Tuesday 28 June 2011

Hollywood Babble On & On #756: Random Drippings From My Brain Pan...

Just some random news bits...

BIG DEAL NEWS...

Open Road, the distributor founded by the AMC & Regal theater chains, is taking another big step in showing the world that they're serious about the movie biz. They've just inked a rental/streaming video deal with Netflix, starting with their first release The Killer Elite.

Good luck to them, I hope they give the big boys a run for their money.

BAD DEAL NEWS...

Stan Lee's Pow Entertainment is putting together a new consortium, this time called Magic Storm Entertainment, to finance new film franchises based on Stan Lee's new superhero ideas, and they're going to be specifically targeting China as a key market.

What does this tell us?

1. It doesn't matter if you hadn't had a successful or even appealing idea since the death of disco, you can still suck the life out of the legacy you created decades earlier. Especially if that legacy involved the creative talents of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others, who are now looking more important than ever.

2. China will now see all new superhero characters loosely based on the menu at Stan Lee's favorite restaurant. I myself can't wait for General Tao to dispense hot spicy justice against the sinister Egg Roller.

3. Investors can't do any research, because how could they possibly go into business with people that thought
Stripperella and The Governator were good superhero franchises.

GOOD COMICS NEWS...

Frank Miller's long awaited anti-terrorism comic book
Holy Terror is finally coming out, thanks to the new Legendary Comics company, founded by indie financier Legendary Pictures.

In case you haven't heard of this long gestating project, it started as Frank Miller's response to the 9/11/2001 terror attacks. The original idea was for Batman to go after Al Qaeda with a vengeance. Now for a long time the project disappeared into the mists of controversy. Some said DC didn't want to ruffle any politically correct feathers, some say that Miller wasn't happy with the limitations that come from having Batman in the lead role, but all that doesn't really matter anymore.

The situation and the main character changed, from DC's Batman, to Frank Miller's new creation The Fixer.

Their next project will be a Fixer / General Tao crossover with Stan Lee.

3 comments:

  1. I m waiting for the news of Stan Lee getting arrested or at least sued for ripping off billionares.

    If Stan can do this, maybe I can get investors to throw money at "ASSWORLDS: The world inside your ASS" Which is probably where Stan Lee is getting these ideas from.

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  2. The companies he starts usually end in a puff of allegation and litigation, but it doesn't seem to stop him. There seems to be an endless supply of money people who still think he's somehow relevant because he was during the 1960s.

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  3. But as you point out, perhaps there never was a Stan Lee - perhaps there was only a parasite living off the deeds of Ditko & co.

    A situation which is similar to that which RedLetterMedia has posited about George Lucas - i.e., maybe he never was any good in the first place. Take away the people who had the power to say "no" and you end up with Jar Jar.

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