Adam Beach hopes to star in live-action Turok movie
Actor Adam Beach plans to star in a live-action Turok movie, based on the 50-year-old comic book about two pre-Columbian Indians who become trapped in a valley where dinosaurs still live.
Beach, who’s probably best known for his roles in Windtalkers, Flags of Our Fathers and Law & Order: SVU, voiced the animated Turok: Son of Stone direct-to-DVD movie that was released in February.
He told MTV’s Movies Blog that the live-action project should be ready to shoot in a couple of years. Beach, who’s of Saulteaux decent, calls the chance to play a Native American superhero “a dream.”
“He’s the first Native American superhero that I ever looked up to,” he said. “He basically [comes from] a family where they’re protecting our universe from an alternate universe that wants to take it over. He uses his wits, and his might, and his special bow and arrow to take over the world.”
Turok and his brother Andar first appeared in Dell’s Four Color Comics #596 (December 1954) before spinning off into Turok, Son of Stone in 1956. In 1962, Western Printing and Publishing, which owned the property, began releasing the title under its Gold Key imprint, where it continued until 1982.
In 1993, Valiant Comics licensed Turok from Western, tinkered with the concept — the lost valley was moved to an alien dimension, and the dinosaurs become … bionosaurs? — and integrated it into the Valiant Universe. At this point, it’s too early to tell which version will show up in the planned movie.
The Ticker
• Why isn’t Jon Favreau locked in yet for Iron Man 2? Word has it that Marvel Studios doesn’t want to pay a bump in the director’s fee, and that chairman David Maisel thinks a sequel will be a success with or without Favreau. [IESB]
• The 28th annual Licensing International Expo kicked off yesterday in New York City with director M. Night Shyamalan previewing concept art for The Last Airbender, his live-action adaptation of the popular animated series Avatar. The movie, which begins production later this year in Greenland and Vietnam, is set to open on July 2, 2010. “The Monday after we open every kid will be trying to bend the milk out of their cup,” Shyamalan says. “If they’re not doing that, we haven’t done our job.” [TVGuide.com, io9.com]
• The licensing expo features pushes for Terminator Salvation, G.I. Joe, the Robocop remake, and more. [ComingSoon.net]
• A red-band trailer has been released for Wanted, which opens on June 27. [Collider]
• Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov apparently released a viral-marketing video. I’m not sure too many people noticed, though. [Cinematical]
• Actor Aaron Eckhart reveals the worst-kept secret from Batman: The Dark Knight. Spoiler warning, I guess? [Sci Fi Wire]
• Director Louis Leterrier says The Incredible Hulk Blu-Ray release will include 70 minutes of additional footage. Oh, and he confirms that Captain America is in the movie, but he won’t say where. [Collider]
• Francis Capra, Ron Weevil of Veronica Mars fame, is joining the cast of NBC’s Heroes. [TVGuide.com]
• Whatever happened to Hillary Swank in Iron Man? She wasn’t there, and was never supposed to be there, Avi Arad contends. [MTV Movies Blog]
• In defense of Ang Lee’s Hulk. [Cinematical]
• Seventeen sci-fi movie misfires — including Jumper, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Alien vs. Predator and … Blade Runner? [EW.com]
June 11th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Francis Capra was Weevil in Veronica Mars.
June 11th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I so hope Marvel Studios see sense and pay Favreau whatever he wants to do Iron Man 2.
June 11th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
“chairman David Maisel thinks a sequel will be a success with or without Favreau.”
What world is this guy living in? After dozens of awful comic movies we finally get a great one (Batman Begins excepted of course) and now they are looking to screw the sequel up? This seems like a negotiation tactic-if Maisel really believes that it would be a success w/o Favreau he should resign immediately because he is clueless. Very few directors could capture the spirit of the first movie. C’mon Marvel!!! Do the right thing!!