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Last updates:
Deadpool [updated]
Gambit [added]
Buck Rogers [updated]
Judge Dredd [added]
Green Hornet [updated]
Paradox [added]

22nd December 2008
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10 (2011)
Originator Shannon Eric Denton may have come up with the most un-Googleable new movie title ever (let me help), and to boot it will get confused with both the Blake Edwards 1979 comedy and its 2011 remake. The Boom! Studios comic proposes some Saw/Battle Royale-like shenanigans as ten unwilling contestants must hunt each other or die. Ice Cube is slated for this.

Akira (2011)
Leonardo DiCaprio disappointed many fans of Katsuhiro Otomo's 80s manga strip by declaring that he won't be in this, though his Appian Way production company has set SFX wizard Ruairi Robinson to direct. The title character is a child of God-like powers who may have started the third world war that decimated the 'Neo-Tokyo' that biker gangs skirt round. Blade Runner-tastic. Appian Way are also developing...

Barbarella (2009)
The personal split between McGowan and Rodriguez doesn't seem to have stopped Sonja, but Rodriguez's adaptation of the 1960s French space-kitten comic by Jean-Claude Forest has had other problems over the last two years, and it's looking bloody unlikely this side of 2010 whoever does it.

Batman 3 (a.k.a. Dark Knight 3, Untitled Batman project, 2010)
With not so much as a listing on any projects database, the rumour-mill has been going into white heat for five months as I write. Christopher Nolan's search for the right story seems to be getting somewhere. Eddie Murphy's tenure as the Riddler seems to have little credibility to it, whilst Rachel Weicz's casting as Catwoman has been lent more credibility, but only because it seems less outlandish casting. Until Mr. Nolan speaks, we know nothing.

Battle Angel (aka 'Battle Angel Alita', 2011)
Yukito Kishiro's 1990 manga about an amnesiac cyborg trying to recover her life and survive in the margins of the 'scrapyard' remains slated for a James Cameron 2011 adaptation despite Avatar having dominated the headlines, though there's some confusion about the project's status. Like Avatar, the project is intended for dual 3D and straight release.

Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam (aka Captain Marvel, 2010)
The Captain Marvel character is awfully close to Superman in capabilities, and the scrambling for 'dark' properties for superhero movies could have moved this project even further down the roster. Get Smart director Peter Segal is attached, and in his defence was talking about a 'darker' character well before The Dark Knight's release and box-office supremacy.

Buck Rogers (2011)
Philip Francis Nowlan's swashbuckling, future-dwelling astronaut is set to fly again with a new production from Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Prete's Odd Lot Entertainment and Avi Lerner at NuImage/Millennium. Frank Miller seems to have made a good enough impression with The Spirit to bag the helm, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Caliber (2010)
John Woo's retelling of the Arthur legend is based on Sam Sarkar's Radical GN, and finds Excalibur the sword replaced by Caliber the six-shooter as the medieval tale is reimagined in the old west.

Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future (2009)
Frank Hampson's jut-jawed man of the (retro) future is a very Brit proposition, and thus may face the same endless adaptation problems that The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy did for 25 years. Having relaunched the Eagle Comic's hero a second time (the first being courtesy of 2000AD in 1977) under Virgin comics, Richard Branson is backing the Dan Dare movie, which has been on the slate at various times for the last 30 years.

Deadpool (2010)
Contrary to earlier reports, Variety says that the hyper-acid mercenary played by Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (see above) will have to await that film's box-office fate to know his own. Deadpool is about as post-modern and ironic a superhero as Marvel has to offer, arguably their most Tarantino-resque hero, but he's a strong flavour that might not attract the requisite investment for a full-budget superhero flick. According to MTV, the Deadpool movie has been in the works for 5 years, with Ryan Reynolds 'obsessed' to play the role.

Doctor Strange (2012)
Already the subject of two low-budget adaptations (in 1978 and 2007), there have been many contenders to helm and star in the tale of the New York superhero/mystic; Christian Bale - perhaps unimaginatively - is the latest to be offered the cape, while Guillermo del Toro has flirted endlessly with the project, which remains without a confirmed director.

Elfquest (2011)
Wendy and Richard Pini's 1978 cult comic - published at various times by both Marvel and DC - is finally set for the big screen after a number of false starts. DC hold sway as the film is being produced by Warners with Rawson Marshall Thurber at the helm.

Ex Machina (2010)
Wildstorm's post 9/11 tale of a more-than-usually empowered mayor of New York is once again resting with the indefatiguable Benderspink partnership. The tale concerns civil engineer Mitchell Hundred, who is blasted by an alien device at the base of the Brooklyn bridge and decides to use his resultant superpowers in more orthodox channels than most heroes. The film is at the scripting stage.

Flash Gordon (2010)
Sahara director Breck Eisner - currently prepping The Creature From The Black Lagoon - is heading up the new version of Alex Raymond's 1930s space opera, already adapted to huge success at the time and by Mike Hodges in 1980 (the TV version having enjoyed less success). The film is said to be in active development but without a start date, and could be one of the many safer bets Sony will need if 'straight' superhero movies start tanking.

Freedom Formula (2010)
Radical comics GN depicts a Robocop-style future where corporations rule and purpose-bred racers compete in tournaments with 'Vicious Cycles', exo-skeletal armour shells giving the wearer Iron Man-style powers, and depicts the story of 'Zee', the 'Neo' of this piece determined to bring down the whole corrupt system. Bryan Singer is producing the movie.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (2009)
Boldly titling itself to hopes of an instant franchise, the character - known Britside as 'Action Man' - was a toy a long time before he was in comics, and Paramount is modestly positioning the film aside from big summer hitters like Star Trek and Wolverine with an August 2007 release. Ray Parks, Sienna Miller and Rachel Nichols are headlining the movie, where special US operatives pursue Asian arms dealers.

Gambit (2012)
The card-throwing crim with kinetic abilities first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #266 in 1990 and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artists Jim Lee and Mike Collins. Taylor Kitsch plays the cajun mutant in the new Wolverine (2009) movie. Former 20th Century Fox exec Jeff Katz told MTV in December of 2008 that Gambit had been posited for a role in the original X-Men trilogy of films, but might have suffered sharing space with Wolverine. "They understood that Gambit was popular, but was it worth just popping him in as a throwaway character, and not in service of setting up something down the line?" Katz said. "Now I think there is a level of strategy in how we grow these things, and what characters can transition between multiple films."

Gamekeeper (2010)
Former 2000AD editor Andy Diggle (also a force on Judge Dredd and Swamp Thing) wrote this tale of a caretaker at a Scottish estate who uses his knowledge of the land to hunt he killer of his son, and Guy Ritchie sponsored it Tarantino-style. Though Ritchie is set to direct and Joel Silver produce, not much has been heard of the project since last year.

Ghost In The Shell (2010)
Earlier this year, Spielberg was angling to make the first non-CGI version of the post-cyberpunk anime series that features Motoko Kusanagi, a female cyborg fighting technological crimes in a future Japan (what are the odds the locale will change?). The project is being developed by Dreamworks and Marvel supremo Ari Arad.

Green Lantern (2010)
Ryan Gosling has been hotly tipped to wear the green ring of power in the movie of the DC comics verdant hero. The script is said to be good at the moment, and producer Donald De Line confirmed his enthusiasm for it. The fact that Green Lantern is more a suit than a person (worn by a series of fictional characters) takes the pressure out of casting a franchise in a Doctor Who/James Bond -style.

Hack/Slash (2009)
Devil's Due Publishing output this GN - about a typical female horror-film victim who strikes back - in 2004 to great acclaim, and screenwriter Justin Marks told CBR in October of 2008 that the project is going ahead just fine, profiled as "comedy with the gore in place"; so it all sounds very Buffy-esque so far.

Harbinger (2010)
Brett Ratner is heading up this very X-Men-like project, which deals with a group of outcast teenagers - the difference is that their powers must be activated by the 'Omega Harbinger'. After the poor critical reception of X3, this adaptation of Jim Shooter's comic could be Ratner's chance to get the concept nailed.

Hard Boiled (2011)
Frank Miller is set to helm the movie version of his own graphically violent 1990 graphic novel, where a tax collector called Carl Seitz discovers himself to be a Terminator-style cybernetic assassin. Spirit producer Deborah Del Prete is also on board.

Heavy Metal (2010)
Currently in turnaround, David Fincher has been disappointed by a studio apprehensive either about remaking the 1981 animated anthology (which did poor box-office despite achieving cult status) or returning to the rich 1970s magazine source material by writers such as Dan O'Bannon and visionaries such as Moebius Giraud. Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski and Kevin Eastman are three of the directors attached to direct segments. Dropped by Paramount in July, the project needs a studio. Update: Fincher remains determined to push ahead with the project, believing it could take digital animation out of the nursery: "The world will at some point be ready for something other than singing, furry f–king animals." he said during junket work for Benjamin Button.

Hiding In Time (2010)
Christopher Long's now hard to find GN - about a witness relocation program that uses time-travel to hide witnesses - is being brought to life by Max Payne adaptor Beau Thorne and Terminator Salvation producer Dan Lin, and this tale of assassins who discover the chronological locations of their targets and go in pursuit of them certainly seems close to the Terminator world.

Illegal Aliens (2010)
Further reinforcing the vanishing division between comics and films, Vanguard comics are proposing simultaneous film/comic launches, of which this tale of a reporter in search of the 'chupacabra monster' is one. Jeremiah exec producer Scott Mitchell Rosenberg is on board.

Iron Fist (2012)
Popularly thought to only have a chance if Luke Cage (above) does well (the character developed out of that series), Iron Fist is resting in development hell with Ray Park thought to have left behind his association with the role.

Iron Man 2 (2010)
7th May 2010 and the wait will be over for Downey Jr. to rocket upwards for a sequel to the smash hit 2008 Marvel Studios' debut. Terence Howard's replacement by Don Cheadle (see The Avengers above) has caused a stir, but we're all pleased that Downey Jr. has signed on the dotted line up to Iron Man 3.

Jonah Hex (2010)
DC's scarred confederate officer of the old west was firmly based on Clint Eastwood's 'Man with no name'. It's therefore a daunting mantle to assume, and obvious candidate Josh Brolin is hesitant to take it on. UPDATE: But apparently he is going to risk it (Thomas Jane would have taken the role in a heartbeat). Crank franchise creators Mark Neveldine and David Taylor have left the project due to creative differences but Warners are on the hunt for new helmers.

Judge Dredd (2010)
After 13 years of embarrassment over the Stallone original, DNA films are the ones to find the courage to re-approach 2000AD's most popular comic strip. CEO Jason Kingsley says, ‘We can’t give away too many details at this point, but we’re looking forward to working with DNA Films to bring Judge Dredd back to the big screen.’

Justice League: Mortal (aka Justice League Of America, 2011)
An early 2009 start date was cited in August 2008 for the film depicting a super-assembly of DC heroes including The Flash (Adam Brody). Green Lantern, Batman and Wonder Woman, with George Miller directing. Evidence of active pre-production has set tongues wagging further. Australian model Megan Gale is strongly hyped as Wonder Woman, though there's no casting association with the beleagured Wonder Woman movie (see above).

Kick Ass (2009)
Another Mark Millar project that's highly anticipated and pretty much finished, though no release date has yet been set for the story of the self-styled teen superhero whose first successful tussle with bad guys gets YouTubed to world acclaim.

Last Blood (2010)
This graphic novel about a post-apocalyptic world where vampires must protect a core of humanity from zombies in order to have a reliable food supply, is available online. A History of Violence producers Chris Bender and J.C. Spink - who have 49 other titles in development including Zombies Of Mass Destruction - is working with Family Guy supremo David A. Goodman on the adaptation.

Luke Cage (2009)
Marvel's titanium-hard man - a streetwise, Shaft-style Harlem bruiser given body-enhancing drugs whilst in prison for a crime he did not commit - is being backed by John Singleton (said to have abandoned The A-Team for the project) with Tyrese Gibson favoured for the lead.

Maintenance (2009)
Terminator: Salvation's McG has long been set to direct Jim Massey's tale of Terrormax Inc., who supply 'doomsday devices' and weapons to supervillains. You can check out 32 pages online gratis at the Onipress website; the movie may not be coming as quickly, but it still seems to be on.

Maybe...Maybe Not (2010)
Stepping away from the superhero realm, Ralf König's tale of a love-cheat forced to shack up with a gay friend has already been made as the German film Der Bewegte Mann (1994), and this English-language version is being prepped by Quarantine producer Clint Culpepper for Screen Gems.

Namor: The Submariner (aka Submariner, 2010)
Originally with Chris Columbus, this Marvel Studios tale of the Atlantean wing-heeled hero has had Angel's David Boreanaz attached for some time. Central character Prince Namor will be caught up in an ecological war between the land-dwellers and the sea-denizens whose habitat they have polluted. Jonathan Mostow is still said to be attached to the project.

Nick Fury (2010)
Jack Kirby's streetwise S.H.I.E.L.D supremo was a huge hit in a guest spot with Samuel L. Jackson at the end of the credits for Iron Man, and many are hoping that Jackson will return and make the film that Shaft should have been.

Night and Fog (2010)
2008's Studio 407 GN Night and Fog tells the Hammer-inspired story of a military experiment that goes awry on a remote island, leaving a group of survivors to fend for themselves against the majority of the small population that have turned into monsters. Studio 407 have specifically launched a slate of titles aimed at getting made into movies, and Death Defying Acts producer Kirk D'Amico is on board for this adaptation.You can check out some of the pages of the original artwork here.

Ninja Scroll (2011)
Another anime outing that DiCaprio is producing but not acting in, Ninja Scroll is set in feudal Japan where a ninja must fight eight demonic entities. Watchmen writer Alex Tse will be helming when he's done with the new script for Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man.

North Wind (2011)
Boom! Studios tale of antarctic apocalypse is being brought to the screen by Eureka producer Andrew Cosby. North Wind centres on those who have survived a new ice-age and are determined to rid themselves of the tyrant who has risen from the chaos to rule them.

Ocean (2010)
Described as "an alien thriller with a fresh take on the origin of man.", Ocean is another Warren Ellis original heading screenward, this time under Gianni Nunnari and Nick Wechsler (already involved in comic-book films from Frank Miller's Ronin and 300). Angel-like bodies are discovered in coffins in the frozen oceans of Europa, and a UN weapons inspector must fight off a powerful company looking to exploit the discovery.

Old Boy (2010)
Steven Spielberg is apparently not remaking Chan-wook Park’s cult 2003 hit , but will return to the graphic source manga by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya. Will Smith has confirmed that he is taking the lead role. The Dreamworks/Universal project is set to re-unite Smith with I Am Legend (and incidentally, Thor) scribe Mark Protosevich.

One Plus One (2010)
Described at one site as "an interesting twist on The Sixth Sense", Oni press's One Plus One has just been optioned by Shinebox Media Productions, with the company's Elias Pate and Bryan Young writing the script with co-originator/writer Neal Shaffer.The story follows a central character called David Coulson, an auditor of evil capable of seeing the post-mortem faces of the living, who travels the world ensuring that the bad guys headed for a bitter end arrive safely at their doom.

Paradox (2012)
Arcana studios are developing Christos Gage's 3-issue Arcana comics series into a motion picture. Paradox concerns "a police detective using unorthodox methods of investigation in a world powered by magic" according to Variety. Aaron L. Gilbert of Bron Management and Sean P. O’Reilly of Arcana Studios are producing. No-one is surprised to find out that Gage and co-scribe Ruth Fletcher Gage are represented by comic>screen specialists Benderspink.

Pet Robots (2010)
Perhaps we should just start a dedicated Benderspink section, because these boys love comic-book movies, and Disney have engaged them to bring Scott Christian Sava's comic to the screen. Stealing Time's Scott Trevorrow is scripting. The story tells of four students followed home by four escaped military robots hotly being pursued by their owners, the 'Rooty Tooty Toy Company'.

Preacher (2009)
A Texas preacher who is possessed by a supernatural entity hits the road on a mission make God accountable for abandoning his duties in heaven. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's strip ran for 75 entries until 2000, and there's loads of material for Jesse Custer to get his teeth into cinematically if it takes off. Columbia Pictures appropriated the rights to the Vertigo series, which had previously been set for an HBO adaptation. Sam Mendes directs under the production helm of Neal Moritz at Kickstart Films.

Proximity Effect (2009)
An inversion of the powers-scenario in Hancock, the heroes in Proximity Effect only have their special abilities within thirty feet of each other, and the story suggests other historical couples besides the heroes who were 'source' and 'siphon', such as Hitler and Eva Braun. Creator Roger Mincheff is set to produce, but the project hasn't been heard of for quite a while. You can read two issues of the source comic online here.

R.I.P.D. (2010)
This tale of holy cops patrolling the afterlife in the 'Rest In Peace Department' is outlined as part of a seven picture deal between Dark Horse comics and Universal. Associated Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin will probably get round to this before getting anywhere near The Flash (see above) as it would be trading in a less crowded market and for less cash than Flash.

Ramayan 3392 A.D. (2011)
Mandalay pictures are producing this adaptation of the 2006 GN, which tells the story of legendary Indian warrior Prince Rama, a reincarnation of Vishnu. The original Indian epic has been moved to the kind of post-apocalypse setting currently so bankable in Hollywood.

Red (2010)
Warren Ellis's 2003 thriller - about a retired CIA assassin that a new administration feel is a threat - is the first DC property to leave the fold for other producers, and will be produced by Transformers/2's Lorenzo di Bonaventura, amongst others.

Red Sonja (2009)
The Robert Rodriguez-produced adaptation of the adventures of the Marvel comics heroine (a Conan spin-off derived very loosely from a Robert E. Howard short story) generated much interest at comicon when Rodriguez and Sonja star Rose McGowan showed off some sexy new posters, but there's some speculation the film may go straight to disc.

Resurrection (2010)
Marc Guggenheim's new GN depicts a world recovering from alien invasion (by a race called 'the bugs'). As the aliens depart, society must reform and retrench, so it's basically Mad Max meets Survivors. Universal have picked the project up and it may be the first 'post-post apocalypse' movie to be released.

Runaways (2011)
This Marvel comics original finds teenagers fleeing to make up the sins of their parents, who they have discovered to be covert super-villains. A finished script is expected by early 2009 and Runaways is said to spearhead Marvel's post-Avengers strategy.

Sgt. Rock (2012)
The film of DC comics' NCO looks to be on the back burner for the time being according to producer Joel Silver. Guy Ritchie, currently directing Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes (see above) wrote a 'great' script but the project's thunder has been stolen by Inglorious Basterds.

Sherlock Holmes (2009)
The film that definitively proves graphic novels are the new spec script, as writer Lionel Wigram's source comic remains unpublished and was produced in lieu of a speculative script. Robert Downey Jr. has an unlikely Doctor Watson in Jude Law, and this is, it seems, the begin of a career departure for hard-knuckled Guy Ritchie.

Silver Surfer (2009)
2009 is looking a bit unlikely for the (rumoured) return of Doug Jones as the shiny semi-hero of Fantastic Four: Rise Of The SIlver Surfer. J. Michael Straczynski revealed that the character's association with the unappreciated FF2 doesn't help. Galactus is rumoured to return, hopefully not just as a VGER-type cloud. Dark City's Alex Proyas refused the helm, and Fox is rumoured to be awaiting the reception of the Wolverine movie before committing.

Sin City 2 (2010)
Frank Miller returns to helm the sequel to the stylistic 2005 hit. Based on the GN story "A Dame to Kill For", Clive Owen reprises his role as Dwight McCarthy to take revenge on (a rumoured) Rose McGowan, an ex-lover who makes an unwelcome return to his life.

Sin City 3 (2010)
Miller is slating the second Sin City sequel to cover the 'Hell and Back' story featuring ex-navy SEAL Wallace, a vigilante character that Miller says was based on Johnny Depp, though the actor is not officially attached to the role.

Sleeper (2011)
Holden Carver - known as 'The Conductor' - has absorbed the ability to transfer pain inflicted on him back to the source, making him a useful intelligence operative. Presumably, then, the torture scenes will be refreshingly short. This project - produced by Sam Raimi -  is currently beguiling Tom Cruise.

Spider-Man 4 (2011)
Shrek 3 and Robots writer David Lindsay-Abaire is the latest esteemed scribe to get involved in Spidey 4 after the early draft of Zodiac writer James Vanderbilt. The usual speculation about potential villains is rife, with Carnage and Lizard rumoured. Sam Raimi confirmed his involvement this year.

Starkweather (2010)
Like a cross between Sabrina The Teenage Witch and Doctor Strange, this entry from Archaia Studios Press tells of a young boy descended from sorcerers but ignorant of the fact until a coven seek him out in his twenties. Another one that'll be hard to Google, thanks to the 1950s murderer that inspired Badlands. Chris Bender and J.C. Spink (see Final Blood above) are attached.

Super Max (2010)
More green goodness, with a Green Arrow sent to a super-Prison and bent on escape. Another superhero project abandoned by Kevin Smith (see Green Hornet above), this currently rests with Dark Knight writer David S. Goyer (Hack/Slash's Justin Marks also produced a draft screenplay).

Superman: Man of Steel (2011)
Despite profitability, Bryan Singer's 2006 Donner-loving reboot/sequel Superman Returns inspired little studio confidence for a franchise run, and many - including Mark Millar (see link in War Heroes above) have been seeking to completely reboot the franchise. Brandon Routh is not as out of the picture as many think, it seems, and neither is Bryan Singer. But how far will they have to reboot the franchise to get Superman off the ground again?

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (2010)
Welcome back to the huge territory of this list occupied by Benderspink productions. The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright promises to be one of the most visually stunning and eccentric among the projects listed here, but it will need a lot of money to bring Brian Talbot's post-apocalyptic parallel universes (one where the English are in perpetual civil war) to life effectively onscreen. Arkwright can zap between parallel universes at will and is accompanied by telepath Rose Wylde, who gets intelligence from alternate versions of herself (!). 2010 my ass, unless they started shooting it 18 months ago.

The Ark (2010)
Described by creator Mark Verheiden in 2007 as "a big science fiction story", the original tale received a very limited run at Dark Horse comics, and notions of it having been written as a spec-GN for a movie have been bandied about. Columbia don't seem to have moved much on the property since the 2007 announcements.

The Avengers (2011)
Slated for a prime summer slot on July 15th 2011, this is set to be one of the most highly-anticipated movies of the next few years, directed by Jon Favreau with Robert Downey Jr. firmly signed to it as Tony Stark/Iron Man and new 'Rhodey' Don Cheadle attached too. Marvel Studios are financing and Paramount distrubuting, as usual. Rumours are obviously rife regarding casting.

The Expendable One (2009)
This action comedy - about a guy who drinks a friend's enhancement potion and develops Wolverine-like powers of self-healing - was given the go-ahead in 2007, but has made little impact since. The central character decides to fight crime with his new powers but finds that it's a lot harder than it looks. Originators Shane Kuhn and Brendan Cowles are writing the screenplay.

The First Avenger: Captain America (2011)
Jurassic Park III director and effects guru Joe Johnston is slated to direct the tale of the New York fine arts student who takes a super-serum that soups him up for action against the Nazis in WWII America. Narnia writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have been put on scripting duty.

The Flash (2010)
The film of DC's lightning-fast sprinter seems to be tying its shoelaces at the moment. Likelihood seems to be that the JLA movie is confusing the issue in a way Batman never needs to worry about, so it could be quite a wait for Wally West to get moving. Dark Knight producer Charles Roven concedes that there has been no progress on the project.

The Goon (2010)
Eric Powell's 1999 GN about a musclebound mob-flunkie and sidekick Franky is being produced as an animated movie by David Fincher. It's set to continue Watchmen's rather 1930s vibe, as you can probably tell from this poster.

The Green Hornet (2010)
Hong Kong martial arts cinema God Stephen Chow will no longer be directing but will still play sidekick Kato to Seth Rogen's Hornet in an adaptation written by the pair in association with Pineapple Express co-writer Evan Goldberg. Since the production is set to be pretty 'straight', the casting of corpulent Rogen has caused some curiosity.

The Hands of Shang-Chi (2009)
This kung-fu crazy character emerged from Marvel comics at the height of the early 70s martial-arts boom and the stories incorporated Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu and Nayland Smith characters. Ang Lee is in the producer's chair with Forbidden Kingdom stunt arranger Woo-ping Yuen set to direct, but most of the news on the project is pretty old.

The Leading Man (2011)
Effectively a combination of The Saint, Jason King and The Persuaders, Nick Walker is a globe-trotting superstar actor who - Elvis-like - does some serious spying on the side. Wanted producer Mark Platt is hoping for more comic book gold.

The Leaves (2010)
Originator Kevin J. Walsh is adapting his own recent graphic novel for the screen. Here a New York doctor visiting India to attend a friend's funeral is told by a fortune-teller that he is the bringer of the apocalypse. Summit entertainment are producing the movie.

The Losers (2011)
Another strip from Scot Andy Diggle (see The Gamekeeper) is heading screenward. Losers was originally a DC WWII comics, in effect an Avengers-style grouping for characters that had proved popular from DC's war comics, and the team was first assembled in 1969. The squad was intended to spearhead America's entry into the European war-theatre; its members self-dubbed themselves 'the losers' because each had lost men under their command on previous missions. Slated director White has I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (V, 2006) and Stomp The Yard (2007). The ubiquitous Joel Silver produces with Akiva Goldman and Kerry Foster for Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures.

The Megas (2010)
T3 director Jonathan Mostow created this graphic novel for Virgin comics, presumably as a spec-GN for a movie. Megas postulates an alternate America where the founding fathers created an aristocracy instead of a democracy, and centres on a detective investigating the seedy underbelly of the American royal family. Mostow himself is heading up...

The Shadow (2010)
It seems that The Shadow's putative appearance in the above-mentioned Street & Smith project could be a Nick Fury-style cameo presaging or following up on this project, which would features the shadowy Lamont Cranston, an identity-stealing vigilante and nemesis of crime. Ingenue (1999) director Siavash Farahani is slated for both this and the above project. Both are rather doubtful at the moment, and some think the project is too close to Raimi's 1994 Darkman anyway.

The Witchblade (2009)
Battlestar Galactica's Michael Rymer is set to helm the movie adaptation of the Top Cow productions GN, in the wake of the TV version. The eponymous weapon is (of course) supernatural, a 'one-ring'-style sentient artifact that has afforded great powers to women such as Cleopatra and Joan Of Arc and now falls into the hands of NYPD detective Sara Pezzini. She doesn't look like any cop I've ever seen.

Thor (2010)
Kenneth Branagh was entranced by the classical tale of Marvel comics' Norse god with a big hammer, which remains without a leading man (Daniel Craig turned it down). Branagh commented in December 2008 that casting rumours to date have been pure speculation and that he is currently outlining the special effects and honing the story. The film is slated for release 16th July 2010. Check out our interview with Thor comic writer Marko Djurdjevic here.

Thulsa Doom (2010)
Gladiator/Push actor Djimon Hounsou is set to spin off from the mainstream world of Conan as the Cimmerian's arch-enemy, a sorcerer of great power (played in the 1981 Schwarzeneggar movie by James Earl Jones).

Tintin (2010)
The trilogy based around Hergé's 1930s gee-whiz reporter is having trouble getting started considering that Spielberg and Peter Jackson are involved. Steven Moffat decided to abandon his three-film commitment in order to helm Doctor Who, and the film - a 3D CGI-fest using motion capture - received unfavourable funding terms from Paramount after Universal refused a 50% investment in the trilogy. Spielberg is slated for Tintin1 and Jackson for 2.

Untitled Sam Raimi ['Doc Savage'/Shadow] project (2010)
It seemed in 2006 that Sam Raimi had swept up the rights to a raft of characters from Street & Smith Publishing, including Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Avenger and quite possibly a host of other S&S comic characters. Quite how he could realistically fit this into any involvement with Spidey 4/5 remains to be seen, particularly as he also slated himself for..

Virulents (2010)
An ancient Indian evil emerges in war-torn Afghanistan to menace the troops; they're not zombies and they're not quite vampires but they're rather nasty - and terrorists to boot! Virgin comics Indian push proceeded apace in 2007 with this GN. Max Payne's John Moore is attached to the project.

Wake The Dead (2010)
The graphic novel behind this retro-fitted update of the Frankenstein tale was written by 30 Days Of Night scribe Steve Niles, and the film will be helmed by Jay Russell, who turned in the excellent The Water Horse last year. Weta Digital are on SFX duty. Dimension Films neglected the project when it rested with them according to Niles.

War Heroes (2011)
We discussed the absurd speed at which his comics are made into films with Mark Millar in our recent interview, and his latest work is no exception, with his tale of enhanced supersoldiers sitting currently with Ghost Rider producer Michael De Luca.

War in Heaven (2009)
Touted as 'the next 300', WiH was snapped up as a spec-GN in a 2007 bidding war, and tells the 'Braveheart-like' tale of the battle between angels Gabriel and Michael and soon-to-be-fallen Lucifer. Not much has been heard since.

Whiteout (2009)
Long completed, this Kate Beckinsale horror adaptation (of the 1998 graphic novel by Greg Rucka) keeps getting bumped, and is currently slated for a release in September of 2009. Whiteout concerns a US marshall (Beckinsale) investigating Antarctica's first murder.

Wonder Woman (2011)
Possibly the most controversial piece of casting of the decade, there are a million forums alive with speculation as to who will play DC comics' Amazonian warrior, though Jessica Biel is looking hot right now. Errr. Anyway Joss Whedon's wasted two years on the project are further indication that no-one really knows what to do with such a cheerful character post-Dark Knight.

X-Men Origins: Magneto (2009)
Further details on the plot of the other X-prequel came to light recently, and producer Lauren Shuler Donner spoke further on the matter , describing the film as centred around Erik Lensher and Charles Xavier "in their early, early years." Despite a 2009 release date the latest project note states "A script exists, but there is no green light for the project at the moment.", and this refutes earlier intelligence on the matter.
UPDATE 12th Dec 08: Helmer David Goyer confirmed recently that Magneto will have to wait on the success (or otherwise) of Wolverine.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
The movie they perhaps should have made to begin with, given how he hogged the three X-Men movies, this will show us the genesis of self-healing mutant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in the early 20th century as he makes an enemy of Sabretooth and gets kitted up with the lethal blades. Zack Snyder conceded the film to Rendition director Gavin Hood.

X-Men: First Class (2010)
Chuck's Josh Schwatrz is attached to write this tale of the younger X-Men, presumably because the stars associated with the previous X-Men films would cost so much that the SFX would need to be done with string and washing-up bottles. Was the mass-cull in X3 actually a salary negotiation tactic?

Y: The Last Man (2010)
Yet another apocalypse setting, this time for Vertigo/DC Comics' tale of the last man on Earth. But this ain't I Am Legend, because the plague that decimates humanity only affects 'Y' chromosome possessors, leaving central character Yorick Brown amongst 3 billion women, who (perhaps not surprisingly) begin to create an ultrafeminist society. Disturbia's D.J. Caruso and Carl Ellsworth are on board.

ZMDs: Zombies of Mass Destruction (2011)
Underworld creator Kevin Grevioux is set to launch a new supernatural franchise with the intriguing story of military-bred zombies who are dropped into enemy territory at night but have been designed to dissolve at daybreak, but - wouldn't you know it -one of the crusty critters fails to oblige.

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Top 50 movie special effects shots