Comic News Roundup – November 2009 – Week 1
The Losers: Idris Elba interview
a roundtable interview with actor Idris Elba from the upcoming comic book movie The Losers, based on the comic book by writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock. Elba has previously starred in Ultraviolet, Obsessed and The Wire, and in The Losers he plays the character of Roque, the scar-faced second-in-command, whose only motivation is the money.
‘Sin City 2′ To Shoot Next Year, ‘Hard Boiled’ To Follow?
“We’re still developing [‘Hard Boiled’]. We got the project in turnaround from Warner Bros and Frank,” “Sin City 2” producer Stephen L’Heureux explained. “With ‘Sin City’ just on the horizon I don’t think we’d be able to do it with Frank right away. As simple as ‘Sin City’ seems, it’s a very complex scheduling with all these actors and it’s a very demanding shoot to be on a sound stage all day long. We have to space it for Frank.”
Brian Bendis On ‘Powers’ TV Series Pilot Episode And Tone
“['Powers'] is in healthy development,” Bendis explained. “It’s not green lit yet, but over the course of the last couple months, we got ourselves a showrunner, which is really big news for a show. It creates a more healthy environment for the show’s development.”
Anthony Hopkins to play Thor’s father, Odin
Anthony Hopkins is in negotiations to play the Norse god Odin in “Thor,” Marvel Studios’ adaptation being directed by Kenneth Branagh. The movie’s story sees the god of thunder Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions re-ignite an ancient war. As punishment, Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans. Once here, he learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends dark forces of Asgard to invade Earth.
‘30 Days of Night’ Sequel Underway In Vancouver
“Not something I’ve seen spread around anywhere else yet, but the sequel to ‘30 Days of Night,’ ‘Dark Days,’ began shooting in Vancouver today,” IDW publisher Chris Ryall posted on his Twitter account.
The Making of “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths”
“There are so many different continuities for all of the characters in the comics over the many years, that we’re sort of used to seeing Batman and Superman in different contexts, which is fun,” says writer Dwayne McDuffie, “but a lot of it, in this particular case, is seeing what the world would be like if they weren’t good people.“
Framelight ramps up ‘Chi-Chian’
Also hires scribe for family adventure, ‘Tom Trueheart’
The company has optioned rights to the cult comic “Chi-Chian” and will develop it as a feature. The fairy tale-tinged “Chi-Chian” is set in a dystopian New York — the city has lost its independence and become a prefecture of Japan — and centers on a seemingly ordinary young woman who has been tapped as a heroine and must fight samurais, robots and zombies to protect her loved ones. The property, which began life as a six-part comic book from the Cuban-American musician Voltaire, spawned a set of digital episodes for Syfy and Syfy.com as well as a role-playing game.
Nathan Fillion Compares ‘Greatest American Hero’ To ‘Firefly,’ Campaigns For Reboot
“I just finished watching the DVD collection of it and thought it had some really great direction and I think it kind of slipped and slid around a little bit,” he explained. “They changed the main character’s name a couple times … It seemed to be suffering from the same kind of mistreatment that ‘Firefly’ suffered from—episodes being shown out of order, never for more than two weeks consecutively, [and] being preempted for different things.”
Vigilante launching with ‘Black Summer’
Ryne Pearson to direct comicbook adaptation for co.
Newly minted banner Vigilante Entertainment is launching operations by developing Warren Ellis’ comicbook series “Black Summer” with Ryne Pearson (“Knowing”) tapped to adapt. “Summer,” published by Avatar Press in 2007, centers on superhero team the Seven Guns, a group of scientist-adventurers who modified their own bodies for street-fighting in order to take back their West Coast city from a corrupt police force, criminal local government and rapacious private security forces.
Mark Millar to Direct Superhero Movie
“…this is one of several big surprises planned for next year and you’ll hear a bit more about this in February when we start to release details. What is it? Who is it about?” Millar said on his website. “Well, that’s all a secret for now, but I learned a lot from Kick-Ass and love having the same creative freedom I have with comics when I work in cinema. I never want to be a studio bitch and go in there pitching for them to love me. The closest I came to this was a couple of calls regarding Superman, but pretty much none of my plans ever revealed as I didn’t like the idea of anyone nicking them.”
Grant Morrison Pitches To BBC Scotland
Director Paul McGuigan twittered earlier; “Pitching meeting today. Grant Morrison out-dressed me with his purple suit. I need to up my game.” It’s BBC Scotland…for a while that certain people at BBC Scotland are very jealous at BBC Wales for getting Doctor Who and Torchwood. Grant Morrison has talked about wanting to write for the Doctor Who TV show but that he hadn’t been approached. Maybe this is his way of getting his own sci-fi TV show off the ground. Hell, maybe it is The Invisibles.
‘Green Lantern’ Director Discusses Intergalactic And Earthbound Shooting Locations
“It’s [energized] by a battery on the planet of Oa, which taps into the willpower of everyone in the universe,” said the director. “From that ring you can form constructs. So if you got into a fight, you could form a giant first. Or a fighter plane. It’s daunting,” Campbell admitted of the film’s epic scale. “Just the process, something like 1,300 visual effects shots, it’s mind-blowing, quite honestly.”
Fox21, Platinum load ‘Gunplay’ for TV
Graphic novel adaptation centers on buffalo soldier
Fox21 has partnered with Platinum Studios to develop a TV series based on Platinum’s graphic novel “Gunplay.” “Final Destination” writer-producer Glen Morgan is on board to adapt the novel, created and written by Jorge Vega.”Gunplay” centers on Abner Meeks, a buffalo soldier condemned to roam the Old West with a hellish curse slung at his waist: a demonic shooting iron that forces him to kill once a day or suffer soul-searing pain.
Don Cheadle Dishes on ‘Iron Man 2′
“I think the character that I play, my CGI character worked as much as I worked,” reveals Cheadle, who plays Col. Jim Rhodes and War Machine in the movie. “The stuntman worked as much as I worked. It’s a huge undertaking. It was great. It was a really different experience than I have worked on before. Robert [Downey Jr.] is a great guy to work with. Jon Favreau, everybody is quality. It’s a lot of fun, the series.”
‘Smallville’ Hawkman Fitted For Wings, Says JSA Could Return For Future Episodes
“Hawkman being the alpha in the Justice Society, being someone who…has made some missteps along the way, can or could represent a type of mentor character to Clark in his leadership abilities with his burgeoning team members of the Justice League,” Shanks said. “He represents a character that has a lot of wisdom to pass down to this next generation, so there is a strong possibility that once the initial phase wears off that there will be a coming together of those two to paint a larger portrait of the future, of what Clark has available to him and what his options are.”
Meanwhile, Back at The Hall of Justice…
- Does Nickelodeon’s ‘TMNT’ Deal Mean The End of Mirage Studios?
- Casting Breakdown: Marcus Nispel’s Conan
- Willem Dafoe As Batman? It Almost Happened!
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.
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