Occasionally, the publishers will take a collection of sold out issues, and combine them into a mini-trade that fits the budget and makes it easy for readers to get their hands on a collection of books. Such is the case with Ms. Marvel: War of the Marvels Must Have that includes Ms. Marvel #39-41.
The three issue mini-trade arrives August 19, 2009.
Gore Verbinski had previously announced his next big project following the Pirates of the Caribbean was to direct an adaptation of teh video game Bioshock from Take-Two Interactive. However, once the budget balloon to well over $160 million, Universal Pictures put a hold on the production.
The film was originally to be shot in Los Angeles, which is probably the biggest contributor to the high cost. Universal and Verbinksi are looking for other places to shoot the flick, with London being bandied about as a possible cheaper venue.
The Hollywood Reporter is confirming that the Green Lantern movie will be shot in Sydney, Australia. Martin Campbell will direct, with the script being written by Greg Berlanti and Michael Green.  THR says the budget is $150 million, so that should translate into some big screen spectacular effects.
The film goes into production in July, with filming begining in November, with an expected theater release date in December 2010.
For those of you hating the announcement that Brett Ratner was in as the director of the Conan movie can breathe a small sigh of relief today. The director says the deal is not done, as there are a few more things that need to be hammered out. Still up in the air are the budget, special effects, and shooting location, which places Conan back in development hell instead of an in production feature.
In the meantime, Ratner is committed to making Beverly Hills Cop 4 before taking on Conan.
Let that last line sink in for a moment before you start commenting. Beverly Hill Cop… 4.
The remake of Conan was announced last summer, and now Brett Ratner is in final negotiations to direct the feature.
Ratner jibed to the “Conan” script by Gersh-repped Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, who looked to Robert E. Howard’s original pulp stories of the 1930s to create their take on the character. The writers are doing a quick polish to incorporate some of Ratner’s ideas, with an eye toward releasing the film in 2010.
Since this is diving into the source material, Lionsgate is expecting an R rating for the feature, and is shelling out $85 million for the budget.
Sad news for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, Universal Pictures has decided to pull out of the three picture deal for the CGI adaptation of Tintin. The biggest reason for the break in the deal wasn’t Spielberg trying to break DreamWorks away from Paramount, but the $130 million budget. In a day an age where $130 million seems like a drop in the bucket for a franchise that could literally net Universal ten times that in world wide distribution, something certainly seems fishy. Perhaps it was the 30% of gross Spielberg and Jackson wanted – meaning Tintin would have to gross $425 million before it broke even and Universal started seeing a profit.
But fear not Herge fans, the duo have taken their proposal to Paramount… oh, yeah, that whole split thing might be a hang up. Paramount has had the proposal for several weeks now, so it Tintin is simply awaiting a yay or nay from the suits.
Heroic Publishing let Major Spoilers know that its latest issue of Flare (#37) is now available for a free download at Wowio.com.
FLARE #37 features the new twenty-page Flare adventure, “The Secrets of Lady Arcane,” written by Dennis Mallonee, with artwork by Dick Giordano and Mark Beachum. This story featuring a guest appearance by Doctor Arcane, and sets the stage for next year’s long-awaited return of Lady Arcane by revealing for the first time how Lady A and Flare first met. This issue also features an all-new seven-page story, “A Tale of Malice,” by Wilson Hill and Franco Urru, starring Dark Malice and the original Giant.
Each time I mention Wowio.com, I get at least one person asking how the Wowio system works. It is free to sign up, the titles available are free to download, but you are limited to a certain number of downloads per day. There are some great titles available via Wowio, and if your budget is tight, and you are looking for some indie comics to get your hands on, then by all means, give Wowio a go.
Fans of the vampire centric Moonlight series on CBS won’t get to follow the adventures of Mick St. John after this year’s season finale.
Even with a growing fan base, the budget and sagging ratings forced CBS to not renew the series next year.
It’s understood that Eye execs were not impressed with the show’s creative development, and there was much drama and turnover behind the scenes among producers and scribes and tussling between the network and studio over budgetary issues. The final straw was the show’s sagging ratings perf during the past few weeks after its post-strike return.
It’s a shame the show is ending, as I really dig Shannyn Sossamon.