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No ‘Warcraft’ in 2009

  • News
  • October 15, 2008

Shack News is reporting that Blizzard and Legendary Pictures’ adaptation of Warcraft won’t be ready for next year, as had been previously announced.

"I don’t know about the 2009 date," says Blizzard president Mike Morhaime about the film’s progress, "but it is still something we are very excited about."

"We do have a draft of a script, [but] it isn’t final," he continues. "I think we still need to do a lot of work."

At BlizzCon 2007, Blizzard’s VP of Creative Development Chris Metzen and Thomas Tull, head of Legendary Pictures, provided insight into the progress of a Warcraft movie. They released the following tidbits of information:

– The film is set for 2009
– They have a $100 million budget
– It will be a mix of live action and computer animation
– No directors or actors are attached
– The story focuses on major events from a year before World of Warcraft and will principally focus on the Alliance’s perspective
– Run time will be about two to two and a half hours
– More of a Gladiator war epic than a Lord of the Rings journey of discovery
– Characters to be featured include Bolvar Fordragon, Thrall and Cairne Bloodhoof.

Two years later, there are only two items on that list we can speak to: the film will not be released in 2009, and there are still no actors or directors attached. Look how much can happen in two years!

It’s nice to see Blizzard being thoughtful with their property, but there is a difference between taking one’s time and being too reserved to jump into battle. A Warcraft film can wait for a while, but once the craze of World of Warcraft subsides a bit, those potential gold pouches are gonna disappear off the battlefield.

Ah, who are we kidding? World of Warcraft will always be awesome. Speaking of which, we got some orcs to hunt. Leeroooooooooy Jenkins!!

Guggenheim talks ‘Green Lantern’

  • News
  • October 14, 2008

There’s been a lot of talk about new, darker toned movies being made of DC Comics properties based on the success of The Dark Knight. That’s had one aisle of comic fans pretty psyched, as the more mature direction of Batman’s big screen adventures have definitely upped the gravitas factor. On the other hand, not every character lends itself to a "dark tone," such as the impending Superman relaunch.

Luckily, it sounds like Green Lantern is going to shine through the blackest night for a full on "respectful approach to the character [of Hal Jordan, and] a loving approach to the entire mythos."

That’s according to Marc Guggenheim, the writer of the upcoming Lantern feature. He spoke to Newsarama about the film’s progress, saying that "it’s pretty far along." The television producer and part-time comic book writer has worked on the script with Greg Berlanti and Michael Green.

"We’re reasonably deep into [Green Lantern]," he tells the website. "I’m never really comfortable publicly commenting on the movie because unlike the TV show, I’m just one of three writers and I’ve sworn a blood oath to secrecy. But we’re in the thick of it. We’re moving along at a pretty hefty clip."

And, according to Guggenheim, the alleged "revamp" of DC film properties hasn’t effected Hal Jordan in the slightest.

"I know a lot’s been made in newspapers and magazines about a revamping of DC’s approach," says Guggenheim. "That hasn’t been my sense. Maybe a focusing; maybe a ratcheting up of pace and energy. Whatever it’s been, it really hasn’t affected this project in the least. All the drafts have come in on schedule. All the notes have been the same kind of notes that we would have gotten in the absence of any ‘revamping.’"

Guggenheim tries not to pay attention the rumors and speculation about the project, but couldn’t avoid hearing the biggest rumor of ’em all: Ryan Gosling as Hal Jordan.

"I read that online," Guggenheim says. "As one of the writers, I’m not really involved in the day-to-day pre-production on it all. But I think it would be pretty amazing [casting.] I’ll go on record saying that."

Regardless of how the production aspect shakes out, there’s no question that it’s a wonderful time for comics on film.

"The kind of summer we just had, with movies like Iron Man and Dark Knight, makes a fertile marketplace for all comic book movies," Guggenheim says. "the timing could not have been better for us with [Green Lantern]."

Earlier this month, Latino Review scooped that Green Lantern was aiming for a 2010 release date. By all accounts, it looks like Hal Jordan will be on time for lift off.

Giggenheim and Berlanti’s Eli Stone has its second season debut on ABC tongiht.

Review: ‘French Milk’

  • Uncategorized
  • October 14, 2008

French Milk
Lucy Knisley
Touchstone Books, October 2008, $15

These days, people record their every inner thought and deed via Twitter, LiveJournal, Facebook and other social networking sites.  It’s a fast and easy way to tell the multitudes what you’re up to.  This is especially true for people who travel far from friends and family.

As a result, Lucy Knisley is a throwback.  The 23-year old grew up on comic books and has studied art in Chicago and New York, developing a distinctive style and voice that earned her a small but dedicated following. She recorded her six week sojourn in France by using pen and paper, recording a graphic diary of her trip to celebrate her 22nd birthday and her mother’s 50th.   Upon her return, she gathered up her dozens and dozens of pages and self-published through Monkfish Book Publishing.

While showing [[[French Milk]]] to people at a MoCCA event, she was discovered by Amanda Patten, senior editor at Fireside/Touchstone.  Now, the book is receiving a big PR push and is on sale as today and has already been receiving positive notices.

Knisley has a keen eye for atmosphere and detail, finding joy in the simplicity of a baguette or a rude American tourist. Her observations are sharp and we can share her delight in fresh, unadulterated whole milk, from which the book takes its name.  We follow mother and daughter as they sightsee, shop, dine and relax together.  She does a nice job recording the details to bring their flat to life along with shops, Laundromats and restaurants.

The book’s publicity tells us of the changing relationship between moth and daughter but the book barely scratches the topic.  There’s one sequence when mother tries to discuss financial planning to Lucy but that’s about it.  They share the flat and bed and seem to get along without any tension, quarrel or serious issue.  Lucy Knisley, it seems, missed having sex but remained faithful to her boyfriend, whom she stills has a relationship with. But she seemed content to be a homebody and never craved going out to experience Paris nightlife on her own with people her age. If anything, the relationship seemed very close and stable.

The pair had been to Paris before and her observations about seeing things after a few more years’ growth and maturity is interesting.  But her diary is all surface.  We did this, ate that and went to sleep.  There’s precious little about the culture or differences with her life back in the states.  Her observations are all micro with no attention paid to the larger issues facing a young woman on the cusp of adult independence.

The book benefitted from the occasional photograph so we can compare the real people with Knisley’s fun drawings.  It could have benefitted from some summing up beyond a one-pager at the end.

Knisley has great potential and she’s working hard to achieve her place in the comics field.  This is a terrific, albeit flawed, first major effort. Her current material at Knisley’s website show continued development.

ComicMix Radio: That’s A Wrap For Spider-Girl

  • News
  • October 14, 2008

It was the little comic They Couldn’t Kill – until now. Amazing Spider-Girl ends at issue #30, but there is still life left for May Parker, plus:

Stephen King’s Talisman comes to comics
A cool Aliens/Predator package on DVD this week
Something for everyone (really) in the comic shops tomorrow

And what three titles do we feel are this week’s Best Bets? They are NOT from DC or Marvel, but you can find out who publishes them when you Press the Button!
 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-6039389 or RSS!

 

Donner says Gibson is Out of ‘Lethal Weapon 5’

  • Uncategorized
  • October 14, 2008

richard-donner-1-1940669Richard Donner has an impressive resume as a director but he seems forever linked to two franchises: Superman and Lethal Weapon.  While chatting with Geoff Boucher at the Los Angeles Times about the former, he let slip the news that Mel Gibson has refused to be in the fifth installment of the latter.

We recently reported that the project may be fast tracked but with Shane Black working on another film, people were concerned that Lethal Weapon 5 may be stalled.  Then we heard it was happening.  Now, Donner said, "Mel turned it down," Donner said. "I would like to think that Mel turned it down because I wasn’t involved. Knowing Mel, I would like to think that. Would that be the kind of thing he does? It sure would be." Gibson’s representatives refused to confirm this for the Times.

"Joel Silver tried to ace me out of it,” Donner explained. “He tried to put it together but made sure he didn’t do it until my contract was up. You know, it’s typical of the man. A guy who wasn’t even around at the beginning when we started on the first one. He came in late.

"Yes, the project is pretty much dead in the water unless someone had the sense to come to me."

Boucher got Donner to comment on Warner Bros.’ recent announcement that they envision the next Superman feature film to be a darker look at the Man of Steel. "I do think you could probably take Superman into some other areas today,” he commented. “I think maybe it’s ready to break the mold slightly and bring a little greater sense of reality into it. Not contemporizing it to like today. Just making the heavies — and the situation that is the tension piece — a little more broken away from the comic-book character. It would take some tricky writing, some good acting and some good directing."

As for who should be involved, he has one name. "I’d like to see Geoff Johns take a crack at the Superman…I think he would be startling. Did you read his comics? There it is. It’s there on paper." Johns began his career as Donner’s assistant on Conspiracy Theory and the two have collaborated on a run of Action Comics, which Johns now writes on his own.

"The studio hasn’t gone to him and said, ‘Give us a screenplay.’ That would be the smart thing to do, but that’s show biz. Right? Show biz, that’s our life."

The prolific director is more immediately looking forward to this week.” This Thursday my favorite producer in the world, Lauren Shuler Donner, and I are getting stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame."
 

Platinum taps Execs for Advisory Board

  • News
  • October 14, 2008

platinum-studios-logo-1155371Home Media Magazine has reported that Platinum Studios has formed an advisory board, featuring a dozen executives from print and mass media to help CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg guide their print-to-film projects.

“The vast experience and success with various forms of entertainment that each advisory board member brings with them will allow Platinum to access additional contacts in the film, television, online, retail and video game industries and in development of the 5,600 comic characters and storylines in the Platinum Studios portfolio,” Rosenberg said. “I am excited by each and every member’s willingness to join the Advisory Board and support Platinum in a more formal role.”

Rosenberg’s ambitious total includes Platinum-generated properties in addition to other comic publishers’ whose film rights they represent such as the forthcoming Witchblade film based on the Top Cow character.

The board is comprised of Richard Fowkes, head of business affairs for Legendary Pictures and former EVP in charge of business affairs for the motion picture group at Paramount Pictures; Andrea Hein, former president of Viacom Consumer Products and current EVP of First Wives World; Mark Canton, former chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and current chairman of Atmosphere Entertainment; Michael Helfant, former president and COO of Marvel Studios; John W. Hyde, former president and CEO of Film Roman and current chairman of Rehab Incorporated; Gale Anne Hurd, chairwoman of Valhalla Motion Pictures; Jerry Katzman, former vice chairman of William Morris Agency; Steve Milo, former president of new media for Marvel Comics; Ed Dille, chairman of Fog Studios; Gareb Shamus, founder of Wizard Entertainment; Charlie Weber, former CEO of Lucasfilm; and Glenn Rigberg, president of Rigberg Entertainment Group.

Platinum has angered creators over payments and legal issues stemming form their recent purchase of Wowio.  While they continue to publish comics both in print and on the web, none have broken through as major creative successes. They do have numerous projects in various stages of development.  Most notable among the list is Cowboys & Aliens which DreamWorks is developing and has Robert Downey, Jr. attached to star.

Platinum was formed in 1997 after Rosenberg exited Malibu Comics in the wake of its purchase by Marvel Comics.  He has been slow to develop Platinum through the years and didn’t really begin releasing titles until late 2006 despite years of development. On September 25, 2006, Platinum pruchased DrunkDuck, a webcomics site and began a strong didigtal initiative that led to the purchase earlier this year of Wowio.

Their media initivative has been limited to the Showtime series Jeremiah, based on a European properrty licensed by the studio. Platinum Studios posted net losses of $4.3 million in 2006 and $5.1 million in 2007.
 

oots-sample-6644686

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: Order of the Stick

  • Uncategorized
  • October 14, 2008

oots-sample-6644686Roleplaying games are a rich forum for comic material, whether you’re riffing on the setting or the game system itself. Typically, this involves have “players” and the characters they play, and either cutting between them or having the players semi-narrate the action.

Rich Burlew presents the Order of the Stick, a group of PCs whose players remain unseen, but retain full knowledge of the game system that defines their world.

The aforementioned Order is an archetypal adventuring party, including Roy, the noble (and put-upon) leader; Durkon, the Scottish-accent sporting dwarven cleric; Haley, the leather-wearing kleptomaniac thief; Vaarsuvius, the haughty and verbose elven wizard; Belkar, the bloodthirsty halfling ranger/barbarian; and Elan, the clueless, excitable bard. Their overarching quest pits them against the lich-sorcerer Xykon, but along the way they fight dragons, giants, goblin ninjas, their evil opposites (the Linear Guild) and the legal system of Azure City.

Currently, there are three books collecting the online material, two with entirely-original flashback stories (the origins of the heroes and the villains, respectively), and a board game available at the Giant in the Playground Shop. (Plus t-shirts, buttons and the like, of course.) The Giant in the Playground forums also deserve a special mention as the most impressive collection of D&D geeks outside of the Wizards of the Coast forums—there is no D&D question they can’t answer and then debate for 30 pages.

Notable moments:

The relative intelligence of the party members.
The introduction of the Linear Guild
Who remembers the old Hostess Twinkie ads in comics?
The Order’s first battle with Xykon begins!
Dramatic confrontation with the shadowy pursuer!
The harsh light of dawn.
The prophecies that will drive the next 200+ strips.
 
Drama: Moderate. While there’s definitely some angst and some agonizing moments, Burlew also likes to skewer various tropes of adventure games and action movies. A pair of red-shirt characters manage to survive mortal wounds by revealing that they have names and possibly backstories.

Humor: A solid half of the jokes rely on basic knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons, particularly 3.5 and 4th Edition. There are also plenty of random pop culture references and obvious anachronisms in the fantasy world (like in any good rpg campaign), but this comic probably isn’t for you if you don’t recognize the phrase “Attack of Opportunity”.

Continuity: High. Start from the beginning. The first dozen strips are loosely-connected D&D gags, but the plot picks up early on and gets into full-on continuity lockout by the later strips.

Art: Burlew draws the strip using vector-based illustration software, in an enhanced stick-figure style. The art has improved over the years, and though the changes are nice, they’re nowhere near the radical changes many hand-drawn comics see. Flashback comics are done in a crayon-like scribble style.

Archive: Five years of page-sized strips (including some double-pagers and infinite-canvas strips), about 600 strips.

Updates: Erratically. It averages three strips a week, but they might be spread out M-W-F, or you might get two on Sunday and one on Monday.

Risk/Reward: There’s a full-blown epic story and Burlew has noted that he knows how it ends; hopefully he won’t disappoint the fans by not getting there. The storyline has yet to hit a comfortable “stopping point” of any kind, which means getting into this strip may get you hooked for several years.
 

Review: ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’

Sitting in the darkened screening room at Paramount Pictures that early May day in 1981, I had no idea what I was about to experience.  Working at Starlog at the time, I thought we were pretty much aware of everything cool that was coming from Hollywood.  But we knew little about this thing called [[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]].  Then we watched it.

An homage to the action serials of the 1930s and 1940s, director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas combined their best skills to produce something iconic and fresh at the same time.  They also did what has become increasingly difficult ever since – create an interesting character from scratch.  Sure, Indy is one of a long line of adventurers dating back to Allan Quatermain if not further back, but still, he was new and cool.

Ever subsequent Indy film has been measured against the original and found wanting. I missed [[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]] when it opened in May so sat with the DVD, on sale today, and was curious to see what sort of experience this would be. After all, the buzz over the summer that while good, it was ultimately a disappointment after waiting so many years.

I was entertained.  The movie wisely moved to the 1950s to reflect the passage of time and evoke an entirely new feeling.  As a result, the Roswell setting, the Crystal Skull possibly being an alien, etc. was all appropriate as was the arrival of the Cold War nemesis, successors to the Nazis for storytelling fodder.

However, Spielberg and Lucas got too cute from the get-go with the Caddyshack-like gopher  popping up as we began the story.  While winks to those no longer with us, such as Marcus Brody were fine at Indy’s home, the statue’s head striking a blow was unnecessary.  While immediately understanding the locale from John Williams’ evocative score, we didn’t need to see the Ark.  Too many winks at the expense of good storytelling.

More should have been done to examine Indy at a point in his life when he was getting a little old of adventure and his life was filled with missed opportunities.   Mutt being his son was telegraphed from the get-go and was totally without nuance.  Marion arrives too late for my taste, trades quips but seems to accept the passage of time with a smile and far more forgiveness than she showed in the first film.  Her spunk and edge, which made her extremely fascinating in Raiders was all scrubbed away, making her likeable and far less compelling.  Thankfully, Karen Allen has aged as gracefully as Harrison Ford and they still have some great screen chemistry.

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War Machine turns ‘Traitor’

  • Uncategorized
  • October 14, 2008

a-br10qcheadle-0528-6675417We know it’s hard out here for a pimp, but it might be even harder for War Machine.

The Hollywood Reporter is breaking the news that Terrence Howard will be replaced by Don Cheadle for Marvel Studios’ upcoming Iron Man 2. Though there is no official comment on the replacement, it’s speculated that negotiations fell through between Howard and Marvel over financial differences, among other reasons.

In Iron Man, there is a scene towards the end where Howard’s Jim Rhodes catches a glimpse of Tony’s Mark II armor and proclaims to himself, "Next time." At that moment, War Machine junkies across the globe experienced blissful cardiac arrest.

"I would prefer to wait for the third [Iron Man film to become War Machine]," Howard told ComingSoon.net back in April. "I’d prefer to let it grow a little bit and then after the third one, they could go into its own franchise of War Machine later on. I don’t want to introduce War Machine too early for my own monetary benefits."

terrence-howard-300a011807-7731691And while War Machine is still set for the sequel, as THR indicates, it won’t be Howard behind the mask. Cheadle is certainly a fine actor, and you can hardly ask for a better quality replacement for an actor of Howard’s pedigree. Nonetheless, it’s disappointing for fans enjoying Marvel’s continuity that a casting change has taken place so soon.

Interestingly enough, THR continues to say that Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow are expected to return as Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. Well, pretty much everyone expected Howard to return as well. Given Downey Jr.’s knee-jerk emotional reactions, it’ll be interesting to see how this one shakes out in light of Howard’s departure.

Over at Marvel Comics, War Machine #1 is coming in December and an exclusive prelude story will be going live at Marvel’s Digital Comics Unlimited starting this week. Subscribers to the digital site will have access to the War Machine story from Greg Pak and Leonardo Manco for free.

"Every day, somewhere on the planet, tyrants commit the most horrific atrocities imaginable, secure in the knowledge that the outside world won’t raise a finger to stop them…But now War Machine’s on the job. And forget the finger—he’s raising a couple of ginormous shoulder mounted rocket cannons!" Pak said in a release.
 

Superheroes Come Home, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • October 14, 2008

I guess we’ll have to get our superhero fixes from comic books for a while, though I’m not complaining, because isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? My glances through the various newspapers and magazines that come to this house tell me that there are no superhero movies coming to a theater near me, and the closest thing to a new superhero on television is those can-do wheels on Knight Rider, whose ancestor is the Batman utility belt of the middle-period comics and the early Green Arrow quiver; whatever the situation calls for…well, here it is – just the thing. Some of last season’s superdoers are back, and some of them will be on our living room screen, though the plot(s) of one seem to be unfocused and the future of another, The Sarah Conner Chronicles, seems to be iffy, which saddens me because one of the stars makes my dirty old man merit badge pulsate.

Superheroes and summertime seem to be yoked. As usual, commerce rather than aesthetics seem to be the reason. Until recently, and maybe even now, publishers felt that their comic book audience – kids – had more disposable income and more leisure during the hot months and so they saved their annuals and double-sized issues and important stories – Reed and Sue get married! – for the time when the young’uns lucky or unlucky enough not to have jobs didn’t recite the pledge of allegiance every morning.

(Ah, I can remember – or almost remember – the feel of the cool concrete of a front porch under my prone body as I looked at the funny book and wondered why his shirt was red if his name was Green Lantern and couldn’t his cape at least be green? Was there an editor in the making here?)

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