Author Archives: Candace Ramirez

About Candace Ramirez

"Sun is bad for you. Everything our parents said was good is bad. Sun, milk, red meat... college." -Woody Allen Accomplished wearer of dresses.

Outlander Book Series To Get Own TV Series

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Sony Pictures TV announced their plans to adapt Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling fantasy/romance/adventure book series “Outlander” for television. Ron Moore, developer/executive producer of the popular series “Battlestar Galactica,” will write the adaptation, and Jim Kohlberg’s Story Mining and Supply Co. will produce.

The project will be taken to cable networks this week, according to Deadline.com.

The story begins in 1945, and boasts the provocative tagline, “Claire Randall is leading a double life. She has a husband in one century, and a lover in another….”

The series includes seven books, and has sold more than 20 million copies. The eighth installment will be released next year.

Gabaldon has amassed a passionate fan following, with multiple companies offering “Jamie and Claire” tours of Scotland, during which fans visit locations from the books.

You can read the official plot summary for “Outlander” below:

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon–when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord…1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire’s destiny in soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life …and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire…and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.”

Molly Quinn To Voice Supergirl

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Molly Quinn, of “Castle” fame, will voice Supergirl in the upcoming DC Comics film adaptation of “Superman: Brainiac.” According to TV Guide, despite not having a booth, the 18-year-old actress headed down to San Diego ComicCon to announce her new project.

“I’m so excited to be a part of the DC family, not to mention helping Superman fight crime,” Quinn said. “Yes! I am Supergirl!”

Quinn will be the second actress to play the role since Nicholle Tom stopped voicing the character in 2006. Tom had been voicing the animated Supergirl since the character debuted in “Superman: The Animated Series” in 1998.Interestingly, Tom also had a guest spot on Castle a few years back.

The film will be produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, and will be based on Action Comics #866-870. The story, collected in the graphic novel “Superman: Brainiac,” features the first post-Infinite Crisis appearance of Brainiac, and includes the death of Superman’s adopted father, Jonathan Kent.

This isn’t Brainiac’s first title role in a DC film. In 2006’s “Superman: Brainiac Attacks,” he was voiced by Lance Henriksen. No word on who will be voicing the character in the upcoming film.

This looks to be DC’s first project after they finish a 2-part The Dark Knight Returns adaptation, currently planned for a Fall 2012 release.

“Superman: Braniac” will be released in 2013.

Sleeping Beauty To Become A Pesky Stalker

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This is the Sleeping Beauty you probably remember. It’s not going to be anything like this. 

Fresh on the heels of two Snow White adaptations this year alone (Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman), another classic fairy tale is getting the big-screen makeover. Neal Moritz, producer of 21 Jump Street, is developing a new take on the old story of Sleeping Beauty. 

Keeping up with the idea of edgy remakes, Moritz’s Sleeping Beauty, which is set to be released in 2014, will take some liberties with the typical charming princess character, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Instead, Aurora will be portrayed as a “pesky stalker.”

The new version of the Brothers Grimm story will be a “modern-day retelling” in which the male lead accidentally awakens the princess, who then becomes lovestruck and stalks him. You may remember watching the original film adaptation created by Disney, in which the princess in cursed by the evil seen Maleficent into a perpetually sleep until a kiss awakes her, complete with songs and happy endings. Though, it doesn’t seem Moritz new retelling will go in this direction.

The film will be a comedy, according to AceShowbiz, and Moritz will produce through his Original Film banner.

However, the project does not yet have a studio.

Moritz’s Sleeping Beauty should not be confused with the currently in production film Maleficent, starring Angelina Joli, another retelling of the same fairytale from the point of view of the evil queen.

The Devil’s Knot Begins Principal Photography

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Atom Egoyan’s The Devil’s Knot has announced that the project has begun its principal photography in Atlanta, Georgia.

The film, which stars Academy Award winners Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon, is a biopic based on the 2002 bestselling book entitled, “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three” written by investigative journalist Mara Leveritt.

The Devil’s Knot film adaptation will tell the story of the murders of three young children that sparked a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a satanic ritual. The accused killers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, were believed to have been arrested as a result of “Satanic panic” rather than actual evidence, according the author’s assertion.

The tale of the killers, known to the world as The West Memphis Three overtook headlines for months leading up to and after their arrest. Since then, they have periodically appeared in the news with new evidence. The trial recently made headlines when the defendants were released in Aug. 2011 after 18 years in prison, due to new evidence uncovered by the defense.

Aside from Firth and Witherspoon, the cast includes Alessandro Nivola (Coco Before Chanel, Junebug), Stephen Moyer (True Blood), Amy Ryan (Win Win, Gone Baby Gone), Matt Letscher (Scandal), Michael Gladis (Mad Men), Rex Linn (Appaloosa), Mireille Enos (The Killing, Gangster Squad), Dane DeHaan (Lawless Chronicle) and Bruce Greenwood (The Place Beyond the Pines, Star Trek).

The Walking Dead 100th Comic Issue Becomes Best Seller

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Robert Kirkman has a lot to be proud of. He has a hit comic book series that has entranced fans as well as a hit television show based on his work, and most recently two different video games inspired by the world he created. However, he has even more to brag about as his 100th issue of The Walking Dead comic book series has become the best-selling comic of the 21st century according to Image Comics.

The issue has already sold out of its initial order of 383,612 copies.

Part of the reason for the higher-than-usual sales could be, as the New York Times pointed out, that fans and collectors flock toward milestone issues, such as number 100 in a series, as well as issues with multiple covers. The 100th issue released a total of nine different covers, which fans flocked to collect.

Another big draw was likely the expectation that something particularly big might happen in the storyline. (It did, but we won’t spoil it for you here.)

The comic book series has also had other awards including receiving the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series at San Diego Comic-Con International.

The massively popular AMC television series probably didn’t hurt sales either. Season three of the series is set to begin on Oct. 14.

Additional Footage To Be Shot for The Hobbit

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Director Peter Jackson may be looking to shoot additional material for The Hobbit, according to ComingSoon. The filmmaker is not only relying on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels for source material.

While Jackson said nothing is confirmed, he added that there is always a possibility.

“It’s very premature,” he said. “I mean we have an incredible source material with the appendices because The Hobbit is obviously a novel, but we also have the rights to use this 125-pages of additional notes where Tolkien expanded the world of The Hobbit, published at the end of Return of the King, and we’ve used some of it so far.”

Jackson said that as his crew began wrapping up shooting and thinking about the shape of the story, he began thinking about doing more.

“Fran and I have been talking to the studio about other things we haven’t been able to shoot and seeing if we persuade them to do a few more weeks of shooting– probably more than a few weeks actually, next year.”

Jackson said he doesn’t want The Hobbit to be a kid film, but one that fits into the Lord of the Rings universe and feels the same. Discussions are still in the early stages, but Jackson said he would like to be able to tell the other parts of the sprawling story.

He has already used more source material than just The Hobbit. When Gandalf disappears without explanation for multiple chapters in The Hobbit, Jackson turned to the appendices where Tolkien later explained the absence.

“It was all together a lot darker and more serious than what is written in The Hobbit,” Jackson said. “And also to be honest, I want to make a series of movies that run together so if any crazy lunatic wants to watch them all in a row, there will be a consistency to it, a consistency of tone.”

Jackson said he did not want to make a children’s story to lead into The Lord of the Rings, so the material from the appendices provides balance to the film’s tone.

“I mean a lot of the comedy and the charm comes from the characters,” Jackson said. “You’re dealing with Bilbo Baggins who is a bit more reluctant to go on an adventure than Frodo was, and with Dwarves who have a personality and camaraderie all of their own, so there’s a lot of humor, but there are still some serious themes involved.”

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will open in theaters Dec. 14.

The Marvel Studios Comic-Con Panel Announces Big News

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The Marvel Studios Comic-Con panel got off to a big start this weekend when they announced the full titles for the upcoming Thor and Captain America sequels, and showed concept art for Guardians of the Galaxy.

They also announced the team for the planned Marvel Studios movie, as well as showing Edgar Wright’s test footage for Ant-Man.

The Thor sequel will be called Thor: The Dark World. Captain America’s sequel will be called Captain America: The Winter Soldier. After unveiling some concept art, the panel announced the team that will appear in Guardians of the Galaxy: Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Rocket Racoon and Gamorra.

This is essentially the same line-up as the group that will appear in Marvel Comics’ Avengers Assemble, according to ComingSoon. Wright then came on stage to show test footage he had filmed for the upcoming film Ant-Man, though the film has not yet been cast.

ComingSoon is keeping a live blog of Marvel’s actions at Comic-Con. To follow the updates, click here.

New Details Released On Walking Dead Video Game

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The Walking Dead: Video Game creators have released the first details about the new game.

Angel Gonzalez, creative lead for the project, said the developers wanted to portray the Walkers from the series as closely as possible, including the way they react to sound and smell, according to Digital Spy.

“When referencing the show, one of the things that stood out to us was how the Walkers reacted to sound; they were suspicious of gunfire,” Gonzalez said. “Seeming to know that only humans were able to wield weapons, the Walkers instinctively moved toward the sounds people made. They are also attracted to other sounds, so someone moving through that world needs to be aware of the amount and type of noise they make at all times.”

The developers are creating the games Walkers the same way, so players will have to be careful, quiet and sneaky to avoid confrontations during gameplay.

“If you show up with guns blazing, you’ll quickly find yourself dealing with a much larger crowd and you could easily be overwhelmed,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez also said players will give off a greater scent and attract more Walkers by staying in one place for too long, keeping true to the story that Walkers can identify the living by their sense of smell.

“Humans give off a scent that the Walkers can detect, and the longer we stand still (like when we are looking at a shelf for supplies) the larger the radius of that scent becomes. Stand still for too long and a Walker shambling down the street looking for a meal might just discover you standing inside a store,” Gonzalez said.

Activision announced the new title last week, stating that it will be a first-person shooter based on the AMC television series.

The game’s story will take place prior to the events in the show, and it centers on Daryl Dixon and his brother Merle as they fight their way across the Georgia countryside to reach Atlanta.

Terminal Reality (Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Kinect Star Wars) is developing the game.

It will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC sometime in 2013.

My Friend Dahmer Is heading To The Big Screen

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Two-time Eisner award nominee Derf Backderf’s autobiographical graphic novel “My Friend Dahmer” is getting a big screen adaptation.

The story follows Jeffrey Dahmer from age 12 right up to the day he kills his first victim, two weeks after his high school graduation.

Ibid Filmworks partners Marc Meyers and Jody Girgenti will produce.

According to a press release about the film, the story is set in the bizarre world of 1970s suburbia.

From the release:

“Jeff Dahmer, a troubled teenager, descends into darkness as his divorcing parents, high school teachers and peers stand by and do nothing. Told through the eyes of his friend Derf, this is a touching, realistic look at some oddball teens trying to find their identities in the tumultuous 1970’s.”

There are macabre elements to the story, but the release states it will be more of a coming-of-age story of “teenagers teetering on the abyss” than a horror film.

The film is described as Welcome to the Dollhouse meets Dazed and Confused by way of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

Indie publisher Abrams ComicArts released the critically acclaimed bestseller in March. The book recalls Dahmer’s “isolation, binge drinking, bizarre behavior to get attention, and his disturbing fascination with roadkill.”

Backderf and his friends created the Dahmer Fan Club and encouraged Dahmer to act out, including fake epileptic fits and his imitation of a cerebral palsy victim, according to the release.

No word has been released yet on who will portray Dahmer in the upcoming film, though the role carries potential star-making power.

The last actor to portray Dahmer in film was Jeremy Renner in 2002’s Dahmer, a role that won him an Independent Spirit Award nomination, and helped launch his career.

Check back for more details as they are released.

New Batman Action Figures Revealed For Dark Knight Rises

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The Dark Knight Rises opens in theaters on July 20 in about 18 countries worldwide, and another 38 markets the following weekend, according to Variety.com.

WB has upped the amount of screens they’re putting the film on by about 4,000 over 2008’s The Dark Knight, according to ComingSoon.

The new film will be played on about 15,000 screens overseas, which ComingSoon reported isn’t the biggest overseas opening, but still sizable.

In promotional news for the film, Hot Toys unveiled a Dark Knight Rises action figure. It comes with multiple accessories, faces and hands that are interchangeable.

The figure can also be placed on a Batpod or in a new vehicle called The Bat (sold separately).

To see the new toy, check out the photos below:

 

Editor’s note: I find the above toy incredibly creepy and Patrick Bateman-esque. Anyone else feel this way?