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Virgin Comics is still relatively new to the game, and while the big daddies of the comic book world have been enjoying their time on the big screen; Virgin has been steadily making deals for a little box-office success of their own (especially considering that was what the company was designed to do in the first place). Variety now reports that Virgin has sold the film rights to their latest comic, The Leaves, to Summit Entertainment.

The Leaves was inspired by tales of Naadi fortune-tellers and one man's extraordinary experience. The story centers on Max Mellick, a world-renowned heart surgeon with a beautiful girlfriend and luxurious New York lifestyle. While attending a friend's funeral in India, a fortune-teller tells Max that he will be responsible for bringing about the end of the world. But, Dr. Max isn't the apocalyptic-type, so he goes on the run in the hopes of finding a way to escape his destiny.

Leaves was only released a few days ago, but that hasn't stopped Summit from snapping up the title for a feature film remake. Leaves was written by Kevin J. Walsh and he will also adapt the story into an action thriller for the big screen. Virgin's Creative Director, Gotham Chopra (son to Deepak) will produce the film alongside CEO Sharad Devarajan. I just hope Summit can get Virgin moving a little faster on this project than they have with The Megas.

Ok, I am much younger than Stan Lee, and trying to keep up on all his production deals has me utterly exhausted. How the hell does he have the energy to keep inking them? I want whatever energy drink he's on.

According to Variety, Stan Lee has just agreed to pen a new stable of superheroes for Virgin Comics. There's going to be ten (count 'em, ten) new faces joining the world of comic books, through a series of graphic novels that Lee will pen and edit himself. Further character details will be revealed early next year, but the characters and books will also be tied into a series of short animated films that will be released online.

Virgin Comics is really growing by leaps and bounds. (Sir) Richard Branson formed it in 2005, and has inked deals with everyone from Ed Burns, Deepak Chopra, John Woo, Terry Gilliam, Nicolas Cage, Hugh "comic addict" Jackman, and Duran Duran to create properties for the label. (Duran Duran? Ok, I want that one right now. Please tell me it will explore the epic sci-fi story behind their song Planet Earth or reveal what, exactly, the Union of the Snake is.) Virgin is also aiming to make films out of most of the star properties -- no doubt Lee's 10 superheroes will eventually be among them.

What do you do when your favorite comic strip character is threatened by obscurity? Become a billionaire and buy up the rights, then plan on resurrecting the comic and adapting it into a video game, TV series and, most importantly, a feature film. Sure, Richard Branson didn't become a rich man (or a knight) just to make Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future popular again, but the character rights are now an added bonus to the Virgin Group chairman's empire. Anyway, Dan Dare hasn't really been that obscured or hidden since his debut in the 1950s; the character even starred in an animated series on Nicktoons UK as recent as 2005. Of course, Americans aren't too familiar with the guy, who is often described as the British Buck Rogers, and Branson's deal should change that.

According to Variety, first up is a series from Virgin Comics written by Garth Ennis (Preacher), who actually cites Dan Dare as "our Captain America, our Superman, our Batman; he's all of them rolled into one." Funny, I thought the lame Captain Britain was all of that, but I'm certainly eager to check out this Dan Dare guy now. I don't know if I'll pick up the comics, the first issue of which comes out in November, but I'll look forward to the movie. CAA is already developing a package for whatever studio decides to latch onto it. The story concerns a post-apocalyptic world in which North America and much of Asia is destroyed and the UK is the last remaining superpower. The fairly new Virgin Comics has been growing notice lately with high profile series announced from filmmakers like Terry Gilliam, John Woo and Shekhar Kapur. Last month, Ed Burns unveiled his own title, which will also be adapted into a movie, and Nicolas Cage also has his own comic.

I had no idea until this week that Virgin has a comic book line, but Virgin Comics indeed exists and it's putting out series created by filmmakers such as John Woo, Shekhar Kapur and Guy Ritchie, whose title is being made into a movie by Warner Bros. Virgin has announced another new comic to be co-written by indie filmmaker (and Saving Private Ryan actor) Edward Burns. The book, which has the weird name Dock Walloper, is being co-written by Jimmy Palmiotti and is being drawn by Siju Thomas. It's about an Irish-American gangster and takes place in 1920s New York. The comic book will serve as a foundation for a feature film that Burns will write, direct and co-star in, playing a crime boss named Mad Dog Madden. About the movie, Burns says he always wanted to make a New York period piece but always thought it would be too expensive to do. Now, though, he can shoot the whole thing with green screen, a la Sin City and 300.

Sounds like the furthest thing from The Brothers McMullen I can possibly imagine. I find it interesting that in the currently comic-obsessed film industry, that even someone like Burns has to jump aboard the wagon. And I find it quite sad that filmmakers are now having to put out pre-production comic books just to have that appeal of making a comic adaptation. I don't even know if Dock Walloper will be allowed to be considered an adaptation if the comic is basically based on an idea for a movie, which will then be adapted from the book. It does confuse me, just as the other trend of preceding a movie with an internet series does confuse me. What next, a comic that's a precursor to a Jenna Jameson porn movie? Oh, wait, Virgin seems already on top of that idea, too. Hmm, if there's a more ironic name for a company for Jameson to be associated with, I don't know it.

Apparently not content with just one comic book movie, Nic Cage is on the move from Marvel, who put together his Ghost Rider flick, to Virgin Comics, who plans to make him the star of their popular title The Sadhu. For those of you not up on your Virgin Comics -- which I realize is about 99% of the civilized world -- this means Nic Cage is going to be James Jensen, a British man who traveled to India, had his family killed, and turned into a combination soldier / Indian mystic (Sadhu).*

The screenplay will be written by Virgin co-founder Deepak Chopra, who is the father of the man who penned the comic series. Cage seems to have an in with Virgin, who is planning to publish a comics line created by Cage and his son entitled Enigma (a "voodoo-laced thriller"), which Variety tells me Virgin is also considering for a potential movie. One would imagine this would likewise star Nic Cage, but there's no reason to start talking about that yet. Oddly enough, I actually find myself intrigued by the concept of a Nic Cage-created comic book series, and will probably pick up at least the first issue when it hits in March. It also gets me thinking, what other major motion picture stars would I be willing to purchase a comic book from?

*For true fans of Sadhu, I apologize for butchering the plot into such a simplistic sentence. Feel free to spend more time explaining it fully in the comments for those who would like to hear more about it.

Virgin kingpin Richard Branson is taking his outrageously successful entrepreneurship to the film industry, taking aim at the Asian market with a pair of ventures based in Bangalore, India. The first, Virgin Comics, is just what it sounds like: a comic book company, with a "focus on creating original titles and characters that blend Eastern and Western mythologies." Virgin's first efforts, which include a a series created by John Woo, are due out later this year. The second company, called Virgin Animation, will have the task of taking the characters and stories of the Comics group and turning them into animated films.

To say that the team behind the companies is an odd group is an understatement: in addition to Branson, the company's creative director is Gotham Chopra, the son of self-help guru Deepak Chopra (who, based on some reports, is also involved), and filmmaker Shekar Kapur (Bandit Queen, Elizabeth) is responsible for "providing creative content" to the early Comics offerings.

Given Branson's history of jumping into industries at just the right time, this is a promising project. It'll be interesting to watch its progress - and, hopefully to see the results, if they ever make it to the US.