According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oni Press just inked another deal with Universal. This time, it is for The Last Call, a two volume series by Vasilis Lolos. The adaptation will be penned by Evan Spiliotopoulos.

The story is a horror-adventure about two young teens who are out for a joyride in a stolen car, when they are struck by a "ghost train." The train is responsible for ferrying departed souls from one dimension to another, and the boys find themselves in a bit of trouble when they are caught riding without a ticket. In trying to escape, they find themselves embroiled in a mystery that, if solved, may allow them to return to the living.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal has snagged the rights to The Dragonology Handbook. It purports to be a nonfiction guide to the mythical beasts, penned by Victorian researcher Dr. Ernest Drake.

You've probably seen this book (or one of its relatives like Pirateology or Egyptology) on the bargain rack of your local Barnes and Noble. They are quite lovely to look at, but they are like a coffee table book for children. Pretty to look at, vaguely educational when discussing Greek myths, but not exactly storytime material. When there are so many children's books that tell great stories, it's downright disheartening to see what Hollywood picks up to spin into a tale for the kiddie set.

Fire broke out early Sunday morning on the backlot of Universal Studios, causing "tens of millions of damage," according to one news report, and destroying the popular King Kong exhibit. KNBC.com, the Los Angeles affiliate of NBC Universal, has video of the fire. It was first reported at about 4:45 a.m. local time; Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Daryl Jacobs said that the blaze apparently began during a film shoot, destroying at least one building and as many as three blocks of movie facades.

Universal Studios is located in Universal City, California, just north of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills. The Universal Studios theme park and the very popular CityWalk, a retail/dining/theater complex, are both located at the top of the hill and are visible for miles.The studio backlot itself is located lower on the hill. A spokesman for Universal Studios said that the theme park and CityWalk were not damaged and would be open for business today.

One firefighter was reported injured. Among the buildings damaged, the most valuable may be the film vault, which is believed to have been destroyed. The Associated Press (via the New York Times) reports that the facades included New York street scenes and the street set for 1973's The Sting. The 2008 MTV Movie Awards are scheduled to be broadcast live from the park this afternoon. As of 10:00 a.m. Pacific time, the fire was still burning.

Universal Pictures and Dark Horse Entertainment have struck a three year production and distribution deal. Universal now has creative access to Dark Horse's entire stable (pardon the pun) of characters and properties, as well as anything the company aquires in the hopes of turning it into a film. In return, Dark Horse gains a permanent studio home for all future properties, and the option to distribute their own films through Universal.

Dark Horse has been responsible for publishing some of the cooler comics in the past few years -- but their movie output has been less than stellar. For every Hellboy, there's been a Son of the Mask and Alien vs Predator. Maybe a partnership with Universal will change that.

So many Dark Horse properties are in creative limbo now that I am really curious to see what's going to happen to them. Can Universal buy back the rights to Sin City so the sequel can be made? Lone Wolf and Cub? I know I am going to be wrong on who owns what, it's one of those days where Google is providing nothing in the way of reliable information -- and Dark Horse Entertainment only lists Hellboy II as their upcoming project, which is no help. Feel free to refresh my memory.

At any rate, I wonder if it means we'll see Frank Miller directing Martha Washington one of these days. I don't think that's been optioned yet.

[via Superhero Hype]

According to the New York Post's Page Six (I can't believe I just typed that sentence), the upcoming Jennifer Aniston/Vince Vaughn romantic comedy The Break-Up has been given (NOTE: The Page Six link is now behind a paid archive.  Here's a link to Hollyood Elsewhere discussing this) a new ending thanks to extensive reshooting. The new ending will not show the two characters finally breaking up but rather have them making up and getting back together. Test audiences apparently "hated" the way the movie originally ended and so Universal ordered reshoots that sent the cast back to Chicago for a period of time at substantial cost. The rationale of the test audiences who disliked the ending seems to be that Aniston, who has gone through very public personal issues, deserved a happy ending and to keep her guy.

So the audience is transferring something that is happening to a star in her personal life to her on-screen character. Thank you so much, celebrity gossip magazines. The movie as it was planned and originally shot seemed to be interesting and funny, with a great cast and what appeared to be a fairly intelligent storyline. But now it's been remade into yet another romantic comedy that doesn't try to do anything orginal and plays to the lowest common denominator. Argh.

Based on a survey given by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, consumers rank alternate endings and beginnings as their favorite DVD extra. Finishing ahead of other been-around-for-awhile features like commentaries, deleted scenes and "making of" documentaries, the alternate ending excites people because it helps provide them with "an inside look at how studios test movies." Actually, if you really want to see how they test movies, someone should place a tape recorder inside an executives office once all those surveys come back smeared with phrases like, "this is the worst movie I have ever seen - please try again."

DVDs for films like, The Interpreter, Titanic, Fever Pitch (only alternate ending I would like is if the Red Sox lost to the Yanks) and The Outsiders have all included some sort of alternate ending or beginning within its special features this year. With all this praise, I'd imagine we're going to see a ton more "alternate whatever" showing up in our DVDs real soon. Hmm, maybe they could release an alternate version of the entire Dukes of Hazzard movie called, "The One That Doesn't Suck."

Personally (and I agree with the folks over on the Movie Blog), I'm more of a fan of the cast and crew commentaries than I am of alternate endings. These are what really give you an inside look at the movie-making process - if that's what you're into. Tell me consumer: What's your favorite DVD extra?

[via Movie Blog]