Geekshow

Jobs takes a 6-month leave-of-absence from Apple

MacNN reported today that the Apple CEO cites “health related issues” for the absence.

Conan Relaunch, Wheel of Time Picked Up

Over on Zap2it.com, they have a couple interesting tidbits up. First, Lionsgate has hired Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain to help re-launch the Conan the Barbarian series. Conan, who was most famously portrayed by Arnold Schwartzenegger, is a rather popular character. The series started as a pulp series in the 30’s, which the article goes on to say the movie will stick closer to ala Batman Begins.

In additon, they are reporting that Universal has picked up the movie rights to the late Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. The series ran for 12 books, of which Jordan wrote 11 of them himself. He ended up passing away before finishing the 12th book. However, his wife picked someone to finish the series, who then used recorded notes from Robert to finish the story. The movie deal allows Universal to pull from all 12 books. NBC previously held the rights to create a mini-series on the first book.

Halo Movie Prospects Still Alive

It has been quite a while since I had heard any buzz concerning the Halo movie. But recently I read an article over at Kotaku stating that there is another script being worked currently. Stuart Beattie, the writer of the recent Pirates movies has replaced Peter Jackson and his crew to write the second Halo Movie script. Apparently the second treatment is based on the events of the first Halo novel, Fall of Reach. Kotaku goes on to say that the script is kicking around in Hollywood and that a few people are very interested.

Click Here to read their full article. Oh, and they passed along this piece of conceptual art that Latino Review got their hands on from the movie. Turns out this scene from the book actually made it into the current version of the script.

Aronofsky Officially Directing RoboCop

It had been rumored for a while that Darren Aronofsky would be tapped to direct the re-launch of the MGM franchise, RoboCop. SuperHeroHype is now reporting that MGM has made it official via an announcement yesterday. In addition, the script will be penned by David Self. Aronofsky is well known for his "unique" movie style, including The Fountain which received mixed reviews. David Self is best known for writing Road to Perdition.

John Barrowman Cast As Captain America?!

According to Superherohype, John Barrowman, Torchwood’s Capain Jack Harkness,  was just asked moments ago at the San Diego Comic-Con panel if there was any possibility that he would be playing Captain America in the upcoming Marvel Studios feature film.

He smiled and said that he’d love to play the character and that Captain America has always been his favorite comic book superhero. But, notion did not seem to take him by surprise and he ended up admitting there had been discussions with his agents and meetings on that very issue.

The First Avenger: Captain America is currently scheduled for a May 6, 2011 release.

Heroes Season 3 Trailer

In just two weeks, GeekiNput will go on the air to talk about the past and future of Heroes. Need something to get you in the mood and pumped up for that discussion? Try the trailer below. I checked it out out of curiosity, but I actually found myself with goosebumps at some of the scenes. It’s not too spoilery, as it just lets you know what to expect from this season. Still, it has me more excited than I have been in a long while.

Got you itching for more? Check out the recently released Heroes Webisodes as well.

AFTRA Actors Ratify New Deal, Against SAG’s Wishes

AFTRA is a union made up of 77,000 actors from television and radio, which includes 44,000 members that also belong to the SAG. Recently, the SAG began pushing for AFTRA members to vote down a deal that the guild leaders had reached in principle with Hollywood studios. Instead, yesterday AFTRA ratified the vote with a 63% approval rating. This deal undercuts a lot of SAG’s powers to strike, and is good news for entertainment fans everywhere.

I personally hope that all actors get the deals that they deserve. But work stoppage hurts everyone involved. So I am glad to see that this happened in order to make the liklihood a little smaller. The SAG can still call for a strike vote, but losing the support of a majority of it’s AFTRA members could be a barometer for how things would turn out in that regard. Continue reading this post for more details.

Millar Still Chasing ‘Superman’

Back in October, comic scribe Mark Millar (Wanted; Ultimates) expressed interest in pitching a Superman movie to Warner Bros. after it was announced that Superman Returns writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris had decided not to return for it’s sequel Man of Steel. Here’s what he said on his message board:

It’s 8.58am right now, my guys at CAA get into the office in about seven hours and my call will be waiting for them to talk about this. I want to revamp Superman like Hillary wants thin ankles. Revamping this franchise is what I as given fingers for and so, invited or not, I’m putting my plan together now. I’ve been asked to work on half a dozen screenplays lately, but this is the only one I have ever truly wanted.

Anyway, my treatment is being polished as we type. Wish me luck. I want to do that Superman movie we all want to see.

A few days later, Warner Bros. expressed that they had no interest in hiring a Marvel comic exclusive writer for a DC film, especially one based on such a well known DC character.

Now, Millar has told the Daily Record that he is taking his quest to be involved in a Superman relaunch a step farther:

But Mark’s big dream is making a Superman movie.

"But fingers crossed it could work out, that would be my lifetime’s dream."

Millar clarified on his messageboard later:

"That Superman news is interesting, isn’t it? In the interests of clarity (because I’m sure this will be picked up somewhere) a very well known American action director heard about my love of Superman, approached my and asked me to team up with he and his producer to make a pitch for this. We’ve been talking for several weeks now and, if this is going to happen, we’ll know by Christmas. He has huge pull at WB so fingers crossed. But this is nothing more than a huge US name pulling me into his fold and making me part of a package."

Well Mark, I’m rooting for you. Here’s hoping…

Rock Band 2 Shipping this September

Rock Band 2 has just been made official. Releasing in September on the Xbox 360, with the other consoles recieving the game "later this year". In addition, IGN has an excellent interview up with harmonix over at their site. Check it out. Some of my favorite bits from the article:

The most important question. Will Rock Band 1 DLC be playable in Rock Band 2?

Dan Teasdale: Yes. We’ve been developing Rock Band as a music platform from the start. All of the songs that you’ve purchased so far (and will be able to purchase in the future) are instantly playable and fully supported in Rock Band 2. We’ve even added some cool new features that let you play your DLC in different ways, which I think people will be very excited to get their hands on.

…

"Rock Band 2’s instruments will not disappoint. Like I mentioned before, our philosophy here is to innovate, then perfect. Along those lines, we’ve been able to take all of the feedback we’ve received to make quieter, more realistic, and more reliable instruments."

…

"Rock Band 2 has the strongest playlist we’ve ever assembled, and I think fans will be blown away not just at the spread, but also at the caliber of acts we’ve attracted."

…

"We’ve taken almost everything people have asked for in Rock Band and added it to Rock Band 2, as well as including some "first time ever" features."

More details will be released at E3 this year. Join us July 15th for GeekiNput’s live discussion of all the E3 events, including Rock Band 2!

RIP Michael Turner

One of the most popular comic book artists of all time, Michael Turner, tragically passed away last night, June 27th at approximately 10:42pm in Santa Monica, Ca.

From Newsarama.com:

Turner was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma (a bone-based cancer that attacks the cartilage) in March of 2000, which ultimately cost him his right hip, a portion of his pelvis and several pounds of bone. Turner was very open about his cancer, making convention appearances throughout the entire time, and never giving in to the illness.

Since his initial diagnosis in 2000, Turner had several ups and downs, but, surely thanks in part to his positive attitude, he was seen as the guy who was going to beat it, and be drawing for years to come – he just had to kick this thing first. Mike was 37.

Moffat named as new ‘Doctor Who’ showrunner

It was announced today (here) that Russel T. Davies (who has overseen the revamped Doctor Who series since its return in 2005) is stepping down as series showrunner. When the series begins its fifth season in 2010 (2009 will see four Doctor Who specials to be released quarterly) it will be overseen by Doctor Who staff writer Steven Moffat.

Moffat is easily my favorite writer on Doctor Who, not only is he responsible for most of my favorite episodes (”The Empty Child”, “The Doctor Dances”, “The Girl in the Fireplace”, and “Blink”), but he also created the BBC sticom Coupling and the amazing six-part thriller Jekyll starring James Nesbitt and Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman). I have complete faith that not only will Doctor Who continue on the path of quality that we have all come to expect, but I believe that it may even get better!

Kids WB! Dropped By CW

Rest in Peace Kids WB! I’ll remember you fondly…