Many DC Comics based films on the horizon

With the recent success of The Dark Knight the scene has been set for a future filled with films and TV series based on DC Comics.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s on the horizon:

The Losers – an action/adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans.  Filming will begin this week.  Scheduled for release April 16 2010.

Jonah Hex – a supernatural Western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich.  Filming is wrapped. Scheduled for release August 6, 2010.

The Green Lantern - the next huge superhero flick from Warner Bros. starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan aka the Green Lantern.  Scheduled for release June 17, 2011.

Human Target - a new Fox TV series starring Mark Valley as a bodyguard who impersonates potential victims.   Premieres January 17, 2010.

Red – an action thriller based on the Wildstorm comic to star Bruce Willis.   No release date yet.

The Flash – script from Dan Mazeau about a man who gains the power to move at super speed. No director attached but still aiming to release the film in 2011.

Aquaman - a super hero film about an underwater breathing super-powered Prince.  Warner Bros. are currently taking pitches.

Adam Strange - a human is teleported to another world where he becomes a hero.  Too early for details but will be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way.

Bizarro Superman – a bizarre being capable of cloning takes on the form of Superman. Being written by Galaxy Quest writers David Howard and Robert Gordon.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tricia Helfer is the voice of Boodikka in 'Green Lantern: First Flight'

Since taking the sci-fi world by storm as Number Six in Battlestar Galactica, Tricia Helfer has been on the rise.  She scored a key role in the second season of Burn Notice, was featured in Chuck, provided the voice of Black Cat in The Spectacular Spider-Man, stars in the pilot to the upcoming Human Target and only yesterday guest starred in Syfy’s Warehouse 13.

Next on the list is Green Lantern: First Flight in which she provides the voice of Boodikka, the most prominent female member of the Green Lantern Corps.

Following her final recording session for Green Lantern: First Flight Helfer shared her thoughts on the new film and on a variety of other subjects including what she thinks of science fiction and sci-fi fans and why Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn has forever made her paranoid of earwigs.

Q.  What did you seek to convey vocally as Boodikka?

Tricia Helfer: Boodikka’s a fighter, a protector. She is very honorable in that she does what she thinks is right, even if some things go against the grain. She’s certainly not an evil character per se, but she does things that she thinks are good for society. She’s not really sexy in terms of her personality, so she’s not trying to reel Hal in – that relationship is more like comrades. So I wanted to play Boodikka both strong and sweet.

Q.  Are there aspects of Boodikka that are familiar to you?

Tricia Helfer: I think there are some aspects of Boodikka in other characters. I wouldn’t say she’s like Number Six at all, really, but there’s some clones of Six that are similar. I’d kind of say she’s a little bit like Natalie from the fourth season of Battlestar  because she’s a bit of a leader in her own way, she’s strong and intelligent, and she does what she thinks is right when she feels very strongly about certain things – as Natalie did taking sides against her Cylon counterparts.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hal Jordan embarks on his first mission in 'Green Lantern: First Flight'

Green Lantern: First Flight, the highly-anticipated fifth entry in the popular DVD series of DC Universe animated original PG-13 movies, will have its world premiere at Comic-Con in San Diego on Thursday, July 23, 2009.

More than 4,000 fans will have the opportunity to see Green Lantern: First Flight on the big screen five days before the latest DC Universe film is distributed on DVD and Blu-Ray. The film will premiere in the San Diego Convention Center’s Ballroom 20 at 8:00 p.m.

A panel comprised of filmmakers and voice cast will be presented on the following day, Friday, July 24. Details on that panel and its participants will be announced next week.

Acclaimed actor Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) fills the lead voice of Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern. Meloni is joined by fellow Emmy Award nominee Victor Garber (Milk / Titanic) as the villainous Sinestro, Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) as the voice of Boodikka and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) as Kilowog. The cast also includes Juliet Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), John Larroquette (Night Court), Kurtwood Smith (That ’70s Show) and David Lander (Laverne & Shirley).

Kanjar Ro is the most visible villain in 'Green Lantern: First Flight'

Produced by animation legend Bruce Timm, Green Lantern: First Flight is helmed by heralded director Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman / Superman Doomsday) and scripted by four-time Emmy Award-winning writer Alan Burnett (The Batman).

Green Lantern: First Flight finds Hal Jordan recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps and placed under the supervision of respected senior Lantern Sinestro. The earthling soon discovers his mentor is actually the central figure in a secret conspiracy that threatens the philosophies, traditions and hierarchy of the entire Green Lantern Corps. Hal must quickly hone his newfound powers and combat the treasonous Lanterns within the ranks to maintain order in the universe.

On July 28, 2009 Green Lantern: First Flight will be released in these formats (click to view on Amazon):
Green Lantern: First Flight on a Blu-Ray
Green Lantern: First Flight - a special edition 2-disc DVD
Green Latnern: First Flight on single disc DVD.

The aliens are packing heat – and aiming at Hal Jordan

Animation legend Bruce Timm is the executive producer on Green Lantern: First Flight.  Timm is widely considered the driving creative force behind many of Warner Bros.  Animation’s modern-day successes and is credited with having elevated DC Comics’ canon of super heroes to new heights of animated popularity including Superman Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier, Batman Gotham Knight and Wonder Woman.

In the midst of producing several more films for the DC Universe series, Timm paused briefly to offer praise for two of the key players in the production of Green Lantern: First Flight – character designer Jose Lopez and screenwriter Alan Burnett.

Q. There was no downtime for you and director Lauren Montgomery between Wonder Woman and Green Lantern: First Flight. How did you two make that quick transition, and what kept it fresh for you?

Bruce Timm:  Lauren did such a great job on Wonder Woman, she was immediately my first choice for Green Lantern.  I thought she might be a little burned out after the massive Wonder Woman project, but to my immense relief and gratefulness, she was eager to do it.

All that said, Lauren definitely needed to take a little bit of a break in terms of character design and I wasn’t about to step up to that role, either.  The tricky thing about Green Lantern is that we wanted to have a unique style sensibility.  We’ve done quite a bit with the Green Lantern and characters on the Justice League, including the entire Green Lantern Corps, and we certainly didn’t want to go back and reuse any of those designs. Another really talented young artist named Jose Lopez, who had worked with Mike Goguen and Jeff Matsuda on the recent The Batman series, was brought to our attention. I looked at his portfolio and I thought, “Wow, this guy is really cool.”

Jose has a completely different design sensibility than I’m accustomed to working with.  He’s a little bit anime-flavored, but not specifically anime.  We brought him in to do some designs on Green Lantern, and he ended up being pretty much our entire character design department.  He designed not just Green Lantern and most of the major characters but zillions of background aliens. Jose brought a really unique visual sensibility to the movie.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hal Jordan in 'Green Lantern: First Flight'

Andrea Romano is arguably the best known casting/dialogue director on the animation scene.  She has been one of the driving forces in animation voiceovers for more than a quarter century, her credit list reading like the honor roll for the Saturday morning cartoon Hall of Fame. From dramatic (Batman: The Animated Series) to silly (Animaniacs), contemporary (The Boondocks) to timeless (Smurfs), Romano has set the standard for matching actor to character. Along the way, she has become a household name to legions of animation fans.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has listed her name 20 times among their annual nominations, Romano taking home six of those Emmy Awards – and promptly attiring those statuettes in Barbie clothes.  Now, her experience is evident once again in the sheer level of talent she has brought to the lead voiceover roles in DC’s newest animated feature film, Green Lantern: First Flight.

Her Green Lantern task took her from one end of the US to the other, starting with a New York recording in late June 2008 of Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) and Victor Garber (Milk, Titanic) as hero Hal Jordan and villain Sinestro, respectively.  Back in Burbank, Romano selected Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) to complete the primary quartet of voices.  Additional cast members include Juliet Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), John Larroquette (Night Court), Kurtwood Smith (That ‘70s Show), Larry Drake (Darkman), William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show), Olivia d’Abo (The Wonder Years), David Lander (Laverne & Shirley) and veteran voice actor Rob Paulsen.

Somewhere between recordings for new DC Universe films and her weekly chores at the helm of sessions for Batman: The Brave and the Bold, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Boondocks, Romano found a few moments to discuss the casting and performances of the voices within Green Lantern: First Flight.

Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Madsen is the voice of Kilowog, trainer of Green Lantern recruits

Perennial movie tough guy Michael Madsen provides the voice of Kilowog, the enforcer with a heart, in the next DC Universe animated movie Green Lantern: First Flight.

Madsen has been cast as the heavy throughout his busy career, gaining widespread acclaim as Mr. Blonde in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. His lengthy list of credits include roles in films like The Natural, Thelma & Louise, both volumes of Kill Bill, Wyatt Earp, Free Willy, Die Another Day, and Donnie Brasco. He drew rave reviews for the hit cable television series Tilt as poker player Don “The Matador” Everest.

In Green Lantern: First Flight, Madsen brings to animated life the brawny alien character Kilowog, trainer of all Green Lantern recruits. The role should register positively within the fanboy realm, where Madsen has been popular in films such as Sin City and the Species franchise.

Madsen might truly be the hardest working man in show business.  Madsen has 10 films due out this year and more than two dozen films currently in various stages of production. Madsen has acted as narrator for several filmed projects, as well as being a vocal presence on some of Sony’s best-selling games, including Grand Theft Auto III and Driv3r. And while Green Lantern: First Flight was far from Madsen’s first voiceover performance it was his initial foray into feature length animation.

In the following interview Madsen offers some surprising, honest answers about his recording for Green Lantern: First Flight. He also shares his thoughts and recollections of acting, the oddities of fan perceptions, sibling rivalries, pumping gas for the stars, and his cleanest definition of Kilowog’s favorite word, “poozer.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Alan Burnett, the screenwriter behind 'Green Lantern: First Flight'

Four-time Emmy Award winner Alan Burnett departs from a 17-year stint in the Batcave to establish intergalactic justice as the screenwriter for Green Lantern: First Flight, the next DC Universe animated original PG-13 movie coming to DVD on July 28, 2009.

Burnett, who began his animation career at Hanna-Barbera Studios with Super Friends in 1981, has been the single most consistent active figure in bringing the Batman’s legacy to animation since 1991 – when he began scripting episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, the Emmy®-winning production widely considered a pivotal moment in American animation.

Burnett’s stellar talents have merited four Emmy Awards, three Annie Awards and two Humanitas Prizes. His work within the Batman realm includes as a series producer on Batman and Superman and Batman Beyond, and most recently as supervising producer and story editor for Warner Bros. Animation’s award-winning series The Batman. He has remained active in crafting the words behind numerous DC Comics projects, both animated and in comic book form. In the direct-to-DVD arena, Burnett co-produced and co-wrote the animated feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, was supervising producer and writer for Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, and served as producer on the feature-length Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker. He also served as movie story editor and the writer of the anchoring segment of the DC Universe animated original movie, Batman Gotham Knight.

Read the rest of this entry »

YouTube user Jaronpitts has created an excellent fan-made trailer promoting DC’s Green Lantern with Firefly’s Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan.  According to the guys over at ScreenRant he painstakingly compiled clips from something like twenty-eight different movies and TV shows. With such an awesome effort it’s only fair we should post about it too.  Enjoy!

Source:  ScreenRant

Juliet Landau voices the alien Labella in 'Green Lantern: First Flight'

Actress Juliet Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel) is the voice behind the sultry alien Labella in Warner Bros. and DC Comics upcoming animated feature film Green Lantern: First Flight.

She is perhaps best known for her portrayal of vampire Drusilla in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. She initially turned heads with standout performances in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood and opposite Whoopi Goldberg in Theodore Rex; she has done oodles of voiceover work, including recurring roles on Justice League Unlimited and Ben 10: Alien Force; and she has three upcoming films in various stages of production.

Landau has also received notable praise for her initial pair of directing gigs. She helmed Take Flight, a documentary centering on the creative process of actor/director Gary Oldman, which drew rave reviews at a recent advance screening. Her co-direction of the Godhead music video Hero is garnering widespread Internet acclaim. She also has been busy at the keyboard, co-writing the Drusilla story line for the Angel comic books as well as scripting It’s Raining Cats and Cats, a short film in which she intends to play seven different roles.

Christopher Meloni (Law and Order: SVU / Oz / Twelve Monkeys) provides the voice of Hal Jordan, the alter ego of the title character in Green Lantern: First Flight. The cast includes Victor Garber (Alias / Milk / Titanic), Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs / Kill Bill: Vol. 1 / Vol. 2). Landau offers a Cajun-style vocal performance for Labella, a mistress of the seedier side of the universe in which the Green Lantern Corps patrol.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the trailer for the new direct-to-dvd animated film, Green Lantern: First Flight.

This is the first ever full length animated feature film of DC Comics’ Green Lantern.  It is directed by Lauren Montgomery (storyboard artist on Hulk Vs. / Director of the animated Wonder Woman) and features the voice of Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer (as Boodikka), Michael Madsen (Kilowog), and Victor Garber (Sinestro).

Christopher Meloni (Law and Order / Oz) provides the voice of Hal Jordan (Green Lantern).

The story follows Hal Jordan when he is recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps.  Hal soon discovers a secret conspiracy that threatens the philosophies, traditions and hierarchy of the entire Green Lantern Corps and he must quickly hone his newfound powers if he is to have a chance to maintain order in the universe.

Green Lantern: First Flight will be available on DVD and Blu Ray 28th July 2009.