The good news is that a number of Marvel comics properties are back in the hands of Marvel Studios and may once again be seen on screen.  The bad news is that the feature treatment ain’t happening for all of them.  Marvel’s Kevin Feige talked about a number of planned and possible superhero films coming up in the next few years, including an adaptation of the lesser-known property Inhumans.  More recognizable names – like Blade, Punisher, Ghost Rider and Daredevil – are also under Marvel’s control once again, but will have to find the right time, place and treatment to fit into the studio’s current plans.  Hit the jump for updates on the above-mentioned properties and more, including the chances of a Marvel Zombies one-off.

It appears that Marvel Studios has secured the rights to another very popular comics character.  While 20th Century Fox’s 2003 take on Daredevil was a bit of a misfire, the studio had been trying to move forward on a new iteration of the character in recent years.  30 Days of Night director David Slade came onboard to direct a Daredevil reboot in the spring of 2011, and Fringe scribe Brad Caleb Kane was subsequently tapped to pen the screenplay.  Movement on the project was quiet for a full year, though, and the following summer Slade left the film to helm the pilot for NBC’s Hannibal.

When Slade exited the project, however, Fox was facing a ticking clock.  The studio had to move quickly to get a new Daredevil movie into production before the rights to the character reverted back to Marvel.  Well, a new Daredevil film failed to materialize in the ensuing months, and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige confirmed today that Marvel now holds to the rights to the character.  Hit the jump for more.

Stan Lee, arguably the greatest single contributor to comic book movies, is celebrating his 90th birthday today.  Although most of Lee’s executive producer credits on feature films have come within the last decade or so, he’s been in the TV and movie business since the late 80s.  Oh and he dabbled in comics for a little while too.  Lee boasts co-creator status on the likes of Iron Man, Hulk, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Thor, Daredevil and many others.  As a figurehead, Lee led the transformation from Marvel Comics into the multimedia conglomerate it is today.  So send him a birthday wish over @TheRealStanLee and hit the jump to check out all of his cameos in Marvel movies over the years. 

Yesterday, we reported the sad news that Joe Carnahan‘s pitch for the reboot of Daredevil failed to gain any traction at Fox.  As if to make us even more disappointed, Carnahan took the sizzle reel he made to convince Fox execs and posted it online so we could get a better idea of how cool his take would have been.  We’re not seeing any period-piece superhero movies, and Daredevil would have fit in nicely with the 1970s.

As we’ve seen from his tweets and posting of the sizzle reel, Carnahan has no problem keeping people updated about what he’s working on.  With that in mind, he called in to The Radio Dan Show to talk about why he was interested in Daredevil, and why the project didn’t get off the ground (the rights will likely now revert to Marvel Studios).  He also talks about his upcoming remake of Death Wish, when it will take place, its similarity to the original, and more.  Hit the jump for what Carnahan had to say about these projects.

After reporting this morning that Joe Carnahan’s pitch to Fox for Daredevil “went up in smoke,” the director decided to share those sizzle reels with Twitter.  It’s clear that I’m not cut out to be a studio executive, because Carnahan’s hardcore, 70′s take on the Man without Fear seemed spot on to me.  Granted, sizzle reels aren’t composed of actual footage; they are spliced together pieces of film stock, bits of soundtrack, some concept art and, in this case, comic book panels that are meant to give the viewer a sense of tone and theme.  Carnahan’s Daredevil would have been closer to a Frank Miller film: tough, ballsy and fearless.  It’s a shame we’ll probably never see the vision on the big screen. Hit the jump to watch two versions of the Daredevil pitch.

Last week, we reported the exciting news that Fox was looking at director Joe Carnahan (The Grey) to reboot Daredevil.  The studio needs to get a reboot of the Man without Fear into production by October 10th or else the rights for the character will revert to Marvel Studios.  There was even word that Fox, in order to hold onto the rights a little longer, was willing to make a trade with Marvel.  This report was later denied, and we learned that Fox was still lukewarm on rebooting Daredevil.  Carnahan was still involved, but now that may have changed as well.

Hit the jump for more including two very cool updates:

Yesterday, we reported on the interesting possibility of Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox possibly trading comic book characters for the benefit of both studios.  In short, Fox’s rights to Daredevil are set to expire on October 10th unless the movie goes into production before then (which is highly unlikely to happen).  Marvel would extend Fox’s rights to the character, if Fox allowed Marvel to use Galactus and Silver Surfer from the Fantastic Four universe.  It would be a neat trade, and hopefully open the door for Marvel being able to use some of the characters they licensed off before the studio could develop movies independently.

However, Deadline is now reporting that this trade is far from a reality.  Hit the jump for more.

With the rights to Daredevil set to revert to Marvel on October 10th, 20th Century Fox is anxious to start production on a reboot.  With director David Slade having exited, Fox is now looking at Joe Carnahan (The Grey) to helm.  While solidifying a director is a step in the right direction, the deadline still looms.  Luckily, Fox has been in talks with Marvel for a character swap of sorts, an arrangement that, if both studios agree, could keep the “Frank Miller-esque, hardcore 70s thriller” version of Daredevil at Fox while bringing some big players back to Marvel.  Hit the jump to find out who.

One of my favorite movies of 2012 is director/co-writer Drew Goddard and producer/co-writer Joss Whedon‘s The Cabin in the Woods.  In fact, it’s also one of the best “horror” movies I’ve ever seen.  Without spoiling anything, let’s just say the film turns “horror” on its head, and I loved every second of it.  Make every effort to see this film!

Shortly after winning the Filmmakers Showcase Award at this year’s Saturn Awards, I was able to speak with Goddard backstage.  We talked about the success of Cabin in the Woods, whether it has led to a lot more meetings, his love of Daredevil (specifically Frank Miller‘s run), if he’s interested in writing a superhero property, and he reveals that he’s currently writing his next screenplay.  In addition, with Goddard supposedly re-writing the end of the Brad Pitt-fronted zombie pic World War Z, I asked how he got involved in the project and what exactly he’s been working on for the production.  Hit the jump for more.

Fox has moved a step forward on one superhero franchise and a step back on another.  First up, Deadline confirms that Josh Trank (Chronicle) will direct the reboot of Fantastic Four.  The studio is trying to get all of its superhero franchises back up and running, but right now X-Men is the only one with any gas.  The Wolverine is due to start filming next month, and the sequel to X-Men: First Class will shoot in January once Jennifer Lawrence has wrapped on The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  Progress on Fantastic Four could mean that the studio has at least one new superhero movie every year.

However, the studio may not have much time left for Daredevil.  Hit the jump for more.

At this year’s CinemaCon, I was able to land an exclusive interview with Tom Rothman (Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment).  While we posted selected portions of the interview last week, after the jump you can read the entire conversation which covers a lot more than comic book movies.  I love getting to speak with actors and directors, but if you really want to find out which projects are moving forward and why certain decisions were made, a studio head has all the answers.

During the wide-ranging conversation we talked about 48 frames per second, the shift towards higher quality films on Fox’s slate, Prometheus (and it’s rating), Daredevil, Fantastic Four, the Chronicle sequel, The Wolverine, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes sequel, a New Mutants movie, A Good Day to Die Hard (Die Hard 5), and more.  Hit the jump to read what he had to say.

As you can see from the image above, Daredevil is pissed at being left out of all The Avengers coverage.  Luckily we have a little bit of news on that front.  In a recent interview with Tom Rothman, 2oth Century Fox’s CEO, Steve gleaned some info about the David Slade-directed reboot of Daredevil, notably:

“It’s in development; we’re working on the script.”

Not much to go on, but at least we now know who is working on the script. Deadline reports that David James Kelly is doing a rewrite for the script, one that appears to be based on Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s classic 1986 “Born Again” arc, spanning issues #227-233.  The story centers on the Kingpin discovering Daredevil’s true identity which results in the hero’s life turning upside-down.  While I’m fully expecting some sort of hero origin story to be worked in, I’m curious: who do you think should play Daredevil this time around?

Steve sat down with 20th Century Fox CEO recently at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, and we’ve been bringing you highlights from their wide-ranging conversation.  We already shared what Rothman had to say about a New Mutants movie and the rating for Prometheus, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes sequel, and now we wanted to share the CEO’s updates on a few highly anticipated Fox properties.  Rothman talked about the status of the studio’s Fantastic Four reboot, Daredevil, and a sequel to this year’s hit superhero pic Chronicle.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Ever since 2008′s Iron Man, Marvel Studios has carved out a profitable niche in Hollywood independently financing the film adaptations of the Marvel comics.  However, because of the nature of film rights, a few of Marvel’s most popular properties are housed at other studios.  Fox has three: X-Men, Daredevil, and Fantastic Four.  In a recent interview, Fox executive Tom Rothman stressed the studio is eager to continue development on the next chapter in those respective stories—a sequel to X-Men: First Class and reboots for Daredevil and Fantastic Four.

Hit the jump for the interview clip (plus quotes) to see what Rothman had to say.

20th Century Fox has hired Fringe writer/producer Brad Caleb Kane to pen its Daredevil reboot. Per Heat Vision, the studio wants Kane to adapt Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s classic 1986 arc (spanning issues #227-233) “Born Again” for director David Slade (30 Days of Night). In that run, Daredevil’s nemesis the Kingpin discovers his secret identity by virtue of Matt Murdock’s former secretary, Karen Page, in exchange for a shot of heroin. In addition to working on Fringe, Kane has also contributed a draft of Columbia’s vampire novel adaptation The Historian and a script for a Richard Pryor biopic which has Bill Condon attached to direct.

The report mentions that Kane’s “energy and passion for the material” helped the scribe land the gig. He’ll most likely need every ounce of both in adapting what is considered by many one of the greatest Daredevil arcs of all time. In case you are unfamiliar with the run, you can head over to the Wikipedia page to check out the full plot details or (and this is my recommendation) pick up a copy of the run and read it for yourself.