Punch gets POWERS

British comic actress Lucy Punch (Dinner For Schmucks, Vexed) has signed on to play the lead in FX's adaptation of comic-book Powers. Punch will play Deena Pilgrim, an investigator of crimes that involve people with superpowers. There's no word on who will play her character's partner, Christian Walker (pictured above), although Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) has been linked to the role for awhile. Update! Jason Patric (The Lost Boys) has just been cast as Deena's partner, Christian Walker.

Powers is being developed by Charles H. Eglee (The Shield, Dexter), who's also writing the pilot, that will be directed by Michael Dinner (Justified).

Anyway, this is brilliant news. I'm a fan of Punch: she's silly, funny and sexy. Americans may know her from sitcom The Class and she's also become one of Woody Allen's recent muses—most recently in You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. I also hear Punch steals the show in Cameron Diaz comedy Bad Teacher, which is in cinemas right now.

Oh, and don't worry—she does a perfect American accent.

Showtime adapting 100 BULLETS comic-book

According to Deadline, screenwriter David Goyer (Batman Begins) has been asked to adapt the 1999 Vertigo comic-book 100 Bullets for US cable channel Showtime.

The noir-style comic, written by Brian Azzarelo and illustrated by Eduardo Risso, concerned a man called Agent Graves who offered various people access to a briefcase containing 100 untraceable bullets, which they can use to avenge wrongdoers in their life. Eventually, an overarching story began to reveal itself regarding the interconnectedness of the people Graves approached and a secret organization called The Trust.

Goyer's a prolific talent in the world of comic-books, having written the Blade trilogy and Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. He's also written the new Superman film, which became a reality purely because the strength of his idea enticed Nolan to get onboard as a producer.

However, Goyer's talent behind the camera and on TV is less successful, as he directed the abominable Blade Trinity and co-created TV sci-fi flops Threshold and FlashForward. Hopefully, in once again adapting someone else's work, he'll manage to create something stylish and compelling for Showtime.

Showtime's Dexter, AMC's The Walking Dead, HBO's True Blood and Game Of Thrones, FX's upcoming Powers, Starz's announced Noir, and now 100 Bullets—it's safe to say US cable channels have decided to plunder literature for their programming.

Starz pick up Sam Raimi's assassin drama NOIR

Deadline have reported that Starz are adding to their drama output (following Spartacus, Camelot, Torchwood and the recently announced Boss and Magic City), with assassin drama Noir. Produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, Noir is a live-action adaptation of a 26-part Japanese anime from 2001, concerning two female assassins who realize they're mysteriously connected and join forces to defeat a secret society called "Les Soldats". The pilot has been written by Steven Lightfoot (Criminal Justice).

It's interesting to see Starz step up its game recently, with some promising commissions. I'm already a huge fan of Spartacus, Torchwood: Miracle Day hopefully won't disappoint fans, I liked aspects of Camelot, the recent teaser for Boss looked great, and Magic City sounds interesting. However, Noir's premise doesn't fill me with optimism. The female assassin subgenre's very well-trodden turf, and I wasn't a fan of those cheesy Raimi/Tapert-produced shows like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, so hope this isn't in a similar vein.

Still, the fact it's based on anime could be interesting, if they're going to echo that style. Otherwise, hasn't Noir already been made for TV with the current Nikita series, minus the mystery element? The show's premise alone has me immediately predicting the secret society brainwashed both assassins, but they escaped the program, blah-blah-blah... am I right?

What do you think? Are you a big fan of the Raimi/Tapert oeuvre? Have you seen the original Noir animation? Is it good? Any thoughts on Starz's drama commissions just lately?