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Comic News Roundup – November 2009 – Week 4

Comic News Roundup – November 2009 – Week 4

Idris Elba joins Marvel Studios’ ‘Thor’
Idris Elba has joined the cast of “Thor,” Marvel Studios’ film centering on the Norse god of thunder. Kenneth Branagh is directing the adaptation of the Marvel comic. Chris Hemsworth will star as Thor; Tom Hiddleston will play Loki, and Natalie Portman is the love interest Jane Foster. Elba will play Heimdall; as the guardian of Asgard, he stands on the BiFrost Bridge ready to defend the city from intruders.

Peter Iliff to pen ‘American Gladiators’
Film to feature characters as superheroes
Scribe Peter Iliff has been tapped to adapt a live-action bigscreen version of “American Gladiators.” Story, which will feature the Herculean characters as superheroes, will be based on the TV show that first aired in 1988 and has been broadcast in more than 90 countries, with the format adapted for the local market in 14 of them. Most recently, NBC aired a primetime revival of the show in 2008.

‘Unthinkable’ happens for Mandalay, Boom Studios
Mandalay Pictures has picked up the film rights to Boom! Studios’ action-thriller comic book “Unthinkable.” Created and written by Mark Sable, “Unthinkable” centers on a brilliant man who was recruited just after 9/11 into a government think tank consisting of America’s most imaginative minds and tasked with dreaming up wild scenarios for possible attacks on U.S. soil. Years after the think tank was disbanded, the attacks the man concocted begin to occur, and he becomes the only one who can stop them. But the government has become his pursuer.

Worthington Signs on for AMERICAN CRIME
AVATAR actor to topline comic book movie
Comics creator Rick Remender has revealed to Mania.com that actor Sam Worthington has signed to appear in a filmed adaptation of the upcoming Radical Publishing title ‘The Last Days of American Crime’. The book, created and written by Remender and illustrated by Greg Tocchini, is a heist thriller told against a sci fi backdrop. In a near-future America, news has broken that, in a matter of weeks, the government is set to roll out mind-control technology that will kill the criminal impulse in all citizens. Chaos descends on America’s cities as the country braces for the new order. Career criminal Graham Brick is forced to accelerate the heist of his career with an untested new crew in order to beat the deadline.

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on ‘House,’ ‘Criminal Minds,’ ‘Glee,’ ‘Smallville,’ and more!
Question: Any new bits on Chloe’s love interest on Smallville? —Rich
Ausiello: Three bits. The character’s name is Steven Swift, his alias is Warrior Angel, and he’s being played by Carlo Marks. Does that actor sound familiar? He should. He also played Chloe’s “what if” fiancé in the season 7 episode “Apocalypse.” I’m thinking this Marks dude is either really good friends with the Smallville casting director, or the show’s writers are screwing with us.

Aurora, Platinum team on ‘Nightfall’
Stuart, Rosenberg to produce comic adaptation
Aurora Prods. and Platinum Studios are teaming on a feature version of Platinum’s graphic novel “Nightfall.” Project centers on a man who finds out just how bad life can get when he discovers that the prison he just entered is controlled by vampires. The original property, penned by Scott O. Brown and illustrated by Ferran Xalabarder, was published in 2007 by Platinum.

Warren Ellis’ ‘Global Frequency’ To Be Adapted (Again)
According to Production Weekly’s Twitter feed, a second adaptation of “Global Frequency” is in the works courtesy of The CW and writer Scott Nimerfro. The news was further touched upon by Ellis himself, who wrote on his personal website that he hadn’t “been cleared to comment yet” by the network.

Fuqua, Lee serve ‘Crime’ time
Vigilante Entertainment to develop project
Fuqua will direct a bigscreen adaptation of the graphic novel “Miss: Better Living Through Crime,” with Lee exec producing. Newly minted banner Vigilante Entertainment is developing the project, which revolves around Nola and Slim, two unlikely partners in crime in the early 1900s in New York. Nola is a poor white girl who has learned to survive by hook or by crook since being expelled from the orphanage. Slim is a black pimp with an uncertain past, trying to keep one foot out of the grave. Story revolves around a poor white girl and a black pim who forge a partnership as killers for hire.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse On His ‘Kick-Ass’ Fight Scene And Weed-Smoking Superhero
“My character is very more out there, very open with smoking weed and is like, ‘let’s go out there and fight crime!’ and Kick-Ass is very aware of what’s going on around him,” Mintz-Plasse explained to MTV News.

John Woo Not Directing ‘Caliber,’ Has No Interest In Superhero Movies
“It didn’t work out because it’s not good timing for me to take on the movie,” said Woo, confirming he’s no longer attached to an adaptation of the Arthurian saga set in the Wild West. Asked whether he’s ever been offered a superhero movie, the director said he’s “had some offers from a studio to make some kind of superhero-type movie, but I passed. I always said no because I just want to make something more realistic, something I like,” he explained.

IDW Announces ‘The Last Unicorn’ Comic Book
Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 novel “The Last Unicorn” (which was later adapted into an animated film in 1982) will now be adapted into a six-issue comic book series from IDW Publishing. The series will kick off in April 2010, and will be adapted from Beagle’s novel by writer Peter B. Gillis.

More ’30 Days of Night’ Sequels Planned, Stars to Return
“Right now we’re just trying to get this one in the can,” said creator/co-writer Steve Niles, adding that they plan on bringing back some of the cast. “If that goes well, we’re set up to move forward. We got a great young cast that we can bring along if this works out well, and we’ll be ready to keep going with the story. Plus, the comics are done. God, what do we have, like seven different graphic novels now if it actually took off?”

Producer Joel Silver on NINJA ASSASSIN, LOBO, SGT. ROCK, THE LOSERS, UNKNOWN WHITE MALE, More
“We’re working on ‘Lobo’ now,” said Silver. “I was looking at a test we made and I was seeing it through the eyes of [the San Diego] Comic-Con — through the eyes of that audience. It’s important to know that that audience is the biggest in the world. That’s the audience that you want to get.”

Kat Dennings Joins ‘Thor’ Cast, Reveals Co-Star Natalie Portman
“Well I’m really excited,” Portman told MTV News. “Kat Dennings is going to be in it with me and she’s a good friend and an amazing actress, so I’m looking forward to that… I was really excited when they told me Kenneth Branagh is directing it because it seemed like such a smart choice but such an unexpected choice, that it was like ‘This is really weird. I have to try this,’” Portman said.

‘Kull The Conqueror’ To Return To The Big Screen
According to a report on Fantasy.fr, Paradox Entertainment CEO Fredrik Malmberg has confirmed that a new adaptation of “Kull The Conqueror” is in the works. Paradox is also producing a new “Conan” film, based on Howard’s more famous creation. First created by Howard in 1929, Kull was an exiled warrior in pre-cataclysmic Atlantis who became a pirate, a mercenary, a gladiator and ultimately a King. In the chronology of Howard’s stories, Kull lived approximately eight thousand years before Conan.

Meanwhile, Back at The Hall of Justice…

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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About The Author

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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.

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