industry film and publishing founded 2007 founder jesse berger co founder evp barry levine co founder president headquarters los angeles california products film and comics parent blatant entertainment inc. divisions radical publishing radical pictures radical comics radical interactive radical family website radicalstudios.com radical studios is an american multimedia studio with offices in los angeles . 1 it has branches in feature films television physical and digital publishing merchandise recorded music digital and online media applications and mobile and social games . 2 contents 1 history 2 film 3 publishing 3.1 reprints 4 awards 5 legal 6 references 7 external links history edit radical publishing was founded in 2007 by barry levine david elliott jesse berger and matthew berger . 3 4 5 the company launched its first titles hercules and caliber in may 2008 . 6 in may 2009 elliott left the company being replaced by new editor in chief david wohl . 7 8 in september 2010 the company rebranded itself as radical studios . 9 in 2011 the company reduced its overall staff . 10 in january 2012 david wohl announced that he was leaving the company . 11 shortly after the company removed their title under the faerie moon from free comic book day 12 and cancelled the release of damaged issue 6 . 13 film edit stemming from its start as a comic book publisher and in regards to its comics radical founder barry levine stated that each title is built with the assumption the comic book will eventually land on the big screen . these tools are used to attract film directors and other talent for attachment to a project during the development process . 14 lastly radical sometimes employs the comic s series writer to draft an initial screenplay of their work as a part of the film pitch package presented to studios . 15 using these strategies radical has attracted various hollywood talent and studios to their projects . films either in development or released include oblivion tron legacy s director joseph kosinski brought this original concept to radical and is now a major motion picture co written and directed by kosinski and produced and released by universal pictures based on the never published illustrated novel . 16 17 18 it stars tom cruise olga kurylenko andrea riseborough morgan freeman melissa leo zo bell and nikolaj coster waldau . 19 20 regarding the status of the never released illustrated novel kosinski told empire magazine i don t have any plans to do it right now . to me it s feels like it s in the rear view mirror you know it s like part of the development process . the film is the end result . but never say never . maybe at some point it will be fun to go back and show the steps and the journey . 21 hercules the thracian wars director brett ratner is attached to produce and direct . a co production of radical studios mgm and paramount pictures . the script is written by evan spiliotopoulos and ryan condal based upon the comic series created by radical publishing and written by steve moore . 22 the lead role has been cast with dwayne the rock johnson . 23 aksel hennie is cast in the role of tydeus . 24 rufus sewell is cast as autolycus . 25 ian mcshane has been cast as amphiarus part priest part prophet and part warrior who is hercules counselor . also joining are joseph fiennes john hurt and rebecca ferguson . 26 last days of american crime in 2009 sam worthington avatar was originally attached to produce and star in the last days of american crime . 27 in 2013 it was announced that worthington was no longer involved with the project . 28 abattoir darren lynn bousman saw and mother s day is attached to write and direct a film based on the 6 issue miniseries . 29 film director darren bousman saw and mother s day at sdcc 2009 with radical comics freedom formula ghost of the wasteland bryan singer x men and the usual suspects has been attached to direct with production through singer s bad hat harry productions . the rights to the film adaptation are licensed to new regency productions . 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 publishing edit radical comics logo the company launched its first comic titles hercules and caliber in may 2008 as 5 issue mini series and debuted as the 7 comic book company in the world in market share based on a monthly report by icv2 . 37 rather than the superheroes typical of marvel and dc comics radical s titles focus on retellings of iconic fictional characters 38 mythology science fiction fantasy horror historical fiction supernatural themes and genre based crime . 39 radical releases comics first as miniseries and then combines these miniseries into paperback collections . radical s strategy in the comic book business is to create properties that feature painted art and great stories that will appeal to the fans and the marketplace as a whole . 40 41 many of radical s titles are published in a larger 48 page form rather than the industry standard 22 page format . radical comics are distributed in both mass market stores and specialized comic book shops . 42 by diamond comic distributors of north america . 41 at one point radical had a distribution deal for mass market stores in the united states and canada by random house . 43 however the company rejoined diamond comic distributors in 2011 . as of 2012 radical has published 20 different titles and is currently distributed by diamond comic distributors . 44 currently radical has not released any new comics or graphic novels since the release of damaged issue 5 on february 1 2012 . the final issue of damaged has since been cancelled . the company has released a number of titles hercules by steve moore the thracian wars a 5 issue limited series 45 the knives of kush a 5 issue limited series with cris bolsin 46 caliber 47 city of dust by steve niles zid and brandon chng 48 shrapnel by mark long nick sagan m. zachary sherman and bagus hutomo 49 50 hotwire requiem for the dead by warren ellis and steve pugh 51 52 fvza the federal vampire and zombie agency by david hine 53 incarnate by nick simmons 54 legends the enchanted by nick percival . 55 aladdin legacy of the lost by dave elliott 56 ian edginton patrick reilly and stjepan sejic 57 58 the last days of american crime by rick remender and greg tocchini 59 60 after dark created by antoine fuqua & wesley snipes written by peter milligan and illustrated by jeff netrup go to a full list of radical publishing s titles reprints edit they are also collecting and reprinting works previously published elsewhere cholly and flytrap by arthur suydam 61 the lords of misrule by john tomlinson dan abnett steve white gary erskine and peter snejbjerg recoloured by j. m. ringuet 62 awards edit radical received the 2008 diamond gem award for new comic book publisher of the year from diamond comic distributors . diamond comic distributors is recognized as the premier comic book distributor in north america . the awards are voted on by the comic book store retailers and are based on the overall impact of the publisher on the industry taking into account sales performance quality and creativity . 63 64 65 radical received the award for their first two titles hercules the thracian wars and caliber first canon of justice . both comics were launched in may 2008 and enjoyed sellout performances . 66 legends the enchanted won the horrornews net award for best original graphic novel 2010 . 67 legends the enchanted was nominated for an eagle award for favourite single story 2010 . 68 legal edit in july 2009 it was reported that elliott had filed a lawsuit against radical publishing s parent company blatant entertainment . the lawsuit cited disagreements over unpaid wages as well as contract and copyright disputes as reasoning behind the action . 69 in early 2010 radical studios had to halt publication of nick simmons series incarnate following accusations of plagiarism . 70 71 references edit radical plans for comics books films . publishers weekly . january 12 2009 . archived from the original on march 2 2010 . retrieved march 23 2010 . about radical radical studios inc.radical studios inc . radicalpublishing.com . retrieved 2014 07 23 . radical publishing august 4 2008 . septagon studios spotlights radical publishing . radical comics . retrieved 3 december 2009 . archived from original december 3 2009 . radical publishing s ambitious agenda . icv2 . 2007 08 17 . retrieved 2014 07 23 . radical publishing s ambitious agenda . webcitation.org . archived from the original on december 3 2009 . retrieved 2014 07 23 . cs1 maint unfit url link glazer gianluca radical publishing set to debut their first titles in may 2008 press release comic book resources april 23 2008 accessed december 3 2009 . archived from original december 3 2009 . staff david wohl named new radical comic eic press release comic book resources may 19 2009 accessed december 3 2009 . archived december 3 2009 . manning shaun august 18 2009 . david wohl discusses new role as radical s eic . comic book resources . retrieved february 26 2010 . radical publishing becomes radical studios values itself at 84 000 000 bleedileaks bleeding cool comic book movie tv news . bleedingcool.com . 2011 01 31 . retrieved 2014 07 23 . four names off the masthead at radical publishing bleeding cool comic book movie tv news . bleedingcool.com . 2011 09 21 . retrieved 2014 07 23 . david wolh no longer editor in chief of radical entertainment bleeding cool comic book movie tv news . bleedingcool.com . 2012 01 13 . retrieved 2014 07 23 . radical publishing drops out of free comic book day bleeding cool comic book movie tv news . bleedingcool.com . 2012 02 14 . retrieved 2014 07 23 . diamond distribution cancellations for may 2013 . comiclist . 2013 04 12 . retrieved 2014 07 23 . stecker joshua may june 2009 radical publishing what do you do for fun after a career of photographing rock stars script magazine pp. 73 75 bug talks with radical comics barry levine . ain t it cool . retrieved 2010 03 23 . tron legacy director offers oblivion update . mtv news . retrieved 2010 03 23 . nycc 09 new projects new format the radical panel . newsarama . retrieved 2010 03 23 . kit borys july 29 2009 . tron legacy director into oblivion . the hollywood reporter . archived from the original on august 2 2009 . retrieved 2010 03 23 . trumbore dave january 19 2012 . olga kurylenko and andrea riseborough join tom cruise in untitled sci fi pic . collider.com . retrieved march 21 2012 . chitwood adam march 15 2012 . universal moves sci fi film oblivion starring tom cruise up to april 26 2013 . collider.com . retrieved march 21 2012 . oblivion based on the non existing graphic novel bleeding cool comic book movie tv news . bleedingcool.com . 2013 04 12 . retrieved 2014 07 23 . jeff sneider 2012 03 05 . dwayne johnson signs on as hercules . variety . retrieved 2014 07 23 . wales george 2012 02 24 . dwayne johnson to play brett ratner s hercules . totalfilm.com . retrieved 2014 07 23 . kit borys . headhunters star joining dwayne johnson in hercules exclusive . the hollywood reporter . fleming mike 2013 03 20 . rufus sewell cast in hercules movie with dwayne johnson . deadline.com . retrieved 2014 07 23 . ian mcshane joins dwayne johnson in hercules for mgm and