Can the cinematic world have too many (super)heroes?

Can the cinematic world have too many (super)heroes?

With Walt Disney Co.'s buying Marvel Entertainment, inquiring minds at today's Goldman Sachs Communacopia XVIII Conference in New York wanted to know if there will be a glut of superhero films.

"You can never have too many heroes," Tom Staggs, Disney's chief financial officer, deadpanned.

Asked, and answered, puny mortals.

Staggs said once the $4-billion cash and stock deal closes, there would be an immediate impact on Disney's consumer products division.That's probably code for Marvel's 5,000 characters appearing on backpacks, bedding and action figures.

Over time, the Marvel characters will present new video gameopportunities -- both for those games published by Disney's group, aswell as by third parties.

There will also be cost savings down the road once Marvel's five-film distribution deal with Paramount Pictures ends, Staggs said.

One thing Disney has no plans to do is to mess with what's working at Marvel.

"There's an appreciation of the characters and the stories that we have to respect and, frankly, we'd be silly not to respect," Staggs said.

So, don't expect Alice in Wonderland to be mixing it up with the Marvel assassin Deadpool anytime soon.

--Dawn C. Chmielewski

PHOTO: Tom Staggs for a morning session during the recent Allen & Co. Media and TechnologyConference in Sun Valley, Idaho. Credit: MatthewStaver / Bloomberg News

'Plan' for 'Battlestar' fans: Wait a little longer for TV movie

Since it went of the air in March, "Battlestar Galactica" fans have been waiting for the debut of the "BSG" film "The Plan." But unless they plan to purchase the film on DVD, they're going to have to wait a bit longer.

Syfy had said in the past that the two-hour film, which was written by Jane Espenson and directed by Edward James Olmos, would air on the network this fall. As recently as June, Syfy president Dave Howe said that it would likely air in November.

However the network has confirmed that "The Plan" will not air on Syfy in 2009. The film, which revisits events from early in the run of "Battlestar Galactica" from the Cylon perspective, is still on track for an Oct. 27 DVD release. And presumably "The Plan" will arrive on Syfy some time next year. If I get more concrete information about a time frame, I will update this post.

In March, Olmos said this at a "Battlestar" press event: “When [‘Battlestar’ fans] see ‘The Plan,’ they’re all going to have to go back and watch the entire series again.”

Syfy tried this "DVD then a long-ish wait" gambit with another upcoming project. The two-hour pilot for "Caprica," a "Battlestar" prequel series, came out on DVD in April, and the drama debuts on Syfy Jan. 22. "Caprica" is set 50 years before the events of "Battlestar," stars Esai Morales, Eric Stoltz, Polly Walker and Paula Malcolmson, and has made news recently with the casting of high-profile guest stars such as James Marsters and Patton Oswalt.

Chris Martin, No Doubt, Jimmy Buffett to play at Bridge School Benefit
Tickets go on sale Sunday for the Oct. 24-25 concerts.
A Familiar Comfort: Remembering Patrick Swayze

Commentator Linda Holmes was a teenager when she first saw Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing. Like most 16-year-old girls of her time, she fell in love. Holmes has seen Swayze's two most famous films, Dirty Dancing and Ghost, a preposterous number of times. Neither film won Best Picture, but Holmes says in both Swayze delivered the easy familiarity of a good movie star. Swayze kept her company. Holmes says he'll be missed.