Friday, June 22, 2001

SPIDER-MAN MOVIE ROUNDUP

Producer Ian Bryce told The Continuum that filming the Spider-Man movie has been one of the biggest challenges in his career.

"I've worked on some big films, but this one's right up there in terms of complexity and difficulty," said Bryce, whose credits include Saving Private Ryan and Twister.

Bryce said that today's technology allows the creators of Spider-Man more capability but also creates more issues to address.

"Nowadays the technology on every movie changes on how we approach certain problems, especially with the issue of visual effects," Bryce said. "So we're ever re-inventing the wheel, in essence, on how we do this.

"In this one particularly, it's been that way in the special effects mode because the environments that Spider-Man and Green Goblin exist in are almost impossible for us to shoot - those original environments. So we have to create the environments in many cases, instead of going out and shooting film plates, which you can't do 70 stories in air in New York. They don't allow it. It's very dangerous and difficult, and you can't light that high. So those images have to be created from scratch, which was a very challenging proposition from the beginning.

"But we have a great crew with some great minds and I believe we've figured it out in what will be some very entertaining sequences."

In other Spider-Man movie news:

* Spider-Man stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will appear on the cover of Entertainment Weekly's double-sized "It List" issue. Maguire, commenting on reports of a relationship with Dunst, told the magazine, "We're just good friends."

* Dunst will appear on CBS' The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn on Thursday.

* Although not a definite, there's a chance some prototypes of the Spider-Man movie action figures will be displayed by ToyBiz at the Comic-Con International in San Diego next month.

* Look for more on Spider-Man very soon here in The Continuum.

CROSSGEN FOR OCTOBER

CrossGen has released its solicitation information for October.

For a complete rundown, CLICK HERE.

CHUCK AUSTEN TALKS U.S. WAR MACHINE

In addition to his work as artist of Elektra, Chuck Austen will also be writing and drawing U.S. War Machine, part of Marvel's new mature readers line.

U.S. War Machine will be a 12-issue weekly series, printed in black and white. Each issue of the series, which starts in September, will be 24 pages and will cost $1.50.

The Continuum caught up with Austen this week to talk about the project.

The Continuum: How did U.S. War Machine come about?

Austen: I was actually burned out working on my day job and decided to have some fun with a week and a half of time off I had last fall. A friend suggested I try to reclaim some of the joy of comics and old superheroes by working on some Marvel stuff, just for kicks. I intended to spend a day or two just goofing off working on Marvel characters, but I wound up having so much fun working on War Machine, I kept at it for the whole week and a half, much to my wife's terror. Not that she didn't want me working on comics, she just didn't want me working on something with no return on investment. Money was tight at the time. Still is.

So on a whim, and because I wanted an excuse to keep working on the story and drawings, I put together a proposal package, never really intending to send it, but just for the fun of it.

Then another friend who I had always had long talks with about the state of the industry and how it should be changed/fixed, dared me to send it to (Marvel editor-in-chief Joe) Quesada, put my money where my mouth was and prove some of my theories.

Either that or get laughed out the door, and here we are.

The Continuum: What's the general story? How many issues?

Austen: It's 12 issues, but I have ideas for about two years worth of weeklies, if sales are strong enough and Marvel keeps liking the book.

The general story is about a man named Jim Rhodes who's one of Tony Stark's bodyguards. He has a bad day, gets fired, and it all leads to a new career heading up a secret War Machine Special Forecs division of S.H.I.E.L.D. And their first mission is to take on a brilliant white supremacist with weapons and ideas.

The Continuum: This is set out of continuity? Will it still have the same characters?

Austen: Jim Rhodes, Tony Stark, a lot of the old faces. And a lot of new ones. They're just grounded in a more "realistic" world. There are no superheroes, no aliens that we know of, no Namor, no Olympus, no Gods, new or old.

The Continuum: Can you describe the approach for the artwork, with it being a black-and-white series?

Austen: The artwork is different from my "day-job" style in that it's more open, more simple linework, less noir shadows than in Elektra. Plus, it's being finished by a studio I used to work with when I was in animation called NIC Entertainment. In reality, they're my partner on this project. I do the creative work and they finish with the 3D backgrounds, tones, all that. I'm liking the way it's turning out. A blend of American and Japanese styles.

The Continuum: Is this a finite story or something you could continue beyond if circumstances merited?

Austen: I could go on for quite a while. I have a conclusion to the story, both the 12-issue story and the two-year story have finite endings. I also have other projects I want to do, so we'll see how it all comes together. Right now I'm still having fun.

X-MEN: EVOLUTION UPDATE

X-Men: Evolution continues to pull in strong ratings for Kids' WB! on Saturday mornings, winning its time period again last Saturday.

As part of "Top Pops," the network's theme for the morning, "The X-Impulse" episode topped all competition, including cable, in the 9:30 time slot in Kids 6-11 (4.0 rating/21 share), Boys 2-11 (4.0/17) and Boys 6-11 (5.2/23). It led broadcast competition in Kids 2-11 (3.0/14).

The show was also tied with Pokemon: The Johto Journeys for overall broadcast competition in Kids 6-11.

The Zeta Project also performed well, ranking No. 1 in its time period against broadcast competition in Kids 2-11 and Kids 6-11.

Look for more on X-Men: Evolution, including the second season, here in The Continuum.

FIRST LOOK: ULTIMATE X-MEN #7

Ultimate X-Men #7 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from Marvel Comics. The issue is written by Mark Millar with art by Adam Kubert and Art Thibert and a cover by Kubert.

Here's how Marvel describes the issue:

"Kicking off 'Weapon X,' a new story arc that explores the past of the Wolverine. He came to destroy the X-Men from within - now he's one of them. But who is the man named Logan? Where is he from? How did that unbreakable metal get bonded to his skeleton? Beginning here, Wolverine and his teammates will hunt the mysteries of his past - but what they discover could shatter the fragile alliance they've built and alienate the one person the unstable mutant cares about most."

Ultimate X-Men #7 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

BRIEFLY