Dark Horse Films is negotiating with Sammo Hung (Kung Fu Hustle) to star in, and Kevin Munroe (TMNT) to direct War Monkeys, described as a horror comedy. The script is from Cleve Nettles (All Over Again) and will be produced by Chris Patton (Destination Mars), who came up with the concept, and Robert Sanchez.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film “follows two janitors who, during a Christmas holiday, get trapped in an underground research facility after accidentally unleashing military-trained Rhesus monkeys. Hung is one of the janitors who battle the rabid simians.”

"Monkeys, guns, explosions. As a genre freak, I couldn’t ask for anything more," Munroe told the trade.

The independent film company hopes to begin production early next year and use live, animatronic, and CGI-generated monkeys. They recently earned their first Emmy for the John Landis-directed documentary Mr. Warmth and are about to release My Name Is Bruce, starring and directed by Bruce Campbell.
 

Nothing has the warm and fuzzies attached to it better than a classic Disney Christmas, just one of the titles we point to on this week’s tour of the comic and DVD shelves, plus:

• Pushing Daisies the comic!
• Are you geek enough for MTV?
• DC caters to the oldsters
   

 Stop humming “Jingle Bells”  and Press the Button!

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

Comics Kingdom is the latest web initiative for traditional comic strips. Launching today, the site is from King Features Syndicate and is designed as a portal for newspapers to include comic strips as part of their online presence while tapping advertising and KFS’s deep archives.

“The premise behind this new type of comic delivery is to offer the newspaper a product that better helps the paper monetize their comic page online,” according to a release.

King Features Syndicate President T.R. “Rocky” Shepard, said, “for almost 100 years, King Features Syndicate has assisted newspapers in attracting new readers and incremental ad revenue by providing appealing, premium content. As our newspaper partners face new challenges in the ever-changing media landscape, we are continually looking to develop innovative ways to help them reach their business goals – which still remain the same as ever: attracting new readers and driving ad sales.”

The Albany Times Union, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Oklahoman/ NewsOK are the first three papers to use the new feature. During beta testing, the Times Union’s General Manager said the feature “almost doubled the traffic to the comic section and increased the average amount of time spent on the site — a key metric to increasing advertising revenue.”

Last month, United Media rebranded its comics.com website switching from a pay model to an advertiser-supported model allowing people to read their archives for free.
 

ICv2 reports that the slowing economy has led Upper Deck Company to lay off around 40 people last week. The cuts came from both its entertainment and sports divisions.  Coming days after the sudden closure of WizKids, the moves signal a contracting within the collectible cards field.  ICv2 also notes that “Sports card sales have reportedly been down substantially this fall, and mass market sales of trading card games have also been affected.”

While things may be tightening, others see opportunity. Alliance Game Distributors announced the other day that it will exclusively distribute Illusio, from French game publisher Funforge.  The game, with art by Julien Delval (Ticket to Ride, Witches Brew, and Pirate’s Cove), is set in 1896.  Players take the roles of magicians in competition for the title “Master of Illusion.” 
 
Illusio is for three to six players of all ages, and plays in 30-45 minutes.  The box includes 10 magician cards, 26 action cards, 64 component cards, and 32 objective cards for $24.99.
 

Aaron Eckhart moves up from district attorney and supporting player to platoon leader and star of the original SF tale, Battle: Los Angeles.

Columbia Pictures optioned Chris Bertolini (The General’s Daughter)’s screenplay back in April. The story spotlights a Marine platoon’s attempts to repel invaders from the stars. “I love the idea, and I love the script. I like it all,” Producer Neal Moritz of Original Films told The Hollywood Reporter. “We are going to be in production within six months. What’s attractive to me is that it’s a huge event movie that can be done at a modest scale.”

Production is gaining momentum with shooting eyed for early next year and a 2010 release date. No other casting has been announced.

Eckhart has appeared in The Dark Knight, of course, but also gained notice for his work in In the Company of Men and Thank You for Smoking.