Dave Gibbons mentioned to Digital Spy that another of his comic properties is being eyed for the big screen.  "There’s been nothing picked up,” he admitted. “There was a series I did with Frank Miller called Martha Washington, which in fact is longer than Watchmen, it’s about 500 pages. Frank’s enjoying a certain amount of success in Hollywood and I wouldn’t be surprised if something happens with that. I think that would make a great movie. People misunderstand Frank, they think he’s very grim and right-wing, but he’s got his tongue very firmly in his cheek. Martha Washington is a war story but it’s quite satirical and I think has a strange resonance with what’s happening in the world today."

Miller also seems interested in the project, telling Splash Page, “It’s just a matter of finding the right venue, because Martha Washington isn’t a movie, it’s a series. It would have to be like 12 episodes to fit the whole story in. I would not let it be truncated.”

First published in 1990 as Give me Liberty, Martha has appeared in subsequent tales by the duo, all published by Dark Horse Comics.  They announced a Martha Washington Omnibus, collecting every page, but it remains off their schedule.

In the "oh my” department, Sherwood Schwartz and his son Lloyd have been talking up trying to make a feature film version of the classic 1960s sitcom Gilligan’s Island.  They envision Juno’s Michael Cera as the perfect Gilligan and imagine Beyonce Knowles as a modern day Ginger.

The legendary producer, perhaps best known for creating The Brady Bunch, told TV Guide of his plans at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, where Sherwood was inducted into its Hall of Fame.

The notion “just happened in the last 48 hours. I can’t take this much excitement at my age," he told the magazine. Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann, approved of the casting concepts. "There isn’t anybody sexier than Beyonce!"

We’ll see if a studio snaps up this high concept given the iffy reception movies based on 1960s TV series have received from The Avengers to Bewitched.
 

With The Dark Knight earning $465 million overseas, it’s hard to imagine that the world’s most populous country has yet to see the movie. According to Variety, Warner Bros. has decided not to open the film there at all.

"Based on a number of pre-release conditions that are being attached to The Dark Knight as well as cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film, we have opted to forego a theatrical release of the film in China," Warner said in a release on Tuesday.

The Dark Knight’s scenes shot in Hong Kong might be the points of contention. The country remains touchy regarding how they are depicted in films made by other countries.

At present, it remains $4 million shy of $1 billion in worldwide box office, a number likely to be reached by the time of it January 23 re-release.
 

A century ago today, December 26, 1908– ironically enough, Boxing Day in many countries– Jack Johnson beat Tommy Burns to become both the heavyweight champion of the world, and the most notorious black man on the planet.

We’ve been covering his story in The Original Johnson by Trevor Von Eeden. If you haven’t been reading it, you’re missing a treat. Start here to read it from the beginning.

Beginning Monday, while everyone is home from school, kids can catch up on Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  While new episodes return in 2009, the ten aired on Cartoon Network will  be available at both StarWars.com and CartoonNetwork.com. Supervising director Dave Filoni provides commentary.

The online option lasts until January 2 and that evening, the next original episode, "Dooku Captured," will air at 9 p.m. 6

Eartha Kitt died today at the age of 81 from colon cancer.

Known worldwide as a self-proclaimed "sex kitten", famous for her catlike purr, Kitt was an incredibly versatile performer, winning two Emmys and nabbing a third nomination, as well as Tony and Grammy nominations, but probably best known for her role as Catwoman on the 1960’s Batman TV series, replacing Julie Newmar in 1967; and for singing the song "Santa Baby". She was once dubbed the "most exciting woman in the world" by Orson Welles– an assessment that’s hard to dispute.

She said in an interview for Harper’s Bazaar that "a gentleman who wrote [the late 1960s TV series] Batman said he wrote that character especially for me. He said, ‘You are a cat, you look like a cat, you act like a cat.’ "

If only she had eight more lives…

Clearly inspired by Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Marvel is releasing a hardcover graphic novel, Wolverine.  The press note says, “That’s right Bub, Marvel is proud to unveil Todd Nauck’s cover to Wolverine, an all-new hardcover graphic novel presenting the history of Wolverine’s life from his days as wimpy kid to just how he became one of Marvel’s deadliest heroes. In stores this April, experience the most unique look ever inside the mind of everyone’s favorite Canadian in Wolverine!”

The question must be asked: is it right to release a kid-friendly Wolverine book just weeks before the not-kid-friendly Wolverine movie opens?