Them's Fightin' Words
Man oh man is this looking like a good year for movies. Great movies...FABULOUS movies. That's right, I am talking about comic book movies. Not just this year either, but in the next two years there
are going to be a whole slew of comic book movies are in the works for us hardcore nerds (and also the fair weather comic book geeks). I'll go into the ones that are coming out this year and whose dates are definitely set.
Hellboy is coming out within the next two weeks. I have not personally read more than 5 or 6 Hellboy comic books, but of what i have read it actually appears to be a fairly entertaining storyline. Hellboy is
some sort of demon who was raised by humans and works for a preternatural crime prevention organization. From the Yahoo website:
"When a Nazi mystical experiment goes awry in 1944, the target of a wizard's spell, the child of Satan, Hellboy, is wrenched from his home, and adopted by the U.S. agents who intercept his arrival. Raised as a force of good, Hellboy grows up to be a full-fledged demon in the form of a man, complete with fierce red skin, a tail, a giant armored glove, and two large circles where his horns should be (if they ever grow back, Hellboy is quick to break them off). Now, the adult Hellboy, an investigator of the paranormal, is sent on a mission that brings him back in touch with the evil genius that started it all... that Nazi wizard (and just who is *he* anyway?). Accompanying him along the way are other agents, including Liz, a pyrokinetic woman Hellboy has feelings for, and Abe Sapien, a mysterious amphibian hominid..."
The official website for the Hellboy movie is here and it is coming out April 2nd, 2004.
Spiderman 2 is also coming out this year and I don't know about you but i really enjoyed Sam Raimi's depiction of your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, so i have been anticipating this film ever since
that vapid tart they hired to play Mary Jane let it slip that a sequel was in the making. Quite frankly if you don't know the general gist of Spiderman then i should hunt you down and kill you in your sleep. Spiderman is one of the most popular character in comics. If you don't know Spiderman then all you deserve is this little tidbit from Yahoo movies website:
"Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man returns in the sequel to the record-breaking blockbuster movie debut for Marvel Comics' flagship character. Toby Maguire returns as Peter Parker, the nerd-turned-hero, to face new threats to New York City and the people he loves."
The official website for this movie is here and it is due out July 2nd, 2004.
The film I am really really excited about is also coming out in this glorious year. That film my pretties is The Punisher. No offense, Dolph, but your depiction of Frank Castle just wasn't enough to satisfy my hard-on for this comic book title and therefore my subsequent desire to see it in film. Frank Castle was a green beret in Vietnam, precluding him to being a hard-ass who has seen some pretty horrible things. When his family is gunned down by the mob, Frank loses it and dons the title of The Punisher and kills any member of the mob he can find. Frank doesn't have a nemesis that you find in most comic books. No, anyone who is a part of organized crime is Frank's nemesis, lumped right in are anyone who is crazy enough to get in his way. Yahoo movies has this to say about the film:
"Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) is a man who has seen too much death in his life, first as a Delta Force Op and later as an FBI special agent. He has managed to beat considerable odds, and is finally moving out of the field and into a normal life with his wife and son.
On his final assignment, Castle plays his undercover role perfectly, but the operation spins out of control. This places the FBI on the wrong side of Tampa businessman Howard Saint (John Travolta) and his glamorous wife Livia (Laura Harring). Notwithstanding their glossy social profile, the Saints are no genteel Florida couple; behind their copious wealth are violent beginnings, underworld ties – and a chilling capacity for brutality. Castle’s worst nightmare is about to come true, as Howard Saint and his lieutenants unleash hell at the Castle family reunion. But Castle, to his everlasting torment, survives. Drawing upon all he has learned in 20 years, Castle sets in motion a brilliant plan to punish the murderers. He takes up residence among in a dilapidated tenement building on Tampa’s industrial waterfront, where his fellow tenants include Joan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), a waitress at a nearby diner who is trying to put her life back on track. Castle’s neighbors become his last link to the idea of human community and warmth. It is this makeshift family – forgotten men and women with no one to protect them - who enable Castle to find the one thing he least expects: redemption."
The official website of this instant classic is here and I will be a very very happy man on April 16th, 2004.
Now this just covers what is coming out this year. There are 5 more titles I would keep my eyes out for if I were you. I will list these below with what yahoo movies had to say about their tentative release dates.
Batman Begins 2005 Release Date: July 1st, 2005 (estimated).
Ghost Rider 2005 Release Date Note: (10/2/02) Spring, 2003 was mentioned as a possible release target at one point, when this was at Dimension Films, but with a new screenwriter signed on, it may be a few more years away yet. (2/15/03) Marvel boss Avi Arad recently told the "Chicago Sun Times" that this film has a chance at getting a 2004 release.
X-men 3 2006 Release Date Note: (6/2/03) The tentative release date of May 5th, 2006 is the same relative weekend, three years later, as the May 2nd, 2003 release date Fox gave X2: X-Men United.
Superman 2006 Release Date Note: (6/5/03) The Summer, 2005 target is tentative. That's also when WB is aiming to release Batman 5. A recent "Variety" article about Warner Bros.' upcoming slate suggested that 2005 was only a possibility, and not a certainty for this movie. Perhaps summer, 2006 is more likely? (9/29/03) I've received an anonymous tip that although this movie could be released as early as the Christmas season of 2005, the current word at WB is that they will probably just aim for a big summer, 2006 release, allowing for lots of preproduction and postproduction time.
Batman VS. Superman 2004 Release Date Note: (8/13/02) Recently announced as a summer, 2004 release, it has now been put on hold while director Wolfgang Petersen concentrates on "Troy" for Warner Bros. first (preview page coming soon). The earliest we're likely to see this film now is summer, 2005.