This came as a surprise, when the Hollywood Reporter announced 2007 Pulitzer prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire is in final negotiations to pen the fourth Spider-Man movie.  Or maybe it isn’t…

Columbia always has gone off the beaten path during the development process when hiring writers for the “Spider-Man” movies. Alvin Sargent, a veteran scribe best known for 1973’s “Paper Moon” and 1980’s “Ordinary People,” served as a writer on the second and third films. Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer winner, also worked on “Spider-Man 2.”

With the hiring of Lindsay-Abaire, hopefully Marvel and Columbia will focus more on character development than dance numbers.  Also, it will be refreshing to not have Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane.

via THR

Even though we won’t be seeing Preacher on HBO, Preacher will see his day in the movie theaters thanks to Columbia Pictures striking a deal with Vertigo.  As exciting as this news might be, this is only a purchase of the rights.  While Sam Mendes has been hired to direct the adaptation, no writers have been hired to pen the adaptation.

On the plus side, Sam Mendes did direct Road to Perdition, so there is hope this could turn into a really great movie.  Also on the plus side are producers Neal Moritz and Jason Netter who are also working to adapt Garth Ennis’ The Boys, also for Columbia.

via THR

According to a news report in Variety, Columbia Pictures has tapped Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky to write a script to re-unite the original cast (and possibly a new group of ghost busters) in an all new theatrical release.

The scribes just wrote “Year One,” a comedy that was directed by Ramis. Ramis with Aykroyd wrote the first two installments of the films. Ivan Reitman directed both the 1984 original and the sequel that was released in 1989. The close proximity between the writers and original Ghostbuster Ramis is evidence that the ghost chasers have sparked to the idea of returning.

Certainly egoes, money, and who gets what of the gross will hold the movie back, and who knows if everyone on the cast is even interested in joining the team.

via Variety

Oh, and ladies, if you are looking for a costume for this Halloween…

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Garth Ennis’ The Boys series, once at DC, but now residing at Dynamite Entertainment, is heading to the big screen in an adaptation by scribes Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay.

Columbia Pictures’ Original Films will produce the adaptation that follows the boys, who are tasked with keeping superheroes in line.

With all the press The Boys has received, the only way to make this a successful adaptation, to satisfy and anger crowds everywhere, is to approach this project with a hard R or NC-17 rating in mind.  I wonder if they will try and get Simon Pegg to star in the film?

via THR

Variety has reported that Avi and Ari Arad are set to produce the young adult novel series Maximum Ride for Columbia Pictures.

The protags are six children who have been genetically altered to be 98% human and 2% bird. The kids, who are bred to fly, escape a lab-rat existence and are then pursued by their scientist creators, who send a pack of part-human part-wolves called Erasers to hunt them down.

If this series seems new to you, then you are behind the times, my dear Harry Potter fan, Maximum Ride has four books under its belt, with the fifth installment hitting book stores next year.

Don Payne (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and My Super Ex-Girlfriend) will be adapting the James Patterson novels for the screen.

via Variety

At the Superbad Panel at “the con” Seth Rogen stated the Green Hornet movie he and fellow scribe Evan Goldberg were working on would be an action movie and not a comedy.

Be that as it may, with Rogen set to star in the movie, I really wonder how people will take the film seriously. It’s kind of like Jack Black playing Green Lantern.

Columbia Pictures is expecting a summer 2009 release for the film.

Unfortunately it isn’t another Indiana Jones movie, but Columbia Pictures has acquired the rights to The Ark graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics. The script will be written by Mark Verheiden with Neal Moritz and Mike Richardson will produce.

The Ark is a retelling of the biblical story but with UFOs thrown in to make it interesting.

If Verheiden and Moritz sound familiar they should, they have produced a slew of comic movies including Time Cop and The Mask. Moritz is currently developing The Green Hornet movie and I Am Legend, while Richardson is the producer for Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and executive producer for 30 Days of Night.

If you are going to do comic book adaptations, these two understand the frustrations of translating one form of art to another.

via Hollywood Reporter

Wow!  The Green Hornet movie is getting closer and closer to completion.  Columbia Pictures has optioned the rights to the crime fighter.  While an option is no guarantee a movie will be made, the company says Neal Moritz will produce.

Columbia optioned the rights to The Green Hornet from Moritz who acquired the rights from Green Hornet Inc. Commenting on the announcement, Moritz said, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be developing this world renowned property with the people who brought Spider-Man to the screen. I can’t imagine a studio better equipped or more prepared to handle this kind of material than Sony. With the radio show, television program, comic books, and novels, there is ample source material to bring this classic crime-fighter to life.”

Columbia President of Production Matt Tolmach said the studio has a lot of passion and commitment to the character.  I know several other studios that have made the same comment about other comic properties, that have lead to less than stellar results.

via Superhero Hype! (link)

As a kid I had a collection of old time radio programs that included an episode of The Shadow.  I loved that episode and listened to the tape again and again until I knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men, and until the tape wore out from too much use.  When I started reading comics heavily in the 80s, the 3rd and 4th series of The Shadow was at the top of my list of issues to buy.

Walter Gibson was hired by Street and Smith in the 1930s to write two novel length stories of the dark crime fighter each month.  The stories of the noir crime fighter continued for nearly 20 years.  Since the creation, the Shadow has appeared on radio, magazines, comics, and film.

When the 1994 Alec Baldwin adaptation of The Shadow came out, I was thrilled with the results, even though the movie didn’t break even, dashing my hopes of seeing a sequel, until today…

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