Don Payne to write 'Thor 2'

Marvel really wants to get "Thor 2" ready for shooting as soon as possible. Just one day after setting a July 26, 2013 release date for the sequel, the studio has hired Don Payne to write the script, according to Deadline.

Who's Payne? Apart from being one of the writers of the first "Thor," he also contributed to that terrible "Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer" script and wrote Ivan Reitman's mediocre "My Super Ex-Girlfriend."

Also worth pointing out that a look at his filmography reveals he has written for "The Simpsons." He also happens to be a producer on the TV show. Chris Hemsworth is set to return as "Thor" in the sequel. Kenneth Branagh will not return to direct.

Columbia goes for a ‘Maximum Ride’

Columbia Pictures is all set and ready to develop a big-screen franchise based on James Patterson’s best-selling novel series “Maximum Ride,” according to Variety.

The story focuses on six kids who underwent genetic modification to be 98 percent human and 2 percent bird. After escaping from the laboratories they’re held at, the children are pursued by a gang of werewolves sent to track them down.

Don Payne, screenwriter of “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” is writing the script.

Producer Avi Arad thinks “Maximum Ride” would make a good big-screen franchise. "The ‘Maximum Ride’ books use man-made mutation as a metaphor of humans trying to take advantage of human frailty and interfere with nature," he told Variety.

I guess Arad knows what he’s talking about. After all, he’s a big-time Hollywood producer who worked on films such as “Spider-Man,” “X-Men” and “Iron Man.”

As far as the story goes, I never read any of Patterson’s books and can't comment on them. Have you? Let me know what you think.