THE WEAPON Comic Book Getting Big Screen Adaptation
The studio and producer that brought you Cowboys & Aliens, Platinum Studios and Scott Rosenber, are set to adapt the comic book The Weapon into a feature film. For those of you not familiar with the comic, here's the story breakdown:
Martial arts enthusiast Tommy Zhou invented a means to create solid objects from light—and invented a superhero persona to promote it, The Weapon! He even concocted an origin story for himself based on ancient Chinese legends, his grandfather told him, as a child. What Tommy never suspected, though, were that his grandfather's legends were real—and now an all-too real millennia-old assassin cult, the Lin Kuie, (Forest Demons) is after him, convinced he's unlocked ancient mystical techniques of Order of Wu-Shi-'The Way of the Weapon'--and they're sending waves of killers after him to steal it back.
Tommy was born in Honolulu, Hawaii's Chinatown. A third generation Chinese American, raised by his grandfather. He accused his grandfather of clinging to the old ways of a country, they could never return to, knowing they would never be accepted by the racist society they had entered. His family name of Zhou may be a disambiguation of the Zhou Dynasty.
The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history—though the actual political and military control of China by the dynasty only lasted during the Western Zhou.
In a statement, Rosenberg said, "We believe The Weapon will be an attractive project for both international film financers and Hollywood producers. This property is one of those with enormous franchise potential."
This film was actually announced way back in 2009, and at the time, Platinum had teamed up with Disney channel star David Henrie (Wizards of Waverly Place) ,who was supposed to play the lead role. The project obviously got pushed aside for a few years and has now been resurrected. There's no mention of Henrie's involvement in today's news though, so I imagine he's not a part of it anymore.
The Weapon was written by New York Times bestselling author Fred Van Lente, who is also the bestselling author of Marvel Zombies, Incredible Hercules (with Greg Pak), and Odd Is On Our Side (with Dean R. Koontz), as well as Cowboys & Aliens.