The news from Pajiba, via /Film, is that man of the momentum Sam Worthington has signed on to portray the man himself, which is good news for the (supposed) franchise WB have in mind, as the lack of cultural permeation for Dare means that this film will need a big star to draw in the audiences.
One of my 5 UK comic book movies I want to see, Dan Dare has followed his transatlantic comic strip heroes and undergone a number of revisions over the years, and it is likely to be the Garth Ennis/Virgin iteration is the most likely to find its way to the silver screen, and this will be a far cry from the original Dare, who was definitely a product of his post war, ‘jolly good show’ time.
While often referred to as a British Buck Rogers, the Dare of Ennis is a darker affair, and growing up with this character and his nemesis, the enormo-foreheaded Mekon, I am really looking forward to this one.
Is it wrong that I've never heard of Dan Dare?
How lazy are the casting directors these days? Dan Dare is supposed to be from Manchester and his side-kick Digby is from Lancashire. For this film to succeed, a top-notch director is needed, preferably someone British with a feel for Frank Hampson's wonderful creation. Maybe Ridley Scott or Danny Boyle. I've always thought that Peter O'Toole's features in Laurence Of Arabia would have been perfect for Dan Dare. The actor Hugh Lloyd would have been great for Digby too. This will be a missed opportunity without the proper look and feel of the late fifty's artwork and design. The Dan Dare Corporation's animated series got some things right, but the main characters were ruined. Will Frank Hampson's family get any of the royalties? This would be the biggest shame if they were ignored.
My choice of British leads would be Stephen Moyer (True Blood) as Dan Dare and Steve Pemberton (The League of Gentlemen) as Digby.
Probably. Dan was Britain's biggest and longest running sci-fi comic strip, created by Frank Hampson. Dan appeared in the Eagle comic from 1950 to 1970, then revived again in the 2000AD comic in 1977 to 1980 and then moving back to the Eagle when they relaunched the comic in 1982, until the last issue in 1994. He's a very British institution like Judge Dredd or Doctor Who. Worth checking out some of Hampson's work in the collected volumes available from Titan Books when you get the chance.