Tagged: Silver Surfer

Galactus to Appear in ‘Silver Surfer’ Film?

Galactus to Appear in ‘Silver Surfer’ Film?

Galactus’ appearance in Fantasic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was a little underwhelming. Then again, so was the entire movie, so it was just par for the course.

When people think of Galactus, they think of a giant man in a purple and blue suit eating planets, not a vacuous gassy cloud that threatens to give Earth the dutch oven treatment.

Fans of the old school Galactus may be in luck. At Wondercon, Silver Surfer screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski commented on the status of Galactus in the upcoming film, which will be a prequel and detail the origins the giant planet eater and his silver herald.

According to Straczynski, the last Fantastic Four film refrained from showing Galactus in all his glory in order to leave his origin for the Silver Surfer film. Will we get to see Kirby’s version of Galactus or will we be subjected to another storm cloud? We won’t know for sure until 2009, when the movie will supposedly be released.

 (via SHH)

Silver Surfer and Fantastic Four in ‘Not Brand Echh’ #1

Silver Surfer and Fantastic Four in ‘Not Brand Echh’ #1

Over on the online home of ASIFA-Hollywood, a full, scanned story from the inaugural issue of Marvel’s parody series Not Brand Echh is posted in all of its old-school, self-effacing fun.

The story, titled "The Silver Burper" is a spoof on a Fantastic Four storyline by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby that ran through issues #57-60. ASIFA-Hollywood Director Stephen Worth, who posted the scan, does a good job of summing up the attraction of Not Brand Echh:

Current superhero comics (now referred to self-importantly as "graphic novels") take themselves VERY seriously. It’s rare for a publisher to allow a parody of its own characters… and unheard of for the creator himself to get the opportunity to make fun of his own creation. But back in the silver age of comics, cartoonists didn’t take themselves quite so seriously. Here we have the unthinkable… Jack Kirby and Stan Lee doing a parody of their own Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer comics for Marvel’s Not Brand Echh!

 

(via boingboing)

‘Justice League’ Artist on Film Delays and Silver Surfer Design

‘Justice League’ Artist on Film Delays and Silver Surfer Design

Daniel James Cox, a concept artist for the "Justice League" film, recently commented on the project’s delay over on his blog:

It’s unfortunate, but the Writer’s strike has delayed further pre-production on the Justice League movie (i was working on it as a concept artist/illustrator) until later in the year. as a comic fan, i’m happy because the script does need another rewrite. however, the art dept has been doing some amazing artwork, so the team and I will all assemble back at Fox Studios in June/July to pick up where we left off!

While that’s all very interesting, his behind-the-scenes look at the "Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer" art he created is definitely worth checking out.

 (Hat Tip: C2F)

Ghost Rider, FF Among 2007’s Worst Films?

Ghost Rider, FF Among 2007’s Worst Films?

Reuters reports that nominations were announced today for the 28th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards, highlighting the worst performances, pairings and other elements from the list of films released in 2007. Big-screen adaptations of comics found their way into the nomination list once again, with Nicolas Cage earning a nod in the "Worst Actor" category for Ghost Rider, while Jessica Alba received a "Worst Actress" nomination for her portrayal of Sue Storm in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Also nominated for a Razzie was Bratz, a live-action film based on the popular series of toys and produced by former Marvel Studios chairman Avi Arad. Prior to the film’s release, Arad described Bratz as "X-Men for girls."

Previous recipients of the "Golden Razzie" award include 2004’s Catwoman (seven nominations, four wins) and 2005’s Bloodrayne (six nominations, no wins).

Summer Box Office Closing Report

Summer Box Office Closing Report

The summer is now officially over and our minds are already beginning to turn to… the Christmas movie season.  But first, let’s take stock and see where we are with comic book-based movies.  We have just one left for release this year, the feature version of Steve Niles’ 30 Days of Night, but that’s waiting for the appropriate Halloween period.

Much has been made of the $4 billion summer box office and how it set a new record, until you adjust for inflation and then it doesn’t beat 2002.  Studios say that’s okay, because the hits will also prove strong sellers this holiday season in DVD (regular, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, collect them all!).  With average ticket prices creeping up to $6.85 (it’s $10.25 in Connecticut, where on earth is it only $6.85?), the receipts have also risen.

Here’s an updated look at the genre films released this year with their total box office to date followed by their budgets. Again, following that logic, 300 remains the clear winner by traditional Hollywood logic.  When all the home video sales get counted next spring, we’ll see if that remains the case.

Ghost Rider, $115,802,596 / $110,000,000

300, $210,250,922 / $65,000,000

TMNT, $42,273,609 / $34,000,000

Spider-Man 3, $336,530,303 / $258,000,000

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, $131,451,007 / $130,000,000

Stardust, August 10, $31,912,000 to date / $70,000,000

(more…)

WW-CHICAGO: Marvel Still Civil

WW-CHICAGO: Marvel Still Civil

Wild Weather on the East Coast Friday stranded most of the Mondo Marvel panelists in New York (hmmm… wonder how ComicMix‘s E.I.C. made it out that evening), leaving Joe Quesada and C. B. Cebuliski to fend for themselves while sharing with the crowd images and news from upcoming Marvel projects.

One other panelist, Rob Liefeld, who was there to talk about his new Killraven series. Apparently thought up at a bar in San Diego last year, Liefeld and Rob Kirkman will be bringing us an all-new take on the charactertarting fresh and looking to integrate Killraven into the Marvel Universe of the future – a world where our heroes are gone but their artifacts remain, one piece of art had Killraven holding Captain America’s shield. Look for the book in mid-2008. Reminding us that the creators of comics were and are comics fans themselves, Liefeld took some time to talk about his love for the character (and his DC counter-part Kamandi) during his childhood, you could hear the 11 year old Rob coming through loud and clear.

Luke Cage is back in his tiara and yellow shirt now that writer/artist (and Cartoon Network legend) Genny Tartakovsky has gotten a hold of him. The new artist on Punisher War Journal is Corey Walker. Doing his first work for Marvel, Tan Eng Huat (Doom Patrol) will be the artist on the mini-series Silver Surfer: In Thy Name, to be written by Simon Spurrier (2000 A.D.). I wonder if that news blows the ending of the current Silver Surfer mini.

Up next for Paul Jenkins will be a limited series drawn by Paul Guluay called Penance: Relentless about “the most hated man in America.”

Quesada and Cebuliski also said there are some big shake ups (an end?) coming to the Ultimates Universe by year’s end, and we’ll be seeing the "real" Nick Fury back in action next year.

Harry Potter tops

Harry Potter tops

Box Office Mojo declalres Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the top-grossing film this weekend, with a take of more than $77.4 million and a per-theater average of $18,065.  Since opening on Wednesday, Potter has earned more than $140 million.

The rest of the Top Ten include Transformers ($36 million), Ratatouille ($18.019 million), Live Free or Die Hard ($10.875 million), License to Wed ($7.44 million ), 1408 ($5.01 million), Evan Almighty ($4.972 million), Sicko ($2.65 million), Ocean’s Thirteen ($1.91 million), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer ($1.585 million), Captivity ($1.55 million), Pirates of the Caribbean ($1.402 million) and Evening ($1.154 million).

Next weekend, the big premiere is Hairspray, whose major special effect is John Travolta in a dress and a fat suit.  As long as Christopher Walken dances, I’m there.

Transformers with a side of Ratatouille

Transformers with a side of Ratatouille

Box Office Mojo’s weekend movie estimates show that Transformers made a whopping $67.6 million, including $22 million on Friday alone. The total gross so far is $152.5 million since Wednesday. Per theater grosses were $16,853, more than double what the next ranked film, Ratatouille, took in.

The Pixar rat did okay, though, with a weekend haul of over $29 mil, and a per-theater gross of $7,367. So far, it’s made more than $109.5 million.

The other top-tenners are Live Free or Die Hard ($17.4 million), License to Wed ($10.4 million), Evan Almighty ($8.4 million), 1408 ($7.14 million), Knocked Up ($5.19 million), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer ($4.15 million), Sicko ($3.65 milion) and Ocean’s Thirteen ($3.525 million).

Knocked Up, which cost abou $30 milion, has earned more than $132 million so far this summer, making it the most profitable non-documentary film on the list so far.

Ratatouille, Die Hard on top

Ratatouille, Die Hard on top

Box Office Mojo reports that Ratatouille is the top-grossing film this weekend, as expected, with grosses of more than $47 million.  This beats Live Free or Die Hard, which earned a tad over $33 million.

"But wait," you say.  "Die Hard 4 opened on Wednesday.  Didn’t the real fans go then, driving up the gross?"

Well, I certainly went on Wednesday.  However, even with a jump start, the total gross thus far is a mere $48.178 million. 

Other films in the top ten are (in order) Evan Almighty, 1408, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Knocked Up, Ocean’s 13, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Sicko and Evening.  I find it interesting that, on average per-theater earnings, Ratatouille is tops with $11,986, while Sicko is second with $10,204, ahead of Bruce Willis at $9,727.

Spider-Man 3, with a ranking of 12, has a per-theater average of only $985.

Evan, 1408 top charts

Evan, 1408 top charts

Variety reports that, as expected, Evan Almighty topped the weekend box-office charts with $32.1 million in ticket sales.  What was not expected was that 1408, the movie based on a short story by Stephen King, starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jaackson, would come in second with $20.1 million.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was third, and Ocean’s Thirteen was fourth.

Sicko, the new documentary from Michael Moore, opened in limited release and earned $70,000 at its one and only venue in New York City.  Reports say that all the Saturday screenings for the film sold out in 43 markets.