Blame it all on Spiderman. Ever since the cinema success of the little web slinger, Hollywood film executives have been falling over themselves to translate comic book action into box office gold.
And the trend seems certain to continue for some time to come with a large number of comic book properties slated for film production.
The attraction of putting the comic book hero on the big screen is readily apparent. As well as the obvious film like qualities of the medium, comic superheroes enjoy readymade audiences. For decades these comics have been religiously devoured by hundreds of thousands of sweaty palmed suburban fan boys who lap up the sexy adventures of their muscled heroes and lust after its pneumatic heroines.
Despite this, the transition to the big screen is not always so smooth or guaranteed. For every "Batman Begins" there is a "Punisher," for every "Spiderman," a "Daredevil" stinking up the Cineplex. The greatest strength of the comic book movie is its biggest hurdle. Every comic to big screen translation has the added challenge of pleasing a hard-core base of rabid fans whose favorite hobby, besides being virgins, is voicing negative opinions on the internet.
But the comic book hero remains attractive source material for film studios. The ire of disdainful fan boys/girls is not enough for them to stop throwing bundles of money at any comic book that crosses their desk. So here is a look at several of the most eagerly awaited comic book adaptations that will seek to please the hard-core fans and general audiences alike and turn a tidy profit along the way.
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WRITER MARC GUGGENHEIM has a resume so mighty you might imagine that he has some of the superpowers he writes about.
When he's not working on "Eli Stone," the new ABC drama he co-created, his words can be found each month in "Amazing Spider-Man," "Young X-Men" and "Marvel Comics Presents." He also has a new title coming up from Virgin Comics with Hugh Jackman, he's writing the script for the video game tie-in for the upcoming Wolverine flick and he's co-writing the script for the Green Lantern movie. That's a lot of stuff.
And if you're asking how he is able to get all this done, you're not alone.
"I don't have a good answer for it because I kind of don't know how I do it all," he said. "Somehow, by some miracle, it all gets done."
And just in case you thought he might be slacking off, he's got more.
Guggenheim, a lawyer turned writer who got his start on "The Practice," "Law & Order" and other shows, recently launched his first creator-owned comic, "Resurrection" from Oni Press. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic version of Earth after an alien race attempts to conquer the planet.
The genesis of this story came from a question that Guggenheim's been asking himself for years.
"I love science fiction and I love alien invasion stories and at the end of all of them I had a question, 'What next?'" he said. "And I kind of kept waiting for someone to do it."
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James takes a look at the world of licensed comics - movie and TV show tie-ins - and concludes that, er, they're not very good, really
James Hunt
In the world of computer gaming, nothing screams “quality” like a licensed tie-in. Unfortunately, it’s also prone to scream the word “bad” immediately beforehand. This is an accepted truth in the world of computer games – you don’t buy a licensed title expecting anything more than a cheap, rushed, shallow cash-in. It makes sense – with licensors hovering over the creative process, and usually a time limit in the form of, say, a cinematic release date to synchronise with, there’s no room for error, and that means no room for invention.
Licensed comics are rarely any different. Where movies tend to have licensed computer games, there’s a decades-old trend of TV shows having a licensed comic. Even so, after over 30 years of trying, they’re still almost universally crap. With the time and storytelling restrictions vastly different to game tie-ins, what is it that makes licensed comics the utter quality black hole that they so frequently are? I’ve been considering it and I think I’ve identified the three mistakes that licensed comics make. A few case studies, and I hope to illustrate exactly why only the most dedicated fan should go within 10 feet of a licensed comic.
1. “No budget” syndrome – One of the first things you can be guaranteed to read when someone brings an existing property to comics is a statement along the lines of “Well, of course, since we have no budget restrictions, we can do anything we want, as long as it can be drawn!” A fair enough statement, yes, but on closer inspection, what does it really mean?
In the case of IDW’s comic-based “Season Six” of Angel, it means taking Los Angeles to hell and having Angel fight a ludicrous number of massively-proportioned demons every issue – something that makes the series almost impossible to take seriously. After all, the Angel show we remember featured a small number of demons, almost always human-like in appearance. It was absolutely a budget restriction, but one that kept the show grounded in believability, as much as a show about a vampire detective could be.
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A plain manila envelope arrived at Wizard Headquarters today with the return address: I Believe In Harvey Dent, PO Box 2141, Gotham City, 91105. The special delivery was the latest addition to summer-blockbuster "Dark Knight's" successful viral marketing campaign.
The contents of the delivery: a newspaper with the masthead "The Gotham Times" featuring a front-page splash headline reading "HARVEY DENT JOINS RACE FOR GOTHAM DA." The four-page paper is a slice of daily life in Gotham City, with everything from articles about Batman's intervention in a mob melee and the revitalization of the Gotham fish market to op-ed pieces calling for a shutdown of Arkham Asylum. The ingenious piece of viral marketing even includes advertisements for "Wayne Animal Sanctuary Pet Adoption Day" and "Gotham's World-Famous Iceberg Lounge," giving the paper an extremely real feel.
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A federal judge here on Wednesday ruled that the heirs of Jerome Siegel — who 70 years ago sold the rights to the action hero he created with Joseph Shuster to Detective Comics for $130 — were entitled to claim a share of the United States copyright to the character. The ruling left intact Time Warner’s international rights to the character, which it has long owned through its DC Comics unit.
And it reserved for trial questions over how much the company may owe the Siegel heirs for use of the character since 1999, when their ownership is deemed to have been restored. Also to be resolved is whether the heirs are entitled to payments directly from Time Warner’s film unit, Warner Brothers, which took in $200 million at the domestic box office with “Superman Returns” in 2006, or only from the DC unit’s Superman profits.
Still, the ruling threatened to complicate Warner’s plans to make more films featuring Superman, including another sequel and a planned movie based on the DC Comics’ “Justice League of America,” in which he joins Batman, Wonder Woman and other superheroes to battle evildoers.
If the ruling survives a Time Warner legal challenge, it may also open the door to a similar reversion of rights to the estate of Mr. Shuster in 2013. That would give heirs of the two creators control over use of their lucrative character until at least 2033 — and perhaps longer, if Congress once again extends copyright terms — according to Marc Toberoff, a lawyer who represents the Siegels and the Shuster estate.
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I have just learned through my sources that BRENDAN FRASER has booked the role of GUNG HO for Stephen Sommer’s big screen live-action adaptation of "G.I. Joe." Now, it is only a one scene cameo. The scene is question is a training sequence at THE PIT. Brendan already shot his part. Me personally, I always thought GUNG HO was the most gay looking of the Joes. I mean come on, the tattooed chest, the vest with no shirt on and that hat?! If there was a soldier in the VILLAGE PEOPLE, GUNG HO would definitely be it!
I also learned that AN OFFER has been made to THE ROCK for the role of HECTOR DELGADO aka SHIPWRECK. At this time THE ROCK hasn’t said either yes or no, but the offer is out to him. Can THE ROCK smell what Shipwreck is cooking? We should find out soon enough. I knew it was only a matter of time before they would start offering Latino roles to THE ROCK who is Samoan.
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The Sedona Film Office continues to attract local production throughout the winter season. Production inquiries include an HGTV special, an American Ball Sports commercial, a yoga video, a Cosmopolitan fashion shoot, a pharmaceutical and Claritin commercial, a music video, an ATV commercial and industrial, independent feature “The Devil’s Bridge”, a corporate video, Paramount Pictures new “Star Trek” feature, Universal Pictures movie “Land of the Lost” starring Will Ferrell, and Michael Bay sequel “Transformers II”.
Recent productions featuring Sedona were four Japanese television network travel shows, a print and commercial shoot for a Japanese cosmetics company, an episode for a natural wonder series and series “Mean (Green) Machines” both from the Discovery Channel, a Chad Slattery photo shoot, CNBC’s “On the Money” segment featuring Pink Jeep Tours, a German ELLE fashion shoot, a John Waddell documentary and a documentary from Artmuse Records, indie feature “Running on Empty”, an Arizona Office of Tourism “Signature Scenery” shoot, local PBS series “Secrets Arizona”, UCLA thesis film “Sunnier Days”, Sedona features on the AP website, an environmental PSA, a national Viagra spot, and a special from The History Channel as well as an episode of their new series “UFO Hunters” .
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