July
8 Will "Four" Play?

"Fantastic Four" opens today at 3,602 engagements, and it's going to be a hold-your-breath kind of weekend for Marvel. The pic's premiere Wednesday night at Liberty Island was plagued by problems as rain delayed arrivals from Manhattan and pushed the start time of the screening back from 9 p.m. to 10:20. The projector went on the fritz 10 minutes into the pic and guests finally made it back to show at 11 and were offered the chance to catch a late-night screening at Battery Park. Reviews have been mixed but mostly negative, with a number of top critics trashing the film. Joe Leydon's review for Variety starts off:

Unpretentiousness counts for a lot in "Fantastic Four," a wildly uneven, sporadically slapdash action-adventure that amuses in fits and starts. Aimed at a younger crowd than most recent comicbook adaptations, pic lacks the type of serious subtext that lent real or imagined gravitas to the likes of "X-Men," "Batman Begins" and "Hulk." Parents should appreciate the kid-friendly superhero extravaganza, even as devoted readers of the revered Marvel Comic title howl in protest at the liberties taken. Fox release probably won't be a flameout in theatrical release, but won't clobber too many B.O. rivals, either.

Still, the weekend could turn out well for "FF." "War of the Worlds" has been out for nearly two weeks and horror pic "Dark Water" will appeal to a completely different audience. This also is the pic's one big chance to pull in a big haul before "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" hits screens next week.

HORROR TEAMUP: Lions Gate Films has signed a deal with comics scribe Steve Niles and actor Thomas Jane, who starred in "The Punisher," for feature rights to several of Niles' comics projects. First three pics will be "The Lurkers," "In the Blood" and "The Dark Country." Jane will star in all three pics and produce with Niles. The duo had previously teamed up for comicbook project "Bad Planet," and will continue to develop comics projects as well.

SPIDEY PRIZE: Sony Pictures is looking for the best-dressed Spider-Man comicbook villains at Comic-Con. The studio will be holding a costume contest called "Dressed to Kill," with the winner taking home an authentic Spidey costume boot used in the first movie. Entrants need to stop by the Sony booth at the show to get their picture taken. Photos of five candidates will go online once a week starting Sept. 12, with the top vote getters for five weeks advancing to the finals. The final winner will be chosen by the Spider-Man filmmakers and announced on Oct. 31 on the set of the next Spider-Man movie. 

KIRBY MUSEUM: The family of the late Jack Kirby has announced the formation of the Jack Kirby Research Center and Museum, which will celebrate the life and work of the co-creator of such comics greats as Captain America, Fantastic Four and the X-Men. The press release sent out this week on the subject is datelined Hoboken, N.J., but doesn't explictly say where the museum is going to be. Supporting the project is cartoonist Randolph Hoppe; John Morrow, editor of The Jack Kirby Collector magazine, and the Kirby family.  Expect more details on this project at the annual Jack Kirby tribure panel next Friday at Comic-Con.

GIRL POWER: Tokyopop will produce a manga story for CosmoGirl magazine called "The Adventures of CG" by Svetlana Chmakova. The story begins with the August issue of the mag, which reaches 6 million readers.

A CLASSIC RETURNS: Warner Bros. will release a DVD boxed set of the first season of the classic 1950s TV show, "The Adventures of Superman." The set will include all 26 first-season episodes starring George Reeves, as well as the theatrical pic "Superman and the Mole Man." Set is due to arrive Oct. 18.