Five of them!
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Variety liked it:

Finally, someone’s found a sure-fire way to make money with a modern Middle East war movie: Just send a Marvel superhero into the fray to kick some insurgent butt. The powerhouse comicbook-inspired actioner “Iron Man” isn’t principally about this fantasy, but it won’t hurt at least American audiences’ enjoyment of this expansively entertaining special effects extravaganza. Having an actor as supercharged as Robert Downey Jr. at the center of such a tech-oriented enterprise reps a huge plus, and Paramount should reap big B.O. rewards by getting out ahead of the summer tentpole pack with such a classy refitting of an overworked format.

It’s refreshing, for a start, that the character suddenly endowed with superpowers isn’t a dweeby teen, but rather a pushing-middle-age genius who is himself entirely responsible for the advanced means he acquires to combat his adversaries; even more than the latest incarnation of Batman, he’s a self-made superman. And while we’ve seen plenty of masks and gravity-resistant heroes before, the outfit sported by the main man here, which looks as though it was made by a top ski boot manufacturer, is striking and capable of great things.

• Quick Stop has the Season 3 teaser we’ve been hearing about. Does anyone know what that music at the start is?

• Gawker yells: Stop Adapting The Wrong Comics and has this idea for a LOVE AND ROCKETS movie:

Who should star and direct? Even the visual style of the Hernandez brothers fits King of the Hill creator Mike Judge, and instead he is wasting years of his life on movies like the Luke Wilson-Maya Rudolph comedy Idiocracy. Judge is laboring on another television show in the interim, and when he decides to come back to the big screen L & R should be the reason. Casting a bunch of total unknowns for this would be a stroke of genius. My office will bill your office, Mike.

• Vulture, however asks a different question: Which Superhero Movie Will Suck?:

Why Hellboy 2 might suck:
We’re a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro, but Hellboy creator Mike Mignola’s comments last week that the new movie represents Del Toro’s vision more than his own didn’t inspire a huge amount of confidence. Neither did the trailer, which is so overstuffed with Pan’s Labyrinthine creepy-crawlies that Hellboy’s trademark wit gets lost in the shuffle. Most of all, this is the superhero movie we’re most looking forward to this summer — which makes us all the more nervous that, in the tradition of past so-called sure things Hulk and Spider-Man 3, it’ll be lousy.
Odds it won’t be super? 3:1.

• What is it like inside the LOST writer’s room? Noted fan magazine Popular Mechanics tells us:

CC: The writer’s room is a very lively place where every story point is debated and kicked around. We break the stories in their totality in the writer’s room down to really the very very kind of minute details of scenes, so, you know, you’re kind of harnessing the brain power of eight people in there, and that mind hive is very helpful in problem solving. And different people know more about various subjects, so, you know, one of our favorite pastimes in the room is we play this game…ah, what’s the actual title…? It’s Geek versus Jock.
DL: We have one writer, Brian K. Vaughn, who writes comic books, and then another writer, Adam Horowitz, who’s like a die-hard sports fan.
CC: Yankees fan. He used to sell hot dogs at Yankees Stadium.
DL: We’ll ask Vaughn an easy sports question, like how many innings are there in a baseball game…
CC: Or what is the color of the Carolina Panthers or what sport do the Carolina Panthers play…
DL: And then we’ll ask Horowitz to name two of the Avengers. And they will face off, and it’s fun to watch them, you know, try to answer questions outside of their specific area of expertise.

Confession: we’re out of gas and waiting for the weekend to chill out, sleep in and change the cat litter. So nothing on the agenda today. However thanks to everyone who sent us the news that acclaimed Mexican director Guillermo del Toro is a lock to direct The Hobbit and its mysterious sequel. Del Toro will move to New Zealand for four years to work with Peter Jackson and WETA on the films. As we mentioned before, we’re quite happy with this choice. Like Jackson himself, del Toro has the necessary understanding of evil and terror to make the films the wide ranging saga it should be, and not a cutesy tale of little furry footed fellas.

Of the greatest concern is still the mystery-shrouded “sequel” to The Hobbit, which apparently takes place between the Battle of the Five Armies and Bilbo Baggins’ birthday party. With Ian McKellen on board as Gandalf we’d watch anything, but there doesn’t seem to be an obvious moment in the history to end with a triumphant reception at the White Tower. Given the crying game of Pan’s Labyrinth, don’t be too surprised if there are some sad tear-jerking moments in between happy hobbit dancing and the wailing of the wargs.

Technorati Tags: Guillermo del Toro, Tolkien

via AICN

Just for NYCC.

EW covers the rumored Ed Norton/Marvel feud over the upcoming Hulk movie, and scoops Norton’s own statement on the donnybrook, which he refers to by the Hollywood term: “healthy process.”

“Like so many people I’ve loved the story of The Hulk since I was a kid, so it was thrilling when Marvel asked me to write and help produce an altogether new screen incarnation, as well as play Bruce Banner. I grew up reading Marvel Comics and always loved the mythic dimension and contemporary themes in the stories, and I’m proud of the script I wrote. In every phase of production, including the editing, working with Louis Leterrier has been wonderful…I’ve never had a better partner, and the collaboration with all the rest of the creative team has been terrific. Every good movie gets forged through collaboration, and different ideas among people who are all committed and respect the validity of each other’s opinions is the heart of filmmaking. Regrettably, our healthy process, which is and should be a private matter, was misrepresented publicly as a ‘dispute,’ seized on by people looking for a good story, and has been distorted to such a degree that it risks distracting from the film itself, which Marvel, Universal and I refuse to let happen. It has always been my firm conviction that films should speak for themselves and that knowing too much about how they are made diminishes the magic of watching them. All of us believe The Incredible Hulk will excite old fans and create new ones and be a huge hit…our focus has always been to deliver the Hulk that people have been waiting for and keep the worldwide love affair with the big green guy going strong.'’

So you see? Nothing to see here. Just buy a ticket already.

Here’s a little background for you. It seems the writers strike has left Hollywood scrambling for IP — any IP, even graphic novels, books and magazines. :

Feature development execs were bracing for a deluge of feature spec scripts to flood the market after the 100-day writers strike wrapped in mid-February. But the storm, if it’s brewing at all, has yet to hit, so the majors are chasing after books and magazine articles harder than they have in years.

Because the volume of pitches and specs from screenwriters has been light so far, studios, flush with new fiscal-year development budgets, have turned to books, mags as well as graphic novels for ideas, biz insiders say.

The article lists a lot of books and articles in development about things like salvage ships and women who are desperate to find husbands. So see, it ISN”T all comic book stuff after all.

We’re all for it! CAT FOOD!!!!!!!

Chris Brandt’s documentary about indie comics, THE INDEPENDENTS, years in the making,has a screening at NYCC and you can buy the finished DVD at the Top Shelf booth. More here.

The first look at Frank Miller’s THE SPIRIT movie and big sneak peeks at HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY and THE INCREDIBLE HULK are the most sure-to-be-blogged about presentation at New York Comic-Con. It isn’t quite up to the level of San Diego’s star fest, but it’s getting there, for better or worse. All details in the jump.
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We’re still a little verklempt over the whole leaked-Spirit-photos thing and getting our very first studio cease and desist letter. Luckily, IGN has the first OFFICIAL Spirit stills a photo of Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus and ScarJo as, yes, a sexy nurse.

Things on the SPIRIT movie front are definitely heating up, with the website live, including a message board. There’s also this countdown clock:

which, you don’t need to be a mathematician to figure out, is counting down to the SPIRIT panel at New York Comic-Con.

Numerous sources are reporting that Join HETFET.org appears to be a viral marketing site for HELLBOY II. Keep watching.

Some mixed messages for Marvel’s next two films — both of them from the newly launched Marvel Studios.

First, the New York Times rounds up what everyone has been whispering for some time: THE INCREDIBLE HULK movie may be more of a tantrum than a rampage:

Bad buzz. Creative infighting. Superhero gridlock at the multiplex. For Marvel Studios, handling gamma rays is starting to look like a cakewalk compared to turning “The Incredible Hulk” into a movie franchise.

The article covers all the familiar beats: Ang Lee disappointment, blah blah; Edward Norton and studio feuding, blah blah; fan dismay with cgi, blah blah.

The story reports “lip-biting” among investors and worries over Norton’s continued feud with the filmmakers: if he doesn’t get his say over the final cut he may not even do any publicity, a body blow in a summer crammed with competing action/adventure movies. Marvel Studios head David Maisel handles the rumors with the diplomacy one must develop when dealing with volatile stars whom you wouldn’t like when they are angry:

“When you get to this point in the process, there are always lots of passionate discussions,” he said. “Edward is very passionate. He is as passionate about the Hulk as we are.” (For those unaccustomed to Hollywood speak, “very passionate” roughly translates to a seven on the “he’s a difficult person” scale.)

BUT all is not gloomy for Marvel, as trade reporter Anne Thompson delivers a big wet kiss to Marvel’s OTHER summer movie: “Iron Man: Why it Will be Huge”:

Those of us who saw Paramount’s first Iron Man materials at Comic-Con–and witnessed the hordes lining up just to see the damned costume unveiled–don’t need to be convinced that this picture will be a summer boxoffice juggernaut. It should easily pass $200 million. Will it get to $300 million is another question.

Why?

1. NEW ACTION HERO. This may be the robust male action fantasy hero that we’ve been waiting for. A new contemporary complex male who isn’t Batman or Superman. (Face it, they’ve been around for a while.) Check out the latest clip and our photo gallery. Who wouldn’t want to fly around like that? While Iron Man comicbook fans are legion, this is a new modern movie hero who kicks ass. And he’s not a nice guy.

All systems seem to be go for IRON MAN — good buzz, great looking trailers, well received assets. Even people who aren’t familiar with Ol’ Shellhead think the movie looks “fun.”

Our guess? IRON MAN will do very well; THE INCREDIBLE HULK will make money on DVD.

§ Comics2Film, another Web 1.0 comics site — it’s been around since 1997 — has been purchased by Mania.com.

§ Ed Brubaker faces the mini-masses at Whitechapel.

§ At PWCW, Laura Hudson talks to Marvel about the viral marketing campaign for SECRET INVASION:

“We’ve done a lot of mainstream pushes, not just to the industry itself, but to a larger audience,” said Marvel v-p of merchandising and communication Mike Pasciullo. “The characters are icons that people are aware of even if they’re not buying comics regularly,” Pasciullo said, “but if you tell interesting stories, they will seek them out.”

Acclaimed Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis, the writer of Secret Invasion, agreed. “We’re trying to reach out to the millions of people that might never read a comic.” He describes the marketing shift as part of an effort to stop undervaluing the medium. “The comics [industry] in general tends to treat itself like an ugly stepsister of film or TV,” said Bendis. “But it’s not, so let’s not treat it that way. Let’s sell it like they sell a movie.”

No mention of now-squelched Marvel-b0y, but there will be Skrull Masks at NYCC.

§ Meanwhile, over at Marvel’s Agent M Flickr set, you can see editors Tom Brevoort and Nick Lowe sporting evidence of an abandoned crossover event in which the Marvel U was invaded by clones of Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy,

§ BUT Ian Brill wonders if all this marketing innovation this is just like pushing margaritas to people in Tijuana:

While reading Laura Hudson’s article on Marvel’s viral marketing I thought of something. It’s cool to see Marvel branching out and everything. I just wish that instead of using these innovations, innovations for Marvel that is, to sell a book that is going to be a blockbuster no matter what they could use this strategy towards marketing lower selling titles.

§ i09 has an entertaining look at superhero movies not based on comics, like DARKMAN and SKY HIGH. There are more than you might think, since many of them were subsequently adapted into comics.

§ Coming Soon Net has the first video journal from WATCHMEN. No footage just atmospherics.

§ PS here is Scarlett Johansson as a sexy nurse from THE SPIRIT movie. Peruse before Lionsgate makes us take ‘em down.

AW SHUCKS. I got my official Lionsgate C&D. Wow, I feel like I rank now!

Technorati Tags: The Spirit

• Continuing the intriguing trend of Euro comics getting developed for the US, NBC announced a mini series based on XIII, which Kevin Melrose tells us, is an 80s Euro-comic by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance:

XIII, originally serialized in 1984 in the Belgian comics magazine Spirou, begins with a man who washes up on the shore of the East Coast with no memory of who he is, and the only clue to his past is “XIII” tatooed on his neck. His search for his identity leads him to confront a plot to overthrow the U.S. government.

The comic has been reprinted in the US by Catalan and most recently the Dabel Bros. Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer will star in the mini-series.

• Ving Rhames, Radha Mitchell, and Rosamund Pike have joined Bruce Willis in the cast of The
Surrogates movie, which is based on the Top Shelf series by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele.

• Boom strikes again, as the controversial North Wind has been optioned by producer John Davis . Creator/screenwriter David DiGilio will adapt the tale.

Boom co-founders Cosby and Richie have been experiencing a boom in Hollywood lately. The pair is producing adaptations of their “Tag” and “Talent” comics at Universal with Marc Platt and “The Foundation” at Paramount. Ice Cube’s CubeVision is adapting the Boom graphic novel “10″ for Dimension.

The film will be one of many sci-fi spectacles for Davis Entertainment, which helped bring “I, Robot,” “Alien vs. Predator” and “Eragon” to the screen.

Several sites, including ComingSoon.net debuted a new series of outdoor artwork for THE SPIRIT movie which opens January 16, 2009. In case you forgot, this movie is being directed by Frank Miller, and it may just look a little bit like the Sin City movie. Bonus: note this web address: MyCityScreams.com.

Technorati Tags: Frank Miller

It’s up at Yahoo. Also more stills. We are, like, sooooo looking forward to this movie.

Ben Stiller has joined the graphic novel set! He’ll produce and possibly star in The Return of King Doug based on a yet to be published Oni graphic novel by animation writers Greg Erb and Jason Oremland. The duo will also pen the screenplay. The title joins Oni’s Courtney Crumrin, The Damned, Scott Pilgrim (see below) and Maintenance among the Hollywood set.

MEANWHILE…unstoppable Stan Lee has announced three projects in his Disney pact. Lee and his POW! partner Gil Champion will produce.

“Nick Ratchet” will be directed by Richard LaGravenese (”P.S. I Love You”) from a screenplay he is writing. Larry Jacobson and Sonny Grosso are in talks to produce.

“Blaze” is being penned by Gary Goldman (”Next”).

“Tigress” is being written by newcomer Zoe Green. State Street Pictures’ Robert Teitel and George Tillman will produce. Film is not the same as a previously announced project titled “Tigress” that Lee is developing with Michelle Rodriguez attached to star. That project is based on a “Conan the Barbarian” villainess.

Talkative Stan chafed at having to keep plot details under wraps. “You have no idea how frustrating that is for me, because I love these characters so much and want to talk about them.” Lee said, adding that perhaps the properties could even become comic books. “You either have a great comicbook and it becomes a great movie. Or you have a great movie that becomes a great comicbook. These things have a natural progression.”

FINALLY…Michael Cera demonstrates his ability to talk up comics as he told Empire about his casting in SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (the official title):

“I love the graphic novels, they’re amazing,” gushed Cera. “The first time I met Edgar, we hung out in Toronto [Cera’s home town and the setting for Pilgrim] with Bryan Lee O’Malley [the series’ creator, also from Toronto], and he showed me pages from the fourth book that hadn’t come out yet. It was awesome!”

Yes it was. These things have a natural progression.

Technorati Tags: Stan Lee

Last weekend’s parody “SUPERHERO MOVIE” opened to a very very disappointing $9.5 million and its failure has spawned much commentary, including this from Steven Zeitchik:

There may be a more specific rule governing how and why a genre sendup succeeds, one that has more to do with the maturity of the original genre. Looking back at at the spoof hits over the decades, it seems that in order to work a genre has to be at just the right stage, developed enough to be ripe for satire but not so tired the genre has already begun poking fun at itself (see under Zucker’s 1980 “Airplane,” which came at just the right post-”Airport” moment).

The first part is probably why one-off hits can’t be effectively sent up, as Bob Saget learned the hard way with his straight-to-video “Farce of the Penguins.” (And yet he never seems to learn…) The second part is why “Superhero” will eke out $40 or $50 million instead of twice that. Most actual superhero movies these days are post-superhero movies — see the self-mocking postmodernism in everything from “Superman Returns” to “The Incredibles” — so who needs a spoof? Not to mention that the definition of a superhero movie is a lot more expansive these days, as likely to encompass an anti-hero like “Hellboy” as fearless fighters in cape and spandex.

PS: When we first typed that headline we inadvertently wrote “troubling slop.” Make of that what you will.

Lovely Sir Ian McKellen often answers questions from fans on his webpage, and in his latest installment he all but promises that he will be back as Gandalf in the film version of the Hobbit. “I will, if Peter Jackson and I have anything to do with it, he being the producer and me being, on the whole, a very lucky actor,” he writes.

That’s the good news. More problematic is Sir Ian’s interpretation of life in the undying lands:

Q: I have read lord of the rings and am enamoured by it. what do you think happens to gandalf once he leaves middle earth and goes to the grey havens? does he have someone to return to?

A: I had always supposed that the Grey Havens were an eternal life of some sort. But not even Tolkien would presume to anticipate what a Heaven is really like. As for companionship there, don’t forget that he takes Frodo and Bilbo with him and he loves hobbits. If you meant that there might be a Mrs Gandalf or a civil partner at the end of the journey who knows? But I doubt it.

While we share Sir Ian’s doubts about Civil Partnerships in Valinor, he should have pointed out that Gandalf is Maiar, an angellic spirit and a servant of Manwe and Eru.

Technorati Tags: Hobbitses

Studio chieftain Harvey Weinstein struck a devious blow to the dreams of fanboys everywhere when he decreed that cuts must be made to FANBOYS, a long awaited films about some, er, fans who sneak onto the Skywalker Ranch for a sneak peek at PHANTOM MENACE. One of them has cancer, making the beak-in a matter of great urgency. This film has been in the can for two years, and with the involvement of such now-well known players as Seth Rogen and Kristen Bell and delighted screenings at Comic-Con you’d think all would be well, right? Not so fast, says the Hollywood Reporter. The movie has lain frozen in carbonite while Weinstein demanded a recut:

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