According to Variety, Universal Pictures is working hard to corral director Chris Columbus to helm the Sub-Mariner movie.  Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter films, has clearly had the kind of experience required to direct a major, special effects-laden blockbuster -- the very kind of film that Universal wants to make featuring Prince Namor.  Certainly getting Columbus to agree to direct the film would be a major step forward in the production.  Current Marvel plans (as revealed to stockholders) give a tentative release date of 2006 for the Namor film.

In other Marvel movie news, the same makeup artists responsible for creating Ron Perlman's great look in the recent Hellboy film have been contracted to help fashion the right screen appearance for Ben Grimm in the Fantastic Four film -- which indicates that the FF project, now slated for the summer of 2005, is still on track.