Coming Soon...Amazons, Sith, Penguins & Vampires

Wonder Woman: The Movie
Joss Whedon, who is writing and will direct the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, told Sci-Fi Wire that he wants to give the venerable franchise the Batman Begins treatment - introducing all the key elements of the character with realistic and proper explanations.

"What's exciting is, like, Batman Begins basically really did a wonderful job explaining exactly why he was a bat and why he had everything on his costume that he did. That's the joy of doing an origin story of Wonder Woman. Why does she wear the bracelets? Why does she use the lasso? Like...where does all that stuff come from?...And I have answers for all of that, and it's really fun. So it's not a reinvention like, 'Oh, she's going to dress like Trinity [from The Matrix].'" says Whedon.

Whedon is in the process of writing the script for the movie, which has yet to be cast - "I want to see Wonder Woman as I know her and see her, [and] not...[just her] star-spangled panties. But she wears the Wonder Woman outfit, and she has the bracelets and all the accoutrements...The lasso and, if I can make it work for the plot, the invisible plane. I have a take on it that I think is cool. It's just I'm structuring the plot, and I've got to find a place for it. But I think people want it, and I think I can do it without...it being campy, believe it or not. And I respect those things. I, in fact, love them."

About.com asked if there will be Whedonesque dialogue? - "Absolutely. Wonder Woman's perspective is very serious. But that's what's so funny about her. She doesn't understand the world...She's not a wisecracker. But at the same time, she's not going to miss an opportunity...Usually, people I write are very, very down to earth and she's the opposite. She's somebody who is supposed to be Wonder Woman and spend her life being Wonder Woman but then she's still as vulnerable and as new at it as anybody else, but she's the opposite of every character I've ever written."

Casting wise: "There's a list. But the list is only in my head," says Whedon, but he does hope to have the old show's Lynda Carter pop up - "If it's right for the movie. I think Lynda Carter's great...If I found something that was right, absolutely, but not if it takes you out of the narrative." (Dark Horizons)



Star Wars: The Series
IGN FilmForce reports that Lucasfilm is seeking screenwriters for its planned TV series based on George Lucas' Star Wars film saga.

Keeping with Lucas' penchant for security, the show will be scripted at the bearded one's secluded Skywalker Ranch. Work will commence this January. Lucas and his colleague Rick McCallum will produce the still untitled show.

The series is slated to run 50 hours and will be a mixture of live-action and CGI. Principal photography will begin in 2007 with filming to take place in Australia.

While the show will apparently revolve around imperial bounty hunters, there could be other directions taken. The series will take place after the Empire has risen to power. (SciFi Wire)


Madagascar: The Franchise
Coming Soon reports DreamWorks has announced that the studio will produce a sequel to the computer-animated comedy Madagascar which just passed the $500-million mark at the worldwide box office - making it the company's most successful original movie ever.

Katzenberg also announced that Ben Stiller and Chris Rock will be reprising their roles and is "looking forward" to other original cast members returning to their roles. Domestically the film scored only mildly positive reviews, but financially wise has done superbly with $191 million making it the sixth highest earner this year (behind Revenge of the Sith, War of the Worlds, Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Wedding Crashers).

A 2008 release date is being targeted. The scene-stealing penguins will get the chance to take top billing in a direct-to-video release due out in 2009. A ten-minute film featuring the Penguins will play in theatres this fall alongside Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit opening October 7th. (Dark Horizons)


Buffy: The Spin-Off
Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, told SCI FI Wire that he definitely plans to revisit the "Buffyverse" in a future, unspecified TV project. "I think it's realistic," Whedon said in an interview while promoting his upcoming SF movie, Serenity. "I like my chances. But it is absolutely still too amorphous for me to make any kind of announcement about it. I'm out there trying, and there's other people trying, to put it together. But until something falls in place, I really can't say."

Whedon is especially keen on doing a movie centering on the vampire character of Spike (James Marsters). "Let's say it's a good jumping-off point," he said. As for Marsters' reported comments that he is growing too old to play the eternally youthful former bloodsucker, Whedon said: "Well, we're working. We're trying. I know...James is in very good shape. Keep working out, James." (SciFi Wire)