R.I.P. Dwayne McDuffie

Writer/producer Dwayne McDuffie passed away Monday. He was 49. McDuffie was the writer of the just released direct-to-DVD All Star Superman feature, along with Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. He was a producer of 66 episodes of various Ben 10 series, and 65 episodes of Justice League. He wrote numerous episodes of the Ben 10 series, Justice League, and was story editor on Static Shock.

In the comic world, McDuffie was co-founder of Milestone Media in the early 90s, where he was Editor-in-Chief. His comic creations or co-creations include Static, Damage Control, Deathlok II, Icon, Xombi, Road to Hell, Hardware, and more.

McDuffie has also written numerous other comic series, including Spider-Man, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Back to the Future, Hellraiser, and more.

Michelle Pfeiffer Heading for "Dark Shadows"

Michelle Pfeiffer, who played Catwoman in Tim Burton’s 1992 Batman Returns, is in talks to team up with the director again in Burton’s feature film adaptation of the vintage TV soap opera Dark Shadows, which also stars Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Pfeiffer is up for the role of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the reclusive matriarch of the Collins clan and owner of Collinwood (a part that was played by Joan Collins in the TV series), while Helena Bonham Carter, who has become a recurring fixture in Burton’s films (and in his life), will likely portray Dr. Julia Hoffman, a specialist in psychology and rare blood disorders.

Paramount Narrows Search for G.I. Helmer

G.I. Joe producer Lorenzo diBonaventura is meeting with directors and attempting to find the right helmer for a sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the special effects heavy live action movie that earned $302 million worldwide in 2009. Since it sold distribution rights to the Avengers movie back to Disney, Paramount has a dearth of live-action tentpole movies for the summer of 2012, with only Star Trek 2 on the slate—and it’s still not clear that a final script for the Trek sequel is anywhere close to fruition.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the leading candidates to replace Stephen Sommers and direct the G.I. Joe sequel are F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job, Law Abiding Citizen) and Jon M. Chu (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D). Expect a decision soon, Paramount is looking to have production underway this June, which would make a late summer 2012 release possible.

The G.I. Joe franchise is, in Hollywood parlance, “extremely toyetic,” and it also tends to stimulate sales of comics and graphic novel collections as well as action figures and vehicles.

Guy Ritchie Offered "Xerxes"

In what, if true, has to be one of the major studio reversals in years, Warner Bros. has supposedly offered Guy Ritchie the chance to direct an adaptation of Frank Miller’s Xerxes, the prequel/sequel to Miller’s 300, which was one the most successful (in ratio of revenue generated versus expense of production) comic book movies of all time. Zack Snyder, who directed 300, had been preparing to helm Xerxes , so the fact that the studio has offered the project to Ritchie is quite shocking.

The source of the Ritchie/Xerxes rumor is New York Magazine’s usually reliable Vulture Blog, which provides several explanations for the move, the most convincing of which is Warner Bros.’ need to get Snyder’s Superman movie made in a hurry or face losing rights to the property. Clearly getting the Superman movie made is a major priority at Warners. And since it’s been 4 years since the 300 movie stormed theaters, the studio may have thought it was also important to get going on the Xerxes project while there were still a few people out there who remembered how popular the 300 movie was. Miller’s Xerxes, which will be published first as a six-issue mini-series and then collected as a graphic novel, is due to launch this year.

Vulture also speculated that Warner Bros. is very disappointed in Snyder’s genre mash-up Sucker Punch, which debuts on March 25th and reportedly has had some less than triumphant preview screenings. Snyder’s Watchmen and Legend of the Guardians were underwhelming at the box office, but then the studio was pretty much aware of that when they gave him the reins to The Man of Steel project.

HBO Promoting 'True Blood' Hardcover

IDW’s first hardcover collection of its adaptation of HBO’s hit True Blood TV series is due out tomorrow, and HBO is attempting to spark additional interest in the book by emailing 400,000 fans of the show with news about the 160-page hardcover True Blood, Vol.1 ($24.99). The cast of HBO’s most watched series since The Sopranos is also going to be out and about over the next few months promoting the show’s fourth season, which launches on June 12th, and they will also be mentioning and promoting the IDW hardcover.

The IDW comic book has close ties to the show. It is co-plotted by True Blood series creator Alan Ball, and written by David Tischman (Bite Club) and Mariah Huehner with art by David Messina (Star Trek: Countdown).

Given the popularity of the True Blood TV series, IDW’s comic collection, which features Sookie on the cover, is likely to be a strong seller in both the direct and bookstore markets.

New "Thundercats" Series Reveals Its Anime Roots

The new Thundercats animated series, which is being produced in Japan by Studio 4*C (The Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, Tekkon Kinkreet, Halo Legends) and is set to debut on the Cartoon Network later this year, definitely has more of an “anime” look to it than the original 1980s Thundercats cartoon, even though that series was also animated in Japan.

While the Thundercats live-action movie appears to be stuck in Hollywood’s expansive “development hell,” the TV series, which was announced last summer, is on track for its 2011 debut and the new more anime-influenced character designs are on display in a recently released poster image and in the new series of licensed Thundercats toys based on the Cartoon Network series.


The new Lion-O has the faceted hairdo of a DBZ or Yu-Gi-Oh! character, while Cheetara is more waiflike in her new incarnation, and the bruising Panthro looks like he could have stepped right out of Heat Guy J. It turns out that the team’s pet/mascot Snarf, who does not appear in the poster illustration has a younger, somewhat less rotund appearance than the original character. The image of the new Snarf comes from the packaging of a new Thundercats Thunder Tank.

The sleek and powerful new Thunder Tank itself makes an interesting contrast to the original toy design. The packaging of the new Tank gives it a more massive appearance, but it also clearly pays homage to the original Thunder Tank concept.