10 Exciting Comic Book Adaptations Currently In Development

With the recent release of Watchmen we thought we’d have a little look at some other comic book adaptations that are currently in development and have got us very interested.

Before we start with this list though there are some obvious ones we’d like to discount, for example we’ve excluded the new Superman movie.  This isn’t because we don’t like Superman it’s just that it’s quite mainstream, everyone knows about it and I’m sure that when it does eventually get made (with or without the Wachowskis) it will be huge and we want to focus on some of the lesser known ones, the same goes for any Marvel property I’m afraid.

Oh, and we’re not going to list anything that’s coming out soon either so no G.I Joe I’m afraid.

 

 

10. Baltimore or the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire.

 

Written by the creator of Hellboy, Mike Mignola, and Christopher Golden, the rights to this gothic comic were purchased by New Regency who appointed David Goyer to direct.  

Captain Lord Henry Baltimore leads a night attack on a battlefield during World War I; after his entire squad is killed by enemy fire and Baltimore himself is wounded in the leg and left for dead, he awakes some hours later to see giant bat creatures feeding on his dead men. When one attempts to feed off him, he slashes at it with his bayonet and scars its face hideously - the giant creature in return wounds him and infests his leg with such terrible gangrene that when he is later bought to hospital, it is amputated - hence his famous jointed wooden leg. Unknowingly, Lord Baltimore struck a powerful vampire who is so angered by Baltimore’s actions (he is forevered scarred and blinded in his right eye) that he strikes down a “plague” upon warring Europe. People think this to be a sickness which spreads quickly across countries, but in truth it is vampirism. Baltimore returns home from war haunted by his encounter on the field, yet happy to be home early on account of his leg. But upon arrival, he discovers his parents and sister have succumbed to the plague - only his wife Elowen survived.

Goyer certainly knows his vampires (he wrote the Blade films, good) but as a director he is still yet to prove himself (he directed Blade Trinity, bad).  

 

9.  Cowboys & Aliens

 

An extraterrestrial species lands in Arizona in the mid-1800s. The aliens plan to quash the Wild West and enslave humanity, but the cowboys and native Apache have other plans.  The cowboys include a former Union Army gunslinger named Zeke Jackson who is to be played by Robert Downey Jr.

Dreamworks and Universal optioned the rights from Platinum studios so this project’s going to have the likes of Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Steven Spielberg behind it so we can expect big things.

Although the premise is quite quirky, initial feedback on the script is it’s quite formulaic ticking many of the Hollywood blockbuster cliche boxes but hopefully the big names above can pull of something special with it otherwise it could end up as a Wild Wild West with Aliens.

 

 

8.  War Heroes

 

The movie rights to this comic were snapped up by Sony after just one issue was published.  This could be down to the quality of the comic, or just the fact that the creator, Mark Millar, is hot property right now thanks to Wanted and the upcoming Kick Ass.

Set in an alternate timeline (where John McCaine is the American President) during the coalition wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Washington D.C. prompts the United States administration to expand the coalition War on Terror to include Iran, as well as institute martial law in the United States. As American casualties increase, morale and public support declines with the economy, reducing America’s standing in the world. Lacking the necessary recruits, the US Military boosts enlistment by distributing pills to its soldiers which confer upon them various superpowers, tipping the scale in the war. The story is based upon the heroic feats of Gunner Q.

Millar describes War Heroes as “Full Metal Jacket meets The X-Men”, this suddenly makes us very excited.

 

7.  The Last Christmas

This property got optioned a little while ago and when I heard about it I immediately had to go out and buy a copy simply because I loved the pitch:

Santa Vs Zombies

So these days zombies are in everything, there’s a new movie coming out every month featuring them and very little of it is original so why are we so excited by this?  Well it’s all thanks to the brilliance of the comic.  Its extremely funny and insanely fun so as long as they can convey the comic’s sense of humor onto the big screen then they’d be making one hell of a film.

The story follows Santa Claus as he withdraws from normal life and turns his back on Christmas. When he emerges from seclusion, he has to find a way to save the world, and Christmas, from being overrun by demons, zombies and other bad guys.

Hollywood Gang Productions have taken on this project, these are the guys behind 300 so they can certainly pull off the effects and stylised settings that will be needed.

 

6. Hack/Slash

At the end of every horror movie, one lone girl survives… in HACK/SLASH, that girl is Cassie Hack - who not only survives, but becomes a killer of killers! Partnered with the monstrous gentle giant Vlad, they travel wherever there are slashers looking to do harm!

Rogue Pictures are making this one and there’s rumors that Megan Fox is attached.

Hack/Slash has already been turned into a stage play and has a quite a cult following so Rogue Picture can expect a bit of a backlash if they cock it up. 

The movie is to be directed by Todd Lincoln and is scripted by Justin Marks who has a lot on his plate at the moment.  He wrote the new Street Fighter movie (Legend of Chun-Li) and he’s on writing duties for Green Arrow and The Masters of the universe.

Here’s a slideshow of some of the art work to give you and idea of what we could be in for.

 

5.  The Losers

Originally a Special Forces team seconded to the C.I.A. in the 90s, the Losers were betrayed by their handler, Max, and left for dead following the conclusion of their operation. Eager for revenge and the opportunity to remove their names from a secret CIA death list, the Losers regroup and conduct covert operations against the CIA and its interests, uncovering startling operations spearheaded by the enigmatic Max, whose influence within the CIA and US Government is unparalleled.

The movie of this funny book has been in development since 2007 but things are gearing up now for production.  In October 2008 it was announced that Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) will direct, and just this month it’s been reported that Jeffrey Dean Morgan will take the lead.

The Losers is set for a 2011 release.

 

4. Sin City 2

Alleged to be a combination of the Frank Miller graphic novels A Dame to Kill For and Booze and Broads & Bullets, this project has been on and off and on again for quite a while and at the moment it seems as it’s taking a back seat once more.  Over the past few months we’ve heard rumors about director Robert Rodriguez being attached to Red Sonja, a Predator sequel or reboot  and just this month it’s been confirmed that his next project will be Nerverackers, a futuristic thriller.

All the books in the Sin City series are excellent and these two are some of the best (after The Hard Goodbye).  When this does eventually get made it could be both a sequel and prequel as A Dame to Kill For is set prior to the Big Fat Kill (the episode featuring Clive Owen).

Let’s just hope that the poor performance of Frank Miller’s The Spirit hasn’t put the studio off this project.

Here’s a little reminder of the first outing.

 

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

This one almost didn’t make the list but as it’s still in pre-production we thought we’d allow it, especially as we’re such big fans of Edgar Wright.  Filming begins in March though so it was close.

The comic is about 24-year-old Canadian Scott Pilgrim, a slacker, hero, wannabe-rockstar, who is living in Toronto and playing bass in the band “Sex Bob-Omb.” He falls in love with American delivery girl Ramona V. Flowers, but must defeat her seven “evil ex-boyfriends” in order to date her.

This looks like it’s going to be a big hit.  It’s certainly got a cool cast lined up, Michael Cera is to play Scott, Ramona will be played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and it also features Brandon Routh, Chris Evans and Jason Schwartsman.

Edgar Wright has committed to uploading one photo a day to his myspace page and so recently we’ve been getting some great pictures of the actors compared to their comic counterparts.

UPDATE: I know we’ve only just posted this but I’ve just seen what looks like the first picture from the set of Scott Pilgrim so I think they’ve started rolling.  Click HERE to have a look (not much to see).

 

2. Y: The Last Man

On July 17, 2002, a plague simultaneously kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome. The only exceptions appear to be Yorick Brown, a young amateur escape artist, and his Capuchin monkey Ampersand. Society is plunged into chaos as infrastructures collapse and the surviving women everywhere try to cope with the loss of the men, their survivors’ guilt, and the knowledge that humanity is doomed to extinction.

Vaughan meticulously crafts the new society that emerges out of this chaos, from the conversion of the Washington Monument into a monument to the dead men, to the genesis of the fanatical ultra-feminist Daughters of the Amazon, who believe that Mother Earth cleansed itself of the “aberration” of the Y chromosome, to male impersonators becoming valued romantically and professionally.

DJ Caruso is set to direct with Shia LaBeouf taking the starring lead.  Their aiming for a 2010 release which may be ambitious considering the scope of the comic.

Here’s a fan made tribute to the comic.

 

1. Judge Dredd

Wait, don’t go, we’re not talking a sequel with Stallone, we’re talking about another ‘re-imagining’ like The Incredible Hulk, only better hopefully. 

The first big screen adaptation of Dredd was deemed a flop and really upset 200AD fans as it didn’t capture the violence, the grit or any of the great stories that the Judge took part in.  Personally I think this was down to the studio aiming at a broad audience and watering it down for a 15 rating, in fact I’m not even sure why it got that, I suspect that if re-released it would be hard pushed to get anything more than a 12A.

There’s not much info on this yet but what we do know is it’s set for a 2012 release and DNA Films are the production company behind it.  DNA previously made Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, The Last King of Scotland and 28 Weeks later.

Io9.com recently published some early concept art for Judge Dredd and we think they look great.  If they can capture this tone and look and keep this version dark and gritty then hopefully they’ll be onto a winner.  Click on the one below to see some more.

 

Holy crud, some of the lines in the movie were crap weren’t they.

 

Well that about wraps it up.  What ones are you excited about and what ones did we miss?

 

~feature by Lee