James Cameron Will Direct The Informationist

Lightstorm Entertainment has acquired the film rights to The Informationist, based on the acclaimed 2011 novel from Taylor Stevens. James Cameron will direct the film for 20th Century Fox. Lightstorm's Jon Landau will produce alongside Cameron.

The story centers on Vanessa "Michael" Monroe, "an information specialist, whose work is in-demand by  corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. When a Texas oil billionaire hires her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago. Munroe finds herself back in the lands of her childhood. Betrayed, cut off from civilization, and left for dead, she must come face-to-face with the past that she’s tried for so long to forget."

Said Cameron, "Taylor Stevens' Vanessa Michael Munroe is an intriguing and compelling heroine with an agile mind and a thirst for adventure. Equally fascinating for me is her emotional life and her unexpected love story. I'm looking forwarding to bringing Vanessa and her world to the big screen." Current plans are for Cameron to direct the once he's finished working on the second and third Avatar films.

Although Cameron has claimed in recent years that he's strictly in "the Avatar business" from here on out, it seems the filmmaker has opened up to the idea of taking on other features later down the line. In addition to The Informationist, Cameron has expressed an interest in directing Battle Angel as well.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Battle Angel Still a Go for James Cameron

Back in May, James Cameron revealed that, after the Avatar sequels, he's completely done directing or producing any more narrative films, claiming, "I'm not interested in developing anything. I'm in the Avatar business. Period." However, there's still one last franchise for the filmmaker to tackle: Battle Angel.

"We'll focus on 'Avatar' for the next four or five years," producer Jon Landau told Coming Soon when asked about Cameron's interest in the property. "Hopefully right after that... I am confident you will see it. It's one of my favorite stories. I think it is an incredible story, a journey of self-discovery of a young woman. It is a movie that begs the question: 'What does it mean to be human? Are you human if you have a heart, are you human if you have a mind, are you human if you have a soul?' And I look forward to bringing that film to audiences."

Based on the '90s manga series, Battle Angel takes place in a post-apocalyptic future and centers on Alita, a cyborg girl who has lost all her memories and doesn't even know who she really is.

Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander, Shutter Island) provided the latest draft of the screenplay, which combines the first three graphic novels into the film's story.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Hold Your Horses on that Fourth Avatar

Remember back in June when James Cameron announced that he would be shooting three Avatar sequels simultaneously? Well, now it seems that the filmmaker may have been getting a little ahead of himself.

Indie Wire reports that Avatar 4 will not be a part of Cameron's back-to-back film shoot, according to producer Jon Landau. Additionally, it is still uncertain when production for Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 will begin as the former is currently slated for release no earlier than 2015.

The delays carry over into Cameron's World of Avatar attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom, which was announced around this time last year. Due to creative differences between Cameron and Disney's Imagineer development team, it seems as though we'll be waiting even longer on that project as well.

Source : ign[dot]com

Alphas: "Alphaville" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

"Alphaville" might have had its fair share of exciting moments (I'm looking directly at you "Cameron shoots that stealth Alpha right in his stupid toe shoe!"), but it didn't quite leave me feeling all-together satisfied. By the end, with regards to Stanton Parish's mysterious hospital tech, we only discovered what we already knew. That the light oscillations cause an amplification of Alpha abilities. And then Dr. Rosen inadvertently burned down a bunch of peaceful Alphas homes and we were done.

Still, it was great to see Summer Glau back on the show as Skylar Adams, the super-genius Forge-style mutant who knows her tech. This time around, Skylar's struggling as a mom to a hyper-active Alpha kid. And while that storyline might have fallen a bit flat - as well as Nina tagging along and doing nothing - the most interesting thing to come out of it was Parish's proposition to Skylar at the end. And seeing as how Skylar's doing everything in her life for Zoe right now, no matter how miserable it makes her, she might actually join up with Parish's camp.

I liked watching Dr. Rosen come face to face with a bunch of Alphas who weren't too crazy about him blabbing their secret out to the world - but all he got was scolded. Right before he made all their lives even worse. Claude, the bee-whisperer, could have been more (and had a better power), but instead he was just too much of a peace-loving nature-protector to do anything more than lecture Rosen. Which, I suppose, was a good thing for Rosen. But nothing ever came of their mini-confrontations, and in the end all Claude could do was say "Haven't you done enough?" as Rosen tried to help the residents of the tucked-away summer camp evacuate their land due to a Scipio-caused forest fire. And at no time (and perhaps this might even be one of the best things about Rosen) did Rosen ever retro-doubt his decision to go public. No, with him it's ever-forward, with hardly ever a chink in his ideological armor.

There were some fun character moments here, namely from Gary, who went from forest-hater to a guy who could spend his time "listening to the sun." Gary's at his best when he's semi-cranky, but at his worst when the stubbornness brought upon by his mental condition causes him to make dumb decisions that put him and team in danger. But, for the most part, Gary's venture into his first ever signal "dead zone" was a hoot. Rachel, who became an unwitting test subject for Parish's device, found herself overwhelmed when all of her senses went haywire. But in the end, it helped "cure" her of the over-reactions she was having when she was set on "normal." It felt like a teensy bit of a cheat, but I'll allow it. Season 2 seems to be about figuring out solutions to the character-specific hurdles from Season 1.

It's also fun to watch how certain Alphas can have the same, or similar, powers to others. The stealth Alpha reminded me a bit of Rebecca Mader's "Griffin" character in "Blind Spot." And Cameron found himself battling Trisha - a chick with crazy-ass agility like his own. As for the rest of the episode? Well, the inevitable reveal (to the team) that Dani is the mole could be good. But we've known her for such a short while, and we were just hit with the fact that she and Cameron were a couple. I just don't think it will wind up having the impact something like that should. I'm wondering if this all should have been kept a secret from us too, instead of playing out in a dramatically ironic fashion. Too late for that though. No sense in retrofitting.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

Source : ign[dot]com

Assassin’s Creed: The Chain Review

The writer/artist duo of Cameron Stewart and Karl Kerschl caught lightning in a bottle with the first Assassin’s Creed comic series, The Fall. It’s exceptionally rare to find a comic based off a video game that’s not only tolerable, but great. Yet, somehow Stewart and Kerschl were able to perform that miracle, offering up a comic series that catered to both the hardcore Assassin’s Creed crowd and newcomers alike with a set of engaging characters occupying a fantastical world that’s worth diving into headfirst like it’s a pile of hay.

Now, Stewart and Kerschl have returned for a follow-up book called The Chain, which is a direct sequel to The Fall and continues the adventures of assassin Nikolai Orelov in early 1900s Russia and Templar Daniel Cross in modern times. The most interesting aspect of The Chain is that it inverts the dynamics between our lead characters and the people who surround them. Whereas in The Fall, Orelov was shown as a man surrounded by people who loved him and Cross was cast as the loner with no one to turn to, The Chain displays Orelov as the man now on his own and on the run while Cross is treated as sort of a messiah figure for the rest of the Templar order to aspire to. It’s an engaging dynamic shift that puts into perspective how important the people around you are in shaping what kind of person you turn out to be.

But while Daniel Cross might be showered with praise at every turn, The Chain is very much a tragedy on all accounts. This is a story that covers the severing of a family and a man who is truly lost and struggling to find his identity. For Assassin’s Creed fans, these themes are nothing new, but Stewart and Kerschl wrap them in a package that feels fresh while still adding to the overall mythology of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Newcomers to the book should also be able to step away satisfied with the story at hand, even if they aren’t diehard Assassin’s Creed fans. The themes, morals, and delicate character work on display from Stewart and Kerschl are what make this story worth experiencing, not just that it’s tied to the lore of Assassin’s Creed.

Assassin's Creed Returns to Comics

From a visual point of view, The Chain looks just as gorgeous as The Fall before it. Both Stewart and Kerschl share art duties here, and the final results are quite breathtaking. It’s clear both artists gave everything they had to this project and therefore every page is a beauty to ogle over. The art of The Chain is dynamic, expressive, and a great complement to the story at hand, capturing the energetic highs of the book’s actions sequences and the depressing lows of a family being torn apart.

The one area of The Chain that might irk some is the very subdued finale. The book doesn’t conclude on an explosive high note, but instead chooses to end on a quiet moment to drive home its point. I’ll be honest, I read the book’s final few panels and flipped the page fully expecting more story. Denied. The Chain just kind of stops, leaving the reader to his thoughts about the true intention of the book’s final scene. If you like experiencing fiction that leaves you with a carrot on a stick to chew on far after you’ve finished it, then The Chain’s ending should satisfy. But if you want a definitive stamp on these characters, you’re not going to get it here.

The Chain is absolutely a worthy follow-up to The Fall. Cameron Stewart and Karl Kerschl have done a fantastic job grooming these characters in the vast Assassin’s Creed universe. Better yet, like The Fall before it, both Assassin’s Creed fanatics and newcomers can enjoy The Chain. Whether you fall into the former or the latter camp, The Chain offers a great narrative, engaging characters and beautiful art worth buying into.

You can order a copy of Assassin’s Creed: The Chain through Ubisoft’s Ubi Workshop online store.

Erik is a writer for IGN's Comics channel and co-host of the IGN Assemble! podcast. You can follow Erik on Twitter, or find him here at IGN. Fair warning: prepare for suspect shenanigans.

Source : ign[dot]com