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BBC Plans New ‘Day of the Triffids’ Adaptation

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

With the global ecology a hot topic these days, it’s little surprise the BBC is planning a new version of the classic tale The Day of the Triffids. It all started with the 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by John Wyndham.

The story, according to the BBC tells of “Bill Masen, who awakes in a hospital after treatment for temporary blindness caused by a sting from a genetically modified plant, a triffid.”

"The first 45 minutes of 28 Days Later are the first three chapters of The Day of the Triffids, marginally modified with the addition of zombies," said Dr Barry Langford, senior lecturer in film and television at Royal Holloway, University of London.

The novel received immediate acclaim was first adapted for BBC radio in 1953, 157 and 1958 before the 1962 feature film.  The BBC did subsequent productions in 1971, 1973 and 1980.

It was also adapted by Marvel in 1975 for an issue of their Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction while a British television series was produced in 1981. The new production is being written by Patrick Harbinson (ER).

"The triffids are perhaps to us a more potent threat than even in Wyndham’s time," Dr Langford added.

Andy Sawyer, librarian at the Science Fiction Foundation Collection at the University of Liverpool, told the BBC. "It has become relevant. There is a lot more anxiety about bio engineering now."

The images of empty cities was a haunting one in the book and one which continues to resonate in post-apocalyptic fiction including next year’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

‘Boldly Going Nowhere’ Expects Pickup from Fox

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

fox-logo-6376523Fox’s Boldly Going Nowhere is being seriously considered for a midseason series pickup according to The Hollywood Reporter. The sitcom received a pilot order plus request for scripts meaning it can swing into production quickly, filling the network’s needs.

Boldly Going Nowhere is produced by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton. The show focuses on the day-to-day events of an intergalactic spaceship. McElhenny, Day and Howerton do not consider the series as a science fiction, but rather a unique twist on the workplace sitcom. Wayne McClammy (I’m F–king Matt Damon) directed the pilot.

The cast includes Lennon Parham, Chad L. Coleman, Ben Koldyke, and Tony Hale.

Darren Aronofsky Envisions Violent ‘RoboCop’

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

Darren Aronofsky spoke with reporters about his plans for RoboCop while promoting the release of The Wrestler. He warned that he intended to return to the ultra-violence found in Paul Verhoeven’s first feature.

"If we do it, it [can] definitely be rated R," Aronofsky said. "I mean, [it won’t] necessarily, but we have that freedom."

He acknowledged that David Self is at work on the screenplay and until that’s finished everything has to wait. "So until there’s a screenplay, there’s nothing to really talk about. Until we’re going, it just doesn’t exist for me. It’s just like we’re trying to get something good, and we’ll see what happens."

His interest in cyborgs, such as RoboCop, began from a routine examination. "Before you get an MRI, they give you a list of like 38 different things, how you can have metal in your body. From a shutter in your eyelid to a pacemaker, screws and all this stuff you can have in your system. I realized, ‘Wow, we are cyborgs.’ I mean, everything’s not inside us, but the way we’re connected to the technology and everything is right there."

Aronofsky expanded upon the comments he first made on MTV about re-editing his film The Fountain in hopes of gaining a new release. He calls the new version a “redux” and said, "It’s something more for fans. I worked on the film for six years, and it went through a lot of versions. There was one version that was much closer to one of the scripts that we had, and we chose between which way we would go with it. They both are interesting, so I always was curious for myself to see what that alternative version would be.

"It’s very similar but looking at a few things in a few different ways, and it answers a few questions for people and raises some new questions in other ways, so it’s kind of cool."

The troubled film actually first saw light as a Vertigo graphic novel in 2005 and he may return to the format once more for his still-developing Noah project.  He admitted to being somewhat obsessed with the biblical figure since, as a 13-year-old, he won a United Nations poetry competition for a poem about the end of the world as seen through the eyes of Noah.

He previously had told Slash Film, “It’s the end of the world and it’s the second most famous ship after the Titanic. So I’m not sure why any studio won’t want to make it,” said Aronofsky. “I think it’s really timely because it’s about environmental apocalypse which is the biggest theme, for me, right now for what’s going on this planet. So I think it’s got these big, big themes that connect with us. Noah was the first environmentalist. He’s a really interesting character. Hopefully they’ll let me make it.”

Although he’s admitted to some he has an actor attached to star, he still may go the graphic novel route first.

Spirit Stories You Should Read Before The Movie

  • Uncategorized
  • December 13, 2008

spirit-for-gold-4506607So Brother Glenn e-mails me with “…we do real well with those ‘stories you should read before you see the movie,’ and if anyone else but you did The Spirit list, you’d probably be insulted.” Maybe.

I’m a bit ambivalent towards this movie. I haven’t seen it, but like most of you reading this, I’ve seen the trailers. I’ve loved The Spirit ever since Jules Feiffer turned me onto the character, back in a 1965 article in Playboy magazine. My appetite completely whetted, the good folks at Harvey Comics stoked me up a year later with two “giant-sized” reprints that still remain the best of the many compilations of the character.

So now Frank Miller, a cartoonist known to be quite the Spirit fan (he even worked a reference to creator Will Eisner into RoboCop II), has directed the big Spirit movie that’s coming out any day now. It was co-produced by another comics fan-turned-writer-turned-movie powerhouse, Michael Uslan, of Batman and Swamp Thing movies fame. And those trailers – well, damn, they don’t look like Will Eisner’s creation at all. They look like Sin City with one extra color added. I try not to judge movies by their promotion (outside of triage), but this stuff’s been a bitter disappointment.

So, perhaps, this list should be perceived as “stories you should re-read after you see the movie so you remember why you went in the first place.” I hope not; I’ll be there to see the movie with the greatest hope.

Either way, coming and/or going, here’s ten of the original, truly worthwhile Spirit stories, as written and drawn by Will Eisner with the assistance of such folks as Jules Feiffer, Jerry Grandinetti, and Wally Wood. Ask me again tomorrow, and I’ll bet I give you at least five different stories.

Yep, The Spirit was that good.

These stories have been scattered among numerous reprint collections. The really cool part is, you can’t go wrong with any of them. However, for those of you who remain both employed and financially flush, I’m including The Spirit Archives volume numbers. If you want to pick up just one volume, I recommend volume 19.

1. Ten Minutes (September 11, 1949; volume 19)

2. The Story of Gerhard Shnobble (October 16, 1949; volume 19)

3. Plaster of Paris (November 7, 1948; volume 17)

4 & 5. Sand Saref and Bring In Sand Saref (January 8 and 14, 1950; volume 20)

6 & 7. The Name Is Powder and The Fallen Sparrow (January 4 and 11, 1948; volume 16)

8. Fairy Tales For Juvenile Delinquents: Cinderella (October 5, 1947; volume 15)

9. A DP On The Moon (August 10, 1952; volume 24)

10. The Story Of Rat-Tat, The Toy Machine Gun (September 4, 1949; volume 19)

 

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‘The Zeta Project’ Comes to DVD in March

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

zetaproject-s1-early-1975746Warner Home Video has announced a March 17, 2009 release for the first season DVD collection of The Zeta Project.  The animated series was loosely connected to the futuristic world of Batman Beyond, with the character making guest appearances after setting up the premise during the “Zeta” episode. It ran from January 27, 2001 through August 10, 2002 on the KidsWB.

Voices on the series included Diedrich Bader, Julie Nathanson, Kurtwood Smith, Dominique Jennings, Eli Marienthal, Scott Marquette, Michael Rosenbaum, and Lauren Tom.

The 2-disc set will come with the 11 first-season episodes (per the studio’s "production season"; note that not all online episode guides agree with this count!).

Bonus material includes both cross-over episodes of Batman Beyond, and an all-new Featurette about the origins of The Zeta Project.  Cost will be $26.99 SRP.

Here’s the breakdown of episodes on each disc for the first season set:

•    Disc 1
1.    The Accomplice
2.    His Maker’s Name
3.    Remote Control
4.    Change of Heart
5.    The Next Gen

•    Disc 2
6.    West Bound
7.    Hicksburg
8.    Shadows
9.    Crime Waves
10.    Taffy Time
11.    Kid Genius
12.    Ro’s Reunion
 

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Joss Whedon is OK With Friday Nights

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

sooliviawilliams1-2-2513472Joss Whedon told the Los Angeles Times that if he were running Fox, he would also have scheduled his new series, Dollhouse, on Friday nights. It will debut on February 13, paired with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

"It’s not a slam dunk, ‘We love everything you’re doing’ slot. Everybody knows that," he said. “The executives I’m dealing with are canny guys."

The current executives at the network are not the same ones who played games with his last series, Firefly, and then summarily dumped it when the show was slow to find its audience.  The new execs have shown a willingness to let the series be sampled. “They’re bringing down expectations regarding how big of an audience they think it will bring in the beginning, and then as the show progresses. They need to do that."

"If I were an executive, I would have put it on Friday too, honestly,” Whedon added. “And not as a dig. The people who want this will find it, and hopefully more will as well. Fox is aware that TV just doesn’t exist the same way. People watch it online, on DVD, on their TiVos. It’s not the end of the world, but of course everyone’s been predicting the end of the world for Dollhouse‘since it was announced."

Whedon also noted that while Fox executives will likely have to wait patiently for building returns on the show, he hopes fans will be just as patient with the story line. "We’re trying to create something that’s more than the sum of its parts. And not just in an ‘Oooh, we’re heavy with mythology’ way. Dare I say we’re reaching for something more philosophical? Am I allowed to say philosophical? Or does that just mean my show will fail?"

Bryan Fuller Talks ‘Heroes’

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

Bryan Fuller spoke with Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello about his return to Heroes, commencing with the 19th episode of the season, close to the end of volume four. The series concludes it’s ‘Villains’ volume on Monday evening.

“[Former co-exec producers] Jeph [Loeb] and Jesse [Alexander], before they left the show, set so many great events in motion with the ‘Fugitives’ arc,” Fuller said. “It really is a fresh start. All of the characters are back in their real lives. You see Peter as a paramedic. Claire is looking for colleges. We get away from the world of formulas and quasi-magic.”

The new arc begins on February 2 and Fuller said, “The whole ‘Fugitives’ arc starts out very strongly, and then it gets a little dense in the middle in terms of the mythology. So I came in right at the point where everybody was realizing, ‘Oh, we’re getting too dense here and we need to put faces on stories because there is no face to a formula; there is no face to saving the world.’ So it’s turning this big ship back into a character stream, and everyone on the writing staff shares that desire. We need to get back into a character place, because that’s where this story started: Very clean, superhero metaphors to everyday life. That’s the path that we’re taking. But it is a big ship so it’s going to take a little while to turn it.” (more…)

‘Star Trek’ Beams Down to IMAX Screens

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

Paramount Pictures and IMAX Corporation announced late Friday that Star Trek, directed by J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III, Lost and Alias), will be simultaneously released to both IMAX and conventional theatres worldwide on May 8, 2009. Star Trek, which chronicles the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members, will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. Paramount Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of the film to IMAX theatres worldwide.

Star Trek is of course one of the world’s most successful science fiction entertainment series and media franchises. Created by Gene Roddenberry, the Star Trek phenomenon has lead to six television series, ten feature films, dozens of computer and video games, hundreds of novels and fan stories, as well as a themed attraction in Las Vegas. Star Trek has also inspired a following of millions of “Trekkies” of all ages that span across the globe.

“We’re excited to share the enhanced IMAX version of this film with the millions of dedicated fans who have been anticipating this release since production began,” said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman, Paramount Pictures in a release. “The IMAX Experience adds that extra level of excitement to an already action-packed film, giving moviegoers a premium ‘event’ at the multiplex.”

Added J.J. Abrams, “I’m thrilled that audiences will be able to experience this new, epic world of Star Trek – with an incredible cast and mind-blowing visual effects – on what is, obviously, the most remarkable film format in the world.”

“Star Trek combines top Hollywood story-telling talent with space exploration, and each is very conducive to The IMAX Experience,” said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. “Expanding our relationship with Paramount Pictures to include this film strengthens our 2009 slate, and with the continuing rollout of digital IMAX theatre systems, we will be able to offer the fan-base more locations to experience the epic first journey of the USS Enterprise in the most immersive way.”
 
“Both Star Trek and IMAX have taken audiences to far away places they would normally not be able to go, and in this case, it’s space – the final frontier,” added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “J.J. Abrams has created a powerful movie that has fans worldwide feverishly anticipating its release. We are thrilled to partner with Paramount Pictures to bring J.J.’S exciting vision of this incredible space adventure to IMAX screens.”

From director J.J. Abrams and screenwriters Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Transformers, MI: III) comes a new vision of the greatest space adventure of all time, Star Trek, featuring a young, new crew venturing boldly where no man has gone before. Star Trek explores the early Starfleet careers of future Enterprise officers Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Amanda Grayson (Winona Ryder), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), McCoy (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin). A Romulan, Nero (Eric Bana), and a much older Spock (Leonard Nimoy) are influences, as well as Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), the first captain of the USS Enterprise.

 

‘Iron Man 2’ to Remain Grounded

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

Justin Theroux spoke with IGN about his early work on Iron Man 2 which will start shooting next spring for a May 2010 release.

"Iron Man is just a unique character in the comic book world,” Theroux said. “He can get away with being incorrigible, slightly awful, funny, sexist at times. He has a very high threshold for things that he can do and get away with.

"So in a weird way it’s a lot of fun writing for him and it’s not like writing a more stoic superhero part. Obviously, you have the story elements and the action elements and all those gears of that you want to make sure are well oiled. But within that you can have a lot of play."

To write the sequel, he recognizes the need to keep things set in a somewhat familiar world.  "[You] can’t really go crazy,” he said. “It has to live within the same world Tony lives in, which is the world of technology. So it can’t get too far afield. It’s not really our job to suit all the other characters. Our first concern – Jon [Favreau]’s first concern – is that we raise the level on Iron Man 2 and make sure the audience gets exactly and more of what they wanted before in a really satisfying story that’s really fun and playful. As good a movie as possible. And after that we’ll think about ways that we can plug in other elements that might exist in other films or other worlds."

Production Weekly lists the film as using the working title Rasputin lending credence to the rumors of Crimson Dynamo and Black Widow making appearances. "Everything is a moving target but we’ve kind of locked in on what we think will be satisfying bad people," he said.

David Goyer Expects a ‘Blade’ Reboot

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

"I heard rumors that they may want to start from scratch with a new person playing Blade,” David S. Goyer told Shock Til You Drop. “It’s funny because I thought about how I never wanted to do a vampire film ever again because I’m sick of it. But I was reading the Tomb of Dracula Omnibus and I hadn’t read them in a long time and I thought it might be cool to do another vampire movie at some point."

Goyer made his name working on the Blade trilogy of films, starring Wesley Snipes. He has since gone on to write and direct many other genre films and thought he put the vampire hunter behind him. Hus next project is an original horror film, The Unborn, opening next month.

"God, it feels like they remake movies five years after they come out now," Goyer added. "I’m sure New Line at some point would like to do another version of it. Me? Never say never, but I think remakes are more successful the more time there is in between. Honestly, I think they should have waited for the new Hulk. I like the new one. But the longer time you have between remakes [and their originals], the better. For me, ten years is the minimum you really need."
 

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