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have been exploited by movie production companies for
years. Hollywood has been creating feature length comic
book movies, movie serials and TV shows to continue to whet
our appitites. But as special effect technology and costume
designs became better and better, Hollywood kicked it up a
notch with feature-length high budget productions.
Superman, the Movie and the 3 sequels started in the 1970s
and the ’90s and beyond brought us Batman, The Hulk, the
X-Men and the now infamous Spider-Man, to name a few.

Why all this interest in producing comic book superhero
movies? Big bucks!! The two Spider-Man movies alone have
netted about 800 million dollars apiece in worldwide ticket
sales. That’s not chicken feed. This kind of income could
not be generated without an avid public interest in comic
book movies. So if you feel you are alone in your voracious
passion for your own comic book collection, think again.

And now a new twist has been added. Directors, screenplay
writers, and even actors are writing for, of all things,
comic books now. Big name Hollywood writers are helping to
sell more comics. For example, Joss Whedon, perhaps best
known for creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has written
stories for Marvel in the series Astonishing X-Men. Back in
the 90s, who would have known that all these fan boys had
been hiding in the Hollywood woodworks waiting for comics
to gain some cultural credibility?

If you haven’t followed some of the comic news of the last
several months, Stan “the man” Lee has been fighting his
personal battle with His life long employer, Marvel Comics.
Stan is probably one of the most well known character
creators in the comic book industry. He has characters like
Batman, Spider-Man and the Hulk credited to his creative
imagination.

Seems Stan had a contractual agreement with Marvel for 10%
of any revenue acquired by Marvel from comic book superhero
movies and TV projects centered on Stan characters. But
apparently the high dollar superstructure of the corporate
mind doesn’t want to part with all their income. Now this
is nothing new, but Stan Lee managed to win the first round
for the little guy. The judge presiding over Stan’s case
agreed that Stan should receive his share of the agreed on
profits.

Now maybe Stan will get his share and maybe he won’t.
Sounds like Marvel will be appealing the decision. At any
rate, if there weren’t big bucks involved in the production
of comic book superhero movies, this case would not have
been such an issue.

I believe the near future is going to bring many more of my
favorite comic book superheroes to the silver screen. I
have already started my own DVD collection and as more
comic book superheroes get transferred from the screen to
round disc, I will continue to increase the size of my
collection. Do you think a DVD comic book movie collection
will be worth as much as a comic book collection in the
future? Probably not, but that won’t stop me from building
my collection anyway.

What does the future hold for comic book superhero movies?
It almost seems that we can call the present and near
future the Golden Age of the comic book movie. I spend a
lot of time researching comic book superheros and creating
new content for my comic book site. Is there a movie in the
planning stages for your favorite comic book superhero? A
frequent visit to my site may inform you as to when you can
expect the next comic book movie. See you there.]]>

It did not come as a surprise when she was finally nominated for her work in Moulin Rouge. She was working on Dogville when she received word of the nomination. How this woman can juggle her success with raising two children is beyond belief for some, but Kidman is known for her firm discipline in work as well as in life.

While her last films did not complement her talent, they did enjoy a decent amount of box office success. Interestingly it seems that she chooses what films to do based on the same genres. Recently, she has played mostly quirky characters in a group of comedies (Stepford Wives, Bewitched) while many have confused her more dramatic roles in tragedo-dramas (Birth, Dogville, The Human Stain).

Kidman has worked with the most prolific actors ranging from Stanley Kubrick to Sidney Pollack to Gus Van Sant and Lans Van Trier and she has a lot of more work coming up soon.

These days, whatever project enters the casting process, Kidman’s name always seems to be the first to come up. For a while she was rumored to have been involved with the highly secretive JFK script Machiavelli Hangman - http://www.hangmanmovie.com (directed by Shervin Youssefian - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1352346/), to be produced by then hubby Tom Cruise. Her involvement with the hangman is still not completely certain but a possible cameo may surprise audiences at the film’s release, in late December.

Kidman is also involved with seven other projects that will be soon in theatres everywhere. These include Wedding Season, American Darlings, Emma’s War, The Lady From Shanghai, Invasion, Happy Feet and Fur.

In the Tony Scott directed Emma’s War, Kidman plays with co-star Taylor Handley. This movie is said to bring her a second Oscar win for her role as an aid worker in the Sudan who marries a warlord who wants to take over the country.

Kidman’s range as an actress has attracted many filmmakers but interestingly enough, she has never worked with either Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese who are two of the most important American directors of the time.

With so much work on her plate, one would wonder how she makes the time to devote 100% to each project and always come out brilliant. Not a lot of people could deal with so much pressure and that is the precise reason why there is only one Nicole Kidman on the charts.]]>