McG to Helm Magic Castle Movie

McG is now attached to direct Fox and Radar Pictures' Hollywood Magic Castle movie, based on the famed magicians' night club. Andrew Barrer and Gabe Ferrari will pen the screenplay.

Built in 1909, the historic mansion on Franklin Avenue serves as the headquarters of the nonprofit Academy of Magical Arts Inc. and offers a private space for renowned magicians to perform. Celebs who have performed at the exclusive nightclub include Cary Grant, Steve Martin, Johnny Carson and Neil Patrick Harris, who is the current president of the Academy of Magical Arts.

McG will soon begin filming the Kevin Costner-starrer Three Days to Kill, which will wrap production in February. From there, says The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker will shift his focus to Magic Castle, which has Radar's Ted Field producing.

Now repped by agency CAA, the Magic Castle will begin expanding its marketing opportunities not only to films, but other outlets such as television, live events, video games, digital media and merchandising.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Space Punisher #2 Review

You have to love a series whose title so elegantly sums up everything about it. Space Punisher is all about Frank Castle heading into the cosmos to deal out his particular brand of justice. Squid monsters and four-armed Hulks replace the usual drug dealers and mob bosses, but the basics remain the same. It's as if Lobo chewed up a bunch of Fear Agent and Cosmic Marvel comics and barfed the mixture onto a drawing board. Only prettier.

Frank Tieri dials up the zaniness a few notches in issue #2 as Frank battles Sabretooth, Deadpool, and The Leader. It isn't long before Hulk is thrown into the mix as well. Half the fun of this series is in seeing the entire Marvel Universe reflected though Tieri's goofy sci-fi mirror. It isn't just familiar Punisher players who are given the space treatment, but all corners of the Marvel U. In truth, the sci-fi re-imagining of Barracuda is the weakest one in the series so far, as there's really nothing whatsoever to tie this character to the traditional version.

There's not a great deal of subtlety in Tieri's handling of Frank. It's a very old school take on the character and his quest for vengeance. But nothing about this series is or should be subtle. Tieri embraces the zaniness of the concept and runs with it. I only wish we could see more of Frank's enemies in the Six-Fingered Hand. His clashes with them in this issue are fairly well glossed over.

Mark Texeira strikes the perfect visual tone with his painted artwork. His characters look like they crawled out of a sci-fi B-movie poster with their massive physiques, dramatic faces, and generally larger than-life presence. The painted approach provides a much-needed smooth, almost sterile look that Texeira's scratchier penciled style wouldn't have allowed for.

This is the sort of book that Marvel supposedly doesn't publish anymore -- off-the-wall, out of continuity, and delightfully bizarre. The least Punisher fans can do is give it a chance.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com