NYCC 2013: Exclusive – Is There A RISING STARS Movie In Our Future?

The news that he was working on an unnamed film for Disney was not the only stealth announcement that writer J. Michael Straczynski made during his Saturday panel at this past weekend’s New York Comic Con. While he was answering a question about his creator-owned 1999 24-issue miniseries Rising Stars, Straczynski hinted that “We may have some news about Rising Stars in a month to announce. Something that will makeyour collection go up in value very shortly.”

Of course, with such a broad hint as this, it is conceivable that he could be referring to either a film or television adaptation in our future. As to which, I am not sure I care to speculate. Rising Stars certainly could lend itself to an ongoing television series. The success of The Walking Dead has lead to a number of smaller indie comics being optioned for television and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone were to turn their eye toward Rising Stars with the same thought. Of course, such speculation by television networks have lead comic collectors to snap-up early issues of any series that might generate some television interest, hoping that they will soon skyrocket in value much in the way that early issues of The Walking Dead have.

But if this is a film project, this wouldn’t be the comics first time at this particular dance. Back while the series was still being published, publisher Top Cow was approached about the film rights for the series. However, due to a misunderstanding on Top Cow’s part, they neglected to keep Straczynski in the loop concerning the deal and he withheld the scripts for the final three issues for the series until things were resolved.

Rising Stars’s storyline revolved a group of 113 who gained superpowers as children when they were exposed to a strange radiation in their home town of Pederson, Illinois. The series’ 24 issues charts how the world reacts to them and their abilities and how they change the world.