Today's Double News: less than yesterday

Let's resume posting news in the usual frequency, shall we?

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/154917/marvels_dreadstar_wordt_bioscoopfilm

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/154916/nieuwe_uitgebreide_trailer_godzilla

I had only vaguely heard of Jim Starlin's Dreadstar, which is not surprising as it didn't get a Dutch translation, unlike many other Marvel comics. It's not a part of the regular Marvel Universe, instead being featured on the pages of Epic Illustrated, a semi-independent Marvel imprint where creative talent could show off their own ideas and keep more of their royalties accordingly. Now that Marvel is a really, really hot brand, it's a no-brainer studios, big and small, are looking for as yet unexploited Marvel properties, even in more obscure corners. It's good to see lesser known franchises are also eligible for cinematic adaptations, though in Dreadstar's case, it's hard to sell to a financier since the story is so unlike the existing Marvel movies, not to mention wholly outlandish and definitely expensive to produce. Audience expectations of super heroism when hearing the name Marvel might also work against the project, as this is totally different conceptually from the Marvel style people have come to know and love from the movies. Don't expect crossovers with already established characters, even the cosmic ones like Thor or the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy. Dreadstar is a whole different animal. Which is what makes it exciting as a movie project, but a tough sell for the small studios that now own the rights. Whether Dreadstar will truly make it to the big screen only time will tell. I'm hoping there's room for unusual Marvel off-shoots like these though. There's more to Marvel than superheroes, you know? I can live without an adaptation of Millie the Model though.

I could also live without another American remake of Godzilla, but Hollywood is presenting us with one of those regardless, and I gotta say, it doesn't look so bad. Considering how few of the original Japanese movies can actually be called 'good', that's not so hard to pull off. This new 'extended look' isn't as extended as you might at first be inclined to think, and basically serves as yet another trailer, with about half of its material shown before and the other half new stuff to keep us interested. And since Breaking Bad, I'm always interested in Bryan Cranston, even is he is playing second fiddle to a giant digital reptile. It seems the trailer is telling us that the human element to the story is not neglected - good thing to, if you have an actor of Cranston's stature on your payroll - though of course the creature is still of greatest interest and therefore, not shown as much as you would like, confined to shapes and silhouettes. It keeps the audience in suspense as to what this latest incarnation of the King of Monsters will look like. Though those who really want to find out need only take a look at the movie's merchandise, which has already been released. Wanna see what the new Godzilla looks like? Click this link. That's right, he's fat. And his spikes are rather small. And there's a million other things fans might hold against this design, but hey, at least he doesn't look like his silly Sixties' Japanese counterpart seen here, which could be seen merrily cavorting in kids' movies, dancing around and such. You wonder how this beastie could have grown so iconic despite doing a bunch of these terrible kiddie pictures.