(Cool) Shite on the Tube – Film, TV, Comics, Games, Books, Genre Pop Culture.

Comic Film/TV/Stage Roundup – July 2009 – Week 1

Losers coming April 16?
Warner Bros. Pictures has set an April 16, 2010 release date for director Sylvain White’s big screen adaptation of the DC-Vertigo comic book, The Losers. The Losers is an adaptation of the DC-Vertigo comic book about a band of black ops commandos who are set up to be killed by their own government. They barely survive and set out to get even. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba, Chris Evans, Columbus Short, Jason Patric, Zoe Saldana and Oscar Jaenada will star.

AmEx Pre-Sale Begins June 24 for Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark
Beginning June 24 American Express cardholders will be able to purchase tickets to the new musical Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark. (A previous ticket initiative allowed fans of Marvel Comics and the band U2, among others, to purchase tickets to the new musical via special websites and codes.) Tickets will go on sale to the general public Sept. 12. Directed by The Lion King’s Julie Taymor, Spider-Man will begin previews at Broadway’s Hilton Theatre Jan. 16, 2010, with an official opening scheduled for Feb. 18, 2010. Casting will be announced shortly.

How will the Avengers movie succeed in bringing Iron Man, Cap and Thor together?
Earlier in the week, Avengers screenwriter Zak Penn told an audience at the L.A. Film Festival that he is running around between Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America production offices to make sure his script coordinates with the introduction of key superheroes, and, of course, his script has to be done before the other films are. Marvel Studios head of marketing Doug Finberg was confident that all teams could unite for a solid Avengers film. The long-term plan is to introduce Thor and Captain America, then combine them with Iron Man to form the Avengers.

Why comic-book filmmakers trash Watchmen and Elektra (even the guy who wrote it) but praise Bryan Singer
“We blew Elektra,” admitted Zak Penn, who wrote the Jennifer Garner film. “We blew chunks. It should have been R-rated, like Sin City. … It should have been La Femme Nikita: She is an assassin, and you can’t do that unless it is R-rated. I should have known that Fox would not make an R-rated movie, so it’s probably my fault. They denuded it.”

X-Men writer Zak Penn breaks his silence about adapting The Avengers
“They’re doing Captain American and Thor first, and then Avengers is coming out,” Penn said. “They want to see that they’re all connected, not like the Fantastic Four can’t come into the X-Men world, like I was told. I’m taking a meeting next week with the Thor and Captain America people, and we are all going to get together, and I will see what is going to happen. I’ll see where they are leaving the characters; it’s pretty complicated. … There’s a board that is tracking what is happening. [We'll see] how this movie overlaps in that movie. … Marvel is autonomous now. It is night and day: Everyone has read every comic. They know how to make a cool movie.”

Smallville gets its General Zod, who will labor in the shadow of the great Terence Stamp
Looks like The CW’s Smallville will be edging ever farther into full-blown Superman territory in its upcoming ninth and final season: The show announced the hiring of actor Callum Blue to play the iconic villain General Zod.

Evan Rachel Wood joins ‘Spider-Man’
Alan Cumming also cast in Broadway rendition of comic
Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming have joined the cast of “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark,” the upcoming Broadway musical about the famous web-slinger. Wood will portray Peter Parker’s girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, while Alan Cumming takes on the role of Norman Osborn, also known as the villainous Green Goblin. The musical, directed by Julie Taymor, begins preview performances Feb. 25, 2010, at the Hilton Theatre. An opening date will be announced later — as will the actor who will play Spider-Man.

‘Watchmen’ director’s cut to theaters
Four cities to screen pic a week before Comic-Con
The cut, which will have an additional 25 minutes of footage including the death of a supporting character, will screen in Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis and Dallas before the movie is released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 21.

ËœTransformers’ Star Tyrese Gibson Talks ËœMayhem’ Comic, ËœLuke Cage’ Movie And¦ ËœCaptain America’?
The energy from Comic-Con really did something to me, Gibson told MTV News of what prompted him to try his hand at comics. Instead of me sitting back and waiting on ËœLuke Cage’ to finally happen ” which I’m still looking forward to doing once they get the script together ” and instead of me waiting on ËœCaptain America,’ which they were talking about me for, I’m going to create my own. And that’s what I did.

Exclusive: ROBOTECH Movie Gets New Writer
The live-action film version of the popular anime/manga/game franchise ‘Robotech’ has a new writer, according to sources close to the project. Comics2Film at Mania.com can exclusively reveal that award-winning novelist and UK TV writer Tom Rob Smith has taken over writing duties on the project.

Exclusive: The Making of “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies”
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is the new direct-to-DVD animated film from Warner Premier, that has President of the United States Lex Luthor declaring that Superman and, by association, Batman, are enemies of the country and must be brought to justice by any means necessary. Voices From Krypton interviews Jeph Loeb, Tim Daly, Clancy Brown, Stan Berkowitz, Gregory Noveck and more.

EXCLUSIVE: ËœDead Of Night’ Star Brandon Routh Talks PG-13 Rating And Villains
The comic property would probably be rated ËœR,’ we’re going for a PG-13 so more people can enjoy the film, Routh told MTV News regarding the Dead of Night adaptation. It’s [not just] gore and horror, it’s a lot more straight action, with a bit of comedy. The original Dylan Dog comics by Tiziano Sclavi included mature subject matter in their stories of the horror detective’s surreal investigations into the macabre.

“Superman/Batman: Public Enemies” on Sale September 29
A co-production of Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, the full-length animated film will be distributed by Warner Home Video on September 29, 2009. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies will be available as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray„¢ Hi-Def for $24.98 (SRP) and $29.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP) and On Demand. Order due date for all versions is August 25, 2009.

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Both comments and pings are currently closed.

About The Author

Scott From LA

Scott is an art director, writer and comics creator living in Los Angeles. He has been a pop culture maven from a very young age. His very first job was as a manager of a comic book store. He spent several years working in a video store, and yes, we are talking VHS tapes. A student of literature and Writing, he brings his obsessive love of comic book trivia, movie history and science fiction/fantasy writing to bear on the work he does for CoolShite.

Bookmark This

  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • MySpace
  • StumbleUpon
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • email
  • FriendFeed
  • Print
  • Twitter

Article Information

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments

Comments are closed.

Latest (Cool) Shite Shows