Marvel Comics Launches Television Division

Everything eventually loses steam, and I can’t help but wonder when Marvel will start to see greatly diminishing returns. There have been nearly a dozen feature films in the past ten years, Disney invested $4 billion to ensure we’d get more, and now comes news that the comic book titan will invade your TV.

The Hollywood Reporter says Marvel Television is the company’s latest venture, one no doubt sparked by the recent Disney agreement, so in tune with vertically integrating everything is the House of Mouse. In fact, a few weeks ago, it was announced that Marvel characters would have a permanent home in the Disney theme parks, which shouldn’t come as any great shock.

My initial thought was all the old Marvel cartoons and even the made-for-DVD animation we’ve seen recently, but apparently, live-action series are being discussed. And here’s where Marvel might find it has too much of a good thing.

Jeph Loeb, who used to executive produce Heroes, is running Marvel Television, and that kind of makes sense. He know TV, and even though he’s never written for Marvel and the company likes to elevate writers it’s familiar with, Heroes certainly paid an homage to superheroes, particularly X-Men. However, some early fans of Heroes don’t have many kind words to say about Loeb, so this announcement may not please them very much.

The interesting decision Disney has to make here is what characters go where. Obviously, Fox, Sony, and Paramount are bleeding dry the Spider-Man, X-Men, and Avengers universes. Do we develop shows based on characters that are really under the radar or does Disney kind of pull back on Marvel’s full-scale theatrical assault and save some of the good characters for the small screen?

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Hulu Coming To PlayStation Network ‘Soon’ - Maybe

Once again, Hulu is drawing some attention from a possible partnership with a video game console. According to a report by Bloomberg, Sony may be close to securing a deal to bring a Hulu subscription to the PlayStation Network. In fact, “the partnership could be announced as soon as next week.”

Weeks ago, Reuters ran a similar report, claiming Xbox 360 and iPad would also offer a premium Hulu service. However, these claims have not yet been fruitful. Considering the clamor for Hulu on multiple devices, these reports can be the result of wishful thinking — or Hulu is planning an aggressive multi-platform approach, not unlike Netflix.

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Image From ‘The Walking Dead’ TV Series

AMC, which is producing the TV adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, has released the first production still featuring the show’s zombies. Earlier this month AMC did issue a number of photos of make-up tests featuring the outstanding work of make-up master Greg Nicotero, but this is the first chance to see one of “the Walkers” in action (though she appears to be crawling in this scene).

Although movie adaptations are perceived as being sexier, it’s hard to argue that a property like The Walking Dead, which is firmly established in the comic market and breaking out in the bookstores, isn’t better served by a TV series, especially if it’s being overseen by Frank Darabont and produced by AMC (Mad Men). For one thing TV series, like comics are basically extended serial narratives. For another, a successful TV series can run for years exposing the property to millions of viewers, something that could really help an extensive series like The Walking Dead (the 12th volume is due out in July).

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Video - Frank Darabont Talks About THE WALKING DEAD TV Series

AMC’s Walking Dead series has officially begun production and information is slowly leaking onto the net. Right out of the gate we’ve got a video interview with producer Gale Anne Hurd and the writer/director bringing it to the screen, Frank Darabont. We’ve also got a few images of “the walkers” featuring some great zombie make-up (via: AITH).

Synopsis:
Police officer Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies.

Check out the images and watch the video interview after the break. Head to Quiet Earth to see the stills.

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AMC Orders Six Episodes Of ‘The Walking Dead’ Comic Book

AMC have today officially announced their order of a six-episode first season of The Walking Dead, adapted from Robert Kirkman’s comic book series. Frank Darabont is writing and directing, at the very least for the pilot episode, and that’s recommendation enough for me.

The series is set to premiere during AMC’s annual marathon of horror and thriller programming, which they’re now calling Fearfest. Seems like a solid launching pad… in fact, I imagine the unveiling of such a hotly anticipated series as this in the season will actually give the marathon a boost.

The press release also announced that Jon Bernthal has been cast as Officer Shane, a key player and best-friend of the protagonist, Office Rick Grimes. Not yet official, but already reported, is that Jonny Lee Miller is the current front runner for the role of Rick.

 

This casting is according to Bloody Disgusting. They describe the character as “a police officer who leads a group of zombie survivors in search of a safe place to live during the apocalypse”, which will do for now, and posted this excellent comparison between the Grimes of the comic and the real Miller. Read more

Netflix Streaming Through Your Wii - Coming Soon - Really

Here is a piece of news from the Netflix Blog…

Jessie Becker here from Marketing and we’ve got some great news to share. We are in the final phase of getting ready for the launch of streaming to Wii. Today, we shipped out instant streaming discs for the Wii to some of our Netflix members. Their feedback will ensure that we deliver a great experience to everyone when we launch. Instantly watching movies and TV episodes from Netflix via Wii will be available soon at no additional cost – all you need is a Netflix unlimited plan starting at $8.99 a month, a Wii console and a broadband Internet connection.

If you have reserved your disc already, you don’t need to do anything - we will send you an email as soon as we ship the disc. If you haven’t, reserve your disc today at www.netflix.com/Wii and stay tuned for a launch announcement!

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Bryan Singer To Reboot Battlestar Galactica?

Update by Editor Peter Sciretta: Entertainment Weekly has confirmed this report with Universal Pictures — Bryan Singer is signed on to direct a feature film version of Battlestar Galactica, which isn’t expected to be a continuation of the most recent Ron Moore Sci-Fi channel television show, but instead a complete re-imagining of the original 1970’s series. Original report follows below.

According to HitFix, Universal appear to be on the verge of engaging Bryan Singer to produce and also maybe direct a new Battlestar Galactica feature film. Quite a surprise, huh?

You may recall that before the Ron Moore TV series of recent years, Singer was working on a pilot for a reboot of the show himself (some Cylon concept art from their efforts is at the head of this post). That one was halted by in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001 after the Sci-Fi network became sensitive to similarities between the planned plot and real-life tragedy. Would Singer be looking to return to a similar storyline here? I think we can be pretty certain his film won’t be in any way tied into the recent series.

McWeeny is rather skeptical that Singer would sign up to direct a film based upon a premise still so fresh in the public consciousness, but I’m not so doubtful, personally. Would Universal really be the driving force here? I’d expect a conservative cautious studio to take some convincing that there was money here. Or maybe they just want some of that Star Trek dollar?

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LG Reveals HDTVs With ‘Vudu’ Service Built-In

LG is an old hand when it comes to flat screen TVs with High Definition capability, and it is nice to see them introduce yet another improvement to their new line up of HDTVs in order to go one up against other competing brands. This time round, the Korean consumer electronics giant has rolled out broadband-capable HDTVs that are able to access the instant high-definition (HD) movie service from VUDU Inc. The HDTVs that fall under this purview will include LG’s LH50 1080p LCD series and PS80 Plasma 1080p series, where they will be come with “NetCast Entertainment Access” from next month onwards. This unique partnership between both companies will see consumer obtain access to thousands of HD movies at the touch of a button without having to go through the usual motion of flipping through a catalog at a video store as of yore.

The VUDU service enables consumers to instantly buy or rent from an extensive library of movies and TV titles. This industry-leading catalog will comprise of over 2,000 high-definition movies, and best of all is, you don’t have to worry about forking out any more monthly fees. In addition, there is no need to purchase, install, or connect any additional hardware for you to get started. Consumers can easily enjoy movies in VUDU’s unique HDX format, with Full HD 1080p resolution, plus Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound to tickle their visual audio senses.

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Sean Bean Has Been Cast In HBO’s ‘A Game of Thrones’

Sean Bean famously played Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, so it seems natural for him to have been cast in the lead role of Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark in HBO’s upcoming adaptation of A Game of Thrones, the first book in George R.R. Martin’s Song of Fire and Ice series of fantasy novels.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tom McCarthy will direct from a script by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who are also executive-producing.

The trade paper also reported that Mark Addy is in final negotiations to join the production. Kit Harrington, Jack Gleeson and Harry Lloyd also have come aboard:

The books revolve around a battle among seven kingdoms and between two ruling families for control of the Iron Throne, the possession that ensures survival through a 40-year winter to come.

Bean will play Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark, known for his sense of honor and justice, who becomes closest adviser to King Robert (Addy).

Harrington will play Jon Snow, Bean’s bastard son, and Lloyd will play Viserys, a powerless ruler who seeks to marry off his sister to a powerful king. Gleeson will play Joffrey, King Robert’s son.

Peter Dinklage also is in the cast for the production, which is in the pilot stage and begins shooting in October in Ireland.

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Netflix Streaming Available Through Sony BRAVIA TVs

Netflix has made the migration as the world’s largest online movie rental service to your living room by partnering with Sony Electronics to enable Netflix subscribers to instantly watch movies streamed from Netflix on Sony’s BRAVIA Internet Video-capable HDTVs. Those who own older BRAVIA models can also use it with Sony’s BRAVIA Internet video link module.

Starting from the fall, Netflix members who are on an unlimited plan will be able to use the Sony BRAVIA Internet Video-capable HDTVs, letting them watch over 12,000 movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix. Netflix members will need to fork out a minimum of $8.99 monthly for unlimited streaming from their library.

Press Release

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