Stick Around For Japanese "Spider-Man"

"Spider-Man", aka "Supaidāman" is the Japanese superhero television series produced by Toei Company in 1978, based on Marvel's "Spider-Man".

"...Young motorcycle racer 'Takuya Yamashiro' sees the combat spacecraft 'Marveller' fall to earth. His father 'Dr. Hiroshi Yamashiro', a space archaeologist, investigates the case. The incident also attracts the attention of 'Professor Monster' and his evil 'Iron Cross Army', an alien group that plans to rule the universe...".

Producers Tôru Hirayama and Susumu Yoshikawa originally wanted to make the series faithful to the web-slinger's comic book origins, but Bandai, one of the sponsors, told the studio to add more giant robots.

And the rest is history.

Sneak Peek Japanese "Spider-Man"...

Snyder Ducks A "Sucker Punch"

Director Zack "Watchmen" Snyder continues shooting his R-rated action feature "Sucker Punch" in Vancouver. Production started September 10, shooting through to January 22, 2010.

Snyder calls his new film "...Alice in Wonderland with machine guns", co-writing the screenplay with Steve Shibuya.

Set in the 1950’s, "Sucker Punch" follows a girl confined to a mental institution by her 'evil' stepfather. As a coping strategy, she retreats into an alternative, imaginative reality complete with"dragons, B-52 bombers and brothels", according to Snyder, who also produces the film with his wife Debra. Line producer is Jim Rowe, DP is Larry Fong and production manager is Brendan Ferguson.

Cast includes Emily Browning as 'Baby Doll', Carla Gugino as 'Mrs. Schulz', Abbie Cornish as 'Sweetpea', Vanessa Hudgens as 'Blondie' and Jamie Chung as 'Amber'.

"Sucker Punch" is due for release March 25, 2011.

Disney Conjuring Up "Doctor Strange"

Walt Disney Co. chief Robert Iger, overseeeing the final acquisition of Marvel, is reportedly looking at 'obscure' Marvel super heroes among the company's 5,000 proprietary characters, for rapid development into branded film properties.

Currently Paramount distributes Marvel movie properties "Iron Man" and "Captain America", Sony handles "Spider-Man", "Ghost Rider", "Venom" and "The Punisher", Fox has "X-Men", "Wolverine" and "Fantastic Four" and Universal has "The Hulk" and "Namor: The Sub-Mariner". Artisan and Lionsgate also produced a "Man-Thing" feature in 2005.

Iger said that Disney may 'test' different Marvel characters on cable TV, similar to how Warners showcases DC Comics super-hero properties on the Vancouver-lensed 'Superman' TV series "Smallville".

"Instead of making a $200 million movie and kind of betting the farm on one character," said Iger, "you can develop a television pilot, or a television series."

Marvel characters with film potential include "Doctor Strange", "Ant-Man", "The Black Panther", "Skrull Kill Crew", "Luke Cage" and "Deathlok".

"Doctor Strange" in 3D for 2012, would fit with Disney's penchant for occult fantasy, following a character that would make the wizardry of 'Harry Potter' look like kid-stuff.

Following their comic book success with "Spider-Man", co-creators Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko debuted 'Doctor Strange' in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963), fashioning the physical look of the character after Lee Falk's 1930's comic strip character "Mandrake The Magician".

'Dr. Stephen Strange' was an arrogant, world-renowned neurosurgeon, until a car accident damaged his hands, preventing him from conducting surgery. Desperately a bitter Strange seeks out a legendary Tibetan hermit living in a 'Lost Horizon' of the Himalayas who may be able to cure him of his debilitating condition.

Strange finds 'The Ancient One', possessed of the knowledge of sorcerous spells and incantations, invoking names and aspects of extra-dimensional objects and beings of power. Some of these phenomena include the 'Flames of the Faltine', the 'Shades of the Seraphim' and the 'Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth'.

When Strange selflessly thwarts the evil ambitions of the Ancient One's traitorous disciple 'Baron Mordo', the 500-year old sorceror tutors Strange in the 'mystic arts', teaching him how to use magical artifacts to augment his power, including the 'Cloak of Levitation', the all-seeing 'Eye of Agamotto' and the 'Book of the Vishanti'.

Strange's residence in New York's Greenwich Village, referred to as his 'Sanctum Sanctorum', figured prominently in stories focusing on extra-dimensional battles in the Big Apple.

Holder of the title 'Sorcerer Supreme', Strange uses magic to achieve a number of effects, including energy projection, teleportation, telepathy and astral projection.

Strange was also schooled in the use of addictive and corruptive 'dark magic' by one-time foe 'Kaluu', using it to destroy the entity known as 'Shuma-Gorath'.

Doctor Strange has been featured in several self-titled Marvel Comics series and Marvel-endorsed products including arcade/video games, animated TV series, a direct-to-DVD film and merchandise including trading cards.

Sneak Peek "Doctor Strange"...

"3 Idiots" Look Smart At World Box Office

Director Rajkumar Hirani's comedy "3 Idiots," starring actress Aamir Khan, has scored the best opening weekend ever for an Indian film, grossing $21.4 million worldwide, according to distributor Reliance Big Pictures.

Based on Chetan Bhagat's bestselling English-language novel "Five Point Someone," "3 Idiots" makes indictments of the Indian education system.

Sneak Peek "3 Idiots"...

"Captain America" Leaps Into Action June 2010

Director Joe "The Wolfman" Johnston has confirmed that his comic book adaptation "Captain America: First Avenger", produced by Marvel's Kevin Feige, will start filming June 2010, from a screenplay by "Chronicles Of Narnia" writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

Created in 1941 by artist Jack "King" Kirby and writer Joe Simon for Timely Comics, 'Captain America' was 'Steve Rogers', rejected by the Army during WW II because he was too sickly, only to come back as a determined volunteer for a steroidal experiment that turned him into a star-spangled, acrobatic, power-punching super-hero.

Paired with an indestructible red white and blue shield, Cap became a patriotic symbol of the Allies' war effort, while fighting his arch-nemesis, the Third Reich's homicidal 'Red Skull'.

During the 1960's, writer Stan Lee and artist Kirby restored Captain America from the 1940's, in a story revealing he had been lost at sea, then frozen in a block of ice. Cap's unique body structure allowed him to survive in a suspended state, until he was thawed out for Marvel Comics "The Avengers" #4.

Marvel Studios' upcoming self-financed slate of comic book-to-films including "Thor" and "Iron Man 2" intends to build momentum towards an "Avengers" feature in 2011, teaming-up Marvel's most popular costumed super-heroes.

Paramount has set "First Avenger: Captain America" for a May 6, 2011 theatrical release from Marvel Enterprises, Marvel Entertainment and Marvel Studios.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Captain America"...

Adler Looks Into "Night & Fog"

Producer Gil "Superman Returns" Adler, noted for Warners "Constantine" and the upcoming "Dead Of Night", has optioned the Studio 407, six-issue horror comic book mini-series "Night & Fog", to be adapted as a feature film.

Shane McCarthy and "Night & Fog" co-creator Alex Leung will also produce.

Adler, who previously produced the "Tales From the Crypt" TV series, said that while "Night & Fog" was definitely in his 'strike zone' of 'genre trappings', what really grabbed him was the characters that drive the story.

Premise of the comics revolves around a secret World War II government experiment, conducted off the coast of Canada, whereby an 'infectious mist' is released into the air, turning people into terrifying creatures...

"2012" Breaks Chinese Box Office Record

Vancouver-lensed "2012", directed by Roland "Independence Day" Emmerich, has become the top movie hit of all time in China, earning 460 million yuan ($67.3 million), according to the state film body, China Film Group.

Opening November 13 on 1,900 screens, audiences reacted positively to the pro-China subplot in which the Chinese build arks to save a portion of humanity.

With 4,500 screens available, China enforces a quota of 20 foreign movies allowed each year on a revenue-sharing basis, rather than a flat-rate that the Hollywood studios prefer.

"2012", in which every available performer in Vancouver worked on in some capacity, (including yours truly as an 'Ark Boarding Officer'), uses 'end-of-days' prophecies to depict the world's demise after a solar meltdown.

The ensemble cast includes actors John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Woody Harrelson, following the aftermath of a global cataclysm in the Year 2012, leading to the 'end of the world', with survivors struggling for their lives.

Premise of the feature is inspired by theories that posit the ancient Mayans predicting a doomsday event occuring during the 2012 winter solstice.

On a production budget of $200 million, box office earnings for "2012" is $161,490,680 domestic and $572,791,842 foreign for a worldwide total of $734,282,522.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "2012"...

Happy Holidays From Roman Polanski

In a letter to French author Bernard-Henri Lévi, reprinted by the Huffington Post, comes the first words from director Roman "The Tenant" Polanski since his recent legal problems :

"...I have been overwhelmed by the number of messages of support and sympathy I have received in Winterthur prison, and that I continue to receive here, in my chalet in Gstaad, where I am spending the holidays with my wife and my children.

These messages have come from my neighbors, from people all over Switzerland, and from beyond Switzerland -- from across the world.

I would like every one of them to know how heartening it is, when one is locked up in a cell, to hear this murmur of human voices and of solidarity in the morning mail.

In the darkest moments, each of their notes has been a source of comfort and hope, and they continue to be so in my current situation.

I would like to be able to answer all of them. But it is impossible: there are too many ...

Happy holidays ... to all of these unknown friends whom I am discovering day after day, and who have helped me so much.

My warmest regards,

Roman Polanski..."