Aquaman Gets Animated

It appears that Aquaman will soon be making some waves in world of DVD, starting in the upcoming “Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths” DTV — with that movie’s co-director Lauren Montgomery recently letting slip that not only was The King Of The Seven Seas her favorite superhero, but he would also make a cameo appearance in the film.

It is also no big secret that “Crisis” will include the CW’s unaired pilot to the “Aquaman” series (called “Mercy Reef”). This move marks the first time that a live action “bonus episode” has been included as part of any DC UNIVERSE releases’ special features. It’s a great way to introduce the character to a wider audience – - and whet their appetite for more. But what else does Warner Bros. Animation have planned for Aquaman?

Aquaman also is scheduled to head to DVD with some help from Adam Green, the writer/director behind the horror film “Hatchet” and the chilling survival thriller “Frozen.” Green previously spoke to fearnet.com about his “Aquaman” project:

“I went in on a general meeting with the D.C. guys and they mentioned how they are going to be making a new slate of animated movies about their characters, And I mentioned this storyline that I had for a cool Aquaman movie that was really scary and dark. And then they asked me to come back and tell them the full story. So I did. And they literally bought it in the room — and since summer, I have been working on writing this animated Aquaman movie — tentatively called AQUAMAN: HERO OF ATLANTIS.”

He went on to add, “The film actually pits Aquaman and Ocean Master TOGETHER fighting against THE KORDAX (a giant Kraken-like / Cloverfield-like monster). It’s PG-13 so they are letting me get away with a lot more than what you would normally get in a Justice League animated feature.”

This sounds like it’ll be a huge departure from the Aquaman that occasionally teams up with Batman on the kid friendly TV show “The Brave & The Bold.”

NOTE: I'd like to extend a special thanks to Sean Gerski of itsjustmovies.com for his editorial help with this article.

A Solomon Grundy Movie?…It Almost Happened

Yes, a Solomon Grundy movie was in the works a couple of years ago, but it had no association with DC Comics’ super villain zombie character, whom I personally would love to see have a cameo in the Green Arrow: Escape From Supermax (if said project ever sees the light of day).

This Solomon Grundy was to be based on the old nursery rhyme poem, from which The Marshfield Monster is named after:

Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday, Grew worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday, Buried on Sunday.
That was the end of Solomon Grundy.

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle was to have helmed the film, which was shelved due to having too many similarities to another Oscar winning film, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

 “It’s sort of a crossover with ‘Benjamin Button’ only they’ve done it backwards, so it really fell apart because of the competition from that one,” Boyle told MTV in an interview last year. “It is a wonderful idea, and it’s got really potential still. Maybe. No one knows what ‘Benjamin Button’ is going to be like, so maybe it won’t be similar to t hat at all. Maybe it will feel really different to that, so [that ‘Solomon’] might come alive again.”

What would’ve made ‘Grundy’ differ from ‘Benjamin Button’? The casting of the lead, or should I say the multiple casting of the titular character, a move much like the Bob Dylan centered film I’m Not There.

 “’Solomon Grundy’ is a story about a guy who ages seven days. He lives his whole life in seven days. He’s born on a Monday, christened on a Tuesday, grew up on Wednesday, marries on Thursday, took on Friday, and it was like that,” Boyle explained. “And we were going to cast seven different actors to play the part because he starts at zero and ends up at eighty-five.”

Sounds like an interesting concept, so who knows, this may not be the end of Solomon Grundy.

Crisis On Two Earths Images and Synopsis

 

Earlier this year we reported about Crisis On Two Earths being the next entry in the DC Universe Original Movie line, which had both TMT readers and staff members speculating on which of the numerous ‘Crisis’ storylines would be adapted for the DVD release.

Now, with this recent press release, we have some of our answers. Apparently the plot heavily borrows from Grant Morrison’s JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel, as we will get to see our heroes face off against an animated version of The Crime Syndicate (Sorry, The Justice Lords don’t count). Also along for the ride is a ’good’ Lex Luthor, who is no doubt a take on Crisis On Infinite Earth’s Alexander Luthor.

The video, to be released in Spring 2010, features an original story from award-winning animation/comics writer Dwayne McDuffie (Justice League) rooted in DC Comics’ popular canon of “Crisis” stories.

Bruce Timm (Superman Doomsday, Green Lantern) is executive producer. Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern) and Sam Liu (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies) are co-directors.

In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, a “good” Lex Luthor arrives from an alternate universe to recruit the Justice League to help save his Earth from the Crime Syndicate, a gang of villainous characters with virtually identical super powers to the Justice League. What ensues is the ultimate battle of good versus evil in a war that threatens both planets and, through a diabolical plan launched by Owlman, puts the balance  of all existence in peril.

 

 The all-star voice cast is led by Mark Harmon as Superman, James Woods as Owlman, Chris Noth as Lex Luthor, William Baldwin as Batman, Gina Torres as Super Woman, and Bruce Davidson as The President.

Hey Jive Turkeys, Check Out The Trailer To Black Dynamite!

Sharing the same sensibilities of The Zucker Brothers’ classics Airplane! and Top Secret!,the 1970s set blaxploitation parody tells the story one bad mother f*cker named Black Dynamite.

The mob known as ‘The Man’ killed his brother, pumped heroin into local orphanages, and flooded the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor. Black Dynamite is the one hero willing to fight The Man all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House.

Black Dynamiteis directed by Scott Sanders who co-wrote with Byron Minns and Michael Jai White (1997’s Spawn), who stars in the titular role. This SuperFly/Shaftspoof looks hilarious. Check out RED BAND TRAILER below:

Power Ranger Joins UFC

We’ve heard of MMA fighters stepping out of the cage and in front of the cameras before with The Expendables’ Randy Couture, and most recently Quinton 'Rampage' Johnson joining The A-Team, but it’s almost unheard of for an actor to compete in the UFC. Especially if that actor was a Power Ranger.

Actor/martial artist Jason Frank, who is better known as Tommy (The Green Ranger) in the 90’s kid show phenomena Mighty Morhin’ Power Rangers has signed on with Suckerpunch Entertainment and is currently training with UFC light heavyweight Melvin Guillard.

The 35 year old Frank, who has 23 years of martial arts experience under his belt, was originally suppose to make his fighting debut in 2007 but opted to get more Greco roman wrestling training.

“I have my blue belt in BJJ from Gracie Baja now, but we needed to have that ground game integrated into Tose Kune Do. There was a blank there. So we added wrestling, BJJ, etc. to it. Melvin Guillard has really helped add the wrestling. I needed to get with someone who could put it all together for me.”

He went on to reveal his reasons for getting into the MMA circuit.

“I really wanted to have your guys support as far as my fights coming up … But that was the plan, to get back into the light that way, instead of being an actor. Now when you get back into that light acting starts happening again. You get back into that light, ‘Oh, we saw Jason on TV. Oh, we’re going to get him for a movie.’ ‘Cause all these UFC guys are doing movies now… and they’re horrible movies. They don’t know how to act.” Those sound like fighting words to me.

“I’m not looking for any titles specifically. Ultimately, I want to give my fans something to watch and be proud of. Please support my fights, and I hope I put on a good show. It won’t be any putties or monsters at the end of my fists and feet. It’s going to be for real this time.”

Aside from his fighting and acting endeavors Jason Frank is the founder of the “Jesus Didn’t Tap” clothing line, founder of Toso Kune Do Karate, a member of the World Karate Union Hall of Fame, and owner of the Rising Sun Karate Academies.

He has nothing to prove to anyone.

Star Trek DVD Presentation

  J.J. Abrams’ blockbuster re-imagining of Star Trek (followed by The Hangover) was the most enjoyable movie that I’ve seen so far this year.

This new Trek was a reboot that made good on it's promise to not just make something old new again, but also cool. - - Sorry, Wolverine, Terminator, G.I. Joe, and Transformers.

The DVD beams down to stores on November 17^th, and it’ll be loaded with special features that are set to stun, including a holographic tour of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Until then, us Trekkies, or Trekkers, if you prefer, can check out this promotional video:

Teen Wolf Series Headed To Mtv

Mtv, the network that actually used to air music videos, has commissioned a pilot episode for a series based on the Michael J. Fox 80's film Teen Wolf.

However it sounds as though the series will have more in common with Buffy, The Vampire Slayer than it's source material. The MTV version will be set in high school, draw from the horror genre to explore werewolf mythology and include a romantic plot line, according to The Trades.

"It has a fresh take and is very different from the original," said Liz Gateley, senior vp MTV series development. "It has more of an 'American Werewolf in London' feel to it. It's a dramatic thriller with two best friends in the center who provide a great comedy element: They are two very relatable characters on the outer circles of popular cliques."

Okay, comparing this proposed series to 'An American Werewolf In London' is a bold (and most likely inaccurate) statement, but the premise does sound better than the remake rumors that I heard about a few years back. Those rumors included a female Teen Wolf with Smallville's Tom Welling as the love interest.

The new 'Teen Wolf' pilot was written by 'Criminal Minds' creator Jeff Davis, who will executive produces with Marty Adelstein (Fox's 'Prison Break') and Rene Echevarria (ABC's 'Castle').

Swamp Thing In 3D?

 It seems as though every other film released lately has been presented in glorious 3D- and frankly, it’s a trend that I’m not particularly fond of.

I find the whole concept gimmicky and the 3D glasses are a pain in the ass to wear if you already wear spectacles, like Yours Truly.

But Uber-Producer Joel Silver believes that making a Swamp Thing movie in 3D is a great idea. As he revealed at a recent press conference:

 “I’m developing a picture now that I’d like to do…I’ll hopefully do Swamp Thing, which is a movie we’ve had for a long time*. We think that would be great to do in 3D. There are a couple of projects I’m thinking about (for the format) but not everything.”

When pressed further on the matter by collider , he would only add “Maybe going to do it. I like it.”

* In late 2003, Swamp Thing's co-creator Len Wein handed in a screenplay that he stated was a ‘true horror’. At that time the plan was to have the Swamp Thing creature be completely CGI.

*In February 2006, Wein was replaced by the screenwriters of Constantine. Their script, which had the working title of ’The Green’ was based on Alan Moore's run of the Swamp Thing comic book.

Swamp Thing’s 1982 big screen debut was a quiet cult film helmed by Wes Craven, where as 1989’s The Return of Swamp Thing was a just a goofy over the top mess. However, Swamp Thing did get to redeem himself in his own weekly series on the USA Network from 1990-93.

Let's hope that this new film will give us a crisp, fresh take on the character that won’t wilt before our very eyes in glorious 3D.

Clark Joins 'Chuck'

Actor Brandon Routh is perhaps best known as Superman to most of us here, but starting this season fans of NBC's Chuck will get introduced to Brandon Routh, the spy.

Routh has signed a multiple episode contract to portray the part of Shaw, the mysterious new spy who takes control as the new leader of Operation Bartwoski.

Upon entering the scene, Shaw quickly becomes both a mentor to Chuck (Zachary Levi) and a rival for Sarah's (Yvonne Strahovski) heart. The Shaw story arc starts on the fourth episode of Chuck's upcoming season, which starts in March, 2010.

Brandon Routh has always come across as a genuinely nice guy who has handled himself well through the set backs that he's had to endure and it's good to see his career continue to blossom with Dead Of Night and Chuck.

I, for one, hope Warner Bros. consider bringing him back for the next Superman film.

Trailer Trifecta! - August 22, 2009

 This month's edition of 'Trailer Trifecta!' brings us a triple threat of quirkiness in the form of the latest comedic offerings from The Coen Brothers, Napoleon Dynamite’s Director Jared Hess, and the ever so zany Hugh Grant……That’s right, I said it!

First up:

‘A Serious Man’

Release Date: October 2^nd, 2009

Written & Directed by: Ethan & Joel Coen.

Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Adam Arkin, Sari Lennick, and Simon Helberg

Plot: A black comedy set in 1967 and centered  on Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern professor who watches his life unravel when his wife prepares to leave him because his inept brother won't move out of the house. (Comedy. Rated R)

‘Gentlemen Broncos’

Release Date: Expected for October, 2009

Written by: Jared & Jerusha Hess

Directed by: Jared Hess

Starring: Michael Angarano, Jermaine Clement, Jennifer Coolidge, and Sam Rockwell

Plot: A teenager attends a fantasy writers' convention where he discovers his idea has been stolen by a legendary fantasy novelist. (Comedy. Rated PG-13)

‘Did You Hear About The Morgans?’

Release Date: December 11th, 2009

Written & Directed by: Marc Lawrence

Starring: Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mary Steenburgen, and Sam Elliott

Plot: In New York City, an estranged couple who witness a murder are relocated to small-town Wyoming as part of a witness-protection program. (Romantic-Comedy. Not Yet Rated)