Author: Borys Kit

April 04, 2015 4 hours ago by Borys Kit

 Cate Cameron/The CW

Executive producer Rob Thomas explained how the CW series differs from the comic books on which it’s based, along with why he wasn’t trying to duplicate the success of ‘The Walking Dead.’

The cast and crew of iZombie took the stage at WonderCon, trying to keep the momentum going of the new show (it’s only three episodes in) the CW hopes to become a cult hit a la Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Veronica Mars.

It does help to have Rob Thomas, the creator of Mars, as one of the exec producers of iZombie, which is based on the Vertigo comic created by Chis Roberson and Mike Allred.

Thomas said the network didn’t pitch him and frequent partner Diane Ruggiero as a zombie show, something which would have been understandable in the aftermath of the mega success of AMC’s The Walking Dead, but instead as something along the line of female empowerment.

Read more How ‘iZombie’ Is “Wish Fulfillment” for Its Co-Creator (Guest Column)

“It was, ‘CW and its next kickass female lead on the network. Do the next Buffy or Veronica Mars,’ ” Thomas said. “It was the opportunity to do that.”

(Thomas did reveal that he did have a zombie project years ago, titled Death Valley, but scrapped it when he read on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter, when it was still a daily, a headline that heralded Frank Darabont setting up Walking Dead at AMC.)

Thomas said the show presented him challenges he hadn’t faced before. “As a writer, most of what I’ve done is quippy people in rooms,” he explained. “We try to write fast and funny dialogue. But this is the first time in my career where I’m dealing with blood and violence and special effects.”

The panel, which was populated by star Rose McIver as well as Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley and David Anders, was light on its feet, with questions such as, “Do you believe in psychics?” and “What reality show would your character want to be on?” but did tackle topics such as how McIver prepared for her part of a zombie who works in a morgue (she uses the hour and 45 minutes she spends in make-up and hair to get into the character, and said she relies on the energy of her co-stars).

See more ‘The Walking Dead’s’ Most Shocking Deaths (Photos)

Thomas and Ruggiero did touch upon why they made the alterations from the comic in the translation to the small screen in a discussion about how important it was to stay faithful to the source material.

“The places where we deviated from the comic book, there was a logic for us,” he said. As an example, he said, “In the comic, the main character is a grave digger. But it wouldn’t have given us a case of the week.”

Also, they ditched the comic’s many other monsters, such as Werewolf-types, because as Thomas pointed, True Blood had a monster universe “already covered.” Still, the iZombie comic’s creators have given a thumbs-up to the show, and Allred even designed the title sequence.

Goodwin said that Oldboy, based on a manga series, took great liberties and is considered a great film. The Watchmen, he said, was frame-by-frame faithful, and many didn’t like it.

“This has the color and DNA of the comic, and that’s [the] best compliment to Chris and Mike,” Goodwin added.

Courtesy of The CW

Arthur Darvill, who played a companion to the Doctor in BBC’s Doctor Who, is in final negotiations to join the cast of WB’s untitled DC Arrow/Flash spinoff show.

The series’ cast already includes Brandon Routh as incredible shrinking hero The Atom (aka Ray Palmer), Wentworth Miller as Captain Cold, Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory, and Victor Garber as Prof. Martin Stein among others.

Darvill will play a character titled the Traveler, a cocksure time-hopping adventurer. There was speculation the hero could be time-jumping hero Booster Gold but The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed the character is Rip Hunter, one of DC’s classic heroes created back in 1959 and was a leader of a time-traveling group. 

Read more 

(Interestingly, his origin was redone so that he became the son Booster Gold, who was created in the mid-1980s.)

In fact, inside the WB the character is described as ” a roguish time traveler who hides the strains of being responsible for history itself behind a facade of charm and wit.”

Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg are writing and exec producing.

This will be the first American television work for Darvill, who can be seen on the current season of BBC’s crime drama Broadchurch.

He is repped by Independent Talent and Silver Lining Entertainment.

Read more ‘Arrow’s’ Stephen Amell: There Will Be “Dire Consequences” If Oliver Refuses Ra’s Al Ghul

Email: Borys.Kit@thr.com
Twitter: @borys_kit

AP Images

From Left: Norman Reedus, Djimon Hounsou and Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman has conquered comics and he has taken television by storm with The Walking Dead. Now he is setting his sights on movies.

Kirkman is producing Air, a sci-fi thriller to which Norman Reedus, one of the breakout actors on Walking Dead, and Djimon Hounsou have signed on to topline, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions is in final negotiations to acquire the project.

Christian Cantamessa, the video game hot shot who co-wrote and was the lead designer for games such as Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, wrote the script with Chris Pasetto and will make his feature directorial debut with the low-budget pic.

PHOTOS: ‘The Walking Dead’s’ Most Shocking Deaths

Kirkman will produce with David Alpert, the Circle of Confusion partner that also exec produces Walking Dead. Also producing is Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, whose credits include exec producing the Insidious movies, and Chris Ferguson.

The story is set in an underground cryogenic facility after a nuclear fall-out renders the atmosphere unbreathable. Air centers on its two custodial workers (Reedus, Hounsou) who take care of the cryogenically sleeping personnel that are to re-establish society but they struggle to preserve their own sanity and lives while maintaining the extremely fragile environment of the last livable place on earth. 

Kirkman will be producing via his Skybound Entertainment banner, which has grown into a multi-platform entertainment shingle since starting with the Walking Dead show in 2010. The company produces comics, is developing several TV shows such as Clone, an original set up at NBC, and Outcast, Kirkman’s comic set up Cinemax, and also handles merchandising lines.

STORY: ‘The Walking Dead’ Is TV’s No. 1 Show — Why Aren’t Its Stars Famous?

Bailey Conway and Noah Rosen are exec producing Air.

The project was previously known as Wake Cycle and set up at Boss Media in 201, although the rights lapsed and it went into hibernation mode Circle of Confusion and Kirkman got involved.

Air marks the biggest move yet for Reedus since Walking Dead made him a fan favorite and since his joining CAA late last year. Reedus is also repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and attorney Karl Austen at Jackoway Tyerman.

Hounsou, the twice Oscar-nominated actor who will be seen in the upcoming tentpoles Guardians of the Galaxy and Fast & Furious 7, is repped by CAA, the Safran Co., and Sloane Offer.

Cantamessa, who wrote and directed the upcoming Warner Bros. Interactive game Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, is repped by CAA, Circle of Confusion and Weintraub Tobin. Pasetto is repped by CAA.