Ratner eyes Valiant's 'Harbinger'
03-16-08, 10:32 PM
#1
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Ratner eyes Valiant's 'Harbinger'
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982173.html?c=13
Ratner eyes Valiant's 'Harbinger'
Paramount adapting comicbook series into film
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Paramount Pictures has acquired rights to turn the Valiant Comics series "Harbinger" into a live-action feature that will be developed as a potential directing vehicle for Brett Ratner.
Alexandra Milchan will produce with Ratner and Jay Stern. The project may be branded under the MTV Films banner.
Created by Jim Shooter, the "Harbinger" comicbook series became a hit when published in the 1990s. Harbingers are humans with powers that can be unlocked by "omega" harbingers. Teenager Pete Stanchek finds himself on a collision course with an older "omega" who used his gifts to become an evil industrialist.
"The movie is in the vein of a young 'Blade Runner,' as this 17-year- old gifted kid helps other kids tap into these parts of their brains," Milchan said.
Ratner, who directed "X-Men: The Last Stand," was looking for an opportunity to start a superhero franchise from scratch. Project will be scripted while Ratner continues work on other directing projects, including "Playboy," the Brian Grazer-produced film about Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner for Universal.
Valiant Comics is being relaunched by Valiant Entertainment Group, a privately financed company headed by CEO Jason Kothari and chief creative officer Dinesh Shamdasani, both of whom will be co-producers on the film.
Valiant Comics developed a strong following by launching hero franchises that had interconnected storylines (much like DC and Marvel titles). Company, which sold 80 million comicbooks and 8 million videogames, was sold to vidgame company Acclaim Entertainment in 1994 for $65 million but had done little recently as that company hit the financial rocks.
Kothari's group bought the Valiant library last year after Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Its plan is to republish its best titles and begin generating new issues by year's end. Valiant signed with WMA to make movie deals for the franchises.
Ratner eyes Valiant's 'Harbinger'
Paramount adapting comicbook series into film
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Paramount Pictures has acquired rights to turn the Valiant Comics series "Harbinger" into a live-action feature that will be developed as a potential directing vehicle for Brett Ratner.
Alexandra Milchan will produce with Ratner and Jay Stern. The project may be branded under the MTV Films banner.
Created by Jim Shooter, the "Harbinger" comicbook series became a hit when published in the 1990s. Harbingers are humans with powers that can be unlocked by "omega" harbingers. Teenager Pete Stanchek finds himself on a collision course with an older "omega" who used his gifts to become an evil industrialist.
"The movie is in the vein of a young 'Blade Runner,' as this 17-year- old gifted kid helps other kids tap into these parts of their brains," Milchan said.
Ratner, who directed "X-Men: The Last Stand," was looking for an opportunity to start a superhero franchise from scratch. Project will be scripted while Ratner continues work on other directing projects, including "Playboy," the Brian Grazer-produced film about Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner for Universal.
Valiant Comics is being relaunched by Valiant Entertainment Group, a privately financed company headed by CEO Jason Kothari and chief creative officer Dinesh Shamdasani, both of whom will be co-producers on the film.
Valiant Comics developed a strong following by launching hero franchises that had interconnected storylines (much like DC and Marvel titles). Company, which sold 80 million comicbooks and 8 million videogames, was sold to vidgame company Acclaim Entertainment in 1994 for $65 million but had done little recently as that company hit the financial rocks.
Kothari's group bought the Valiant library last year after Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Its plan is to republish its best titles and begin generating new issues by year's end. Valiant signed with WMA to make movie deals for the franchises.
I have to give credit to valiantfans.com... http://valiantfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20168) ...for this story.
03-17-08, 03:50 PM
#2
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Meh. Not a big Harbinger fan. Valiant had some good stuff, but this wasn't my cup of tea. Not to hijack this thread but do people out there remember the crazy secondary market prices for early Valiant issues?
03-18-08, 01:45 PM
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Originally Posted by madcougar
Meh. Not a big Harbinger fan. Valiant had some good stuff, but this wasn't my cup of tea. Not to hijack this thread but do people out there remember the crazy secondary market prices for early Valiant issues?
I'm actually surprised there hasn't been a Turok movie. I remember the early Gold Key comics, which was got me interested in the Valiant series. And now with the video game out, it seemed like a perfect title to bring to the big screen.
03-18-08, 09:49 PM
#4
Banned
Several of the Valiant comics could serve as inpiration for TV series or films but I hugely doubt that Rattner could be the one to pull it off. He is a complete hack and would turn a good comic into a mindless shitty action film. X3 is the prove of this.
03-19-08, 12:00 PM
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Originally Posted by MovieExchange
That can't be said enough.
Good god, he screwed up X3 so bad, how can anyone trust him with another comic book movie?
Good god, he screwed up X3 so bad, how can anyone trust him with another comic book movie?
I can't fault Ratner for everything as he was a hired gun to film a script he didn't have time to polish.
Of course, his track record doesn't help my argument.
I'm just saying X3 was a clusterfuck from the get go.
03-23-08, 02:07 AM
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Originally Posted by devilshalo
Of course, his track record doesn't help my argument. I'm just saying X3 was a clusterfuck from the get go.
I'm just saying X3 was a clusterfuck from the get go.
03-24-08, 12:56 AM
#9
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i liked x3. Of course i am a fan of all things xmen. I also liked the fantastic 4 movies. They might not have been the greatest films ever, but definitely watchable.
of course i thought spidey #2 sucked ass. there were about 15 minutes of good film(the action scenes)
I also liked valiant comics. i picked up reprints of the first issues of harbinger. That was a good series, one that helped really got people's attention for the company. I was kind of pissed that they killed off one of the main characters in the first 5 issues, and apparently they dont bring their heroes back to life like they do at marvel and DC
of course i thought spidey #2 sucked ass. there were about 15 minutes of good film(the action scenes)
I also liked valiant comics. i picked up reprints of the first issues of harbinger. That was a good series, one that helped really got people's attention for the company. I was kind of pissed that they killed off one of the main characters in the first 5 issues, and apparently they dont bring their heroes back to life like they do at marvel and DC
03-29-08, 08:29 PM
#10
DVD Talk Limited Edition
I always thought BloodShot was a cool story... I kept all of my old Valiant comics, I was really into ShadowMan, BoodShot, Solar, and Hard Corps.
