FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2006
COMING SATURDAY
Movie news, Image news and much more!!!
Paramount Pictures and
Marvel Entertainment on Friday announced that the Iron Man movie, to be directed by Jon Favreau, will reach theaters on May 2, 2008.
Iron Man is the first feature film to be produced independently by Marvel Entertainment, expected to be financed through Marvel's $525 million revolving film financing facility and distributed under Marvel's overall distribution arrangement with Paramount.
Iron Man will be produced by Avi Arad, creative advisor to Marvel Studios, and Kevin Feige, Marvel's president of production. Executive producers are Favreau, Ari Arad, Favreau and Louis D'Esposito. It will also be the first project for the newly launched Avi Arad Productions.
"We're thrilled to be launching the summer 2008 movie season with Iron Man," Feige said. "Marvel has had great success with the first Friday in May -- Spider-Man broke records on that first Friday and X2 debuted at the top of the box office charts as well. We're looking forward to extending that track record with Iron Man and are extremely pleased with the progress of the script, the production team we are forming and the initial production designs."
Here's how the film is described:
"Based upon Marvel's iconic Super Hero, the film will follow billionaire weapons-manufacturer, Tony Stark, who confronts the sins of his past after he is injured by one of his own weapons. Equipped with a high-tech suit of armor, he becomes Iron Man to combat evil on a global scale."
Sources told The Continuum a villain has been chosen for the film, with an announcement likely to come at Comic-Con International in San Diego next month.
IRON MAN MOVIE DATE
HEROES AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL
Heroes, the upcoming NBC series, will have a 72-minute special cut of its pilot episode shown at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
The screening, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session with members of the cast, will be on Friday, July 21 at 12:30 p.m.
Panelists will include cast members Ali Larter, Greg Grunberg, Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere, Sendhil Ramamurthy, and Masi Oka; creator/executive producer Tim Kring; executive producer Dennis Hammer; co-executive producer/comic-book writer Jeph Loeb and comics artist Tim Sale.
Limited-edition Heroes comic books, created by Sale, will be distributed at the screening to fans who receive a special pin at the Heroes booth, which will be set up for the convention's duration.
ZACK SNYDER TO DIRECT WATCHMEN
Zack Snyder, who co-wrote and directed the upcoming 300 movie from Warner Bros., has come aboard to develop and direct Watchmen, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Alex Tse is writing the script, and Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin are producing.
The Watchmen property -- based on the comic book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons -- has been though development hell, with three different studios and such filmmakers as Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Greengrass and screenwriter David Hayter involved.
Snyder's 300, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, was shot in Montreal, using partial sets and green screens. It is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy.
300 will reach theaters in 2007.
MARVEL COMICS FIRST LOOKS
For covers and five-page previews of Marvel Comics titles arriving in stores on July 19, CLICK HERE.
Titles include Civil War: X-Men #1 and Jack Kirby's Galactic Bounty Hunters #1.
HEROIC PUBLISHING FOR SEPTEMBER
Heroic Publishing has provided The Continuum its solicitations for September.
For a rundown, CLICK HERE.
For previous September solicitations in The Continuum, click on the publishers' names below.
* Archie Comics.
* Aspen Comics.
* Boom! Studios.
* Dark Horse Comics.
* Devil's Due Publishing.
* DC Comics.
* IDW Publishing.
* Image Comics.
BRIEFLY
* Fox has announced Sunday, Sept. 10 as the season premiere date for both The Simpsons and Family Guy. Fox also celebrated the 100th episode of Family Guy after its table read on Wednesday; click on the thumbnail for a larger image.
Viper Comics has announced it will release a second printing of Daisy Kutter -- The Last Train, featuring a brand new cover drawn by Daisy creator/artist Kazu Kibuishi.
* Below is a first look at the covers -- with trade dress -- to Marvel Comics' Eternals #2, Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #14, She-Hulk #9, Annihilation: Silver Surfer #4, Annihilation: Super Skrull #4, Thunderbolts #104, Ultimate Fantastic Four #13 and Ultimate Spider-Man #97.
Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
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COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES
In case you missed The Continuum's recent coverage, here are some links. Click on the date to get the day's full report.
* Sunday, June, 18: Image Comics First Looks, Justice League DVD, Witchblade animated and Teen Choice awards.
* Saturday, June, 17: Sci Fi's Amazing Screw-On Head, Spider-Man 3, Lois & Clark DVD, After Hours' Impossible Tales and First Looks.
* Friday, June, 16: Spider-Man Unmasked, IDW Publishing or September, Superman: Brainiac Attacks, BlueWater/Alias First Looks, DC tops May orders and Ezra model winner.
* Thursday, June, 15: Aspen Comics for September, Civil War #5 cover, Civil War press conference, First Looks, Superman Returns and Liberty Meadows: Cover Girl.
* Wednesday, June, 14: Superman Returns, Marvel First Looks, DC First Looks, Sam Noir: Samurai Detective, 12 Gauge's James O'Barr and Cully Hamner and Snakes on a Plane comic.
* Tuesday, June, 13: Ray Harryhausen comics from BlueWater, Superman Returns, Legion of Super Heroes animated, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, Marvel First Looks, Image First Looks and JLA Classified.
* Monday, June, 12: Superman Returns' Kevin Spacey, Ultimate Fantastic Four variant, Archie's Halloween comics and First Looks.
* Sunday, June, 11: Dark Horse Comics for September, X-Men: The Last Stand box office, Superman Returns' Parkey Posey and Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman.
* Saturday, June, 10: Superman Returns interviews with Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth and Sam Huntington, Marvel Comics' Beyond!, Image expands Afterworks 2 and X-Men: The Last Stand box office.
* Friday, June, 9: Superman Returns, Marvel Westerns and DC First Looks.
* Thursday, June, 8: Who Wants to Be a Superhero?, Superman Returns, Civil War sell-outs, Moonstone Books for October and First Looks.
* Wednesday, June, 7: Smallville Season 6, Marvel First Looks, DC First Looks, Image First Looks and X-Men: The Last Stand.
* Tuesday, June, 6: Mythos, Marvel First Looks, Image First Looks, Smallville Season 5 DVD and Virgin Comics for August.
* Monday, June, 5: Black Widow movie stalled, First Looks, Blade: The Series' David Palffy, Superman Returns, Hawaiian Dick, WildStorm panel at Wizard World Philadelphia and IDW's Super Deluxe Hero Happy Hour.
* Sunday, June, 4: MTV Movie Awards, X-Men: The Last Stand and Marvel's Civil War panel at Wizard World Philadelphia.
* Saturday, June, 3: Erica Durance, Blade: The Series, DC Comics and Marvel's Cup o' Joe panels at Wizard World Philadelphia, Ultimate Avengers 2 and DC Comics First Looks.
* Friday, June, 2: X-Men, Mondo Marvel and DC Nation panels at Wizard World Philadelphia, Aspen's Shrugged, Blade: The Series and First Looks.
* Thursday, June, 1: X-Men press conference, X-Men: The Last Stand, Smallville, Transformers and Archie First Looks.
* Wednesday, May 31: X-Men: The Last Stand deaths, Avi Arad steps down, Marvel Comics First Looks, Image Comics First Looks, DC Comics First Looks and Superman Returns.
* Tuesday, May 30: Marvel Comics First Looks, X-Men: The Last Stand, Superman Returns' Bryan Singer, Alex Ross covers for Virgin Comics and Dynamite Entertainment roundup.
* Monday, May 29: Spider-Man 3 in New York, X-Men: The Last Stand's Ralph Winter, Blade: The Series and Superman Returns.
* Sunday, May 28: X-Men: The Last Stand, Alex Toth dies, Krypto the Superdog schedule, Starz comic-book marathon and Dark Horse First Looks.
* Saturday, May 27: X-Men: The Last Stand's big opening, Blade: The Series, Teen Titans, DB Pro's XIII graphic novels and First Looks.
Copyright © 2006, The Comics Continuum