Adaptations

Maple Pictures has exclusive Canadian distribution rights to George Clooney’s Men Who Stare at Goats.

Dark Tower Fans Will Have To Wait

Director Bruce McDonald on his adaptation of Tony Burgess’ novel Pontypool Changes Everything: "We thought of combining War of the Worlds done by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre in 1938 with some concepts from Tony's novel and make it a radio drama."…"It's a radio drama, and scary movies are often scariest in the moments where you don't see a monster. Sound and imagination are very potent in scary films, and we couldn't afford to go out and see the horrors, so we made the most of it by staying inside. The limitations of setting the story entirely inside a radio station set us free." In it a radio-show host (played by Stephen McHattie) who is stuck in his station while his small town is invaded by an alien human-altering (read: zombie) virus.

The rights to Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi’s serial killer thriller The Monster of Florence has been bought by Tom Cruise and United Artists. Chris McQuarrie will adapt the reconstruction of eight double homicides committed between 1968 and 1985. Cruise will decide if he will also star or only produce after he reads the script.

Jessica Alba will star in Marilyn Agrelo’s modern fable, based on Aimee Bender’s book, An Invisible Sign of My Own. Silverwood Films and iDeal Partnes Film Fund have made a financing deal, with Endeavor handling domestic rights and Kimmel Intl. the foreign.

Warner Brothers has the rights to Shawn Christensen’s scifi thriller Karma Coalition. It’s about “a falsely accused fugitive who embarks on a quest to uncover the truth behind his wife's death before the world comes to an end.”

Stephen J. Cannell confirmed the Greatest American Hero movie, "We've written a screenplay, and we've hired a director, and we're in the midst of putting this together for the future." He also says that original cast members Connie Sellecca, William Katt, and Robert Culpwill have “more than cameos: acting jobs." It “follows a man accused of brutally murdering his wife who is given a chance to save her by going back in time in one-hour increments.”

Universal and Sid and Marty Krofft have a deal for a live action movie based on ‘70s kids’ show Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. The Crofts and Mosaic will produce, and Dana Gould will write the script.

Evil Dead: The Musical in 3D will maybe start filming spring 2009, hopefully with the stage cast. Choreographer Hinto Battle, "There's not much to talk about now--we're still getting things in order--but it will be fun." Battle and co-creator Christopher Bond will co-direct.

Ayumi Tachihara’s comedy yakuza manga Gokudo no Shokutaku (Yakuza’s Dining Table) will be adapted into a movie. Ken Matsudaira will star as Raizo Kuji, a middle aged, divorced yakuza boss who is also a food connoisseur and takes night classes.

Scott Faye and 3D Realms are working on a Duke Nukem movie: “With the two new games coming out based on Duke Nukem, I’m working at establishing a Duke film scenario that will compel a studio to finance a feature version. Certainly, there’s a large audience that knows and loves this character.”