Nikkie Finke at Deadline Hollywood broke the story that Sony may well have signed both director Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire for two more Spider-Man films. To maximize their time, word is the studio is eyeing filming them back-to-back ensuring the franchise endures well into the next decade and because, according to a source "it wasn’t so easy to get everybody back together".

Jamie Vanderbilt (Zodiac) already has a script for the fourth installment on deck. As to the villain of the piece, Finke suspects Dylan Baker, seen in the previous film as Curt Connors, will finally turn into the Lizard although obviously nothing has been formally announced.

Kirsten Dunst is expected back as Mary Jane although she may find a different rival than Bryce Dallas Howard’s Gwen Stacy.

The deal has come together only in the last few weeks, a source told Finke. With Maguire being balky, the studio was quietly looking around for a replacement Peter Parker, just as they did for the second film. Sony president Amy Pascal “was looking around to cover herself because Sony wanted him badly and Tobey wasn’t sure he wanted to do it." A Sony Pictures spokesman told the website, "There was never anyone considered for the role but Tobey."

There’s no deal yet for Kirsten Dunst but Mary Jane Watson will be in the movie again. I’m told Sony "would never recast her" despite her rehab problems. But expect another gal part, too.

Shooting is not expected to begin until fall 2009 with a June 2011 release date already announced.  The winner of the eBay auction to gain a package involving a walk on part among other goodies went for $28,100.

Sony, meanwhile, has continued to develop a Venom spinoff film with unnamed screenwriters hired to begin work on a script that would most likely bring Topher Gracer back for a second go-round as the villainous symbiote.

The other day, we mentioned that Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea was wowing them in Japan at The Dark Knight’s expense.  Now we have word from Time.com that Disney will bring  Hayao Miyazaki’s latest animated film to the states in 2009. It is slowly rolling out around the world, having played the Venice Film Festival last week and will hit the UK in April.

Ponyo is the name of a princess goldfish who desires to be human.  When washed up on the shore, Ponyo befriends a 5-year-old boy and all seems swell until the fish’s father summons the sea to help find his missing child.

Starting Wednesday, computer watchers can surf and find Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy at Google and assorted other sites.

In a MacFarlane profile at today’s Wall Street Journal, the creator of Family Guy described how some 50 Cavalcade clips will be available at the rate of one per well. According to the article, “Google will deliver Cavalcade clips to pages visited primarily by 18- to 34-year-old men. In a new twist in the way entertainment is distributed, visitors to sites including Fandango.com and men’s magazine Maxim.com might see a Cavalcade cartoon play in a slot where a banner ad or video promo would normally appear.”

"We give him full creative control," Dan Goodman, president of digital media at Media Rights Capital, told the WSJ. As a result, most sites will run the unexpurgated clips with the liberal use of the f-bomb. Other sites will bleep out the offending words.

MacFarlane managed to sign this deal before his mammoth $100 million renewal with 20th-Century Fox. He continues to work on Family Guy, which debuted in 1999 and shows no sign of slowing down; American Dad and in spring 2009 will offer The Cleveland Show, a FG spin-off.  Family Guy’s seventh season begins September 28 and work is proceeding on a feature film version.
 

This week was going to be Samurai Week, but I threw in a book about psychics for spice – just to keep it interesting.

Dororo, Vol. 3
By Osamu Tezuka
Vertical, August 2008, $13.95

This is the third and final book in a samurai saga from Tezuka, the “godfather of manga.” (I’ve previously reviewed volume 1 and volume 2 for ComicMix.) I’ve seen references that say this series was truncated rather than continuing to its expected end, and that’s plausible from the book itself.

It does have something like an ending; the swordsman Hyakkimaru confronts and defeats his evil father, and parts from the young thief Dororo (whose secret he’s recently learned). But the stories of these main characters aren’t actually done – Hyakkimaru is not finished with his quest to become human again, and Dororo needs to grow up (and probably to battle some evil feudal lords on behalf of downtrodden farmers).

So this isn’t really the ending one would hope for – it doesn’t cut off, uncompleted, but there clearly were more stories to be told. (On the other hand, Tezuka left off work on Dororo in 1971, and lived for nearly twenty years afterward, which probably means something.) But the individual stories are still exceptionally well-told, in Tezuka’s characteristic clean lines, and the thematic undertones remain under, and deepen rather than threatening to sink the narrative. (more…)

Brendan Deenan, Senior v-p, Objective Entertainment, announced this morning that the delay behind Flash Gordon #1 had to do with a bad printer.  In fact, the 13,000 print run has been pulped a new printer secured.  As a result, the first issue, due out August 20, will now hit comic shops on September 24.  The second issue will come out on schedule, one week later.

Ardden Entertainment’s adaptation of Alex Raymond’s classic comic strip hero was previewed amidst much fanfare this spring with a zero issue. Deenan wrote the comic with artist Paul Green working under the guidance of Ardden editor-in-chief J.M. DeMatteis.

Their contemporary take on the character does not resemble the abortive Sci-Fi Channel series from 2007 or previous comic strip incarnations.

According to a release from Ardden, “Copies of the first ‘faulty’ issue have arrived at a location in the USA and Ardden is requesting that if any retailer or comic fan is offered these faulty copies for sale from anyone saying that they represent Ardden Entertainment LLC, they should contact the NY based company immediately. There is a reward for anyone who reports the sale of these copies. These faulty printings have the credits on page 3 whereas the new printings carry the creator credits on page 1.”