Comic Movie News/Rumor Roundup
Lots of comic movie news is bubbling up, but how much of it is BS?
Expectedly, a tidal wave of interest in the comic-film genre has risen, and with it, an onslaught of projects are moving forward to keep the momentum high. And where there's excitement, there's always wild speculation and rumors about what's to come. We've been hearing some far-fetched whoppers lately, including but by no means limited to Eddie Murphy's rumored casting as The Riddler in the next Batman film. It all seems like flagrant hype at this point, but each rumor is worth a look, if only for the hypotheticals.
So before we get to all this Riddler/Catwoman nonsense, let's cover some other comic movie news first.
The advance reviews for The Spirit are pretty dim, so it's no wonder that Frank Miller's rumored to be eager to get his next solo directing project off the ground: Buck Rogers. Buck Rogers is a futuristic adventurer from the 20th century who ends up in the 25th century only to find that Earth has been destroyed, best remembered from the 1970s TV series starring Gil Gerard, an annoying-ass robot named Twiki and Erin Gray. Miller had been rumored to be involved since last year, but word now is that he will both write and direct, and that it will be a priority project.
It would seem to many that Sin City 2 would be next in development for Miller, but given the similar look to the Spirit, it could be a good thing to wipe the slate with a Buck Rogers film in between.
Jon Favreau has reportedly hired Tim Robbins to play Daddy Stark in Iron Man 2. His part is said to be part of a pivotal flashback sequence, where Howard Stark (father to Tony, of course) will be involved in the Captain America project. In the first Iron Man, Tony Stark had mentioned that his dad helped build the atom bomb during WWII, and this Captain America/Super-Soldier Serum story fits right along those lines.
What's strange is that, along with that story, is another claiming that Robbins won't play the elder Stark, but rather Hawkeye, another character in the Marvel universe.
More Iron Man 2 rumors: John Cho as Mandarin, Tommy Chong as Mandarin's father, and Jennifer Tilly as the Black Widow. Tilly's been eyeing the part for some time now, and has made her enthusiasm about the role known to many (but not in the insanely creepy Sean Young/Catwoman way).
Warner Bros President Alan Horn has announced that a Green Lantern flick is "probably" the next DC superhero movie they'll focus on. The WB is well known for changing their minds and plans with high frequency, so I wouldn't hold my breath just yet.
Director Greg Berlanti signed on in 2007 to co-write and direct a Green Lantern film, featuring Hal Jordan as the main character. Michael Green ("Heroes," Superman/Batman comics) and Marc Guggenheim (The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive and Wolverine comics) have been working on a screenplay, and the film is tentatively scheduled for release in 2010. The film has been in initial development for over a year, so we may see Hal sporting an emerald glow sometime soon after all.
MTV spoke with director David FIncher about his adapation of Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko's Torso graphic crime novel, which is now officially being called Ness. Fincher explained that the narrative flow of comics differs from film and does so in a way that's not really appealing to him. In other words, his version of the Torso story won't be a faithful adaptation of the comics.
Sean Connery and director Stephen Norrington haven't made a movie in the five years since the nightmarish failure that was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. But in the wake of a failed deal to direct the Clash of the Titans remake, Norrington's setting his sights on another unnecessary remake, The Crow. You likely remember the original 1994 version of the film, which was based upon a goth-friendly comic series about a man who comes back from the dead to avenge the death of his girlfriend. It was beautifully directed, with a gothic style by Alex Proyas that inspired three (horrible) sequels and a legion of teens obsessed with the color black and pretending to be dark and mysterious.
Norrington, who will write and direc the film, says his version will be "realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style." Expect some serious floppage.
Bad Idea: The Phantom: Legacy was announced last week, as a $87 million project that will relaunch the newspaper comic strip character The Phantom on the big screen, attempting to erase the embarrassing failure of the 1996 movie starring Billy Zane. Screenwriter Tim Boyle is telling everyone who will listen that The Phantom: Legacy is *not* a sequel, but rather a serious reimagining of the character, and will focus on the father/son dynamic of a generational superhero legacy (which dates back to the 1500s). Production is expected to start sometime next year in Australia.
Finally we come to the Batman 3 casting rumors. By and large, most of them seem so monumentally stupid that they're barely worth mentioning.
Shia LaBeouf as Robin? Oh hell no. If Shiat comes anywhere near that project, fans will scatter like rats on a sinking ship.
Eddie Murphy as The Riddler? Very strange, but not altogether impossible. Johnny Depp has also been rumored, but if given a choice between the two, I think it would be pretty awesome to see Murphy taking a new spin in the role. He's no Jim Carrey, but maybe that's a good thing.
Also, the stunning but stupid-looking Rachel Weisz is rumored to have been cast as Catwoman, while Philip Seymour Hoffman would play The Penguin.
All these rumors should be taken with a huge spoonful of salt, especially being that the script's not even written and Chris Nolan still hasn't signed up for the third Batman. The good news is that both Nolan and actor Christian Bale hate the concept of Robin, so we may not have to deal with Shia's smug mug after all.
Stay tuned to see if any of these actually pan out.
