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Comic News Roundup – January 2010 – Week 4

Comic News Roundup – January 2010 – Week 4

“Captain America” In Prep Says Johnson
“We’re in prep,” Johnston says. “Rick Heinrichs is production-designing and we’re set up down in Manhattan Beach [California]. It’s the part of the process that I love the most,” he enthuses. “We have eight or ten really talented artists, and we all just sit around all day and draw pictures and say, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we could do this?’ It’s that phase of the production where money doesn’t matter: ‘Let’s put all the greatest stuff up on the wall and [then later] see what we can afford.’” The film, he says at this early stage, will begin “in 1942, 1943″ during World War II. “The stuff in the ’60s and ’70s [comic books] we’re sort of avoiding. We’re going back to the ’40s, and then forward to what they’re doing with Captain America now.”

‘Kick-Ass’ Director Matthew Vaughn Wants To Do ‘Sandman’ Movie
“I think it’s weird that hardly any Neil Gaiman stuff has been made. The idea that no one has made ‘Sandman’ yet is weird,” said Vaughn. “You know what, I would love to do “Sandman,” but I think it’s stuck in development hell,” Vaughn said, “But that could be like a ‘Lord of the Rings’ – just a huge movie.”

Archaia and Jim Henson Company Announce First Fraggle Rock Comics
“All of us at Archaia are so proud of how Fraggle Rock is turning out,” said Stephen Christy, Director of Development for Archaia. “We’re taking a lot of unique approaches with this series, from launching it in our popular 8” x 8” Mouse Guard format to bringing in incredibly talented indie creators such as Jeffrey Brown, creator of Incredible Change-Bots, and Jeremy Love, creator of Bayou, to share their visions of this classic Jim Henson Company creation. We’re working very hard to make sure this book is a fresh take for fans of the show and will also appeal to new audiences, and I’m excited that readers will be able to fully dive into the world of Fraggle Rock with issue #1 in April and our Free Comic Book Day special in May!”

Olivia Wilde to star opposite Daniel Craig in ‘Cowboys and Aliens’
Olivia Wilde is in negotiations to star opposite Daniel Craig in the sci-fi Western “Cowboys & Aliens,” which Jon Favreau is directing for DreamWorks Studios. Wilde will play a character named Ella who joins up with mysterious gunslinger in an unlikely uprising against an alien invasion.

‘I, Frankenstein’: a monster mash from ‘Underworld’ creators
Lakeshore, the production-financing outfit behind the “Underworld” movie series, is readying what it hopes will be its next action-horror franchise, “I, Frankenstein.” The company has preemptively picked up the script for the comic book adaptation. The project has “Underworld” roots. It’s based on a comic from “Underworld” co-creator Kevin Grevioux, who wrote the script for “Frankenstein,” and “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” helmer Patrick Tatopoulos is attached to direct. The project brings together classic monster characters — including the Frankenstein monster, the Invisible Man, Dracula and the Hunchback of Notre Dame — in a contemporary film noir setting.

Aaron Johnson is “Kick-Ass”
“Jane [Goldman], the writer on this, and Mark Millar and Matthew really kind of created the end of the comic. I think Mark Millar had a different ending for the comic, but they’ve pulled together to make it work for the comic and the movie. So it’s kind of cool that we’re going to be sticking to the comic. I know with “Wanted,” when I read it, it was miles away – completely different from the movie. It would be really great, if we stick to the comic book.”

Kevin Feige on Upcoming Marvel Studios Films
“It’s fun now, and we’re introducing some new characters in ['Iron Man 2'],” he said. “But it’s not about just cramming in lots of new people; that’s sort of the cardinal sin of the sequel – adding in too many characters. This is totally Tony Stark’s story. And that’s gonna weave into Thor’s story, and Steve Rogers’ story, and it’s already ingrained with Nick Fury’s story and an organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Andrea Romano Discusses Directing All-Star Voices on “Justice League: Crisis on Earth Two”
Romano has been one of the driving forces in animation voiceovers for more than a quarter century, amassing a list of credits that range from dramatic (Batman: The Animated Series) to silly (Animaniacs) to hip (The Boondocks) and timeless (Smurfs). The six-time Emmy Award winner (and 20-time nominee) has not only set the standard by which industry veterans measure the art, but she has become a household name to animation fans across the globe, regularly drawing standing ovations and endless applause during her annual Con appearances.

‘White Collar’ Actor Recalls Brief Time As Brett Ratner’s Superman
“I actually screen-tested for Superman, and there was a time when Brett Ratner and I were going to work together on it,” Matthew Bomer recounted. “That particular incarnation of that franchise sort of fell apart, and then it became a whole different beast. I was in full tights,” he laughed when asked how much of the costume he had donned for his screen test. “I was rocking the tights, the speedo, all of it. It was really surreal,” he added. “As a kid, you grow up idolizing superheroes, and to be in that garb was really fun and surreal and humbling. … It was a really great experience, and one that I’m really thankful for. I got to live out a childhood fantasy, if only for the period of the screen test.”

Zac Efron to star in spy thriller from Marvel scribe Brian Michael Bendis
The studio has picked up the rights to the graphic novel “Fire” by Brian Michael Bendis. Zac Efron is attached to star and will exec produce. Written and drawn by Bendis, the story centers on a college student who is inducted into a special CIA project that tests whether training ordinary citizens to be agents can be successful. Bendis is also on board to write the adaptation.

‘Thor’ To Be More Science Than Fantasy, Says Marvel Studios President
“We’re not doing the blow-the-dust-off-of-the-old-Norse-book-in-your-library ‘Thor,’” said Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. “And in the ‘Thor’ of the Marvel Universe, there’s a race called the Asgardians. And we’re linked through this Tree of Life that we’re unaware of. It’s real science, but we don’t know about it yet. The ‘Thor’ movie is about teaching people that.”

Robert Downey Jr. On ‘Avengers’ Quality Vs. Scheduling And Tony Stark’s ‘Iron Man 2′ Mindset
“[Avengers is] the pinnacle, but only if it’s done in the smartest and best and most creatively sound way possible,” he said. “And I’m not saying we can’t get there. I’m just saying it would be better to get there and not stay on schedule than to get everyone what they were hoping for in terms of a release date but not do it correctly. And by correctly, I mean my way,” he laughed.

Did Avatar Completely Rip Off An Obscure British Comic Called Firekind?
Only someone who came into existence three seconds ago could deny the twin influences of Halo: Combat Evolved and Ferngully: The Last Rainforest on James Cameron’s xenobestial masterpiece Avatar. But could Cameron’s inspirations lie deeper? It’s a classic tale – boy goes to a lush planet with toxic atmosphere, floating rocks and dragons, going native with the blue skinned natives, resisting marauding colonialists and rallying the nature god of the planet to go forth and destroy. Unfortunately, it was the plot to Firekind, a comic book series published in British sci-fi anthology 2000ad (home to Judge Dredd) in 1993.

Sgt. Rock’ reloads as movie project — but not as a WWII story
“I’m really close on that now,” Silver said of the “Sgt. Rock” film. “What we’ve done is gone back to it and we’ve done a new draft that actually came in this week. We have a shot at that one now. I feel good about it. That one might happen. It’s a little bit in the future,” Joel Silver said of the setting. “As a war movie, it’s not going to be ‘where it’s been,’ it’s going to be ‘where it’s going.’ We didn’t want to do Iraq, we didn’t want to do a contemporary war. We wanted to do a sort of futuristic war. It’s pretty strong. Chad St. John wrote the script and we’ve got Francis Lawrence involved in developing it with us. It’s not a ‘go’ movie yet but I’m feeling good about it.”

Brandon Routh is Hanging with CHUCK and SCOTT PILGRIM
I play Todd Ingram in [Scott Pilgrim]. The film stars Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, and he has to defeat seven evil exes of Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character, in order to continue dating her. The seven exes basically challenge Michael, and I play one of them. I’m a vegan rock star with a blonde wig. Because I’m vegan, I have these special powers, the power of telekinesis. So, I end up having this huge bass battle with Michael Cera, as we’re playing dueling bass guitars, and I throw him around telekinetically threw walls and such. And my blonde wig becomes a faux-hawk whenever I use my powers, and then flattens back down when I’m not using them.

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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