In one of the more unexpected bits of news in recent memory, Paramount and MGM have decided to begin developing a sequel to the recent action horror-fantasy, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.

The movie only made $54 million here in the States—not at all a good number for a movie like it. But what it had in its favor was that its production budget was only around $50 million. And one should never underestimate the power of overseas box office numbers; in foreign markets Hansel & Gretel pulled in $150 million, which is why a sequel is now beginning to grow.

Seth MacFarline‘s Ted has proven that with a great script you can transform that cute and cuddly Teddy Bear into anything you want. So we got a hilarious foulmouthed inebriated Teddy Bear walking amongst us, and as a result it was a global hit.

Now it looks like Dwayne “˜The Rock’ Johnson wants a piece of that action, but instead of a drunken teddy bear, he wants one that defends young children against nightmares. Hit the jump to see where the actor found his inspiration.

FVZA #1-2
Written by David Hine
Conceived by Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson
Illustrated by Roy Allen Martinez
Painted by Kinsun Loh and Jerry Cho
Lettered by Richard Starkings and ComicCrafts’ Jimmy Betancourt
Radical Publishers
Release date: December 2009

Alternate histories are always a fun concept to play with in fiction. Imagining a world where the Axis won WW2 like Philip K. Dick’s Man in a High Castle, or Allan Moore’s and Kevin O’Neill’s Victorian speculative and adventure fiction comics The League of Extraordinary Gentleman are great exercises in creative speculation.

Radical Comics, writer David Hine, and artist Roy Allen Martinez brings forward their own altered world where vampires and zombies are very real, and their presence has permanently altered the history of the human race in FVZA. The FVZA, or the Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, was assembled to hunt down and destroy the infected. When a working vampire vaccine was discovered in the 1960s, President Kennedy announced that the FVZA was to be disbanded. A former scientist and operative of the FVZA has isolated and trained his granddaughter and grandson to take up the battle if the undead return. When a surviving vampire plans to overthrow the human rule and create the United Vampire States of America, the FVZA is reformed to tackle the emerging menace.