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‘The Vault’ & ‘Nonplayer’ Comics Start Their Journey To The Big Screen > The Playlist

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First up, GK Films continue their relationship with Johnny Depp (so far collaborating on “The Tourist,” “Rango,” “The Rum Diary” and “Dark Shadows”) teaming with actor’s Infinitum Nihil production shingle to pick up the movie rights to the comic “The Vault.” Written by Sam Sarkar, the underwater sci-fi tale (and no, we’re not talking about “Avatar 2”) follows “a group of divers who, off the coast of Nov Scotia, uncover a sarcophagus with unusual remains and inadvertently unleash an ancient evil.” Basically sounds like a mashup of “The Mummy” and “The Abyss” or something but yeah, the premise doesn’t thrill us just yet. The comic hit shelves last week and will run as a three issue mini-series. No writer has been announced, but we suppose it’s only a matter of time before Depp’s name is linked as a potential star.

Meanwhile, over at Warner Bros., they’ve picked up Nate Simpson‘s “Nonplayer” with ‘Harry Potter’ producer David Heyman teaming with Roy Lee to bring it to the big screen. Encouragingly, this story has centers on a female lead, Dana Stevens, “a brilliant young woman who retreats from the dismal workaday world of the future into the digital fantasy realm of Jarvath, where she’s a fearless warrior.” Granted, the story sounds a bit iffy, but Heyman is currently getting Alfonso Cuaron‘s “Gravity” off the ground (get it!?) and seems to have a taste for tales off the beaten path, so we remain intrigued. As for Roy, he’s one of the dudes behind that “Oldboy” remake that’s brewing, so these guys don’t mind taking risks. Like “The Vault,” there is no writer just yet.
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I've heard some really good stuff about Non-Player, but I don't know much about The Vault. Waiting for the first trade paperbacks.
 
‘Game Of Thrones’ & ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Helmer Brian Kirk May Take The Hammer Of ‘Thor 2’ > The Playlist

Brian Kirk, a television veteran who has been behind episodes of “Game Of Thrones” (geek cred!), “Boardwalk Empire” (arty cred!), “Luther” (Idris Elba cred!), “The Tudors” (costume drama cred!) is now in talks to wield the mighty hammer for “Thor 2.” It’s frankly an oddball choice considering his only feature effort to date is the religious drama “Middletown.” But apparently he won the gig for his ability to capably handle large, sprawling casts and certainly, with all the gods flying through “Thor,” that will be a skill any potential helmer will want to have.

So Marvel saves a few a bucks, Kirk gets his breakout shot and it’s win-win for everybody right? Sort of. “Thor 2” still has Don Payne of “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” fame writing the screenplay which doesn’t fill us with confidence. Let’s hope that he can retain the tone that made the admittedly uneven, but still enjoyable “Thor” some decent entertainment. Kirk is currently at work on the BBC mini-series “Great Expectations” with Ray Winstone and Gillian Anderson and once he wraps that he’ll head over to the superhero pic. “Thor 2” hits on July 26, 2013.
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Lance Henriksen To Write New Comic For Dark Horse Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors

Lance Henriksen of Aliens, Millennium and more is writing a new comic book with co-writer Joe Maddrey for Dark Horse.

He told Dread Central, ?Joe and I were approached by Dark Horse Comics during Comic Con to write a script for a new comic series so that?s pretty amazing. We?re going to start working on that very soon and I think it?s cool how our working relationship has evolved together over the years. Joe?s such a great guy and I can?t wait to see what happens with our script.?
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Womanthology: $100k may go to help start a new comics imprint ?|?The Beat

So when WOMANTHOLOGY, the all-woman anthology started by artist Renae De Liz raised an unprecedented $109,000 on Kickstarter — the biggest comics project ever and the 25th biggest overall –it was inevitable that people would be asking a lot of questions.
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Basically I’ll be working with publishers to create a CHANCE label. For instance if IDW were interested, the label would be “IDWchance” or if DC were interested it’d be “DCchance”. These are books that we and the companies hand pick, I pay for creation & printing, they are printed under that label, and upon seeing the sales of that issue the publisher can either then pick it up from there, or if not then the creative teams at least have an AWESOME book by a big publisher to help further their careers from there! Profits from that one issue would go back into the process to hopefully continue doing this for as long as possible.

This whole idea is centered on getting more creator owned books out there ( or maybe people that want to try their hand at already established characters!), giving creators chances to show the publishers what they’ve got. And of course it would be entirely equal between male & female creators! When you are someone with an idea that wants to create a comic, you are faced with either self publishing, which is incredibly expensive and tough to handle, or have the hope of a publisher picking the title up. However most publishers can’t afford to do that often, so I feel this is a way to bridge that gap! Even just for a few people, it would mean a lot.
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Sounds good to me.
 
"Tough Crowd" by VonToten



Click on image for hi-res version.
 
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Dr. Naysay said:
Just out of curiosity...

does Bill Watterson's position on licensing not dissuade you from posting or buying that at all?
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Being a heathen and all, I was unaware of the late and great Mr. Watterson's stance on the matter.:poster_oops: Still, I would like to think I didn't violate any of his moral codes despite pointing where such violations occur.:unsure:
 
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Ranma said:
Being a heathen and all, I was unaware the of late and great Mr. Watterson's stance on the matter.:poster_oops:
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Ah... strangely enough in my mind I was addressing my post to Jerseydevil. Weird.

Anyway... here's what Watterson has to say about it...

The Cheapening of the Comics

Bill Watterson said:
Some very good strips have been cheapened by licensing. Licensed products, of course, are incapable of capturing the subtleties of the original strip, and the merchandise can alter the public perception of the strip, especially when the merchandise is aimed at a younger audience than the strip is. The deeper concerns of some strips are ignored or condensed to fit the simple gag requirements of mugs and T-shirts.........

Licensing has made some cartoonists extremely wealthy, but at a considerable loss to the precious little world they created. I don't buy the argument that licensing can go at full throttle without affecting the strip. Licensing has become a monster. Cartoonists have not been very good at recognizing it, and the syndicates don't care.
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I always wonder what people who love Calvin and Hobbes and have created these, admittedly, adorable Calvin mash-ups would say if Watterson told them to knock it off. I don't know for a fact that he wouldn't enjoy them. He might very well find it encouraging that his work has inspired others.... but I don't know... somehow I doubt it....
 
Dr. Naysay said:
Ah... strangely enough in my mind I was addressing my post to Jerseydevil. Weird.
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What the HELL man???? I didn't even do anything. But now that you have dragged me into it I would say Watterson was an angry miserable crank somewhat akin to Alan Moore. Is he taking a subtle shot at Berkely Breathed with that old quote? Hey guess what, comic strips and the newspapers they were a part of ARE DEAD. I love every Bloom County/Outland coffee mug/shirt/xmas ornament that I have. They all serve to remind me the joy that those strips brought me. If you ask me I would figure if he were alive today he would sign any deal he could that would bring him cash, I can't imagine he wrote Calvin & Hobbes for free. Old dead cranky hypocrite. Blow me.
 
Uh... I don't think he's dead.

As for your Opus mugs and Bill the Cat t-shirts... I'm assuming that's somehow different than a live action Hong Kong Phooey remake right?
 
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