Johnny Depp's 'Nightstalker' Gets a Writer

Disney has picked High Fidelity scribe D.V. DeVincentis to pen a big screen adaptation of the ABC TV series The Night Stalker. Darren McGavin starred in the short-lived TV series that lasted just one season in 1974-1975, but became a cult hit in syndication. Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim, has signed on to direct the big screen Night Stalker.

The TV series followed the exploits of the Chicago-based investigative reporter Carl Kolchak whose specialty is stories involving bizarre occurrences, often with supernatural overtones. Depp’s Infinitum Nihil production company acquired the rights to the Night Stalker in 2011, and the signings of DeVincentis and Wright appear to signal that Disney is making the project something of a priority.

"Sin City : A Dame to Kill for" Release Date Set

Dimension Films has announced that the opening date for the screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For has been set for October 4th, 2013. Miller and Robert Rodriguez will co-direct the film from a screenplay written by Willam Monahan, Miller, and Rodriguez.

Deadline reports that Mickey Rourke and Jessica Alba are returning to reprise their roles from the first Sin City movie, which earned nearly $160 million back in 2005, and that "other cast members are expected to return." Rodriguez has already spoken to Rosario Dawson, who also appears set for the sequel. After years of delays the long-awaited sequel project has finally got momentum.

Downey Jr.s Cut Dwarfs Other Avengers' Take

Robert Downey Jr.’s payout from Marvel Studios’ smash hit The Avengers could reach upwards of $50 million, a level of compensation that is certainly not out of line by Hollywood blockbuster standards, but which totally dwarfs the amounts earned by Downey Jr.’s fellow Avengers. According to inside sources quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), and Chris Evans (Captain America) should end up making $2-3 million with bonuses, while Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson could take in roughly twice that amount.

While six million is a pretty good payday, it’s eight times less Marvel Moolah than the amount the actor playing Tony Stark will bring home. According THR after Iron Man earned $585 million worldwide in 2008, Downey Jr.’s agent negotiated a deal that gave the actor a 5-7% slice of Marvel’s take on future films featuring Iron Man.

Big payouts for charismatic stars in major franchises are hardly unknown in Hollywood. Johnny Depp has earned in excess of $250 million for the four Pirates of the Caribbean films in which he starred. What is interesting about The Avengers situation is the fact that it is the notoriously frugal Marvel that is making the payouts.

While Marvel did what it had to do to lock down Downey, Jr. the studio sent a major message when it replaced actor Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes (War Machine) in Iron Man 2 and kept the compensation for key supporting roles like those played by ScarJo and Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2 at the very low end of the Hollywood talent pay scale.
Marvel Studios’ frugality makes sense not just for the studio’s bottom line, but also in view of the kind of films that Marvel wants to make. Performers’ salaries could become a major stumbling block for superhero team-up movies. As constituted for the movie, The Avengers team includes seven major performers. If they all received compensation at the level of Downey Jr., the movie would have to earn an Avatar-like $2.2 billion just to break even.

As the lead actor in Marvel Studios’ break-out film Iron Man, Downey Jr. was able to strike a very good deal for himself—and considering the fact that director Michael Bay took home $80 million for helming the first Transformers movie, the $50 million for Downey Jr. looks like a pretty good deal for Marvel too, especially since most of that money results from the fact that the movie was an absolute worldwide smash and wouldn’t have been paid out at all if the film had been an abject failure like The Green Lantern.

Toonami Returns to Adult Swim

Anime will return to Adult Swim on May 26th, when the Toonami programming block returns, the company announced. The block will run from midnight to 6 a.m. ET/PT Saturdays. The programming will be a mix of series previously seen on the Toonami block and new anime programming developed by Adult Swim.

McDonald's Serves 1st Ever Gundam Happy Meals in Japan

The McDonald's restaurant chain will begin selling its first ever Gundam Happy Meals in Japan on May 18. Sold as Happy Sets in Japan, the meals will include one of eight Gundam Try-Age cards.


The cards will feature mecha from the Mobile Suit Gundam AGE and Mobile Suit Gundam UC anime series as well as other Gundam franchise titles. The trading card arcade game Gundam Try-Age debuted in Japan last July.

Viz Media partnered with McDonald's to release toys inspired by the Naruto television anime and manga series in Latin America in 2010. McDonald's also offered Astroboy film and Bakugan Battle Brawlers toys in the United States in 2009. Previous anime-themed Happy Set prizes in Japan have included Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunsō) figures and exclusive Tamagotchi! anime DVDs.

Sayonara 'Battle Angel Alita'

The long-running saga of director James Cameron’s adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita manga may be over. Cameron told The New York Times: "Last year I basically disbanded my production company's development arm. So I am not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4."

There was a time when Battle Angel Alita appeared to be right around the corner, but now the prospects of seeing a Cameron-helmed adaptation of the saga of a female cyborg who is rescued from the scrap heap and becomes a world class bounty hunter appear to be very dim indeed.

"Tron: Uprising" Cartoon Debut Set

'Tron: Uprising' Cartoon Debut Set

Disney XD has announced plans for the launch of its new CGI cartoon series Tron: Uprising, which will debut on the cable channel on Thursday, June 7th at 9pm (Et, PT), its regular timeslot going forward. Prior to the launch, on Friday May 18th (at 9:30 pm) and again on Monday May 21st (at 7 pm) the Disney XD network will present Tron: Uprising, Beck’s Beginning, a 30 minute prelude to the Tron: Uprising series, the events of which take place between the original Disney Tron movie in 1982 and the recent feature film Tron: Legacy, which was released in 2010. Disney also released a new trailer for the show that is both visually stunning and highly intriguing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE7qsfQQGGs&feature=player_embedded

The Tron: Uprising cartoon features an all-star vocal cast that includes Elijah Wood, Bruce Boxleitner, Mandy Moore, Lance Henriksen, Reginald Vel Johnson, Paul Rubens (aka PeeWee Herman), and Tricia Helfer.


Disney XD is making the introductory Tron: Uprising, Beck’s Beginning episode available to view in a number of Internet venues starting on May 11th at Disney XD on Demand, which will be followed on May 12th by its release on the Disney XD Facebook page, and then starting on May 13th, it will be available as a free download from iTunes.