Samurai Jack: The Movie Produced by Abrams?

According to a report from Frederator Films blog, JJ Abrams has agreed to co-produce Samurai Jack: The Movie. Samurai Jack is an Emmy award winning cartoon series (intro below) that appeared on Cartoon Network from 2001 to 2004 (wiki entry).

The post is from back in September but just recently noticed. Apparently the goal is to create a feature film length animated movie, a first for Abrams if this project moves ahead. Click the link above for the history of the project but as of right now the movie is in the hopeful phase as nothing definitive is planned but the clout of Abram's Bad Robot Productions increases the probabilities of the film being made. Likely the goal at this point is getting a studio to foot the bill for a draft of a script.

The Dark Tower Stalled

Probably thanks to the unexpected success of Star Trek at the box office and a sequel in the works, JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof have been confirmed to currently no longer working on the adapation of Stephen King's magnum opus. As summarized by TrekMovie.com:

Abrams:

The ‘Dark Tower’ thing is tricky. It’s such an important piece of writing. The truth is that Damon and I are not looking at that right now.

Lindelof:

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a huger fan of The Dark Tower than me, but that’s probably the reason that I shouldn’t be the one to adapt it. After working six years on Lost, the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I’m such a massive Stephen King fan that I’m terrified of screwing it up.

I’d do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they’re so incredible. But not by me.

Abrams Talks About Fringe's Ratings

Last year Fringe was the king of the television ball with the highest rating for a freshman series last year. Now in its sophomore season and moved to Thursdays, the change has caused a massive drop in viewership, down to around 5 million. This is usually the threshold when most of the networks consider cancellation. On the bright side, according EW, Fox remains committed to the show.

“The mood on set and in the writer’s room is as good as the ratings are bad, which is to say, wonderful,” Abrams tells me. “Luckily, Fox has been insanely supportive, for which we are deeply grateful.”

Abrams is encouraged by the show’s “strong” DVR numbers as well as the glowing reviews from critics. “But given that we’re on one of the hardest [nights] on television, we’re just focusing on making the best show we possibly can,” he says. “What else can we do?”

Bottom line: Fringe is in no immediate danger of going “over there” (a.k.a. TV graveyard). The key word there being immediate.

The cause is to me seems obvious. Thursday just isn't a good fit considering the massive level of competition with Grey's Anatomy, CSI, The Office and 30 Rock. Television tends to create loyalty with viewers and a new show attempting to break that loyalty is always an uphill battle that takes time to win. It needs to be moved but likely will not.

Abrams Producing Micronauts?

In a Wall Street Journal article covering the sudden explosive interest that Hollywood has developed in toy products since the massive success of Transformers, it was revealed that "J.J. Abrams, who created the TV show "Lost" and directed this summer's "Star Trek" film, is in discussions to produce a movie about Japanese toy line Micronauts, which Hasbro just acquired."

Micronauts is a toy line from the 70s that lasted about four years in the United States before being cancelled. The toys were at first produced by Mego and then again in 2002 by Palisades Toys. There was also multiple comic book lines produced to go with the toys, first with Marvel and then again in 2002 with Image before moving to Devil's due before publishing on the franchise ended again. The basic idea is a group of adventures living in the Microverse (as in microscopic) fight to end the tyranny of Bara Karza. It was essentially Star Wars were everything occurred at the microscopic scale rather than in space. Click here to read up on the wiki entry for the potential future movie franchise.

Abrams May Direct Undercovers Pilot

The Hollywood Reporter says that JJ Abrams may direct the pilot episode of Undercovers, his potential new television series with NBC that is described as a husband and wife spy team.

Schedule permitting, Abrams will make “Undercovers” the first TV pilot he has directed since 2004’s “Lost” opener. ABC’s two-hour “Lost” opening is considered one of the best-directed pilots of all time and helped launch Abrams’ feature career into helming such films as “Mission: Impossible 3” and “Star Trek.”

Abrams has created and produced several TV shows but is not frequently in the director’s chair. He helmed the pilot and handful of episodes of his ABC spy drama “Alias” but hasn’t directed an episode of his latest series, the Fox sci-fi drama “Fringe,” which he co-created and executive produces.

Abrams also directed an episode of NBC’s “The Office” in 2007 and “guest directed” an episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in 2006. NBC’s “Undercovers,” about a husband and wife working together as spies, has been described as a mix between “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “The Bourne Identity.”