Cloverfield Sequel On Hold

Matt Reeves, who directed the monster thriller Cloverfield, told SCI FI Wire that plans for a sequel film have been put on hold until the filmmakers can come up with an idea as interesting as the original.

“The thing that we sort of promised ourselves is we only wanted to do another one if we could come up with something that felt as fresh to us to make as that one did,” Reeves said in an interview at the Saturn Awards in Universal City, Calif., on June 24, where he received the Filmmaker’s Showcase Award.

Reeves added: “We’re still kind of toying with what it’s going to be and whether or not we’re going to find something that will be as exciting for us to make and, hopefully, for an audience to watch. So we’ll see. It’s really in the baby, baby stages. And right now it’s definitely on hold until we come up with what that would be.”

Press reports have suggested that some of the ideas for the next film include a prequel that would go into the backstory of the creature that attacks New York in the original or a parallel story set on the same night with different characters. Reeves said that both of those ideas have been under discussion.

“We did talk about that, and I think that we would find some way, if we did it,” he said. “Some of the ideas we’ve come up with reference this idea and reference the film, so that there is a sense that it’s related to this film. But it would be different. I would need [it] to be really different.”

Meanwhile, Reeves has been talking about other potential ideas with producer J.J. Abrams and writer Drew Goddard that aren’t necessarily related to Cloverfield.

“We have a couple ideas,” Reeves said. “We have a couple pretty exciting ideas, but it’s in the very, very early stages of that. And whether or not that will develop into something that we want to do is really unclear at this point. But as long as J.J. and Drew and I come up with something that seems worth doing, then I think we’ll do it.” –Cindy White

New What If? issues

Credit: newsarama.com

- What If? Fallen Son by writer Marc Sumerak and artist Trevor Goring answers the question, “What if Iron Man had been killed instead of Captain America?”

- What If? Spider-Man Back in Black by writer Steven Grant with art by Gus Vasquez answers the question, “What if Mary Jane was shot instead of Aunt May?” and promises a nasty throw-down between Kingpin and Spider-Man after MJ dies.

- What If? Secret Wars by Karl Bollers asks, “What if Doom had kept the Beyonder’s power?”

Dynamite To Reboot, Publish The Phantom

Credit: newsarama.com

He pre-dates Superman, and he’s now moving to Dynamite Entertainment. According to company President Nick Barrucci, Dynamite has acquired the rights to produce The Phantom comics – with Alex Ross attached.

Created by Lee Falk in the mid ‘30s, “The Ghost Who Walks” has been in virtually continuous publication since 1936, either as a comic strip of comic book. Most recently, Moonstone held the license for the character.

“I don’t know all the particulars about whether or not the other publisher let go of the license, or how, but we were approached,” Barrucci tells Newsarama. “We liked the idea, and we have a take that I think is a great one, and Alex Ross has sat down with me to go over the direction of the series. Basically, Alex likes our idea, and has already started on some drawings that we can’t show, because they’re just initial sketches, and he doesn’t want to show them to the world just yet.”

According to Barrucci, Dynamite’s treatment of The Phantom will be a reboot, similar to what the publisher has done with The Lone Ranger and Zorro. “Our take is going to be an interesting one – we are going to reboot it in such away where we will explain his costume – which will be tweaked – differently. Anyone who knows Alex knows that his idea of tweaking involves taking the best of what is there, and make it contemporary while including those elements. I think, in broad strokes, how we see the character can be described in three sentences:

“He will start in the jungle.

“He will be ‘born’ in the jungle.

“He will come to the concrete jungle of New York City.”

Those familiar with the character and Falk’s original take on it will recall that The Phantom was originally meant to be in the city, but the creator later moved him to the jungle – according to some sources, due to legal pressure that resulted from his perceived similarity to Batman. But with Dynamite, he’s heading back to town.

“One of the things we felt with the Phantom is, you can only have so many adventures in the jungle,” Barrucci explains. “It’s about time we put him back in civilization, and we pit him against the animals of New York City. “

Currently, a writer is under consideration, Barrucci says. “We are talking to someone who is on a similar level with Alex Ross – someone like a [Lone Ranger writer] Brett Matthews who can reinvent the character, who can not only take out the essence of the character while making him contemporary as well.”

The first storyline of the new Dynamite series is called “Born in Blood,” and Barrucci says a launch date will be announced shortly.

Judge Dredd Comes to Dynamite Entertainment

Credit: newsarama.com

The Judge is coming back to the shores of NorthAm.

Okay – to translate, Dynamite Entertainment has landed the rights from Rebellion to produce an original Judge Dredd comic aimed at an American audience, with Garth Ennis and John Wagner as Dredd’s likely creators/overseers.

No – get the Sylvster Stallone movie out of your head. Comic-wise, Judge Dredd is the longest running strip in the UK’s 2000AD, created in 1977 by John Wagner, his editor Pat Mills and artist Carlos Ezquerra. Dredd is the most famous of MegaCity One’s Judges, law enforcement officers who act as judge, jury and executioner in the hyper-violent giant city of the future. In the UK, it could be easily argued that Judge Dredd has followed in the footsteps of Doctor Who, becoming a unique cultural icon.

Original Dredd comics have been seen in the American market before, notably when DC Comics produced two series mostly starring an alternate version of Judge Dredd in the mid ‘90s to lackluster sales. Dynamite’s plans to involve Ennis (who’s written many classic Dredd stories in the past) and Wagner are aimed at reaching a broader audience by staying true to the character.

Nick Barrucci, President of Dynamite Entertainment said that the deal with Rebellion is something that he’s been hoping to work out since he started the company.

“I had stopped by Garth Ennis’ apartment one day to talk about some of his other work, and Rebellion came up,” Barrucci says. “I told him that I had wanted to publish Judge Dredd in the United States for a while and had not had any luck in reaching the right person at Rebellion. Garth told me that he was in touch with one of the editors over there, Matt Smith, on a somewhat regular basis, and offered to reach out to him. Garth made the introduction, smoothed the way for us a bit, and from there, we started working with Rebellion’s business affairs, and we started the ball rolling. We’ve been working on this for the last four months, at this point.”

Barrucci says that Dynamite’s plan is to start with a new Judge Dredd series featuring all new stories in early to mid 2009. While Dynamite does have access to other Rebellion properties, Barrucci feels that focusing on Judge Dredd at the start will allow an audience to build. Once the audience is there, Dynamite will both look at bringing in other characters as well as releasing collections of earlier Dredd storylines, repackaged for an American audience.

The new stories will have an American flavor, Barrucci says, thanks to Ennis. “What we’re hoping for, and I’m putting the cart before the horse here a little, is to approach John Wagner, who is the voice of Judge Dredd, to write it, and in a perfect world, have Garth serve as a consultant, much like Quentin Tarantino on Crimson Tide. It will be all John, but Garth, having lived in America for the last few years, will be there to help make it work for an American audience.

“Don’t get me wrong – that’s something that’s always been tricky – making Judge Dredd work for an American audience, while being consistent and true to the character. We want to create an audience for Judge Dredd – by creating a great monthly, like we did for Red Sonja, when we move forward with the trade paperbacks and collections of the evergreen material, we can reach a larger audience.”

While Barrucci said it’s too early to talk about interior artists, he did confirm that classic Judge Dredd artist Brian Bolland an Alex Ross will contribute covers.

A 300 Follow-Up in the Works?

Collider.com talked to producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann, who revealed that they are working on a new Blu-ray Disc edition of 300 and… that they’re trying to make a sequel/prequel! The first film’s director Zack Snyder confirmed it and they said Frank Miller is working on a new story for the film. You can watch that video interview here!

The site also got a chance to talk to Guillermo del Toro, who said he’d like to do Hellboy 3 when he finishes the two “Hobbit” films. You can watch that interview here.

A Red Sonja new movie?

Nu Image/Millennium Films has announced the return of Red Sonja to the big screen. The film will star Rose McGowan as the mythical flame-haired comic-book vixen with a sword, Red Sonja. The film is presented by Robert Rodriguez and will be directed by Douglas Aarniokoski.

The producers are Rodriguez, Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Joe Gatta and George Furla. The film’s executive producers are Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Luke Lieberman and Nick Barrucci. The screenplay is written by David White. Red Sonja is based on a heroine created by Robert E. Howard and adapted for Marvel Comics by Roy Thomas.

In her return we find Red Sonja, a young girl risen from the ashes of tragedy to become the most feared woman warrior of all time. The mythical red-head blindly seeks vengeance on those who destroyed her family. In her path of destruction she discovers a larger purpose for her unearthly powers: to save all Hyrkania from the villainous Kulan Gath.

“This is an amazing property and film for our company,” says Nu Image/Millennium’s Avi Lerner. “Working with the talented Robert Rodriguez, having Rose McGowan as Red Sonja and Douglas Aarniokoski directing is a fantastic combination. We could not be happier.”

“It is our intent to take this opportunity to build on the worlds of branded entertainment with Red Sonja as well as Conan, Hercules and The Three Musketeers titles. There is history with these mythical heroes, and success,” says Millennium’s Boaz Davidson. “We were pleased when Joe Gatta brought us this project.”

Production is set to begin in October of this year. Locations are being scouted in Michigan and throughout the United States.

Additional casting is also being considered.

Executive Producer and Vice President of Red Sonja, LLC, Luke Lieberman says “Red Sonja is a unique character with a rich history and bright destiny. Her struggles and triumphs have endured in the hearts of fans for decades, and now her legend can reach a truly global audience. Rose Mcgowan’s passion and Robert Rodriguez’s vision will bring the ‘She-Devil’ to life on the grandest of stages.”

“Dynamite has been publishing ‘Red Sonja’ comics for the last several years, reinventing the character for a modern audience and we’re exceptionally pleased that the right combination of talent has been found to bring her to life on the big screen. It was a long search — three years — but Rose is ideal for the part, and Robert as producer will ensure that a pure creative vision remains in place, and captures elements of the stories that Dynamite has been telling,” says Executive Producer Nick Barrucci. Barrucci is also President/Publisher of Dynamite Entertainment.

Clash of the Titans Remake

Warner Bros. has set Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) to direct their remake of Clash of the Titans, with script by Lawrence Kasdan.

According to Variety, Warner has essentially greenlit Clash of the Titans right after landing Leterrier.

In Clash of the Titans, Perseus, the son of Zeus, must overcome a series of obstacles to save his beloved Princess Andromeda, including cutting off the serpent-tressed head of Medusa, who can turn a man to stone with a single glance.

The original 1981 Clash of the Titans starred Harry Hamlin as Perseus and Laurence Olivier as Zeus but is best remembered for Ray Harryhausen’s visual effects that brought to life Medusa, the Kraken and other creatures.

No production date has been set.

Gods Of Geek – Episode 12

This week’s topics include geek genre-related news and information as well as Tangent and T-Rack’s review of Marvel’s “Kick Ass”, T-Rack’s review of the movie “Pathfinder”, and Tangent’s review of the movie “Pan’s Labyrinth”. Check it out here. Or you can to TNT Universe or get it on iTunes.

R.I.P. Michael Turner 1971 to 2008

This is a great lost to the comic book world.

T-Rack

The Gods of Geek return

The Gods of Geek podcast will be returning next week.