| | | | | | Welcome back, nerds! We’re keeping it simple as we juggle a few things here at the world-famous The Hollywood Reporter. It’s shaping up to be a meh weekend at the box office as studios stay clear of Super Bowl Sunday and the opening weekend of the Olympics. Luc Besson’s Dracula is one of the more notable titles, and even that isn’t expected to open with much bite. Sam Raimi’s great return to form, Send Help, is likely to come out on top, unless indie sensation Iron Lung dethrones it. Speaking of the Super Bowl, there seems to be a lack of big movie buzz in the ads department (which to us becomes less and less interesting when they start releasing trailers, not just days but weeks leading up to the Big Game). All we really want is a peek at Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. Anyway, let’s dive in with some divertissements. —Aaron Couch and Borys Kit. |
WATCH OUT, PARIS. Netflix is finally taking steps to move on a sequel to Under Paris, its hit 2024 French shark movie, tapping horror mainstay and French local Alexandre Aja to direct the new project. Xavier Gens helmed the original, and it's unclear why he is not returning. The film was one of Netflix's most watched of 2024 and starred Bérénice Bejo as a marine researcher who must overcome her traumatic past in order to save Paris from a mutant shark (and her offspring) that can live in fresh water and is now terrorizing the city. Bejo is expected to return. As for Aja, he has plenty of water horror experience as the director of Piranha 3D and alligator creature feature Crawl. C'mon in, the water's fine. |
ALEX ROSS WANTS YOU TO MARVEL AT HIS NEW GRAPHIC NOVEL. The artist, who rose to fame in the 1990s with his painted works on DC's Kingdom Come and Marvel's Marvels, has written and illustrated Marvel Dimensions, an all-new, 112-page graphic novel that Abrams ComicArts, in partnership with Marvel Comics, will release in September. Much of the story is being kept under wraps, but it’s meant to be both a tour of the classic Marvel Universe and something much more expansive. It's said to experiment in both art and form, and could introduce upwards of 200 new characters, or at least that many variations of characters. “It’s meant to be as bonkers a ride for the reader as it could possibly be,” says Ross. Ross' reality. |
➤ Send Help star Dylan O'Brien explains to THR's Brian Davids why he sides with Rachel McAdams' character over his own.
➤ Dan Trachtenberg, who has spent the last several years reviving and steering the Predator franchise for 20th Century Studios, signs a first-look deal with Paramount. What will he revive over there?
➤ Texas Chainsaw Massacre is back, this time as a TV series from A24 with J.T. Mollner attached to direct and Glen Powell among the exec producers.
➤ Faces of Death modern update coming in April from IFC and Shudder, as directors talk real-life violence and its social impact.
➤ Karen Gillan, Josh Hutcherson and Clive Owen to star in supernatural thriller Blasphemous from John Wick producers and Seven Bucks Productions.
➤ Stranger Things animated series, subtitled Tales from '85, gets a teaser trailer (and it seems like a good normal trailer to us, aren't all trailers teasers in a way?)
➤ He does wanna make something of it: Comic artist Kevin Maguire says he's no longer doing covers for DC, hasn't had a page rate increase in 20 years, and wants to work on creator-owned ideas while he still can. |
ANOTHER MONTH, ANOTHER COMIC BOOK RECORD, IT SEEMS.
The collectible industry's eyes blew out of their collective sockets when Heritage Auctions announced Thursday it helped facilitate one of the largest private comic transactions ever recorded.
In a one-two sales punch, one person plopped down $6 million for Batman No. 1, which features the first appearance of the Joker as well as Catwoman. The book is in the very high and very rare grade of CGC 9.4.
They also bought the second highest graded copy of Superman No. 1 for $7 million. The book is an 8.5 CGC edition.
Those sales now rank as fourth and third, respectively, for the most money paid for comics ever. And they come after November’s $9.1 million sale of Superman No. 1 in a 9.0 grade. (That copy is number two on the most valuable comic list.) It also comes after January’s megadeal of $15 million for Action Comics No. 1 in a 9.0 grade.
We’re not going to get into why each book is important — historical relevance, pedigree, and all that —†t but we will ponder what it all means.
Some in the comic collecting world are a bit skeptical over the actual sale. Sometimes comic book and comic art sales involve trading items of perceived value rather than actual money changing hands. Or sometimes it's a mix of barter and cash. And then you have someone publicly touting a price that may be inflated.
Others are worried that the market is in Tulip fever territory because of the massive and seemingly out of nowhere jumps in these prices for comics. For instance, in a tale of two markets, a lot of prices for modern comics have fallen, many by 30 to 40 percent.
An Amazing Spider-Man No. 194 (1979) in a CGC grade of 9.6, which features the first appearance of the Black Cat, was selling between $1,000 and $1,100 just over a year ago. That same book can now be had in the $600 to $700 range.
Heritage, meanwhile, is saying that the collectible markets is evolving as it attracts “high-net-worth collectors, family offices and alternative-asset investors.”
In the press release touting the sale, Jordan Seymour of SemperFi Comics, who was involved in the proceedings, stated, “We may be witnessing a transformational era in comic collecting. The combination of extreme rarity, global demand and sophisticated buyers has permanently reshaped the ceiling of this market. These books are no longer simply nostalgic artifacts — they are tangible pieces of world culture." |
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