Teen Titans
DC Comics' superteam Teen Titans is getting the big-screen treatment courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. The live-action adaptation is being produced by Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster through their Weed Road banner, while Mark Verheiden has been brought on board to write the script.The Teen Titans first appeared in 1964 as a sort of junior Justice League, comprising Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Wonder Girl and Speedy, the respective sidekicks of A-list heroes Batman, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow. The comic series reached X-Men-style success in the 1980s, when the team was relaunched in a new comic with the characters no longer kids but college-age adults and the stories explored more mature themes. The series also saw the addition of Cyborg, Starfire and Raven, original characters who weren't sidekicks, while the character of Robin matured into one called Nightwing.Most recently, the comic was adapted to the television screen with a Cartoon Network series that ran from 2003-06 that used many of the '80s comics' heroes and story lines. It is not known which heroes will be used, but Nightwing is said to be in the mix. Goldsman said the tone will be consistent with such recent Warners' comic book fare as "Batman Begins," "Superman Returns" and the upcoming "Watchmen."Jessica Goodman and Jesse Ehrman are overseeing for Warners.Gregory Noveck is overseeing for DC Comics.Verheiden, repped by CAA and Untitled, was a writer-producer on "Smallville," the TV series that revolved around the adventures of a young Clark Kent/Superman, and is a writer-producer on "Battlestar Galactica." Verheiden also is a comic writer and creator, penning "Timecop" and "The Mask," both of which were adapted to the big screen in the early 1990s. Goldsman and Weed Road have several comic book movies in development, including "Doom Patrol" and "The Losers." He is in preproduction on the superhero-themed "Tonight He Comes," starring Will Smith.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Vermsnote: Almost more exciting is hearing that Doom Patrol is still on a back burner. I'll have to see what Tonight He Comes is about, I think I may have already read about it. I'll check it out for you guys and get back to ya.
addendum: Crap Alert! Tonight He Comes is about a tortured superhero who crash-lands in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, and tries to revitalize himself by romancing an alluring housewife, causing chaos in the city.
Go Speed Racer Go!
Emile Hirsch was 6 years old when he saw his first episode of the cartoon Speed Racer and, more important, caught a glimpse of the Mach 5.
"It was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen," Hirsch says by phone from Germany, where filming will begin next week on the movie adaptation. "That's when I started thinking it would be great to be on TV. And have one of those."
Sixteen years later, he finally got behind the wheel of the speedster, which gets its first look here and will be at the heart of the film, due May 9, 2008.
"My first thought was, 'Yeah, they got the car right,' " he says. "That's one of the best things about the show, so it was always going to be one of the most important parts of the movie."
That and the return of Andy and Larry Wachowski, the brothers who are making their first directorial effort since The Matrix Trilogy.
Like Hirsch, the brothers grew up on the popular 1960s Japanese cartoon about the adventures of a racing family — and its pet chimpanzee, Chim Chim.
"The TV show was the brothers' introduction to Japanese animation," says Joel Silver, a friend of the press-shy Wachowskis and producer of Racer and the Matrix films. "They fell in love with the genre. They said they'd been making R-rated movies their whole lives and wanted to do something their nephews and nieces could watch."
The film, Silver says, will have a "retro future" look and will center on Speed (Hirsch) trying to make a name for himself in the racing world despite the efforts of corporate giants to foil his career. The film also stars Christina Ricci as girlfriend Trixie and Matthew Fox as Speed's older brother, Racer X.
Like the Matrix films and the Wachowski-produced V for Vendetta, Racer "has a lot to say about remaining independent and thinking for yourself," Hirsch says. "The brothers weren't just looking to do the TV show on film."
Unlike those darker movies, Racer "is going to be very bright, very family-friendly," Silver says. "And it will have great effects like TheMatrix, just with the car."
A car that will not see much time on pavement. The Mach 5 will be placed on a crane and most effects will be computer-generated.
One real effect, though: Chim Chim.
"They're using a real monkey," Hirsch says. "Just don't call him that. He's a chimpanzee. He gets upset if you call him a monkey."
Source: USA Today
Vermsnote: Oh god, if you ever answered a prayer, please oh please let this not suck!
And last but certainly least Millenium Films is working on a Hercules film penned by Sean ( Halloween: Resurrection ) Hood. This can't be good.
3 comments:
hate, hate, HATE speedracer
so, there.
was so in love with aquaman, though...
*sigh*
Too bad the CW cancelled the Aquaman series then isn't it?
he was THE guy.
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