We haven’t given nearly enough coverage to Stephen Frears’movie adaptation of Posy Simmonds‘ brilliant Tamara Drewe graphic novel, but this is probably the most lit/comix-approved movie since GHOST WORLD. Variety reports that the movie has been picked up for US distribution by Sony after a modest bidding war. The title role will be played by Gemma Arterton, who already had a comic book movie role under her belt with St TRINIAN’S, and was the Alternate Bond Girl in QUANTUM OF SOLACE. Also cast are Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam, Luke Evans, Bill Camp and Tamsin Greig.

Arterton is definitely adorable, and we’re certain Beat readers will enjoy continued coverage of her activities.

In today’s Option News, David Gordon Green is set to direct FREAKS OF THE HEARTLAND, a film based on the Dark Horse graphic novel by Steve Niles and Greg Ruth.

Illustrated by Greg Ruth, Niles’ six-part 2004 series about the horrible secret of a rural Middle American town involves Trevor Owen’s attempts to protect his “monster” of a 6-year-old younger brother and Gristlewood Valley’s other “freaks” from their parents’ worst instincts.

Puttering around here on various projects, like PW Comics Week, a general sense of sadness is overtaking us. Adding up today’s postings, it turns out that in Hollywood, messing with one detail of a beloved comic book classic is enough to give a director flop sweats; whereas removing the structures that made one of the most powerful, haunting and profound novels ever written in English powerful, haunting and profound, is dubbed “giving it that graphic novel sensibility.”

I do not think that word means what you think it does. And I think we’re in for a long haul.

[Above image: one of Rockwell Kent’s immortal illustrations for Moby Dick.]

Okay here’s one of those oddball pop culture anthologies: Harvest Is When I Need You The Most:

Harvest Is When I Need You the Most, features the talent of 8 cartoonists paying homage to the original Star Wars trilogy.

The 36 page, full color book releases at MoCCA Art Fest 2008, and will available for online orders on June 14!

We don’t really need more Star Wars, but we love the cover!

The keepers of the enw Kingdom Comics line at Disney, Ahmet Zappa and Christian Beranek, showed up at WW Philly and revealed more of their plans:

When asked how the duo would deal with the use of Disney’s beloved characters, Zappa responded, “We’re not trying to make Mickey Mouse comics. The goal of Kingdom Comics is to reimagine some of the great properties they have that are not so familiar to people. The biggest idea is to create new graphic novels that hit the Disney specifics, like a PG-13 adventure or a science-fiction piece tonally like Pirates of the Caribbean or National Treasure.”

Beranek added, “We’re doing the live-action Disney movies, we’re not really doing any animated stuff. We’d like to find a really cool way to take a Battlestar Galactica-style way of updating stuff.”

In response to a question about the hiring writers for Kingdom Comics, Beranek explained, ‘The best analogy to think of is if we make your graphic novel, it’s as if it’s being pre-optioned for a film. So it’s not like those rights as a creator are being ignored, they’re being negotiated.”

Technorati Tags: Disney