RadicalPublishing Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just yesterday I was marveling over the output of Radical Comics, and in doing so managed to miss a little news item that will probably one heck of a prescient move on their part. You see, they've recruited the writing and directing talents of one Joseph Kosinski, the helmer of Tron Legacy, who might just become The Next Big Thing after 2011. But he'll be a little busy, as according to The Hollywood Reporter, Radical Pictures has nabbed Kosinski to write and direct the sci-fi story Oblivion, an original story that he'll develop as a film and as a graphic / illustrated novel. (That's its moody, evocative preview art to the right. Dang, Radical has some good looking books!)

The story centers on a war weary soldier who is court-martialed, and assigned to a bleak and desolate planet as a punishment. His assignment is to destroy the last remnants of its local alien race. His life becomes weirdly linked with a mysterious traveler, and they find themselves questioning everything -- their lives, the planet their on, and their missions.

It's a project that Kosinski began when he moved to L.A., before the days of Tron Legacy and ComicCon frenzies, and had planned on Oblivion as the movie that would kickstart his career. "I was looking to make a science fiction film that I could do on a budget. It's grown since then, but it's intended to be a very spare science fiction film, with a small cast but big ideas and big landscapes." The fact that it's a story penned pre-success intrigues me, and makes me hope that Kosinski is going to join the "Saviors of Sci-Fi" club that Duncan Jones and Neill Blomkamp have originated.

When you've made a very modern tale of a troubled man struggling to live with his super powers, what's left but to tackle a mythical yet tormented Greek hero? Peter Berg, who directed Will Smith to box office success in Hancock, will reboot one ot the original superheroes, Hercules, according to Variety.

Hercules: The Thracian Wars, a five-issue comic book series by Steve Moore issued in May by Radical Publishing, will provide the source material. Ryan Condal, recently tapped to adapt Warren Ellis' comic mini-series/graphic novel Ocean, will write the script; Berg will direct and co-produce.

The plot synopsis for the series describes Hercules as a "tormented soul ... neither god nor man." When the King of Thrace hires him "to train his men to become the greatest army of all time," Herc and his buddies are prompted to consider whey they have such a ruthless, bloodthirsty reputation. Berg intends to stay true to the "conflicts and redemption" in Moore's character-driven comic book series.

When another project about Hercules was announced last year, Christopher Campbell questioned if there had ever been a decent Hercules movie. (He ran down most of them.) So, three questions: (1) Is the comic book any good? (2) Is Berg the right director to reboot Herc? (3) Who could play the muscular Greek hero without making people laugh at him?