Comics to movies: movies still love the comics

from a recent press release

RADICAL PUBLISHING AND FULL CLIP PRODUCTIONS

ANNOUNCE IMPRINT DEAL

          July 01, 2010, Los Angeles, CA – Radical Publishing and Full Clip Productions are proud to announce that they have entered into an imprint deal. Under this agreement, Full Clip Productions, the company headed by actor Sam Worthington and his partners Michael Schwarz and John Schwarz, will develop intellectual property to be produced under the Radical banner. Worthington and John Schwarz will star in the film adaptations of select projects.

          The first project in development under the imprint is Damaged, created by John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz, and written by Eisner Award winner David Lapham (Stray Bullets), the story centers on two brothers committed to justice in different ways – one inside the law, one violently beyond it. Now, with the end of their careers approaching, they must train their replacements, hoping to remake each in their image. But the vigilante code has changed and the brothers are left unprepared for the true lawlessness and corruption that is about to be unleashed.

          “We are thrilled to have Full Clip in the Radical family,” said Radical Studios President Barry Levine. “An imprint deal of this nature is unprecedented in the industry, and we couldn’t ask for better partners than Sam, Michael and John.”

           “As a lifelong fan of comics, I’m so excited to have the chance to create material which I can then personally bring to life on screen,” Worthington said. "This is a great opportunity for my partners and I to work alongside a dynamic company like Radical."

           Radical Publishing, run by Levine and Jesse Berger, recently announced development of a feature adaptation of its soon-to-debut graphic novel, Legends: The Enchanted, with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. Radical is also adapting The Last Days of American Crime with Worthington attached to star in and produce as well as Oblivion, which is being developed with Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski. Radical Publishing currently has 19 titles in circulation which are published in 7 countries, and a catalog containing more than 70 properties and 500 characters.

          Worthington was hand-picked by filmmaker James Cameron to star as the lead in Avatar, which is now the highest grossing film of all time. The movie won the Golden Globe award for “Best Motion Picture-Drama” and was nominated for an Academy Award for “Best Motion Picture.” In 2009, Worthington teamed up with Christian Bale and director McG in Warner Brothers’ Terminator Salvation. Recently, Worthington wrapped The Fields for producer Michael Mann and director Ami Canaan Mann, co-starring with Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He will next be seen in John Madden’s The Debt, where he stars opposite Helen Mirren. The film will premiere at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival and will be released later this year.

About Radical Publishing

          Radical Publishing is founded by Barry Levine (producer for Hercules, Caliber, Freedom Formula, Shrapnel, Abattoir, Oblivion, The Last Days of American Crime, Legends and executive producer for the in-development Rex Mundi movie for Warner Bros., written by Jim Uhls and starring Johnny Depp) and entrepreneur Jesse Berger (executive producer for Hercules, Caliber, Freedom Formula, Shrapnel, Abattoir, Oblivion, The Last Days of American Crime and Legends).

          For their quality and excellence in 2008, Radical Publishing was granted the Gem Award for “Best New Publisher of the Year” from Diamond Comic Distributors. Radical brings the best writing, storytelling, and fully painted cover and interior art to the global comic book market, from prominent international talents such as Yoshitaka Amano, Keith Arem, Rain Beredo, Marc Bernardin, John Bolton, Ron L. Brinkerhoff, Bing Cansino, Matt Cirulnick, Tomm Coker, Clayton Crain, Lorenzo diBonaventura, Flint Dille, Marko Djurdjevic, Ian Edginton, Warren Ellis, James Farr, Adam Freeman, E. Max Frye, Antoine Fuqua, Justin Gray, Paul Gulacy, David Hine, Taka Ichise, Joseph Kosinski, Clint Langley, Adam Lawson, David Lapham, Richard Lee, Rob Levin, David Liss, Alex Maleev, Leonardo Manco, David Manpearl, Stephan Martinière, Francesco "Matt" Mattina, Peter Milligan, Steve Moore, Arvid Nelson, Wayne Nichols, Steve Niles, Jimmy Palmiotti, Nick Percival, Troy Peteri, Vincent Proce, Steve Pugh, Patrick Reilly, Rick Remender, Terry Rossio, Luis Royo, Nick Sagan, Kirsi Salonen, Sam Sarkar, Stjepan Sejic, M. Zachary Sherman, Bill Sienkiewicz, Wesley Snipes, Jim Steranko, Arthur Suydam, Patrick Tatopoulos, J.P. Targete, Greg Tocchini, Andree Wallin, Rich Wilkes, Dave Wilkins, Concept Art House, Haberlin Studios, Meduzarts Digital Environment Studio, Weta Workshop, Zombie Studios, and many more.

          Currently, Radical Publishing has production deals with Spyglass Entertainment and Peter Berg’s Film 44 for Hercules, with Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil for Caliber, New Regency and Bryan Singer’s Bad Hat Harry Productions for Freedom Formula as well as Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment for Legends.

BLOGGERS NOTE:  Radical is a great company that has been putting out some premium quality books.  While these movie deals are great news, my only concern is that they not grow (or add debt) too fast and end up crashing, a la the late lamented CrossGen.  Hopefully, they have smart financial people keeping an eye on the balance sheet for them.  . . . .   pghhead