30 replies to this topic

[IntruderAlert]

Topps' Trademark Filings Hint at Battletech and Mechwarrior Movies

Recent Topps Company Inc. trademark filings at the United States Patent Office showed that a potential Shadowrun movie may be in the works. It looks like that’s just the beginning. Earlier this year, Topps filed two more trademark applications for motion pictures for Battletech and Mechwarrior.

Like its Shadowrun filings, the Battletech and Mechwarrior filings (below) don't hint at plot, characters or stars but are just signs that films may be in the works.

Word Mark
BATTLETECH
Goods and Services

IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Motion picture films featuring entertainment, namely, comedy, drama, animation, romance, science fiction, and/or action/adventure; pre-recorded audio and video tapes, video discs and DVDs featuring entertainment, namely, comedy, drama, animation, romance, science fiction, and/or action/adventure; musical sound recordings; and prerecorded audio tapes and prerecorded compact discs featuring music; downloadable audio and video recordings, digital media, MP3 files, MP3recordings, podcasts, on-line discussion boards, webcasts, and audio books in the field of music, comedy, drama, animation, romance, science fiction, and/or action/adventure

Standard Characters Claimed

Mark Drawing Code
(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK

Serial Number

85289609

Filing Date
April 7, 2011

Current Filing Basis
1B

Original Filing Basis
1B

Published for Opposition

August 16, 2011

Owner

(APPLICANT) The Topps Company, Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE One Whitehall Street New York NEW YORK 10004

Attorney of Record

Catherine E. Maxson

Prior Registrations

1403297;1563309;1730183

Type of Mark

TRADEMARK

Register
PRINCIPAL

Live/Dead Indicator
LIVE

Word Mark
MECHWARRIOR

Goods and Services

IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services, namely, production and distribution of motion pictures and television programs; production of audio visual programs and interactive audio visual programs in the fields of cartoons and fiction; providing audio visual programs , motion pictures, television shows, and interactive audio visual programs in the fields of cartoons and fiction via wireless devices and the Internet, television, cable, and satellite; animation production services; electronic publishing services, namely, publication of text, books, magazines, digital content, graphics, and audio works of others on the Internet and on CD, DVD, and in digital media featuring fiction and cartoons; written text editing; entertainment in the nature of role playing game tournaments and fictional combat game tournaments, excluding online role playing game tournaments and online fictional combat game tournaments; a live-action, comedy, drama and/or animated motion picture theatrical films featuring fictional heroic and villainous characters; providing information, reviews and personalized recommendations in the field of entertainment; providing information, reviews and personalized recommendations in the field of entertainment by means of communications networks

Standard Characters Claimed

Mark Drawing Code

(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK

Serial Number

85318601

Filing Date

May 11, 2011

Current Filing Basis

1B

Original Filing Basis

1B

Owner

(APPLICANT) The Topps Company, Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE One Whitehall Street New York NEW YORK 10004

Attorney of Record

Catherine E. Maxson

Prior Registrations

1404241

Type of Mark

SERVICE MARK

Register

PRINCIPAL

Live/Dead Indicator

LIVE

[Kyll Long]

Watch the language on that it could be a bad thing the second filing includes games.

[MagnusEffect]

Kyll Long, on 10 November 2011 - 04:24 PM, said:

Watch the language on that it could be a bad thing the second filing includes games.

Yeah, I saw that too. Let us hope we don't get another Harmony Gold situation.

Unfortunately, most likely all this means is that they are positioning to make themselves more money off of anyone who actually *wants* to make the effort.

No Uwe Boll, you are NOT allowed.

Edited by MagnusEffect, 10 November 2011 - 04:30 PM.

[Tsula]

More then likely the second filing is for the new novels coming out, and I don't think Topp's would hurt this because Topp's is working with Catayst game labs witch is working with Piranha games.

not only that the date of filings are early to mid 2011. So they might have been used to cover this game anyhow.

Edited by tsula, 10 November 2011 - 04:38 PM.

[Tangent]

A GDL movie would rock on so many levels.

Who would, in your opinion, be best for Grayson?

[Threat Doc]

Hmmm, we'll have to wait and see, yes? If a BattleTech, MechWarrior, and/or Shadowrun movie(s) are in the works, they will likely have my money, unless it's based in the Jihad or anything comes after. I would love to see anything from the Usurper War all the way up to the end of the FedCom Civil War, and anything beyond that could hang. If, on the other hand, they're trying to get a movie done covering the Clan Invasion, they may be attempting to get it done to go alongside this game's launch next Summer. Now THAT would rock on toast, for me.

[Threat Doc]

Tangent, on 10 November 2011 - 04:46 PM, said:

Who would, in your opinion, be best for Grayson?

Have to be of average height, with blond hair, and relatively muscular. I can't think of any actors, off the top of my head, who fit that bill, so it would likely need to be someone new. But, then, I don't watch a whole lot of television these days, it's almost all ****, so I'm not sure. What about Lori Kalmar? What time frame within GDL would you prefer it took place in?

Edited by Kay Wolf, 10 November 2011 - 04:50 PM.

[Teggs]

Kay Wolf, on 10 November 2011 - 04:50 PM, said:

Have to be of average height, with blond hair, and relatively muscular. I can't think of any actors, off the top of my head, who fit that bill...

You haven't seen the last few Bond films? Some people don't like Daniel Craig, but I think he'd make a decent Carlysle, as long as they weren't looking for a young version.

In all honesty I don't want to see any Mechwarrior movie, because I have a strong suspicion it would turn out like Wing Commander, or worse. They'd need someone like James Cameron to pull it off correctly, and I don't imagine they can attract that kind of talent. That's no knock on Battletech, just a consistent failing of the movie industry when it comes to science-fiction franchises.

I'm less vested in Shadowrun, and I consider Shadowrun much less complicated. So not only do I care less if they fail, but I think they're more likely to succeed with that project. Battletech for one thing takes a lot more explanation than Shadowrun.

- Teggs

[Threat Doc]

Teggs, on 10 November 2011 - 05:15 PM, said:

You haven't seen the last few Bond films? Some people don't like Daniel Craig, but I think he'd make a decent Carlysle, as long as they weren't looking for a young version.

Oh, I love Danny boy, he's a pretty prolific actor, and I have loved him in these last two Bond movies, and am certainly looking forward to the next one, but he's too old for the role, unless you're looking at later in the GDL career? I don't remember my GDL novels or Mercs Handbooks enough to give a good time or title, but he would probably do well enough later. He has a face that's thin enough to make him believable for spending hundreds of hours cooking in a cockpit, so yeah I could fathom that.

Quote

In all honesty I don't want to see any Mechwarrior movie, because I have a strong suspicion it would turn out like Wing Commander, or worse. They'd need someone like James Cameron to pull it off correctly, and I don't imagine they can attract that kind of talent. That's no knock on Battletech, just a consistent failing of the movie industry when it comes to science-fiction franchises.

I disagree about Cameron, because his latest works have all been 'white boy tries to save stupid natives'. I would look more at Bruckheimer, but then he would probably employ Michael Bay and, while he did excellent work with Transformers (ahem) and Armageddon, he might not look at the story so much as the effects. NO to McG, for certain... it would have to be someone with a more visceral bent to them. No del Toro, no Tarantino... Frakes, maybe? Favreau? I really like what he did for Iron Man and Iron Man 2, even if a lot of the fanboi's out there don't think he stuck to story.

Quote

I'm less vested in Shadowrun, and I consider Shadowrun much less complicated. So not only do I care less if they fail, but I think they're more likely to succeed with that project. Battletech for one thing takes a lot more explanation than Shadowrun.

- Teggs

Not sure I can agree with that, either. Look at what was done on the opening cinematic/briefing for MechWarrior 3, actually, including the briefing immediately after hitting the Launch button for the first mission. Quick, concise, complete enough for what you were about to participate in.

[Amechwarrior]

Battletech needs the "Game of Thrones" treatment or nothing. If you must do a movie, get the guys who did District 9. Also, if you have not seen it there is already a thread on this in Off Topic Why not mechwarrior movie?

EDIT: Also, anyone familiar with Trademark law? Is this just Topps reasserting rights over things like the cartoons and other older media or does this filing specifically signal some new project?

Edited by Amechwarrior, 10 November 2011 - 05:57 PM.

[CobraFive]

To be honest I don't think this implies a movie is even in the works, or even planned.

I think really they are just doing this to prevent other people from making a movie without their permission.

[T S Hawk]

well this could be interesting.

[NotSoCoolJ]

Quick!! Someone call Judge Reinhold!!!

[theginganinja]

To be honest, as wonderful as it would be if they made one, I seriously doubt that any Battletech or Mechwarrior movies are going to be made - the franchise simply isn't very well-known nowadays. As dedicated as the fanbase is, I just don't think it's big enough that any studios would be interested in making a movie. Besides, even if they did make a Battletech movie, look at current movie trends - it would be a largely story-less excuse to have some flashy, 3D special effects. Think Transformers without the cool transforming.

As far as who I would like to see in a hypothetical GDL movie, here are my choices for the main characters in Decision at Thunder Rift (the best choice for the first movie based on GDL; if they were to start making Battletech movies, though - or, maybe better, a miniseries - I would prefer starting out with a trilogy based on the Blood of Kerensky novels. Just think of the pure story content - tossing in the introduction of the always-cool Clans is just icing on the cake):

Grayson Carlyle - Sarna.net says he was tall, blond, and about 20 at the time of the book's events. If we can deal with the 8-year age difference, I think Chris Hemsworth (Thor) would be a good actor for the role- we saw in Thor that he can do the transition from brash, vengeful, headstrong kid to mature man well enough, which would be important if the movie followed the book's events.

Lori Kalmar: Sarna.net says she was tall, and blond; it doesn't have a clear date of birth, so I can't figure her age (and I'm not going to dig out the books to see if they mention how old she is); I would guess that she was somewhere between 18-22 during Thunder Rift. I'm thinking Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck) for this one. She's slightly older than the age range - 29 as of 2011. However, she's proven herself as a leading lady capable of holding her own in action scenes, as well as pure acting ones.

Duke Hassid Ricol: Sarna says that he was about fifty years old at the time of Thunder Rift, and the picture on his page shows him as bearded with dark hair. Despite his Draconis Combine allegiance, the picture provided does not make him seem Oriental in appearance - this is good simply for widening the number of actors that could play the part. I'd bet good money Hugo Weaving (Lord of the Rings, The Matrix) could do quite well in the part - and his IMDb page shows he can grow a beard if need be. Otherwise, if we can live without the beard, Jeremy Irons (Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Eragon) could probably do a decent job

That takes care of the major characters; although I'm planning on re-reading my Battletech books soon, I'm not going to read through Thunder Rift in the next ten minutes so I can come up with ideas for who should play the minor characters...

Edited by irishwarrior, 10 November 2011 - 10:41 PM.

[Jack Gallows]

cobrafive, on 10 November 2011 - 08:18 PM, said:

To be honest I don't think this implies a movie is even in the works, or even planned.

I think really they are just doing this to prevent other people from making a movie without their permission.

This, or they're bucking up for in game movies for MWO, like the intro/etc.

[pursang]

I'm not looking forward to any movie based off of MechWarrior/ BattleTech. I'm convinced that it can never be done. I mean, when's the last time you watched a movie about giant armored robots that can tear entire city blocks to...

Oh...wait a minute.

I FULLY SUPPORT THIS IDEA!

[Atlas3060]

NotSoCoolJ, on 10 November 2011 - 10:18 PM, said:

Quick!! Someone call Judge Reinhold!!!

Dooley get in there and save two rookies who are trapped, one is named Curtis Lemansky...wait wrong show!

[PropWash]

Atlas3060, on 11 November 2011 - 04:54 AM, said:

Dooley get in there and save two rookies who are trapped, one is named Curtis Lemansky...wait wrong show!

Heh. I doubt many people here get the reference.

Enjoy

[PropWash]

But, to stay on topic.

The TOPPS registrations are likely a result of someone 'cleaning up the backyard' updating the classes of trademarks that TOPPS already owns.

It really doesnt mean much.

[Michael Bross]

After seeing him in his most recent movie DRIVE, I would have to say Ryan Gosling (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0331516/) fits the bill nicely for Grayson. However I agree with the previous post that this is most likely Topps just making sure their rights are secured.