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03/17/16 @ 2:21 pm EST
Writers Ben Acker and Heath Corson talk about Kings Quest #1 (of 5), on sale in May from Dynamite. Cover is by Marc Laming.  BYRON BREWER: Ben and Heath, this is the BIG ONE fans of these characters have been waiting for! What’s it like to handle all these classic characters?HEATH CORSON: Oh, man, right?! All these characters with all of this history in one place can be slightly overwhelming…Which is why I very much recommend doing it in pairs. My PIK (that’s partner-in-King for those of you playing at home), Mister Ben Acker (he makes me call him Mister) is a fantastic writer, generous collaborator, versed in the world and always ALWAYS has three ways to solve any story problem (even the ones we didn’t know were problems yet… Like my use of parentheticals. I feel like it’s my way of whispering to you, the reader. He feels like it’s overdone. Since this is my third one in a single sentence, I might have to agree…THAT’S HOW GOOD HE IS. He even helps when he’s not here!). BEN ACKER: Hi. It’s me. I just got here. How’s it all going, you guys? You’ve met Heath. He’s great. Too many parentheticals sometimes. Otherwise, the best guy. I bet he was about to answer a question about handling classic characters. HC: For me, I love ensemble pieces. So getting to play with all these classic characters is an incredibly exciting honor. BA: I was totally right. He’s answering that question. Keep it up, Heath. HC: I love cracking the relationships and dynamics between each hero. Figuring out who gets along with who, who doesn’t and who just wants to punch the other in the face. BA: Oh man, I love that too, Heath. We probably get along great working on this book together. I mean, I know I dig it. The thing about Heath is, he’s a guy who, when you have three solutions to any problem, he’s just got one because it’s the right one and that’s all you need. Uses too many parentheticals sometimes, though (but who doesn’t?). BB: I know there has been some tweaking of the characters. Can you guys kind of re-introduce the cast please?HC: Okay. FLASH GORDON, the two-fisted space-adventurer. MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN, the rakish stage magician/actual magician. TWO PHANTOMS, LOTHAR, the imposing, experienced former sidekick who is keeping the mantle warm for JEN, former science reporter now unwilling heir of the Phantom name. PRINCE VALIANT, the fierce sword-swinging royal, out for blood and glory. JUNGLE JIM, the formerly-human, now-elemental force merged with nature. DR. HANS ZARKOV, the brilliant and drunk scientist. BA: And of course … DALE ARDEN, science journalist turned space adventurer. She’s so cool. BB: I HAVE to ask: Is Ming in this miniseries, and are there any more big-bads we should be on the lookout for (non-spoilery, of course).HC: You will see some real good, real merciless Ming and a couple of other big -bads too. BA: I want to tell you so many big-bad spoilers. BB: Now, Ben! … Any interesting new characters herein you can tell us about?HC: Ha. Nope. Spoilers. BA: Well. Kind of. Heath. Kind of. I mean. Darya is relatively new. She’s the warrior queen of the ocean planet Coralia. And we’ll have appearances by Kala and Klytus, who are old Flash Gordon characters, but new to this run of comics. BB: Why is Dan McDaid the right artist for this thrilling and highly anticipated property?HC: Um… Have you SEEN the man’s art? His thrilling, powerful, amazing art? Dan’s layouts really tell an already action-packed and dramatic story with even more action-packery and dramaticking. That’s a fact. BA: Yeah, for serious. He’s amazing. He’s making us better and Heath and I are really super great already. It’s a privilege to write for him. He’s just astoundingly terrific. Wait’ll you see.And you should also know that we’ve got another artist, Bob Q, doing flashback work for us and he is absolutely fantastic as well. He nails action and character through body language and expression in ways that writers dream of. Keep an eye on Bob Q — he’s going places. 12/24/24 @ 11:13 am EST
The final five episodes of “Cobra Kai” will debut on Netflix on Feb. 13. A brief trailer for Season 6 Part 3 teases four decades of history all leading to this moment as Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai must reckon with their pasts while facing an uncertain future both on and off the mat. The finale of “Cobra Kai” builds on four decades since the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament in the original “Karate Kid,” in which Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) faced off against Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and clenched a victory. (via Variety) Teaser: https://youtu.be/T0fjgHDBirw 12/24/24 @ 11:05 am EST
The first building block of the new on-screen DC Universe will get a second season. Max has renewed its adult animated series Creature Commandos for a second season. The pickup comes midway through the show’s seven-episode first season, which premiered Dec. 5. The series, created by DC Studios co-chairman James Gunn, is the first title to be released in the DC Universe continuity, which will continue when Superman hits movie theaters next summer. (HBO’s successful series The Penguin is under the “Elseworlds” designation at DC Studios for shows and films that aren’t part of the primary through-line). DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation produce the show, and Dean Lorey (Harley Quinn) is the showrunner. Creature Commandos follows a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. The season one voice cast includes Steve Agee, Maria Bakalova, Anya Chalotra, Zoe Chao, Frank Grillo, Sean Gunn, David Harbour, Alan Tudyk, Indira Varma and Viola Davis, who reprises her role as Amanda Waller from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. (via THR) 12/24/24 @ 10:59 am EST
The speculation over Christopher Nolan’s next movie has come to an end. Universal has revealed that Nolan will adapt The Odyssey, the epic poem from Homer that follows Odysseus’ journey home after the Trojan war. “Christopher Nolan’s next film ‘The Odyssey’ is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology,” said the studio. “The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026.” Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway and Charlize Theron star in the feature. (via THR) 12/23/24 @ 12:49 pm EST
Netflix has released a teaser for its limited series Zero Day, starring Robert De Niro in his first regular series role. The thriller features De Niro as George Mullen, a former president who, in the wake of a devastating cyber attack, is appointed by the current president (Angela Bassett) to lead a commission tasked with finding who’s behind the attack. She tells Mullen that Congress will give the commission powers of “surveillance [and] search and seizure.” “So they’re just gonna grab people off the streets without warrants,” he replies. “Actually, you are,” she replies. Later, the president says, “People believe what they need to believe. The truth is the truth, but it’s not always the most important thing” — hinting at the conspiracy-thriller elements of the show. Zero Day is set to premiere Feb. 20. (via THR) Teaser: https://youtu.be/quVC-LXcnZg 12/23/24 @ 12:39 pm EST
“Wicked” director Jon M. Chu has told CBS Mornings that none other than “Star Wars” director George Lucas cold called him to rave about the blockbuster movie musical. Since debuting in theaters just ahead of Thanksgiving, “Wicked” has earned $571 million and counting at the worldwide box office. Lucas is a big fan. “He was still at the mall where he’d just seen the movie. He couldn’t have been more kind,” Chu said. “He’s like, ‘I see all the elements in that movie. I know how hard it is to pull it all together.'” Chu added, “It’s so nice when you see leaders like that, creative leaders who actually reach out. I didn’t know that happened and are just so kind and say we’re doing this together.” (via Variety) 12/23/24 @ 12:26 pm EST
Sony Pictures is set to co-produce and co-finance the highly anticipated new animated film, Scarlet, from Academy Award-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai, Belle, Wolf Children) with Studio CHIZU and Nippon TV. Sony will distribute Scarlet globally (outside Japan) with the U.S. release earmarked for winter 2025. Toho will release in the home market. Producers are Yuichiro Saito (Studio CHIZU), Toshimi Tanio (Nippon TV), Nozomu Takahashi (Studio CHIZU). Scarlet is described as the story of a brave princess who transcends time and space. (via Deadline) 12/22/24 @ 5:14 pm EST
After becoming the first studio of 2024 to hit $2 billion at the domestic box office earlier this week, Disney has now claimed a new milestone. Based on today’s estimates, the Walt Disney Studios has crossed $5 billion globally. The total worldwide estimate is $5.06 billion. Of that, $2.054 billion comes from North America and $3.006 billion from the international box office. Per Disney, it will be the only studio to cross this threshold in 2024. It is also the first time that any studio has surpassed $5 billion worldwide since 2019. For those keeping score, this is the sixth time that Disney has grossed more than $5 billion globally since 2010. Tops for the House of Mouse this year is Pixar sequel Inside Out 2, currently at $1.699 billion global – the No. 1 movie of the year worldwide and the biggest animated film ever domestically, internationally and globally. It is followed by Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine with $1.388 billion worldwide which is also the No. 1 R-rated movie of all time globally. The more recent release of sequel Moana 2 is at an estimated $719 million through Sunday. (via Deadline) 12/22/24 @ 11:34 am EST
In the battle between a hedgehog, a lion and a hunter... the hedgehog came out on top, and the hunter never had a chance. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 opened with a resounding $62 million this weekend, beating out Mufasa and its $35 million opening. But the king of the jungle’s downfall might have been aided by some of its market share being taken by third place, Wicked, with $13.5 million and Moana 2 with $12.7 million. It’s not looking good for the two films that opened last weekend as both suffered a 72% drop in their second turn. Kraven the Hunter made $3.1 million and the animated Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim made $1.2 million. A sign of how bad they did is that sandwiched between them on the chart is Red One with $1.43 million, a film that has been out for six weeks, was considered a disappointment and is already streaming for free on Prime. The next few weeks should be interesting as there aren’t many wide releases coming up other than Nosferatu on Christmas day. This could give one of these existing films to find an audience well after their premiere.  12/22/24 @ 11:13 am EST
Marvel Studios has released a scene from the first episode of What If…?! season 3 which is being released today. In the scene, Sam Wilson ( Anthony Mackie) is visiting Bruce Banner ( Mark Ruffalo) on his island and is given a new protocol to use against “the Apex”, which is likely Kaijus that we’ve seen in the trailers and the protocol looks to be mech suits for the Avengers. The episode is called, What If… The Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers. It’s the first of eight episodes that will be released daily from now until December 29th, with the last episode being the finale for the season and the series. It is simply called What if? Other episodes will focus on Agatha Harkness going to Hollywood, Red Guardian and the Winter Soldier together, Howard the Duck and Darcy getting married, the destruction of the Earth from the emergence of Tiamut and an episode set in 1872.  12/22/24 @ 10:59 am EST
If it feels like The Batman 2 is taking a long time, that’s because it is. Matt Reeves is known for being a meticulous filmmaker and while he admits his pace is “slow”, but it’s the only way he knows how to do it. He likens his process to being in a dark room. “Everything you need is in the room, but there are no lights, and you’re on hands and knees. And when something connects you go, ‘Oh, that’s something.’” He has said that he thinks of the shooting period as a hunting-gathering period, and when you’re done, you rewrite again in the editing. So, what does that mean for The Batman sequel? He’s still finishing the script and plans on shooting next year. Which makes it seems like the October 2026 release date is still viable… but there are a couple factors to look at. First, the film is supposed to be set in winter, around Christmas, the time we’re in right now. With the script not done yet, if they want to film during the actual season then it will likely need to film at the end of 2025. And unlike with Marvel movies where they start visual effects before shooting because they plan their action sequences well in advance… Reeves shoots the film, edits the film and then does the effects which could put the release date in jeopardy. It’s been known to take him 2 years to make a film once the script is done… so when they start shooting will be very important to when we’ll get to see Robert Pattinson suit up again.  |
