Author: Robert Greenberger

The Weinstein Company has, according to Slash Film, moved Fanboys from November to open February 6, 2009, another delay. The studio  picked up Fanboy for release some time back and the utterly charming tale of friends trying to get their dying friend to see The Phantom Menace has been hung up ever since.

Clearly they have little faith in the film given it will now open opposite Push, Pink Panther 2, and the Jennifer Aniston’s He’s Just Not That Into You.

When they picked up the movie, it was essentially complete and ready for release but instead, the Weinsteins wanted to tinker with it and the creators and fans were horrified at the notion that the charm might be replaced with something different. They decided to reedit the film their way then test screen both versions before deciding which one to release.
Weinstein decided the cancer subplot was too downbeat and put up $2 million to have four scenes created, under producer Shauna Robertson (The 40 Year Old Virgin) and director Steve Brill (Drillbit Taylor) that changed the story. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the non-cancer version of the film narrowly edged out the original version but well within the margin of error. After much public hemming and hawing, the studio opted to retain the original cut.

Fanboys was conceived in 2003 by Kevin Mann, who produced the love letter fellow geeks with Kyle Newman. The script was from Ernie Cline and it made the Blacklist, the top unproduced scripts circulating in Hollywood. It stars Jay Baruchel (Just Buried), Kristen Bell (Heroes), Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), and Dan Fogler (Good Luck Chuck) and has been eagerly anticipated since footage was shown at various conventions. Release dates of August 17, 2007 and January 18, 2008 came and went without a movie.

Both edited versions are expected to be available on the eventual DVD.
 

The Stage is reporting that the BBC has asked Doctor Who director Joe Ahearne to create Superpower, a fresh take on heroes. Ahearne has previously written episodes of This Life, Ultraviolet and the forthcoming Apparitions.

The Beeb has commissioned stand-alone scripts and turned production chores over to Impossible Pictures, the people behind Primeval.

Ahearne told the paper he is a major fan of Marvel’s line of super-heroes which will no doubt be a heavy influence on the series. Having said that, he stressed the new show will be set apart from NBC’s Heroes or the BBC’s spoof No Heroics.

“It is a new and original super-hero idea which is not a send-up. All the super-hero stuff that is on TV in this country – ITV’s No Heroics, My Hero – British TV is happy to do if it is a send-up, but no one has done it for real. There is a particular gimmick in mine, which I won’t give away, but it means it will be refreshed every episode,” he told the paper.

The BBC is said to be arranging the production schedule to take advantage of the Saturday night prime time slot currently being used by Merlin and then followed by the third season of Robin Hood, meaning the new show would not be running until, most likely, the second half of 2009.

After being critically drubbed for his last two films, M. Night Shyamalan has stepped away from directing in favor of producing for a while.  He announced in July his intention to produce a trio of thrillers, one per year.  The team of John and Drew Dowdle (Quarantine) has been tapped to bring the creator’s first notion to life.

Shyamalan partnered with Media Rights Capital to form a production company called Night Chronicles to produce these films.  He’s not entirely away from the camera, though, as he completes work on the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, a popular Anime series now seen on Nickelodeon.  Paramount has announced a July 2, 2010 release date for the film titled just The Last Airbender.

Since opening October 10 Quarantine, a remake of the Spanish hit REC, has earned $25,819,614 as of October 22 according to Box Office Mojo.
 

Ender’s Shadow: Battle School will be Marvel’s follow-up adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game series of books, debuting December 3. The first issue will have variant covers by Timothy Green III and Jim Cheung.

Written by Mike Carey (X-Men: Legacy) with art from newcomer Sebastian Fiumara, readers will be introduced to Bean, the only one student at Battle School smarter than the famous Ender Wiggin.  Born in an illegal genetic engineering laboratory, Bean grew up an orphan living off the brutal streets of Rotterdam.  Now, he’s been recruited to Battle School, where he’ll make new friends, new enemies, and embark on the adventure of a lifetime—saving the Earth.

Ender’s Game began as a short story in the August 1977 issue of Analog, expanded to a 1985 novel, which found an audience and spawned a series that has included Ender’s Game, A War of Gifts: An Ender Story, Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, Shadow of the Giant, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind.

Card has seen his series be embraced around the world and in 1991 he made modifications to the first novel in order to reflect changes in the real world.  The book has been recategorized as young adult fiction.

Check out the preview pages after the jump. (more…)

Coming November 5 will be the first issue of a three issue miniseries, Weapon X: First Class, which will explore the Weapon X program and how it turned Logan into Wolverine.  Writing this fresh take on the story will be Marc Sumerak, former assistant editor and currently one of Marvel’s fresh new voices.

CMix: Hey, Marc, nice to catch up with you.  Just how did you manage to transition from staff to fulltime freelance?

Marc Sumerak: I spent four exciting years on Marvel’s editorial team as Tom Brevoort’s Assistant Editor, working on some of my all-time favorite titles (including Avengers, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor and more). But, as they say, all good things must come to an end… and for a number of reasons, I found myself leaving NYC and heading back to my hometown of Cleveland, OH.

At that point, I figured my career in the comic biz was pretty much over… but not long after the move, I was contacted by Marvel and asked to pitch a few ideas that I had been starting to develop right before I left staff. One of those ideas became my first series at Marvel: Guardians. That came out in July, 2004…and somehow I’ve managed to continue working in comics steadily ever since! Only now, I’m not the one enforcing the deadlines…I’m scrambling to meet them instead!

CMix: You seem to have concentrated on the lighter, brighter sections of the Marvel Universe such as the Power Pack miniseries.  What’s the appeal?

MS: I think it’s important to have a wide variety of titles available that appeal to different segments of our readership. My editors have seemed to think that I have a good grasp on "all-ages" material, so that’s been the overall focus of my body of work to date… and I definitely can’t complain about that. Working on Power Pack, Franklin Richards and the Marvel Adventures line has been a blast!

Like many of our readers, I discovered the joy of comics at a young age… and if something I’m writing brings that same feeling of wonder and excitement to one of today’s young readers, then it’s one of the greatest rewards I can imagine.

Without new readers coming in the door, the industry will eventually cease to be. So being able to provide material that a new generation can enjoy — and that parents can feel comfortable about giving their children — is an essential step towards strengthening our industry’s future. I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of that effort. 
(more…)