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Stuck in the Middle

Libraries | There is, of course, follow-up on the decision by the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to remove the anthology Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen Comics from an Unpleasant Age from middle-school libraries. Local CBS affiliate KELO reports on the reactions of parents and highlights some of the better-known challenged and banned books.

As we noted yesterday, teachers will still have access to the 2007 collection of stories about life as a teen-ager (by such contributors as Gabrielle Bell, Daniel Clowes, Joe Matt and Dash Shaw). That's because, in the words of School Board President Kent Alberty, "There is value in the book. One of the subjects addressed is bullying, something the district is very interested in making sure is handled appropriately, and the book does address that." [KELOLAND.com]

Publishing | Japan's NHK television network reports that publishing giant Shueisha, a co-owner of Viz Media, plans to develop plans to sell manga via mobile phones in the United States beginning in spring 2010. [Anime News Network]

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Spider-Man musical gets new producers -- and a Peter Parker

Reeve Carney

The creative team behind Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark emerged from today's meeting with an announcement about new producers and official word on the musical's lead actor.

What they didn't reveal, however, was a specific date for the troubled Broadway musical, only saying that it will open in 2010 at the Hilton Theatre in Manhattan. The show, whose proposed budget has ballooned to $52 million, initially was set to bow in late March, but the most recent rumors had it opening past April 29 -- the cutoff for Tony Award nominations.

The creative team confirmed relative newcomer Reeve Carney, long rumored for the role, has been cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The casting initially had been reported this morning in the Los Angeles Times. The 26-year-old Carney, lead singer of the rock band of the same name, also will appear in Spider-Man director Julie Taymor's big-screen adaptation of The Tempest.

In Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Carney joins Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane and Alan Cumming as Green Goblin in a production scored by Bono and the Edge.

This afternoon's press release also included the announcement that Michael Cohl has replaced Chicago lawyer David Garfinkle as lead producer, with Jeremiah J. Harris becoming second producer. The full producing team is Cohl, Harris, Hello Entertainment/Garfinkle, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Future of troubled Spider-Man musical could be set today

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

The fate of the financially troubled Spider-Man Broadway musical could be decided today.

According to published reports, producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, whose budget has soared to $52 million, are meeting in Manhattan with director Julie Taymor and other members of the creative team to discuss the cash-flow problems that stalled production for nearly a month and cast doubt on the future of the production.

The musical had been set to preview in late February at a renovated Hilton Theatre, and then open sometime in March. But Patrick Healy of The New York Times writes that Taymor is expected to say rehearsals for the technically complex show won't be able to begin before January, which could push the opening past April 29 -- the cutoff date for Tony Award nominations.

Perhaps of more pressing concern is the $24 million needed to cover a proposed budget that ballooned to $52 million from an estimated $35 million, in part due to theater renovations and restorations. According to the Los Angeles Times, Spider-Man will cost about $1 million a week to produce -- "hundreds of thousands dollars more than what some elaborate shows such as Mary Poppins or West Side Story cost -- and require the 1,700-seat theater to sell out for every show for four years just to break even.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which boasts a musical score by Bono and the Edge, has cast Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane, Alan Cumming as Green Goblin and, apparently, relative newcomer Reeve Carney as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. (Carney, who will appear in Taymor's big-screen adaptation of The Tempest, long had been rumored for the role of Spider-Man but never confirmed.)

However, as the LA Times notes, with production delays the musical risks losing the cast to other projects. Cumming, for instance, was just added to the cast of Burlesque, which begins filming next week.

NOTE: A post detailing the announcements made after the meeting can be found here.

TopTenReviews buys Newsarama and sibling sites

Newsarama

TopTenReviews, a Utah-based company whose website aggregates product reviews, has purchased the consumer media division of Imaginova Inc., parent company of Newsarama.

The acquisition, announced this morning, includes Newsarama and sibling sites Space.com and LiveScience.com. The three join TopTenReviews.com under the TechMediaNetwork banner.

New York City-based Imaginova bought Newsarama just two years ago, in October 2007.

Founded in 2003, TopTenReviews functions much in the same way as competitor Metacritic, collating and scoring reviews of software, music, movies, video games and the like.

Peter Laird: 'I never expected to be working on the same thing for this long'

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1

Although many were surprised by yesterday's announcement that Viacom had purchased Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for $60 million, co-creator Peter Laird makes it clear the sale of the '80s indie-comics hit turned multimedia franchise was a long time coming.

"Why did I sell the TMNT?" Laird wrote yesterday afternoon on his blog. "There are a number of reasons, but first and foremost is that I have been doing this TMNT thing for twenty-five years, sixteen of them in partnership with TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman and the last nine as sole owner of the property. That is a long time. It is almost half my life (I'm 55). I never expected to be working on the same thing for this long. And it has worn me down. I am no longer that guy who carries his sketchbook around with him and draws in it every chance he gets. ... I miss -- I really, really miss -- being that guy."

Laird, who in March 2008 completed a buyout of Eastman's interests in TMNT and Mirage Studios that had begun in 2000, noted that his interest in the property had faded in recent years: "As one result, the production of TMNT Volume 4 comics has slowed to a crawl. That's not good. I have a conclusion planned out for that series, and at some point I want to get to it. Maybe this sale will help me get to that point. We'll see."

He also stressed that he still owns Mirage, the company he founded with Eastman in 1983.

Debuting in 1984 as a black-and-white self-published comic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began as a parody of Cerebus, Daredevil, New Mutants and Ronin. However, thanks largely to the efforts of licensing agent Mark Freedman, the property soon spawned animated TV series, movies, video games and endless merchandise.

Under Viacom's ownership, TMNT is destined for a new feature film from Paramount and a CG-animated TV series from Nickelodeon, both in 2012.