Movie & TV News: Thor, Serenity, Appaloosa, Jonny Quest, Casablanca, Mike Fright, Comic Previews

Thor
Could the director of "Stardust" be heading for Asgard? Ain't It Cool News reported here that Matthew Vaughn said: "I've been discussing it with Marvel. I really like the Marvel guys, and it would be good to make. We're trying to find something to work on together. If 'Thor' is going to happen, I don't know. I'm seeing them again next week. And, the other problem is the whole strike thing. It's, like, we'd like to make a movie before the strike, so whether Thor could be the one, I don't know." "Thor" is scheduled to hit theatres in 2009.

Serenity
In an interview with Slice of Sci Fi at this year's Comic Con, Joss Whedon spoke of the Collector's Edition Serenity DVD and a possible big screen sequel. He said, as to the film's success: "It's a success to the studio or else we wouldn't be doing a special edition DVD. They actually admitted as much on paper, which you know studios are loathe to do, and that was actually from the theatrical. Theatrical was a disappointment, as everyone knows, but it did go into the black. Then the DVD came and they took me aside and said 'We can't keep these things on the shelf. We want to do a special edition.' And I didn't want to hear that because I knew it would have to be a truly special edition to make me happy. There had to be a real reason, some real goodies. We took some stuff from the region two version; the making of - - a really beautiful one that's a bit longer. It has the first read through for the movie with the cast, two years after the show ended. And it has the River Tam sessions, the stuff I did on the internet with Summer. We got to do another commentary too, Nathan, Summer, Ron and Adam - - I made sure it didn't go the same direction as the first commentary. It feels like this version will be something more for the people who would tend to buy both." And about a sequel: "Hope for it probably rests with this DVD. It's probably not being discussed in boardrooms right now, but the fact of the matter is if it makes enough money sooner or later they say 'hey, this is money!' Also there are paradigms that are much cheaper, it doesn't have to be enormous. But on the other hand I'm happy to say all of my actors are working very hard. It's not the same situation where we all threw in for pennies because we had to finish telling that story. Now that situation might be harder to bring about." The complete interview is here.

Appaloosa
Variety reports that Ed Harris is directing his own adaptation of the Robert B. Parker western novel "Appaloosa." Renee Zellweger and Viggo Mortensen will star along with Harris in the story of two friends brought in to stop a town's lawlessness.

Jonny Quest
Hanna-Barbera's "Jonny Quest" is moving from the small screen to the big one. This latest attempt to bring about the migration is by Adrian Askarieh, who admits he was a childhood fan of the show. Askarieh will produce with Daniel Alter. Dan Mazeau will write the screenplay.

Casablanca
Director Rajeev Nath spoke to Reuters about making a new version of "Casablanca" that he called "a tribute" to the original. Hoping to hold the premiere in Casablanca itself, he said: "As a student of films, I had watched this great classic 20 times." The new version will be set in India and titled "Ezham Mudra," will Suresh Gopi as a restaurant owner who helps his lover, a Tamil separatist rebel fighting the Sri Lankan government, escape the country.

Mike Fright: Stand Up!

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Check Out: The Mike Fright Site!

The Long Summers of the Setonville Murders
Hannibal Agamemnon is just a small town sheriff. He was going to be a lawyer, but he was drawn back to the little town he came from and they made him sheriff. Ten years ago, a series of vicious child murders grabbed the national headlines and brought the FBI into quiet little Setonville. The murders were never solved, and after a while things died down. Hannibal retired, and he and his wife were happy. And now it is all starting again.

Comic Previews
Comics Continuum has posted preview pages of
Avengers Classic #3,