Tagged: Iron Man

Justin Theroux Corrects ‘EW’ Reports on Terrence Howard

Justin Theroux Corrects ‘EW’ Reports on Terrence Howard

  • News
  • November 26, 2008

Iron Man 2 screenwriter Justin Theroux told MTV’s Splash Page that the Entertainment Weekly reports as to why Terrence Howard was dropped from the cast in favor of Don Cheadle were not entirely accurate.

“I can’t really speak to the plot stuff and all the rest of it but Rhodes is completely present in a very strong and big way,” Theroux said Tony Stark’s friend and the future War Machine. “He’s completely present.”

“All that stuff that was in the EW article,” said Theroux regarding statements Howard was being dropped when the story being crafted minimized Rhodey’s role,. “I don’t know. I can only tell you what I know which is that from a writing standpoint we didn’t do anything differently [with the character]. It’s not like we were sitting there going, we need less of this or that. We just approached the characters and the story on their own terms.”

Meantime, Spoiler TV found some casting sheets for parts in the sequel which is set to shoot in April 2009 for a May 2010 release.

The parts being cast include:

[MALE LEAD]
30s, Eastern European, brilliant, gritty…

[FEMALE LEAD]
20s, beautiful, speaks several languages fluently and is equally proficient in martial arts…

[BRUISER]
Russian, 20s or 30s, at least 6’2", able to perform own stunts, has the build of a MMA fighter…

Sony to Distribute Japans’ Marvel Heroes

Sony to Distribute Japans’ Marvel Heroes

  • News
  • November 25, 2008

To handle international properties for worldwide distribution, Sony has created the Intl. Product Expansion Group according to Variety.

Tony Ishizuka will serve as Vice President of the unit. T. Paul Miller, senior VP of international for home entertainment said the “goal is to recoup its investment in each project in the country in which it was produced or acquired. The unit will then assess each title’s prospects for distribution on home entertainment in other markets.”

A deal has already been signed with Japan’s Madhouse which will involve the previously announced deal to produce Easternized versions of Marvel’s heroes. The shows will be broadcast in Japan on the Animax TV network and then be handled worldwide by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Originally designed as animated fare, the long-range plans call for the Marvel Japanese Universe to be found on mobile devices and comic books.

The first characters to undergo transformation will be Iron Man and Wolverine in thirty-minute anime intended for Japanese television in 2010.

Madhouse was founded in 1972 and is seen as a creative powerhouse in Asia, perhaps best known for its Vampire Hunter D.

Photoshop for old school comics artists

Photoshop for old school comics artists

  • News
  • November 22, 2008

For a guy who wrote Iron Man, Mike Grell is a self-described Luddite, constantly at odds with technology. He once claimed he had a steam-driven fax machine. He was constantly amazed at the things I did to his art in Photoshop during my coloring stint on Jon Sable Freelance.

With that, I was amused that he sent me this:

He also sent a note: "SOMEONE WENT THROUGH A LOT OF TROUBLE – PROBABLY SOME POOR BASTARD OLD (!) ARTIST WHO SUDDENLY FOUND HIMSELF HAVING TO LEARN HOW TO USE A COMPUTER…"

Yes, he types all his email in capital letters. I told you.

October Comics Sales Soften

October Comics Sales Soften

  • News
  • November 20, 2008

As the economy went into free fall, ICv2 notes that October sales have shown some slippage. From their just released list of the top 25 titles, just two showed signs of improvement over September sales. One was Amazing Spider-Man #573 which featured the faux-Stephen Colbert for President cover while the other was Batman #680, the penultimate chapter to Batman RIP.

Despite somewhat stagnant sales, the dollars sold in to comic stores were up a “robust” 9% compared with a year ago, according to the industry watchdog. September and October were the first positive months for comic sales since January.  Of course, more titles were retailing last month at $3.99, rapidly becoming a standard, as opposed to last October. ICv2 did note that the unit sales for the title charting in the 300th position was 4200 compared with 3000 just twelve months ago which they interpret as a sign of overall industry strength.

Graphic novel sales showed an increase of just 5% compared with last October.  Combined with comic book sales, that creates an 8% total increase.

The site notes that the company crossovers, Secret Invasion #7 (154,675 copies) and Final Crisis #4 (115,666 copies) took the first two spots on the list. Marvel had seven of the top 10 and 17 of the first 25 with DC taking the balance. IDW’s G.I. Joe relaunch  and Angel: After the Fall were the first non-Top Two titles to crack the top 100 list coming in at 65th and 66th place. This further cements IDW’s fourth place standing among comic book publishers, after Dark Horse and now ahead of Image.

In graphic novels, DC’s Joker by Brian Azzarello, took first place with an estimated 17,000 copies sold, also nabbing the top spot for dollars earned. Marvel’s best seller for the month was the Marvel Zombies trade paperback, which likely hit the top Marvel spot given its three variant covers. Wile Watchmen slipped from first place to sixth, its 6000 copies remains impressive given its age.
 

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‘Captain America’ Scribes Announced

‘Captain America’ Scribes Announced

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  • November 19, 2008

Just weeks after signing Joe Johnston to direct First Avenger: Captain America, Marvel Studios has announced that Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are likely to be the screenwriters. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the duo is in final negotiations to step in,

The film comes with many complicating factors starting with a locked in release date of May 6, 2011 and the need to include elements that have been established in Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk as well as setting up plot threads that will play out two months later in The Avengers film.

The movie will be set during World War II and feature scrawny Steve Rogers, denied enlistment in the army but invited to be a test subject for Project Super Solider.  He is then transformed into the star-spangled hero and issued a red, white, and blue uniform to inspire the troops and general public as Captain America.

Whether or not his sidekick Bucky will be included remains the one plot element not yet discussed by executives.  One can presume the Red Skull will be the villain along with hordes of Nazis.

The screenwriters have most recently handled The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian so they have experience with adapting works from others.  Much of their work will come from Captain America #1, published in 1941 by Timely Comics, now known as Marvel Comics. The character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

Miller & Gough to Rebuild ‘Robotech’

Miller & Gough to Rebuild ‘Robotech’

  • News
  • November 17, 2008

Smallville’s fathers, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, have been signed to adapt Robotech into a live-action feature for Warner Bros. No director, cast or production dates have been released.

The 1980s anime series ran in America courtesy of Harmony Gold USA and was one of the first noteworthy anime series from that era. It was actually the combination of three separate series created by Tatsunoko Prods. In order to satisfy the needs of American television syndication.

As a result, it became a “sprawling sci-fi epic, Robotech takes place at a time when Earth has developed giant robots from the technology on an alien spacecraft that crashed on a South Pacific isle. Mankind is forced to use the technology to fend off an alien invasion, with the fate of the human race ending up in the hands of two young pilots.”

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Akiva Goldsman and Chuck Roven will produce with Tobey Maguire and Drew Crevello. Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark) wrote a previous draft before the studio turned it over to the duo that has worked on Smallville and also did early drafts for Iron Man, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Spider-Man 2.
 

George Perez, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee Added as NY Comic-Con Guests of Honor

George Perez, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee Added as NY Comic-Con Guests of Honor

  • News
  • November 16, 2008

Two more notable comic book celebrities will be joining the festivities at New York Comic Con (NYCC) this year as Guests of Honor. Affording thousands of fans the opportunity to meet them in person, Geoff Johns, who is well-known as a comic book writer of a number of DC Comics characters, including Superman, Green  Lantern and the Flash as well as for his work as a screenwriter; and superstar artist Jim Lee, known for his acclaimed artistic runs on titles including BATMAN, ALL STAR BATMAN and WILDCATS, will be attending NYCC to help launch the new Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing game, DC Universe Online (DCUO), produced by Sony Online Entertainment for PLAYSTATION 3 in collaboration with DC Comics and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. 

Both Johns and Lee will be signing autographs and they will conduct a large DC Universe Online event on Saturday, February 7, 2009.  New York Comic Con will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City, February 6 – 8, 2009.  

“Having both Jim Lee and Geoff Johns at our show is a great ‘get’ under any circumstance, but it’s especially cool to have them here to as part of DC Universe Online,” notes Lance Fensterman, Vice President and Con Manager for NYCC. “They will do a fabulous job entertaining our fans and I know that they will attract huge crowds, not only for autographs but also for their demonstration.  I am enormously grateful to them for participating in New York Comic Con and we’re pleased to have them as Guests of Honor.” 

“Jim and Geoff represent two of the top talents in comics, so it only makes sense that they’d transfer those skills to the gaming world,” said Dan DiDio, SVP and Executive Editor for DC Comics. “It’s a perfect fit to have them named Guests of Honor at New York Comic Con.”

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Marvel Animation Announces Thor Series

Marvel Animation Announces Thor Series

  • News
  • November 14, 2008

Following the established pattern of creating an animated series in the wake of its live-action counterpart, Marvel has announced the arrival of Thor. The series has a 26-episode order, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and will debut in the fall of 2010, after the Kenneth Branagh-directed feature opens in July 2010.

The series appears to be faithful to the comic book’s use of Norse legend and high fantasy to tell its stories. Described by the trade as, “the Norse god of thunder, as he defends his mythical home of Asgard against fantastical villains, fiendish hordes, winged creatures and angry giants. The show will take place in various worlds — from mountainous landscapes to places of icy mists and fiery voids — and will include many of the comic’s supporting cast, including Balder the Brave, the Warriors Three and Thor’s evil adopted brother, Loki.”

Already in the pipeline are Iron Man and Wolverine for 2009 and The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, for fall 2011.

Thor first had his comic book adventures animated in the original 1966 Marvel Super-Heroes show, airing Thursday evenings. He has appeared in other animated series ever since.

The Pilgrim by Mark Ryan and Mike Grell debuts on ComicMix

The Pilgrim by Mark Ryan and Mike Grell debuts on ComicMix

  • News
  • November 14, 2008

Today on ComicMix, we’re starting a new story from Mark Ryan (Transformers) and Mike Grell (Jon Sable Freelance, James Bond: 007) that goes places no other story will go, starting from World War II to today’s war on terror to realms unknown. It’s an espionage story unlike any other, based in historical facts that are almost impossible to believe– why did Ian Fleming recruit Aleister Crowley for the war effort, anyway?

The Pilgrim is written by Mark Ryan, who has one of the most varied careers you will ever encounter in your life: as an actor, going from originating the roles of Magaldi in Evita and Nasir in Robin of Sherwood to playing Bumblebee in Transformers and appearing with Eric Idle at Carnegie Hall while wearing a green dress; as a fight director, he taught Keira Knightley, Stellan Skarsgard and Clive Owen how to swordfight; as a writer, he’s written Green Arrow for DC Comics and The Greenwood Tarot for Harper Collins– and those are the jobs we can tell you about. When he says "If I told you, I’d have to kill you", believe that he would and that he can.

Mark was inspired to write The Pilgrim upon learning about the use of psychics and occultists during World War II by Allied forces to influence the minds and strategies of the Nazi leadership, which helped save Britain from invasion. “The Pilgrim intertwines historical characters with modern paranormal capabilities used in intelligence-gathering operations to infiltrate hostile governments,” said Mark.  “It unveils a dark secret history involving classified occult research and the unmarked graves of unsung heroes who gave their lives in these desperate yet vital operations.”

Mike Grell, the comic legend behind Jon Sable Freelance, the Warlord, Green Arrow, Iron Man, James Bond, and many others, was so impressed by Mark’s script that this is the first project that Mike Grell is drawing that he didn’t write himself in over 25 years. And with the talents of Jason Millet coloring and John Workman lettering, The Pilgrim is a heck of a ride.

If you’re a fan of Warren Ellis’s Gravel or Charlie Stross’s Laundry series (or you can’t get tickets for Quantum of Solace this weekend) you’ll love this tale. But don’t take our word for it– start reading!

Colan: Visions of a Man without Fear Opens in San Francisco

Colan: Visions of a Man without Fear Opens in San Francisco

  • News
  • November 11, 2008

Gene Colan’s artistic career will receive the retrospective treatment as San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum presents Colan: Visions of a Man without Fear, opening November 15 and running through March 15, 2009.

On December 4, there will be a special opening reception with Gene and Adrienne Colan in attendance.

The exhibition will include over 40 examples from Colan’s long creative career, from his one and only story illustrated for legendary publisher EC Comics in 1952, through his career-defining work for Marvel Comics from the 1960s and 1970s on titles as diverse as Iron Man, Tomb of Dracula and Howard The Duck, to his notable run on DC Comics’ Batman in the 1980s, to his more recent efforts, including illustrations commissioned by his fans and his beautiful pencil artwork on titles such as Michael Chabon’s The Escapist, published by Dark Horse Comics.

Guest Curator Glen David Gold, author of the novel, Carter Beats the Devil, put the museum show together.  An exhibition catalog featuring high-quality reproductions of Colan’s artwork and essays from many of his most notable collaborators, including writers Stan Lee, Marv Wolfman, Roy Thomas and Steve Englehart, will be available at the Cartoon Art Museum prior to the exhibition’s opening reception on December 4.

For those unfamiliar with Gene “The Dean”, he was born in New York in 1926 and studied at the Art Students League of New York under illustrator Frank Riley and surrealistic Japanese painter Kuniashi. After a stint in the army, Colan’s official career in comics began in 1944 at Fiction House and Timely.

 

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