Looking Ahead: ‘New Moon’ movie

Sarah Jaffe over at Newsarama has some thoughts about the future of the ‘Twilight’ saga in the cinema…

I’m a formerly-resistant Twilight convert who’s now seen the movie twice. I’m about halfway through the third book, and having just finished New Moon, I’ve got more thoughts on the film adaptation as it moves forward, with a new director and possible other changes.

The Twilight books are written in first person and read like a teenager’s gushing diary, with little description of action–or even of characters besides hair color, size, and beauty. This allows readers to project whatever they want to see onto them, but makes it hard to create characters for a performance.

But the books get better as they go along–fewer adverbs and gushing descriptions comparing Edward Cullen to male models, and more action. There are motorcycles, cliff diving, werewolves, more evil vampires, and a daring daylight rescue scene where Bella gets to do the rescuing, for once. So New Moon has the potential to be a better movie than Twilight.

(possible spoilers below. Just sayin’) Read more

Richard Garriott ‘Probably’ Returning to ‘Medieval Fantasy’ Genre

After his recent departure from Tabula Rasa publisher NCsoft, we wondered what Ultima creator Richard Garriott would do next. Now we have something of an answer.

"After 25 years at Origin, the last thing I wanted to make was yet another medieval fantasy game," Garriott said. "Now, after a very interesting break, I’m keen to get back into the fray and work on a new game. Probably medieval fantasy and probably online; there’s something very powerful about getting people together."

You may also recall an interview I conducted with Garriott last year in which he expressed an interest in returning to Ultima Online-style virtual world creation.

"I’ve got a really strong affinity for the type of game that is represented by Ultima Online," Garriott told me. "No one has gone back and followed up on that.  Most MMOs since then have become more combat-oriented, and less of a virtual world; a place where you live. There’s good odds you’ll see me encourage the team to go that route."

Source: GameLife

Iron Man: Aerial Assault Trailer for iPhone and iPod Touch

Marvel’s high-flying, armor-clad super hero has made his way to the iPhone—the hottest video game platform around—check out the awesome trailer and screenshots right here!

Then, be sure to Download “Iron Man: Aerial Assault” now [Note: You must have iTunes installed on your computer to download the game.] and experience the most action-packed iPhone game around!

Download “Iron Man: Aerial Assault” now

Keep your eyes glued to Marvel.com for more news, images and videos from “Iron Man: Aerial Assault.” Read more

Star Emma Watson ‘Intrigued’ Over ‘Deathly Hallows’ Split

It’s been hard to be a Harry Potter fan this year. Not only was the next installment, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” delayed until next summer, we were also shocked by the decision to split the final film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” into two movies. It feels like we might be waiting for the cinematic finale longer than we waited for the book!

The split didn’t just surprise fans – it was unexpected to the film’s cast as well. When MTV News spoke to Emma Watson, we asked her if she could update us on how the film will be divided.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I am as intrigued as you are. I am waiting at the moment to receive the script. It’s a tough call. I’m sure it will be some cruel cliffhanger.”

The delays of the next three films means that Watson will be saying a long goodbye to Hermione Granger, but she is emotional when it comes to leaving the character behind.

“It’s really mixed feelings,” Watson gushed. “It will be bittersweet. It will be very scary because it’s been such a massive part of my life. It will have been nearly over a decade that I’d been playing Hermione. It’ll be tough but I’ll be ready to go I think. I’ll be ready to take on other projects. It will be exciting.”

Readers, are you still in favor of the “Potter” split? Or would you prefer Hollywood gets through the books as fast as they can?

Source: mtv.com

FUNimation Entertainment to Distribute ‘Samurai Champloo’

The North American distributor FUNimation Entertainment has announced on Wednesday that it will distribute Shinichiro Watanabe and Manglobe’s Samurai Champloo television anime series for Geneon Entertainment. Watanabe directed Cowboy Bebop and two segments of The Animatrix before taking on this historical action series with tongue-in-cheek anachronisms. FUNimation will release the entire 26-episode anime series in a box set in 2009.

The story centers on Mugen, a wild, womanizing warrior in historical Japan. He encounters a disciplined, yet master-less, samurai named Jin when a ditzy waitress named Fuu saves both from execution after a swordfight. The reluctant traveling companions agree to help Fuu search for a mysterious samurai “who smells of sunflowers.” Their journey only gets stranger going forward — all to a hip-hop soundtrack and a storytelling style that considers no samurai drama cliché sacred.

Geneon Entertainment had released this anime series in North America in 2005 and 2006. Then, Geneon Entertainment ceased in-house distribution of its own titles in September 2007. FUNimation announced at Anime Expo 2008 this past July that it agreed to manufacture, sell, and distribute selected DVD titles from Geneon Entertainment in North America. However, FUNimation had not announced that it will distribute Samurai Champloo until now.

Top Grossing Films of 2008

Slice Of Scifi has a list of the top 10 grossing films this year….

As 2008 winds to a close, we look at the top grossing films of the year.  The figures listed are for the world-wide box-office results.

1.  Dark Knight $996.8 million
2.  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull  $786.6 million
3.  Kung-Fu Panda $631.9 million
4.  Hancock $624.4 million
5.  Iron Man $581.9 million
6.  Mamma Mia! $572.1 million
7.  Quantum of Solace $534.5 million
8.  Wall-E $507.3 million
9.  The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian $419.6 million
10. Sex and the City $415.1 million

Source: Slice0fScifi.com

Boom Studios’ Farscape #1 Sell Out

Official Press Release

After garnering near unanimous critical acclaim, BOOM! Studios announced today that FARSCAPE #1 is completely sold out.

Fans should keep in mind, while distributor Diamond Comics are completely sold out, Farscape #1 may still be found at direct market retailers across the country. BOOM! Studios is working closely with Diamond Comics Distributors and evaluating the demand for a second printing.

“We are tracking the unfilled re-orders carefully at the moment. But a second printing looks like it may just happen,” said Marketing and Sales Director Chip Mosher.

FARSCAPE #1 is written by television series creator Rockne O’Bannon with script by Keith R.A. DeCandido, interior art by Tommy Patterson and cover art by fan-favorites Dennis Calero and Joseph Corroney!

Picking up directly where the television miniseries FARSCAPE: THE PEACEKEEPER WARS left off, fans can look forward to show creator O’Bannon steering their favorite characters into new and original stories, keeping with the existing canon – and then extending it! Read more

Netflix Changes Its Shipping Policy

Netflix recently changed the DVD shipping process when your first choice movie is not available at the shipping center nearest you.

We have 55 shipping centers throughout the U.S., including Anchorage, Alaska and Honolulu, Hawaii. Previously, if the movie you wanted was not in stock locally, we sent it from another shipping center. Since this DVD was shipped from farther away, it took longer to arrive and you could end up without a DVD for a few days. This was especially inconvenient for our members on 1-disc plans.

Now, if your first choice is not available in your local shipping center, we immediately send the next locally available movie in your Queue, and whenever possible, we also send your first choice from another part of the country.

We want you to receive DVDs as quickly as possible, so we’re taking this extra step to ensure you have another movie to enjoy as a complimentary extra DVD rental if your first choice will be delayed.

This change took effect Dec 11, 2008 and applies to all Netflix members.

Source: Netflix.com

Marvel Digital Comics – Free Mondays (12/29/2008)

Welcome to FREE Mondays! Each week we focus on all of the newly digitized books you can read for FREE inside the greatest collection of Marvel comics available online: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited! Plus, we’ll let you know what’s coming up next week for FREE, too! With each book, not only are you getting a free peek inside Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, but each free Digital Comic either gives you a look at a book featured in a recent collection or a comic that’s in stores now.
Get ready to cozy up with your computer screen, ’cause more free digital comics are comin’ at ya!

BLACK PANTHER SAGA #1
DARK REIGN: NEW NATION (SECRET WARRIORS) #1
RUNAWAYS (2005) #25
SECRET WARS II #1
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #21
THOR (1966) #337
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL (2006) #18

Now that you’re up to date on what’s for FREE this week, here’s what’s coming for FREE next week.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #552
NEW AVENGERS #43
X-FACTOR (2005) #28
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #41
ANGEL: REVELATIONS #1

Source: Marvel.com

Will ‘Twilight’ Become A Comic Book?

At a recent “TwilightLive” event, MTV’s resident “Twilight” authority Larry Carroll was asked by a fan if there would be graphic novels based on the vampire love story anytime soon.

Given the fact that we’ve seen comics and graphic novels based on everything from Barack Obama to “The Ghost Whisperer,” it’s not only a valid question, but one that seems like the next obvious step in “Twilight” mania. After all, a marriage of Stephenie Meyer’s wildly popular series and comic books — arguably one of the hottest storytelling mediums going today — seems like a match made in vampire heaven, right? (Read some of our own ideas for a “Twilight” comic series in the Splash Page blog.)

Naturally, one would assume that comic book publishers would be lining up for the chance to give “Twilight” the four-color treatment, but surprisingly, when asked directly if they’d made any attempt to obtain the rights for a series of “Twilight” comics or graphic novels, nearly all the comic book publishers MTV News contacted gave the same response: “No comment.” Exactly why they chose to remain silent varied for each publisher, but if you’re looking for a similar situation in terms of popular books that never made it to the comic shops, look no further than “Harry Potter.”

“What I have heard — like ['Harry Potter' author] J.K. Rowling supposedly did — Stephenie Meyer had it in her deal that there wouldn’t be any comics, that that licensing wouldn’t be available,” speculated Dark Horse Comics senior managing editor Scott Allie, who works with writers such as My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon.

“I’ve heard of similar things, where basically an author or creator didn’t want to have comics because that extends the story in a way that’s out of their control,” Allie continued. “The film is going to adapt the ‘Twilight’ novels very faithfully. If you do comics, does that spin the story out in some new direction?” Read more

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