Surfer to fly solo
Despite so-so advance buzz and a lack of screening for reviewers, 20th Century-Fox seems to believe in the Fantastic Four franchise. As reported in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, they are already looking to spinoff the Silver Surfer into his own film.
J. Michael Straczynski, already writing a Silver Surfer miniseries, Requiem, for Marvel, has been tapped to script the solo feature.
The Times said, “Well, perhaps the studio has heard the negative static, since it apparently hopes to spin the new Surfer franchise in a darker direction to attract the slightly older demographic of its X-Men films. If so, Straczynski, whose original screenplay The Changeling is on director Clint Eastwood’s slate, is a logical pick for the Surfer story line.” JMS is also the writer of the current Silver Surfer mini-series.
20th has already announced plans for spinoffs from its X-Men film franchise although neither the Wolverine or Magneto features seem any closer to actually being shot.
Next up from Marvel’s production slate will be their first self-produced film, Iron Man, coming in May 2008.
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Oh man, I really hope they move forward on this. I remember the short-lived FOX series, and edited for kids tho it may have been, was a really cool look into Surfer's background. I think this would be a really cool movie, but of course, it's all about the story. They've got the fx and acting down (Fishburne is the man).