GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS #200

Friday 27th Februay 2004

BATMAN TAKES ON THE LAST SAMUARI

This has been a big week for news relating to the new Batman movie scheduled for release in July next year. Warner Bros officially announced the casting of Oscar nominated Ken Watanabe as Ra's Al Ghul. Batman himself, Christian Bale, and script writer David Goyer have both started to talk about the movie in various interviews.

And today VARIETY  confirmed that the movie's title will be BATMAN BEGINS. For even more news and information check out the Movie News section below.

200 Issues of GWN

Today marks the 200th edition of GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS. We've been through some changes since being launched as a spin-off from GOTHAM GAZETTE back in 1997, the most recent being the switch to a web based "newspaper" rather than an e-mail list. - I'd like to thank all GWN readers, old and new whose enthusiasm has helped keep GWN going.

And a special note of thanks to the various people at DC Comics and the writers, artists, inkers and editors who have been kind enough to express their support over the years as well.

With a new animated show about to debut, a whole new wave of toys and a new movie in the horizion it's never been a better time to be a Bat-fan. I look forward to sharing the weeks, months and years ahead with you all.

See you next week

- Alan J. Porter

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Comics Shipping
• In Stores - March 3rd
• TV News
• Teen Titans News
• TV Schedules
• Batman
• Justice League
• Teen Titans
• Super Friends
• UK Schedule
• Movie News
• Latest on Batman 5
• Catwoman Latest News
• In The Stores
• Hush Wave 2
• New "The Batman" figures
• Meet The Bat Team
• Seattle - Feb 29
• Orlando - Mar 5-7
• London - Mar 6-7
• New Jersey - Mar 12-14
• Los Angeles - Mar 19-21

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Comics Shipping (March 3rd)

BATMAN: CITY OF LIGHT #6 - Written by the Pander Brothers and Mark Paniccia; art by the Pander Brothers and Alvaro Lopez; cover by the Pander Brothers - Batgirl battles Purge, with Gotham City at stake! Meanwhile, Allen and Montoya search vainly for Angela in the insane expanse of Tower One and Batman disappears into the primordial abyss of his own soul... - BATMAN  |  32pg.  |  6 of 8  |  Color  |  $2.95

DETECTIVE COMICS #792 - Written by Andersen Gabrych and A.J. Lieberman; art by Pete Woods, Cam Smith, Jean-Jacques Dzialowski and Dan Green; cover by Tim Sale - Part 2 of the 3-issue thriller "The Surrogate!" Batman searches for the missing Leslie Thompkins and a comatose pregnant girl held in "protective captivity" by a record executive and his pop-star wife. And in the backup, the same people the Tailor trusted with his life are now out to kill him! - BATMAN  |  40pg.  |   Color  |  $2.75

JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES #29 - Written by Matt Howarth; art by Aluir Amancio and Rob Leigh; cover by John Delaney and Leigh - Seattle and Tokyo are under siege by a mysterious menace! Buildings and people are physically merged together, simultaneously coexisting in the same space. When the mysterious menace threatens to spread his "simultaneous effect" across the globe, only the combined might of the Justice League can hope to stop things before it's too late - DC UNIVERSE  |   32pg.  |  Color  |  $2.25

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #7 - Written by Jeph Loeb; art and cover by Pat Lee - Robin and Superboy take the spotlight in this special issue drawn by Transformers artist Pat Lee! The pair deals with the recent shocking revelations about Superboy's true origins. Will they let their mentors know? - DC UNIVERSE  |  32pg.  |   Color  |  $2.95

TV News

TEEN TITANS ROUND UP

The Comics Continuum web-site has reported that the "Teen Titans continues to bring in strong ratings for Cartoon Network, with last Saturday's episode posting what the network called "huge increases" from the same time period the previous year.

In Kids 6-11, Teen Titans improved delivery by 62 percent and ratings by 64 percent. In Kids 2-11, the episode improved delivery by 34 percent and ratings by 38 percent.

In other Teen Titans news:

* Upcoming guest voices on the show include Wil Wheaton as Aqualad, Mike Erwin as Speedy and Henry Rollins as Johnny Rancid.

* Look for Marv Wolfman to write another episode of the show."

TV Schedules

BATMAN - Adam West (TV Land)

• Fri 27th Feb - 12:00am - #33 - Fine Finny Friends
• Sat 28th Feb - 12:30am - #34 - Batman Makes The Scenes
• Sat 28th Feb - 12:00am - #35 - Shoot A Crooked Arrow
• Sun 29th Feb - 12:30am - #36 - Walk the Straight and Narrow
• Fri 5th Mar  - 12:00am - #37 - Hot Off The Griddle
• Sat 6th Mar - 12:30am  - #38 - The Cat and the Fiddle
• Sat 6th Mar - 12:00am - #39 - The Minstrel's Shakedown
• Sun 7th Mar - 12:30am - #40 - Barbequed Batman?

JUSTICE LEAGUE (Cartoon Network)

• Monday 1st Mar - 10:00pm -  Only A Dream
• Tuesday 2nd Mar - 10:00pm  - Maid of Honor
• Wednesday 3rd Mar - 10:00pm - Hearts and Minds
• Thursday 4th Mar - 10:00pm  - A Better World

TEEN TITANS (Cartoon Network)

• Saturday 28th Feb - 12:00pm - Transformation
• Saturday 28th Feb - 9:00pm - Titan Rising
• Sunday 29th Feb - 1:00am -  Titan Rising
• Sunday 29th Feb - 10:00pm - Titan Rising

TEEN TITANS (KidsWB)

• Saturday 28th Feb - 9:00am - The Apprentice Pt 2 (Season Finale)

SUPER FRIENDS (Boomerang)

• Sunday 29th Feb - 11:00am - The Giants of Doom
• Sunday 29th Feb - 7:00pm - The Giants of Doom
• Monday 1st Mar - 3:00am - The Giants of Doom

UK TV SCHEDULE

Toonami, Turner's new UK cartoon Network has just started broadcasting. The following Batman shows will be running.

BATMAN OF THE FUTURE (Batman Beyond) :

• Weekdays - 06:30am, 10:30am, 3:00pm.
• Weekends - 07:30am, 12:00 noon, 3:00pm

JUSTICE LEAGUE

• Weekdays & Weekends - 00:30am, 05:10am, 11:30am, 02:30pm, 06:30pm.

Movie News

LATEST BATMAN 5 RUMORS & NEWS

• There's a lot to get through this week, so let's start with the official PRESS RELASE from Warner Bros on the casting of Ken Wantanabe - " Oscar-nominated actor Ken Watanabe has joined the cast of director Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated film about the origins of the Batman legend. The announcement was made today by Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures.  Watanabe, who is nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in "The Last Samurai," will play the villainous Ra's Al Ghul, alongside stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman; Michael Caine as his trusted butler Alfred; Katie Holmes as a childhood friend of Wayne's; Liam Neeson as Wayne's mentor, Henri Ducard; and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, a former board member and sidelined employee of Wayne Enterprises. Directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay by David Goyer, the film is produced by Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Larry Franco. The executive producers are Ben Melniker and Michael Uslan. The project is scheduled to start production in London in March. The film, which explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham, will be released worldwide in 2005 by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. "
• Other casting at this point is still speculation (although some is stronger than others) and it seems that Dennis Quaid is still favorite to take on the role of Jim Gordon.
• There is some confusion over the name of the young DA in the movie, most script reviews posted so far say that a young "pre-Two Face" Harvey Dent is featured. But the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) lists the character as "D.A. Fitch", and to add to the confusion has actor Larry Holden in the role, a name that's been rumored in association with playing Dent for a few weeks now.
• It seems that members of the cast and crew, other than Michael Caine, have started to discuss the movie in public. Christian Bale (BATMAN himself) discussed it in an interview with German magazine Bunte. - "I think Batman is probably more aggresive than most everybody I've ever played, you know. I wanted to take it, because, firstly, when I heard that there was a consideration of doing more of the movies, I just felt like I hadn't been quite satisfied with what I'd seen in the other movies. Certainly in the last two. And it seemed as though there was actually a real character here, that it wasn't just a bland kind of superhero, one-dimensional. With him there really was an interesting character to be played. I loved the kind of fantastical notion of the superhero, but at the same time being able to bring a psychologically interesting element to that. And then Chris Nolan is directing who, you know, is not a director I would have expected to do this movie. So that was ideal to me, I liked the fact that the people hiring Chris, hiring myself, were going with people who did want to reinvent the story and have it not just be a continuation."
• Ain't-It-Cool News ran an extensive interview with script writer David Goyer, primarily about his upcoming directorial debut on Blade 3, but of course, BATMAN was mentioned - here's a selection  - "We were torn between (Christian) Bale and Jake Gyllenhaal, because we wanted to go in a different direction. But I think Bale at the end… I loved Jake, but Bale just seemed the right way. Knowing the story that we’re telling… it’s hard for everyone else because they don’t know the story that we’re telling, but it ultimately was the right way to go. And Michael Caine… I was just freaking out when we got Michael Caine. And all of the other casting has been… you know, I had a very schizophrenic experience on the project, because I was a professional doing a job crafting, sort of reinventing Batman with Chris, being very aware of how fucked up the previous movies were. And being very conscious of the fact that we didn’t want to let the fans down. But at the same time, I was like a fan going, “Holy shit, I can’t believe they’re going to let us do this. ... There were parts of the first and second films that I liked, but it was not, taking nothing away from Burton, there’s never been Batman on film or t.v. that would be the Batman that I wanted. Except for the movie that we’re doing. That’s the Batman I want." You can read the full interview here

• CINESCAPE this week also offered these tidbits of information - "At present, the concept for this film's Batmobile is unlike the looks of Batman's wheels from the four earlier films. Instead, this incarnation of the Batmobile -- at least at this stage of development -- might look like it has more in common with the behemoth depicted in Frank Miller's legendary THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS comic book series. As our source tells us, "the Batmobile will be big and bulky, like an urban tank."  - "One of the film's major action scenes will take place inside a Tibetan palace and will not involve Batman -- but a pre-Batman Bruce Wayne. Much ass-kicking will take place inside that palace, and it will be upon the film's main villain, or more specifically, his henchmen. "

• New Crew announcements were also made public this week. The full list is:

• -Peter Francis (Hellboy, Harry Potter) - Art Director
  -Steven Lawrence (Titanic, Harry Potter) - Art Director
  -Stuart Kearns (Hellboy, Die Another Day) - Art Director
  -James Hambidge (Hellboy, Die Another Day) - Art Director (Models)
  -Susan Whitaker (Tomb Raider 1 and 2, Die Another Day) - Assistant Art Director
  -Simon Lamont (Hellboy, Die Another Day) - Supervising Art Director
  -Sarah Robinson (Around the World in 80 Days, Die Another Day) - Art Department Coordinater
  -Guy Bradley (Hellboy, Tomb Raider 2) - Senior Draughtsman
  -Toby Britton (Hellboy, Die Another Day) - Draughtsman
  -Jordan A.Crockett (Harry Potter 2, 3, 4) - Draughtsman
  -Remo Tozzi (Hellboy, Below) - Draughtsman
  -Charles Leatherland (Thunderbirds, Johny English) - Draushtsperson
  -Martin Asbury (Troy, Resident Evil) - Storyboard Artist
  -Larry Frankau - Line Producer
  -Nigel Gostelow (Alexander the Great, Agent Cody Banks 2) - Unit Production Manager
  -Chris Holt - Location Manager (Bedford)
  -Neil Chaplin (Around the World in 80 Days) - Production Accoutant
  -Kelly Johnson (Troy, Die Another Day) - Production Accountant
  -Karen Alder (Alexander, Die Another Day) - Production Accountant

CATWOMAN UPDATES

• The Release date for CATWOMAN has been pushed up a week and will now open on July 23rd
• Halle Berry talked about CATWOMAN in a brief interview with Empire magazine the day after filming was completed on 20th february after nearly five months of shooting in Vancouver. "I love the look of the film. I think it’s very modern, it’s edgy, it’s very much reflective of the 21st century and who women are today and who we are evolving into. As far as the negativity, you know, there’s always negativity. I also remind myself that there was a lot of negativity around X-Men - on the internet particularly with comic book afficionados. Nothing we did on that movie made them happy initially. By the time it was all said and done at the end of the second movie they loved it. So I think we’re all taking it with a little grain of salt. We tried to stay true to what our story was, and honestly make it different to the ones of the past, because if you were to make it the same there’d be no point to make a new one, unless you change it and push Catwoman forward into the 21st century."
• In other CATWOMAN related news Matte World Digital, announced they will be creating seamless and realistic CG-enviromental effects for the film. It also appears that there will be a scene involving 20 customized low-rider cars, possibly for a scene in and around the featured   nightclub.
• The first screen captures from the new CATWOMAN video game devolped by EA Games have been released (see above).
• The CATWOMAN movie novelization is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com by clicking here. Front cover is shown left

IN THE STORES

HUSH WAVE 2 FIGURES

At the recent International Toy fair in New York, DC Direct displayed the second series of Batman: Hush action figures. While photographs of the figures themselves weren't permitted, a photo of the figure skecths was released (see above). Included in this second wave are, NIGHTWING, RIDDLER, CATWOMAN, HARLEY QUINN and Superman (who comes with a stand that will make it look as if he is hovering in the air).

DIAMOND PREVIEW NEW "THE BATMAN" FIGURES

Diamond Comics Distributors has posted preview artwork depicting the first wave of action figures for the new "THE BATMAN" animated series on its website. You can access the pictures by clicking here.

Meet The Bat Team

EMERALD CITY COMIC CON - Seattle - Feb 29th

The second Emerald City convention features GREG RUCKA, MATT WAGNER, DAVE JOHNSON and PETE WOODS among many other guests.

MEGA-CON - Orlando - March 5th to 7th

The first major convention of the season kicks off in at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Florida with numerous guests including CHUCK DIXON, DICK GIORDANO and many others. Your GWN editor will also be at the event on Saturday.

LONDON FILM & COMIC-CON - London, England, - March 6th to 7th.

The major British pop-culture convention will be held at the Wembley Exhibition Center in North London and will feature appearences by 2 BATMEN - ADAM WEST (TV show) and VAL KILMER (Batman Forever)

SUPER MEGA-SHOW - Secaucus, NJ - March 12th to 14th

The largest NJ show to date features guests from TV, music and comics at the Secaucus, Crown Plaza Hotel. Among the featured guests are: Adrienne Barbeau (voice of Catwoman in B:TAS) and artist Ethan Van Sciver.

WIZARD WORLD - Los Angeles - March 19th to 21st

The first west coast Wizard World convention features an impressive list of guests including: ALEX ROSS, JOAQUIM DOS SANTOS (director of Justice League animated show), PAUL DINI, JEPH LOEB, TIM SALE and DEXTER VINES

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GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS is a FOREST COMICS Publication.

 FOREST COMICS and GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS are (c) and TM  - Alan J. Porter (1994 - 2004)

 "GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS", "GOTHAM GAZETTE - The BATMAN Magazine On the Web" and "THE UNAUTHORIZED BATMAN COLLECTORS GUIDE" are not affiliated to, or endorsed by, either Warner Bros. or DC Comics.

BATMAN and all related characters and indicia are acknowledged as Trademark and copyright DC Comics Inc..

 BATMAN created by Bob Kane & Bill Finger