Monday, March 7, 2005
FANTASTIC FOUR MOVIE UPDATE
Julian McMahon, who is playing Doctor Doom in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, said he is contracted for a sequel.
"I'm signed on to do the sequel, but I really have to be honest with you, the way that I would look at it if I was Fox and those guys, it depends on how well Von Doom is received and how well you could fit him back in again," McMahon said. "It if works storyline-wise and if the audience liked him, I'd say they should bring him back. It would be a no-brainer.
"But if they feel like you kind of have done Von Doom and they need to bring in someone else, I can understand that as well. But we'll see."
In presenting Doctor Doom for the big screen, visual effects supervisor Kurt Williams said that it will be done mostly with prosthetics until toward the end of the film.
"When he fully escalates into full Doom, he has this power that he sort of controls the energy in the room and the electricity, so therešs a lot of scenes where he drains the energy in the room and the lights come down," Williams said. "At the end, that power is sort of his own doing. He grows just like the other characters do.
"One of the events of the movie thatšs kind of important is that hešs a big threat in the movie to the Fantastic Four. And hešs got a lot of power that really threatens them, as well as the public in New York. So wešre treating him with an electrical field. Wešll generate some light sources that come from under his skin, that gives a topical electrical effect with him, it makes it organic, itšs coming from inside him."
MARVEL STUDIOS LINEUP
During its first quarter report on Monday, Marvel provided the latest on its movie and television projects.
Following is a rundown:
Marvel Character Feature Film Line-Up For 2005
* Fantastic Four, Fox - July 8 release
Marvel Character Feature Film Development Pipeline (Partial List)
* X-Men 3, Fox - Summer, 2006 release
* Ghost Rider, Sony - Script, Director, Filming started, Slated for 2006
* Iron Man, New Line Cinema - Script, Targeted for 2006
* Luke Cage, Sony/Columbia - Script, Director, Targeted for 2006
* The Punisher 2, Lions Gate - Writer, Director, Targeted for 2006
* Deathlok, Paramount - Script, Director, Targeted for 2006
* Spider-Man 3, Sony/Columbia - Director, May 4, 2007 release
* Namor, Universal Pictures - Script, Targeted for 2007
* The Hulk 2, Universal Pictures - Development, Targeted for 2007
* Wolverine, Fox - Development, Targeted for 2007
Marvel Character Feature Film Development Pipeline (Partial List)
Marvel Character Feature Film Projects in Development
Ant-Man, Black Panther, Captain America, Nick Fury, Silver Surfer,
Thor
Marvel Character Animated Direct-to-Video Projects in Development
Partnership with Lions Gate to develop, produce and distribute original animated DVD features. Four projects in 2D/3D format are in development with the first release slated for 2006. Characters include: The Avengers 1, The Avengers 2 and Iron Man.
Marvel Character Animated TV Projects in Development
Partnership with Antefilms Distribution to produce an original animated television series based on the Fantastic Four. 26, thirty-minute 2D/3D animated episodes are planned with initial TV airings in 2006.
Marvel Character Live Action TV Projects in Development
Blade and Brother Voodoo are two Marvel characters that are in development.
HELLBOY: THE ISLAND
Hellboy creator Mike Mignola returns with his first new Hellboy mini-series in more than two years with June's premiere of Hellboy: The Island from Dark Horse Comics.
Here's how Dark Horse describes the two-issue mini-series:
"The Island follows events last seen in Hellboy: The Third Wish where Hellboy was left at the bottom of the sea. He washes up two years later on an island full of sunken ships where he is tempted by singing dead men and stupidly ignores good advice from an ancient enemy. This tale of gods and monsters offers the first revelations about one (or more) of the great secrets of Hellboy's world!"
"Once on the island, Hellboy has a couple drinks and learns a whole lot of stuff he never wanted to know...about himself," Mignola said. "In this mini-series I decided to tell a lot of stuff I never thought I was going to tell."
Hellboy editor Scott Allie said, "The Island not only reveals things about Hellboy and his world that readers have been asking about for years, but it shows Mike at his most inventive. He's still experimenting with the art form, still finding new ways to tell a story. The Island's unlike anything hešs ever done."
Hellboy: The Island #1 will be in stores on June 22 and will cost $2.99.
TOMM COKER'S CATACOMBS
Production began Monday in Bucharest, Romania on Lions Game Films' and Twisted Pictures' Catacombs, a film written and directed by comics artist Tomm Coker and Dave Elliot.
The film stars Shannyn Sossamon and Pink (aka Alecia Moore) in the story of a young woman on her first visit abroad. She goes to a party in the Catacombs, a 200-mile labyrinth of ancient limestone tunnels under Paris lined with the remains of 7 million people. When separated from her friends, she becomes convinced that someone or something is chasing her.
Coker, whose recent comics credit was Blood and Water with Judd Winick, previously wrote and directed the short film "A Day Between."
Illuminati Entertainment's Ford Gilmore is a producer on the project.
"Creating these kinds of
opportunities for creators is exactly why I started Illuminati a
couple years ago, and I'm glad I was able to get one of my clients a
chance like this within only a couple years," Gilmore told The Continuum.
FIRST LOOKS
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For covers and two- to six-page previews of upcoming titles, CLICK HERE.
Titles include Atomika #1 from Speakeasy Commics; Vimanarama! #2 from DC Comics; Revisionary #1 from Moonstone Books; Ted Noodleman: Bicycle Delivery Boy from Alias Enterprises; and Fuzz Bunnies from Hell from Arcana Studios.
SPIDER-MAN CLASSIC FIGURES
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Toy Biz has provided The Continuum with a preview of Assortment 14 of its Spider-Man Classic action figure line.
Assortment 14 includes Tail Strike Scorpion, Spin 'N Trap Spider-Man, Web Trap Spider-Man, Web Cannon Spider-Man and Buzzing Beetle.
The figures should be in stores by August.
Click on the thumbnails for larger images and look for more Spider-Man action figure news soon here in The Continuum.
IDW'S SILENT HILL: THE GRINNING MAN
Silent Hill: The Grinning Man is the latest installment of IDW Publishing's comic series based on Konami's video game. Regular series writer Scott Ciencin returns for this one-shot, which welcomes artist Nick Stakal.
Here's how IDW describes the book:
"The evil contained in Silent Hill hungers for a new victim... and thatšs exactly what it gets.
"For ten years, State Trooper Robert Toweršs patrolled the area around Silent Hill without seeing anything out of the ordinary. Now that he's ready to retire, thatšs about to change. The terrifying figure known as the Grinning Man draws Tower deep into the cursed town, and hešll have to fight for his life to crawl his way back out!"
"In the character of the Grinning Man, Scott Ciencin's come up with a character so evil he could only be found in Silent Hill," said editor Kris Oprisko. "This story, coupled with ultra-creepy visuals by Nick Stakal, combine to make Silent Hill: The Grinning Man our most frightening installment yet!"
Silent Hill: The Grinning Man will be 48 pages and will be released in May.
BRIEFLY
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* Above is a look at covers to X-Men #168, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #4, Rogue #9, Wolverine Soultaker #2 and New Invanders #8. Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
* Western Gothic: The Ballad of Utopia, a 168-page, black and white trade paperback will be released by Anti-Matter/Hoffman International in mid-June.
Here's how the book -- by Barry Buchanan and Mike Hoffman -- is described:
"The Ballad of Utopia is essentially a murder mystery as seen through the eyes of Utopia deputy Sam David, who is accompanied by the mysterious and occultic bounty hunter Brigham Love. Along the way, they come across quite a few grisly shocks and encounter many of the odd personalities of the town of Utopia."
* Here's a look at the back of the DVD box for The Batman: Training for Power -- Season 1, Vol. 1, in stores on May 24.
* Coming Tuesday: Marvel news and much more!!!
COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES
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In case you missed The Continuum's recent coverage, here are some links:
* For Tuesday, March 1, including a rundown of Fantastic Four movie toys, CLICK HERE.
* For Monday, Feb. 28, including Spider-Man movie news, CLICK HERE.
* For Saturday, Feb. 26, including Sin City movie news, CLICK HERE.
* For Friday, Feb. 25, including an interview with Constantine's Djimon Hounsou, CLICK HERE.
* For Thursday, Feb. 24, including Top Cow news, CLICK HERE.
* For Wednesday, Feb. 23, including Devil's Due Publishing's solicitations for May, CLICK HERE.
* For Tuesday, Feb. 22, including Justice League Unlimited news, CLICK HERE.
* For Monday, Feb. 21, including interviews with Batman Begins' Christian Bale and Fantastic Four's Julian McMahon, CLICK HERE.
* For Sunday, Feb. 20, including the DC Universe panel at WonderCon in San Francisco, CLICK HERE.
* For Saturday, Feb. 19, including the Vertigo/WildStorm panel at WonderCon in San Francisco, CLICK HERE.
* For Friday, Feb. 18, including Marvel Comics' solicitations for May, CLICK HERE.
* For Thursday, Feb. 17, including Image Comics' solicitations for May, CLICK HERE.
* For Wednesday, Feb. 16, including news on The Batman's second season, CLICK HERE.
* For Tuesday, Feb. 15, including an interview with Constantine's Keanu Reeves, CLICK HERE.
* For Monday, Feb. 14, including DC Comics' solicitations for May, CLICK HERE.
Copyright © 2005, The Comics Continuum