My new suit… of armor

Just leaked to the ‘net, the first glimpse of Iron Man in armor from the forthcoming movie.

Who Watches the Businessmen?

Or: “I get the joke, JJ Abrams, I’m just not laughing.”

Perhaps the best comic book ever written, the Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, has been in ‘development Hell’ for decades. At one point, Terry Gilliam was set to direct… that fell through.

For years the project has lain dormant, like a sleeping lamprey ready to strike.

And strike it has!

After a flurry of comic book movie hits, it was only a matter of time before someone remembered the Watchmen. Hidden in the trailer for the recent comic book hit Frank Miller’s 300 is a single glimpse featuring Rorsharch (a character created in homage to Steve Ditko’s Question). Director Zack Snyder (300) wanted to whet the appetite of fans as he sets his sites on producing the film that no one thought could be made.

To explain further why this is such a big deal, let’s look at the comic.

Or in this case, the collection (no one buys single comics anymore). Initially imagined as a 12 issue series using the newly acquired characters of Blue Beetle, The Question, Nightshade, Peacemaker, Captain Atom, and Peter Cannon-Thunderbolt, DC assigned Moore and Gibbons to create an attractive product. Gibbons had already made a name for himself working on the Green Lantern series and Alan Moore had just finished his still ground-breaking work on Swamp Thing. The last thing either of them wanted to do was a work-for-hire flash in the pan project.

The outline of the project was rejected for the characters as DC had decided to use them in other comics, but Moore and Gibbons were told to go forward with their own ideas… and their own characters. Thank goodness.

The Watchmen mini-series examined, for perhaps the first time, the psychology of the super-hero and what it would mean for them to exist in ‘our world.’ Not only that, but the panel layouts, architectural and thematic designs, and cover images spoke of a world that had not existed since Will Eisner had worked on the Spirit. The sequence of images and placement of text is so beautiful that you forget you’re reading a comic. Each page feels like a brand new art form.

This is not to say that impressive artful comics had not been done before the Watchmen or during the time the series came out (Hell, I was reading John Byrne’s Hulk, what do I know!?), but the series touched so many readers and continues to do so, in revealing the magical quality of comic book creation and sequential art.

So… they want to make it into a movie.

… huh.

That sound? It’s a million grown men squealing like little girls.

For years after Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s death, Paramount has tried passionately to make something of this franchise, with mixed results at best. Say what you will, but there’s no denying that the best Trek of all was done in the Original Star Trek Series and got progressively more watered down as time past through the celluloid.

Sure, we love Star Trek II: The Wrath of KHAN!!! and the the one with the whale… and maybe the the one where Patrick Stewart guns down robots but in all honesty, it’s seen better days.

Enter Lost and Alias creator JJ Abrams. His plan is to re-invigorate the franchise with that saving grace of all franchises, the PREQUEL. This can either kill Star Trek forever or give it that boost in the arm the economy, er, I mean Star Trek fans need.

Without a new series, things have gotten… weird.

Rumors abound on casting, which explains the bizarre image posted last week of Cillian Murphy as Mr. Spock. But there has been no official word yet.

Feel free to comment if you know something I don’t!

In any case, we won’t have to wait long. In the immortal words of Ross Perot, “Christmas Present coming up.”

Press release below:

02.27.2007
Christmas Day 2008 Release for “Star Trek XI”

The next motion picture of the Star Trek franchise, tentatively titled “Star Trek XI,” will begin filming this fall for theatrical release on Christmas Day 2008.

The official announcement was made today by Paramount Pictures. Last Friday J.J. Abrams, already announced as producer of the project, finalized a deal to also direct the movie (related story). The screenplay, which reportedly will be a prequel revolving around a young James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, has been written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who previously collaborated with Abrams on “Mission Impossible III.” Kurtzman and Orci will executive produce with Bryan Burk, and Abrams will produce along with Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof.

“If there’s something I’m dying to see, it’s the brilliance and optimism of [Gene] Roddenberry‘s world brought back to the big screen,” said Abrams. “Alex and Bob wrote an amazing script that embraces and respects Trek canon, but charts its own course. Our goal is to make a picture for everyone — life-long fans and the uninitiated. Needless to say, I am honored and excited to be part of this next chapter of Star Trek.”

Brad Grey, chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, said, “We could not be more thrilled to be back in business with J.J. Abrams. The revival of the Star Trek franchise is an important part of Paramount‘s turnaround.”

About Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global company that produces and distributes filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading entertainment content company with prominent and respected brands including Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks. The company’s labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, DreamWorks, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studios, and Worldwide Television Distribution.

Fact Sheet

“Star Trek” is one of the most popular film and television franchises of all time:

* 726 total episodes for television spanning six television series
* Original series, created by Gene Roddenberry, aired on NBC from 1966-1969
* 10 movies, grossing in total over $1 billion at the worldwide box office
* Hundreds of novels
* $3.5 billion in consumer products
* 3 million visitors of Las Vegas’s “Star Trek: The Experience” since 1998
* Over 60 interactive software products since 1991; games in production for current and next generation game platforms

J.J. Abrams is a talent widely admired by audiences and critics alike:

* Winner of two Emmy Awards for “Lost”
* 17 million viewers each week for “Lost”; a top-ten show
* Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the most exhilarating storytellers in television”
* Director of “Mission: Impossible III”
* Creator of “Alias” and “Felicity”

“Star Trek” has influenced the culture:

* NASA’s first test shuttle was named “Enterprise”
* The first commercial passenger carrier into space, Virgin Galactic, has announced that the first spacecraft of the line will be named V.S.S. Enterprise
* An episode of the original “Star Trek” featured television’s first interracial kiss
* Spock, portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, was named one of TV’s “50 Greatest Characters Ever” by TV Guide

I also spotted this story:

“Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the writers of the upcoming “Star Trek XI,” have described it as the most expensive, action-packed Trek film to date, reports IGN. Director J.J. Abrams seems to be in agreement. At the recent Cinequest Film Festival, he said he made up his mind to direct it when he saw how exciting the final script was.

“I can say that when the script came in, it was so well written, it was so emotional, it was fun, and big and I found myself unable to not direct it,” said Abrams. “I couldn’t give it up. I think it’s going to be great. If in my gut I felt there was nothing else to offer, I wouldn’t do it. It’s not a business decision, I would rather take no money and do something inspiring. I hope it ends up being both a really cool, original, emotional ride and comes from something that we’re familiar with.”

“And in an interview with Wired, Abrams described Trek XI as a “wild adventure”. Taken in combination with Orci and Kurtzman’s declaration that the film was a re-imagining of the original starship-based series, the picture is looking less and less like a Starfleet Academy origin story, and more like a revision of the first series’ original vision.”