Y: The Last Man

Y: The Last Man (2009)



Another comic created by Brian K Vaughn is heading to the big screen. D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye & Disturbia) will be helming the project with a rumor that Shia LaBeouf will star as Yorick. If the first film does well there might be a trilogy. The comic's storyline has a feel similar to Children of Men meets Omega Man.



"Yorick Brown, a young amateur escape artist, and his Capuchin monkey, Ampersand, the last two men on Earth. Something (speculated to be a plague) simultaneously kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome - including embryos, fertilized eggs, and even sperm. Society is plunged into chaos as infrastructures collapse and the surviving women everywhere try to cope with the loss of the men. Yorick goes on a mission to find his girlfriend Beth, who was on vacation in Australia."

Highlander

Highlander (TBA)



Another 80's cult movie is being remade, Highlander which has to be one of the most successful science fiction fantasy franchises. I loved the first two movies and the first television series, but it has been overdone in the last couple of years. I finally gave up on the franchise when an impressive story that ended up being used in a direct to DVD anime film. The story was great and it should have been used for a real film. It might be interesting to see a reboot to this series, but I hope they don't go and remake the original. Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert cannot be replaced neither can the villain Kruger played by Clancy Brown.



"Connor Macleod was born in 1518 in the Highlands of Scotland. In 1536, after facing a mysterious, evil opponent, he survives a fatal stab wound and is banished from his village, for they believe his survival is the work of the Devil. Five years later, Macleod is met by Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, a swordsman who teaches Macleod the awful truth; he is immortal, one of a race of many who can only die when the head is cut from the body. When one immortal takes the head of another, the loser's power is absorbed into the winner. Ramirez teaches Macleod the ways of the sword, until Ramirez is tragically killed by Connor's ultimate opponent, the evil Kurgan, a murderous immortal brute who lusts for the ultimate power of the immortals, "The Prize"; enough power to rule the earth forever. Connor fights his way through the centuries, until the time of the Gathering, when the few immortals who have survived the endless battles come together to fight until only one remains, and that winner will receive The Prize. The time: 1985. The place: New York City. The final fight is about to begin, and in the end, there can be only one."

Flash Gordon

Flash Gordon (TBA)




With the news of movies being developed for Barbarella and Buck Rogers, it was only a matter of time that the most successful space adventurer would be back. Flash Gordon is getting a update/remake film, which is about time it's been almost 20 years since the last movie. The 1980 movie was very epic and it's theme song was done by Queen, I hope they go this route again. The comics, movies and cartoon were on the large scale so now with CGI being able to expand planet Mongo's diverse inhabitance they can make it even more epic. I have to admit even though Buck Rogers was the first to come up with the concept Flash Gordon always had the better stories and characters. Breck Eisner is set to direct, he is also set to direct remakes of The Creature From The Black Lagoon and George A. Romero's The Crazies. I think with trust he's been given in remaking two popular films if given the right amount of budget he could pull it off.





"Columbia might be rocketing a redo-update of "Flash Gordon," entering talks to acquire the film rights for a big-screen adaptation that has Breck Eisner attached to direct and Neal Moritz set to produce. Eisner also will exec produce. Eisner also will exec produce.

"Flash" originally was a science fiction newspaper comic strip drawn by Alex Raymond in the 1930s and was created to compete with another sci-fi strip, "Buck Rogers." "Flash" was first adapted to the screen via Buster Crabbe serials and was made into a lavish 1980 film starring Sam Jones but remembered more for its Queen score. More recently, it was a Sci Fi Channel miniseries that was seen as a critical and ratings failure.

Storywise, Flash was an athlete who travels to the planet Mongo with his lady love, Dale Arden, and the mad scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov. There, they discover a world ruled by Ming the Merciless and meet such strange inhabitants as the Hawkmen and the Sharkmen.

No writers are on board to adapt. No writers are on board to adapt. "

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Chuck Palahniuk's Survivor

Chuck Palahniuk's Survivor (TBA)



Chuck Palahniuk’s second novel Survivor has long since been sitting in the halls of movie production limbo. Soon after Fight Club became a runaway cult hit, talk began of turning Survivor into a movie with such talent mentioned as Jerry Bruckheimer producing; starring names such as Jim Carrey, Kevin Spacey, and Madonna; even Trent Reznor of NIN tossed his hat into the circle and offered to score the entire film. The first tangible lead to take though was a screenplay by Jake Paltrow (Gwyneth’s little brother). With a draft that convinced the heads at 20th Century Fox, Paltrow set into motion to move the project forward. Things looked good and ready to take off. And then two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center.

In the wake of 9/11, something happened behind the scenes of the book industry and Hollywood, and suddenly anything with transgressive themes found a dusty shelf. Survivor, a book with the running storyline of a person hijacking and crashing a 747 into the Australian outback just didn’t sit right in this new, post-terrorist climate our society was living in. For years, Chuck would find himself answering a common question at almost every public reading he did: “What’s the status of the Survivor movie?”

Well, through many ups and downs.... names attached..... and options expired and renewed, it seems that director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) is back on board. In a recent interview, when asked about next projects, he was quoted as saying, "I’m working on the book Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk that I’m working on with a friend… It’s a great book. I love that book. So we’ve been working on that.".

Source: ChuckPalahniuk.net



While I'm unsure director Francis Lawrence can do this material justice. I did find the casting rumors very interesting even if the actors are never attached to the final movie. Jim Carrey and Kevin Spacey both would be great choices. Madonna on the other hand could work but only in a limited role.




Trent Reznor would be the best person to score Survivor. Considering his amazing four volume instrumental album "Ghosts". Which is an excellent example of his brilliant scoring abilities. I'm sure he would set the right tone of the film just as the Dust Brothers did for Fight Club.

Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters

Invisible Monsters (TBA)




"Chuck’s third novel, and a favorite among many of his diehard fans, is Invisible Monsters, the story of Shannon, a disfigured ex-fashion model traveling in a car with Brand Alexander, a transgendered exhibitionist one surgery away from becoming a “real” woman. Despite this unorthodox storyline, Invisible Monsters very quickly entered some sort of production phase in 2001 when it was optioned by young filmmaker Jesse Peyronel. Turning over a scripted draft that both Chuck and his agent, Edward Hibbert, were very pleased with, Jesse very quickly got to work trying to find funding for the film via Miramax Films. Parker Posey was tentatively on board to play Shannon, and things were moving. Then the inevitable drop in news happened.

In 2002, Jesse resurfaced on our radar again and re-optioned the script to give funding another go. But again, nothing seemed to come of it and the closest story we had to go off for any production future for Invisible Monsters was a UK based company that was interested in doing a live animated featured of the film.

Most recently, the word around the campfire is that the film is on the move again with rising star Jessica Biel being touted for the female lead, and such names as Val Kilmer and Bill Crudup being mentioned for male leading and supporting roles."

Source: ChuckPalahniuk.net

Sgt. Rock

Sgt. Rock



Mega producer Joel Silver has let AICN on that DC's Sgt. Rock will become a film soon. The more impressive thing about this news is that Guy Ritchie is in mind to direct. Ritchie was quoted to be working on a remake of the Dirty Dozen, so this would be a project that would interest him. The comic focuses on the story of Sgt. Rock a superhuman American solider who fights against Germans in WWII. This of course is very similar to Marvel's Captain American. Rock fits better into reality for a comic property, since he wears military uniforms and not a bright blue costume. At one time the project was to be a starring vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Revelations

Revelations (TBA)



"a female journalist who is assigned to investigate a series of bizarre murders and discovers that the victims were all being treated by the head of an org that researches alien abductions."
According to Variety James McTeigue (V For Vendetta) will be directing "Revelations" a science fiction thriller involving murder and alien abductions. It sounds like X-Files territory but they haven't always done the material justice. It would be interesting to see McTeigue's take on the genre. He's already started production on Ninja Assassin and hopes to get this other project started very soon afterwards.

Gore Verbinski to direct Bioshock

Bioshock



Variety reports that Gore Verbinski (The Ring & Pirates of the Caribbean) will be directing an adaptation of the popular video game Bioshock.



"Set in an alternative history 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater Objectivist-dystopian city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it."

Hack/Slash

Hack/Slash (2008)



Megan Fox's name has been thrown around online as in the running for the lead in Hack/Slash. "Young Cassie Hack travels to small towns across the country to take down killers and slashers. At her side is her companion and protector, Vlad." The director Todd Lincoln worked on visual effects for From Dusk Till Dawn so he's no stranger to the action/horror genre. Lincoln also wrote the screenplay.



The movie is rumored to feature models from the alternative burlesque pinup site "SuicideGirls.com". Issues of the comic featured them , so it would make sense they would appear in some way. Cassie Hack will also be featured on the website with the artist drawing a special set for them. The cross promotion will most likely help start the advertising campaign for the film as well as the comic.

Brian De Palma's Capone Rising

The Untouchables: Capone Rising (2008)



"The story of Al Capone's arrival in Chicago, his dealings with cop Jimmy Malone, and his subsequent rise to power." Brian De Palma one of the greatest directors of all times, is going back to revisit the story of Al Capone. I would assume after working on the Black Dahlia his love for his era films came back. Gerard Butler is the only known actor who has been cast, Butler will play Jimmy Malone. Sean Connery originally played Malone in the first The Untouchables.

Rob Zombie's Werewolf Women of The SS

Werewolf Women of The SS (TBA)



Featured as a fake trailer in the theater version of Grindhouse. WWTSS is an homage to the Nazi exploitation movies of the 70's. It's loosely influenced by the Ilsa movies also, SS Hell Camp, S.S. Extermination Love Camp, Last Orgy of the Third Reich, and Private House of the SS. It was mostly soft to hardcore porno dressed up with a Nazi subplot. I think these movies are offensive and thats basically the whole point of an expliotation film. I'm curious to see how far Zombie is willing to go. In the fake trailer, the S.S. is trying to create a group of covert super werewolf women. Also turning an officer into a full werewolf. Zombie's blog which polled fans if he should make a full length movie will most likely influence his decision to make it. The trailer's cast included Nicolas Cage , Udo Kider, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tom Towles, Sybil Danning and Bill Moseley.

Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus Rex (August 28th 2009)



Based on Zombie's comicbook series "The Nail" Tyrannosaurus Rex will not feature any dinosaurs. "Rock star, film-maker, and horror maven Rob Zombie teams up with comics’ hippest horror writer for the most outrageous comics thriller of the year! In the creepy, gore-drenched tradition of such cinematic ’70s classics as Duel and The Hills Have Eyes comes The Nail! Small-time pro-wrestler Rex Hauser (a.k.a. The Nail) makes a living touring the small-town wrestling circuit with his family. It’s business as usual for this close-knit bunch until they unwittingly cross paths with a murderous gang of Satanic bikers. But these aren’t your run-of-the-mill devil worshippers. In fact, Hauser and his family just might be up against the most un-Godly evil ever known to man. Fan-favorite painter Simon Bisley provides covers for this series."



Sheri Moon Zombie (Devil's Rejects) unsurprisingly is starring in the next Rob Zombie movie called "Tyrannosaurus Rex", very little is known about the film.

Gatchaman

Gatchaman (TBA)

The original Gatchaman series followed the adventures of a team of 5 young superheroes who worked on behalf of the U.N.’s International Science Organization to protect earth’s environment and resources against the villainous terrorist organization Galactor, lead by Berg Katse, and their beast-like machines and biological weapons. According to Imagi’s CEO and Vice Chairman Francis Kao, the new film, scheduled for a 2009 release, will still feature the five caped heroes — Ken, Joe, Jun, Jinpei and Ryu — but it will be based on a “completely new and exhilarating story” and the characters “redesigned with a fresh look”.