Movie & TV News: Spider-Man 4, Diary of the Dead 2, Escape From New York, The Tell-Tale Heart, G.I. Joe, Mike Fright, Comic Previews

Spider-Man 4
According to The Hollywood Reporter the studio Sony has announced they have hired writer James Vanderbilt to do a script for the film. He is, at the moment, doing the screenplay for "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." Director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are not currently on board but Laura Ziskin is back as producer.

Diary of the Dead 2
George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead" is not set to be released until next year, but Romero is already set to direct a sequel from his screenplay. The sequel, will start where the first film ends. Production starts in the spring.

Escape From New York
Turn out the lights, whoever's the last to leave New York! Variety reports that just a few days after director Brett Ratner jumped ship, Gerard Butler has left the remake of John Carpenter's "Escape From New York." At the same time New Line has hired Jonathan Mostow to rewrite, with an option to direct.

The Tell-Tale Heart
Ridley and Tony Scott's Scott Free Prods. will reimagine the Edgar Allan Poe classic "The Tell-Tale Heart." The director will be Michael Cuesta and the screenwriter Dave Callaham. Michael Costigan, Scott Free president, said: "Tell-Tale is a psychological thriller that sets Poe's haunting tale against the backdrop of modern science." The budget is $20 million, casting is underway and shooting begins in early 2008.

G.I. Joe
The London Daily Telegraph reports Paramount Pictures and Hasbro have decided, due to current nagative images of the American military in many countries, that in their forthcoming film "G.I. Joe," the character has become part of a multinational force. Even the group's name has been changed to an acronym for "Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity." The movie is due in theatres in 2009. IESB said that three writers have been asked to write three different scripts. Paramount said: "Stuart Beattie has completed the script and two writers have been brought in to polish certain scenes of the film before this weeks WGA deadline, they are not writing different scripts." And IESB's Robert Sanchez says the star of the film will be George Clooney.

Mike Fright: Stand Up!