Marvel Entertainment Inc., home of famed comic book characters such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Incredible Hulk and Fantastic Four, was purchased by Walt Disney Co. today.
The deal did not come cheap – Walt Disney Studios shelled out $4 billion in cash and stock to own the comic book catalogue consisting of more than 5,000 characters, some of which were created by legendary Stan Lee.
“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters . . . with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company in a press release.
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Just a heads up for those loving the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine game by Activision (or those who have grown tired of the story mode already). We now have the ability to download the Weapon X arena, yes, the very same arena DLC that came with a Wolverine pre-order is now available to the masses on both Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft points, and Playstation 3 for $9.99.
The Arena is comprised of four combat simulators for your gory enjoyment. In the Custom Combat arena, Logan potentials can ‘grow’ and combination of enemies (big or small) to fight, creating your ultimate brawl dreams including Sentinel Prototypes, Machine Gunners, Machete Men and more! As well, the Ladder Challenge mode gives those that have fought ever enemy in the game the ability to fight through an onslaught of preconfigured challenges, starting weak and easy and growing gradually until the room fills with the hardest battles imaginable; there are 50 ‘levels’ to plough through in this mode. The Environmental Simulator gives you the ability to utilize all the environmental weapons throughout the game, things like broken tree branches, electric panels and all the fun stuff you can throw enemies into are all here for your Canadian chucking pleasure. Finally the Weapon X Arena provides an extra bonus room that has heightened enemy reaction effects.
So you heard it here folks, those Wolverine fans that didn’t get the pre-order no longer have to wallow in self pity that they don’t have access to this arena because now for 800 MS points or $10 bucks, you too can have hours of mutilating mutation entertainment!
Logan, Weapon X, James, Jimmy, Wolverine. Whatever you want to call him, there’s no denying he’s one of the biggest names in super-hero history. Then why has he been so hard to franchise for? Could it be that it’s hard to market a children’s video game where the main character is a raging animal? Could it be that with such a deep story line a game could never encompass everything that wolverine is? Could it be that it’s hard to have a game where players can die, when the character himself has survived bullets in the brain, being ripped in half, AND walking directly into the sun? For these reasons and more I feel there has never been a video game that has done wolverine justice… that is, until now.
With the increasing level of quality connected to licensed games (Spiderman: Web of Shadows and Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Athena come to mind), X-Men: Origins: Wolverine raises the bar with this exceptional title. It could be because in the past only children played games, but as those children grew up, they required more adult oriented action. Enter Wolverine. This is by far one of the bloodiest, gruesome-ist, and most stylized carnage I have ever had the pleasure of controlling, and after the lack of blood found in the X-Men: Origins: Wolverine movie, I felt this was much needed.
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X-Men Posted on November 19th, 2008 by
Eva Lam
Josh Schwartz, creator of hit shows “Gossip Girl” and “The O.C.,” is in talks to write the newest “X-Men” movie for Fox.
According to Variety, Schwartz was also presented with the opportunity to direct “X-Men: First Class,” but opted not to take the directing role.
The movie will focus on a younger group of mutants than the previous films and may act as a prequel to the “X-Men” series by focusing on such characters as Cyclops in their teen years.
Another possibility is that the film will follow some of the students attending the mutant school introduced in the “X-Men” movies.
It’s not the only “X-Men” project in the works: Fox is reportedly developing a “Magneto” prequel and a potential spinoff of the upcoming “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” that will focus on the character Deadpool.
“X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” in which Hugh Jackman reprises his role as the titular mutant, will hit theatres next summer.
The “X-Men” series has earned $1.2 billion worldwide.
Marvel has sharpened up it’s plans for the “Wolverine” movie.
Now with a title – “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” – and a release date – May 1, 2009 – the film will star Hugh Jackman as the brooding mutant.
According to “Variety,” the film’s plot could include a young William Stryker, Sabretooth, Weapon X and perhaps some returning characters. It will be directed by Gavin Hood (“Tsotsi”).
Marvel.com will update fans as soon as further decisions are made.
It looks like Canadian X-Men star Shawn Ashmore has defrosted his relationship with old flame Michelle Trachtenberg.
The couple, who dated for two years and broke up in 2006, were seen kissing and cuddling at the restaurant Koi in Los Angeles recently.
In their off time, Trachtenberg (Eurotrip) was seen out and about with the likes of Pete Wentz and Jason Lewis.
Ashmore, who just turned 28, will next be seen in the films Solstice and The Ruins.
Batman Begins writer DAVID GOYER is setting his sights on another superhero property – he is directing the spin-off movie to the X-MEN trilogy, MAGNETO.
The movie will focus on the young Magneto, the villain of the X-Men pictures, and how he became mortal enemies with character Professor X, played by Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart in the trilogy.
The main characters in the spin-off will be played by actors in their twenties instead of the original cast.
Goyer has previously worked on superhero movies Batman Begins and the Blade trilogy.
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Fox head Tom Rothman has confirmed there will be a fourth X-Men movie, despite the third being titled “The Last Stand.”
“It’s the conclusion of this trilogy. These three movies work as a trilogy. These characters in this relationship, it’s the culmination of that saga,” Rothman says, according to Movie Hole.
“It’s the culmination and the resolution of those relationships laid out in the first two movies. That doesn’t mean never, I would ever say never again, but I will say that this brings that saga to an end. It’s quite the way the last Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, brought that trilogy to a conclusion in terms of those characters, that’s what this movie does. It goes all the way back to the first one and rounds off and completes that three-part story.”
Fans can also look forward to a Wolverine spin-off in addition to what will no doubt be many, many more X-Men films.
“X-Men: The Last Stand” set a new box office record for a U.S. Memorial Day weekend opening, bringing in an estimated $107 million US across North America and blowing past “The Da Vinci Code.”
The movie’s distributor, 20th Century Fox, had hoped the film would open close to the $86 million mark set by 2003’s “X2: X-Men United,” according to Reuters.
Until the arrival of “X-Men” this weekend, “The Da Vinci Code” boasted the best opening of the year, taking $77 million for its debut. The religious thriller slipped to second spot this weekend, though sales data is not expected to be released until Monday.
After successful outings, and one not so successful one, Halle Berry is ready to hang up her super hero costume for good.
Berry has appeared in all three of the X Men movies, portraying Storm, a mutant who has the ability to control the weather. She also portrayed Catwoman, which was a box office bomb.
Berry said she wanted to play a stong woman, which Storm is. However, she feared that Storm was not written as strong and independent as she is in the comic book.
?It?s no fun to play a woman that does nothing,? she told the Associated Press.
