Remember way back in 2009 when we told you Guy Ritchie was going to direct the big screen adaptation of the DC comic series Lobo for Warner Bros? Well, as you probably know, that never happened and the project was put on the back burner. . . until now.

What sparked this resurgence? The project has a new director attached and that man in Brad Peyton, who’s previous credits include the recent hit  Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. The deal was reportedly finalized just today for him to rewrite and direct the movie.

In case you’re not familiar with Lobo, the character first appeared in Omega Men #3 and was created by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen. The story concerns a seven foot, blue skinned, heavily muscled anti-hero and interstallar bounty hunter who comes to earth in search of some fugitives intent on destruction. Once here, he teams up with a small town teenaged girl to help stop the mayhem and in the process learns a little something about humanity.

With Peyton now on board, we can expect to see the Lobo adaptation hit multiplexes late next year or in early 2014.

In news that seemed “too good to be true”, Guy Ritchie, who directed such action-comedies as Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, would be directing an adaptation of the DC character Lobo for Warner Bros. Since then, Ritchie’s stock has gone up in a huge way with his Sherlock Holmes bringing in over $350 worldwide since it’s Christmas Day release.

With that in mind, both Warner and super-producer Joel Silver have decided to fast-track a Holmes sequel, which would put Lobo on ice, possibly permanently. When the LA Times sat down with Silver, he didn’t seem too convinced either way.

“I don’t think he’s going to do it now,” Silver said of Ritchie directing “Lobo.” “The studio wants us and Guy to focus on making another ‘Sherlock Holmes.’ So I think we’re going to be doing that. But we’re seeing what happens with this.

Everybody is analyzing everything. It’s all kind of happening right now as we talk. ‘Sherlock’ is sitting at just about $400 million in worldwide gross and showing itself to be pretty effective and pretty strong. So we’re trying to see if we can do something quickly with another ‘Sherlock Holmes’ movie. We have some ideas and some good story points.”

It was also rumored that Brad Pitt, a Guy Ritchie favorite, would be stepping in on the Holmes sequel to play the evil Professor Moriarty, but Silver didn’t seem to think that the plan would move on past the “wouldn’t it be cool?” stage.

Downey Jr. also just recently picked up his second Golden Globe for his performance in Sherlock Holmes, which you can still catch in some theaters.

Once again it is time for this weeks’ peek at what DC Comics has in store (and in the store for us this week. Of the comics coming down the pike from our other favorite comics publisher, we’re particularly interested in anything Blackest Night and anything Batman, so there’s some great titles featuring these characters and story arcs this week.

Check out the list:

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #38
BATMAN: THE CAT AND THE BAT
BATMAN: UNSEEN #5 (OF 5)
BLACKEST NIGHT: THE FLASH #1 (OF 3)
BLACKEST NIGHT: WONDER WOMAN #1 (OF 3)
CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #44
THE GREAT TEN #2 (OF 10)
JONAH HEX #50
JSA ALL-STARS #1
LOBO: HIGHWAY TO HELL #2 (OF 2)
LOONEY TUNES #181
THE MIGHTY #11

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The director of such films as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and the upcomimng Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams, has just landed a brand new directing gig to expand his already extensive resume. What’s next for Ritchie? The director has signed on to helm the live action adaptation of the DC comic book Lobo for Warner Brothers and producers Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona.

In case you’re not familiar, the movie, adapted by Don Payne, concerns a seven foot, blue skinned, heavily muscled anti-hero and interstallar bounty hunter who comes to earth in search of some fugitives intent on destruction. Once here, he teams up with a small town teenaged girl to help stop the mayhem and in the process learns a little something about humanity. Or, I might have made that last bit up. Either way, the film sounds pretty cool and Lobo is a pretty great character that will do well as a movie.

At any rate, according to the report, Warner Bros. is looking for a PG-13 rated experience which will hopefully bring in the audience that stayed home instead of watching X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The film will also, which is no surprise, be heavy in the special and visual effects areas. The movie is expected to start production early next year and I can’t wait to find out who ends up playing Lobo. Thoughts?