ComingSoon managed to chat briefly with George Lucas when he came to Los Angeles to present the American Cinematheque’s 23rd annual award to Samuel L. Jackson.

Of the actor, who played Mace Windu in the most recent trilogy, he commented, “To be honest, he’s the only one who asked, actually. He didn’t really lobby for it. He was on a talk show and someone asked him what movie he would’ve liked to be in or that he would like to be in that he hadn’t been in and he said ‘Star Wars.’ So I called him up and said ‘Is that true? Do you really want to be in Star Wars?’ He said ‘Yeah – as long as I’m a Jedi,’ and I said ‘Well, I have a little tiny role, but it grows if you’re willing to do the three movies.’ He said ‘I’m in.’ It was just like that. He didn’t look at it like ‘This is a chance to make a whole bunch of money, a chance to do a big thing.’ He just did what was asked of him and tried to make it as good as he possibly could.”

He confirmed his desire to make a fifth Indiana Jones film and noted, “We’re looking for a MacGuffin, which is an object that he goes after. They’re very hard to come by!” He would not commit to which characters, such as Marion and Mutt, would be in the picture, waiting to see the needs of the elusive story.

Lucas also reaffirmed to milk Star Wars for more profit by converting them to the latest 3-D technology which he said “is very difficult. It exists – it’s just extremely expensive, and so what we’re trying to do is figure out a more practical way of pulling it off.”

He then named Anthony Hamilton as his director for Red Tails, his long-gestating project about World War II Tuskegee Airmen which will shoot in the spring.  No casting has been announced.

On this day 75 years ago, the Twenty-first Amendment was enacted, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, thereby ending Prohibtion in the United States.

So what does this have to do with comics? Well, without alcohol, the next Iron Man movie would have no plot (if you don’t know what we’re talking about, buy Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle) and people wouldn’t know what Munden’s Bar is about.

Many people still don’t know what Munden’s Bar is, but that’s a different problem.

DreamWorks has signed Len Wiseman (Underworld) to direct Atlantis Rising, an adaptation of the Platinum Studios titles. The studio, according to Variety, acquired the property in April at the urging of producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.

Scott O. Brown and Tim Irwin crafted the five-issue miniseries which concluded in the spring. The story tells of an underground civilization that begins to cause concern among the surface world’s governments.  A war between surface and sea is inevitable, it seems.

“The comic brings a fresh, techno-thriller approach to a story that holds all the tenets of a classic us-vs.-them alien invasion movie,” Kurtzman told The Hollywood Reporter. Orci added, “No sea horses or tridents here.”

DreamWorks is also working with Kurtzman and Orci on another Platinum property, Cowboys & Aliens, with Robert Downey, Jr. attached to star.

Wiseman is also working with the studio on Motorcade, which is expected to shoot first.

Producer Gale Ann Hurd told Sci Fi Wire that  she envision Magdalena as  a blend of "Da Vinci Code meets Wanted", employing the shorthand producers and studio execs use to sell a project by invoking familiar concepts in a new way.  This way, risk-adverse studios feel more confident in going with something different, but not too different.

"The character doesn’t have superpowers," Hurd explained. "So I think it will be intense, but it will more than likely be a PG-13 as opposed to an R just because of the world of the character and the world of the comic book. It’s really exciting. We’re working with Matt [Hawkins] at Top Cow, and we’re working with a writer. We hope to have that up and running toward the end of the year.”

"The character doesn’t have super-powers," Hurd explained. "So I think it will be intense, but it will more than likely be a PG-13 as opposed to an R just because of the world of the character and the world of the comic book. It’s really exciting. We’re working with Matt [Hawkins] at Top Cow, and we’re working with a writer. We hope to have that up and running toward the end of the year." No writer or director has been named to the project.

The adaptation of the Top Cow series will feature Jenna DeWan (Step Up) is set to play Patience,  the latest in the Magdalena bloodline, which traces back to Mary Magdalene. The current embodiment of the line becomes the warrior and protector of the Catholic Church.

She first appeared in 1998 and  spun out of the pages of The Darkness and has starred in two solo miniseries.

While promoting today’s release of Punisher: War Zone, she also looked back to the summer and the reimagined Incredible Hulk movie.

"I think it successfully rebooted it," Hurd said. "I think the fans liked it, the general audience liked it. It’s been huge on DVD. I was just talking with [Marvel Studios chairman] David Maisel last night. The two big DVDs so far this year that have been released are Iron Man and Hulk, so it’s always nice to see that it continues to build its fan base

"[I’m] hoping there’s a sequel, but right now Marvel has its hands full with the slate they’ve announced," she said. "If there’s a sequel, it wouldn’t be until probably 2012." Marvel has not announced any firm plans for any project after 2011.

One of the founders of First Fandom, Forrest J Ackerman died Thursday of heart failure at his Los Angeles home, said Kevin Burns, head of Prometheus Entertainment and a trustee of Ackerman’s estate. He was 92.

Born November 24, 1916, Ackerman is best known today as godfather to a generation of filmmakers who were raised on his Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine but he had an extensive career as an author, agent, and most of all, a fan. He also co-created Vampirella, writing for her first adventure for publisher Jim Warren.

His influence to the science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comic book fields cannot be overstated. He was the living embodiment of fandom and a tireless ambassador for close to seventy years. Hundreds of working professionals owe some debt of gratitude to Ackerman’s efforts.

The Early Years

Ackerman grew up on the early days of science fiction as the category grew in pulp magazines. His diet of reading included Amazing Stories and other titles, leading him to write letters to the editor, which were published.  As a result, he struck up correspondence with other fans leading to the formation of his The Boys’ Scientifiction Club in 1930.  The young man also contributed articles and reviews to the earliest fanzines including Julie Schwartz and Mort Weisinger’s Time Traveller and Jerry Siegel’s Science Fiction Magazine.

On the west coast, Ackerman is known to have invited would-be writer Ray Bradbury to Clifton’s Cafeteria Science Fiction Club, where the newsboy was introduced to met the writers Robert A. Heinlein, Emil Petaja, Fredric Brown, Henry Kuttner, Leigh Brackett, and Jack Williamson. He’s also credited with founding the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society and the National Fantasy Fan Federation.
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Brian Michael Bendis came to attention through his crime comics including Torso, which he illustrated and cowrote with Marc Andreyko for Image in 1998.  The project was optioned for film on January 12, 2006 and now, on December 15, Paramount Pictures’ option will expire.

Since then, David Fincher (Seven) has signed on to direct the project, now entitled Ness, and assembled an impressive cast including Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and Rachel McAdams. Ehren Kruger (The Ring) delivered a final draft screenplay and all principals are ready to start shooting in 2009.  Paramount tells Entertainment Weekly they will make a decision by the deadline although it seems pretty much like a no-brainer considering the team and subject matter: crimebuster Elliot Ness, the untouchable federal agent who helped stop the gang crimes in Chicago during Prohibition (which ended 75 years ago this week). The story, though focuses on Ness’ later years when he took on the Cleveland Torso Murderer.

This week, in a desperate attempt to disguise the fact that he doesn’t have any coherent way to tie the reviewed books together, Andrew Wheeler will adopt a “countdown” format to write about three brand-new Manga volumes.

Adding to the difficulty level: he will also write about himself in the third person, for no good reason.

Kaze no Hana, Vol. 3
By Ushio Mizta and Akiyoshi Ohta
Yen Press, December 2008, $10.99

This is the end of “Book One” of Kaze no Hana, in which not nearly enough is wrapped up and hardly any indication is given that the series will continue on to a “Book Two” sometime, somewhere. (For those who are lost: reviews of Volume One and Volume Two.)

To recap briefly: Momoka Futami is yet another typical cute Japanese teenage girl, who just wants to live a normal life. But she’s actually part of a family that has spent the past few hundred years defending the world against the minions of an evil god that was trapped under a mountain, using eight “spiritual swords.” There’s also an opposed group that wants to free the evil god – they don’t seem to consider him evil, actually – and they use “sacred swords,” which are totally different in a way that’s never been clear.

Kaze no Hana has a fairly large cast of people with vestigial (at best) noses, and it’s difficult to tell them apart much of the time. This book also has a lot of talking and emoting rather than fighting monsters, though one character does turn out, unexpectedly, to be a werewolf. There’s also a huge plot problem that gets resolved exceptionally quickly, leading this reader to wonder if perhaps the original serialization of this story was hurried to a conclusion quicker than the creators had planned. (more…)

Warner Bros. has announced that The Dark Knight will return to both regular theaters and IMAX screens on January 23 as it reminds Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences voters the movie is worthy of Oscar consideration. The studio is also hoping it will earn the $70 million it needs to break the $600 domestic mark, second only to Titanic’s $600,788,188. Adjusted for inflation, The Dark Knight would rank 26th in domestic revenues.

As of December 3, Box Office Mojo reports the film has earned $530,327,889 in America and an additional  $465,929,447 globally, totaling $996,257,336, just shy of the $1 billion mark. 

Warner has already begun its Oscar campaign, hoping to nab a Best Picture slot in addition to a posthumous supporting actor nomination for Heath Ledger’s memorable Joker.

Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. Pictures President of Domestic Distribution said in a release, “The Dark Knight is a crowning achievement in every sense of the word. We wanted to provide one more opportunity for moviegoers to experience it on the big screen as it was meant to be seen.” (more…)