Penny Arcade Strip "The New Kid" to become Motion Picture

Taramoor

Paramount Studios has optioned the rights to a Penny Arcade comic strip.

We must discuss this event that has happened, because it is huge and awesome.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/paramount-plots-next-animated-pic-194394

Paramount Plots Next Animated Pic with Alien Comic Adaptation 'New Kid' (Exclusive)The studio has picked up rights and tapped "Book of Eli" writer Gary Whitta to pen the script.

After tasting success of its first non-DreamWorks Animation-produced animated film Rango, Paramount is jumping into the medium again with New Kid.

The project is an adaptation of an online comic from Penny Arcade. The studio has picked up rights and tapped Book of Eli writer Gary
Whitta to pen the script. Mary Parent and Cale Boyter are producing via their studio-based Disruption Entertainment.

The premise spins the feeling of being a new kid in school into an intergalactic story when the kid happens to be the lone earthling in a school chock full of aliens.

Penny Arcade, created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, is one of the few viable webcomic sites that has grown into its own little fiefdom, with a blog, video games, podcasts and an online TV show.

Part of the impetus for New Kid is that Paramount is coming to the end of its current DWA distribution deal. Insiders say the studio is looking for a well of animated fare to potentiall fill that part of its pipepline if a new DWA pact can't be worked out. While there isn’t likely to be a Pixar-like animated division at Paramount any time soon, the studio knows it needs to be in that lucrative game, with or without Jeffrey Katzenberg. Rango, released in March, grossed more than $240 million worldwide.

The Mighty, one of the few titles that was allowed to escape from parent company Warner Bros., which normally handles any screen adaptations.

Whitta is repped by UTA and Circle of Confusion.

The strip in question:

Spoiler'd for huge strip-ness

The Newsposts from that day:

Tycho wrote:

Today's idea: The New Kid. It was The New Kid that catalyzed this round of offerings, and I think that (under the right conditions) The New Kid as it is presently conceived could be the biggest thing we ever do. Agree? Disagree? One more concept to go; when the voting booth goes up, let us know.

Gabe wrote:

Being the new kid is hard, being the new kid in a school full of aliens is harder. Tycho mentioned that this one could be the biggest thing we ever do and I think he’s right. My fantasy is to see Dreamworks, Disney or Nickelodeon make an animated feature or a Saturday morning cartoon out of this one. Who knows maybe they will see it and give me a call!
I’m working on the third and final idea today. This last one will go up on Monday and then it will be time to vote. I hope you guys are having as much fun reading these as I am drawing them.

This would also explain why they never expanded on the whole "New Kid" thing despite the overwhelmingly positive response.

Feral

Aw, I was hoping it was gonna be about Dickwolves.

Taramoor

Feral wrote: »

Aw, I was hoping it was gonna be about Dickwolves.

I have edited the thread title to avoid that kind of confusion.

Forar

I so very much want a character to be named Richard Wolf.

21stCentury

Gneh, can't say I'm too excited about it from the blurb/synopsis. Then again, i assume it's gonna be one of those family films with a sci-fi twist so i'm not in the target market or anything.

Ceno

This is the kind of news that makes me thrilled for the guys, and thrilled to be a part of this wonderful community, and also burn with the white-hot ENVY of a thousand suns as described explicitly by the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Marathon

That comic is a pretty great premise for a movie. Good for them.

Couscous

Jerry and Mike are going to make so much goddamn money.

Lord Yod

I've always wanted a followup to that comic.

Skoal Cat

Free as a business model totally fucking works

Malkor

Nice

I hope someone picks up the fantasy one that one is great.

Fallout2man

Skoal Cat wrote: »

Free as a business model totally fucking works

Shhhhh! Don't say that out loud! The RIAA/MPAA might be listening. *hides*

Malkor wrote: »

Nice

I hope someone picks up the fantasy one that one is great.

I want a Twisp and Catsby movie!

Kipling217

Cool, hope it pans out. In any case it can't be worse then Mars needs Moms.

I always thought the comic they did about the fantasy version of the boy scouts had a great premise too. Too bad we never got anything more then a few pages of comics out of it.

Elki

Nice!

Taramoor

Fallout2man wrote: »

Skoal Cat wrote: »

Free as a business model totally fucking works

Shhhhh! Don't say that out loud! The RIAA/MPAA might be listening. *hides*

Malkor wrote: »

Nice

I hope someone picks up the fantasy one that one is great.

I want a Twisp and Catsby movie!

A Twisp & Catsby movie would be like Un Chien Andalou written by Terry Gilliam and directed by Spike Jonze

Unknown

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Taramoor

mcdermott wrote: »

Couscous wrote: »

Jerry and Mike are going to make so much goddamn money.

They won't be hurting, but I'd be unsurprised if their end is a fixed sum for the rights, not any kind of royalties. And even if you get royalties, 99.9% of movies don't turn a "profit," thanks to Hollywood accounting (see: the author of Forrest Gump).

But, that's a subject for a terrible thread about Hollywood business practices. Whereas this is the space where I say how unbelievably awesome it is to see yet another win for the guys. I started reading back in 1999, and holy fuck that is like twelve years ago. Amazing to see how far they've come, and the great things they're doing.

You're forgetting that while this particular major Hollywood studio may have an army of lawyers and accountants who have been in the business longer than most of us have been alive.

They are up against Khoo.

Khoo could turn a profit with a stack of blank paper on a windy day.

Antimatter

kinda disappointed by this, would rather have seen more Automata, Sand, or Lookouts

this is still good for Mike and Jerry

ywwg

Skoal Cat wrote: »

Free as a business model totally fucking works

For a very small number of people. It's a luxury not everyone can afford.

[Tycho?]

Wow, contrats to them.

I hope that Automata,gets turned into... something moving. Or just more of it. I love that combination of styles.

I'm really quite surprised by this, I didn't know studios even purchased stuff like this.

ArbitraryDescriptor

Antimatter wrote: »

kinda disappointed by this, would rather have seen more Automata, Sand, or Lookouts

this is still good for Mike and Jerry

Seriously. Didn't Whitta write Blood and Oil? When I saw he was attached I had to go back and verify that it really wasn't an Automata movie.

Also the second part, because this is pretty amazing. The tale of two guys turning this:



into the current state of this Khoovian Empire never stops getting less believable.

But I also really wanted that Automata movie, and The New Kid didn't really interest me. At all.

I'm all mixed up inside.

Gosling

I fully expect tomorrow's comic to just be panels and panels of Gabe stuffing money down his pants.

Corehealer

Gosling wrote: »

I fully expect tomorrow's comic to just be panels and panels of Gabe stuffing money down his pants.

Pretty much this.

Honestly, Penny Arcade has a metric fuckton of comic concepts and ideas that could potentially be blockbuster gold. I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner.

I look forward to seeing how this turns out.

noir_blood

Corehealer wrote: »

Gosling wrote: »

I fully expect tomorrow's comic to just be panels and panels of Gabe making money hats.

Fixed that for you.

I'm really glad for the guys. Like others have said, it's amazing how far they come.

As for the announcement...eh. I always felt that the New Kid comic/idea was the most sort of cliche, unoriginal one of the lot.

I hope that we get to see more stuff come out. Automata would be great.

Hurtdog

Ugh, I suppose The New Kid is probably the easiest film to make though of all their ideas.

Stuff like Automata would require much more effort and budgets.

ArbitraryDescriptor

Maybe the studio felt safer with this property because it was a little more cliche; and in being so, easier to market. Automata would be a little more niche in it's appeal, and Sand might be a little taboo for a first offering.

MisterGrok

Based on what the blurb says about Paramount looking for a "well of animated fare" IF New Kid does well, they may be inclined to plumb the depths of the Penny Arcade archives... Let's just hope they never see the one about the Teddy Ruxpin remake.

815165

Rex Ready: Ready for War

Coming to a theatre near you.

Donkey Kong

Because I had to go look for it:

The Comic:

The news posts:

Tycho wrote:

Today's idea: The New Kid. It was The New Kid that catalyzed this round of offerings, and I think that (under the right conditions) The New Kid as it is presently conceived could be the biggest thing we ever do. Agree? Disagree? One more concept to go; when the voting booth goes up, let us know.

Gabe wrote:

Being the new kid is hard, being the new kid in a school full of aliens is harder. Tycho mentioned that this one could be the biggest thing we ever do and I think he’s right. My fantasy is to see Dreamworks, Disney or Nickelodeon make an animated feature or a Saturday morning cartoon out of this one. Who knows maybe they will see it and give me a call!
I’m working on the third and final idea today. This last one will go up on Monday and then it will be time to vote. I hope you guys are having as much fun reading these as I am drawing them.

Edit: Oh, it's in the OP now.

MichaelLC

Personally I'd like to see a Strawberry Shortcake movie, directed by Tim Burton and produced by Jordan Kerner.

Unknown

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Couscous

mcdermott wrote: »

Couscous wrote: »

Jerry and Mike are going to make so much goddamn money.

They won't be hurting, but I'd be unsurprised if their end is a fixed sum for the rights, not any kind of royalties. And even if you get royalties, 99.9% of movies don't turn a "profit," thanks to Hollywood accounting (see: the author of Forrest Gump).

But, that's a subject for a terrible thread about Hollywood business practices. Whereas this is the space where I say how unbelievably awesome it is to see yet another win for the guys. I started reading back in 1999, and holy fuck that is like twelve years ago. Amazing to see how far they've come, and the great things they're doing.

That is just why actors and the like just ask for a percentage of gross receipts. Asking for a percentage of net profits was a mistake on the author's part.

the Togfather

Yeah, I think The New Kid is the safest of their ideas, which makes sense why it was picked up. Hopefully this is a stepping stone for even bigger things, because Lookouts could really be incredible I think. But wow...a movie based on a PA idea...big props for them...really amazing what it's all become.

Hurtdog

How can accounting possibly do this magical bullshit to just make profits disappear while still making money?

Unknown

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Taramoor

Donkey Kong wrote: »

Because I had to go look for it:

The Comic:

The news posts:

Tycho wrote:

Today's idea: The New Kid. It was The New Kid that catalyzed this round of offerings, and I think that (under the right conditions) The New Kid as it is presently conceived could be the biggest thing we ever do. Agree? Disagree? One more concept to go; when the voting booth goes up, let us know.

Gabe wrote:

Being the new kid is hard, being the new kid in a school full of aliens is harder. Tycho mentioned that this one could be the biggest thing we ever do and I think he’s right. My fantasy is to see Dreamworks, Disney or Nickelodeon make an animated feature or a Saturday morning cartoon out of this one. Who knows maybe they will see it and give me a call!
I’m working on the third and final idea today. This last one will go up on Monday and then it will be time to vote. I hope you guys are having as much fun reading these as I am drawing them.

Edit: Oh, it's in the OP now.

Yes, it's in the OP, but I'm totally stealing the newsposts and putting them in there too.

Ego

This is pretty cool.

Unknown

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Gosling

the Togfather wrote: »

Yeah, I think The New Kid is the safest of their ideas, which makes sense why it was picked up. Hopefully this is a stepping stone for even bigger things, because Lookouts could really be incredible I think. But wow...a movie based on a PA idea...big props for them...really amazing what it's all become.

Who did Sorcerer's Apprentice? That's a halfway decent analog for Jim Darkmagic.

Hurtdog

Oh that actually makes sense now...

but why go through that hassle? Is it to pay less taxes or something?

ArbitraryDescriptor

Hurtdog wrote: »

Oh that actually makes sense now...

but why go through that hassle? Is it to pay less taxes or something?

Partially that, I imagine. But I also imagine that it is mostly done to fuck over the naive saps doing business with them.