Comic Book Movies... Where do we stand?

[Bruce Wayne]

Alright, well it seems 2003 is the year of the superheroes, and not the ram that the Chinese Zodiac claims it is . It seems there are soo many comic book movies coming out. Rumors are being spread on various movies... it's hard to keep track of them all. So where do we stand??

The upcoming features:

Daredevil--In just 1 week from today!
X-Men-- Comes out in May
The Hulk-- Comes out in June

So far those are the definite ones. I know WB is toying with a Superman movie with director Brett Ratner. But it seems thats it.

Are there any other movies that are being made? It's soo damn confusing.

Feel free to talk about any of the hype surrounding these movies too.

[mbaker]

I would assume that this is the year of Marvel movies if all goes well. None of the other publishers have anything planed at the moment. Warner Bros. has that "Mystery Of Batwoman" DVD planned for later this year, but that's about it.

[Bruce Wayne]

But has the Superman Movie that Ratner is rumored to be directing confirmed? I haven't really followed it.

[EinBebop]

I read in Dark Horizons recently that they've switched back from Batman Year One to the Scarecrow movie again.

[The Guard]

BATMAN: THE FRIGHTENING

Rumored to be a BATMAN 5, this one features The Scarecrow and a darker Batman. Chris Nolan is rumored to be attached to direct.

BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN

Wolfgang Peterson was making this one before he jumped ship to TROY. WB still plans to make this movie at some point, probably when the Batman and Superman franchises reboot.

BATMAN: YEAR ONE

Darren Aronofsky and Frank Miller were attached to this for almost 2 years, and nothing's happened. There were supposedly drafts of the script, but I doubt this will happen. Rumors are that WB was unhappy with the script, and that one or both of these creators is off the project.

BLADE III

Shooting will begin in time for a 2005 release. Blade will take on vampires in a world where Vampires took over. Will feature several of the Nightstalkers, possibly Lestat and even the biggest, baddest vampire of them all. No director attached yet, although there are rumors that David Goyer will direct it.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

This will eventually happen, but there's not much going on. Matt Damon and Brad Pitt have been mentioned as possible leads. ARTISIAN owns the rights to this franchise, but THE PUNISHER comes first.

CATWOMAN

This is supposed to start shooting for a 2004 release. Ashley Judd was attached for a long time. Then Halle Berry was rumored. Now, the movie seems to hinge on Nicole Kidman's opinion of the next draft of the script. Owen Wilson was attached for a long time, but that no longer appears to be the case.

CONSTANTINE

AKA "Hellblazer". Keanu Reeves and James Marsden have been attached to this flick, which at one time had Nicolas Cage in the lead role.

DAREDEVIL 2

If DAREDEVIL is the hit that many people think it will be, this sequel has been rumored to be the Guardian Devil storyline, or feature the character Mr. Fear.

DR. STRANGE

ARTISIAN just bought the rights to this magical/fantasy character, and plans to do something with it eventually.

GHOST RIDER

There have been about three versions of this project. Nicolas Cage is supposed to play Johnny Blaze, but David Goyer's script was rejected for being too dark (the studio wants a PG-13 rating), and he bailed on the project. So it's in Development Hell.

IRON FIST

Ray Park was the driving force behind this movie. It never really seems to have gotten off the ground.

SUPERMAN

Brett Ratner is directing. Anthony Hopkins is starring as Jor-El, and Val Kilmer has apparently been cast as Superman's nemesis Ty-Zor. Names thrown around to star as the Man Of Steel have included Josh Hartnett, Jude Law, Ashton Kutcher, Victor Webber and Ryan Kwanten. Jason Issacs has been mentioned as Lex Luthor, but no one really knows what's going on here. There were rumors of production trouble, but Ratner and WB claim that SUPERMAN is on schedule.

POWERS

There hasn't been any movement on this project for a long time. It's probably dead.

RISING STARS

There hasn't been any movement on this project for a long time. It's probably dead. JMS wrote a script, and there was talk of a trilogy, but it might not happen now.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Problems with design, and no real casting as of yet. The villains are thought to be Dr. Octopus and The Lizard, and rumors are flying about the appearance of Felicia Hardy, AKA The Black Cat.

THE FANTASTIC FOUR

This project has had a troubled past. Chris Columbus, Sam Hamm, and Peyton Reed have all been attached to it. Raja Gosnell had the choice to make this movie with a budget twice as big as X-MEN's, or SCOOBY-DOO. Guess which one he chose? It will happen, but no one knows when. There's concept art floating around the internet.

THE SUB-MARINER

Avi Arad has started talking about this one being set up at UNIVERSAL. It's probably Marvel's next superhero project.

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN

This is supposed to be out at the end of 2003, but problems on set (weather, getting along) make a 2004 release more likely.

THE PUNISHER

This begins shooting in March. It has been cast, but no one knows much about who the characters are, or who's been cast. It's rumored that Thomas Jane was offered the lead role. Written and directed, by Jonathan Hensleigh, ARTISIAN is spending only 30 million to make this movie, but wants a trilogy featuring "the biggest, most bad-ass anti-hero ever".

THE WONDER TWINS

This just got a writer. It's probably going to end up a SCOOBY-DOO kind of thing with Freddie Prinze and Rachel Leigh Cook as Zan and Jayna. Assuming it ever happens.

WATCHMEN

There's been some movement on this. Not much. David Hayter (X-MEN, THE HULK, X2) turned in his final draft to UNIVERSAL some time ago.

WONDER WOMAN

Joel Silver is producing. There are horrible script rumors about a Matrix-like re-imagining of the character, but I don't buy it. I think this project will wait until Batman and Superman are re-established. Over the last five years, there have been a lot of actressess associated with the part: Sandra Bullock, Carrie-Anne Moss, even former Playmate Victoria Silvsted.

[Marc]

What's the status on Preacher? All plans scrapped?

- Cap

[The Guard]

PREACHER has James Marsden attached to it. But nothing much has happened.

[mbaker]

Originally posted by The Guard
PREACHER has James Marsden attached to it. But nothing much has happened.

Cyclops, right?

[Storm]

Originally posted by mbaker
Cyclops, right?

Yeppers

[Bruce Wayne]

*sits down and takes a breather* Wow... thats a big list. Im actually glad these comics are being movies. A whole new DVD Genre to collect!

[Storm]

The movie adaption of Fathom will be in production real soon. James Cameron (Dark Angel), Michael Turner (Fathom creator) and Marc Silvestri (Witchblade) are some of the producers that are working on the project. Fathom is film for Lightstorm Productions and 20th Century Fox. Fathom was scripted to be an animated movie but soon opinions chnaged and now it's going to be live-action. Actresses like Neve Cambell and Jessica Alba has been linked to the role but those are all rumors. Fathom will probably be released around 2004 or early 2005.

[Cogliostro]

As some may know the movie rights to 30 Days of Night was bought for a cool million and Sam Raimi (Spiderman director) has offered to be director and Steve Niles is currently working with him on the draft for the movie. If everything pulls together and the movie comes out everyone will be hearing the name 30 Days of Night and it will be a huge hit and you can quote me on that...

[Shawn Hopkins]

Originally posted by The Guard
CONSTANTINE

AKA "Hellblazer". Keanu Reeves and James Marsden have been attached to this flick, which at one time had Nicolas Cage in the lead role.
[/B]

At first I thought you mean't James Marsters, who plays Spike on Buffy. I think he could play Constantine much better than Marsden, anyway, who didn't impress as Cyclops and doesn't even look like Constantine. As long as they can't get Sting to do it, I'd support Marsters.

[wolverine0815]

What ever happened to the redo of Fantastic Four movie? The unreleased movie that you can get at convention shows was awful.

[Buddy Lee]

do you think Ratner and his crew will ever get Superman off the ground? Sorry about the pun...couldn't resist.

[Zero Signal]

I read somewhere (Dark Horizons?) a while back that Busta Rhymes was offered the part of Deathlok in The Punisher. My question is what would he be doing in a Punisher movie? I can only remember 2 times they crossed in the comics, and niether time was very memorable. hopefully all will turn out well, because The Punisher is my favorite comic and the only one I still collect seriously to this day.

[mbaker]

Originally posted by Zero Signal
I read somewhere (Dark Horizons?) a while back that Busta Rhymes was offered the part of Deathlok in The Punisher. My question is what would he be doing in a Punisher movie? I can only remember 2 times they crossed in the comics, and niether time was very memorable. hopefully all will turn out well, because The Punisher is my favorite comic and the only one I still collect seriously to this day.

I hope he dosen't get the part of Deathlock. I don't care that much for him anyway.

[The Guard]

Busta Rhymes was offered A part in THE PUNISHER. I don't think it was Deathlok. If he's just a gangster or a hitman or something, it wouldn't bother me.

[JohnStewart-GL]

Heres a bit of news from superherohype about the status of Fantastic Four and the punisher. straight from Avi Arad.

"We hope to start production in May on 'The Punisher' and will soon follow on the 'Fantastic Four' movie [featuring the villainous Dr. Doom]," Arad said.

thats just a snibit of an article posted at the hype news page. Im glad that these to movies are headed into development. I can't wait for a good Fantastic Four movie. as for Superman the Hype has reported that Victor Webster of "Mutant X " has tested for the role of Superman.