Item! Brad Pitt will star in a sci-fi take on Homer's The Odyssey . Hang on! Doesn't that sound like Ulysses 31 to you? Hmm. Variety are reporting that George Miller will direct a futuristic version of the classical story for Warner Brothers. Homer's Greek masterpiece describes the adventures of Odysseus (Ulysses in the Roman retelling) and his crew during their voyage home after the Trojan War. Remember, Pitt played Achilles in the movie Troy. Ulysses 31 , on the other hand, was a Japanese/French animation that wowed kids with its ridiculous theme song in the 1980s - if the Miller/Pitt version isn't like this, we'll be a tiny bit upset.
Item! Urban Species, the cool designer clothing outlet which has the official Marvel licence, is running a competition to win a Wanted comic print signed by Mark Millar. To celebrate the release of the Wanted movie on the 20 October, the adult-themed Danger Room over at the Urban Species site is running a compo for a print of the original comic book inspiration behind the motion picture - signed by the author, friend-of-SFX Mark Millar himself.
Item! Fan of those classic point-and-click adventures in the LucasArts style? A Vampyre Story is scheduled to be released in November, introducing the world to beautiful Mona de Lafitte and the mischievous bat Froderick as they travel through the fictional gothic realm of Draxsylvania. It's developed by Bill Tiller's new studio Autumn Moon - a former employee of LucasArts, Tiller won himself the respect of adventure fans through his work on titles such as The Dig and The Curse of Monkey Island. A Vampyre Story combines modern 3D animation with the qualities of classic 2D adventure design, as you help Mona De Lafitte fulfil her dream of singing at the Paris Opera despite being turned into a creature of the night by evil Von Kiefer. It's from Focus Interactive - warning, official website contains a lot of French.
Item! Science fiction legend Frederik Pohl (Hugo and Nebula winner and one-time SWFA president) will be 89 years old on 26 November and his fans are trying to create a special gesture, asking readers to send him a birthday message. Like a bit of Pohl? Then email your thoughts to futurianfp@live.com . If you'd like to create something that needs to be sent through snail mail, direct it to Pohl Birthday Wishes, PO Box 18681, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118. All messages will be gathered and sent to him so that he received them on or before his birthday. The cutoff is Monday 17 November.
Item! Having built a hefty proportion of his career around talking Star Wars, Kevin Smith is venturing into space of his own accord. According to the Hollywood Reporter , Silent Bob's real-world alter-ego is planning a space-set comedy based around a father-son relationship. Why does that sound familiar? Apparently frequent Smith backers the Weinstein are interested in the project, which the director plans to shoot after upcoming horror Red State. Unsurprisingly, Smith reckons it'll be his most expensive film to date: "The moment someone steps out of the spaceship, it's going to cost a little more," he said.
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