Two alone Star Wars movies could see the return of a couple of fan favorites, SLUG zombies Series 5 and beyond, Guardians of the Galaxy news, Podcasts and more - all as featured in today's In Other News...
Podcasts
 | The Moderately Geeky crew talk Star Wars 6'' figures, new TMNT toys, the Captain Power revival and more in Episode 31 of the Modertately Geeky Podcast. |
 | Randy Bowen of Bowen Designs is the special guest over at Episode FIFTY (gratz!) of the Action Figure Blues Podcast. |
At this year's DICE conference in Las Vegas, JJ Abrams has revealed that he's actively seeking to develop movies based upon two of videogame developer Valve's hottest properties, Half-Life and Portal.
''It’s as real as anything in Hollywood ever gets. Which is that we are really talking to Valve, we are going to be bringing on a writer, we have a lot of very interesting ideas,” Abrams explained. ''We’ve had so many meetings and finally got to a point where we said, ‘We need to start making stuff.’ And so the ideas that we’ve had for games, the ideas they’ve had for turning Portal and Half-Life into a film, we just decided we actually have to start doing this stuff.''
I'm already seeing the pitches: ''Think Saw... but with teleportation'' and ''it's Die Hard... with aliens!''
The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark writer Lawrence Kasdan will team up with producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) to work on a new series of stand alone Star Wars movies. These new movies will stand outside of the new trilogy, ''derived from great Star Wars characters that are not part of the overall saga, so we still plan to make Star Wars VII, VIII and IX roughly over a six-year period of time starting in 2015. But there are going to be a few other films released in that period of time, too,'' according to Disney CEO Bob Iger.
According to Entertainment Weekly, a Boba Fett-centric tale and an ''origin story'' for the ''young Han Solo'' will be the first movies in this spin-off series, although they cautiously add that ''the deal could be altered further.''
According to Entertainment Weekly, a Boba Fett-centric tale and an ''origin story'' for the ''young Han Solo'' will be the first movies in this spin-off series, although they cautiously add that ''the deal could be altered further.''
Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel's space-based superhero flick, Guardians of the Galaxy, is steamrollering on with the announcement that the character of Star-Lord is to be portrayed by Parks and Recreation's Chris Pratt. But before you start thinking the movie is going to be filled with bacon and awkward silences, Pratt's most recent big screen role saw him hunting Osama Bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
In other Marvel movie news, Sony Pictures has released the official synopsis for the upcoming sequel to the Spider-Man reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
“In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy – between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen (Emma Stone), high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away – but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.
“The film is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & Jeff Pinkner, with a previous draft by James Vanderbilt, and based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are the producers.
“The film’s key behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Dan Mindel, production designer Mark Friedberg, editors Pietro Scalia and Elliot Graham, and costume designer Deborah L. Scott.
“The latest chapter in the Spider-Man story is set for release in 3D on May 2, 2014.”
H.U.S.T.L.E. Artist Series Wave 1
The HUSTLE Artist Series Wave 1 of bootleg/kitbash art toys is set to drop tomorrow, Friday the 8th of February at 9PM. So if you're in the mood for some mat-based mash-up madness be sure to check them out!
SLUG Zombies
JAKKS Pacific's SLUG Zombies was one of my favorite lines of 2012, so it came as a crushing disappointment to see the figures on clearance at the end of last year.
However, all may not be as gloomy as it seems, as during a search over at Entertainment Earth - a site that previously dropped all pre-orders beyond Series 4 - I discovered listings for a run of figures right up to Series 9. Now we can't confirm that the figures will still hit retail (or indeed that any pre-orders will be fulfilled) or if these are simply older entries in Entertainment Earth's listings that have not been purged but could this be a sign that there may still be life (or unlife) in the line yet? I certainly hope so.
Ben Spencer's Hippo Titan Soldier
Here's our first look at the upcoming Hippo Titan Soldier from Ben ''Galaxxor'' Spencer. We're really not sure what Ben has planned for this super-cute sculpt yet but we'll be sure to bring you more when we have it.
Hippo Titan!? I want one.
ReplyDeleteI know - it's so cool!
Delete