Category: News

Blogs can be revealing as creators tend to sound off when executives to tell the press one thing or another.  Take for example; Pirates of the Caribbean co-scribe Terry Rossio.  After all the hubbub at Disney’s recent press announcement about a fourth installment, he posted the other day:

“For the record, none of the recent Pirates 4 rumors have any truth, including the so-called record 50 million dollar payday for Depp.

“Some pretty funny stuff, though. Sacha Cohen? Tim Burton? Studios are way too protective of their franchises for that sort of thing.”

And now that Tom Rothman, head of 20th-Century Fox, has said he’s actually open to a third X-Files feature, despite the poor reaction to this summer’s movie, producer Frank Spotnitz was inundated with links from fans, wanting a reaction.

His response to the fans: “I was encouraged to read Tom Rothman’s remarks as well. I anticipated the studio would wait until after the release of the DVD to make any decision regarding a third movie, but I will let you know if we end up having any news before then.”
 

The world of The Dark Tower isn’t the only location where Peter David leaves his mark. The Writer Of Stuff shares some insight on his Fallen Angel series, how The Skrulls ended up in She Hulk before Secret Invasion and why a Babylon 5 comic might not work, plus:

• That other famous TV theme written by Neil Hefti
• Wizard World Texas has game
• Ready for Mad Men Jeopardy?

Get on with it and Press the Button!

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via or RSS!

Newcomer Brad Ingelsby has been hired by Warner Bros. to adapt WildStorm’s Sleeper into a feature film. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ short-lived sf/crime comic lasted two 12-part maxiseries and was somewhat tied to the greater WildStorm continuity.  In fact, the first maxiseries ended and spun events into the Coup D’Etat crossover event.

Ingelsby sold his first screenplay, Low Dweller, to Relativity Media just this March. They then hired Ridley Scott to direct and cast Leonardo DiCaprio to star which, if the cameras actually roll, will bring the scribe a cool million dollar payday.

Sleeper is about Holden Carver, nicknamed The Conductor, who is fused with an alien artifact that makes Carver impervious to pain. Instead, he can store the pain and transfer it to others, a rather nifty skill. He is then sent undercover to infiltrate a criminal organization. When his contact (in the comics, Tao’s John Lynch) is killed, Carver is left with no allies.

According to Variety, the film adaptation, without continuity ties, will be produced by the very busy Sam Raimi with Star Road Entertainment partner Josh Donen.

Brubaker and Phillips enjoyed working so much together that they now produce Criminal for Marvel’s Icon imprint.

Marvel has increased its original online content today, announcing six new initiatives with the first of these titles debuting next Wednesday. Once they are on all online, fans can expect three or more web-exclusive stories each Wednesday.

The details, according to a press release:

Marvels Channel: MONSTERS, MYTHS and MARVELS
Coming up on Marvels Channel: MONSTERS, MYTHS and MARVELS: Galactus… devourer of worlds… embodiment of a cosmos… oldest being in the universe… totally made up? Join reporter Gordon Allsworth as he ventures to expose the lies and unearth the truth about the foremost foe of the Fantastic Four. Prepare for your world to be turned upside-down as experts de-bunk Galactus and explore the financial motivations for creating such a being. With limited (fake) commercial interruption, from writer Frank Tieri and artist Juan Santacruz

Halloween Special Issue
Frankenstein might be one of the most misunderstood monsters out there… so it’s just his luck when an overprotective mother temporarily blinds him, thinking he was attacking her daughter. Fortunately, Frankenstein stumbles into Jack Russell, a.k.a. Werewolf-by-Night, a friend who understands Frank’s plight. That is, until the full moon comes out… Make sure you sign-on for this special Halloween Monster Mash, from writer/artist Dean Haspiel!

American Eagle: Just a Little Old-Fashioned Justice
Leaping out of the pages of Thunderbolts, Jason Strongbow aka American Eagle, tribal leader and former super hero, keeps the peace throughout Navajo lands. So when a super villain on the run crosses onto the rez, pursued by one of Tony Stark’s Initiative teams, Strongbow must give them all a hard lesson in down-home justice in a story from red hot scribe Jason Aaron and superstar artist Richard Isanove!

FIN FANG FOUR
There was a time when giants walked the Earth! Monstrous creatures! Products of science gone MAD!!! But what happens when some of these terrible titans try to play nice?  Find out as Googam, Elektro, Gorgilla and the purple-pantsed Fin Fang Foom himself do the unthinkable and become functioning members of society. Well, not TOO functional…creators Scott Gray and Roger Langridge welcome back Marvel’s favorite enfants terribles in five gut-busting stories sure to unleash the Marvel Monster within!

Kid Colt
Tom DeFalco saddles up for a four-part western adventure featuring the classic Marvel western hero. Wanted by the law for killing a man in cold blood, Kid Colt thunders through the Wild West with guns blazing while trying to prove his innocence.

Amazing Spider-Man
Peter Parker’s life is very involved and even with three issues a month, there’s just not enough time to touch on everything or everyone. So to help solve that, Spidey Brain Trustee Bob Gale brings you an ongoing collection of stories taking place within and around current Spidey continuity, exploring his supporting cast and missed adventures. A lot can happen to a web-head in any given day…And it’s time you found out what’s missing!
 

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.
 

Bones McCoy might not be a magician, but someone at Paramount is casting a spell over the internet as the studio unveils several new photos from the upcoming Star Trek reboot. The photos were divvied out by the company to different Web sites, and are also featured in the recent issue of Entertainment Weekly. The magazine has an exclusive cover depicting James Kirk (Chris Pine) and Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto), the stars of the upcoming film.

This is the second time this year that Paramount has deliberately distributed production stills online for their movies. Earlier this year, Paramount assigned different character portraits from G.I. Joe to carefully chosen Web sites, including IGN and Latino Review. (more…)

NBC has scored a pilot commitment to Jason and the Argonauts, based on the classic quest for the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology. Argonauts will mark the first-ever green-screen drama developed for primetime television. Films such as Sin City have made use of green screen, but this will be the first time the technology makes the leap to a primetime TV series.

The network secured the projected after a "fierce bidding war" with a rival network, believed to be Fox. Interestingly enough, Fox is developing The Argonauts as a feature film with Zak Penn (The Incredible Hulk) scripting. In fact, Tom Rothman mentioned the project as recently as today in his interview with IESB.net. Variety reports that DreamWorks also has a project titled The Argonauts. Their interpretation of the story would feature treasure hunters from today transported back to the time of Jason. This comes the same time that War of the Gods and the remake of Clash of the Titans are also moving into production.  And let’s not forget competing Hercules films having also been announced over the last few months.

This will be NBC’s second attempt this decade at getting the Argonaut mythology correct. A previous miniseries, from producer Robert Halmi, also titled Jason and the Argonauts (are you keeping track?) and starring Jason London, Frank Langella, and Dennis Hopper aired in 2000. The two projects will be completely unrelated other than in title and source material.

In Greek mythology, Jason was the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece, which belonged to the winged ram Chrysomallos. Members of The Argonauts include Heracles (commonly known by his Roman name "Hercules") and Castor and Pollux of Troy, both of whom were featured in John Woo’s Face/Off. (Just kidding, kinda.) During the quest for the Fleece, Jason meets and marries Medea the sorceress. In Euripides’ play Medea, Jason leaves Medea to marry King Creon’s daughter. Medea exacts vengeance by killing Creon and her own two sons in order to devastate Jason. Man, and you thought modern times were rough!

Of course, the best recalled version of this tale is Ray Harryahusen’s classic 1963 film, Jason and the Argonauts, compelte with the heroes fighting skeletons. One can only hope one of these projects has something equally thrilling in store.