Underworld Director Tackles Shrapnel

Len Wiseman, the man behind the latest Die Hard and the Underworld films is tackling the film adaptation of Radical’s sci-fi epic, Shrapnel. Press release below.

Shrapnel #1Radical Publishing is proud to announce that Len Wiseman, director of Live Free or Die Hard and co-creator, director and producer of the Underworld franchise has signed on to develop and direct the motion picture adaption of Radical Publishing’s Shrapnel.

Co-created by Zombie Studios’ CEO Mark Long and science fiction novelist Nick Sagan, Shrapnel is an epic 3-part miniseries that unfolds in a dystopian future in which imperialism has laid siege to the Solar System and Venus stands as the last free colony of humanity. Caught in the middle of this interplanetary war is Samantha “Sam” Vijaya, a soldier in self-imposed exile recovering from her service in the military. When the battle once again crashes into Sam’s life, she must choose to either remain on the sidelines and watch a colony’s destruction, or risk her physical and psychological well-being to intervene. The first story arc revolves around Venus, while the second arc rages across Mars and the final climax carries over onto Earth itself.

“I’m really drawn to the reluctant-hero story.” said Wiseman, who noted that the last hero he directed, John McClaine in Live Free or Die Hard, fit that archetypal mold.

“Shrapnel is a story about making choices and rising to the occasion.” stated Radical’s President and Publisher Barry Levine. “I enjoyed it so much that I made this Radical’s biggest commitment to date. Len was my top choice for adapting this perfect balance of action and drama and I’m glad to have him on board.”

Developed as a live action film with possible 3-D approach, Shrapnel will be produced by Barry Levine, Len Wiseman and Mark Gordon with Radical’s Executive Vice-President Jesse Berger, Mark Long and Josh McLaughlin of Gordon Co. attached as executive producers. A video game version of Shrapnel, developed by Zombie Studios, is set for release in the near future.

Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising Trade Paperback, which collects the first miniseries of the Shrapnel universe, goes on sale August 19th.

Green Lantern: First Flight Preview

DC’s latest animated film debuts on July 28 on DVD, Blu-Ray and On Demand, and below is a sneak peek at the film, starring Hal Jordan and Sinestro. Looks good.

Preview Night At Comic-Con 2009

I didn’t go to Preview night last year as I arrived on the Wednesday from Perth and was far too wrecked. This year I came a day early, so went to the traditional Wednesday night opener. The first thing I noticed was the wait for the shuttle bus. What should’ve been 30 minutes turned into a 2 hour sojourn, but everyone in the queue was chatty and patient. It was rush hour after all, and the trip back was far quicker. The line to pick up the badge was extremely shorter than last year and I hardly stood there for more than a few minutes.

The crowds were almost as packed as they will be tomorrow, and not every exhibitor was open, but it was a good chance to grab a bunch of freebies, though I could’ve taken  a lot more, but I don’t have any use for oversized bags, posters, flyers or comics I won’t read. Marvel’s display was impressive, with 4 Iron Man movie suits including the slightly changed version from next year’s sequel. Rob Liefeld and the exclusive Green Lantern figures had the longest queues. Tyrese Gibson was signing copies of his new Image series, Mayhem! and wasn’t letting anyone take photos. DC had a playable demo of the upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum. New trailers for Imagi’s CG Astro Boy and Gatchaman (otherwise known as G-Force) films were amazing and elicited a few excited whoops from watching Gen Xers. James Cameron’s new film Avatar was prominent, with a life size model of what looks like Ripley’s Hangar suit from Aliens, and a few action figures.

I also talked to the duo from new fanboy musical group Kirby Krackle, but there’s much more to see in the next 4 days.

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