After about seven years during which promises of an imminent Sin City sequel started making co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller seem sort of like broke dads promising their kids a rollercoaster in the backyard, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is actually happening.  Or at least, it's more likely than it has ever been.  Today, Dimension Films officially announced an October 2, 2013 release date for the sequel, and also confirmed that stars Mickey Rourke and Jessica Alba are committed to return.

So apparently a sequel to Sin City is actually going into production this summer, after seven years of seemingly endless promises and well past the point at which it seemed it would never happen.  The official announcement for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For was a week ago today, and with Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller set to direct again, there are plenty of questions, including, "Really?  No, really?  This is happening?"  Another is, of course, just who will return from the 2005 film.

It's been seven years since Sin City set a new standard for fidelity in adapting a comic book, with co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller basically using Miller's influential hyper-noir comics as storyboards for the audacious, green-screen intensive production.  Talk of a sequel taking on more of Miller's work began almost immediately, the directors have been promising that it will happen almost ceaseless for the better part of a decade with nothing to show for it.  But it's actually going to go down now.  Really.

Opening in theaters on April 6th is a new movie from documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) called Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope. The film takes an inside look at the annual Comic-Con International in San Diego, California and was produced by Spurlock, Joss Whedon (The Avengers), Harry Knowles (Ain't It Cool News), and comic book legend Stan Lee (Spider-Man). In addition to Whedon, Knowles, and Lee, the film also features interviews with Kevin Smith (Cop Out), Seth Rogen (The Green Hornet), Eli Roth (Inglorious Basterds), Matt Groening (The Simpsons Movie), and Frank Miller (The Spirit).

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, as well as cosplay expert Holly Conrad to discuss Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope. The director and his subject talked about the new film, the genesis of the project, the "Geek Dream-Team" of Spurlock, Whedon, Knowles, and Lee, what types of people he was looking to document with the project, how he chose his subjects, Conrad's obsession with cosplay, her love for Mass Effect 2, and why every nerd who sees the film will fall completely in love with Holly. 

WonderCon 2012 (San Diego Comic-Con’s sister convention) kicked off on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center and that evening fan’s were treated to the World Premiere of the latest film from DC Universe Animated Original Movies entitled Superman vs. The Elite, which will be available on Blu-ray DVD combo, VOD and digital downloads beginning June 12^th.

The PG-13 direct-to-video film series has adapted many classic DC stories in the past including Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Batman: Under the Red Hood, All-Star Superman, and Batman: Year one. The new film is based on the classic Action Comics issue #775, “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?” written by popular comic book scribe Joe Kelly with art by Doug Mahnke. The story takes a look at the values Superman stands for and if they are still necessary in our cynical new world.

2005's Sin City set a new precedent for faithful comic book adaptations, with co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller essentially using Miller's hyper-noir black and white books as storyboards for the outrageously violent interconnecting tales from Basin City.  Of the many strange characters populating Miller's world, perhaps the most over-the-top and popular is Marv, an unstoppable simpleton played by Mickey Rourke in the segment titled "The Hard Goodbye."  Though Marv met his end in that story, the fractured chronology of the first film would allow Marv to have another adventure in Sin City 2, the sequel that Rodriguez and Miller have been promising for the last six years.  Rourke, a notoriously eccentric and forthright actor, isn't so sure he'll back, however.

Just because the fourth season of AMC's Breaking Bad came to a perfect conclusion on Sunday doesn't mean you can't get your Bryn Cranston fix on the fairly regular.  In the animated feature Batman: Year One, which is now available for download and hits Blu-ray and DVD next Tuesday, everybody's favorite chemistry teacher/meth cook/monster provides the voice for Lieutenant Gordon, Batman's most trusted ally in Gotham.  A new clip from the Warner Premiere film has Gordon bringing his wife (voiced by Grey DeLisle) along to investigate his hunch that Batman and Bruce Wayne are, in fact, the same guy.  Ben McKenzie voices Wayne in full-on callow playboy mode.  He throws Barbara Gordon off the Batman trail with the oldest trick in the book, but Jim Gordon's a good cop, and he still has his suspicions.

Before he popped adamantium claws from his fists as the mysterious Logan in Bryan Singer's 2000 X-Men, Australian actor Hugh Jackman was more or less completely unknown to American audiences.  Based on his wildly charismatic performance as Marvel's single most popular mutant, however, Jackman became a star almost immediately.  While he's gone to roles in diverse films such as The Prestige, Van Helsing, and The Fountain, Jackman is still most associated with his signature role as the mutton-chopped shitkicker.

Though it was mauled by critics, the spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine was commercially successful, leaving 20th Century Fox eager to get Jackman back in his signature tank-top for another round.  Getting The Wolverine off the ground has not been easy, but there is now a new director in the form of James Mangold, with whom Jackman worked on Kate & Leopold before the director went on to helm Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, and Knight and Day.  While promoting his new robo-boxing crowd-pleaser Real Steel, Jackman promised that The Wolverine is on the way, and also discussed the film's long development, including the recent hiring of Mark Bomback to provide rewrites.

Yesterday, the first official still from Warner Premiere's animated short film Catwoman made its way online, showing a new Selina Kyle, who is voiced by Eliza Dushku in both the short film and Batman: Year One, the animated feature that Catwoman accompanies.  Today, the Warner Home Video has released the first clip from the direct-to-DVD feature.  The clip pretty exactingly recreates a scene from the 1987 four-part comic arc by written by Frank Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, with the young Batman storming a high class criminal gathering to deliver a pretty straightforward threat in assaultive fashion.

Comic books have become a rich resource that Hollywood has been tapping into for many years now. While Superman first took flight in the late ‘70s, and Batman began patrolling Gotham on the big screen in the ‘80s, the super hero movie genre really took off in the last decade with film franchises like Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, and The Dark Knight. With the recent prequel X-Men: First Class, the upcoming reboot The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel, and The Avengers on the horizon … it doesn’t seem like the genre is going away anytime soon. So here at IAR, any time we have the opportunity to speak with someone in the comic book industry about their latest project, comic book adapted movies and the marriage of Hollywood and comics, we’re going to jump at the chance. We call it…. IAR’s Comic book Corner!

In the comic book industry, licensed comics (comic books based on properties from other forms of media) have been given a bad rap … and rightly so. In the past they have been used as nothing more than a cheap marketing tool, a throwaway pamphlet that is intended to raise awareness about the impending film or TV series. Well that is all about to change with the September 21st release of Archaia Entertainment’s Immortals: Gods and Heroes, based on Relativity Media’s upcoming film Immortals, which will hit theaters on November 11th.

The graphic novel is a stunning, two-sided hardcover anthology collection that features several all-new tales of Greek myths as told by some of the top talent in the industry including Jock (The Losers), Ben McCool (Captain America), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Phil Lester (Green Arrow), Jim McCann (Return of the Dapper Men), Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Grey (Jonah Hex), and Ben Templesmith (Choker). Immortals: Gods and Heroes is set to serve as an irreplaceable companion piece to the upcoming movie directed by visionary filmmaker Tarsem Singh (The Fall, The Cell), which stars Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Luke Evans (The Hobbit), Isabel Lucas (Transformers), Kellan Lutz (Twilight), Stephen Dorff (Blade), and the man-who-will-be-Superman, Henry Cavill (Man of Steel).

One man who is no stranger to comic books or movies is writer/producer F.J. DeSanto. Beginning his career as an assistant to legendary comic book adapted film producer Michael E. Uslan (Batman, The Dark Knight) on the film Constantine, DeSanto went on to co-produce Frank Miller’s The Spirit with Uslan, which is based on Will Eisner’s classic hero. The two men would eventually team-up once again to bring The Spirit back to the page with a series written for DC Comics. DeSanto is also well versed in the world of licensed comics having written Star Trek: The Next Generation: Manga for TOKYOPOP. Now the writer/producer is channeling his love for comics and movies into a new story for the upcoming Immortals: Gods and Heroes, which hits stores today.