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Currently making the festival rounds, writer/director Peter Hearn’s Scrawl is a fascinating, micro-budget journey into the (dangerous) minds of a group of teenagers in England, including a pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens Daisy Ridley. Daily Dead recently caught up with Peter for a chat about the film and the inspirational story behind its making.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to Daily Dead, Peter. As Scrawl is just starting to make its way around the festival circuit, could you give our readers an idea of what it’s about?

Peter Hearn: Gosh, where do I start? If I were to pitch it I would describe it as Big meets A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors by way of Phantasm and The Evil Dead. The story revolves around a boy who writes a comic book with his best friend, before finding situations depicted...

For those excited for a robust, live-action version of Ghost in the Shell, I’ve got some bad news for you. The announcement of Scarlett Johannson signing on to star is a sign that this thing is a bit more real than it was before, but it’s destined to look a lot more like Aeon Flux than Blade Runner, and there’s a simple reason for that. Saying, “I want to make a live-action version of Ghost in the Shell” is a lot like saying, “I want to make The Matrix.” It requires an unbelievable cocktail of skill, sci-fi understanding, nuance, innovation and luck. The filmmakers involved would need to be at the top of their game as well as be dedicated to focusing on existential issues even after the bullet casings hit the floor. Instead, we’re getting Avi Arad and Steven Paul. Arad has been involved in the superhero resurgence since EPing Blade in...

Exclusive: Hot off its debut at New York Comic-Con, the comic book series Wytches has been acquired by New Regency for Plan B to produce. The series is written by bestselling and Eisner Award-winning author Scott Snyder and illustrated by award-winning artist Jock. Snyder and Jock will be executive producers on the feature film adaptation.

Unveiled this week at Comic-Con, Wytches follows Charles Rooks, a loving father who moves his family to a neighboring town in an attempt to help their teenage daughter Sailor recover from a disturbing run-in with a bully. She remains haunted by the traumatic incident, unsure of what actually occurred in the woods and unable to escape a darkness growing around her. When Sailor begins to see familiar shadowed figures, Charles must help his daughter survive a terrifyingly real and mythic presence rooted within the woods and the surrounding local towns.

Wytches becomes another in a...

If your weekend consisted of checking out Matt Reeves’ wonderful Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and then wrapping yourself in a warm blanket and reminding yourself that Little Caesar is a-okay (for now, and also, that is the baby ape’s name, right?) and just gently rocking for the remainder of Saturday and Sunday, we understand. But perhaps it’s time you emerge from your emotional fog and remember some of the less wrenching parts of the film. Like that time that Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee) made friends with Maurice (played by Karin Konoval) by sharing the magic of books, graphic novels, and storytelling. That was nice, right? And also, what was that book? Perhaps there is some subtext buried here. In Reeves’ film, young Alexander forges a tenuous connection with the big-hearted ape Maurice, who exhibits a love for reading and knowledge early in the film, through a book (Maurice, it...

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes includes a important and surprising role for Charles Burns's Black Hole.

The acclaimed comic is used as a plot point in the hit sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Kodi Smit-McPhee's teenage character uses his Black Hole collection as a way of bonding with the orangutan Maurice (a motion-captured Karin Konoval).

Burns said that he had given permission for the use of his book so long ago that he had forgotten about it, and did not know it would be so heavily featured.

"It was one of those things that I agreed to, and I just spaced it out," he told Philly.com.

"Occasionally, I'll get a request from a film to use a book as a prop, sitting in a room, on a table or something."

Black Hole centres around a group of adolescents in 1970s America...

Midway through Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which opens this weekend, there is a nice little moment when teenage human Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee) sits down and reads the book he's been carrying around all movie to the orangutan Maurice. The scene, which you can watch below, is a minor yet compelling bit of warmth that cuts through the film's tension. So, what is this book that bonds these noble primates?  Dark yet strangely beautiful, Charles Burns's award-winning Black Hole was told over the course of 12 issues, between 1995 and 2005. It tells the story of a suburban Seattle high school in the 1970s in which students contract an Std called "the bug" or the "teen plague," which results in grotesque body mutations (horns, tales, snakelike scales, etc.), turning some into monsters of a sort. Eventually, this disease infects many kids, and they decide to flee and build a...

Rise of the Planet of the Apes wasn’t supposed to be good. How could a reboot that followed Tim Burton’s dismal 2001 remake even approach being a worthy successor to a much beloved franchise that’s been around—in admittedly varying quality—since the late sixties? What more could be added to a series that’s essentially built on the simple premise of apes acting like humans? The answer was, quite a lot actually.

If you look past the shameless cash grab of rebooting movies based on name recognition alone, Rise of the Planet of the Apes reinvigorated and rewrote a very familiar story in a sort of ingenious way, giving us the imagery we wanted but also sufficiently creating a new narrative. It’s something that’s fascinated me with these new Planet of the Apes movies so far. We basically already know the outcome (a hint if...

Planet of the Apes is not an easy franchise to embrace. There’s the classic original Planet of the Apes and its sequels of varying quality, then there’s the terrible Tim Burton remake and finally Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which breathed new life. Would the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes take off from that launching point, or would it become another forgettable sequel?

Much like the end credits of Rise suggested, the opening credits of Dawn show the spread and lasting effect of the Simian flu/Alz-113 virus on the world, wiping out a large portion of the human population, creating pockets of survival, leaving many without the false comforts of technology and electricity. Supplies are becoming scarce and many of the post-apocalyptic staples are present, but conceptually, most fit very well into this specific instance. To many survivors, apes are wrongly viewed...

Graphic novels can be the source of hours of entertainment, but in the apocalypse, they can be quite effective as an olive branch between enemy parties. While we’ve seen tension boiling over between humans and apes in previously released trailers and clips for the upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the latest clip from the film shows a human and an orangutan enjoying one another’s company over a shared graphic novel.

The new clip showcases Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Alexander, who approaches Maurice the orangutan (Karin Konoval) with a trade paperback copy of Charles Burns’ Black Hole comic book series, which he then uses to see if his newfound friend can read.

“A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived,...

(Cbr) The “unadaptable” "Black Hole" has not gone away — not according to Brad Pitt, at least. In a profile on Pitt and his production company Plan B’s upcoming slate, The Hollywood Reporter states that "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" filmmaker David Fincher is still attached to adapt "Black Hole", the Charles Burns graphic novel about a sexually transmitted disease that triggers strange mutations among teenagers in the suburbs of Seattle. Twitch Film provides a helpful breakdown of the project’s history: It was once set up at Universal Pictures, with Alexandre Aja attached to direct based on a script from...

The last couple of times David Fincher and Brad Pitt joined forces, the results were two of the very best films of the 1990s: Se7en and Fight Club. Needless to say, the thought of these two Hollywood titans getting together again is incredibly exciting, and another collaboration is indeed on its way.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news today that Pitt's company, Plan B Entertainment, will be producing a feature film adaptation of Charles Burns' graphic novel Black Hole, which David Fincher will direct. Fincher's been linked to the project since 2008, and it seems the wait is finally almost over.

For now Pitt is only attached to produce, and there's no word on whether he'll be appearing in the film.

Check out the synopsis of the graphic novel below to get an idea of what you can expect!

Graphic Novel Synopsis

The setting: suburban Seattle, the mid-1970s.

Big news this week for comics lovers. Three graphic novel adaptations have found their top international directors. David Fincher is attached to direct the eagerly anticipated adaptation of Charles Burns' "Black Hole," a '70s-set sci-fi about the spread of a horrifying Std among a group of teens in Seattle, for Brad Pitt's Plan B. Fincher is one of several directors who orbited the project, in talks since the mid-2000s. Also on the genre front, Korean director Kim Jee-woon (the brutal "I Saw the Devil") will direct "Coward," an adaptation of Ed Brubaker's underworld crime graphic novel, and "Harry Potter" helmer David Yates is slated to direct "Who Is Jake Ellis?" for Fox, from Nathan Edmonson's espionage comic series. While Brubaker adapted "Coward" himself, screenwriters for "Jake Ellis" and "Black Hole" are yet unknown, though Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman were once attached to pen "Black Hole.

News of Charles Burns’ Black Hole being adapted into a movie by David Fincher first surfaced in 2008, part of an era of cautious optimism when it seemed like every dark, cultishly adored graphic novel—from Sandman to Preacher to Y: The Last Man—was well on its way to adaptation. (Back before we all became jaded and mistrusting, then moved out to the desert to be alone with our thoughts and woodwork.) But just as all of those titles have continued to show occasional signs of life, The Hollywood Reporter passes along the word that Fincher is indeed still ...

A few years ago David Fincher was attached to direct a big screen adaptation of Charles Burns' comic book series Black Hole. The project fell apart, but Fincher is now back on board and ready to take it on. The movie will be made under Brad Pitt's Plan B production company, and here's what it's about.

The setting is Seattle during the '70s. A sexual disease, the 'bug,' is spreading among teenagers. Those who get it develop bizarre mutations - sometimes subtle. Story follows two teens, Keith & Chris as they get the bug. Their dreams and hallucinations - made of deeply disturbing symbolism merging sexuality and sickness - are a key part of the tale! This is what Fincher had to say about the project a couple years ago when he was developing it.

It’s a really great script by Dante Harper, so the hope is that will win out…...

The film adaptation of Charles Burns’ acclaimed graphic novel Black Hole is back on, and with a great team. Both David Fincher and Brad Pitt are reuniting for the project.

Based on Charles Burns’ twelve-issue comic book limited series, the story focuses on the aftermath of a sexuality transmitted diseases which causes horrible mutations in teens. Here’s a synopsis:

The setting: suburban Seattle, the mid-1970s. We learn from the outset that a strange plague has descended upon the area’s teenagers, transmitted by sexual contact. The disease is manifested in any number of ways — from the hideously grotesque to the subtle (and concealable) — but once you’ve got it, that’s it. There’s no turning back.As we inhabit the heads of several key characters — some kids who have it, some who don’t, some who are about to get it — what unfolds isn’t the expected battle to fight the plague,...

The film adaptation of Charles Burns's Black Hole is moving ahead.

Director David Fincher remains on board the project, which is being developed by Brad Pitt's Plan B production company, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The 12-issue comic book series published between 1995 and 2005 centres around a sexually transmitted disease that plagues the teenagers of a 1970s Seattle suburb.

The infected, who develop random mutations, are drawn into a web of paranoia and murder.

> 19 comic books that should be movies: Young Avengers, Starman, Batwoman

Snow White and the Huntsman's Rupert Sanders previously released a short based on the series.

A schedule for the Black Hole film is yet to be announced.

Brad Pitt and his Plan B production company are bringing David Fincher's proposed "Black Hole" project back to life.

Not to be confused with the 1979 Disney sci-fi epic, or its Joseph Kosinski-directed remake in the works, the film is an adaptation of Charles Burns' acclaimed graphic novel.

The story follows a group of Seattle teens in the 1970s who contract an incurable sexually-transmitted disease that causes shocking mutations.

Paramount scored the rights years ago and set Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman to work on the script, with Alexandre Aja directing. Five years ago, Fincher came in to replace Aja.

Since then though, the film has stalled and become one of several projects on Fincher's 'films I'll get around to doing one day' list.

Now, Plan B has unveiled their upcoming slate of projects they're moving forward with and have included 'Hole' on the list. The list also includes Andrew Dominik's "Blonde,...

Black Hole is back on. And David Fincher is still directing. Assuming, of course, that someone can come up with the money.Charles Burns' acclaimed graphic novel has been one of the great 'unadaptable books' that fans have lusted to see an adaptation of over the decade or so that it has taken to rise to prominence. Considered unadaptable not because of structural or technical issues - the story is straightforward enough and all of the technical demands can be easily met with current technology - the story has been considered untouchable for years because it fuses graphic sex and violence - plus bizarre mutations triggered by an Std - amongst high school kids. It's just like real life, basically.The thorny subject matter hasn't stopped people...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Not to be mistaken with the 1979 Disney film turned upcoming Joseph Kosinski remake, author Charles Burns' “Black Hole” remains one of the great adaptations lying in wait. Published between 1995 and 2005, the highly acclaimed graphic novel drew attention from Hollywood immediately, with Paramount snagging the rights and putting Alexandre Aja to direct and the team of Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman to pen a script. In 2008, David Fincher replaced Aja as helmer, but Gaiman and Avary drifted away shortly thereafter. The project has since become another “what-if?” scenario; one of Fincher's "lost projects" we hoped he would one day return to. And now looks like Brad Pitt and his production company Plan B is helping to make that happen. Looking to the future following their Oscar contender “12 Years a Slave,” Pitt's label Plan B has laid out an ambitious slate of projects...

A few years ago , it was announced that director David Fincher would be bringing Charles Burns' comic series Black Hole to the big screen. Originally set up at MTV films with author Neil Gaiman and Rover Avary penning the screenplay, the film ended up like so many other Hollywood projects and never materialized. Now, in a story from The Hollywood Reporter , comes the news that Fincher is back on the project and will be making the film under Brad Pitt's Plan B production company. No official word on casting, script or a release date, but here's the officialy description for the comic: The setting is Seattle during the '70's. A sexual disease, the 'bug,' is spreading among teenagers. Those who get it develop bizarre mutations - sometimes subtle. Story follows two teens,...

The Top 5 Contemporary Comic Books We'd Like To See In Porn The longer this list gets the more obvious it is to me why comic book porn wish lists aren't common as air: they're incredibly weird. By Johannah King-Slutzky A study has found that superhero parody porn outsells all other kinds (except celebrity sex tapes). The finding follows on the heels of big budget porno Man Of Steel XXX: A Porn Parody, one of the most expensive movies of its kind ever made. At a budget of $100,000, Man Of Steel XXX is outspent only by the seventies classic Caligula. Here are 5 suggestions for upcoming superhero features from a fresher, weirder stock. 5. The Teens of Black Hole One of the problems with compiling a list of contemporary porn-able superheroes is that so many contemporary comics are already very sexy. Black Hole, Charles Burns's dystopic allegory about [...]...

Rupert Sanders is in pre-production on Universal's Snow White and the Huntsman, as we just talked about extensively [1] this morning. That gives us as good an excuse as any to post his short adaptation of the Charles Burns graphic novel Black Hole. The short is definitely not safe for work but is worth a look when you're in a safe, secure environment. Check it out after the break. This version of Black Hole has been around for a while -- searching the history of the short I see that it made the rounds earlier this year, but we've never posted it. It pulls out some of the middle section of Black Hole, focusing primarily on Keith, one of the four characters in the graphic novel. (Two others, the girls Chris and Eliza, make appearances.) The graphic novel is an unsettling metaphor for adolescence and sexual awakening, and frames a story...

The 2010 Joe Shuster Awards, basically the Canadian Oscars of comics, announced their nominees for the year, and bi-continental webcomicker Rene Engström showed up on the list alongside Francis Manapul and some others who didn't tweet about it.

If comic book movies are your thing, Rick Remender tweeted a link to a short film that may have passed you by -- an adaptation of Charles Burns' "Black Hole," directed by Rupert Sanders. Check it out if you aren't at work, and read some reactions to musician Alex Chilton's death after the jump.

I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is the Twitter Report for March 18th, 2010.

Caution! Nsfw: @Remender Do yourself a favor and watch the Black Hole short film by Charles Burns and amazing director Rupert Sanders http://bit.ly/4rZvSZ

-Rick Remender, Writer ("Fear Agent," "Punisher")

Alex Chilton pt. 1: @brubaker Alex Chilton dies and I'm listening to Chris Bell all night.