WONDER WOMAN
Comics2Film/CBR News has learned that Warner Bros. has hired another new
writer on the "Wonder Woman" feature film project.
Sources in the know tell us that Philip Levens is now on board to write the
script for the project. Levens is best known to fans for his work on
"Smallville" writing the "Tempest" finale to season one and
the "Vortex" opener for season two. Levens is bowing out of season
three of the show to focus on his feature work.
The new writer follows Todd Alcott ("13
Ghosts"), Jon Cohen ("Minority Report") and Becky Johnston
("Price of Tides") who have all taken a pass at bringing DC's classic
female character to the big screen. Joel Silver ("The Matrix") is
producing the movie.
With the superhero movie trend continuing to thrive, no doubt Warner Bros is
eager to see the most well known female hero on the big screen.
HULKIGN
FilmForce reports another round in the case of the writing credits for
"The Hulk." A few weeks back Comics2Film/CBR News reported that the
Writers Guild of America (WGA) had officially determined that the credits for
the movie would be "Story by James Schamus; Screenplay by John Turman,
Michael France and James Schamus."
Now, FilmForce reports that Schamus and David Hayter ("X-Men") both
filed separate protests appealing the ruling. Unnamed sources inform the site
that Hayter simply wanted his name included in the existing credits, whereas
Schamus wanted to be named as the sole writer on the movie.
According to FilmForce's source, the WGA hear the complaints on Friday of
last week and determined them to be groundless. C2F's own sources tell us that
the appeal process rarely yields a change in WGA decision, and can only be used
as such if it is found that the WGA did not follow it's own rules for
arbitration.
X2The actual box office number for "X2" have come in. They're only
slightly down from the estimates that were reported yesterday. The movie's
actual weekend gross came in $85,558,731 according to Box
Office Mojo. All previously reported rankings and landmarks based on the
estimate still stands.
In other "X2" news, Variety
reports that the mutants are not only fighting intolerance, but video piracy as
well. 20th Century Fox made special efforts to clamp down on security during
screenings (including have press reps like C2F read and sign off on warnings
before viewing the movie).
According to the report, the efforts paid off, slightly. While poor quality
copies of the movie began circulating in Malaysia and Hong Kong the day after
the theatrical release, no copies were in circulation beforehand.
MARVEL MOVIESMarvel reported it's first quarter 2003 earnings today. The emerging
entertainment powerhouse reports record high earnings for the first leg of the
year. This is largely due to licensed products, including a hit movie in "Daredevil."
"The strong box-office debut of the 'Daredevil' feature film in February
further evidences the broad attraction of our characters within the consumer
market both in the U.S. and abroad. We believe this film has forged a new
entertainment franchise around both the Daredevil and Elektra characters, and
Fox is now hard at work on the first sequel film to spotlight Elektra with
another sequel spotlighting Daredevil to follow," Marvel President and CEO,
Allen Lipson, said.
"Last weekend's powerful worldwide opening box office gross of $155.2
million for 'X2: X-Men United' demonstrates the significant consumer demand for
this broad and multi-faceted character franchise."
Marvel published a schedule of upcoming movies for 2004. That list included
the currently filming "Spider-Man 2" as well as "The
Punisher," which is currently in pre-production and set to lens this
summer.
Also on the list for 2004 are "Iron Fist," which now has director
Stephen Carr attached, "Blade 3" and "Fantastic Four."
However, our next report makes the FF release in 2004 seem unlikely.
FANTASTIC FOUR
recently chatted with "Fantastic Four" director Peyton Reed about the
status of that movie. Reed told the website that the movie is currently moving
slowly because they don't have a script.
"Twin Peaks" writer Mark Frost is the latest in a line of
screenwriters to come on board the project. Reed told Jo Blo that any reported
release dates are "on hold" until the script is finished.