What self-respecting geek podcast could go for any amount of time without doing a Star Trek show. In this episode we do ours. But first more Disney news than you can shake a billion dollar check at, Moon Knight returns and with a really great start, and why quitting comics is the same as lesbians of the 1980's. Oh no we didn't! Oh yes we did and it all on this episode.
Is there a reason why is Hollywood so keen on putting out so many Marvel based movies? So far we have had announcements about a Fantastic Four reboot, a Ghost Rider sequel, another X-Men movie with possibly a New Mutant film to follow, and now Fox is rebooting Daredevil and talking about that long overdue Silver Surfer flick. So what's up with all these Super Hero to film movies, staring Marvel heroes? Well the Disney acquisition has a lot to say in this. While Disney will have a hand-off approach to the comic publisher, there's no way in hell they're going to sit back and let a bunch of other studios continue to reap profits from movies. Any layman knows that the House of Mouse is waiting for license agreements to lapse and they will vacuum up all these properties and put them out under one entity - the way it really should be. Most of the movie licenses work like the comic properties, under a "use or lose" agreement. So if these other studios intend to continue to make money off Marvel properties, they've got to produce something from them no matter how good or bad they've done in theaters. Now there's been a lot of talk about how many of these property only enjoy moderate success, but don't listen to the bullshit. Most of these movies, with a few exceptions, made more then money back in theaters and did pretty damn well on DVD sales. Super Hero movies are not simply the flavor of the month but viable money making entities that does not seem to be going anywhere. So to all the nay-saying and nit pickers, good luck in the trend to see an end to this trend any time soon.
Remember when Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 8 was announced? It was said to be roughly 28 issues and would continue where the Season 7 television series ended? Well, now it's going to run 40 issues and according to an interview with Joss Whedon on Complex.com, there's going to be a Season 9. Joss promises this will be a different kind of storyline from Season 8 and might not run with as many issues. “I have had for a long time a conception for Season Nine," Said Whedon, "that is very different from Season Eight. It may not run as long, because 40 issues sounds great until you realize that it’s four or five years." It's no surprise that there will be another run on BTVS, considering it's Dark Horse's best selling title.
The film rights to Masters of the Universe are now in the hands of Sony’s Columbia Pictures, following the break-up of Mattel with Warner. Mattel allowed Warners’ option on the property to expire after reported creative differences. Development now starts over, with a new script expected, and possibly a new director. The rumors so far claims John Stevenson of Kung Fu Panda being attached. Escape Artists, producer of Taking of Pelham 123 & Pursuit of Happyness, will produce. No word as to if Will Smith or Denzel Washington will be taking the Skelator role.
Production has begun on a sequel to Ghost Rider film, and according to reports Nicholas Cage will be reprising is role as Johnny Blaze and David Goyer is going to direct, and might b writing too considering he wrote a script for the movie years ago when he was in negotiation to direct the first film. Mark Steven Johnson ending up writing and directing the first film. Before anyone puts the idea for a new movie down, don't forget that the first film grossed $116 million domestic and 113 million foreign, bringing it's over all gross to $229 million total - more then enough reason to give it another go.
Many people will confuse Eastwick as a remake of the 1987 Jack Nicholson/Cher vehicle "Witches of Eastwick", but the movie itself was based the 1966 John Updike novel of the same name (followed later by a sequel called "The Widows of Eastwick.") In the novel the three main characters, Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart, and Sukie Rougemont are abandoned by husbands and form a coven. In the novel the "witches" already have power when Darryl Van Horne arrives in Eastwick. In the movie the three women are unmarried, two are single mothers and none have any actual powers until Van Horne (played by Jack Nicholson) shows up. All three are seduced and impregnated by Van Horne and the movie ends with them living in his mansion with said children. It was made in the 1980's and feather hair and shoulder pads aside, the 80's sensibilities are very apparent.
After the movie there was a little known 2002 pilot and a stage play which didn't get much in the way of attention.
The series pilot goes off the movie and novel in a few ways. Roxanne, Joanna and Kat, the three main characters, barely know each other and don't really like each other until a local woman (played by Veronica Cartwright - who was also in the 1987 movie) is attacked by fire ants while all three receive odd coins that draw them to make wishes in a fountain at the same time. While at the hospital where the fertile Kat is a nurse supporting a beer drinking out of work husband, the three get together for drinks and express wishes of meeting someone new. Enter Darryl Van Horne - played by Paul Gross - who buys a historical mansion and the newspaper where the doormat Joanna works as a struggling reporter where she pines for the handsome young photographer and has to put up with an editor with a breast brushing fetish.
So far we have a very interesting pilot that could lead to some fascinating possibilities. Each woman wakes up to their power very quickly and each power follows a bit of a formula (one psychic, one seems to control the forces of nature in surprising ways, one can make men do what she wants just by looking them in the eye.) There's a Pushing Daisies feel to the opening narrative which isn't a bad thing. The three main characters are likable and you can empathize with them which is important to sustain a television series. So far there isn't enough to nitpick about the episode, except the dialogue can be a little too clever at times but not enough to make ones eyes roll. Gross has some big shoes to fill following a role made popular by Jack Nicholson, and he's forward to a point that makes you wonder why he isn't beat up more but so far he put out the right vibe some someone (or something) dark and dangerous. Final vote, give it a watch, it looks like it might surprise everyone - long s it doesn't fall into routine like Desperate Housewives did.
Dear God, they're rebooting Highlander. Really? Highlander, which hasn't produced a good version since. . .well every single one of them blew chunks. The first movie gets love because there are people who love any bad movie for pretty much any bad reason, and the 1980's is chock full of bad movies and people that love them. Admittedly Highlander spawned four sequels - the last one produced and shown on the Sci-fi channel, which pretty much says it all, and a TV series that was better then all the movies combined - which isn't saying much at all. There have been books and plenty of fan-fiction and even a short lived comic. There's no knocking the popularity of the franchise. . .wait a minute, yes there is as every single movie was, in fact, one piece of shit piled upon another. I mean Sean Connery was called "Spaniard" and didn't bother getting rid of his Irish accent - is there a better definition of the word "lame?" Despite this Summit Entertainment hired the makers of Fast and Furious. Justin Jin & Neal Moritz, to remake/reboot the franchise. And how will this next try at making this do? Think on this one: Moritz is currently producing the problematic Green Hornet and is making a movie based on the 1980's crap-fest Flash Gordon. The only shining part of this story is Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway will being doing the script. So that's one cherry on this pile of dung.
Get ready to ultimate, because the real cut of the Watchmen is finally coming out and there won't be any bullshit Blu-Ray Regular DVD distinctions. This November will mark the release of Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut, a 5-disc version of the movie based on the greatest comic mini-series ever written. This edition will include the Tales of the Black Freighter cut into the movie, new commentary tracks, the "Under the Hood" documentary and all 12 episodes of the Watchmen motion comic. The movie didn't do as well as expected in the theaters but generated $45 million dollars in sales on DVD, and the ultimate cut might not do so badly either. Estimate retail price will be $44 for the regular DVD and $59 for the blu-ray. Let's see how this one does.
Sexy women & Halloween, can anyone think of a better combination? And just toe add to the fray, the costume division of Jakks Pacific is creating a Women of Marvel line of costumes for this years witch-fest. The costumes include American Dream, Black Cat, Emma Frost - in what little costume she wears, and Black Suit Spider-girl. They will have a number of age groups and a range of styles. Paul Gitter, President of Marvel's Consumer Products says, “We continually look for ways to broaden the awareness of and maximize the potential of the Marvel universe among all audiences, and the launch of the Women of Marvel collection addresses the growing demand across the female demographic with high quality, fashion forward merchandise featuring the most relevant Marvel brands.” All I can say is if the products match the costumes from the comics - make mine Marvel, indeed.
Starting a sequel before the movie comes out is the newest trend in Hollywood. The idea is you can get things started and have some control over eventual costs, especially if you can begin production and stop if your movie flops. The latest getting this treatment is the upcoming Warner Brothers flick, Sherlock Holmes, an action heavy version with Robert Downey Jr. playing the lead. According to The Hollywood Reporter Brad Pitt is in negotiations to play the Holmes arch-villain Moriarity, and Kieran and Michele Mulroney are doing the script. This is all probably a start and if the movie is any kind of success then we can expect the sequel with the speed of Harry Potter in a Quddich match.
