From the Palantir! (A Fantasy News Round-Up)

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Posted on 01 July 2009 by Brent Hartinger, Editor

If Terry Gilliam really does (finally) get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote made, it looks like it won’t be with original star Johnny Depp — and it’s not just because Depp’s schedule is so “nutty.” Depp told Ain’tItCoolNews.com, “I feel like we went there and tried something, and, whatever it was — the elements and all the things that got up underneath us — were there and happened and were documented well in that film Lost in La Mancha. So I don’t know if it’s right for me to go back there. I don’t know if it’s right for Terry to, but if he wants to….”

The Broadway adaptation of The Little Mermaid is closing at the end of August after a two-year run, most likely at a loss for Disney (though an upcoming tour should change that). Of all of Disney’s Broadway shows, only Tarzan had a shorter run (at 15 months), while The Lion King, Aida, Beauty and the Beast, and Mary Poppins ran longer (King and Poppins are still running). Disney has 12 to 15 future stage projects in development, including a version of Peter and the Starcatchers, although not all are necessarily destined for Broadway.

Speaking of Disney, five more featurettes have been released for their much-heralded return to non-CGI animation, December’s The Princess and the Frog. (There’s also a brewing racial controversy, which I am ignoring, because at this point no one knows enough to have an opinion on the movie, much less a critical one.)

Hilarious piece over at CollegeHumor.com: “Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author or Crazy Person?” The reader must decide if the person in the photos (above) is an actual successful author — or a certified lunatic!

They’re remaking An American Werewolf in London. Have I mentioned in this column how amazingly sick I’m getting of remakes, sequels, and “reimaginings”? Oh, yeah, I think I have.

Evan Rachel Wood has joined the stage adaptation of Spider-Man, coming in 2010. This qualifies as a “remake,” so I don’t approve.

This article says that True Blood is going to get really “bizarre” this year. That’s all the article says. No examples, just that followed by four paragraphs of filler. Seriously, why is this an article?

The same news source referred above, Sci-Fi Wire, also has an article, “What to Expect in Toy Story 3.” “I can tell you Andy’s room is in the movie,” the lead animator says. “That’s about all I can say.” The movie is set in Andy’s room again — wow. Riveting. Again, why is this an article?

They’re turning the life story of Robert Ripley (from Ripley’s Believe It Or Not) into a fantasy adventure movie. That’s the good news. The bad news it is to star Jim Carrey and be directed by Chris Columbus.

Wow, the ratings for the broadcast networks suck this summer. I’m sure they’re telling themselves that this is all about the bad economy, or it’s just temporary, or something. But the reality is that now that viewers have had a taste of professionally-produced niche programming on the cable networks (which are seeing their ratings sky-rocket), viewers are never going to go back to the bland, “general interest” pablum that the broadcast networks have (mostly) been offering us. For fantasy viewers, this can only be good news; no longer does fantasy or fantasyesque programming have to appeal to 15 million viewers in order to be “successful.”