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Third "Asterix" film planned

"Asterix and the Olympic Games" brings back Gerard Depardieu as Obelix and will feature Jean-Claude Van Damme as Roman athlete Cornedurus.

Here are details from the French site Allocine, translated rather amusingly using Babelfish:

Explosive casting for Astérix with the Olympic Games!

The third adapted cinematographic shutter of the famous comic strips of Albert Uderzo and Rene Goscinny will accomodate Alain Delon in the role of the Emperor Jules César.

Other taking part of size (and muscles) in the adventure: the Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, who will lend his silhouette bodybuildée to the Roman athlete Cornedurus.

The information collected by AFP this Wednesday June 8 near the editions Albert Rene. The contract to launch the project was signed by Albert Uderzo, Jerome Seydoux, owner of Pathé, and the company of production the Small Queen, directed by Thomas Langmann.

So, there you have it!

Katie Holmes as Wonder Woman

She can put up with Tom Cruise, so perhaps she has the heroic powers needed to pull off starring as the amazon princess on the big screen.

From The San Francisco Examiner:

"I was part of the majority of girls that loved ‘Wonder Woman,'" Katie told reporters. She's got some experience in reprising comic-book roles. Her latest film, "Batman Begins," in which she plays Bruce Wayne's "lady friend," opens next week.

Making of the EC Comics documentary

IGN Filmforce is featuring a production diary of Chip Selby's documentary film "Tales from the Crypt: From Comic Books to Television."

The film itself features interviews with Jack Davis, Al Williamson, Jack Kamen, Marie Severin and other EC greats. It's available here.

Papercutz plans Zorro comic, graphic novel

From the press release:

ZORRO Graphic Novel #1
Don MCGREGOR*Sidney LIMA

An epic Zorro adventure, featuring deadly battles with fierce new
foes and intense romance with a mysterious beauty, all set against
the savage landscape of the untamed wilds of the Old West. Zorro is
risking all to find safe haven for Eulalia Bandini, a woman who dared
defied the all-powerful Capitan Monasterio to save him. But no matter
how far north Zorro and Eulalia ride, Monasterio and his men are not
far behind. To complicate matters, Zorro stops to save Thierry and
Amelie Besson, a middle-aged mapmaker and his wife, from the clutches
of the cadaverous Ripklaw. But Ripklaw and his master, Lucifer Trapp,
are as relentless in their quest to kill Zorro's new friends, as
Monasterio is to capture Eulalia! Discover the shocking reason why
Trapp wants Besson dead! See the romantic tension increase between
Zorro and Eulalia when she discovers Zorro's most-guarded secret! See
Zorro battling all along the breath-taking yet deadly beauty of
Mother Nature! It all builds to a stunning climax in which Zorro
battles Ripklaw to the death on an ice bridge, while an earthquake
threatens to kill everyone! Plus: a preview of the next Zorro graphic
novel from Papercutz.

5x 7 ½", 96pp., full color graphic novel, paperback, $7.95.

Also in collector's edition hardcover: $12.95.

ZORRO #4
Don McGREGOR*Sidney LIMA
"Drownings!" Part One of Three

Perfect jumping on point for new readers with an all-new story!

Near the Yellowstone River, a young couple, Malena Fellini and Burt
Douglas, are on the run in a field of huge buffalo. A gunshot rips
the air and one of the gigantic bison they are running past spurts
blood! LOCKSPUR has taken aim, and the killing of the huge buffalo,
crashing at the young lovers' feet is only a taunting message that he
intends to take one of them alive! Meanwhile, Zorro and Eulalia
Bandini are BURIED ALIVE when they plunge into an icy chasm that
threatens to become their glacial coffin! It's non-stop action,
featuring one of the greatest heroes of all-time, in a special low-
priced issue! Be sure to have enough in stock for when "The Legend of
Zorro," starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones is
released!

Monthly comic book, 24 pp., full color, ONLY 99 CENTS.

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"Sopranos" not winding up?

According to E!:

Despite creator David Chase's claims that the upcoming sixth season of the show would be the last for his gang of merry mobsters, the Sopranos mastermind appears to have left the door open for a possible seventh season.

More Sopranos.

New "Bewitched" pics posted

Latino Review has a whole bunch of shots from the upcoming film.



Classics Illustrated "War of the Worlds" reprint planned

According to ICv2:

Jack Lake Productions, a Canadian publisher, is publishing a special 50th Anniversary Edition of Classics Illustrated #124 War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. The 48-page full color book has been painstakingly recreated to do full justice to Lou Cameron's excellent artwork, which made this comic, first published in 1955, one of the favorites of the entire series.

A hardcover edition of the book will be available for $14.99 ($19.99 CDN), and a soft cover version will sell for $9.99 ($12.99 CDN).

"Emergency!," "Adam-12" DVD art revealed

The first seasons of each show are out Aug. 23.



Rhino boxes up the 90s

It's never too early to get nostalgic, I guess. Here's the track list for Rhino Records Whatever: The '90s Pop Culture Box, out July 26.

Disc one:
"U Can't Touch This," M.C. Hammer
"Nothing Compares 2 U," Sinead O'Connor
"No Myth," Michael Penn
"Ladies First," Queen Latifah featuring Monie Love
"Ball and Chain," Social Distortion
"Birdhouse in Your Soul," They Might Be Giants
"Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns," Mother Love Bone
"Here's Where the Story Ends," the Sundays
"Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)," C & C Music Factory
"Groove Is in the Heart," Deee-Lite
"Right Here, Right Now," Jesus Jones
"New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme)," Ice-T
"I Touch Myself," Divinyls
"Unbelievable," EMF
"Hard To Handle," the Black Crowes
"O.P.P.," Naughty By Nature
"Walking in Memphis," Marc Cohn
"It's So Hard To Say Goodbye to Yesterday," Boyz II Men

Disc two:
"Silent Lucidity," Queensryche
"Into the Drink," Mudhoney
"Girlfriend," Matthew Sweet
"I'm Too Sexy," Right Said Fred (R*S*F*)
"Calling All Angels," Jane Siberry with k.d. lang
"Only Shallow," My Bloody Valentine
"It's a Shame About Ray," the Lemonheads
"Baby Got Back," Sir Mix-A-Lot
"They Want EFX," DAS EFX
"Jump," Kris Kross
"Walk," Pantera
"N.W.O.," Ministry
"S***list," L7
"Absynthe," the Gits
"Coattail Rider," Supersuckers
"Runaway Train," Soul Asylum
"Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," Spin Doctors
"Dizz Knee Land," dada
"Nearly Lost You," Screaming Trees

Disc three:
"Under the Bridge," Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Unsung," Helmet
"Jump Around," House Of Pain
"Free Your Mind," En Vogue
"Rump Shaker," Wreckx-N-Effect
"Informer," Snow
"Connected," Stereo MC's
"Detachable Penis," King Missile
"Freak Me," Silk
"Ordinary World," Duran Duran
"If I Can't Change Your Mind," Sugar
"Three Little Pigs," Green Jelly
"Start Choppin," Dinosaur Jr
"The Devil's Chasing Me," the Reverend Horton Heat
"Gone to the Moon," Fastbacks
"My Name Is Mud," Primus
"What's Up," 4 Non Blondes

Disc four:
"Thunder Kiss '65," White Zombie
"Whoomp! (There It Is)," Tag Team
"Broken Hearted Savior," Big Head Todd and the Monsters
"Trust Me," Guru with N'Dea Davenport
"Here Comes," Velocity Girl
"Gepetto," Belly
"Eye to Eye," the Muffs
"Gentlemen," Afghan Whigs
"Leafy Incline," Tad
"Dream All Day," the Posies
"Hey Jealousy," Gin Blossoms
"My Sister," the Juliana Hatfield Three
"Whatta Man," Salt-N-Pepa
"Back & Forth," Aaliyah
"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)," Me'Shell NdegéOcello
"Freedom of '76," Ween
"Cut Your Hair," Pavement
"God," Tori Amos
"MMM MMM MMM MMM," Crash Test Dummies
"Possession," Sarah McLachlan

Disc five:
"Shine," Collective Soul
"Far Behind," Candlebox
"You Gotta Be," Des'ree
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon," Urge Overkill
"She Don't Use Jelly," the Flaming Lips
"m.i.a.," 7 Year Bitch
"21st Century (Digital Boy)," Bad Religion
"Sugar Free Jazz," Soul Coughing
"Mockingbirds," Grant Lee Buffalo
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?," R.E.M.
"Revolve," Melvins
"Buddy Holly," Weezer
"Here and Now," Letters To Cleo
"Good," Better Than Ezra
"Run-Around," Blues Traveler
"I'll Be There for You (Theme From "Friends")," the Rembrandts
"Tomorrow," Silverchair
"Not a Pretty Girl," Ani DiFranco
"Carnival," Natalie Merchant

Disc six:
"Wonderwall," Oasis
"Birthday Cake," Cibo Matto
"Cumbersome," Seven Mary Three
"One of Us," Joan Osborne
"Caught by the Fuzz," Supergrass
"Sweet 69," Babes In Toyland
"Breakfast at Tiffany's," Deep Blue Something
"Photograph," the Verve Pipe
"In the Meantime," Spacehog
"Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check," Busta Rhymes featuring Rampage The Last Boy Scout
"Who Will Save Your Soul," Jewel
"Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand," Primitive Radio Gods
"Cybele's Reverie," Stereolab
"Capri Pants," Bikini Kill
"What I Got," Sublime
"Kung Fu," Ash
"Virtual Insanity," Jamiroquai
"Naked Eye," Luscious Jackson
"Outtasite (Outta Mind)," Wilco

Disc seven:
"itszoweezee (hot)," De La Soul
"LoveFool," the Cardigans
"Radiation Vibe," Fountains Of Wayne
"The Impression That I Get," the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
"Turn It On," Sleater-Kinney
"Bitch," Meredith Brooks
"MMMBop," Hanson
"Brian Wilson" (live), Barenaked Ladies
"Brick," Ben Folds Five
"Sex and Candy," Marcy Playground
"Walking on the Sun," Smash Mouth
"Tubthumping," Chumbawamba
"6 Underground," Sneaker Pimps
"Lullaby," Shawn Mullins
"Slide," Goo Goo Dolls
"Kiss Me," Sixpence None The Richer
"Steal My Sunshine," LEN
"What It's Like," Everlast
"Natural Blues," Moby

According to Billboard:

The box -- which will be adorned with a bag of coffee beans and a thermal wrap sporting faux corporate logos -- will include an 84-page book with 1990s timeline, track-by-track commentary and photographs to put the music in context. Music critics Jim DeRogatis and Joel Stein contribute essays to the book, which also includes an interview with Sub Pop president/co-founder Jonathan Poneman.

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New CD releases of note

June 7
Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass Going Places, SRO and What Now My Love
The Decemberists The Tain EP
Graham Parker Songs of No Consequence
Ringo Starr Choose Love
White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan
DVD Marc Bolan and T. Rex Born to Boogie


June 14

The 101'ers (Joe Strummer's pre-Clash band) Elgin Avenue Breakdown (Revisited)
Ry Cooder Chavez Ravine
Miles Davis 'Round About Midnight: Legacy Edition
Ian Dury New Boots & Panties
Brian Eno Another Day on Earth
The Everly Brothers Too Good to Be True: 18 Unreleased 1950s Sessions
Connie Francis Gold
Stevie Wonder A Time 2 Love
OST Batman Begins
OST Bewitched
DVD Paul McCartney in Red Square

DC's "Justice" previewed

Newsarama has a 12-page preview of August's "Justice" JLA mini-series by writer Jim Krueger, penciler Doug Braithwaite and painter (working over Braithwaite's pencils) Alex Ross.

Today's DVD new releases

June 7


Be Cool


Beyond the Sea

Dragnet '67 Complete First Season


Frasier Complete Fifth Season


Lois & Clark Complete First Season


MacGyver Complete Second Season


The Naked Truth


The Sopranos Complete Fifth Season

What's New Pussycat?


Wonder Woman Complete Third Season

More Disney-based comic books

Gemstone is doing a grand job reprinting classic and more-recent Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse comics, but now it looks like there'll be another player in the mix.

According to ICv2, SLG Publishing has been awarded a license to produce comics based on Disney attractions/films such as "The Haunted Mansion," "Gargoyles" and "Wonderland."

Haunted Mansion, which is due out in the fall, will be the first of the new SLG/Disney comics. The bi-monthly black-and-white comic anthology will feature stories about the various characters from the Haunted Mansion thrill rides at Disneyland and Disney World and will have a cover price of $2.95.

The SLG Gargoyles comic series will feature contributions from the creators of the 36-episode Gargoyles animated series, who came to Disney with the idea of creating a Gargoyles comic book and were referred to SLG. The bi-monthly Gargoyles comic series will launch in December or January as a full color comic with a 3.50 cover price.

The Wonderland comic book will take place after the events created by Lewis Carroll in his immortal Alice in Wonderland children's classic and will feature the colorful, sumptuous and smooth renderings of the characters used in the Disney animated Alice in Wonderland feature film from 1951. The full color Wonderland comic should debut in the spring of 2006.

SLG's full color Tron comic series, which is based on the Tron feature film from 1982, is also due out in the spring of 2006 and will follow the further adventures of a game designer who is sucked into a giant mainframe computer and has to navigate through the strange digital world.

All the titles will be collected into graphic novel compilations for sale in book stores and at Disney's theme parks.