Amalgamated Zen

Wanna Write for Marvel?

Following the incredible success of Iron Man which earned over $500 million worldwide, Marvel Entertainment is taking a page out of the Disney play book and assembling a team of new writers to develop scripts for their vast stable of characters.
Emphasis will be placed on the second and third tier Heros such as such as Black Panther, Cable, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Nighthawk and  the Vision, with the hope of catching Iron Man type lightning in a bottle.
Marvel will be bringing in up to five writers each year to work on specific projects under a fellowship program similar to the one Disney has been running since 1990. They will be paid an annual salary that is estimated to be twice the $50K Disney is paying with Marvel owning the rights to what they've written over the course of the year.
Time to start firing up the spec scripts.

Sean Penn a Stooge?

Sean Penn will be following up his Oscar winning turn as Harvey Milk with a role that can be literally considered a slap in the face. Variety magazine reports that Penn has reportedly signed on to portray Larry in the Farrelly Brothers new Three Stooges flick which is to begin production in the fall for release in 2010.
In addition to Penn, the Farrelly's are in negotiations with Jim Carrey to portray Curly and are attempting to snag Benicio Del Toro for Moe. Carrey is apparently planning to gain 40 pounds for the role instead of going with a fat suit, but no mention has been made as to weather he'll be shaving his head.
The film is supposed to be an actual Three Stooges movie and not a behind the scenes biopic about the lives of the legendary funny men.

Box Office Hits & Misses

The fans have spoken and the box office tells their story! Nic Cage's new movie Knowing sits at the top of the box office bringing in $24.6 million in the opening weekend. The anticipated film, directed by Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City) is all ready half-way to budget and still has plenty of time in theaters. Following another dismal weekend for a movie that was so highly anticipated, it seems that word-of-mouth has failed The Watchmen. The movie brought in a mere $6.8 million this weekend bringing it's gross box office to $98.1 million... still significantly short of the $130 million it cost to make. Meanwhile in comparison, the movie Taken which cost 30 million Euros ($40.6 million) has grossed $133 million in seven weeks out and Tim Burton's Coraline has grossed $73 million in six weeks for a movie that cost $35 million to make.

Watchmen sinking fast?

After having a ground-breaking opening weekend with $55.2 million, Watchmen struggled throughout the week and into the weekend and has only raked in another $31 million with $18 million coming in over the weekend. And while it still sits in a comfortable second at the current box office, if the movie continues to drop off at this rate, trying to break even at $130 million will be more of a challenge than producers would have hoped. The highly anticipated movie opened with a bang, but word of mouth seems to have failed this movie. From my experience, the movie was good, but not great and if it passes budget, it won't be by much. The movie started slow and when it picked up, only hit a few points I felt should have had more focus. It was a good attempt, but for me it falls short.

The End of Watchmen?

In a battle that has been ongoing for the last half of the year, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. have agreed to let Judge Gary Feess decide the future of the Watchmen movie, which Warner Bros is supposed to release in March. Watchmen, a graphic novel written by Alan Moore, was originally acquired in 1986 by Larry Gordon and Joel Silver, a producer for 20th Century Fox. However, by 1991, the project was moved to Warner Bros. and eventually the current movie adpation fell into the lap of Zack Snyder (of '300' fame). However, Fox has claimed that it never gave up complete control of the movie to Gordon or to anyone else there after, and is suing Warner Bros for copyright infringement and Judge Feess has agreed with Fox. Warner Bros. maintains that Fox is carried away with all of the legal issues and that the judge will eventually rule in favor of Warner Bros. in order for them to make the scheduled release date.

Now That's The Spirit!

Reinventing The Crow.... Why?

"Director" (and I use that term loosely) Stephen Norrington wants to reinvent The Crow. No, not add on another straight to DVD sequel; he wants to redo the original from 1994. Stephen Norrington... the guy who can say he effectively ended Sean Connery's acting career (post Entrapment). Sure Norrington did a decent job with Blade, but then he did "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". I don't think I need to say anymore. Yet for some reason, he has the brilliant notion he can remake the original movie, better than Alex Proyas did. The Crow, for lack of better term, was perfect. (I say that because the loss of Brandon Lee took it's toll). In fact, it was just about everything writer James O'Barr was looking for (It wasn't until the death of Brandon, that O'Barr had issues with his story). If Norrington really wants to remake something, he should look in other areas. A remake of "The Phantom" is in the works, so why doesn't Norrington remake "The Shadow" or "Spawn". Norrington is currently in talks with Edward Pressman (who produced the original and the sequels) to finance the new film. Hopefully, between Pressman, James O'Barr, and the Lee family, this idea will be squashed before it gets out of hand. Maybe it's me, but I feel like I should have a rolled up newspaper and swat Norrington like a puppy that's just peed all over the floor: "No. Bad. You don't do this."

"The Phantom" Returns

A remake of the 1996 superhero movie "The Phantom" is set to be remade and released next year. And no, Billy Zane is not reprising his role. Titled "The Phantom Legacy" (though IMDB has it billed as "The Ghost Who Walks"), this movie is following the comics from the 1930's with a few changes. Set in more modern times, this remake focuses on a son in the line of heroes who doesn't want to wear the mask. The first movie, which featured a rather impressive cast, only grossed $17.3 million at the box office on a budget of nearly $45 million. The new film is projected to cost $87 million with hopefully much better results. Though what can be said for the actors career who portrays a superhero in purple tights?

Ugly Betty = Wonder Woman?

The Dark Knight Returns