Last fall, Cinematical head honcho Erik Davis referred to screenwriter Justin Marks as "the guy they brought in to f*ck up He-Man." At the time, I wholeheartedly agreed with the boss man. But as of today, I'm changing my mind. If the script review over at Latino Review is to be trusted, Marks has done anything but f*ck up the adaptation of our beloved '80s cartoon series/action figure line. El Mayimbe has read the latest draft of Grayskull: Masters of the Universe, and he's graded the text an A+. And if that's not good enough for you, here's a sweet summation: "GRAYSKULL is LORD OF THE RINGS meets THE MATRIX and a little BATMAN BEGINS thrown in for good measure."

I don't know about you, but that sounds awesome. It certainly sounds better than both the 1987 He-Man adaptation, Masters of the Universe and the 1982 non-adaptation The Beastmaster, which I always thought of as a pre-He-Man He-Man movie (anyone else ever notice that Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time has the same plot as Masters of the Universe?). Of course, neither of those movies would be hard to beat. Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver could hire a monkey to write a better script.

Unless you're hoping to avoid spoilers, head over to Latino Review to read more praise and plot information for Grayskull (and weep for the omission of Orko). And after getting pumped up about that movie, keep in mind that Marks also wrote or co-wrote the scripts for the upcoming Green Arrow (formerly Supermax: Green Arrow), which IESB.net just reported is looking at a possible summer 2009 release date, Voltron and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (for which we shared another Latino Review script review last year).

Remember Supermax, David S.Goyer's Green Arrow movie? If you've forgotten, don't beat yourself up -- I think it has vanished off the radar for most people in the last year, simply because there are too many superheroes to keep track of.

Goyer plans to break the superhero mold with his Green Arrow movie -- rather than the same old origin story, he intends to send the green-clad hero to prison after being framed for a crime. Stripped of his identity, he must team up with the supervillains he helped put away in order to regain his freedom. The Shawshank Redemption with superpowers! (Here's our original story if you want to read all the fine points.)

According to Latino Review, who read a copy of the script, the movie will be chock full of lesser DC Comics villains: Merlyn the archer, the Tattooed Man, the Aryan Nation (comprised of Iron Cross, Heatmonger and Backlash), Japanese assassin Shock Trauma, female shape-shifter Gemini, Icicle ... and a bunch more (get the full list over at LR).

But possibly, more intriguing than all the obscure characters is the possibility that Joker, Riddler and Lex Luthor are all inmates of the Supermax prison. All three appear in the script, but at this point are only cameos. I can't imagine all of these villains are going to appear on one screen, do you? And would that be the equivalent of superhero overdose?

Unfortunately, David S. Goyer doesn't have a lot to tell us about any of the many projects he's working on, but most of us will no doubt settle for even the tiniest updates. So, just as I was, you'll probably be satisfied with the little interview he gave to Wizard magazine, in which he was asked about the hottest things he's got in the pipeline. First up is Magneto, the X-Men spin-off/prequel that he scripted and will soon be directing. All he could say is that he's been scouting locations and right now it looks like he'll be primarily filming in Europe and Argentina. He also hinted that he's going to have to budget wisely to get the thing in for a cheap enough price (meaning he wrote some expensive-to-do scenes or Fox doesn't see good reason to spend too much on this one).

Of further interest to comic geeks, Goyer shared that his script for Super Max (aka the Green Lantern Arrow prison movie*) features a number of obscure, "third-tier" super villains, including Icicle from the comic JSA. He says that he gave DC a list of villains he wanted to use and then the comic publisher weeded out the ones it didn't want appearing in the movie. Speaking of DC, Goyer also told Wizard that he's returning to comic books soon with his JSA writing partner Geoff Johns. All he could reveal is that it takes place following the upcoming Final Crisis series.

Goyer isn't all comics, though. He shared with Wizard his inspiration and basic idea for The Invisible Man, which he sees as sort of a sequel to H.G. Wells' novel, and mentioned that he also played loose with the young adult books that Jumper is based upon. The most exciting thing he had to say, at least for Heroes fans, is that he's really interested in scripting an episode of Heroes: Origins. I don't know how he has the time to tackle all of these things right now -- all I can think of is that his real name must be Jamie Madrox -- but I'll just have to patiently await each one in due time.

[ Thanks to ComingSoon.net for the tip. ]

*You know, I think if I had actually been a DC fan, I still would have confused the two Green characters. Apologies to the fans and readers.

Those of you came out yesterday screaming bloody murder when we posted a rumor that suggested Kevin Smith might be up for a directing gig on the Green Arrow flick Supermax -- well, don't worry, he's not doing it. If you read Cinematical religiously (which you should ... but I didn't say that), you probably already know that Smith has denied the entire thing. When and where did he deny it, you ask? Well, look no further than the comments section on Cinematical. Yup, as he does on occasion, Smith himself showed up in response to the rumor that Peter from SlashFilm had previously posted. In case you missed it, or glanced passed it, here's what Smith had to say: "I dig Peter at slashfilm, but that conjecture was a real stretch. I.E. - No, I'm not directing "SuperMax". You may all breathe a sigh of relief now."

Here's where you say: "Um, dude, how do you know that was Kevin Smith answering and not some poser trying to deceive you?" Valid question. But following the comment, I spoke to Kevin directly and confirmed that it was indeed him who left that comment. So there ya go. He's not directing Supermax. But the question still remains: Will Smith finally direct a superhero-related film following Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Red State? He's stressed before that he'd like to, not to mention the fact that he's written superhero-related scripts, was at one point attached to write and direct a Green Lantern flick, and is currently signed on to helm an episode of that Heroes spin-off show, Heroes: Origins. The cards certainly seem to be lining up for the man; now, the fun part -- we play the waiting game. Cue Jeopardy music ...

Rumors, rumors, rumors -- God, how I love them. They're so cute and cuddly, you just want to wrap your arms around them and never let go. Until you find out they're not true -- that you've been deceived -- and your heart will remain broken until the next rumor pops up. This latest rumor comes from Peter over at Slashfilm. Peter likes to piece things together, based on all the little bits of tasty information found online, in magazines or next to that guy at the urinal. In doing so, he's come up with a scenario in which Kevin Smith could potentially direct a superhero flick after all -- that being the much talked-about Green Arrow film, SuperMax. Basically, Smith made some comments to Wizard regarding which project he intends to take on following Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Red State.

Here's some of what he said: "The 10th movie I think is going to be a comic book movie - not "The Green Hornet," though. There's something that we're kind of negotiating on right now which would actually be pretty cool. I don't know what the audience for it would be, but I would dig making it because I've always been a fan of the character. I can't say what it is though, because they haven't locked it in." Now here's where the facts end and the rumor mill begins: Seeing as Smith previously wrote 15 issues of the Green Arrow comic for DC back in 2000, some folks are suggesting that the project in question is Supermax; the (sort of) Green Arrow film that David Goyer (Batman Begins) sold to Warner Bros. earlier this year. I say 'sort of' because it takes place in a prison full of super villains who are holed up there minus their costumes. Newbie scribe Justin Marx is writing the script, and as of right now, the film does not have a director. They want to release this bad boy in 2010 (which fits Smith's schedule), and it's a character he certainly does love. So will Smith be seeing green after all? Your thoughts?

Let this be an inspiration to all you aspiring screenwriters out there. 22 year-old newcomer Justin Marks has been selected by writer/director/producer David Goyer to write the screenplay for Goyer's proposed Green Arrow movie, Super Max. (Erik brought you news of the project here and here). Marks has never had a feature film produced before, but has recently been linked to Voltron. "I love finding new people out of nowhere. I love working with young talent, whether it be actors or writers," says Goyer. The script will center on DC Comics hero Green Arrow, who is wrongly placed in a maximum security prison for supervillains, including villains he previously put there. So now he doesn't only have to worry about taking showers and getting stabbed with toothbrushes, he's got laser-eyes and world domination schemes to contend with.

Goyer is probably best known for writing Batman Begins, and he also did some work on the upcoming sequel, The Dark Knight (he's not saying whether Two-Face will be one of the villains). Goyer does have some non-superhero projects in the works as well. He co-wrote the script for Doug Liman's upcoming Jumper, which will star Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson. He is overseeing the script for Here, There Be Dragons, an adaptation of James A. Owens' book, which imagines authors J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S Lewis, and Charles Williams taking a journey together. He is also working on a remake of David Cronenberg's mind-blowing (literally!) horror classic Scanners, which he is considering directing, as he did the "teen supernatural thriller" The Invisible, which will be in theaters next Friday.

Or is it SuperMax? Or Prison Break: Season 3? Or Green Arrow in: Oops, I Dropped the Soap? Either way, it appears the "cool" thing these days is for filmmakers to show up on their MySpace pages to help give fans more info on their highly-anticipated upcoming projects. Rob Zombie has used MySpace to promote the hell out of his re-imagining of Halloween (due out this summer), and Jon Favreau has provided a few updates from the set of Iron Man over on his space. Now, writer David S. Goyer (Batman Begins) is throwing his name into the mix. In case you missed it, Goyer has been hired to write a Green Arrow film (based on the popular character from DC Comics) ... with a pretty big twist.

Instead of it being a straight-up superhero flick, pic will follow Green Arrow after he's framed for a crime, stripped of his identity and thrown in a Super Max prison. Not just any prison -- this is a prison filled with DC supervillains. Now, in order to win back his freedom, the Green Arrow must team up with some of the same monsters he helped put away in order to plan an escape. It's an idea I personally love (because, for once, we're getting something different!), but apparently the majority of you aren't fans of Goyer's concept. Well, the man himself talked more about the film and its origins on his MySpace page; based on what he said, perhaps you'll change your mind. Or not.

According to Goyer, "The basic concept actually came about through Justin Marks, a terrific young writer my wife Jessika (a producer) had previously worked with. They thought the idea of a prison-break story set in a jail designed exclusively for super-villains was a cool one. And I heartily agreed. After some discussion, we decided it would be fun to frame a super-hero and toss him into the meta-human mix." Really, and here I thought it was because Super Max sounded better than Death Warrant 2. Goyer then goes on to talk about why they chose the Green Arrow, saying it was because of his "hard-hitting, moralistic tendencies." I guess I'll remain in the minority here thinking this is one of the finest superhero-themed ideas to emerge during a time when our movie theaters are being bombarded by masks, capes and super powers. And who's to say a film like this won't help launch a Green Arrow franchise, with a second film giving the fans what they really want -- to see Green Arrow as Green Arrow? And who's to say they won't get that in this film? If there's any advice I can give, it would be to trust David Goyer. The man is one helluva writer, and I'm sure he'll deliver a quality flick.

[via IGN]