Publishers

Director Andrew Stanton does his most substantive interview yet at Hero Complex about the JOHN CARTER movie, and, rest assured, ERB-fans, he gets it. Stanton gets practically tongue-tied just trying to explain why he loves the material so much:

If you enjoyed the Jonathan Ross/Tommy Lee Edwards supernatural '30s gangster romp TURF you will enjoy this deluxe collected edition, out this July. PR below:

It turns out there will soon be a comic book called UNCANNY X-MEN for sale after all! It's coming back in October with a new #1 as part of an X-men eventish thing called "X-men Regenesis" which will find the mutants splitting into two teams (yes kinda like Blue and Gold back in the day.) One will appear in UNCANNY X-MEN, to be written again by Kieron Gillen with art by Chris Bacahlo and anther called WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN, also debuting in October, to be written by Jason Aaron, with art by Carlos Pacheco & Greg Land.

The week before a big movie release is the traditional time for announcements of new projects for those involved; it's a magical time when the entertainment world's attention is turned to you, but before possible tankage or bad news, when there's a world of opportunity for those with vision. Thus it is that Deadline today announced that GREEN LANTERN writer Marc Guggenheim was launching his comics series NOWHERE MAN:

One of our pet projects here at Stately Beat Manor is tracking the progress of various attempts to adapt the John Carter books of Edgar Rice Burroughs to the screen. There have been many fits and starts over the long years, but now Andrew Stanton (WALL*E, FINDING NEMO) at Pixar is bringing this wild tale of imagination and fighting to the screen.

Russell Crowe will attempt to banish memories of Marlon Brando as he assays the role of Jor-El, father to Superman, in Zack Snyder's MAN OF STEEL reboot. Crowe joins Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Michael Shannon in the cast. THe script is by David Goyer, while Christopher Nolan instructs from the sidelines.

And what of the other BIG event this weekend? GREEN LANTERN is the movie that will either justify the creation of a whole universe of DC superheroes (akin to Disney's Marvel-verse) or....well, it won't Thus far, reviews are...unfavorable, with a 24% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. . Despite this the movie is tracking very well with young men and should easily open at #1.

DC's Editor in Chief Bob Harras and executive editor Eddie Berganza explain what's going on and invite you to what they hope will be a big party where everyone is welcome.

DC has released the video of Grant Morrison from the Hero Complex Film Festival talking about Superman. Since Morrison has already reinvented Superman once with ALL-STAR, this is familiar but welcome territory.

Meanwhile Slave Labor, the long-running quirky comics publisher which has survived against all odds for over 20 years, has just teamed with iVerse to offer digital comics. We'll vouch for MIDNIGHT SUN by Ben Towle, one of those Antarctic comics we're so fond of, and the other initial offerings are sounds, as well, including the popular REX LIBRIS.

Andrew Adamson, director of several outings in the Shrek and Narnia franchises, has set his sights on a CGI-animated version of BEASTS OF BURDEN, the acclaimed tale of animals who fight supernatural threats in a suburban community. The film will be made by Reel FX.

Archie's dynamic publisher Jon Goldwater gets the Comics Reporter interview treatment and his comments on the many changes he's made since the venerable comics publisher had a big management change might be viewed as emblematic of much going on these days: