OFFICIAL PARAMOUNT PICTURES PRESS RELEASE -
Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios today announced an agreement under which Paramount will distribute Marvel's next five self-produced feature films on a worldwide basis. The deal, an extension of the original agreement made by Brad Grey when he arrived as CEO and Chairman of Paramount Pictures, includes theatrical distribution in foreign territories previously serviced by Marvel through local distribution entities (Japan, Germany, France, Spain and Australia/New Zealand). The distribution pact capitalizes on Marvel and Paramount's successful efforts with Iron Man, which has grossed $574 million worldwide for Marvel.

The highly anticipated live action releases include Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010), Thor (July 16, 2010), The First Avenger: Captain America (May 6, 2011), and The Avengers (July 15, 2011). The distribution agreement also includes Iron Man 3.

"Coming off of 'Iron Man's' incredible success this summer, we could not be more excited about extending our relationship with Marvel," said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures. "Marvel's iconic brand, its popular characters and its proven ability to create compelling and visually spellbinding films complement Paramount's great history of filmmaking. We look forward to a long and successful run together."

"Paramount is an excellent partner and an outstanding global distributor," said David Maisel, Chairman of Marvel Studios. "Through our experience on 'Iron Man,' Paramount has demonstrated a passion and ability to release Marvel properties theatrically, allowing us to focus on making great movies for the largest audience possible.

Disney has announced a surprise sequel to Tron, the studio's 1982 classic sci-fi movie. Test computer animation for the movie was shown to around 6,500 fans at Comic-Con International in San Diego on 24 July.

According to Sci-Fi Wire, the sequence opens with a camera twisting through the clouds during a thunderstorm, then down and across a grid. In the centre, a figure in a new version of the blue light suit runs and jumps, and a new version of the lightcycle materializes under him. He engages a second lightcycle rider in yellow-green in a chase, down stairs, up ramps, over planes of transparency, hurtling toward the grid's edge, beyond which loom grey mountains, split by a narrow crevasse.

After a long race sequence Blue says to Green: "This is just a game!", to which Green replies: "Not anymore." Green throws his cycle at Blue and the footage cuts to black.

Jeff Bridges, who starred in the orginal flick, is back for more and fans are eating it up. The sequence ends with a stylised "2," which merges into the word "Tron."

The latest “Star Wars” tie-in videogame “The Force Unleashed” has been heating up the sales chart across several content outlets this summer, leading to speculation that George Lucas might consider adapting the storyline for the big-screen in the near future.

The game sold a million units in its first five days on the market, has a tie-in novel on the bestseller list and features a graphic novel adaptation that is selling well in comic stores across the nation. It would seem that fans have embraced the storyline of Darth Vader training a secret apprentice, even more so than this summer’s theatrical release of the soon-to-be television series, “The Clone Wars.”

And while it may sound crazy at first, a big-screen “Force Unleashed” may not be that big a leap according the game’s project leader, Haden Blackmen.

“Oh, that would be incredible,” Blackman told the Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex blog. “And it’s not impossible. Never say never. George [Lucas] has looked to tell new ‘Star Wars’ stories through the games and with the entire Star Wars Expanded Universe, and then he has also shown a willingness to let the characters come into the films. Look at Aayla Secura, a creation in the [Dark Horse] comic books who became part of the theatrical films.”

Blackman said that if the big-screen adaption became a reality, it would be a testament to his team for marrying solid game-play with great storytelling.

“It’s an incredible time,” he said, “to be telling powerful stories in this fairly young medium.”

The Hero Complex blog went on to say, “Lucas is clearly pleased with this new entry to the broader “Star Wars” story and I would not be surprised for a moment to see it on a theater marquee at a CG-animated project in the next few years, especially with the intensifying Hollywood interest in video games and toys as film properties. There’s also the very real power of putting Darth Vader on a movie poster in the theater lobbies of America.”

Speculation is the film would be done using digital animation, along the lines of the recent “Clone Wars” release.  However, right now it’s all just speculation and rumor.  Until we get confirmation, fans can enjoy the story at a bookstore, comic shop or game platform near you.

One of CON*tourage's favorite bands and a Dragon*Con highlight, The Cruxshadows is coming to a town near you. I know Bama Spyder is planning to go in December when they come back to Atlanta, and Master Andre can see them on the last date of thier tour in West Palm Beach. If you're not familiar with the band, they are a mostly girl band with a male lead singer. The girls play all of these wild instruments and do crazy stuff with thier hair. The twins are always a major draw at Dragon*Con as they dress in outrageous costumes and pose for fan photos ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT! They are terrific.

Now on to the music. A strange mix of synth, violin and rip-roaring vocals that mixes into a gothic sound that is hard to accurately describe. They put on a terrific stage show. Bama Spyder (more than a little drunk at the time) and Master Andre had the good fortune to see the show and enjoyed it tremendously.

September 12Th Tulsa, OK @ The Marquee
September 13Th Fayetteville, AR @ Teatro Scarapinos
September 14Th Nashville, TN @ Salvation
September 15Th St. Louis, MO @ Dante’s
September 17Th Minneapolis, MN @ Varisty Theater
September 20Th Chicago, IL@ Reggie’s Rock Club
September 21St Decatur, IL @ Wake The Dead Café
September 24Th Kansas City, MO @ Davey’s Uptown
September 26Th Denver, CO @ Owsley’s
September 28Th Salt Lake City UT@ Area 51
October 1St Boise, ID@ Visual Arts Collective
October 4Th Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
October 5Th Portland, OR @ The Fez Ballroom
October 7Th San Francisco, CA@ The Dna Lounge
October 9Th Los Angeles, CA @ Safari Sam’s
October 10Th San Diego, CA @ Channel 1225
October 14Th Tempe, AZ @ The Sets
October 15Th Albuquerque, NM @ The Launchpad
October 18Th San Antonio, TX@Atomix
October 23Rd Dallas, TX @ The Lizard Lounge
October 24Th Austin, TX @ Elysium
October 25Th Houston, TX @ The Meridian
October 26Th New Orleans, LA @ The Hi Ho
October 27Th College Station, TX @ Schotzi's
October 30Th Indianapolis, IN @ Talbott Street
October 31St Milwaukee, WI @ The Mirimar Theatre

November 1St Lacrosse, WI @ Warehouse
November 3Rd Omaha, NE @ The Roxbury
November 7Th Columbus, OH @ Skully’s Music Diner
November 8Th Detroit, MI @ Small’s Bar
November 13Th Cincinnati, OH @ The Dock Complex
*November 15Th Pittsburgh, PA @ Pegasus
*November 16Th Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt
*November 18Th Northampton, MA @ Diva’s Nightclub
*November 19Th Boston, MA @ Tt The Bears Place
*November 21St Portland, ME @ The Asylum
*November 22Nd Albany, NY @ Valentine’s
*November 23Rd Rochester, NY @ The Water Street Music Hall
November 26Th New York City, NY@ Pyramid
November 27Th Washington, D.C. @ Town Danceboutique
November 28Th Richmond , VA @ Alley Katz
November 29Th Charlottesville, VA @ Outback Lodge
December 3Rd Raleigh, NC @ The Lincoln Theatre
December 5Th Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
December 6Th Jacksonville, FL @ 9Th & Main
December 7Th West Palm Beach, FL @ Repectables

Our man in the field Tony C. will be attending these upcoming CON's and filming for the upcoming mockumentary named Contourage The Movie.

1st Annual CrisisCon
Huntsville, AL - October 31 thru Nov 2nd
A great location and atmosphere for people of like mind to come and enjoy all things geeky. CrisisCon is not soley a Sci-Fi Convention. They will be heralding from the Main 5 Corners of Geekdom and Beyond. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Anime, and Video Games.

Atlanta Super Con
Atlanta, GA - November 21 thru 23
Comic books, Anime, Animation, Cosplay, Video Games, Fantasy and more!

MoMoCon 2009
Georgia Tech Student Center - Atlanta, GA - March 14-15
Grown out of a desire to expand, MomoCon is the result of the hard work and toil of a small group of people. This convention intends to be split among anime, gaming, and costuming,

Come by and check them out! You may very well become part of the film. More details and a full field report from these CON's coming soon!

UPDATE 9/25

Everything is going as planned! I'm going to incorporate Contourage The Movie as an LLC to protect us from any liabilites, and I'll check into the liabilities of filming at a con. I won't be needing a set so I don't think I need insurance like a regular production has. I'll check into it! Either way, I think the Con's have insurance, and if they have given me the go ahead to shoot there...I'm in the clear!

BTW - Only Crisiscon & Momocon are in hand, all the arangements have been made. Atlanta Supercon has not responded so far.

I am doing a lot of research on documentaries now to make this Mockumentary as realistic as possible.

Also building a steady cam next weekend! And my camera is so lite, I'm also going to build a boom cam. Be nice to walk around in a big hall with huge paint roller handle and get some sweet steady cam bird's eye view shots. And technically...professionals will be wondering how I did those shots! Basically I invented the boom cam, so it might take a lot more research before I have a working proto-type.

Premiere week has arrived for NBC, and it all starts Monday with a massive (and long-awaited) Heroes event!

The last new episode aired last December, with Season Two cut short by the writer’s strike. In the spring the writers decided to concentrate on the third season (premiering tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific), rather than jumping back into production to add a few episodes onto the second season. That time allowed creator Tim Kring and his team to evaluate the show’s “sophomore slump” and retool the show a bit.

Heroes begins at 8 p.m. with a new recap special, hosted by members of the show’s large cast. At 9 p.m. is the 2-hour Season Three premiere, “The Second Coming” and “The Butterfly Effect.”

On Wednesday we’ll be watching the series premiere of Knight Rider, which follows the February TV movie that souped up the venerable 1980s series that starred David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight. The new Knight Rider isn’t a “reimagining,” but extends the original series mythology with new faces and a car fit for the twenty-first century.

Justin Bruening stars as new driver and action hero Mike Traceur. Knight Rider premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. E/P, and we hope its cool — especially after last year’s fiasco with a reboot of another 80s genre series, The Show Which Must Not Be Named.

Outside of the sci-fi and fantasy genre, of course, NBC will have lots of new offerings for those of us jonesing for The Office, 30 Rock (which won seven Emmys last night), E.R., and so on.