At long last, there is news on the film adaptation of Jeff Smith's Bone. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project has found a writer (Patrick Sean Smith, creator of the ABC Family show Greek), and director (P.J. Hogan, director of My Best Friend's Wedding and the 2003 version of Peter Pan). I still think there's a solid chance this project will never actually materialize—Warner Bros. has held the rights since 2008 without much movement—but these are definite signs of life.

Labels: Bone, Jeff Smith, Movie Adaptations

According to The Beat, Jeff Smith's trippy sci-fi/noir series RASL is being developed into a feature film. Several things about this idea concern me:

A) The film adaptation of Smith's infinitely more popular series Bone has languished in development limbo for the past several years, which doesn't speak well for his marketability.

B) Smith has only managed to release nine issues of RASL in three years.

C) Plus, none of those nine issues have made much sense, so I have serious doubts about whether or not they could be transformed into a coherent movie.

D) The title... is problematic.

Don't get me wrong: I like RASL, and it's certainly atmospheric and emotionally compelling, but it would require an enormous amount of patience, money, and love to make this sucker into a decent film. Why would Hollywood want to waste that kind of effort when they could be churning out Transformers #17?

Labels: Comic news, Jeff Smith, Movie Adaptations

If you really, really, really love Jeff Smith's Bone, you might want to start saving your money now. Three new, full-color, one-volume editions of Bone will be released later this year. There will be a slip-cased version available for $150, a $350 "Collectors' Box Set" that will include pewter Bone figurines and a signed, numbered print, and a super-limited (50 copies only) edition that will feature original art by Smith. It will set you back a cool $1000, but, uh, wow. I totally want one.

Labels: Comic news, Jeff Smith, Upcoming Books

Meg sent me this link over the weekend. Apparently, Warner Bros. has bought the movie rights to Jeff Smith's Bone.

See, a Bone movie would only work for me if they got the people who make Wallace and Gromit to put it together. I can't think of anyone who could handle the series' unique mix of goofiness and dignity better. Unfortunately, this film is going to be produced by Dan Lin. You know what his credits include? Scooby-Doo 2, the new 10,000 BC movie, and the recent (and no doubt immortal) film version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

So... yeah, my hopes aren't high.

P.S. I finally read the first issue of Smith's Rasl. Totally different from Bone, but a very intriguing start.

Labels: Jeff Smith, Movie Adaptations

Publishers Weekly recently published an interview with indie comic god Jeff Smith. Click here to read more about Smith's upcoming title RASL, a quarterly series PW describes as "a blend of science fiction and noir, following an art thief who jumps dimensions to steal famed paintings".

CNN.com has an interview up with Brian K. Vaughn. Click here to read about the movie version of his award-winning comic Y: The Last Man, his feelings about the end of the series, and his work on the TV show Lost.

And speaking of Vaughn, I recently learned that his series Runaways is about to be handed over to writer Terry Moore (creator of Strangers in Paradise, possibly the world's whiniest comic series) and artist Humberto Ramos. Click here to check out Ramos's sketch of the Runaways characters. I, sadly, was forced to give up on Runaways when SPOILER! they killed off Gert, but I am willing to recommit to the series if they resuscitate her (even if it is being written by ol' Who-Doesn't-Love-a-90-Issue-Long-Love-Triangle? Moore).

You hear that, Runaways? Bring back Gert, and all is forgiven!

Labels: Brian K. Vaughn, Comic news, Jeff Smith