June 2003

Disney plans 'Tron' comic book
Posted Wednesday, June 25, 2003, 8:59PM CDT by Franklin Harris
Newsarama reports that Disney and 88 MPH Studios will team up to publish a comic book based on "Tron," the 1982 Disney film starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan and David Warner. The first miniseries, a follow-up to the Tron 2.0 video game, will appear this fall. A second miniseries, to be published in 2004, will be set during the time of the original movie.

'Hitchhiker' film gets new production team
Posted Thursday, June 19, 2003, 9:53AM CDT by Franklin Harris
The long-delayed feature film version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," based on the Douglas Adams novel, has a new production team, consisting of writer-director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith. They will work with writer Karey Kirkpatrick ("Chicken Run"), who did a polish on a script by the late Adams.

Source: Sci-Fi Wire

'Blackula' star William Marshall, R.I.P.
Posted Tuesday, June 17, 2003, 8:34PM CDT by Franklin Harris
William Marshall, who portrayed the title character in "Blackula" and "Scream, Blackula, Scream!", died in a Los Angeles rest home. The 78-year-old actor had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Marshall, who also taught an acting course at the Mufandi Institute in Watts, also played the King of Cartoons on the Saturday-morning TV series "Pee Wee's Playhouse" and guest starred on an episode of the original "Star Trek."

Source: CNN

Mr. Peabody and Sherman go way back at Sony
Posted Wednesday, June 11, 2003, 7:35PM CDT by Franklin Harris
A possible live-action/CGI film version of the "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" cartoon is in development at Sony Pictures. "Mr. Peabody" aired originally as part of "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle."

Source: Cinescape

Live-action 'Transformers' in the works
Posted Wednesday, June 11, 2003, 7:27PM CDT by Franklin Harris
Producers Don Murphy ("The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") and Tom DeSanto ("X-Men") are pitching a live-action "Transformers" feature to Hollywood studios.

Source: Cinescape

More Adult Swim to follow 'Space Ghost' to DVD
Posted Monday, June 9, 2003, 10:16AM CDT by Franklin Harris
IGN Filmforce reports that other Adult Swim cartoons will follow "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" to DVD, starting with "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." According to IGN, each Adult Swim series will be released to DVD after reaching 24 episodes. The next series to do so after "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" will be "Sealab 2021."

Hurd to produce Sci-Fi's 'Red Mars'
Posted Monday, June 9, 2003, 9:55AM CDT by Franklin Harris
Producer Gale Ann Hurd ("Hulk," "Terminator 3") will produce "Red Mars" for the Sci-Fi Channel. The six-hour miniseries is based on the first of Kim Stanley Robinson's trilogy of novels about the colonization and terraforming of the red planet. The series will debut in late 2004.

Source: Sci-Fi Wire

Columbia hires 'Luke Cage' movie
Posted Saturday, June 7, 2003, 7:47AM CDT by Franklin Harris
Columbia Pictures has acquired the film rights to Luke Cage, the Marvel hero-for-hire formerly known as Power Man.

Source: ICv2.com

'Deathlok' gets a director
Posted Tuesday, June 3, 2003, 4:02PM CDT by Franklin Harris
IGN FilmForce reports that another Marvel Comics film is moving along. "Die Another Day" director Lee Tamahori is the favored choice to helm "Deathlok," based on Marvel's cyborg hero.