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Comics:
It
Must Be A Sign Of The Apocalypse…
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Full of
Lurky Goodness...
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Dark
Horse Comics has announced that Joss Whedon has finished writing
Fray, the future-set horror comic that takes place
in the Buffyverse.
Regular
artists Karl Moline and Andy Owens return as well, and Dark
Horse promises that Fray #7 will appear in comics shops
on April 23rd, with the final issue seeing a May 21st release.
Let me amend that: they say it's scheduled for May
21st.
But seeing
as Joss no longer has to worry about Firefly (dammit),
it's a safe bet that he really does have this whole project
finished.
Now about
that writing Iron Man…
Yeah,
But Where's Jimmy Olsen?
Also
slated for April, Dark Horse will be releasing the English
translation of Ozamu Tezuka's Metropolis, a manga
classic over a half-century old. Telling the story of an artificial
human wandering a future world looking for her non-existent
parents, Metropolis had a recent anime adaptation
that American audiences have seen. (For Fanboy Planet's review,
click here.)
The manga
translation will be released on April 2nd, 168 pages for $13.95.
Movies:
Hamlet
By Day, Werewolf By Night
There's
an apocryphal story that sometime in the late seventies, a
producer approached Marvel about turning their horror comic
Werewolf By Night into a movie. In a move that clearly
turns this tale into fiction, Marvel's representatives pointed
out that this was a comic book about a werewolf. Nothing more,
nothing less, and therefore, the producer could just make
a werewolf movie and not have to pay Marvel for the name.
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...because
I couldn't find a picture of the Slurpee Cup...
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Granted,
over the years Marvel has given Jack Russell and his lupine
alter ego a little more continuity to make the property unique.
And right now, it seems that the only character at Marvel
without a movie deal is Ron Zimmerman. So it should come as
no surprise that Werewolf By Night has been optioned.
Originally
this was supposed to have been part of Marvel's deal with
Artisan, with Hans Rodioff attached, but apparently that situation
has changed drastically. Instead, Dimenson Films (the "exploitation"
- read lucrative - arm of Miramax) has announced their involvement,
with an intriguing staff change. No, Marvel Studios head Avi
Arad is not off the project. Oscar-nominated (for Chocolat)
screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs will be working on the project.
Arad,
of course, serves as executive producer in conjunction with
Crystal Sky Studios, who also have Ghost Rider on their
plate.
"It is
our aim to bring the werewolf genre to mainstream audiences
in the same character-driven way we have done with our other
superhero films," said Arad. " 'Werewolf by Night' is at its
core a beautiful love story reminiscent of the great Shakespearean
tragedies. It needs the meticulous heartfelt crafting that
Robert Nelson Jacobs is known for."
As always,
I'm willing to be as excited as Arad tells me I should be,
and all I really know about the character is what I learned
from a Slurpee Cup and Marvel Team-up #12 (emphasis
on the Slurpee Cup). But…
Shakespearean
tragedies?
Edgar
Winter, Start Taking That HGH Now…
There
are two kinds of fantasy fans: those who have had their obsessive
Moorcock period, and those who have yet to do so. In hindsight,
that sentence looks slightly obscene. I'm talking about British
SF/Fantasy/Speculative Fiction writer Michael Moorcock, the
man who really gave us Hypertime, even if he doesn't know
it.
Moorcock
dabbled early on in multiverses and timelines that weaved
in and out of each other, allowing for just about every novel
and short story he ever wrote to have some sort of connection.
Perhaps his most well-known protagonist is a certain albino
warrior prince, the fierce and regal Elric of Melnibone.
Elric
is one aspect of the Eternal Champion, a role played by several
characters throughout Moorcock's fiction. The White Wolf's
(as he is sometimes known) saga spans six novels directly,
and five indirect follow-ups.
Slated
for an upcoming DC series with art by Walt Simonson, Elric
has just been optioned by Universal Studios. Chris and Paul
Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy) convinced the studio
to take a shot, though the brothers will only produce, not
write or direct. Also along for the ride as co-producer: Moorcock
himself.
Plans
call for a trilogy, with the first film culling material from
the initial six books.
Will
our children be calling for blood and souls for my lord Arioch?
Television:
Sunnydale
Has No Faith
While
rumors run rampant as to who or what will replace Buffy
The Vampire Slayer after Sarah Michelle Gellar runs off
to complete her Caruso-like transformation into a movie star,
we now know that it won't be Faith. Eliza Dushku has just
been cast in a pilot for the Fox network.
I know
what Goodson's rooting for: Andrew The Uber-Geek And His
Naked Demon Friend Anya.
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"My
brother and his friends were all mercilessly slaughtered?
Dude, that like totally sucks. Bummer."
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Who
Was That Masked Man? Revisited
Just
a reminder that tonight at 8 p.m. the WB airs its potential
utter bastardization of The Lone Ranger, starring Chad
Michael Murray. If all goes well(?), of course, we'll be seeing
a Lone Ranger series. Also on the boards, a teen Tarzan
with former Skinner Mitch Pileggi already cast as young Lord
Greystoke's American uncle.
Back to
The Lone Ranger: The teen girls among you may sigh
in quiet ecstacy; the rest of us shall reserve judgment until
the grinding of our teeth has worn them down to nubs.
Aside
from completely changing The Lone Ranger's origin (not just
rethinking it, but even changing his name) and giving Tonto
a sister (who by all reports is totally hot so maybe we'll
let this particular revision go...), the movie has the bright
idea to ditch the silver bullets.
A shame,
really, because they're so handy when running into werewolves
by night. Or Danish princes.
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