Here's a sampling of some of the movies in various stages of development right now that are of special interest to comic fans. Just seeing the sheer number speaks volumes of how staggeringly popular the genre is right now (for however long it'll last). It used to be that having two comic-based movies coming out in the same year was cause for major celebration.
Here are the ones I can think of, in descending order of excitement on my part:
Spider-Man 3 - set to come out next Spring; trailers look fabulous; S-M 2 was possibly the best comic-based movie of all time
Batman: The Dark Knight - due in July, 2008; sequel to Batman Begins which was one of the greatest comic-based movies ever; I love just about everything I've heard so far about this one, including that the Joker (Heath Ledger) will be toned down from the scenery-chewing Nicholson treatment
Sin City 2 - not sure when this'll come out as they haven't even started shooting it yet, I don't believe; but the first one was awesome and the most literal adaptation of a comic series imaginable
Wonder Woman - probably 2009, since almost nothing's happened on it yet; but Joss Whedon has a substantial balance in my First National Credibility Bank right now, thanks to Firefly and Serenity, among others, so I'm already jazzed about seeing some Amazonian ass-kicking
Stardust - sometime early 2007; Neil Gaiman can usually do no wrong as far as I'm concerned, and he's enthusiastic about how this adaptation's shaping up, meaning that I'm so there!
Watchmen - no date (barely a script); look, I really want this to be a great movie when it happens, but I'll probably pay money to go see it even if I hear that it's the 21st century's Plan 9 From Outer Space
Superman: The Man of Steel - 2009, I think; there were so many things wrong with Bryan Singer's first foray into Metropolis, but I know he actually loves the material, so maybe he'll get it right the second time; or not
300 - sometime next year; the graphic novel by Frank Miller was thoroughly entertaining, but the film could easily end up being a poor man's Gladiator (and I didn't even like Gladiator that much)
Iron Man - coming in 2008, I suspect; Robert Downey, Jr was inspired casting as Tony Stark, and I'll give Jon Favreau as director the benefit of the doubt, but how in the Hell are they ever going to make the armour look real?
Aliens Vs Predator 2 - probably late 2007, but I'm guessing; not a comic-based movie, you claim? Hah! The first time Aliens and Predators were brought together was in Dark Horse Comics' AvP series, even before the excellent First Person Shooter games of the same name; I actually quite liked the first film, so I'll stick my neck out and say I'm cautiously optimistic about the sequel
Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer - probably due next year, based on the fact that it's filming now; didn't think much of the first film, but if they do in fact end up adapting the Galactus saga from FF #s 48 - 50 this could be worthwhile
Ghost Rider - sometime soon; Nicholas Cage as Johnny Blaze just seems like an accident waiting to happen, but on the other hand, Cage is a major comic fan so maybe he'll be inspired to make it great (he's certainly capable of great acting, when he's not hamming it up)
Hulk 2 - still a ways away; I really, really didn't like the first film, so the fact that they're talking about 'starting over' with this one should encourage me, but I'll go with "once bitten, twice shy" in this particular case
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment