There have been three Resident Evil films to date. The third film, Resident Evil: Extinction, managed to haul $145M worldwide which from a budget of $45M made it a clear winner.  So despite reports that Extinction was the final chapter it comes as no surprise to hear that plans are underway for Resident Evil 4.

According to a report on Shock Till You Drop, Resident Evil: Afterlife will be the title and Sony are aiming to release it in theaters on September 17, 2010.

This isn’t an official announcement since the news was leaked by an unnamed studio insider.  For the moment we’ll have to chalk it up as rumor. It is however a good rumor that will no doubt be validated in due course given Resident Evil writer/producer Paul W.S. Anderson raised the possibility of the film at last years Comic-Con and yesterday star Milla Jovovich  confirmed to paparazzi that filming on Afterlife would start at the end of 2009.

You can watch her confirm the fourth movie and how cool she is having to deal with the paparazzi getting in her face below:

Producer Robert Rodriguez has confirmed to AICN that he has personally hand picked Nimrod Antal to direct Predators for 20th Century Fox.

Rodriguez says he became excited about Antal (Control / Vacancy) after seeing what he did with his latest film Armored, an action thriller due December 4, 2009.

“First of all,” Rodriguez says, “on a personal level I found him to be an outstanding presence, a great communicator full of ideas, and upon meeting him you can immediately understand how he is able to wrangle cast and crew and get the best out of everyone. I always loved Kontroll, where he proved himself to be a very resourceful and original filmmaker. When I saw Armored, I could tell he’s also great with action and has a keen eye for casting. He reminded me of Quentin with how he was able to work with a group of very strong, singular actor talents and make it look effortless. I know he’ll be able to get the most out of what we want to be an outstanding cast. We really want to go with a character driven action movie, because that’s what we all remember about the original Predator, and we want to take it even further with this. ”

Predators is a sequel to Predator and Predator 2 that is said to follow a team of commando’s as they face down multiple Predators.  The script is being written by Alex Litvak, a relatively unknown writer. Until now, rumor had it that Litvak would be reworking an original story written some fifteen years ago by Rodriguez himself that was deemed too epic to produce at that time.  Rodrigues has now confirmed that story.

“When Alex Young at Fox contacted me about re-inventing the franchise using my original draft as a template for getting as far away as possible from the AVP movies, I jumped on it,’ Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez plans to do to the Predator franchise with Predators what James Cameron did to the Alien franchise with Aliens.  It’s a tall order, but as a long time Predator fan I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

“As to how this movie will be viewed, one of the guys at Fox told me ‘No one is ever going to talk about AVP again after this film, I will stake my life on it.’”

Read the full interview at AICN.

Predators will be released July 7, 2010.

Ilion Animation’s animated comedy Planet 51 follows an Earth Astronaut who lands on Planet 51 where everyone fears alien invasion.  Their paranoia is vindicated by his arrival leaving him desperate to avoid capture, recover his spaceship and escape back to Earth.

The latest english trailer has been released and courtesy of Trailer Addict you can watch it now:

Planet 51 features the the all-star-cast voices of The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman and John Cleese.

With the tagline “Something strange is coming to their planet…Us!” and the coolest Xenomorph Alien based dog (that pees acid) you know Planet 51 should be a lot of fun.

You can also watch the Italian Planet 51 trailer with different footage here.

Planet 51 will hit theaters:
USA – November 20, 2009
UK – December 4, 2009
Australia – December 10, 2009

James Camerons’ sci-fi epic Avatar is billed as a game changer in the world of film despite the fact that few images from the film have ever been seen (except for those lucky enough to have seen 24 minutes of footage). So when an image or any news item surfaces people take notice, like this banner at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Coming Soon posted the image which shows the very first glimpse of the face of a Na’vi alien.  Whilst the character the face belongs to is not clear, I’m guessing it is the (main character) Na’vi Avatar played by Sam Worthington.

Avatar is a 20th Century Fox produced sci-fi epic.  The story follows a wounded ex-marine, Jake Sully, who takes part in an experiment to remotely enter a genetically engineered alien body (an Avatar) and infiltrate an alien planet to exploit it.   Instead he finds himself siding with the alien culture and eventually switches to leading them to battle against those trying to harm them.

Avatar is one of the biggest drawcards at this years Comic-Con where footage will be shown.

Avatar (the film) hits theaters:
Australia – December 17, 2009
USA & UK – December 18, 2009

Bloody-Disgusting have managed to score a leaked but high quality extended trailer for Marcel Sarmiento’s and Gadi Harel’s teen horror flick Deadgirl.

Deadgirl follows two teenagers who discover a (supposedly) dead girl chained to a bed in the basement of an abandoned Asylum.  Their friendship is strained when one of them decides to use the girls body for his own sick pleasure. Tensions rise even higher when they discover she’s not actually dead or, to be more specific, she’s undead.

You can view the leaked trailer here but since it will probably get pulled soon (as it is not an official release) you can also watch the official trailer below:

Deadgirl is already available on DVD in the UK but will see a limited theatrical run in the US commencing July 24.

Hal Jordan embarks on his first mission in 'Green Lantern: First Flight'

Green Lantern: First Flight, the highly-anticipated fifth entry in the popular DVD series of DC Universe animated original PG-13 movies, will have its world premiere at Comic-Con in San Diego on Thursday, July 23, 2009.

More than 4,000 fans will have the opportunity to see Green Lantern: First Flight on the big screen five days before the latest DC Universe film is distributed on DVD and Blu-Ray. The film will premiere in the San Diego Convention Center’s Ballroom 20 at 8:00 p.m.

A panel comprised of filmmakers and voice cast will be presented on the following day, Friday, July 24. Details on that panel and its participants will be announced next week.

Acclaimed actor Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) fills the lead voice of Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern. Meloni is joined by fellow Emmy Award nominee Victor Garber (Milk / Titanic) as the villainous Sinestro, Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) as the voice of Boodikka and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) as Kilowog. The cast also includes Juliet Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), John Larroquette (Night Court), Kurtwood Smith (That ’70s Show) and David Lander (Laverne & Shirley).

Kanjar Ro is the most visible villain in 'Green Lantern: First Flight'

Produced by animation legend Bruce Timm, Green Lantern: First Flight is helmed by heralded director Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman / Superman Doomsday) and scripted by four-time Emmy Award-winning writer Alan Burnett (The Batman).

Green Lantern: First Flight finds Hal Jordan recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps and placed under the supervision of respected senior Lantern Sinestro. The earthling soon discovers his mentor is actually the central figure in a secret conspiracy that threatens the philosophies, traditions and hierarchy of the entire Green Lantern Corps. Hal must quickly hone his newfound powers and combat the treasonous Lanterns within the ranks to maintain order in the universe.

On July 28, 2009 Green Lantern: First Flight will be released in these formats (click to view on Amazon):
Green Lantern: First Flight on a Blu-Ray
Green Lantern: First Flight - a special edition 2-disc DVD
Green Latnern: First Flight on single disc DVD.

Following is an excerpt from an interview with Michael Shanks in issue 29 of ‘The Official Stargate SG-1/Atlantis Magazine’ (on sale now).

Stargate Magazine: Since it’s been a while, how happy were you with how the two Stargate movies turned out?

Michael Shanks: I was quite content with the process of both. Continuum seems to be the favored one by the people involved. It benefited from the fact that we didn’t have to resolve any ongoing arc issues. The first one [The Ark of Truth] carried a lot of baggage in terms of resolving a two-year story arc. We built up this enemy to such a degree, there was so much story to tell, and they were such a fierce antagonist that to get rid of them over two hours was a bit of a conundrum. It seemed to be a bit of a quick convenient fix to have this device that you magically open and the bad guys go away. Continuum could stand on it’s own. It was a different story and there wasn’t so much exposition. Continuum also seemed to be a lot more fun. The visuals were quite fantastic, with filming in the Arctic and the use of the jet planes. The return of Richard Dean Anderson is always fun, as well.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint in the 1989 'Alien Nation' TV Series

The SyFy Channel is about to reimagine Alien Nation.

Alien Nation was a 1988 sci-fi film that chronicled events after an alien race known as ‘Newcomers’ crash on Earth and attempt to integrate into human civilization.  It followed a cop and his Newcomer partner as they investigate the Newcomer underworld.  The film spawned a spinoff series on Fox and five additional film sequels.

Tim Minear (Dollhouse / Firefly / Angel) is charged with writing the new series whilst Fox 21, the alternative production arm of 20th Century Fox TV, will produce.

“It’s genre mixed with procedural mixed with funny and mixed with big, giant scary,” Minear said. “I love serialized stuff, but this is also a cop franchise. That ‘Starsky and Hutch’/'Lethal Weapon’ buddy cop comedy is absent from TV right now.”

The new series will take place 20 years after the first alien ship crashes on Earth and its occupants are banished as slaves in the Pacific Northwest.  It will be set sometime in the 2020’s at a time when the alien population will have expanded to 3.5 million.

“You can take [the original Alien Nation] a step forward and really do a show that encompasses the clash of civilizations, and the idea of a ghettoized minority,” Minear said, referring to the fact that the aliens will be depicted in a situation similar to the North African ghettos in France. “You can touch on racism, terrorism, assimilation, immigration. And there’s room for satire.”

Apparently the success of Battlestar Galactica was a big factor behind the decision to reinvent Alien Nation although it’s hard not to notice that the timing of this announcement neatly coincides with the recent viral marketing success of Neill Blomkamp’s District 9.  Just like Alien Nation the story behind District 9 is about a group of aliens who end up stranded on Earth and who are forced to live in ghetto like conditions of slavery.

District 9 comparisons aside (and let’s be fair, the original Alien Nation came first), it is the intention of Fox 21 to produce the new series with more of an episodic than overall story-arc perspective.

“It’s absolute perfect timing for this type of show,” Fox 21 Executive Chris Carlisle said. “They’re looking for more grounded sci-fi and close-ended episodes, and at the heart of Alien Nation, it’s a cop movie. It’s grounded. And it has a tremendous amount of dramatic possibilities and humor.”

Source: Variety