NICOLAS CAGE - VIRGIN TURNS CAGE, RITCHIE AND STEWART INTO COMIC BOOK CREATORS

NICOLAS CAGE, director GUY RITCHIE and former EURYTHMICS star DAVE STEWART are turning movie ideas into new comic books as part of a new venture sparked by RICHARD BRANSON and DEEPAK CHOPRA. Entrepreneur Branson and spiritual guru Chopra have formed a wing of Virgin Comics, called Director's Cut, which aims to give celebrity comic fans the chance to turn their story ideas into cartoon strips. ELIZABETH director SHEKHAR KAPUR kickstarted the new venture with two comic books, DEVI and SNAKE WOMAN, this summer (06), and action film director JOHN WOO will continue the run with his new series, 7 BROTHERS, which debuts in comic book stores on Wednesday (18OCT06). Meanwhile, Cage and Ritchie's projects are being kept under wraps, although British director Ritchie's comic book series will be called GAME KEEPER. Stewart's quirky Virgin Voices comic series, which hits stores in December (06), will be called WALK IN and will focus on an alien who is sent to earth as a prisoner and discovers the planet is a penal colony. Virgin Comics spokesman MARK FRANGOS says, "The story ideas have been scripted and our artists in Bangalore (India) have created the artwork."