There are few long form comic book stories that really feel like a single cohesive whole. It is just hard to maintain total continuity in style and storytelling over more than a half a decade’s worth of single issues.

Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra were able to accomplish that difficult feat with their epic series Y: The Last Man. A tale told over several years and 60 total issues, that details the last male on earth, and his pet monkey. The comic series is one of the great achievements in comic book storytelling, and is ripe for an adaptation.

The problem is that such an large tale needs more than two hours to tell, and that has slowed the adaptation process down considerably. New Line has been reluctant to sign off on a trilogy of films, but they are still very eager to move forward with a single Y: The Last Man film.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that New Line has brought in two new writers to take a new stab at the adaptation:

Writing duo Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia are in final negotiations to write New Line Cinema’s adaptation of the acclaimed Vertigo comic book… The duo is somewhat new to the feature world but are hot out of the gate – Y is the second studio job in five months after booking Sony’s untitled Zorro origin project — but they have plenty of genre TV credits. Federman and Scaia were writer-producers on Charlie’s Angels, Human Target, Warehouse 13 and Jericho.

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2012 is going to be a big year for stop-motion animation, with three high profile stop-motion animated features invading cinema’s throughout the year. The most notable of this bunch is Tim Burton’s next feature, Frankenweenie, which is a feature length, animated adaptation of Burton’s own 1982 short film.

Frankenweenie tells the tale of young Victor, a boy who loses his beloved dog Sparky and reanimates him with the power of electricity. If it was not obvious up to this point, the film is an homage to the Frankenstein movies and novel.

One thing that the poster clearly presents, but is still probably lost on most people, is that the film is shot in black and white. This is a bold creative decision for any film, and one Burton used to great success once before in Ed Wood.

However, it is still a tremendous risk for a stop-motion animated film, a genre that is usually noted for it’s ability to present vibrant and extraordinary visuals. Even Burton’s own Corpse Bride used color to great effect in illustrating the differences between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

The film is set for an early October release, just in time for Halloween! You can see the full poster after the jump.

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At last, the film adaptation for Anne Rice’s fourth installment of  The Vampire Chronicles is currently under development as a feature film. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s production company, Image Entertainment, has taken an interest in the project.

The company has optioned the rights to the book in which popular anti-hero Lestat de Lioncourt has chosen to temporarily trade bodies with a human psychic for another chance at feeling human. Unfortunately, the deal goes South when the human doesn’t want to trade back and Lestat must track down his former body in order to regain his immortality.

The production is working in partnership Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Eagle Eye) and Lee Patterson,
an upcomming writer who will be writing the screenplay. The film will be treated as though main character Lestat has not been previously been introduced to audiences. The producers hope to present the script to studios within a month.

Lestat was first introduced to film audiences in 1994′s Interview with the Vampire starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst. The film was distributed by Warner Bros.

The second installment, Queen of the Damned, featured Stuart Townsend in the role of Lestat and deceased R&B songstress Aaliyah as Akasha (the mother of all vampires).

Last month we spent time reviewing the Golden Globe nominated film scores, at the time I had only listened to one of them going in so it was a nice way to start award season and catch up on some great scores. Now that the Oscar nominations have been released I was going to do the same thing, only I have already reviewed most of them

Thankfully I spaced out and didn’t review the second of John Williams two nominated scores yet, The Adventures of Tintin, so I can knock out the last of the major nominated scores and be all caught up in time for the big show next month. After this week I will move onto the two films with Oscar nominated songs to spice things up a bit.

The Adventures of Tintin is the second score from Williams this year and in tandem with War Horse showcases the Maestro’s range as a composer, even today. Based on the action/adventure films Williams has composed for in the past, Tintin  marks a bit of a departure as the music is not dominated by specific themes, it is more a collection of classic action music that sets the stage for the impressive animated film.

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Sherlock Holmes is a popular character these days, between a popular film franchise and an acclaimed BBC TV show, there are several ways to enjoy his particular brand of inductive reasoning. So popular in fact that BBC has ordered up a third round of Sherlock episodes, according to the trustworthy official twitter of show creator Steven Moffat.

Add that popularity with a recent trend of taking quality foreign programming  and re-purposing it for American audiences and it will come as no surprise that CBS has ordered their own Holmes pilot as well. Elementary is planned as a modern take on the classic detective, putting Holmes in the middle of New York City.

This is not the first time a network wanted to put a Holmesian character on the mean streets of the big apple. Law and Order spin-off Criminal Intent was originally conceived as a way to put a detective like Sherlock in the Law and Order universe. That worked well, but the character was only loosely based on Holmes, it will be interesting to see how the character fits into the CBS style drama mold.

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With Twilight coming to an end and with Harry Potter already over, the world of young adult fiction franchises is looking pretty thin. The next series to take a stab at filling the void left by sexy vampires and teen wizards is The Hunger Games. The books are widely popular and the upcoming films are headlined by hot and talented young actors who could carry a series for a few years, so it behooves the studio to hedge their bets and begin working on the sequel as soon as possible.

TheWrap.com recently revealed that the studio has brought on writer Simon Beaufoy, whose credits include The Full Monty and Slumdog Millionaire, to begin work on adapting the second novel in the series. This isn’t exactly a huge surprise as a November 2013 release date has already been penciled in for the second film.

Director Gary Ross is supervising the script writing process as he plans on jumping into the sequel as soon as he is done with his work on the first film. Beaufoy is a very interesting choice who has had great success with recent adaptations winning an Oscar for his adaptation of Slumdog Millionaire and receiving another nomination for his work on 127 Hours. You can say what you want about a film that is aiming for the Twilight audience, but you have to give them props for using quality, talented people.

Smallville was a smashing success, lasting for a decade and keeping the worlds most well known super hero relevant during one of his weakest eras. The CW would love to rekindle that flame with a brand new hour long drama chronicling another DC comics super hero.

Deadline is reporting that the CW has ordered a pilot for a new series based on Green Arrow, the Robin Hood-ian hero who uses impeccable marksmanship and goofy arrows to thwart villains.

The CW is finalizing a deal for a pilot order to Arrow, an hourlong superhero drama based on DC Comics’ Green Arrow. It is written and executive produced by The Green Lantern co-writers Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim and Fringe and Vampire Diaries alum Andrew Kreisberg. I hear that David Nutter will likely direct the project, which takes the comic book character, created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and sets him in a new world with an original story that is not based on the comics, published by DC Entertainment.

Green Arrow is no where near as well known as Superman, but timing might be just right for the archery themed hero. With The Avengers coming out this summer featuring Marvel’s main bowman, Hawkeye, people might ready to accept Green Arrow as the lead in his own show.

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Timur Bekmambetov is a visionary. Most people in America don’t register that name, but in his home land of Russia he is responsible for two of the most successful and visually stunning movies ever made in that country. He made the leap to American cinema with the fantastic adaptation of Wanted, and is currently in post on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Bekmambetov’s visual flair is his hallmark and anything he decides is worth his or his production company’s time promises to be pretty to look at in the very least. Variety is reporting that he has picked up the novel “One Hundred Percent Lunar Boy.” For those unfamiliar with the book, here is a synopsis:

Set 2000 years in the future, novel’s protag is 16-year-old Hieronymus Rexaphin, who lives on the now-colonized moon, where he meets a girl from Earth who is inexplicably drawn to him because of his special — some say dangerous — condition, which gives him the ability to see the future path of time and matter. 

It is unknown if Bekmambetov plans on directing, or if he will just produce. All we do know at this time is that the rights have been secured and a writer has been brought on to adapt. Either way this project sounds right up his alley, and should provide cinema goers with a visually exciting adventure film in the near future.

It’s a close race as to which comic book adaptation I despise most. Daredevil and Elektra are right up there with the worst comic book movies ever made, but in many ways the first Ghost Rider movie is just as bad.

Fortunately, at least from what we’ve seen so far, it looks like Directors Neveldine and Taylor have realized the problems with the first one. With their version of things and their crack at a sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, they’ve taken things in a new direction — as in they’re actually trying to make it good.

Judge for yourself as Sony has released a new tailer for the film today and we’ve got it for you. In this one, we get a bit more of the story and, of course, lots of Nic Cage doing his “acting” thing.

Although, I don’t dislike him as much as our own Matt Raub does. In fact, he’s been good in some movies. Watch Adaptation if you don’t believe me. Plus, his middle name is Kim, so he’s also had that to deal with.

Check out the new Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance trailer after the break. Look for it in theaters on February 17 of 2012.

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Telltale games is a classy organization. They produce character driven adventure games that capture the spirit of classic point and click gameplay while still feeling modern and relevant today. Telltale also has a great ability to nail licensed franchises, really getting the tone right in a wide variety of genres.

Law and Order fans should be thrilled to know that the guys at Telltale are bringing their brand of puzzle based adventure gameplay to the mean streets of New York. Telltale announced details on their blog about the upcoming iOS game:

“Law & Order, one of television’s longest running franchises, is coming to iOS on December 22 in the form of Law & Order: Legacies! Incorporating fan-favorite characters from throughout the entire span of Law & Order, including Olivia Benson, Lennie Briscoe, Rey Curtis, and Jack McCoy, Law & Order: Legacies allows players to effectively play the legendary TV show!”

More details after the jump.

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The Hunger Games is shaping up to be one of next year’s most interesting films. Based on it’s source material and fan base it would have been easy for the filmmakers to pump out a cheap looking Twilight cash in, but a funny thing happened along the way. The movie actually looks visually intriguing and competently constructed.

One of the more exciting aspects about the behind the scenes of this movie was the inclusion of Danny Elfman as it’s composer. Elfman is always capable of crafting a memorable theme and in recent years he has shown the ability to stretch his musical muscles. Alas, the new Tim Burton movie, Dark Shadows, and Men in Black III are keeping Elfman too busy next year and he has to bow out as the composer. Enter James Newton Howard.

Newton Howard is one of the most consistent film composers working today, he is capable of making a phenominal score for any movie, no matter it’s quality. Heck, the man’s score for Lady in the Water is one of the best things no one has heard in the last decade. He is much like Jerry Goldsmith in that regard.

The movie might have lost one high profile composer, but it gained another master. One who is more likely to give us something great, no matter the final quality of the film itself.

David Yates has been spending the better part of the last seven years directing the final half of one of the most lucrative franchises in the history of cinema. Now that the plucky “boy who lived” is all done with his misadventures at Hogwarts, Yates is looking to bring his new found clout to another of Britian’s fictional Goliaths, Dr. Who.

Variety is reporting that Yates has teamed up with BBC Worldwide Productions to bring the Doctor to the movies.

“We’re looking at writers now. We’re going to spend two to three years to get it right,” [Yates] said. “It needs quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena.”

Dr. Who is the longest running sci-fi television show of all time. Spanning nearly fifty years, this classic show has gone under several major overhauls and is know for it’s ability to re-shuffle itself on the fly. The most incredible thing about the Dr. Who franchise is that flexibility has been worked into the cannon of the show. The Doctor is always the same guy, he just “regenerates” into a new body, personality and all. Neat huh?

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