Steven Paul has purchased majority interest in Atla Comics and signed first look deal with Paramount Pictures to develop the properties into films starting in 2020.
Deadline.com has reported that Ghost Rider producer Steven Paul has bought the majority interest in the Atlas Comics library and has signed a first look deal with Paramount Pictures in order to start bringing the company’s characters to the big screen
The article mentions certain characters, specifically:
Phoenix – first appearance in Phoenix #1
Tarantula – first appearance in Weird Suspense #1
Tiger-Man – first appearance in Thrilling Adventure Stories #1
Cougar – first appearance in Cougar #1
Destructor – first appearance in Destructor #1
Grim Ghost – first appearance in Grim Ghost #1
Morlock – first appearance in Morlock 2001 #1
Iron Jaw – first appearance in Iron Jaw #1
Scorpion – first appearance in The Scorpion #1
The Brute – fist appearance in The Brute #1
Wulf The Barbarian – first appearance in Wulf the Barbarian #1
From Deadline.com:
Steven Paul’s SP Media Group (SPMG) has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in the Atlas Comics library, it was announced this morning in Cannes, with Paramount aboard for a first-look deal.
The Atlas Comics trove is owned by Nemesis Group Inc. and its principal Jason Goodman, grandson of publisher Martin Goodman, founder of Marvel Comics, which was later run by Martin’s cousin Stan Lee.
SPMG has signed a co-production and co-financing first look deal with Paramount Pictures to develop, produce and distribute superhero films based on the comic books. Ghost In The Shell and Ghost Rider producer Paul has also signed a deal with Oscar-winner and A-list scribe Akiva Goldsman – writer on I Am Legend, The Da Vinci Code and multiple Batman movies – and his Weed Road Pictures to oversee a writers’ room in connection with developing out the universe of the characters from the Atlas comic book library.
According to the team, production on the first project is due to begin during the second quarter of 2020 with a release expected to take place in 2021. The companies intend to produce and release at least one superhero project each year thereafter. The films will be produced by Paul, Goldsman, Atlas’s President of Production Spike Seldin (The A-Team), and Paramount. The studio will jointly finance with SPMG and Paramount will handle domestic distribution. SPMG will handle international distribution.
This is a developing story so it’s unclear at this stage which characters exactly will be in the mix. The picture may be complicated by the fact that Atlas went on to become Marvel Comics, which dominates the superhero scene thanks to its Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America and Spider-Man properties. According to imagery sent to us by those involved in the deal, characters could potentially include Phoenix, Tarantula, Tiger-Man, Cougar, Destructor, Grim Ghost, Morlock, Iron Jaw, Scorpion, The Brute and Wulf The Barbarian. The comics spanned different genres including sci-fi, fantasy, action, supernatural, and horror.
Development for Atlas will be supervised by Seldin and Greg Lessans will supervise for Weed Road. Jason Goodman will maintain an interest in the new Atlas company, serving as executive producer on all films. Scott Karol, SPMG’s President, will also executive produce.
“Intellectual Property of this kind is hard to come by in this day and age, and we are excited to be working with Steven Paul and SP Media Group to bring the iconic Atlas comic book library to the big screen,” explained Andrew Gumpert, COO at Paramount Pictures, which is in Cannes with Elton John biopic Rocketman.
“Steven Paul, Akiva Goldsman and the whole team at the singularly iconic Paramount Pictures bring a level of talent and enthusiasm to this venture that carries my family’s body of work in the comic book industry into filmed entertainment,” said Goodman.
I had heard the Atlas library purchase was the pre Marvel 50’s Titles… Any confirmation of this?
think its just the atlas/seaboard stuff from the 70s
Just the 70s stuff no Namor, Torch or Cap.
Any idea of what they’re planning to do with the properties?
Oh nevermind, just realized the original article touches on that. Wonder which characters…. I found a few copies of wulf, Phoenix and brute, and 1 copy of grim ghost (all #1s).
Movies.
Atlas comics of the 1970s was a second rate version of Marvel and didn’t survive long. However films might be underrated and could potentially be more successful.
Strange choice since none of the characters/stories were very well developed. Iron Jaw probably had the most appearances as he had his own book plus an appearance in The Barbarians. The original Scorpion by Howard Chaykin eventually morphed into Marvel’s Domenic Fortune (also by Chaykin), but someone else took over the writing of the Atlas Scorpion and changed the character for the last issue. I think Phoenix may have run for 4 issues, so there could be enough meat on those bones to make video content of some sort. Planet of Vampires, which isn’t mentioned above, was a pretty good read and could make a good story if fleshed out a bit. The Brute wasn’t bad, Iron Jaw was decent. I found a bunch of these in mostly good shape for a quarter apiece a little while back, didn’t think they’d ever have spec value, though.