would describe as an ‘A+’ character, by getting him up to that level with the movie.”

However, to control the look of the film, the artist turned mogul says he wants to direct the film. ”I tell everybody that in advance,” he said. “The answer is, the only way anyone will say ‘yes’ to that is if I keep the budget low. If I make it an $80 million budget, they won’t let me direct it…nor would I want to direct it. There are too many guys who are smarter that can do it. But a $10 million dollar creepy movie? I can do that one….In the movie idea I have for Spawn, there is no super villain. It’s a completely real drama that happens to have a spook in it. And it doesn’t mean that the spook has an arch-enemy or a nemesis, or any of that. It just means that there’s a sentinel stuck in the middle of The Godfather.

“I’ve been living with this movie in my head for a long time. I don’t feel like trying to convey what’s in my brain to somebody else…it would take too long. I can just do it myself. And people aren’t adverse to it. You know, Frank Miller is directing his stuff now.”

On Sunday, the American Film Institute joined the growing list of top 10 lists, naming the best films of the year.  Both Iron Man and The Dark Knight made the list, a first for the super-hero genre.  The Dark Knight was also named the year’s best film by novelist Stephen King in the current issue of Entertainment Weekly.

To qualify for their list, films had to possess "significant creative and/or production elements from the United States." The movie and television lists were selected by a 13-person jury, according to Variety.

The rigid qualifications led the acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire from being considered.  Other top 10ers left off this particular list include The Reader and Revolutionary Road.

AFI’s top 10, in alphabetical order:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Frozen River, Gran Torino, Iron Man, Milk, Wall-E, Wendy and Lucy, and The Wrestler.

The AFI top 10 TV programs of the year, including series, telefilms and miniseries, are Breaking Bad, In Treatment, John Adams, Life, Lost, Mad Men, The Office, Recount, The Shield, and The Wire.

Stargate Universe will be headed by Robert Carlyle (24: Redemption) according to The Hollywood Reporter. The spin-off of Stargate will begin production in February with Sci Fi Channel planning to air the series over the summer. A 20-episode order is anticipated including the two-hour opener.

With Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis now complete, the cable channel has commissioned this third series in the franchise aiming it at younger watchers while at the same time describing it as both darker and edgier. Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, who have worked on the other series, will write and executive produce the new series.

The new series is described as following “a group of soldiers, scientists and civilians left to fend for themselves when forced through a Stargate after their hidden base comes under attack. The survivors, who emerge aboard an ancient ship missing in the far reaches of space, are led by Dr. David Rush (Carlyle), who works to unlock the ship’s mysteries and return the group home but also might have ulterior motives.”

"Robert Carlyle brings a depth, intelligence and complexity to his roles, which will fit perfectly with the fresh, new reinvention of this franchise," Sci Fi original-programming chief Mark Stern said. The remainder of the cast will be made up of largely unnown talent.

The Eureka Seven anime series will spawn a feature, Symphonic Poem Eureka Seven: Pocket Full of Rainbows, which will be broadcast in Japan during their Golden Week, holidays that occur between April and May.

The 50 episodes, known as Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven,  initially ran from April 17, 2005 through April 2, 2006 and spawned a manga series in addition to three video games.  Interestingly, two of the games served as prequel stories to the mecha series. The story has also been serialized over four prose novels.

Produced by Studio Bones, the story is about sky-surfing robot/mechas with a poignant romance and aired in America on Cartoon Network. Home video editions were released by Bandai Entertainment.

Nase Yamato’s Cigarette Kisses, which had been acquired for America by Broccoli Books has found a new home at Aurora Publishing’s Deux Press yaoi imprint. The book is now scheduled for release in the second half of 2009.

According to the company’s site, the title is about:

Yusuke and Soji were close ever since junior high, even to the point of being something more—but Yusuke was devastated when Soji suddenly announced that he was getting married. Three years later, Yusuke and Soji meet up again at their company smoke room, and though their love for cigarettes has brought them together, their love for each other remains unspoken. With the conflicted Soji trapped between marital obligations and true love, and his charming rival, Masahito, trying to replace the hole in Yusuke’s heart, what is Yusuke to do? Is Soji another guilty addiction that he’ll never be able to quit?

A sweet and sexy drama from the author of Pet on Duty.

Dust off your dancing shoes because disco is going digital.  Paramount Digital Entertainment announced Friday that the 1970s classic film Saturday Night Fever will be available for digital download and as a new rhythm and dance game developed specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch.

First released in 1977, Saturday Night Fever starred John Travolta as Tony Manero, a troubled Brooklyn youth who diverted attention away from his troubles with his job, parents, community and friends by dancing in the local disco club.  Considered to be a huge commercial success, the movie significantly helped to popularize disco music around the world and made Travolta a household name.

Tony Manero made his mark in both the film and in history with his infamous finger-pointed-in-the-air dance maneuver.  Now, with the release of Saturday Night Fever: Dance! – it’s all about the tap and slide.  Mastering the tap and slide functionality is the ultimate goal where players can make their mark, win the dance contest and become a disco dynamo – all with the touch of a finger.

Using an advanced touch interface, Saturday Night Fever: Dance! will revolutionize dance as we know it by training a new army of digital disco dancers.  With four levels of difficulty, players have the choice to play as one of two seventies-styled studs who will test their tap and slide skills to beats from the seventies including hit songs like "YMCA" (The Village People), "Shake Your Groove Thing" (Peaches and Herb), "Car Wash" (Rose Royce) and "Love Machine" (The Miracles).

Nobody likes to dance alone and with Saturday Night Fever : Dance!, you won’t have to.  There are two bonus features that enable multi-player modes beginning with a special Wifi feature that enables two players to synch-up and have their own dance-off from their individual devices in a tug-of-war-style manner.  Additionally, there is a hotseat mode that allows up to four players to compete by taking turns and passing the device off to one another.  Each player, in sequence, is allowed to chose a character and play to the same song while the game keeps track of each player’s scores.

Saturday Night Fever  will be available for $2.99 for rental on iTunes and Saturday Night Fever: Dance! is available now on Apple’s App store for $4.99.