JMS SilverSurfer dead, thanks to FF2 flop

[The Nth Doctor]

Too bad. I love Silver Surfer and he was the only reason I bothered with the second Fantastic Four movie (still haven't seen the first and I never intend to). Of course, it turned out to be pretty crappy, but the Silver Surfer was the best part of the whole thing.

 

[DWF]

Aparently they're going to wait to see how the Wovlerine movie does before they decide to make the Silver Surfer movie.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=47177

As it's been reported, there's a script for a Silver Surfer movie, but Feige believes that Fox will wait and see how X-Men Origins: Wolverine does before committing.

 

[exodus]

I said it earlier, the Surfer has a great look but he's boring as hell. Too esoteric with his "power cosmic" shit.

I agree.

Silver Surfer wasn't even interesting enough to hold an aufience within his own cartoon.

BTW, The Incredible Hulk made the exact same amount as Ang Lee's version and as reported within the press, Marvel Studios is considering it a success because they had doubts fans would even return after the Lee's film. That's the reason why they cut out dialog that Norton had in favor of more action.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

Some Marvel news

http://www.examiner.com/x-18039-Cap...oss-to-rewrite-direct-SpiderMan-spinoff-Venom

Gary Ross will rewrite Columbia’s “Venom,” a “Spider-Man” spin-off, and will direct the film, according to “Variety.” Ross is currently rewriting “Spider-Man 4” for the studio

Fox has the same latitude with several Marvel characters it has used in movies, and scored a big hit with the spinoff "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." It is now moving ahead to spin off the character "Deadpool," played by Ryan Reynolds in "X-Men Origin; Wolverine" into his own movie.

Fox is also working on "Silver Surfer," a character which appeared in Fox's "Fantastic Four" sequel, and has announced plans to reboot the “Fantastic Four” movies. The situation is likely to spark aggressive movement on the part of any company which owns the rights to produce any Marvel adaptation.

seems like Fox is determined to keep Disney's hands away from whatever characters Fox already bought up

 

[Starbreaker]

(who the hell is Doug Jones?)

The gold standard in modelling character types like the Surfer (he's also the body of Abe Sapien in the Hellboy films, where David Hyde Pierce does the voice).

Jones actually provides the voice as well in Hellboy II.

 

[Myasishchev]

I always liked Norrin Radd. He's like a Zenn-Lavian combination of Jesus and Faust, and that's neat.

And we can't assume he has no dick--he demonstrably gets the heat.

Unfortunately, Rise of the Silver Surfer botched his heel face turn, the denouement of the Norrin Radd story, so any movie would either have to redo that well (and it's too soon), or have to focus as someone else said on the Zenn-Lavian aspect (which I think probably is more interesting anyway).

The second FF movie should've been about Namor, when you get right down to it. It's been ages since the undersea-dwellers have attempted to destroy the denizens of the surface world.

 

[Mutara Nebula 1967]

Not sad to hear this. His writing on Spider-Man made me let my subscription lapse after all those years. Worst take on the Webslinger....ever.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

It's an issue of return on investment. Fantastic Four made $330 million worldwide on a $100 million production budget. That's a great success and a fast-tracked sequel resulted. Fantastic Four 2 made $288 million worldwide on a $130 million production budget. That's profitable, but not profitable enough for a studio to make another sequel in most cases - especially since the studio likely sees the Silver Surfer as a major value add and probably thinks that if a sequel with both the FF and the Surfer declined in box office then a further sequel is likely to decline even more.

The studio really only gets like half of the money it makes. Maybe not 'half' exactly but somewhere around there. Lets say it is half... they made $144 million on a $130 million film. That's hardly worth it for the studio.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

I've a feeling J. Michael Straczynski's Silver Surfer script will continue lying on a shelf somewhere. I don't see many big movies with his name Surfer is there on imdb but so is "Forbidden Planet" both in development status. There is some "Zombie War" things and a B-movie "Ninja Assassin" which JMS spent 48 hrs co-writing so you can imagine how brief he was on details. J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Mighty “Thor” has finally come to an end and he's now switched companies and off doing Flash, Geen Lantern and Green Arrow stories for DC's Brave and Bold.

I always thought Fox approached Surfer wrong, it should have either been more stylish, apocalyptic and dark like watchmen or it should have been a fun action packed movie like the animated Incredibles. Whatever happened with these movies Fox really got it wrong. Fan 4 Director Akex Proyas said he would not work with the studio again. In regards to Galactus he says

‘This is such a f--king great story, why throw it away?’” Proyas wondered. “I think they messed it up.”

JMS has his own unique style in his tv shows, movies and comics, if he's pressured by studios he doesn't create so well but given space he creates a master piece. Perhaps Fox or Marvel wasn't not the place for him, JMS has always had a history with Warner Bros and maybe he would be best suited writing a script for a Wonder Woman or Green Lantern movie?

 

[Jan]

I've a feeling J. Michael Straczynski's Silver Surfer script will continue lying on a shelf somewhere. I don't see many big movies with his name Surfer is there on imdb but so is "Forbidden Planet" both in development status. There is some "Zombie War" things and a B-movie "Ninja Assassin" which JMS spent 48 hrs co-writing so you can imagine how brief he was on details. J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Mighty “Thor” has finally come to an end and he's now switched companies and off doing Flash, Geen Lantern and Green Arrow stories for DC's Brave and Bold.

I've posted a question to JMS on the moderated newsgroup asking if there's any movement he knows of or can discuss. Silver Surfer was showing on IMDBPro as being in 'Script' status for several months, then went to 'Development Unknown' July 1 and now is back to 'Script' status with a note: "In active development at Fox".

JMS has his own unique style in his tv shows, movies and comics, if he's pressured by studios he doesn't create so well but given space he creates a master piece. Perhaps Fox or Marvel wasn't not the place for him, JMS has always had a history with Warner Bros and maybe he would be best suited writing a script for a Wonder Woman or Green Lantern movie?

He's got a new TV show in development that's reputed to have been bought by Fox. He was with Marvel for seven years.

Warner Bros. is a disfunctional family at best, with each division in active competition with the other. JMS' history is with WB's TV division which might help him in dealing with the movie division but that's not a given.

Jan

 

[O'Dib]

One---He's on a surfboard but there's no water.
Two---he has no penis.

Why do we want a Silver Surfer movie?

True, Doctor Manhattan really has him beat in the dangling parts arena.

 

[dragunzng]

That's a shame, while FF2 was poor, I loved Jones and Fishbourne's performance as the Surfer.

 

[Jan]

JMS answered my question about his Silver Surfer script:

Nope. My guess is that since my draft was closely tied into FF2,
which is ancient now, they've struck off in a different direction.

jms

 

[od0_ital]

(who the hell is Doug Jones?)

The gold standard in modelling character types like the Surfer (he's also the body of Abe Sapien in the Hellboy films, where David Hyde Pierce does the voice).

He also played a couple of characters in Pan's Labyrinth, the main Gentleman in Buffy the Vampire Slayer 'Hush', and a couple of extra characters, includin' the Angel of Death in Hellboy II.

Call me biased if you will, but I think the Silver Surfer was the best thing about an otherwise lacklustre FF sequel. If anything, that film needed more cosmic grandeur, more gravitas...more of what the character provided.

Agreed - the Surfer was the best thing about the sequel.

(who the hell is Doug Jones?)

The gold standard in modelling character types like the Surfer (he's also the body of Abe Sapien in the Hellboy films, where David Hyde Pierce does the voice).

Actually, from what I've heard, DHP won't be voicing Abe in HBII:The Golden Army and instead Doug Jones will be providing the voice for Abe as he did in the Animated movies.

Doug Jones did the voice of Abe Sapien in the sequel AND the animated films. David Hyde-Pierce only did the voice in the first one and, accordin' to Jones himself (I know, 'cause I asked), it was part of the studio plan to market the film. They wanted to put three names above the title - Ron Perlman, Selma Blair & DHP. But DHP refused credit for the voice work he did, which is why there aren't any cast names above the title.

the good news is that maybe in 2 or three years they'll reboot it ala the incredible hulk - with a proper cast this time.

*Crosses Fingers.

Say what ya want about "a better cast," but I think Sam Elliot did a better job as Ross than William Hurt.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

'Silver Surfer' Movie's Not Dead, But Is J. Michael Straczynski Still Involved?
Splashpage MTV

The reports of the Silver Surfer's death are greatly exaggerated, according to screenwriter and comic book author J. Michael Straczynski.
In a recent interview, the "Ninja Assassin" scribe revealed that he wasn't sure what the status of the "Silver Surfer" movie was following the announced decision to reboot the "Fantastic Four" property. Now, Straczynski is clarifying his comments, beginning with the widespread reports that the "Silver Surfer" movie has been benched.
"When I was asked about the Silver Surfer script, I responded about the one I'd written around the time that ['Fantastic Four 2'] was launched, and was designed to pick up where that one left off," said the writer in an e-mail to IGN.

"When FF2 didn't do as well as hoped for, the script was set aside, but that has NOTHING to do with the Silver Surfer script that is NOW under development at Fox with other folks,"

JMS READS TREKBBS!?

he added.


"As far as I know, that is proceeding apace. So the hysteria that's gripped the nets about 'ohmygod the Surfer movie is dead!' is not correct, as I was again referring to only that one specific script tied into FF2, NOT what's being done now."


While "Surfer Surfer" might still be flying at Fox, it sounds as if Straczynski himself is no longer on board based on the "other folks" portion of his comments. Personally, I'll be pretty bummed if that's the case. Straczynski's science fiction sensibilities and his description of the project as "adult fare" had me pretty psyched for "Silver Surfer."
That's not to say that another writer couldn't tackle the material equally well, though I'm curious to see what the next step in the saga of the troubled "Silver Surfer" adaptation ends up being.

Surfer to survive as a silly cartoon?

"As the Squad's resident alien, the Surfer is a fish-out-of-water, constantly puzzled and amazed at the strange customs and culture of Earthlings. The Surfer, for all his innocence, is in hiding. Even as he learns more about this pleasant oasis called Earth, taking in its mountains, rivers and beaches (where hell be a sensation among the surfer dudes) hes worried that his presence may draw his former master, that world-devouring barrel of laughs called GALACTUS, into the fray, and possibly get the Earth eaten."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwbzdzbuxQY

 

[darkwing_duck1]

^We might not be saying that if FF2 wasn't a pile of crap and the SS represented therein wasn't a 2D robot. With more human casting (who the hell is Doug Jones?) and a more in depth look at his mythology and his ties with (a proper) Galactus, a Silver Surfer movie could have been great. But FF2 pretty much flushed that possibility down the toilet.

Silver Surfer isn't Wolverine or Superman, but he's certainly on par with the likes of Daredevil, Punisher, and Catwoman and they wasted the time making shitty movies about them.

You must have watched some other movie then, because F4 2 was a GREAT movie! It did respectable box office (made it's 2x budget requirement) and was well received outside of the tiny little circle-jerk of bitter Basherboys.

If you think that audiences would have been more receptive to a pink and purple Galactus with that rediculous Kirby headgear then you need to stop smoking the "funky tobacco", or whatever it is you're on.

FF2 was far from a flop it still made a profit before DVD sales were counted so I don't see why the movies or any spinoffs should be canned.

Well, because the studios' loss of interest in these projects is always something or someone else's fault.

It's FOX, Dennis...or as many many genre fans call it: FUX. Given their current day track record for screwing up sci-fi franchises, I don't see why the opinion of a Fox executive should carry ANY weight whatsoever...

Some Marvel news...

...seems like Fox is determined to keep Disney's hands away from whatever characters Fox already bought up

Fox Studioes needs to just go away and die already...

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

JMS and Marvel management had problems?

A Week of JMS: Day 3: MARVEL COMICS & THE TWELVE

Earlier this week Newsarama talked with writer J. Michael Straczynski about Superman: Earth One, Brave & The Bold and his other DC books. Now we turn to the site of his primary comics publisher for the past nine years: Marvel Comics. Although The Twelve is his only project with the House of Ideas as of press time, since 2001 he had been one of Marvel’s key writers with a six year run on Amazing Spider-Man and being part of the team that brought Thor into the upper echelon of comic sales charts for the first time in ages.After over a year of delays and unanswered questions, the twelve-issue miniseries The Twelve is back on track with the long-delayed ninth issue scheduled for release this spring. We continued our chat with Straczynski, talking about that series and it’s troubled past as well as the nature of Straczynski’s relationship with Marvel in the past few years.

Not sad to hear this. His writing on Spider-Man made me let my subscription lapse after all those years. Worst take on the Webslinger....ever.

check it


http://www.newsarama.com/comics/JMS-Week-MARVEL-100228.html

Nrama: With you now primarily working at DC and your relationship with Marvel not as huge as it once was, how would you describe that relationship now?

Though Joe Q. has not spoken a word to me since I offered a critical opinion about Spiderman: One More Day, the rest of the staff at Marvel could not be more welcoming or professional or friendly, especially [Marvel Publisher] Dan Buckley (who had to move into the position of my liaison once Joe put me in the cone of silence).

So what's the JMS JoeQ Spiderman controversy all about!?

Someone at Marvel decided Spiderman needed to hit the reset button, become more like Tobey shooting body fluids, become darker like Nolan's Batman with Black Cat getting raped.
Don't get me wrong I liked Tobey and I though Sam's movies were very good but messing with the canon that is Stan Lee, that always was gonna be controversial

Some comic fans say the whole past events have had both Joe and JMS pointing figures at each other saying "he did it". Trying to blame the other for the mess

Somebody either JoeQ or JMS or Marvel management decided Spiderman should be shaken up. So things did shake up! Norman Osborn (Gobbie) hired Mysterio, this mysterious dude fakes the Death of Harry Osborn so he can go do Europe and peacefully recover in hospital. BANG! heroes suddenly start infighting and bang goes the Civil War, Spider-Man is an Avenger, lives with Tony Stark, revealed himself as Peter Parker on national TV, and switched sides in the CivilWar. Then Tony Stark puts on this uber Ironman suit and beats Spider-Man around and Tony hires a Civil War goon squad to almost kill Spider-Man, then Spidey gets rescued by mass murdering lunatic called the Punisher.

Peter is on the FBI's most Most Wanted list. Then he and MJ and Aunt May go to a sleazy hotel and Kingpin's hitman blasts Aunt May in the guts. Aunt May is dying in hospital running up an astronomical medical bill. Peter and Mary Jane decide to fix this hospital bill by meeting up with Mephisto, the Devil of the Marvel. The uber demon, the devil himself of Marvelverse blanks everyone's memories of Spider-Man's secret ID and he also cancels everyone's memory of the Parker-Watson marriage. What else happens? Oh yeah the Sentry a shit Superman rip off with a bucket load of emotional problems. He wants to be Superman but this Sentry spends most of the day pissing his own pants which explains why his costume is yellow, when he does get his brain together he's Silver Age Superman...flying faster than light, catching bullets with his teeth, beating anyone...but overall the character sucks and this Superman clone is the complete and utter definition of FAIL that is the Marvel universe. What else? Skrulls, they invade, blast, clone, beat up every hero and human on Earth. Meanwhile, Norman Osborn the Green friggin Goblin comes in with this bigass Rambo gun, shoots the Skrulls back to whatshername the fuck planet they came from and all of a sudden Obsorb is Ironman, the Goblin is America's Idol. That sumed up is the entire mess hanging around in the background on Brand New Day/ One More Day?
Spider-Man messed up, got the Devil (Mephistopheles) to solve his problems and now the Devil owns Marvel.
and the Sentry and Green Goblin own the Avengers.

Sounds lame?

Damn right its lame

Where's the Silver Surfer? Thankfully he was on the other side of the Galaxy when all this was happening or he can be found in the toon SuperHeroSquad!

If you think that audiences would have been more receptive to a pink and purple Galactus with that rediculous Kirby headgear then you need to stop smoking the "funky tobacco", or whatever it is you're on.

I think a traditional Galactus can work

just needs the right team of prop makers and artists