Merrick here...


20th Century Fox is soooooo certain FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER will be a hit that that plans for a SILVER SURFER spin-off movie are already afoot.

An article in yesterday's LA Times says this:

Feeling bullish on the eve of the release of its "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," Fox has already put a feature spin-off into development that will star the enigmatic Surfer, with J. Michael Straczynski currently crafting the screenplay.

[EDIT]

Well, perhaps the studio has heard the negative static, since it apparently hopes to spin the new Surfer franchise in a darker direction to attract the slightly older demographic of its X-Men films.

Straczynski is (probably) best known as the overlord of the BABYLON 5 universe. A new, straight to DVD B5 production comes out this Summer (HERE's a trailer. Select Main Menu, then the B5 Lost Tales window). He's also created comic books like MIDNIGHT NATION and RISING STARS, as well as writing for comic franchises like SPIDER-MAN, SILVER SURFER, FANTASTIC FOUR, and THOR.

Straczynski (aka "JMS") was recently announced as a the scripter of WORLD WAR Z, THEY MARCHED INTO SUNLIGHT (a Viet Nam protest-themed film...is this still being handled by Paul Greengrass?), and last year sold THE CHANGELING (originally a Ron Howard project, now under the reins of Clint Eastwood).

And, somewhere along the line, JMS has committed to further BABYLON 5 projects - assuming this Summer's DVD fares well in the marketplace.