Could a British actor be in-line for a role in the screen adaptation of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay?

That at least is what the UK’s The Sunday Times hints at in its recent interview with actor Dan Stevens. Stevens, the article says, is scheduled to meet with Stephen Daldry about a movie project. Stevens declined to tell the paper what movie they would be discussing, but he happened to have the Michael Chabon novel with him during the interview.

Daldry is signed to direct Kavalier & Clay.

Stevens, 23, has never acted in movies, instead primarily showing up on stage or in BBC mini-series. He stars as Nick Guest in BBC2’s mini-series adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s novel The Line of Beauty, which kicks-off Wednesday at 9 p.m. in the UK.

What book has most triggered Michael Chabon’s wanderlust? William Pène Du Bois’ Twenty-One Balloons, according to The New York Times.

“No trip I have since taken in my life has ever measured up to the ideal presented therein by Prof. W. W. Sherman’s journey, in the custom-fitted luxury of his impossible balloon house, to the nonexistent, never-existed, long-vanished island of Krakatoa,” Chabon told The Times. “In fact, I have equaled him only in my occasional bouts of misanthropy.”

The solicitation for The Escapists #2 has hit the net.

The Escapists #2 Writer: Brian K. Vaughan, Gerard Jones
Artist: Steve Rolston, Jason Alexander
Cover Artist: James Jean

Multiple Eisner Award-winning and Wizard Top Ten writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man; Ex Machina; Runaways) teams with acclaimed artists Steve Rolston (Queen & Country, MEK) and Jason Alexander (Damn Nation, Gotham Central) for the second installment of our first Escapist mini-series! Max Roth and Case Weaver have finished the very first issue of their re-launch comic, featuring a revamped Luna Moth, and their promotional plans include a risky publicity stunt that puts Denny in an old Escapist costume . . . and in harm’s way!

Also in this issue is a never-before-seen chapter from Men of Tomorrow, Gerard Jones’s wildly acclaimed book on the history of comics, in which he unearths some scandalous press on the Master of Elusion!

With cover art by the sensational James Jean, two-time winner of the Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist!

Publication Date: Aug 09, 2006
Format: Full color, 32 pages
Price: $2.99

Peter Sarsgaard and Sienna Miller have been cast for the film adaptation of Mysteries of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported today.

Sarsgaard, most recently seen in Jarhead, will star as a character that combines two supporting characters in the novel, Arthur and Cleveland. Miller, who stared in Casanova, will play Jane, Cleveland’s girlfriend.

“The only thing that’s holding us back now is figuring out whether we’re shooting in Pittsburgh,” said Michael London, a producer on the project.

Actually, as the Post-Gazette reports, there is a chance the movie may film somewhere other than Pittsburgh due to cost. Please check out their article for all the reasons.

As for the changes from book to film, Chabon told the paper he was fine with them.

“You’re not just making a transcript of the novel with pictures, you’re trying to reinvent the story so it works as a movie,” Chabon said. “I think it’s going to be great.”

Dark Horse Comics has posted online the solicitation for The Escapists #1, the spin-off of the canceled Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist. Here’s what you will (hopefully) get to enjoy July 12:

The Escapists #1

Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Philip Bond, Eduardo Barreto
Cover Artist: Frank Miller
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crime

From Pulitzer-winning author Michael Chabon!

Wizard Top Ten and multiple Eisner Award-winning writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways) teams with critically acclaimed artists Philip Bond (Vimanarama, Vertigo Pop, Tank Girl) and Eduardo Barreto (Batman, The Long Haul) to deliver this knockout first issue!

Discovering his late father’s decades-spanning vault of Escapist memorabilia at the age of six, Max became a fan of the Master of Elusion almost overnight. After exhausting the extensive stash of Golden and Silver Age comics, he needed more-and started writing his own Escapist stories. Now nineteen, he’s determined to make the character a sensation once again, but where is he going to find an artist-in Cleveland? Meet Maxwell Roth and Case Weaver, latter-day versions of Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay, in part one of The Escapists!

With cover art by multi-platinum superstar Frank Miller kicking off a round robin of stellar cover artists including James Jean and John Cassaday, this launch of the first Escapist miniseries can’t be missed!

• Special Introductory price: $1.00!

• “[Vaughan] turned in a script that caused grown men, or at least one grown man, to weep for joy. It is a script that well meets, and perhaps even exceeds, the expectations raised by the shadow of the parent novel…”

– Michael Chabon

Publication Date: Jul 12, 2006
Format: Full color, 32 pages
Price: $1.00