New X-Men movie confirms scriptwriter
Josh Schwartz to Write X-Men: First Class
Source:Variety
November 18, 2008
20th Century Fox has hired "Gossip Girl" creator Josh Schwartz to write X-Men: First Class. He'd also been offered a chance to direct the film, but declined.
Schwartz, the creator and executive producer of The CW's hit as well as Fox's "The O.C." and NBC's "Chuck," is expected to inject a next-gen sensibility into the superhero series.
The studio has been leaning toward using the younger characters introduced in the previous films in future installments --teenagers with powers taught at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.
Resulting film would likely draw from elements of the Marvel Comic of the same name, launched in 2006, and enlist such characters as Iceman, Rogue, Angel, Colossus, Jubilee and Shadowcat, who have appeared prominently or made cameos in prior pics.
Lauren Shuler Donner, who produced all three "X-Men" pics, as well as next summer's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is producing "First Class" alongside Mr. & Mrs. Smith scribe Simon Kinberg.
**Click here for Wikipedia description about the original X-Men: First Class**
In other news...
Gough and Millar to Write Robotech
Source:The Hollywood Reporter
November 17, 2008
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have been brought on to write Robotech, Warner Bros.' adaptation of the anime classic, says The Hollywood Reporter.
Akiva Goldsman and Chuck Roven are producing with Tobey Maguire and Drew Crevello.
"Robotech" was a 1980s cartoon series from Harmony Gold USA and Tatsunoko Prods. It was re-edited and re-dialogued to combine three Japanese anime series to give the producers enough episodes to air as a daily syndicated series.
A sprawling sci-fi epic, Robotech takes place at a time when Earth has developed giant robots from the technology on an alien spacecraft that crashed on a South Pacific isle. Mankind is forced to use the technology to fend off an alien invasion, with the fate of the human race ending up in the hands of two young pilots.
Lawrence Kasdan wrote a previous draft. Gough and Millar worked on The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Spider-Man 2, among other films, and were showrunners on TV's "Smallville" for many years.
Last piece of news...
Markus and McFeely Penning Captain America
Source:The Hollywood Reporter
November 18, 2008
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are in negotiations to write Marvel Studios' First Avenger: Captain America, to be directed by Joe Johnston and produced by Marvel's Kevin Feige.
Created in 1941 by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon for Timely Comics, Captain America is the heroic alter ego of Steve Rogers, who is rejected by the Army for being too sickly and undergoes an experiment that takes him to the pinnacle of human form. Paired with an indestructible shield, he becomes a symbol of the war effort, fighting Nazis and villainous scientists like the Red Skull.
In modern times, the character starred in his own long-running comic series and also was a charter member of Marvel's superteam, the Avengers.
Marvel's "Captain America" will be a World War II-set movie, and the character will appear in modern day-set The Avengers.
Markus and McFeely worked on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and its sequel, "Prince Caspian." The duo also wrote HBO's "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."
