‘Preacher,’ Samuel L. Jackson, ‘Twilight’ and Dr. Who in Everyday Hero headlines
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Today’s handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe...
Sam Mendes is finding religion, Garth Ennis-style. Mendes, the director of ‘The Road to Perdition,’ is again turning to comics for subject matter with the announcment that he will adapt the harrowing Ennis epic ‘Preacher’ to the screen. Tatiana Siegel has the trades announcement story: ‘Sam Mendes will direct a bigscreen adaptation of the supernatural graphic novel ‘Preacher’ for Columbia Pictures.
Created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, graphic novel focuses on the preacher of a Texas town, who is struggling to get by and is driven only by his strong moral sense. When the city is decimated by an otherworldly force, he embarks on a journey across the country to take on the evil. Supernatural project is a departure for Mendes, who is best known for tackling suburban angst in such films as ‘American Beauty’ and the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio-Kate Winslet starrer ‘Revolutionary Road.’’ [Variety]
Who’s ‘Who’?: The great debate has already started about who should take over the TARDIS now that David Tennant has officially announced his upcoming retirement from the Doctor Who role. Aubry D’Arminio weighs in with a few suggestions, among them Jason O’Mara (left), who is absolutely great is ‘Life on Mars.’ ‘If I could cast my dream 11th Doctor, I’d go with either blondie Marc Warren (‘Hustle,’ ‘State of Play’) or scene-stealing Jason O’Mara (who currently rocks the U.S. ‘Life on Mars’). I know, I know, Warren’s been on the show before, but that hasn’t stopped David Morrisey and John Simm from being named as possible successors to Tennant’s TARDIS throne. And if O’Mara’s up for a little work during his summer break from ‘Mars’ -- that’s if poor, underrated ‘Mars’ is even still around -- I’d love to hear his real Irish accent more often.’ [Bits and Bobs blog, Entertainment Weekly]
Dragon reborn: Samuel L. Jackson will be the bad guy again, this time in a remake of Berry Gordy’s 1985 cult classic ‘The Last Dragon.’ Leslie Simmons has the trades announcement: ‘Jackson will play Sho’nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, a role played in the original by the late Julius Carry, whose spiel included asking ego-driven questions like ‘Am I the baddest mofo lowdown around this town?’ Each time his gang of thugs answered, ‘Sho’nuff!’ Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and Gordy’s son Kerry Gordy are producing. Penning the screenplay as well as producing is Dallas Jackson, who heads up the urban family label DJ Classicz with Davis. Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA is co-producing. The updated plot will be along the same lines of the original, centering on young martial arts student Leroy Green in his quest through the streets of New York to achieve the highest level of martial arts accomplishment, known as the Last Dragon. Those who achieve the high ranking possess the Glow, making them the greatest fighter alive.’ [Hollywood Reporter]
A Super trilogy?: Mark Millar (‘Wanted’) is talking again about his hopes to give Superman the ‘Lord of the Rings’ treatment. He told Dan Goodswen about his trilogy ambition ... including the final scene? Gee, Mark, thanks for spoiling it before you even make it. “It’s gonna be like Michael Corleone in the ‘Godfather’ films, the entire story from beginning to end, you see where he starts, how he becomes who he becomes, and where that takes him. ‘The Dark Knight’ showed you can take a comic book property and make a serious film, and I think the studios are ready to listen to bigger ideas now. ... I want to start on Krypton, a thousand years ago, and end with Superman alone on planet Earth, the last being left on the planet, as the yellow sun turns red and starts to supernova, and he loses his powers.’ [Empire]
To die for: The question every cast member of ‘Twilight’ will be asked a million times: Did you read the books? Denise Martin put the question to Edi Gathegi, who portrays Laurent, and it turns out that he is waaay into the books. Maybe, um, even a little too much? You judge: ‘I’ve read them all. ‘Breaking Dawn’? I finished that in two days. I have to tell you, every time I finished one of them, a little piece of me died. I’d become invested in that world. I really felt sad. After the fourth one, I was like, ‘What am I going to do with my life?’’ [Entertainment News and Buzz blog, Los Angeles Times)
Credits: ‘Preacher’ cover courtesy of Vertigo/DC Comics. Jason O’Mara photograph by Vivan Zink and courtesy of ABC. Samuel L. Jackson photo by Peter Kramer/Associated Press. Edi Gathegi photo from WireImage.