Lyzsi Sinclair"Comic Hollywood" - Part Two.
Part one as you know dealt with looking at what Hollywood was doing with comic book adaptations, and what each medium gets out of it - more importantly whether it was working. Now, I bring you as much comic book news as I can fit into one place...
So let's start with the Marvel universe. The first bit of news to report clearly has to be the fact that Samuel L. Jackson is signed up for NINE more marvel movies. These include “Iron Man 2”, “The Avengers”, and “The First Avenger: Captain America” films, (although no cameo in the future “Thor” film). There is also talk from the man himself about a possible S.H.I.E.L.D film which could be a staring vehicle for the Nick Fury character. He was quoted as saying:
IMDb have a page set up for this under the name “Nick Fury” and with a release currently for 2012, sometime after the big “The Avengers” film, which is being directed by non other than Joss Whedon. Due out on May 4th 2012, a quick look at the cast list shows the inclusion of major "Iron Man" characters; the obvious inclusion of Chris Evans as Captain America/Steve Rogers; characters from up-coming "Thor"; and also the rumoured appearance of Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk, and Lou Ferrigno respectively as his voice.
On the subject of Captain America, there is much news on casting and plot-line cameos. Shooting begins on June 28th of this year, with director Joe Johnston (“Honey, I Shrunk The Kids”, “Jumanji” and “Wolfman”) at the helm. The ever-menacing Hugo Weaving has been cast as the films main villain “Red Skull”, with British actor Toby Jones cast as the evil scientist Arnim Zola. Information on Red Skull's part in the film says:
It's unknown as yet what is meant by “updating” in a film set in a WWII-era – only time will tell what happens with that. Another bit of news for the film include the possible cameo of Iron Man Tony Stark's father – Howard Stark in this film, (played by John Slattery in “Iron Man 2”). “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau said:
It's going to be interesting to see if that happens, and who will play the young Howard Stark. “The First Avenger: Captain America” is due for release on July 22nd 2011.
Talking of Jon Favreau, with "Iron Man 3" possibly looking to be a go, he's been letting out a few details on which villain he'd like to see Tony Stark deal with next. In a recent MTV interview he said:
If you remember, Favreau himself had already laid out the groundwork for the Ten Rings organisation in the first "Iron Man”, so this villain would be able to slide in quite well – assuming Kenneth Branaugh pulls off “Thor” in a convincing way. Here's hoping, because this is an arch nemesis I'd love to see happen!
Two films of Marvel heroes next – “Ghost Rider” and “Spiderman”. First we turn to the film that left many fans disappointed with it's first instalment, despite a brooding Nicolas Cage in the centre Role. “Ghost Rider” was one of the films that Marvel sold the rights of before they themselves became part of Disney and a financially stable company. The news here is two-fold: 1) It looks like Cage can't return to the main role because of scheduling conflicts. He's going to be a busy man filming the third “National Treasure” instalment so unless it's filmed afterwards he just can't do it, (even though he has expressed an interest in returning to the role). 2) If the studio don't get filming by November, it's going to seem likely that they'll lose those rights – perhaps with Marvel buying them back as part of their big universe of films. On the “Spiderman” subject, many will remember that the third film didn't quite live up to the standards set by one and two – well now prepare for a reboot of the franchise, headed by producer Matthew Tolmach. He says:
Tolmach has also said that he is excited but nervous about his company’s upcoming "Spiderman" reboot, which he described as ‘Peter Parker told differently.’ He promised it will look, feel and smell different from the three films starring Tobey Maguire. I'm not completely sure myself that I actually want another “Ghost Rider” or “Spiderman”, but I hope that maybe the latter can get back to good box office territory – without letting the comic books themselves down.
Next in the Marvel universe is the updates on the fourth “X-Men” film - “X-Men: First Class”. Matthew Vaughn (director of “Kick Ass” and “Stardust”) is signed to the project, with Bryan Singer (director for the previous “X-Men” and “X2”) taking on the producers role, along with Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg. The film begins production this summer for a June 3rd 2011 release, and has Josh Schwartz (creator of “The OC”), Jamie Moss (“Street Kings”), Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz scribing. As an extra addition, Jane Goldman (collaborator to Vaughn on both “Stardust” and “Kick-Ass”), will be looking over the script and doing any of the re-writes needed. The plot-line goes as follows:
Hopefully with a story like this we'll get a strong film, that will pick the franchise back up. There is also an IMDb page for the “X-Men Origins: Magneto” film, although that hasn't been updated since November 2009, and has been commented on as “On the back burner”.
Right, the last few Marvel news stories I'm going to put together. To begin with we have the announcement of planned expansion in the Marvel universe. With the bigger heroes and “Avengers” projects on the go, they are reaching out to writers and directors about bringing some of the lesser-known characters like Dr Strange, Ant-Man and Luke Cage to the screen. These films will have a much lower budget of $20-40 million dollars (the current films are budgeting at about $100 million each), and would perhaps set in motion a whole separate new lower-tier universe of characters. I would hope that in these cases they keep the plots more to the comic books - but even if they do it's still a huge risk.
On the news of these we have information of Marvel meeting with director Edgar Wright about bringing Ant-Man to the screen. Best known for his work on “Spaced”, “Shaun Of The Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, it's appropriate that his up-coming film “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” is based on a comic book too. Being a fan of the medium himself is always useful, and as I mentioned in part one – it's helping the big screen adaptations be a bit more faithful, and not completely pillaging of the source material. Who would play such a pint-size hero then..? Well I have a name for you already: Nathan Fillion (“Firefly”, “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”). With Joss Whedon at the helm of “Avengers”, it means that Fillion would more than likely find himself a nice comortable place in the Marvel franchise and universe of films. Ant-Man's alter-ego Henry Pym is one of the most-worked super-geniuses in Marvel land, being instrumental in putting the Avengers together, and also taking on many hero-roles of his own, (Ant-Man being his most known). It's going to be fun to see what the studio do with him as a character, and with Fillion at the role – there's no need to worry at all, Henry Pym is in safe-hands.
Finally to end the Marvel section of news, I bring you some pictures from the up-coming film “Thor”. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, and starring Chris Hemsworth and Anthony Hopkins – it has a release date set for May 6th 2011. Here for you I have the first look at Thor himself, with a costume that looks pretty accurate to the comic books:
I also have a little look at villain “The Destroyer”. Not the clearest of pictures I know, but from first looks, it again seems accurate to the comic books – and will clearly be a menacing villain:
With my main Marvel news over, time to move onto other happenings in comic book land. Next we go to the DC comic adaptations. First off just a simple reminder of the release date for the sequel to “The Dark Knight”, which is set at July 20th 2012. Christopher Nolan continues his run as director, with scribes from “Batman Begins” writing the script. There's also news of Indie filmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, wanting to take on a Wonder Woman film. The director who was behind the film “Valhalla Rising”, would in a sense be following the path of Christopher Nolan as a director starting off with Indie/Thriller roots; and look at how great “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” were with that kind of director at the helm. This is obviously just Refn expressing an interest at the moment, but I shall endeavour to let you know as soon as I do, if this project is a go.
Obviously DC Comics don't have anywhere NEAR as much news as Marvel, but to round it up I have a picture of one of the antagonists of the up-coming “Green Lantern” film. Starring Blake Lively, Mark Strong, Peter Sarsgaard; and with Ryan Reynolds in the title role, the project is currently filming and has a release date of 17th June 2011. Peter Sarsgaard will be playing Hector Hammond, and it's definitely a little weird.
For those who don't know, Hector Hammond has two different versions in the comics; one incredibly clever but fairly normal looking villain, and one who has a deformed head. As you can see from the picture above, they seem to have gone with the latter, giving the film a touch of the “Marvel” tone about it. Whatever happens, it's a film I'm really excited about seeing, no part down to Ryan Reynolds in the lead role...*insert girlish giggle here*...
Last scraps of information now, (this has been a rather long read, so thank you for bearing with me) and the first is the news of a "Judge Dredd" remake. The original, and pitiful, 1995 film was based on a comic book from 2000 AD comics, and starred Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane and Rob Schneider. This “do-over” will have Pete Travis (“Endgame”, “Vantage Point”) directing, and has a finance deal of $50 million dollars to make it. No other details of dates, or possible cast are known yet – but since the money is there, it's hoped to start filming soon. To end, the news on Jon Favreau's next comic book adaptation: “Cowboys And Aliens”. Doing exactly what it says on the tin, this is based on the short comic which you can find at Really Long Link if you want to have a look (it really is as clear as the title). Slated for a 29th July 2011 release current cast include Daniel Craig (“Casino Royale”), Olivia Wilde (“House”), Sam Rockwell (“Moon”), Harrison Ford, and Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine”). I'll give you more details as the projects progresses, and will no doubt have a whole other batch of comic-book news to deliver to you when I do!
Hopefully you now have a pretty good idea of what's to come, release dates and casting for all the comic book adaptations. Thanks for reading and stayed tuned for my little “P.s. Comic Hollywood” that's coming your way. Flix Out.
So let's start with the Marvel universe. The first bit of news to report clearly has to be the fact that Samuel L. Jackson is signed up for NINE more marvel movies. These include “Iron Man 2”, “The Avengers”, and “The First Avenger: Captain America” films, (although no cameo in the future “Thor” film). There is also talk from the man himself about a possible S.H.I.E.L.D film which could be a staring vehicle for the Nick Fury character. He was quoted as saying:
“The Avengers should start shooting some time next year,
and then some time after that there'll
be a big S.H.I.E.L.D movie.”
and then some time after that there'll
be a big S.H.I.E.L.D movie.”
IMDb have a page set up for this under the name “Nick Fury” and with a release currently for 2012, sometime after the big “The Avengers” film, which is being directed by non other than Joss Whedon. Due out on May 4th 2012, a quick look at the cast list shows the inclusion of major "Iron Man" characters; the obvious inclusion of Chris Evans as Captain America/Steve Rogers; characters from up-coming "Thor"; and also the rumoured appearance of Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk, and Lou Ferrigno respectively as his voice.
On the subject of Captain America, there is much news on casting and plot-line cameos. Shooting begins on June 28th of this year, with director Joe Johnston (“Honey, I Shrunk The Kids”, “Jumanji” and “Wolfman”) at the helm. The ever-menacing Hugo Weaving has been cast as the films main villain “Red Skull”, with British actor Toby Jones cast as the evil scientist Arnim Zola. Information on Red Skull's part in the film says:
“In the early comics, Johann Schmidt was drafted into loyal service of
The Third Reich and renamed ‘The Red Skull’. The character
will be updated for the feature adaptation.”
The Third Reich and renamed ‘The Red Skull’. The character
will be updated for the feature adaptation.”
It's unknown as yet what is meant by “updating” in a film set in a WWII-era – only time will tell what happens with that. Another bit of news for the film include the possible cameo of Iron Man Tony Stark's father – Howard Stark in this film, (played by John Slattery in “Iron Man 2”). “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau said:
“Yeah, because he was around then, ‘Captain America’s World War II,' It wouldn’t be that same actor, probably, because he would be much younger. But he was starting out during that time. Howard Stark was involved in the war effort much like Howard Hughes.”
It's going to be interesting to see if that happens, and who will play the young Howard Stark. “The First Avenger: Captain America” is due for release on July 22nd 2011.
Talking of Jon Favreau, with "Iron Man 3" possibly looking to be a go, he's been letting out a few details on which villain he'd like to see Tony Stark deal with next. In a recent MTV interview he said:
“You’ve got to do the Mandarin. The problem with the Mandarin is that the way it’s depicted in the comic books, you don’t want to see that. He has 10 magical rings — that just doesn’t feel right for our [franchise] so it’s either tech-based, or the rings are not really rings. But maybe with Thor and all those others, you’ll introduce magic to that world and it won’t seem so out of place.”
If you remember, Favreau himself had already laid out the groundwork for the Ten Rings organisation in the first "Iron Man”, so this villain would be able to slide in quite well – assuming Kenneth Branaugh pulls off “Thor” in a convincing way. Here's hoping, because this is an arch nemesis I'd love to see happen!
The Mandarin from the comics...menacing, veeery menancing.
Two films of Marvel heroes next – “Ghost Rider” and “Spiderman”. First we turn to the film that left many fans disappointed with it's first instalment, despite a brooding Nicolas Cage in the centre Role. “Ghost Rider” was one of the films that Marvel sold the rights of before they themselves became part of Disney and a financially stable company. The news here is two-fold: 1) It looks like Cage can't return to the main role because of scheduling conflicts. He's going to be a busy man filming the third “National Treasure” instalment so unless it's filmed afterwards he just can't do it, (even though he has expressed an interest in returning to the role). 2) If the studio don't get filming by November, it's going to seem likely that they'll lose those rights – perhaps with Marvel buying them back as part of their big universe of films. On the “Spiderman” subject, many will remember that the third film didn't quite live up to the standards set by one and two – well now prepare for a reboot of the franchise, headed by producer Matthew Tolmach. He says:
“Movie-makers are in ‘a golden moment of technology,’ with 3D and various other digital techniques at their disposal. ‘With great power comes great responsibility', and we have to always fall back on great storytelling.”
Tolmach has also said that he is excited but nervous about his company’s upcoming "Spiderman" reboot, which he described as ‘Peter Parker told differently.’ He promised it will look, feel and smell different from the three films starring Tobey Maguire. I'm not completely sure myself that I actually want another “Ghost Rider” or “Spiderman”, but I hope that maybe the latter can get back to good box office territory – without letting the comic books themselves down.
Next in the Marvel universe is the updates on the fourth “X-Men” film - “X-Men: First Class”. Matthew Vaughn (director of “Kick Ass” and “Stardust”) is signed to the project, with Bryan Singer (director for the previous “X-Men” and “X2”) taking on the producers role, along with Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg. The film begins production this summer for a June 3rd 2011 release, and has Josh Schwartz (creator of “The OC”), Jamie Moss (“Street Kings”), Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz scribing. As an extra addition, Jane Goldman (collaborator to Vaughn on both “Stardust” and “Kick-Ass”), will be looking over the script and doing any of the re-writes needed. The plot-line goes as follows:
Partners in film Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn.
“X-Men: First Class”, following the classic Marvel mythology, charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known...”
Hopefully with a story like this we'll get a strong film, that will pick the franchise back up. There is also an IMDb page for the “X-Men Origins: Magneto” film, although that hasn't been updated since November 2009, and has been commented on as “On the back burner”.
Right, the last few Marvel news stories I'm going to put together. To begin with we have the announcement of planned expansion in the Marvel universe. With the bigger heroes and “Avengers” projects on the go, they are reaching out to writers and directors about bringing some of the lesser-known characters like Dr Strange, Ant-Man and Luke Cage to the screen. These films will have a much lower budget of $20-40 million dollars (the current films are budgeting at about $100 million each), and would perhaps set in motion a whole separate new lower-tier universe of characters. I would hope that in these cases they keep the plots more to the comic books - but even if they do it's still a huge risk.
On the news of these we have information of Marvel meeting with director Edgar Wright about bringing Ant-Man to the screen. Best known for his work on “Spaced”, “Shaun Of The Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, it's appropriate that his up-coming film “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” is based on a comic book too. Being a fan of the medium himself is always useful, and as I mentioned in part one – it's helping the big screen adaptations be a bit more faithful, and not completely pillaging of the source material. Who would play such a pint-size hero then..? Well I have a name for you already: Nathan Fillion (“Firefly”, “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”). With Joss Whedon at the helm of “Avengers”, it means that Fillion would more than likely find himself a nice comortable place in the Marvel franchise and universe of films. Ant-Man's alter-ego Henry Pym is one of the most-worked super-geniuses in Marvel land, being instrumental in putting the Avengers together, and also taking on many hero-roles of his own, (Ant-Man being his most known). It's going to be fun to see what the studio do with him as a character, and with Fillion at the role – there's no need to worry at all, Henry Pym is in safe-hands.
Finally to end the Marvel section of news, I bring you some pictures from the up-coming film “Thor”. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, and starring Chris Hemsworth and Anthony Hopkins – it has a release date set for May 6th 2011. Here for you I have the first look at Thor himself, with a costume that looks pretty accurate to the comic books:
I also have a little look at villain “The Destroyer”. Not the clearest of pictures I know, but from first looks, it again seems accurate to the comic books – and will clearly be a menacing villain:
With my main Marvel news over, time to move onto other happenings in comic book land. Next we go to the DC comic adaptations. First off just a simple reminder of the release date for the sequel to “The Dark Knight”, which is set at July 20th 2012. Christopher Nolan continues his run as director, with scribes from “Batman Begins” writing the script. There's also news of Indie filmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, wanting to take on a Wonder Woman film. The director who was behind the film “Valhalla Rising”, would in a sense be following the path of Christopher Nolan as a director starting off with Indie/Thriller roots; and look at how great “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” were with that kind of director at the helm. This is obviously just Refn expressing an interest at the moment, but I shall endeavour to let you know as soon as I do, if this project is a go.
Nicolas Winding Refn.
Obviously DC Comics don't have anywhere NEAR as much news as Marvel, but to round it up I have a picture of one of the antagonists of the up-coming “Green Lantern” film. Starring Blake Lively, Mark Strong, Peter Sarsgaard; and with Ryan Reynolds in the title role, the project is currently filming and has a release date of 17th June 2011. Peter Sarsgaard will be playing Hector Hammond, and it's definitely a little weird.
For those who don't know, Hector Hammond has two different versions in the comics; one incredibly clever but fairly normal looking villain, and one who has a deformed head. As you can see from the picture above, they seem to have gone with the latter, giving the film a touch of the “Marvel” tone about it. Whatever happens, it's a film I'm really excited about seeing, no part down to Ryan Reynolds in the lead role...*insert girlish giggle here*...
Last scraps of information now, (this has been a rather long read, so thank you for bearing with me) and the first is the news of a "Judge Dredd" remake. The original, and pitiful, 1995 film was based on a comic book from 2000 AD comics, and starred Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane and Rob Schneider. This “do-over” will have Pete Travis (“Endgame”, “Vantage Point”) directing, and has a finance deal of $50 million dollars to make it. No other details of dates, or possible cast are known yet – but since the money is there, it's hoped to start filming soon. To end, the news on Jon Favreau's next comic book adaptation: “Cowboys And Aliens”. Doing exactly what it says on the tin, this is based on the short comic which you can find at Really Long Link if you want to have a look (it really is as clear as the title). Slated for a 29th July 2011 release current cast include Daniel Craig (“Casino Royale”), Olivia Wilde (“House”), Sam Rockwell (“Moon”), Harrison Ford, and Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine”). I'll give you more details as the projects progresses, and will no doubt have a whole other batch of comic-book news to deliver to you when I do!
Hopefully you now have a pretty good idea of what's to come, release dates and casting for all the comic book adaptations. Thanks for reading and stayed tuned for my little “P.s. Comic Hollywood” that's coming your way. Flix Out.
