‘Spider-Man 4,’ ‘Twilight,’ Superman vs. Brainiac in Everyday Hero headlines

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Today’s handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe...

Everyone knows that Spider-Man is going to the theater stage, but now it appears the theater is also coming to Spider-Man. Work continues on the Spidey musical for Broadway (which at a reported $40 million will be the most expensive production in the history of theater) but in the meantime an acclaimed writer of stage drama is coming over to the webslinger’s massively successful movie franchise. Borys Kit has the trades announcement this morning: ‘David Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama ‘Rabbit Hole,’ is in final negotiations to write ‘Spider-Man 4’ for Columbia. Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are back as director and star, respectively, as are series producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad. Kirsten Dunst also is expected to return for the latest movie featuring the Marvel Comics character. Plot details are under lock and key. Columbia always has gone off the beaten path during the development process when hiring writers for the ‘Spider-Man’ movies. Alvin Sargent, a veteran scribe best known for 1973’s ‘Paper Moon’ and 1980’s ‘Ordinary People,’ served as a writer on the second and third films. Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer winner, also worked on ‘Spider-Man 2.’... Lindsay-Abaire’s ‘Rabbit Hole,’ which starred Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly, hit the Broadway stage in 2006 and won four Tonys, including best play. The writer also is known for the play ‘Fuddy Meers.’’ [Hollywood Reporter]

Twilight, Twi-bright, first vamp I see tonight: I’m not sure the world is prepared for how huge ‘Twilight’ is going to be, at least if Internet activity is any sort of predictor of movie box-office grosses. Today’s ‘Twilight’ update: Rotten Tomatoes now has a massive 93-image photo gallery from the movie (um, isn’t that pretty much the whole movie?) while Gina McIntyre has an interview with Robert Pattinson on the fang-mania. ‘’It’s happened since the day it got said that I was playing the part,’ Pattinson said, running his hands through his hair. ‘It was like a day when it changed. [People went from saying] ‘Are you the guy from ‘Harry Potter’? to ‘It’s Edward!’ It’s really, really strange.’ When asked if he thinks he’ll ever become accustomed to that aspect of his newfound celebrity, he simply replied, ‘No. It’s just a certain amount of acceptance, I guess. The only kind of strange thing is when you get photographed...I don’t think you’d ever get used to that. You can’t really live normally when that’s happening.’ ‘ [Entertainment News and Buzz, Los Angeles Times]

Brainiac, the smart-guy choice: Brandon Routh is doing a lot of press right now because of his role in ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’ and in an interview with Robert Sanchez the subject turned to the next Superman movie. Routh hopes to wear the cape again and he would like to a certain city-shrinking, green-skinned evil genius as the heavy. ‘I think there are a lot of things you could do with Brainiac. He’s been given a lot of power and a lot of different abilities over the years in the comics, as far as I understand. I know that DC is working on a Brainiac storyline that they are excited about and I think combining the two and have that flow between the comics and the movie would be a nice thing. I honestly think there are a lot of interesting things you can do with Brainiac. Controlling people, controlling technology, a lot of cool things.’ [IESB]

Fear is good: Tonight is the L.A. opening night of ‘Fear(s) of the Dark,’ which i’ve been hearing great things about. (Guillermo Del Toro gushed about it: ‘Rusty alleyways and vaporous ghosts painted by the masters of dread. Razor-sharp images that will slice your eye and nest there forever. Thrilling, disturbing and haunting. Bring the kids!’)
Here’s the description from the folks at IFC: ‘A wildly inventive and visually dazzling collection of fearful tales by six of the world’s most renowned comic and graphic artists. Featuring the cutting-edge talents of Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard McGuire, ‘Fear(s) of the Dark’ was featured at the Sundance, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, and ‘Rendez-vous with French Cinema’ film festivals. ‘Fear(s) of the Dark’ will open in Los Angeles on October 31st at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre [11272 Santa Monica Boulevard] followed by a national roll-out. The artists featured have all drawn from their own fertile imaginations –- and worst nightmares –- to tell their tales. From a besotted student whose girlfriend is weirdly ardent in her affections, to a Japanese schoolgirl menaced by a long-dead samurai, and a pack of hounds on a bloodthirsty rampage, ‘Fear(s)’ has a story strand to trouble every sleep –- not to mention a stunning range of animation styles. Shot in shimmering black and white, the six intertwined tales create an unprecedented epic where phobias and nightmares come to life and reveal Fear at its most naked and intense.’ [press release]

X-Halloween: Tim O’Shea has an interview with Jeff Parker about ‘Giant Size X-Men: First Class,’ the Marvel new release with some fun Halloween touches, such as the Beast starting an (ahem) X-Files sort of paranormal investigations. Parker described his fave parts of the book: ‘ ‘Dean Haspiel drawing Bobby Drake, making the Thing’s hand breakdance. Michael Cho putting Cyclops in the role of Gort. Nick Kilisian showing the X-Men as Pod People. David Williams somehow putting EVERYONE in one double page spread and making it look beautiful. But I think one feature that readers are going to love is Roger Langridge’s two-pager featuring young Charles Xavier, done in an Edward Gorey style. People who have heard of Roger and wonder what why he’s so praised will understand what the big deal is.’ ‘

-- Geoff Boucher

Credits: Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man unmasked in the third film in the super-hero film franchise, photo by Merrick Morton and courtesy of Columbia Pictures. ‘Action Comics’ issue No. 280 featuring Curt Swan cover of Brainiac, courtesy of DC Comics.