BY DF NEWS
Dark Horse Comics and Digital Manga will release Yasuhiro Nightow's Trigun Maximum on May 19. The sequel to the two-volume Trigun series, which performed extremely well both in the bookstore and comic shop markets, Trigun Maximum Volume 1 is a 192-page manga which will retail for $9.95. The first two Trigun volumes were in the 350-page range and carried a cover price of $14.95 -- a good deal, but Trigun Maximum will be in both the format and price range of the most popular manga releases in the U.S.
Tim Ervin-Gore, manga editor at Dark Horse, was enthused at the prospect of more Trigun adventures: "I was overwhelmed by the positive response the first two Trigun volumes received, and I am eager to see where Trigun Maximum takes us as the story grows in intensity and new villains come into play. Trigun fans are in for a real treat."
Check out the Trigun manga right here!
-- ICV2.COM
BY DF NEWS
MTV Films and Madonna’s Maverick Films have acquired the rights to Twilight, based on the upcoming young adult novel of the same name from author Stephanie Meyer, scheduled to be published by Little Brown, September 2005. Madonna and her partner Guy Oseary will produce the movie, which is a love story a teen girl who falls in love with a vampire, things become more complicated when the girl is forced by a rival vampire clan to decide between her world and that of the undead.
-- CYNOPSIS
BY DF NEWS
Zack Snyder, who directed the upcoming remake of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, told reporters that the MPAA ordered several cuts to his update of the classic horror film, presumably for gore, to qualify for an R rating. In the film, a group of fugitives (led by Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames) squares off against a horde of flesh-eating zombies who converge on their shopping-mall hideout.
"We went back and forth with the [Motion Picture Association of America] about four or five times before we got our R, but eventually we did," Snyder told reporters at a press conference. Snyder also said that responses from test audiences helped filmmakers fine tune the film for maximum effectiveness. "With the testing, in the end the audiences didn't seem like they wanted anything to be taken out. I think they really wanted more. That was kind of a testament to what these guys accomplished," Snyder said of his cast, which also included Jake Weber (The Cell) and Mekhi Phifer (8 Mile).
Snyder, who makes his directorial debut with the update, promised that the excised material will appear in an extended cut on a proposed DVD release. "We will do an unrated DVD that will have probably an additional five minutes of gore, and then another five minutes of more character," he said. "Not that anyone wants that, but that's what they're going to get." Dawn of the Dead opens on March 19.
-- SCIFI WIRE
BY DF NEWS
Ricky Gervais had TV viewers in stitches on both sides of the Atlantic with The Office, and Hollywood giggling when he accepted Golden Globe honours as casually as if he was doing the shopping. But on the set of the US TV series Alias, it was Gervais having a laugh at the oh-so-serious, big-budget spy drama production.
Gervais, who played David Brent in The Office, guest stars as a bad-guy bomb expert in Sunday’s episode, airing in the US on the ABC network. “It’s so like the opposite to The Office. It’s 2 million an episode as opposed to 200,000 an episode. There’s special effects, there’s stunts,” he said.
“All that pressure, it’s like being in school when you can’t laugh in assembly. It’s all so expensive and all so important that I think it’s the child in me.” The result: “I was laughing at all the serious faces. Every time they looked at me in a serious way, I died laughing,” he said of the cast that includes Jennifer Garner and Victor Garber.
The unlikely scenario was the result of Alias creator JJ Abrams’ admiration for The Office. Abrams contacted him and sent tapes to Gervais in London, who liked what he saw and agreed to appear. “It’s the first thing I’ve done that I didn’t write myself, so it was sort of a baptism of fire,” he said of his role as bomb pro Daniel Ryan. As befitting an espionage series, further details were withheld by Gervais and ABC.
-- SCOTSMAN.COM
BY DF NEWS
Hideo Nakata, the Japanese director behind the hit Japanese horror film Ringu, is in talks to helm The Ring 2, the sequel to the U.S. version of Nakata's original movie, Variety reported. Nakata would replace Noam Murro, who left the DreamWorks sequel project earlier this week over creative differences, the trade paper reported. The Ring 2 would mark Nakata's American directorial debut now that he is no longer directing True Believers at MGM.
In addition to Ringu, Nakata also directed that film's sequel, released in Japan in 1999, a year after the first film, the trade paper reported. The Ring 2, written by Ehren Kruger, is a departure from the Japanese sequel Ringu 2.
-- SCIFI WIRE
BY DF NEWS
Thirteen years after his death, children's author Dr. Seuss was honored Thursday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The tribute to the author, whose real name is Theodore Geisel, was arranged by Universal Studios Home Video to promote next week's DVD release of Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, based on his famous book. Seuss' widow Audrey Geisel accepted the honor on behalf of his late husband who died in September 1991 at the age of 87.
"I must really thank you for this day," the 82-year-old woman told the crowd. "At the same time, I do have to tell you that Ted would probably be saying, 'Thank God, I'm dead.' He was a very private man. But hopefully ... he appreciates how much I appreciate this for him."
Johnny Grant, honorary mayor of Hollywood, saluted Seuss as "a man who charmed his way into the consciousness of generations of youngsters, and parents, and in so doing helped millions of children learn to read."
-- XINHUANET
BY DF NEWS
Wizards of the Coast's GI Joe Collectible Card Game will feature art from the creators of the GI Joe comic books at Devil's Due Studios. The GI Joe CCG, which is due out this fall, is a two-person game which packs the action of the popular cartoon and comic book hero into a range of cards inspired by the GI Joe vs. COBRA storyline. Trading card game players will get to command their own GI Joe or COBRA team by building their decks with iconic characters such as Duke, Snake Eyes, Agent Scarlett, Cobra Commander, Destro, and Storm Shadow -- all drawn by the artists at Devil's Due.
Since 2004 is GI Joe's 40th anniversary, there are a number of projects in the works including both a CGI cartoon feature and a live action film under development from producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Harry Potter). Hasbro is painstakingly reproducing the original GI Joe toy line and WotC is attempting to capture the excitement of the GI Joe vs. COBRA struggle in a fast-paced CCG targeting a youthful audience.
Check out our G.I.Joe section, right here!
-- ICV2.COM
BY DF NEWS
Platinum Studios will develop the live-action feature film Unleashed, based on characters from Myatt Murphy's graphic novel and comic series Two Over Ten, Variety reported. The movie will deal with a man with an uncontrollable affliction that causes things he touches to explode. He's forced to go on the run from authorities and a ruthless enemy intent on harnessing his destructive power, the trade paper reported.
In addition to Unleashed, Platinum will develop other characters from the same series for film and TV projects, the trade paper reported.
Platinum has a library of more than 1,000 comic-book characters and stories from artists around the world. Rosenberg formerly ran Malibu Comics, where he discovered the Men in Black franchise, which he then brought to Sony. Also at Sony, Rosenberg is producing the comic-to-film title Cowboys & Aliens, with Escape Artists.
Other Platinum projects include the SF action-adventure Unique for Touchstone, about a man trapped between parallel worlds, with David Goyer (Blade: Trinity) attached to direct and Michael Cooney (Identity) writing the script. Rosenberg will produce with David Heyman and Heyday Films, the trade paper reported.
-- SCIFI WIRE
BY DF NEWS
On his messageboard, John Byrne has announced that his next project for DC will be a relaunch of Doom Patrol. While Byrne is remaining somewhat tight-lipped about the news the group will include - as will a handful of new, yet unnamed members - apparently, Niles Caulder - the Chief; the Cliff Steel Robotman, Rita Farr - Elasti-Girl; and Larry Trainor - Negative Man. As for the feel of the book, Byrne said that the series’ catchphrase is “Together Again for the First Time!” – this given the team’s “appearance” in the pages of JLA #94. In regards to an explanation, Byrne related that their JLA appearance is the first time they have appeared openly in the DCU, although Batman knows something about them, and Ray Palmer (the Atom) has a connection with them.
It's little secret that Byrne has long been a huge fan of the team and characters. He wrote and illustrated the team's classic origin in Secret Origins v.3 Annual #1 in 1987. The series, according to Byrne will launch in June, with Byrne writing and penciling. Mike Carlin will edit the series.
This will be DC's fourth go at a Doom Patrol series - kind of. While the team first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80, (1963) the series changed its name to Doom Patrol with #86, as the feature proved to be quite popular with readers... Until around #121 - the team's popularity had faded, and instead of canceling the series and leaving the characters in limbo, DC opted to kill the team, quite dramatically. A new version of the team resurfaced in Showcase #94, with Robotman the only holdout from the original team, but that version only lasted two issues in Showcase. The publisher restarted the series again in 1987, but as popularity waned yet again, DC opted to make a Swamp Thing -like Hail Mary pass to a relative unknown and see what he could do with it - Grant Morrison. Under Morrison, the book moved far from the realm of traditional super-heroes, and eventually came under the Vertigo imprint. Cancelled roughly two years after Morrison left, the series most recent incarnation was launched in 2001, written by John Arcudi and illustrated by Tang Eng Huat, and was cancelled in 2003.
Check out the Doom Patrol Archives, right here.
-- NEWSARAMA.COM
