This crazy four-year old phase of comic-book-to-film translations (which officially started with the X-Men movie, and exploded with Spider-Man) continues unabated, with some lesser-known, non-superhero series now riding the green-light wave. And it's not just limited to movies, either... a couple TV shows are in the works as well. The ones that I'm really looking forward to, each in various stages of their development, are...
Sin City: Frank Miller's masterwork is on the way, co-directed by the man himself, and it looks damn promising. Check out the preview footage, which premiered at this year's Comic Con. I can only assume that the intermixed comic book panels are just there for show, and won't end up in the final film. I mean, I understand they're trying to get it as close to the comic as possible, but that'd be pushing it. And Clive Owen's playing Dwight?! Oh yes.
Global Frequency: Warren Ellis' excellent 12-issue series about a worldwide espionage collective ("There are a thousand and one people on the Global Frequency.") is still on the way to the small-screen. The pilot has been filmed, and some sources say that 13 episodes have been ordered for what is likely to be a mid-season replacement, airing in March. If they do this up right, there's limitless plotline potential. I cannot wait to see how, or if, they pull it off.
Hellboy 2: Yes, the Hellboy sequel is gonna happen. Creator Mike Mignola, in an interview on G4TechTV's The Screen Savers last week, confirmed it ...
Kevin Rose: Is there a second one in the works?
Mignola: A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Guillermo del Toro, the director, and we came up with an original story for the sequel, and we pitched it to the studio, and they were real happy, and we're real happy. He's off making another movie in Spain, he should be starting right about now on another picture. Hopefully when he comes back we'll be going into Hellboy 2.
KR: Can we get any hints on what that story might be about?
Mignola: The first movie was very much an adaptation of the first hellboy series called SoD... this one is completely original. The first movie focused on something that's, y'know, a big part of Hellboy: the mad scientist, and the Nazi's, the Lovecraft kind of big-tentacled monsters, but one of the things that's always been an important element in Hellboy is folklore and mythology, and the real old-world ghost story stuff, so we wanted to a picture that addressed that side of the Hellboy thing.
Sounds good to me. Nice to know that's in the works.
Fables: Could this story of fairy-tale characters exiled to New York City actually be making the journey from page to telly? I'm so excited about this rumor that series writer Bill Willingham started last week on his very own website...
"Well, without admitting to anything whatsoever, maybe you�d better switch from casting your fantasy Fables movie, to casting your fantasy Fables TV series. No, I won�t be taking any questions about this subject."
OooooOOooo... I can only hope that's even slightly true. If you haven't picked up Fables, do yourself a favor and grab the collection "Legends in Exile", which collects the first five issues. The next collection, volume 4, is out next month, with volume 5 out in March of next year. Being patient enough to not buy the monthly books has been quite a challenge.
Queen & Country: I've worked up a near-obsession with Greg Rucka's ongoing tale of Tara Chace and the other Minders, an elite group of British government operatives. I stopped buying the singles awhile back, and only recently picked up the three collections I'd missed, "Vol. 4: Operation: Blackwall", "Vol. 5: Operation: Stormfront", and "Vol. 6: Operation: Dandelion". I devoured them in record time... they're all so good, but Stormfront in particular really got to me... regardless of the format, just a brilliant work of spy fiction.
The latest movie news I've heard is that screenwriter John Rogers completed a couple drafts of a screenplay, which Rucka called "phenominal", and that it focuses on the first two storylines from the series. Can't wait to hear how it's coming along.
Any other comic-type adapatations you're excited about? (and you'd better not say Constantine.)
