If you thought Stan Lee was finished expanding his Marvel empire, you were mistaken. He’s just beginning. Writer, creator, comic-book-maker, Stan Lee is as popular as the characters he’s created (Spider-Man, The Avengers, and the X-Men among them). Lee (TV star of the History Channels Superhumans) has cast actor/director/ and singing sensation Leehom Wang in the live-action film adaptation of his comic book series, The Annihilator.
Leehom Wang was born in the United States but now lives in Taiwan where he is a popular singing idol. He sang his own song, “One World Dream,” live at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Wang is currently filming Michael Mann’s (The Last of the Mohegans) unnamed cyber-thriller with Marvel’s Thor actor, Chris Hemsworth (presently on screen in Ron Howard’s Rush).
NFC, a Beijing based entertainment industry fund management company, has set $422 million as the budget for Lee’s first Chinese superhero. Dan Gilroy, scribe for The Bourne Identity, has written the script. The story, inspired by the comic-book series, focuses on Ming, a Chinese expatriate who is offered an opportunity to escape a lifelong prison sentence by undergoing a potentially fatal operation where he is genetically infused with the power of different animals. Ming survives the operation, and sets out with his newly acquired superhuman powers and extraordinary martial arts skills to take on an evil villain bent on world destruction.
At 90 years young, Stan Lee is going strong. He has just announced a deal with ROXIO, the creators of the ‘Angry Birds’ mobile game that has taken the video industry by storm. Stan will be helping to create a new series, his first Indian superhero ‘Chakra The Invincible’, that will air on ToonsTV, a fledgling on-demand video channel that debuts this fall.
Look for The Annihilator, produced by Barry Josephson (Enchanted, Bones, Wild Wild West), Magic Storm Entertainment, POW Entertainment and Falconer Pictures, to be released in 2014.
Leave a Comment