Buck Rogers

[JackFetch]

Do they, or don't they have the rights? Nu Image/Millennium Films told IGN that no deal is in place yet, but now Variety says that Nu Image/Millennium Films has acquired film rights to "Buck Rogers," and will develop a live-action feature about the venerable pilot who awakens in the 25th Century and battles evil.

IGN also reported that Sin City and The Spirit director Frank Miller was attached to helm the pic, but the company later told them "they are still mulling over director contenders."

Buck Rogers has enjoyed incarnations in books, comic strips, movies, radio and television, a run that began in the 1920s. That included a feature serial from Universal in 1939 that starred Buster Crabbe, and a short-lived NBC series that starred Gil Gerard.

Nu Image/Millennium will search for a studio partner, just the way it did after gaining the movie rights from Paradox Entertainment to "Conan," which is now being developed with Lionsgate.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=7183

[Dan]

Holy crap, I'm vaguely topical.

If they let Frank Miller anywhere near this, I will riot.

[JackFetch]

Frank Miller and Odd Lot Entertainment, the creator and production company behind the upcoming comic-book adventure "The Spirit," are close to teaming again on the classic sci-fi property "Buck Rogers."

Odd Lot, the shingle run by Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Prete, is in negotiations to option the rights to "Rogers" from Nu Image/Millennium, which obtained those rights this year from the Dille Trust. Millennium is expected to get a credit on the movie but won't be involved in day-to-day production.

John Flint Dille, a friend of Miller's, operates the trust, which may have partly prompted rumors at the time of the Millennium acquisition that the comic auteur-turned-filmmaker might come aboard to direct. But Miller was not attached at the time; he only became involved when Odd Lot entered the picture.

Miller will write and direct his own big-screen take on the comic serial; while the creator has only begun to sketch ideas, it's expected to be a darker take, with many of Miller's signature visual elements and themes, such as corruption and redemption.

It's likely to be a priority project for Miller, though he has been mulling a "Sin City" sequel.

One of the first pop-culture vehicles to tackle the issue of space exploration, the story of Buck Rogers began life as a comic serial in the late 1920's and early '30's and has seen numerous film and television versions over the years.

ABC had a TV series in the '50s, and NBC produced a feature film and TV series in the late '70s and early '80s, which imagined the space explorer as someone who woke up in the 25th century to find Earth destroyed and was then consigned to roam distant planets.

The party that controls the underlying rights has the ability to make any movie of television series off the property. At the moment, Odd Lot is planning only on a feature film.

Miller is the acclaimed writer and illustrator behind the graphic novel franchise "Sin City," which became a hit for the Weinstein Co. in 2004. He also is behind Warners breakout "300." "The Spirit," which Lionsgate releases next week, examines the pulpy hero created by Miller mentor Will Eisner.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...3ef8a7f2501824a

[Dan]

So will Wilma be a stripper or a hooker?

[Koete]

So will Wilma be a stripper or a hooker?

Both.

[Molly]

Screw this, Miller should direct a Duck Dodgers movie, instead.

[Dan]

I do have to admit to a mild curiosity as to what Miller would do with Twiki.

(Fuck Twiki.)

[Koete]

(Fuck Twiki.)

Yes, somone probably will.

[Molly]

Bidi-fuckin'-bidi.

[JackFetch]

James Cawley, whose STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES (later dubbed STAR TREK PHASE II) is a regular fixture for hardcore TREK Geeks across the Internet, is launching a second series of web productions - BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY.

Unlike his TREK episodes, which are unofficial yet officially tolerated "fan films", BUCK has been formally licensed from the Dille Syndication Company (current rights holders of the property).

James Cawley and his Cawley Entertainment Company plan to do with Buck Rogers, what he has done for Star Trek, and bring it to the web with a regular series of new episodes. However, this time it will not be another ‘fan film,’ but a fully licensed show made with professionals, both in front of, and behind the camera. The plan as of now is to start Internet streaming advertising-supported episodes of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century in the Fall of 2010.

[EDIT]

Starting with the pilot, which is currently being written, this new Buck Rogers web series will tell the origin story as laid out in the comics, showing how Lucas ‘Buck’ Rogers was propelled from World War I, into a future Earth in the 25th Century. The plan is to use what Cawley calls a ‘retro-contemporary’ look to the show, harkening back to the old style comics, but also using modern techniques, including CGI. Cawley explains:

...says THIS PIECE over at TrekMovie, which goes on to explain how production on BUCK will/won't impact future PHASE II productions.

While inconsistent in quality, Cawley's TREK installments are remarkable in many ways. They're earnest, ballsy, and ambitious. It'll be really interesting to see how Crawley & Co. approach BUCK.

There's supposedly a Frank Miller guided BUCK ROGERS feature film being mulled at the moment. Based on what I've seen from Miller lately, I'd bet good money that Cawley's efforts...while probably not as lavish...will seem much more "right", and feel much more like "the real thing".

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39750

[Dan]

I'm actually extremely interested to see this.

[JackFetch]

Trailer

[KnightWing]

Trailer

Okay, wow.

[Derrick]

Now this is something I can get excited about.

[JackFetch]

Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson next takes on the classic sci-fi franchise Buck Rogers, and he told reporters at WonderCon that he's going back to the original concept—a man thrust 500 years into the future (in this case, the 26th century)—with the help of the guys who put the spark in Tony Stark.

Screenwriters Art Markum and Matt Holloway are working on a Buck Rogers script, and that's a good sign: They worked on the script to the first Iron Man movie, so they've done well by comics before.

The writers have hashed out a storyline going back to the original concept. "You take a relatable modern-day man, you put him in the far-flung future," Anderson told a group of reporters in San Francisco on Saturday, where he was promoting Resident Evil: Afterlife. "I think what Markum and Holloway will do—which they did with Iron Man—which is bring a lot of kind of humanity and character to the story. So I think they're going to write a great Buck character in the way that they wrote a great Tony Stark character."

"I always start with a love of the source material," Anderson said. "That's the thing all of those things have in common. I love Aliens and Predators. I used to play and love Mortal Kombat. I love Resident Evil. I love Buck Rogers. I read the comic strips as a kid, the old comic strips. I watched the TV show. I love the source material, and then I take that love and knowledge of the source material and then try and put my own spin on it."

Anderson added: "In the case of Buck Rogers, I'm going to have the help of Markum and Holloway, who wrote the original Iron Man [and] who are terrific writers. It's not just going to be me. They're going to be bolstering my visual vision of what Buck should be with, I think, some tremendous character work."

http://scifiwire.com/2010/04/cool-new-buck-rogers-to-g.php

This is not the same as the series which has the trailer. This is a separate movie.