graphic novels Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Neil Gaiman, the darling of comic book and fantasy fans everywhere, has been alluding to a short film project he's been working on on Twitter. Apparently, his fans aren't the only ones who can't resist snapping up his every project, because Variety is reporting the British TV channel has already picked up the short film as part of a "12 Days of Christmas" series.

Gaiman, who is very open to fan interaction and uses Twitter both effectively and charmingly, Tweeted in August, "Oh good. I have my star, who was my first (and only) choice. I have a costume designer. We agree about things. This is fun."

The dapper Bill Nighy is the star of Gaiman's short silent film which is "a love story involving two statues and Christmas shoppers." We can, no doubt, expect music from Gaiman's muse and collaborator Amanda Palmer for the soundtrack. it's so cool that he wrote a short silent movie screenplay, got it made, and sold it all in one summer. Such is the power of Neil.

The real question is, when does the rest of the world get to see it? Can we hope that Neil releases the film the same way he released videos of him reading The Graveyard Book to adoring audiences around the world?

So, fan girls and boys, let's hope this holiday season will bring another treat under the tree or Hanukkah bush from the prolific author behind Coraline (the book), American Gods, Stardust (the book), Anansi Boys, and of course, the graphic novel series Sandman. Along with that lump of coal you no doubt deserve.

With "geek" stuff like comics, sci-fi, and horror taking over the mainstream, ComicCon has become one of the biggest film events of the year. The studios really take it seriously, and this should be an excellent week for major film announcements. Today, the fairly new studio Fox Atomic, an offshoot of Fox targeting the 17-24 demographic, announced what festival goers can expect from them this year. It looks like their biggest push is for the upcoming revenge thriller Death Sentence. There will be an online sweepstakes to win a 1969 Ford Mustang featured in the film, starting when ComicCon opens its doors tomorrow. If you can't make it to the festival you can enter at the official movie website, http://deathsentencemovie.com, up until the film is released on August 31st. Death Sentence stars Kevin Bacon as a man out to avenge his son's death, and co-stars John Goodman and Kelly Preston. James Wan (Saw) directed. Bacon, co-star Garrett Hedlund and Wan will be signing autographs at ComicCon this Saturday at 3PM.

Also, be on the lookout for a contest to win a Fender Stratocaster guitar signed by the cast of the upcoming comedy The Rocker. You can read more about that movie here and here, it tells "the story of a failed, over-the-hill drummer who is given a second chance at fame." Rainn Wilson plays the drummer and Christina Applegate will be his love interest. Only in the movies, folks! Fox Atomic is understandably putting a big focus on their graphic novel publishing arm at ComicCon as well. Signings and giveaways are scheduled for Joe Harris and Stuart Moore's The Nightmare Factory, due out on September 4th, as well as their film-based graphic novels -- 28 Days Later: The Aftermath by Steve Niles and The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. It looks like just about all of the artists and authors will be in attendance. We've got all sorts of ComicCon news, announcements, and goodness coming your way from San Diego (which, of course, is German for "whale's vagina") all this week and through the weekend, so stick around and stay classy.

After his Oscar-nominated Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro is about as hot as a director can get. He's on a short list of filmmakers who is as good with character as he is with visuals and effects, and I'd imagine that combination has Hollywood knocking his door down. He's currently in pre-production on Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (which Jessica told you will have parallels to Pan's Labyrinth), and hopes to follow that up with 3993, a ghost story set in the 1990s, but with ties to the Spanish Civil War. And it sounds like he'd better clear some more of his schedule -- he's currently in talks to direct an adaptation of Tom Manning's graphic novel Runoff, an eerie tale about a town people can enter but can never leave. (You know, like Hotel California). Manning seems thrilled at the prospect of collaborating with such a visionary, saying "Whenever I am contact with those guys I'm kind of blown away that they are radical enough to try and take Runoff to film."

Runoff is a creator-owned, self-published, three volume comics series, and the third and final volume was just released. Manning says "Guillermo del Toro...basically contacted me a year ago and we started talking about doing this project together. It's been moving along in baby steps ever since, but I think that's the way of Hollywood. We haven't worked out any contractual details yet, so there are quite a few hoops to jump through before we're rolling any film. I'm not sure where this would fit into Guillermo's schedule, I know he's got his fingers in a lot of projects, but I hope Runoff cuts in line once it's a go." This is the first I'd heard of Manning or Runoff -- any fans out there? I did notice Jeffrey Tambor's character in Hellboy is named Tom Manning -- but I'm not sure if that's homage or coincidence. You can purchase all three volumes of Runoff and learn more about Tom Manning and his work at his website: robotsandmonkeys.com.

According to the LA Times, Johnny Depp (who, if you weren't aware, is in the news almost every freaking day) is looking to take on an Indiana Jones-type role in Rex Mundi (King of the World), based on a series of graphic novels by Arvid Nelson and Eric Johnson. Jim Uhls (Fight Club, Jumper) will pen the script, with Depp's Infinitum Nihil set to produce.

Apparently, the novels (which I haven't read) are set in an alternate 1933 "in which the Reformation never happened, the Inquisition is still in full swing, Europe remains dominated by the Catholic Church and the rest of the world consists of colonies." Should Depp take on the lead role, he will play a pathologist who investigates the bizarre death of the priest who helped raise him. If the pic turns out to be anything like Uhls description of a "noir-ish Raiders of the Lost Ark," then I'm definitely game. With two other films currently in pre-production (Sweeney Todd, The Rum Diary), there's no word on when Depp and Rex Mundi will kick into high gear.

Here's a bit of information that should surprise no one, but is still worth the noting for the sheer geek awesomeness factor involved. It's been known since summer that the beautiful big screen adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City has been a boon to the sales of the graphic novel it was based on. The ever-popular Sin City novels saw a nice sales surge, particularly those three directly related to the movie. Well the data is now official, as the sales numbers for the 2005 year have been released, and can be seen here, courtesy of CBR. There is plenty of fun data there to look through- but when you finally get down to the graphic novel section, you'll notice that Frank Miller's Sin City Volume One (Hard Goodbye) is sitting firmly on top of the list. in Addition to that, Frank owns for of the top five spots this year, with only DC's Identity Crisis (a very good story itself) sneaking in among them.

Good for you, Frank Miller. You deserve every dollar you make.