Wanted is a fun film, it is visually splendid and is filled with lots of talented actors who all seemed like they are having a good time. So it was no surprise that the film was a success and talks began quickly of a sequel, talks that unfortunately went nowhere due to the rather final fates of most of the main characters.

Indiewire recently chatted with Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov who thinks he has finally cracked the code:

“An unbelievable thing happened three weeks ago,” Bekmambetov said. “Because we stopped, we didn’t know what to do for three or four years. Three weeks ago I came up with a great idea and I pitched this idea and everybody fell in love with it. And now I think we’re on track. Right now the writer is working on the script, and it will be shocking.”

It sounds like Bekmambetov is excited about what he has come up with. The original film set up an interesting universe to play around in, even if it was not at all like the original source material in any way. Mayhaps the sequel can touch upon the concept of a world run by Super Villains like in the comic.

Bekmabetov’s new film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter hits theaters Friday.

Writer Mark Millar, best known for the Kick-Ass and Wanted franchises, confirmed to the Daily Record that a slew of comic-to-film projects from his Millarworld production company will be going into production in this coming year.

Currently, Millar has a number of film projects being developed simultaneously, along with the monthly comics hitting the shelves. He stated that the fact his characters are being utilized for films is somewhat surprising, considering that the majority of comics-to-film adaptations that are being greenlit are based on characters that have been around for decades.

“We shoot Kick-Ass 2 and American Jesus this summer. Then Matthew (Vaughn) and I have Secret Service, which is a nerdy James Bond,” Mark said. Kick-Ass 2  is a follow up to the 2010 film which starred Aaron Johnson and Chloe Moretz.

Millar’s  American Jesus  will follow a kid who finds out he is the second coming of Jesus Christ. “If you are doing a movie about the return of Jesus as the Bible prophesied in the Book of Revelation, you have got to do it straight and treat it with dignity. I’m not taking the piss. It will be treated like a proper film,” said Millar of his post-apocolyptic thriller.

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.

Mark Millar has definitely taken the comic universe by storm in the past 10 years. He first turned heads of fanboys (and fangirls) everywhere with The Authority in 2000. Then he went a bit darker with his anti-hero epic Wanted. Later, Millar would get his first taste of adaptation, as Warner Bros. optioned Wanted into a highly successful feature film.

The same thing happened with Kick-Ass and Lionsgate last year, and now just about anything Millar puts in a comic is getting picked up as a film right away. His super villain series Nemesis is already being worked on by Tony Scott’s company, and Superior, the story of a crippled teen who turns into a famed superhero is also being looked at by several studios.

Coming up next month, you’ll be able to see all of Millar’s favorite characters crossover in an epic portrait that spans over 3 variant covers by regular cover artist Leinil Francis Yu. When asked about the idea, Millar couldn’t have been more about it.

“It wouldn’t make sense as a story as they all exist in their own distinct universes. But I was talking to Leinil in New York about this a few weeks back and we came up with this idea of spreading the image across three variants, each character touching the front cover of another book and it seemed very exciting. These are my wee babies so to see them all playing together gives me a warm glow. I’m collecting them to form one big image and to have it framed over my desk.”

Check out the full-sized image after the jump, and catch each variant for Kick Ass 2 #2, Superior #4, and Nemesis #4, all on sale in December and January.

Coming on the heels of success from his last (and only) two film adaptations, comic writer Mark Millar is eager to bring his latest book, Nemesis, to the big screen. It seems like that plan is already in motion, as Twentieth Century and Tony Scott have acquired the rights and are looking to get Millar’s property into theaters in the near future.

The book tells a classic story with a twist: young Matt Anderson’s parents are killed and he vows to avenge their deaths by training himself and going after the man who did it. The twist? His parents were worldwide villains, and he is too. Anderson makes his way back to the states after killing the greatest cops across the world to focus on Chief Blake Morrow, the man who took down Anderson’s criminal parents.

Tony Scott has expressed interest in this being his next project, at least through his company Scott Free Productions. While the idea of Tony Scott directing a comic book adaptation gives the fanboy community the collective goosebumps, Scott may only remain attached as a producer.

Many know Millar as the mind behind other comic adaptations Wanted starring James McAvoy (now X-Men: First Class’s Professor Xavier) and Lionsgate’s recent Kick-Ass, which is already planning a sequel. Comics fans know Millars work from Superman: Red Son and plenty of issues of Marvel’s Civil War.

One of our favorite comic book companies will be showcasing a whole bunch of stuff during next week’s San Diego Comic-Con. Top Cow, probably most well known for Wanted, will be bringing lots of exclusives and their talent to the show so we can all meet and enjoy.

Here’s all the info you could want on this from the official press release from the company.

TOP COW UNVEILS 2010 SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON EXCLUSIVES

LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 14, 2010 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. is proud to announce their exclusive offerings at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, which includes an exclusive wraparound cover variant to the publisher’s most ambitious project-to-date, Artifacts.

Attendees of the convention have a chance to grab the following exclusives at the Top Cow booth #2629:

ARTIFACTS #1 WRAPAROUND SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON VARIANT
Exclusive SDCC variant cover art by Michael Broussard and Sunny Gho of IFS
(W) Ron Marz (A) Michael Broussard (I) Rick Basaldua, Sal Regla (C) Sunny Gho of IFS
Price: $10

Thirteen mystical Artifacts, including the Witchblade, the Darkness and others, guide the fate of the Top Cow Universe. For centuries, it’s been whispered that bringing together all 13 Artifacts would herald mankind’s destruction. But a mysterious figure has been manipulating events, laying plans to put Armageddon into motion.

Even though San Diego Comic-Con seems to be dominated by movies and tv programs these days, it was originally all about the comics. This should be obvious by the fact that ‘Comics’ is right in the name.

To help keep that alive we wanted to make sure people knew about the comics companies that will be attending the show this year. To keep that going we bring you the Top Cow schedule of events for the Con, direct from their official press release.

TOP COW AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL 2010

Top Cow Productions, Inc.’s race to Artifacts will include a stop at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, the world’s biggest and most exciting popular convention, from July 22nd – 25th.

Top Cow will once again storm into the convention and set up shop at booth #2629. Among the goods to prepare attendees of CCI 2010 for the race to Artifacts will be exclusives, preview books, free goodies, variant comics and trade paperbacks, including free copies of Artifacts #0 as well as other comics, posters and bookmarks (while supplies last).

Attendees are invited to join Marc Silvestri (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia), President Matt Hawkins, and Publisher Filip Sablik for an exciting and lively multimedia presentation about Top Cow’s plans for 2010 and 2011 in comics, film, television and much more. Be the first to hear announcements and updates on film projects including Witchblade, Magdalena, Alibi, Wanted, and The A-Team.

Plus announcements on new comic projects with creators including Ron Marz (Artifacts), Jeff Katz (American Original, Freddy vs. Jason), Phil Hester (The Darkness) plus surprise guest directors, screenwriters, producers and more! The panel will be featured in room 9 from 1:30-2:30pm under the title Top Cow: “We Create” Multimedia, on Saturday, July 24th.

Diane here and fresh off  the red carpet premiere of Universal Studios’ Hollywood latest attraction, King Kong 360 3D.  If you have a chance to swing on by this summer, it is worth the wait.

Yesterday while walking among a 360lb Bengal Tiger, a 13 foot Python, a feisty monkey, and tribal dancers who kept on telling me to touch their dinosaur bones I became entranced with the world of Skull Island and a gorilla who’s eaten one too many Big Macs.

I was not alone, The Office’s Craig Robinson, Oscar Nunez, and Kate Flannery, along with Kevin Smith, Yvette Nicole Brown of Community, Wayne Brady,Wanted and King Kong’s Thomas Kretschmann, and a very shy Christopher Lloyd were all there sampling the gourmet apps and reveling in a filmed introduction to the experience by none other than a slimmed down Peter Jackson in 3D.

This week On the Radar Leonard Nimoy says goodbye to Spock, Robert Downey Jr. may journey to the land of Oz, and Mickey Rourke wants to play one of the most feared Mongolians in history.

Did Jason Voorhees just get killed? Oh, the irony!

However evil slasher Jason Voorhees may appear to be it seems there is something that can stop him afterall-movie studios.  While the recent remake of Friday the 13th garnished nearly $100 million worldwide, producer Brad Fuller responded to a fan via Twitter and said a sequel may be dead.

Platinum Dunes does not seem interested in continuing the story at this time.  Let’s not count Jason out yet, though.  Freddy Krueger is about to leap bag onto the big screen in the Nightmare on Elm Street remake.  If that’s successful, Voorhees may climb out of the grave once more.

Leonard Nimoy to hang up his Spock ears for good

While not as active as his friend William Shatner on the acting front, Leonard Nimoy took fanboys by storm by reprising his role as Spock in J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot.  He caused further excitement by taking on the enigmatic role of William Bell in the TV series Fringe.  Unfortunately, it seems Nimoy is ready to step back from the celebrity life:

“I want to get off the stage. Also, I don’t think it would be fair to Zachary Quinto,” he says, referring to the actor who portrayed a youthful Spock in last summer’s smash Star Trek relaunch. “He’s a terrific actor, he looks the part, and it’s time to give him some space. And I’m very flattered the character will continue.”

A few months back, we talked to Timur Bekmambetov about producing his latest film, 9. He had also mentioned that he was working on a new film in Russia called Black Lightning. We immediately thought of the African American Justice League member who could produce lightning, but it turns out it’s actually about a magical flying car.

Though the trailer is in Russian, we were able make out the fact that a young boy gets a new car, finds out it can do lots of super heroic stuff, and eventually uses it to fight a major crime boss. Sounds interesting.

Considering that it’s produced by Timur, who also worked on the Russian Night Watch films and the highly successful Wanted movie (which already has a sequel in the works) a sequel), this film is bound to make it’s way over to the states inside of a year, so expect to see a trailer that you could actually understand soon.

Until then, check out the first trailer for the film in full-blown Russian after the jump, which still looks pretty.

Last month, we brought you an exclusive interview with director/producer Timur Bekmambetov where he talked about his plans for a sequel to last year’s comic book adaptation of Wanted. We also got to speak to the director of such great horror films as Nightwatch and Daywatch about working as producer with Tim Burton on 9, which hits theaters today.

For those unaware, 9 started off as an award-winning animated short, which peaked the interest in a few agents. One of which, happened to be the agent of both Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, who were both eager to bring the project to the big screen as a full length feature.

Check out the video after the jump, as we discuss how 9 came to be, Timur’s journey along the way, and what his initial thoughts were on Shane Acker’s short. Be sure to keep it here in the coming weeks for more with director/producer Timur Bekmambetov.

Director Timur Bekmambetov has found great success in both his own country and the U.S. His films, Nightwatch, Daywatch and Wanted show a decided flair for the dramatic and an aesthetic that’s both pleasing to the eye and filled with exceptional inventive style. He also knows his way around an action scene and isn’t afraid to get his characters into some tense, unusual and often deadly situations.

Recently, I had a chance to chat with Bekmambetov about several topics during Comic-Con in San Diego including the upcoming film 9, what’s going on with Wanted 2 and if he plans to bring Angelina Jolie’s character Fox back from the dead.

Check out part of that interview, where we walk Wanted 2, after the jump. Also, be sure to check back right here for the rest of the interview where we walk all about Shane Acker’s 9 and what movie Bekmambetov consider his ultimate dream project.