FX Developing TV Series Based on Del Toro's 'The Strain'



The FX basic cable network is developing a new TV series based on Guillermo Del Toro’s The Strain. Del Toro published The Strain, the first in a trilogy of novels in 2009 followed by The Fall in 2010 with the saga concluding in The Night Eternal in 2011. Dark Horse Comics is currently in the process of adapting Del Toro’s narrative into a comic book series by writer David Lapham and artist Mike Huddleston, which has reached eight issues, and which would certainly stand to benefit if The Strain TV series gets the green light and is picked up by the network.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Strain creators Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan are close to a deal with Lost producer Carleton Cuse to develop The Strain as a TV series for FX.

In The Strain, Del Toro and Hogan came up with an interesting and very different way of looking at vampirism. The protagonist of the novels is a doctor who is investigating a vampire plague that is striking New York City. The books treat vampirism as a parasitic disease and strip out all the layers of romanticism that have gradually clogged the arteries of modern vampire sagas. Though it does have enough grisly elements to please modern horror movie fans, The Strain is as much a “medical thriller” as a traditional vampire story. It should be interesting to see this rather novel take on the vampire genre will make it on TV where more conventional approaches to vampirism (True Blood) have found success.

Marvel Grabs Hot Scribe for "Guardians"



Marvel Studios has tapped Chris McCoy to rewrite Nicole Perlman’s draft of the script for Guardians of the Galaxy, the only new property announced so far in Marvel Studio’s second wave of releases. Guardians, which is based on one of Marvel’s lesser known properties and was announced at Comic-Con, is slated to debut in theaters on August 1st 2014. Given that galactic settings of a Guardians epic could require lots of special effects, Marvel will have to get cracking on this project in order to make the 2014 debut.

McCoy is considered one of Hollywood’s up-and-coming writers, even though as The Hollywood Reporter notes, he is yet to receive a screenplay credit. But McCoy has place three so-far unproduced scripts on the Black List that catalogs the best of the Hollywood screenplays that have yet to find a home. According to THR, McCoy’s screenplays "have been praised for their quirky comedic bent," a quality that might be very useful in crafting a script based on Guardians of the Galaxy.

James Gunn has revealed on his Facebook page that he will both rewrite and direct Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. He’d been rumored to be in line to direct , but the rewrite is a new twist. The first script was written by Chris McCoy.

August 1, 2014 has been reserved as the release date.

Bandai Ending Sales of Manga and Anime

Bandai Entertainment announced today the discontinuation of Blu-ray, DVD, comic and novel sales. The final shipment of comic and novels to retailers will be made at the end of October 2012; home video products to their wholesale customers will be made on November 30, 2012.


About Bandai Entertainment, INC.

Bandai Entertainment, INC. is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA) Inc. and a premier distributor of Japanese animation in North America. Titles include K-ON!, Gundam 00, Code Geass: Lelouch of Rebellion, Lucky Star, Gurren Lagann,The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, My Otome.

If you need to obtain or finish your collection with any of these titles, You might want to get started.



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Michael Keaton in "Robocop"

Michael Keaton will play Raymond Sellars, the CEO of the corporation that builds Robocop, in the remake, according to Variety. The role had been thought to be Hugh Laurie’s, then Clive Owen, but it seems like Keaton is a done deal and the search is over. Joel Kinnaman is playing the title role; Jose Padilha is directing.

The film will open August 9, 2013.

Amazon Pulls "Avengers" Blu-Ray Set

Amazon has stopped taking pre-orders for The Avengers 10-disc Blu-ray set, presumably as a result of a lawsuit filed over the packaging. The limited edition set, Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One: Avengers Assembled was slated to include all five movies leading up to The Avengers, as well as 3D versions of The Avengers, Captain America, and Thor, plus a bonus disc of The Phase One Archives It was to be packaged in a replica of the briefcase used by Nick Fury in The Avengers, a Rimowa case with a design so distinctive it’s been granted trademark protection.

The lawsuit, filed August 1st in federal court against Marvel Entertainment and Disney home video division Buena Vista Home Entertainment, alleges trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition. The trademark claims were made as a result of the parallel, evenly-spaced horizontal bands that run across and around each of the cases, a trademark of Rimowa. The use of the mark was unlicensed, according to the complaint.

ABC Orders Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. Pilot

ABC has ordered a pilot episode for S.H.I.E.L.D., a live-action series from Joss Whedon, Marvel TV, and ABC Studios. Whedon will co-write the show along with his frequent collaborators, Maurissa Tancharoen and her husband, Whedon’s brother, Jed. The trio collaborated on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and Tancharoen and Jed also worked on The Avengers with Joss. No word yet on any potential casting moves for the series--is it too much to ask for Samuel L. Jackson?

Just a couple of weeks ago Joss Whedon signed an exclusive contract with Marvel Studios for both movies and television that runs through 2015, and even before the announcement of the S.H.I.E.L.D. project, Whedon’s influence at Marvel was already apparent in the studio’s interest in having Whedon’s friend (and off-beat genre director) James Gunn direct the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

According to Deadline, "Joss Whedon is also set to direct the pilot, schedule permitting." This announcement marks a return to TV for Whedon who created the cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Dollhouse series.

Marvel has had several live-action TV projects, including a Hulk series and Jessica Jones, in development longer than S.H.I.E.L.D., but this is the first Marvel live-action prime time series to get the green light since the company’s acquisition by Disney.



Of course the network still has to like the pilot in order to get the show on the air, but there is no doubt that a successful Marvel-based series on ABC would provide yet another boost for the comics market.

Match.com Shows Supes & Wonder Woman's 1st Kiss

DC Comics acknowledged the power and popularity of online dating sites by releasing the Jim Lee image of Superman and Wonder Woman’s first kiss to the popular Match.com site. Match.com also collaborated with DC on dating profiles for the two superheroes, who are set to start dating in Justice League #12. The profiles have a bit of humor that comic fans will enjoy such as Wonder Woman explaining the origin of her invisible plane or Superman referring to his Fortress of Solitude as “a pretty sweet man cave.”

But Match.com goes farther than the profiles when it had its "scientific" advisor Dr. Helen Fisher, who sees the hormones of each of the superheroes as key determining factors in how they act. With Supes it’s "an acute sense of justice and fairness are traits linked with the testosterone system in the brain. So Superman’s affiliation with the "Justice League" is an immediate tipoff to his personality type: a high testosterone male. Most important, this "Man of Steel" saves people he doesn’t know. Known as 'heroic altruism,' this willingness to confront severe danger to save a stranger is linked with elevated levels of testosterone." While Wonder Woman, "exudes qualities built by estrogen. This type is compassionate and nurturing; they seek peace and harmony, as Wonder Woman does. Estrogen is linked with verbal skills, with intuition, and with the ability to read faces, postures, gestures and tone of voice."

But can these two iconic superheroes find happiness locked in an embrace that would surely crush most mortals? Dr. Fisher, who may not be totally conversant with the conflicting demands of long term serial drama, thinks so: "Superman and Wonder Woman are a classic match, as a very high testosterone male and a very high estrogen female. They also have many cultural and biological traits that will fuel their romance. People also tend to fall in love with those of the same background. Although Superman comes from a different planet, while Wonder Woman harks from an isolated island, both are aliens to our modern world. More important, Superman and Wonder Woman share the same values and goals: They are both dedicated to truth and justice and both fight evil to save the good—traits shared by both the high testosterone and high estrogen type. Lastly, both value independence."