Set 50 years before the first Cylon War in Battlestar Galactica, the two-hour TV-movie/series pilot Caprica (airing this fall) is more soap opera than space opera."Caprica is a sweeping, highly emotional relationship drama — a Rich Man, Poor Man set in a science-fiction environment," says exec producer and writer Remi Aubuchon (24), who created the prequel with BSG's Ronald D. Moore. "The look is nostalgic, almost 1950s, with the men in hats, ties and stylish suits. It's not about hardware and space battles."Caprica stars Eric Stoltz as Daniel Graystone, a Bill Gates–like entrepreneur and inventor, and Esai Morales as immigrant lawyer Joseph Adama (the father of BSG's William), who hails from the other-side-of-the-tracks planet Tauron. "They're brought together by mutual grief when their daughters are killed in a terrorist bombing," Aubuchon says. But the bond turns sour when Graystone brings back their offspring as robots, creating the ancestors of the Cylons. Also on board: Paula Malcolmson (Deadwood) as Graystone’s high-strung surgeon wife and Polly Walker (Rome) as a religious academy headmistress who secretly teaches monotheism — a crazy twist for BSG fans who've been led to believe the idea of one god originated with the Cylons. — Michael Logan
Despite the fact that all the heroes die at the end of Warner Bros.' 300, the hit sword-and-sandal epic apparently has a sequel in development. According to Daily Variety, graphic novelist/director Frank Miller
is writing a second graphic novel to serve as a blueprint for a new
film from Legendary Pictures. Zack Snyder, who directed the first film,
is reportedly open to making a second foray into ancient Sparta,
provided he likes Miller's comic. The film would have to be a prequel
or focus on entirely different characters, which would mean that
Legenday couldn't cash in on the popularity of King Leonidas as played
by Gerard Butler.
Green-screen photography and CG technology allowed the producers of 300
to make the film for $65 million, which is less than half the cost of
most Hollywood blockbusters. The film went on to make $456 million
worldwide and convince other filmmakers that pics of epic scope could
be made relatively on the cheap. Legendary also bankrolled Snyder's
adaptation of Alan Moore's bestselling graphic novel Watchmen, which comes out next summer. However, the success of 300 has apparently left the company with a taste for mythical heroes. Its next project is a remake of Clash of the Titans for Warner Bros., with Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) attached to direct.
Snyder is following Watchmen with an animated adaptation of Kathryn Lasky’s young adult book series Guardians of Ga’Hoole
for Village Roadshow. Warner Bros. will release the film in theaters as
early as 2009 or 2010. The helmer is getting his feet wet in animation
with Tales of the Black Freighter, an anime-style DVD feature based on a comic within the Watchmen comic.
Miller, who co-directed Robert Rodriguez's filmed adaptation of his Sin City graphic novel, took the reins on a big-screen version of the classic Will Eisner comic book series The Spirit. Made in a similar style to Sin City, the pic is slated to hit theaters on Christmas day. Sin City will also get a couple of sequels with Miller's involvement.
Hey guys,
I'm trying to hook things up with Christian, who is mentioned in this article, for my animated series.
Read on. I think this Disney-idea is ingenius.
Disney has inked a multiyear deal with Ahmet Zappa, former Twentieth TV topper Harris Katleman and Christian Beranek
to oversee Kingdom Comics, which will develop graphic novels for film
adaptation and turn past live-action pics into comicbooks.
Disney Publishing Worldwide will have the first opportunity to distribute publications created by Kingdom Comics.
Zappa,
who has been an actor, writer and producer for various projects, called
the gig "a dream job filled with enormous fun and potential," adding
that he can't wait to bring a fresh approach to graphic novels and the
movies.
"There are a lot of great stories waiting to be told,
including some familiar properties residing in the Disney vaults,"
Beranek said.
Zappa, the third of Frank Zappa's four children, started out as an actor on such shows as "Roseanne" and "Growing Pains"
and has since appeared in films and reality shows. He sold the rights
to his first novel, "The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless," to
Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films in 2006 and is exec producing "Fraggle Rock: The Movie" with the Jim Henson Co.
Beranek,
a writer and editor, formed his own publishing company, Silent Devil,
in 1996, producing titles such as "Dracula vs. King Arthur" and "Super
Frat." He recently finished the latest draft of the "Dracula vs. King
Arthur" screenplay and has consulted with Universal Music Publishing, Harley-Davidson, AOL and Mazda on graphic novels.
Bruce Boxleitner Becomes A Hero: Bruce Boxleitner (Tron, Babylon 5) will be joining the cast of NBC's Heroes next season. The details on his character are currently being kept under wraps though it has been said he will be sharing scenes with one of the female regulars.
Watchman "Tales of the Black Freighter" Coming To DVD: Warner Brothers, in a effort to reduce the decline of their DVD sales is planning something unusual around the release of their upcoming adaptation of the popular graphic novel “Watchmen.” Directed by Zack Snyder and set for a March 2009 release, the movie tells the story of a group of retired superheroes who are tied to a conspiracy that could change history. To go along with that it appears Mr. Snyder is also directing a separate-but-related picture that Warner plans to distribute exclusively on DVD. The second film, tentatively called “Tales of the Black Freighter,” follows a side “Watchmen” storyline about a shipwreck and will arrive in stores five days after the main movie rolls out in theaters. The DVD will also include a documentary-style film called “Under the Hood” that will delve into the characters’ back-stories.
And best of all! (please insert sarcasm) Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation Team Up for Live Action/Animated Smurfs Movie Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation have obtained the motion picture rights to the Smurfs from Lafig Belgium S.A. via producer Jordan Kerner. The parties will develop a dynamic, live action/animated major motion picture based on the iconic and lovable sky blue colored classic characters it was jointly announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures, Bob Osher, president of digital production for Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Hannah Minghella, President of Production for Sony Pictures Animation. Jordan Kerner will produce the film for Sony. David Stem and David Weiss are in negotiations to be brought on board to write the screenplay. Stem and Weiss are the award-winning screenwriters behind Shrek 2 and 3, and other notable animated projects including The Rugrats Movie, and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Commenting on the announcement Belgrad said, "The Smurfs are one of the best-known franchises and among the most beloved collection of characters in the world. These classic characters have entertained millions of people and several generations all over the world for more than half a century. We're very excited to introduce a new generation to Papa Smurf, Smurfette and the other Smurfs in all of their 'three apple tall' glory." "Through Animation and Imageworks, our visual effects and character animation studio, we have an extraordinary capability to mix animation and live action having created a number of fully-realized CG characters in live action films from Stuart Little to Spider-Man 3," said Osher. "We couldn't be more delighted or excited about working together on The Smurfs motion picture."
Justice League is dead! Reports were circulating late last week that producer Joel Silver told chud. com that the "Justice League of America" movie had been "tabled".
I
briefly cornered producer Joel Silver to ask him how the Justice League
movie would affect Wonder Woman. The answer: it won't. According to
Silver, who would be in the know, Justice League has been 'tabled.
'
Today, a trusted insider who was working on the JLA movie told the Superman Homepage that the film is indeed dead...
Apparently
much of the crew were given termination notice a fortnight ago,
spending the past two weeks chaotically attempting to archive
everything "just in case".
"It's
a pity, there was a lot of good stuff in it - stuff that would've been
fairly new to the screen", said my inside source. "But also some not so
good stuff... so who knows...".
So is that it? Is the JLA movie dead and buried?
"There's a glimmer of hope that it will still be done... but that's a lot of planets to align.
HULK movie trailer news Don't miss the very first teaser-trailer from "The Incredible Hulk"
this Wednesday, March 12, at approximately 9:56 p.m. EST/6:56 p.m. PST
on MTV, MTVU, MTV2, VH1, Spike TV, Nick at Nite and CMT. Then check it
out, Thursday, on Marvel.com!
In January we reported that the project had been put on "indefinite hold",
at least until the writers strike had finished and they could figure
out what the heck was going on with it. As we all know, the writers strike ended
back on February 12th and now Warner Brothers is trying to get
something into production because they're summer season is looking
pretty bare. A report from Variety today confirms that Justice League is being pushed back into production for a 2009 debut and is possibly being rename to Justice League: Mortal.
As a refresher, Happy Feet director George Miller was attached and a script had been written by first-time husband and wife writers Michele and Kieran Mulroney.
Miller is still attached as director and is currently in pre-production
down in Australia, and Michele and Kieran are back hard at work
polishing up the script. It's expected to be finalized and back in the
studio's hands in a few weeks and all of the cast, as listed below,
have been told to continue training and preparing for their superhero
roles.
Now onto the important part - casting. In addition to all of the actors previously reported as part of the film, AICN rumored recently that Hugh Keays-Byrne would join as Martian Manhunter. Now here's the full line-up, as best we can tell:
Other updates on the project include that production on the movie is
being moved from Australia to Vancouver, BC, possibly to save on costs.
And yet another rumor popped up previously about the story that said
that Batman and Superman were offed early on and not a major part of
the film. For now we'll take all of these rumors with a grain of salt
until some solid details officially come out.
by CBR News Team, Editor Posted: February 20, 2008 —
Official Press Release
On April 30, after COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS has reached its amazing
conclusion and before FINAL CRISIS begins, DC Comics will unleash the
amazing, low-priced special DC UNIVERSE: ZERO!
Priced at just $0.50 and timed to arrive in stores before Free Comic Book
Day, DC UNIVERSE: ZERO is written by Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns and
features art by some of the biggest names in comics, including George Pérez,
Tony Daniel, J.G. Jones, Aaron Lopresti, Ivan Reis, Philip Tan and Carlos
Pacheco!
Starring the greatest heroes of the DCU, everything leading to FINAL CRISIS
and beyond begins in DC UNIVERSE: ZERO. Take a journey through the past and
present of the DCU, and witness the emergence of the greatest evil in the
universe — and the stunning return of a force for good!
DC UNIVERSE: ZERO is retro-solicited in the March Previews and is scheduled
to arrive in stores on April 30 with a cover price of just $.50 U.S.
THE HOBBIT movie delayed LOS ANGELES - The estate of "Lord of the Rings" creator J.R.R. Tolkien
is suing the film studio that released the trilogy based on his books,
claiming the company hasn't paid it a penny from the estimated $6
billion the films have grossed worldwide.
The suit, filed Monday, claims New Line was required to pay 7.5 percent
of gross receipts to Tolkien's estate and other plaintiffs, who contend
they only received an upfront payment of $62,500 for the three movies
before production began.
The writer's estate, a British charity dubbed The Tolkien Trust, and
original "Lord of the Rings" publisher HarperCollins filed the lawsuit
against New Line Cinema in Los Angeles Superior Court. If successful,
it could block the long-awaited prequel to the films.
Robert Pini, a spokesman for Time Warner Inc.'s New Line, declined to comment.
The films — 2001's ""The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring," "2002's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," and 2003's "the
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" - have reaped nearly $6
billion combined worldwide, according to the complaint.
The estimate includes everything from box office receipts to revenue from sales of DVDs and other products.
The plaintiffs seek more than $150 million in compensatory damages,
unspecified punitive damages and a court order giving the Tolkien
estate the right to terminate any rights New Line may have to make
films based on other works by the author, including "The Hobbit."
Such an order would scuttle plans by New Line to make a two-film
prequel based on "The Hobbit." "Rings" trilogy director Peter Jackson
has already signed on to serve as executive producer on the project,
which is tentatively slated to begin production next year, with
releases planned for 2010 and 2011.
"The Tolkien trustees do not file lawsuits lightly, and have tried
unsuccessfully to resolve their claims out of court," Steven Maier, an
attorney for the Tolkien estate based in Britain, said in a statement.
"New Line has not paid the plaintiffs even one penny of its contractual
share of gross receipts despite the billions of dollars of gross
revenue generated by these wildly successful motion pictures."
Maier also claims the film studio has blocked the Tolkien estate and
the other plaintiffs from auditing the receipts of the last two films.
The lawsuit claims J.R.R. Tolkien established a trust through which he
signed a film deal in 1969 with United Artists. After Tolkien's death,
his heirs created the charity in the author's name.
Meanwhile, the original agreement terms were picked up by Hollywood
Producer Saul Zaentz, who produced an animated film in 1978 based on
the "Rings" books, and eventually licensed the rights to make
live-action films to New Line.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they have spent the years since the
movies hit theaters trying to negotiate a settlement with New Line.
Other disputes over the film's earnings have surfaced in recent years.
In 2004, Zaentz sued New Line, claiming the studio cheated him out of
$20 million in royalties from the film trilogy, which he optioned to
New Line for a percentage of the movies' profits.
He and the film studio reached an out-of-court settlement a year later.
Jackson's production company also tangled with New Line in 2005 over profits from the films. A lawsuit was settled last year.
Two animated features with very different epic vibes premiere on
home video today as The Weinstein Co. and Genius Products release Turok: Son of Stone, and Genius gives us The Ten Commandments,
which opened theatrically in October of last year. There’s more heroic
action to be found in the second volume of episodes from Warner Bros.
Animation’s Legion of Super Heroes and a special edition release of the 1970 Disney favorite The Aristocats.
A classic 1950s comic-book series and modern video game favorite finally makes its way to the screen with Turok: Son of Stone.
In the film, the title Stone Age native American returns home after
twenty years in exile to find his village in ruins, his people
annihilated by their ruthless enemy, Chichak, and his brother, Nashoba,
dying. Upon his brother’s death, Turok swears revenge and seeks to
protect his brother’s wife and son. To keep his promise, our hero must
journey to the Lost Land, a savage and primeval world outside of time,
and struggle with dinosaurs, cave dwellers and even his own spirit. The
unrated movie features some graphic violence and is not intended for
young children.
Turok is voiced by Adam Beach (Flags of our Fathers, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee), leading a cast that includes Robert Knepper (Good Night, and Good Luck), Irene Bedard (The New World), Cree Summer (Rugrats) and Graham Greene (Dances With Wolves). The film’s supervising director is Tad Stones, who most recently served as supervising director of the animated DVD feature Hellboy: Blood and Iron, which he co-wrote with Mike Mignola, creator of the Hellboy comics. In bringing Turokto
the screen, Stones got some help from accomplished directors Dan Riba,
Curt Geda and Frank Squillace. Two-time Emmy winner Riba has directed
episodes of the animated series Justice League, Batman Beyond and Superman: The Animated Series, as well as Batman Beyond: The Movie. Fellow Emmy winner Geda has directed such animated movies as Ultimate Avengers, Superman: Brainiac Attacks, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Squillace’s directorial credits include Jackie Chan Adventures, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee and X-Men: The Animated Series.
Stones,
Riba, Geda and Squillace all provide commentary on the disc, along with
producer Evan Bailey. There’s also a featurette titled Total Turok,
which examines the property from its comic-book beginnings and how it’s
been updated for modern audiences with this new film. The DVD lists for
$19.95.
With narration by Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley, The Ten Commandments
features the voices of Christian Slater as Moses, Alfred Molina as
Ramses and Oscar nominee Elliott Gould as God. The film is directed by
Bill Boyce (Hermie & Friends) and John Stronach (Ben Hur, Cahoots) from a screenplay by Ed Naha (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids).
The film is produced by Promenade Pictures and arrives on disc with a
music video for the song “I Am Willing” by Jeremy Camp, a
behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews with Slater and Molina, and an
interactive game titled Ten Commandments Challenge. The first in a
proposed series of 12 biblical films, the release lists for $19.95.
Legion of Super Heroes Vol. 2
offers four more episodes of the new animated series from Warner Bros.
Animation. The show finds an awkward teen named Clark Kent transported
to the 31st Century to use his unique abilities and superhero alter ego
to help fellow teens Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl and
Lightning Lad battle the Fatal Five and other threats to the galaxy.
Fans of the series can pick up the latest DVD for $14.97 or less.
Disney has polished another classic form its vaults, bringing digitally enhanced picture and sound to The Aristocats,
an animated feature starring the voices of Phil Harris, Eva Gabor,
Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers and Paul Winchell. Set in Paris,
the movie centers on Dutchess, a high-society cat with three kittens,
who inherits the estate of her late millionaires owner. When the
scheming buttler attempts to pull off the ultimate catnap caper, an
alley cat and his jazz cat band swing in to save the day. Listing for
$20.99, The Aristocats Special Edition features a deleted song and a virtual kitten game.
