ComicBook Tagged Articles at Cinematical

If you're not a fan of comic book flicks, it's going to be an interesting couple of years at the movies for you. Between Marvel and Disney joining forces, and DC having started their own media conglomerate (as Elisabeth told us just last week), there is no escaping the ink and panel crowd. But there's an upside if you're especially sick of superheroes, because during a conversation between MTV and the head of the newly formed DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson, she hinted that DC is planning something a little different in the world of comic book movies. Splashpage recently spoke with the woman of the hour, and she told them that not only will DC be putting some lapsed titles back into the pipeline (leaving us to speculate on whether or not Wonder Woman will get her film debut), but that the so-called 'lesser known' titles of the Vertigo universe could be getting a big-screen makeover as well.

According to Nelson, Warners will be the main arm of the film component of the new initiative, but like most business dealings in the Dream Factory, Nelson was pretty light on the details. What she did say was the following: "Vertigo is an area of great interest to me. It is even less well tapped than other parts of DC, and could potentially offer amazing stories" Now, a few of Vertigo's titles are already in movie development (like Preacher and the occasional rumblings of a Constantine aka Hellblazer sequel), but most of those projects haven't made much progress.

After the jump: the trouble with Vertigo, and some of the titles I would like to see on the big screen...

The buzz is strong on Kick-Ass, and Lionsgate listened, much to the delight of fans of the comic book and the trailer that's been making people giggle at their desks. Variety is calling the deal "mini-major," which is good news for the studio that's been subsisting on Tyler Perry and Saw flicks for the past few years.

Based on the comic by Mark Millar, the esteemed scribe behind the graphic novels for Wanted and other fan faves, Kick-Ass is directed by Matthew Vaughn and stars Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski, a high school superhero wanna-be who gets mixed up with a drug lord (Mark Strong), the ex-cop that's after him (Nicolas Cage) and his pre-teen daughter Hit Girl, and the superhero Red Mist, played by everyone's favorite McLovin', Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

Read up on how this movie shall, in fact, live up to its name with help from Todd Gilchrist's San Diego Comic-Con report. "What was more amazing was that almost all of the clips weren't merely surprising, filthy, and kind of all-around inappropriate, but that they were hugely entertaining, in that way you react to when you're watching something that feels familiar and brand-new at the exact same time."

It sounds insane and awesome and I'd like to see it ASAP!

Cinematical will be hitting Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego again this year, bringing you the sights, highlights, and lowlights of the four-day geek mecca. A mecca that now officially has a schedule. Since cloning machines still haven't been invented, if anyone manages to do that in in the next couple of weeks please let us know. We're going to need to be at multiple locations during multiple simultaneous times.

But, that just about sums up the entirety of Comic-Con: dashing from panel to panel, catching a glimpse of the millions of costumes, stopping by booths, hitting parties, and then repeating. You can check out the full schedule right here (eventually -- it's Thursday and Friday only for now), and we'll be posting some of what's on our Cinematical Must See list as we work our way through the schedule with a highlighter, but here's a couple of standouts for Thursday:

• 11:00-12:30 Disney: 3D Panel- Walt Disney Pictures presents key filmmakers, select cast members and previously unseen footage from its upcoming slate, including Disney's A Christmas Carol, Alice In Wonderland and Tron. Special guests include Robert Zemeckis, Tim Burton, Sean Bailey, Steve Lisberger, and moderator Patton Oswalt. Hall H
• 12:45-2:00 20th Century Fox and James Cameron present Avatar- In this first public screening of footage in 3D from his much-anticipated action/adventure/fantasy, James Cameron, producer Jon Landau, and cast members take you to a spectacular new world beyond imagination. Conceived 14 years ago and over four years in the making, Avatar breaks new ground in delivering a fully immersive, emotional story and reinvents the movie-going experience. Hall H

All I had to hear was "classic monsters," "film noir," and "comic book" before I was interested. Yep, that's all it takes, filmmakers ... but this one sounds like it could be very fun indeed. Looks like Kevin Grevioux, one of the co-creators of the whole crazy Underworld series, is tackling a new project that will make the Vamps vs. Lycans trilogy look like a rainy day at the zoo. Sources indicate that the project "brings back many beloved classic monsters including Frankenstein's Monster, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Invisible Man, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde plus many more, in a re-imagined contemporary setting."

The project is called I, Frankenstein, and will be based on Grevioux's upcoming comic book of the same name. On board to direct is Rise of the Lycans helmer Patrick Tatopoulos, and producers include Chris Patton and Robert Sanchez of Death Ray Films, as well as our old pal Ryan "STD" Turek! Obviously we're in the (very) early stages of this multi-medium monster mania, but for a bit more on the concept, the characters, and some nifty character images, check out the reports at FEARnet, Shock, and Dread.

But of course this thing could go either way. It could be the horror equivalent of Hellboy and The Dirty Dozen Meet The Maltese Falcon ... or it could be Van Helsing vs. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And nobody wants that. Obviously. What say you?

When Elisabeth Rappe brought us the teaser poster for Punisher: War Zone a couple of weeks back, she correctly supposed that the teaser trailer might be attached to this weekend's Marvel property, The Incredible Hulk.

IGN Movies has the exclusive trailer, and it's all bangs and booms as vengeance-minded Frank Castle - played by Ray Stevenson of 'Rome', in place of Thomas Jane - wreaks more havoc on the criminal and corrupt.

I can't speak for fans of the comic, but I'm really not sure how many of them wanted to see a sequel to the 2004 actioner (which, mind you, barely broke even at the box office), and how many will actually turn out for one sorely lacking in Jane, not to mention the article 'The'. And whether or not it's better left swept under the rug, it's always hard to ignore various signs of a troubled production.

Good, bad, loud or in between, Punisher: War Zone is scheduled to open on December 5. Maybe it's looking to rake in all the fanboy bucks that Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and Hitman managed around last year's holiday season...

Lately it seems that everyone loves a bloodsucker. Variety reports that David Goyer has signed to direct the adaptation of the graphic novel, Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire. Phew, that title certainly is a mouthful. Baltimore was written by Hellboy creator, Mike Mignola (and finally after what seemed like an eternity to Hellboy fans; we are getting our sequel, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, this summer) and Christopher Golden. It looked like Goyer was going to take a break from comic books for a while when he was attached to The Invisible Man this summer, but it seems he just can't stay away.

The story centers on one Lord Henry Baltimore, turned into a vampire on the battlefields of Europe during WWII. The curse eventually causes the death of his loved ones and he assembles a team to hunt down and destroy evil. Both Golden and Mignola will be on hand to write the script for the big-screen version. This will be the third adaptation deal for Golden, according to Variety, who has some previous experience in scripting the undead after writing dialogue for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds video game back in 2003.

Regency Pictures brokered the deal for the adaptation as part of their new strategy to make films that will appeal "to a young male demographic" -- is there any other kind lately? Some of Regency's other titles this year will be the Virgin Comics title Virulents, directed by John Moore, and an action thriller titled The Darkest Hour. Goyer is set to start work on Magneto as soon as budgets and locations have been finalized (if you can't wait for 2008 though, there are always the spoilers that Chris reported on earlier this month). So, I'm guessing that production on Baltimore will probably be a long time coming.

OK, so this wouldn't be the first time that fans of Megan Fox were duped into thinking the Transformers babe had landed her next high-profile role. I mean, we all saw how that Half to Death deal turned out. Creature Corner is reporting that sources are confirming Fox was "incredibly interested" in the lead for the big-screen version of the graphic novel Hack/Slash. The comic was originally published back in 2004 for Devil's Due Productions and centered on a 'slasher' hunter named Cassie on a mission to rid the world of evil with her trusty partner Vlad. The casting rumor has been around for a while now, but it seems talk of Fox's involvement with the film just won't die (and even though I have never read the comic, just from the few stills I've seen so far, I have to say that Fox is a dead ringer for the lead). Since news of Fox's involvement has hit the official MySpace page for the comic, I wouldn't be surprised if we get some kind of answer from the production in the near future.

Hack/Slash was picked up by Rogue Pictures back in December. Here we are almost one year later, and there hasn't been a peep out of the production until now. When word of the project first emerged, director Todd Lincoln told Movieweb the film was going to have "a sprinkling of humor to balance the scares, but this will be a lean, vicious, blood-soaked, Hard-R fright fest. The goal is to create the ultimate slasher film." Fox has already proven that she can hold her own with giant f**king robots, and the promise of her in some of those outfits is probably enough to pack theaters night after night -- at least with adolescent boys. Until we hear something official, though, you guys will just have to rely on your imagination.

Although the paparazzi are some of the most hated people in the movie business, you have to admit -- they do come in handy sometimes. Flynet is hosting some surreptitiously taken video and photos of Angelina Jolie on set during the recent filming of the comic book adaptation, Wanted. They even scored some footage of Jolie shooting a driving sequence for the film. So it seems that those test-drives back in April were a rehearsal for the real thing, since it does appear to be Jolie behind the wheel. And as we all know, Jolie has never been adverse to a little stunt work. There is also some of your more run-of-the-mill celebrity footage of Jolie walking to and from trailers, but I think we have all had our fill of tabloid shots of the actress -- Jolie included.

Wanted is based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and J.G Jones, and the story centers on a young man who learns his recently deceased father was a founding member of an ultra-elite group of international assassins. The film is being directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Night/Day Watch), who will also be making his English-language debut before he starts filming his next Russian feature, Twilight Watch. Joining Jolie are James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland) and Morgan Freeman -- not to mention the cavalcade of casting announcements over the last few months, adding hip-hop artist, Common and Terrance Stamp to the cast. It appears that everything is on track for production since this was when Jolie had been expected to start filming in Chicago. Wanted is set for release on March 28th, 2008.

[via A Socialite's Life]

With ComicCon right around the corner, we're about to be bombarded with news of upcoming wheeling and dealing for all things comic book, and it looks like Roger Avary might be getting started a little early this year. ShockTillYouDrop has reported that Avary, who is scheduled to make a ComicCon appearance on the 26th, is hoping to breathe a little life into his plans for a big-screen version of the comic book The Nocturnals. Avary also made the announcement that he is off the Silent Hill sequel saying, "If Christophe's not gonna do it, I'm not...". (Avary wrote the first Silent Hill, while Christophe Gans directed.) So while that might be good news for some, it definitely opens up some free time in Avary's schedule. While speaking with Shock, Avary seemed enthusiastic about The Nocturnals project noting, "I'd love to see that made. I actually gave the comics to [Beowulf producer] Jeff Rapke and was like, 'Check this out, this is the s**t!'". Expletives aside, I have to admit the comic sounds like it definitely has some box office potential.

Created by Dan Brereton, The Nocturnals ran from 1994-1995 as part of a six-part miniseries for Malibu Comics. The story focused on a fictional California town overrun by a supernatural phenomena, with leader Doc Horror and his gang battling your usual assortment of supernatural baddies. Some of the main characters include a gun-slinging scarecrow, a Komodo Dragon-boy and a bad-ass tadpole called Starfish. So if nothing else you have to give Brereton credit for originality. Avary has wrapped up work on Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf, and he'll next be moving on to a big-screen version of the video game Driver. So even if Avary manages to put a deal in place for Nocturnals, it could still be some time before a feature film makes its way to theaters.

Well, we should probably just get used to sorting through the latest casting rumors for Zack Snyder's big-screen version of The Watchmen. Latino Review, who've scooped big news in the past to various success, has reported that Malin Akerman is set to play Laurie Juspeczyk (aka Silk Spectre) in the film. The last actress rumored to be up for the role was Kate Winslet, but if Latino Review's source can be trusted, it looks like Akerman has scored the part. Akerman is probably most familiar to fans of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, as the wife of "Freakshow". But lately Akerman has been landing some high profile roles in the upcoming remake of The Heartbreak Kid from the Farrelly brothers, and Nicole Kidman's The Invasion.

Last month, Warner Bros. had released a brief synopsis of the film, and while most of the original story seemed to remain intact, it looks like there will be a few minor changes on the way. As fans of The Watchmen graphic novel well know, the story is set in an alternate version of America; one that's on the verge of nuclear war with The Soviet Union. Superheroes are now outcasts, and when one of their own is murdered, a greater conspiracy is revealed. There have been rumblings that Jason Patric was also being considered for the role of Dr. Manhattan, but the latest buzz has Billy Crudup as the frontrunner for the part (that has yet to be confirmed). According to the source at Latino Review, WB will be making some casting announcements at this week's San Diego ComicCon. There is bound to be plenty of Watchmen talk at the convention, so stay tuned to Cinematical's upcoming coverage for any news that comes our way.

UPDATE: Latino Review also confirms that Jackie Earle Haley has officially been cast as Walter Kovacs (aka Rorschach). Look for formal announcements to come during this week's ComicCon.