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DYNAMITE LANDS DARKMAN LICENSE
by Newsarama
Continuing its build-up of Universal properties, Dynamite Entertainment today announced that it has entered into an agreement to produce comics based on the Darkman property.
The character saw life in three films, beginning in 1990, directed by Sam Raimi. The first film, which set the stage for what would come starred Liam Neeson as Peyton Westlake, a scientist who was scarred and badly burned after he was attacked in his laboratory. To save his life, doctors disconnected Westlake’s nerve endings, which grants him superhuman strength and makes him oblivious to pain. To cover his face and allow himself some semblance of a “normal” life, Westlake would wear synthetic skin that would dissolve after a period of time when exposed to light.
The two sequels were direct-to video, and executive produced by Raimi and Robert Tapert.
In regards to comics, the Dynamite versions will mark the fourth outing for the character, as Marvel held the license in the early ‘90s, and published an adaptation, and two miniseries.
“Darkman will find a home with Dynamite and in the comic pages in 2006,” Dynamite spokesperson J. Allen said. “This character will make for a perfect comic, he’s one of the most complex and unique superheroes around, and we plan to launch him in a most special way!”
According to the publisher, Darkman will launch in a crossover with another Raimi character, with Kurt Busiek (who wrote one of the Marvel Darkman miniseries) and Roger Stern writing. As for which other Raimi property Darkman will team with, there is a choice, as Dynamite, through the acquisition of licenses through Universal, has become home to the de facto “Raimi-verse.” The writer/director/producer is connected to both Xena and Army of Darkness – both of which Universal has licensed to Dynamite for comic treatment.
Allen said that further information about the launch crossover will be coming in a matter of weeks, and will have fans talking “for years to come.”
About Universal Studios Consumer Products Group
Universal Studios Consumer Products Group is responsible for global licensing and retail strategies as well as building brand recognition of the extensive catalogue of NBC Universal properties. Universal Studios Consumer Products Group is a unit of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.
About Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment is a premier licensor and innovative publisher of the comic industry's key and most popular comics including the Army of Darkness, Jim Starlin's Cosmic Guard, The Re-Animator, Eduardo Risso's Borderline, Fulu, Parquee Chas, Lectures Macabre, Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti’s Painkiller Jane, Battlestar Galactica, Classic Battlestar Galactica, Xena, and the #1 selling title in April of '05, Red Sonja. More information about the company can be found online at www.dynamiteentertainment.com. Dynamite Entertainment is a subsidiary of Dynamic Forces, Inc.
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