Warners nabs Dan Dare, Sam Worthington to star

(with thanks to Lizzie Bennett, last updated 28/7/10): Variety, Dark Horizons and other web sites are reporting this morning that Warner Bros. Pictures has closed the deal for its film version of Dan Dare starring Sam Worthington (Avatar, Clash of the Titans).

The new film will reportedly be based on the Garth Ennis-Gary Erskine mini-series published by Virgin rather than the original and much-loved original 1950s series from Eagle.

Given the Warner Bros. involvement, downthetubes wondered if a new Dan Dare comic may be on the cards, perhaps produced by DC Comics, but the Dan Dare Corporation tell us: "DC comics have absolutely nothing to do with the Eagle or Dan Dare or any deal."

Rumours of this latest attempt to bring Dan Dare to the big screen first surfaced back in March, but the Dan Dare Corporation has been trying to get a movie version of the 1950s Eagle hero going for a number of years.

Back in 2005, the DDC indicated their aim was to feature live actors superimposed over computer generated backgrounds. Coincidentally perhaps, this is the technique that ATV planned for their aborted 1980 Dan Dare television series, electronically keying actors over a drawn comic strip background, and which has perhaps been used most successfully on the big screen for films such as the 2004 SF feature Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which was shot digitally in just one studio against a blue screen. (see our previous news story)

While Dan Dare has never been a popular character in the US his adventures were widely republished in Europe and Australia. New adventures of the original Dan Dare feature in the comic magazine Spaceship Away, while the latest revamp - there have been several - was published by Virgin, written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Gary Erskine.

It is reported that the new film will be based on this version, which attracted its own fans but did not sell huge numbers.

Worthington (who recently announced a deal with Radical Publishing under which his Full Clip Productions will create content for comics and films) has been attached to the project. It will be produced by Basil Iwanyk, who also produced Clash of the Titans and will team again with Worthington on Clash of the Titans 2.

Dan Dare Corporation owner Colin Frewin is attached to executive produce the film, along with Dan Lin. (Frewin oversaw the enjoyable 22-episode animated version of Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future released in 2002.

Variety reports the Warner executives attached are Sarah Schechter, Ollie Madden and Matt Milam.

• Official Dan Dare web site: www.dandare.com

Dan Dare Movie in the works?

(via Bleeding Cool): Comics and entertainment web site Bleeding Cool has picked up on a report on reviews site Pajaba that British-born actor Sam Worthington has been cast as the lead in a new film -- Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future.

Worthington's most recent project, Avatar, may be familiar with our readers: he also stars in the soon-to-be-released Clash of the Titans remake, pictured above.

Before we get too excited, Pajaba's source - the anonymous "Hollywood Cog" - would appear to be someone working at a Hollywood casting agency. Web site CHUD, commenting on casting rumours for Spider-Man 4 last year, notes: "The Hollywood Cog is privy to lots of stuff, and he reports every bit of it. I bet that most of what he reports is 'true' in the broader sense - an agent did say that so-and-so was up for a part - but he's reporting decontextualized office gossip."

Whether the actual casting report is true or not, the story does suggest a Dan Dare feature film, based on "the most successful comic property in the history of the UK" may be in the works - although there have been many rumours of Dan Dare feature films before, including one directed by Ridley Scott with designs by Rian Hughes.

Picking up the rumour, film magazine Empire notes Pajiba’s sources have been spot on about several stories, so they’re inclined to believe a film incarnation may be in discussion, "even if the movie itself vanishes into a development wormhole|.

The animated Dan Dare series - shot in CGI and the work of Dan Dare copyright holders the Dan Dare Corporation - may well have prompted this latest rumour as film studios like Warner Brothers, who are apparently producing the film, race to duplicate the success of James Cameron's Avatar.

Pajaba says the project has been 'slow to develop' - which could imply the studio is struggling to pick the right 'Dan Dare' setting for the movie: the fabulous but scientifically inaccurate original created by Frank Hampson and Marcus Morris for Eagle, complete with the Mekon and life on Venus; Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes bitter satire, Dare, from the 1980s; or even the most recent re-imagining by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine.

While Dan Dare remains a rumour, as we previously reported a film based on another Frank Hampson-created Eagle comic strip - Road of Courage, the story of Jesus - is in the works as an animated project from Bill Melandez Productions.

News Stories elsewhere:

• Pajaba: Sam Worthington Signs On to Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future

• Bleeding Cool: Avatar Star Sam Worthington Is... Dan Dare?