Legendary Pictures Launches Legendary Comics

Legendary Pictures, the studio responsible for recent films such as "Clash of the Titans," "The Dark Knight," "300" and "The Hangover," is following the trend (albeit it's reversed) of Disney and Warner Brothers by jumping into the comic market.

In a press release, the company announced the formation of Legendary Comics with acclaimed comic book editor Bob Schreck joining the fold as Editor-in-Chief. Schreck, most recently of IDW Publishing, will oversee the publisher's intention to "publish four to six graphic novels a year for both digital and traditional print distribution."

The first project is planned to land in the first half of 2011.

“Bob is an iconic editor and one of most highly-regarded curators and editors of comic culture in our industry. He is the perfect leader with the right balance of passion and editorial skills to spearhead Legendary Comics,” said Thomas Tull, the chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures. “Legendary Comics is committed to being a new home for groundbreaking artists and the characters and stories they create, in an art form we love.”

“Thomas and the Legendary team have a proven track record of cultivating talent and delivering unparalleled entertainment experiences, and I am looking forward to building Legendary Comics into a world-class label for the best writers and artists we know,” said Schreck. “We have a real opportunity to deliver hard-hitting characters and exciting, innovative storylines to comic book aficionados. We are in the fortunate position of already having major support from the community and collaborations lined up with world-class creators.”

via:  LA Times

Zach Synder (300 & WATCHMEN ) Officially Directing SUPERMAN Reboot

After weeks of recent speculation, Deadline.com reported Monday evening that Zack Snyder has been chosen by Warner Bros. to direct the next Superman film.

The Hollywood Reporter stated that negotiations began earlier today. Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, is a producer on Superman, and had reportedly been considering a list of candidates including Snyder, Tony Scott and Duncan Jones.

David S. Goyer, whose credits include Batman Begins and a long co-writing run on DC Comics title JSA, is writing the screenplay. Sources including The Hollywood Reporter say that General Zod, the main villain of 1980's Superman II, will play a role.

Darren Aronofsky was also among the list of directors considered; but it was reported last week that he's being targeted to direct a big-screen adaptation of DC/Vertigo's acclaimed mature reader series Preacher.

Snyder has directed two prior comic book adaptations: Frank Miller's 300 in 2007, and the 2009 adaptation of seminal DC miniseries Watchmen. His animated fantasy Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is now in theaters, with spring 2011's Sucker Punch his next project scheduled for release.

Source:  Newsarama

First Look at Frank Miller's 300 Prequel

Frank Miller is making making Xerxes, a graphic novel preview to 300.  The picture to the right is the title character; the comic will be a six-issues mini-series released by Dark Horse in 2011.

According to Topless Robot,  the story will be the same heft as 300 but it cover a much, much greater span of time -- it's 10 years, not three days," Miller told the Los Angeles Times this week. "This is a more complex story. The story is so much larger. The Spartans in 300 were being enclosed by the page as the world got smaller. This story has truly vast subjects. The Athenian naval fleet, for instance, is a massive artistic undertaking and it dwarfed by the Persian fleet, which is also shown in this story. The story has elements of espionage, too, and it's a sweeping tale with gods and warriors." He also said that while Xerxes is the title character, the protagonist is Themistocles, the famed Athenian politician and general.

Gfest doesn't know if this is going to be a really good story or really, really bad story.   Seems more designed for Hollywood than comic book fans but we'll reserve judgment since it's Frank Miller.