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News Roundup

Comic News Roundup – August 2010 – Week 2

Comic News Roundup – August 2010 – Week 2

FIRST LOOK: Captain Marvel takes flight — but will he ever reach the big screen?
The Captain Marvel short features voice work by Jerry O’Connell (“Crossing Jordan”) as Captain Marvel, Arnold Vosloo (“The Mummy”) as bad-guy Black Adam and George Newbern reprising his “Justice League” role as Superman.  Also, two-time Emmy Award winner James Garner (“The Rockford Files”) as the Wizard.

Joseph Kosinski’s ‘Oblivion’ snapped up by Disney
“Oblivion,” the upcoming Radical illustrated novel from “Tron Legacy” director Joseph Kosinski, has found a home with Disney. The sci-fi project will act as a Kosinski directing vehicle and will be produced by Radical principal Barry Levine and Kosinski. Radical’s Jesse Berger will act as executive producer. The story is set on a future Earth, where civilization lives above the clouds and alien scavengers stalk the irradiated surface below. When a surface drone repairman finds a woman inside a crashed spacepod planetside , it leads him on a journey filled with romance and adventure.

Y The Last Man Movie Not Dead
“It’s still in active development at New Line [and] I’m still kind of loosely attached. We’ve taken about four cracks at the screenplay… It’s been a really tough one, only because there’s so much that you cover and trying to narrow it down [is a problem]. My problem that I have with New Line [is], they’re good people, but I felt you had to make this film as a trilogy…[I felt] that you really had to deal with books one through four on their own. And I think there was a different philosophy there. They really wanted to cover a lot more ground [in one film], which I didn’t think would make a great movie. I thought you’d be cramming too much into one movie,” said director D.J. Caruso.

Casting Begins For Marvel’s Runaways
An open casting call has been announced for Runaways, the Marvel Studios adaptation set to begin filming in January. Created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, Runaways centers on six kids who discover their parents are super-villains known as the Pride. Fleeing from their homes, the kids band together to learn about their inherited powers, defeat the Pride and make up for the evil committed by their parents.

‘Watchmen’ Producer Options ‘Mage’
“Watchmen” producer Lloyd Levin has picked up the rights to Matt Wagner’s “Mage: The Hero Discovered;” the first part of the “Mage” trilogy that Wagner began at Comico in 1984. The second part, “Mage: The Hero Defined” came out from Image in 1997. However, the third and final part, “Mage: The Hero Denied” has not been released in the subsequent years. “Mage” follows a young man named Kevin Matchstick who learns that he has superhuman powers and gains a magic baseball bat while attempting to defeat an evil being called the Umbra Sprite. Matchstick later discovers that he is essentially a new incarnation of King Arthur while his bat is actually the sword Excalibur in a new form.

‘Smallville’ Update: CW President Talks Spinoff Series, Laura Vandervoort On Supergirl’s Return
“I’m not going to be able to say too much but [the episode] definitely [has] a lot of Clark and Kara discovering their past and what she’s found while she’s been away for the year about their family,” said Vandervoort. “People have always wondered why Clark can’t fly and that’s going to be kind of discovered in this episode. It’ll be good. It”ll be the usual banter between [Clark and Kara] as well.”

Director Edgar Wright Interview SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD; Plus Updates on TINTIN and THE WORLD’S END
“Whenever people ask about new projects, I have no new news because I’ve been working on this film solidly for two years since July 2008,” Wright said. “So I feel embarrassed when someone says ‘What’s happening with Ant Man?‘ and I say, ‘Well if you refer to that statement I made in 2008 its basically the same thing.’ Once this is done I’m going to take a bit of a break and do more writing. It always embarrasses me because websites ask about Ant Man and then they’ll be a thing that says ‘EDGAR WRIGHT GIVES ANT MAN UPDATE,’ it makes it sound like I’ve been sitting by the phone saying, ‘Want to hear some more about Ant Man?”

Greg Berlanti Interview NO ORDINARY FAMILY; Plus Updates on GREEN LANTERN and THE FLASH
Everybody is down there, working away on really creative constructs [for Green Lantern] and I think the film will be loaded for them. That was definitely a blast. When we were first writing it, we were a little timid about writing all of it into the script because we thought, “How will that read? Will they think it’s too goofy?” So, in one of the initial drafts, we wrote a lot of, “A ring blast,” or “A shot from the ring.” We didn’t always get as detailed with it. And then, as we got later and later into drafts, and they could provide more artwork and really show people what the movie could be, we could be more explicit about what those things were without it coming off too goofy.

Graphic novel ‘Lore’ being adapted for big screen
Andrew Lazar’s Mad Chance and Circle of Confusion are teaming up to give IDW Publishing graphic novel “Lore” the big-screen treatment. Cory Goodman, the scribe who wrote the Paul Bettany vampire thriller “Priest” for Screen Gems, and Jeremy Lott will write the screenplay. The producers are hoping to launch an action-adventure franchise in the vein of “Men in Black,” this one focused on mythological creatures. The story focuses on a young man who reluctantly becomes a member of an elite secret order charged with protecting humanity from the beasts of folklore who invade our world. The comic was created by Australian Ashley Wood and T.P. Louise, who at last year’s Comic-Con sold the rights to their book “World War Robot” to Jerry Bruckheimer.

Plot Details for KICK-ASS 2: BALLS TO THE WALL
..The film and the comic book are very closely tied together. There are only a few minor changes towards the end. It does led directly into a sequel, and I am writing the sequel as I always planned it to be. The actors may be a little bit older, or bigger. They can address that in the movie. But I am not changing anything for the comic book. We left things off with her being adopted by this extremely nice man. He is a cop. And she has to stop killing people, you know? That seems like an interesting starting point in the next one in regards to her character. She is going to be like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven, where she hasn’t picked up a gun in years. It’s that type of thing. I like the idea of doing that with an eleven year old girl. She was part of this massive cacophony of violence. But she’s not allowed to kill people anymore. She is consumed with anger, and forced to watch TV shows instead. Halfway through the movie, or the comic, we will follow her as she picks up a gun again. It is going to be awesome.

Fox picking up super-power project ‘Chronicle’
Twentieth Century Fox is in negotiations to pick up “Chronicle,” a spec script from the son of director John Landis, Max Landis, with first-time director Josh Trank is attached to helm the super-power project. According to the studio, the story focuses on the lives of three Portland teens that become exposed to a mysterious substance in the woods, and, as a result, begin to develop incredible powers. They work together to hone their skills for fun, until personal and family problems begin to turn them against one another. “Chronicle” is being eyed to be told in hand-held, documentary-style that has been slowly gaining popularity with movies such as “Cloverfield” and “Paranormal Activity.”

SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK ANNOUNCES DATES
The long-delayed Broadway show “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark” announced today that previews will start November 14th and it will open on December 21st at the Foxwoods Theatre, which used to be the Hilton. Directed by Julie Taymor and featuring music and lyrics by U2′s Bono and The Edge, “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark” stars Reeve Carney as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Jennifer Damiano as Mary Jane Watson and Patrick Page as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin.

Tony Scott, Fox to adapt Mark Millar’s ‘Nemesis’
Mark Millar has set up his latest creator-owned comic book, “Nemesis,” up at Fox, with Tony Scott attached to direct and Scott Free on board to produce. “Nemesis,” from Marvel’s Icon imprint, tackles the question of what if Batman was as villainous as the Joker, taking a character who is as smart, strong and resourceful as the detective hero but makes him out to be a near unstoppable villain. Steve McNiven, who worked with Millar on the Marvel mini-series “Civil War” and a run on “Wolverine,” illustrates “Nemesis.” So far, only two issues have been published, potentially putting the book in the same situation that “Kick-Ass” was in when its movie rights were picked up. Millar had not written the last chunk of that book when Matthew Vaughn began adapting “Kick-Ass,” causing the last third of the comic and movie to differ.

What Marvel Characters Will Get A Post-Avengers Movie Push?
“I think what Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction have done with ‘Iron Fist’ lately is exciting. I think ‘Black Panther’ and Wakanda has some amazing potential to be a feature film. ‘Doctor Strange,’ as you’ve mentioned. There are some obscure titles, too, like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ I think they’ve been revamped recently in a fun way in the book… I think S.H.I.E.L.D. could be it’s own franchise. I think, frankly, ‘The Avengers’ is going to be told from that point of view more so than any of the other films at that point, so we’re going to get an inside look [at how S.H.I.E.L.D.] operates,” said Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.

How Iron Man 2 Ruined Jon Favreau’s Relationship With Marvel
Favreau really wanted to direct The Avengers but Marvel didn’t want to pay for him. Their negotiations with Favreau to secure him as the director of Iron Man 2 were difficult and Favreau worked out a deal that got him paid more money. Marvel wasn’t willing to pay that kind of money again when it came time for The Avengers, and so even though Favs wanted to direct their superhero team-up movie, they didn’t want him. Instead Marvel has made it a point to seek out cheaper talent to direct all of their subsequent movies. Joss Whedon was hired to direct The Avengers and while he’s a mega-talented director he’s also a much cheaper hire than someone like Favreau. Sources says Iron Man 2 wasn’t the movie Jon Favreau wanted to make. Marvel interfered heavily with his work on the movie and turned the project into an infomercial for The Avengers.

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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