In adaptation-related news this week, we learned that director Takashi Shimizu will be at the helm for a live-action feature of Kiki’s Delivery Service and that J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot was bidding on the TV rights to Stephen King’s time-traveling alt-history tome, 11/22/63.  Today’s installment of Hollywood! Adapt This features another revisionist history  that isn’t contained in just one volume, but rather spread out over twenty-some issues.  This sci-fi superhero anthology series dates back to 1987 and continues still today with Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin acting as contributor and editor.  What’s it all about?  Hit the jump to find out.  Hollywood! Adapt this: Wild Cards. 

Last night I had the opportunity to check out a late showing of Pain & Gain during which I encountered a few thoughts that I couldn’t shake: 1) I wish Michael Bay would make more films like this and less of the transforming car variety. 2) Why can’t Dwayne Johnson be in every movie? 3) This is probably the craziest “Based on a True Story” movie I’ve ever seen. I’ve heard Bay say that some of the most extreme elements of the plot are also the most true to the original story. This is good to know because had someone written a lot of what shows up in the film I would likely call it too farfetched for my suspended disbelief to withstand. Make no mistake, this is a wild, entertaining ride that utilizes layers of action, crime, comedy, sex, and even a touch of sadism to keep you invested from beginning to end.

My mini-review aside, this week’s Top 5 includes the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World, Pain & Gain interviews with Michael Bay, Mark Wahlberg, and more, a recap of our visit to Pixar for Monsters University, news that Zack Snyder could take the helm of Justice League pending Man of Steel‘s success, and the first entry in a new interview series from Steve: “Breaking Down the Movie” with The Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance. As is customary, a brief recap and link to each of the above is ready and waiting after the jump.

Earlier this week you may have read the announcement that Universal is developing a remake of Weird Science.  That particular project never crossed my mind for Hollywood! Adapt This, but it actually has a sliver of commonality with today’s installment.  While not exactly a household name, author Paolo Bacigalupi has quickly risen through the ranks of respectable sci-fi writers and, like all good sci-fi, his stories are both visually striking and contextually relevant to contemporary issues.  Set in 23rd century Thailand, Bacigalupi’s award-winning debut novel takes place in a world drastically altered by global warming, devoid of most fossil fuels and ravaged by worldwide failures of genetically-modified crops.  Sound familiar?  Hit the jump for more.  Hollywood! Adapt this: The Windup Girl.

Last weekend I finally had the chance to check out director Rodney Ascher‘s The Shining analysis doc Room 237 on Xbox Live. The film garnered a rave review from Matt when he screened it at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and for the most part I share his enthusiasm for the pic.  On one hand, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen and I admire it for that exact reason. The extensive scenic analysis Room 237 employs, the hypnotic score, and its refusal to show the faces of those presenting their theories makes it an absolutely captivating ride that never lets you come up for air. On the other hand, I now have to live the rest of my life looking for Stanley Kubrick‘s airbrushed face in the clouds during The Shining‘s opening scene. And when/if I ever find it, what am I supposed to do with that information? Sigh.

I could go on about the film’s individual parts, but suffice to say that I consider it required viewing for anyone with even a fleeting interest in film analysis, Kubrick, and/or The Shining. And with that I’ll move on to the reason we’re all here. In this week’s Top 5 you’ll have the pleasure of checking out a stellar new trailer and a slew of other assets from Man of Steel, our set visit recap for The Hangover Part III, the first trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, more set visit goodness for Now You See Me, and all of our CinemaCon 2013 coverage. The “Continue Reading” button below is your ticket to a brief recap and link to each of the above.

Today’s installment of Hollywood! Adapt This is all about fun and games.  One of the best parts of growing up in the 80s and 90s was the wealth of game shows on TV that were aimed at kids.  The shows were exciting, energetic and often even informative as they combined contests of physical activity with brain teasers and trivia challenges.  While there were plenty of game shows to choose from for possible reboots or adaptations into other another medium, only one stands out from the pack…mostly because it featured a giant talking carved stone head.  Hit the jump to get reacquainted with Olmec.  Hollywood!  Adapt this: Legends of the Hidden Temple.

From time to time I like to use the opening paragraph to discuss my latest screenprint investments and/or dream items. This week I’m playing a similar note as I recently picked up Olly Moss‘ “Batman’s Rogues Gallery” set on eBay for very close to what the timed edition went for originally. Those of you who follow posters and prints know how redeeming it can be to finally get an item you originally missed out on without having to pay exponentially more than its original asking price. Now, if only Ken Taylor‘s Halloween print would stop being so rare/expensive, I could officially run out of room on my walls.

I’ll stop gushing and leave any more in-depth poster/print talk to our own Limited Paper. For my part, this week’s Top 5 includes the first trailer and a video blog recap of 10 minutes of footage from Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium, our White House Down set visit recap, an exclusive interview with Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, the first trailers for Ron Howard‘s Rush, and an extended interview with Mondo CEO Justin Ishmael. As is customary, a brief recap and link to each is ready and waiting for your attention after the jump.

On today’s installment of Hollywood! Adapt This, we’re going to get a little more obscure and talk about a mid-90s television series that took an Earthbound teenager and transported him into a parallel world.  Rather than being a straight “fish out of water” series, the protagonist uses his knowledge of high school science to combat the ruling class of the world, known as Spellbinders.  It was a fun bit of Medieval fantasy mixed up with wacky scientific inventions worthy of Nikola Tesla himself.  Hit the jump to find out more.  Hollywood! Adapt this: Spellbinder.

Before I dive into the main topic of this week’s opening paragraph, just a quick disclaimer that the Top 5 will be taking a week off next Saturday to accommodate the first, and perhaps only, trip to Hawaii I will ever take. Here’s to hoping it’s less awkward but equally as life-changing and Kristen Bell/Mila Kunis-filled as Forgetting Sarah Marshall depicted. That said, while it fell just short of the cut this week, I still want to draw attention to the first trailer for director Adam Wingard‘s You’re Next that debuted on Thursday. As a horror fan, I’m always excited when a new entry in the genre gets lauded from both sides of the aisle (horror fans and those who aren’t as giddy about movies that make them think twice about turning out the lights). As far as I’m concerned, August 23rd can’t get here soon enough.

All Hawaii and horror fanboy talk aside, this week’s list offers up the first trailer(s) for The Wolverine, interviews with Dwayne Johnson and more for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the first trailer and posters for White House Down, a new red-band trailer for Pain & Gain, and The Host interviews with Saoirse Ronan and more. As you’re probably expecting, a brief recap and link to all of the above can be found after the jump.

Visionary animator Genndy Tartakovsky has been a creative force behind such popular series as The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory and Star Wars: Clone Wars.  Last fall, Tartakovsky also made a successful foray into animated feature films with the box office-and-family-friendly horror hit, Hotel Transylvania.  With his pedigree of small-screen series and recent experience with a full-length animated production, it seems the time is ripe for a conclusion to one of Tartakovsky’s most unique and iconic creations.  Hit the jump to find out where it stands.  Hollywood! Adapt this: Samurai Jack.

The nationwide expansion of Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers meant that I had the opportunity to catch the film last night at my local theater. We’ll talk a more specifically about our coverage of the film after the jump. For now, I’d like to make a futile attempt at encapsulating my feelings on the pic in the next few sentences. There’s a lot to like about Breakers whether it be the performances (James Franco‘s especially), the music, the slick editing and use of foreshadowing, etc. Nevertheless, for me this isn’t a movie that I “liked” as much as it’s one I respect. It’s beautiful, surreal, challenging, abhorrent, and vapid all at the same time. In other words, it’s art.

I could go on for days about the pic but that’s not why we’re here. In this week’s Top 5 we’ll take a look at our Breakers coverage, some Transformers 4 plot details, Olympus Has Fallen interviews with Gerard Butler and Antoine Fuqua just to name a few, a new trailer and poster for Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Croods interviews with Nicolas Cage and more. As is standard, a brief recap and link to each awaits after the jump.

The original plan for today’s Hollywood! Adapt This article went out the window this week as I got sucked into an anime series about bionically-enhanced police officers taking on all manner of cyber-terrorists in a future where it seems that no one is 100% human any longer.  Since this particular series was an outgrowth of an earlier feature anime (which in turn was based on a popular manga), I went back to the original film adaptation to see if a live-action update would be possible.  Hit the jump to find out.  Hollywood! Adapt this: Ghost in the Shell. 

I’ve patiently waited for the opportunity to include Veronica Mars in the Top 5. As one of my favorite pop culture artifacts, I’m thrilled that this past week has finally afforded me the chance. That said, I’ll reserve any and all debate regarding the impact and merit of its now famed Kickstarter campaign for after the jump. For now, I’ll just say that, as much as I loved the show, I didn’t feel shortchanged by its somewhat abrupt finale. Moreover, I never felt like I needed a movie to bring some sort of closure to that world and its characters. Don’t get me wrong, by series end I wanted more VM in my life. But maybe that’s a good thing. Looking back I’d much prefer a series leave me wanting more than continually ask me back every week when it can barely muster even a shadow of its former self (cough…The Office…cough).

In addition to more Mars talk, this week’s collection also includes our G.I. Joe: Retaliation set visit, the first red-band trailer for Kick-Ass 2, Jurassic Park 4 naming its director, and all of our SXSW 2013 coverage to date. Keep reading for a brief recap and link to each.

Yesterday, Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter for a film adaptation of his cult TV series, Veronica Mars.  The goal was 30 days to reach $2 million.  The Kickstarter quickly reached its goal in less than a day, and of this posting has received $2.8 million in donations.  Some people celebrated this not only as a way to finally get a Veronica Mars movie, but as a new dawn for financing mainstream feature films.  Personally, I felt everything about it was a bit…off.  I couldn’t quite place my finger on it, but as I’ve spoken with more people and read other editorials discussing the Kickstarter’s success, I’ve become more inclined to believe that Warner Bros., the studio that owns Veronica Mars, has gamed the system, misled fans, and opened a door to diminishing the spirit of Kickstarter in order to serve corporate interests.

If you haven’t already written me off for being an inherently pessimistic person, hit the jump for why I’m against Kickstarting Veronica Mars.

As we speak, SXSW 2013 has turned downtown Austin into an absolute war zone:  traffic’s backed up all the way to Oklahoma, pedestrians everywhere are being run down by hipsters on fixed-gear bikes, and—perhaps most distressingly—rumors persist that as many as two hundred SXSW Film badgeholders  senselessly wasted hours of their lives watching a film called Big-Ass Spider.  Truly, it has been a harrowing week.

But up in New York City, our friends at Bottleneck Gallery are about to kick off a preview sale for their first-ever solo show, an event comprised entirely of artwork by UK artist Raid71 they’re calling The Popular Face of New York.  What sorta prints are going to be available for purchase, and when can you pick a few of them up?  Find out after the jump.

Even after the 1990s animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers had its run and gained fans worldwide, humanity still continues to fuck up the planet.  The Amazon rain forest remains threatened, animal species march toward extinction due to human interference, and weather events grow ever more extreme.  It seems that our generation missed the message or chose to do nothing about it.  Time for a reminder.  Today’s suggestion deviates from previous installments which were based mostly out of a nostalgic desire to see reboots of shows and movies from my childhood.  Instead, this re-imagining comes out of a necessity of shaking people out of their complacency with environmental issues and into action.  Hollywood! Adapt this: Captain Planet and the Planeteers.