Sci Fi News Summary (for the last few days)
Here’s the sci fi news for the last few days that never made it to a full article, all in a nice neat summarized nutshell. As usual, there’s no spoilers so read on safely:
Day One – NBC have given the green-light to a new pilot titled Day One. Day One is sci-fi drama creation of Jesse Alexander (Heroes/ Alias / Lost). The pilot will follow a group of survivors as they struggle in a post-apocalyptic Earth to both survive and discover the cause of the catastrophic event that has decimated the planet. Sounds similar to Jericho on face value, but since there’s very little information available at this time, we’ll have to wait and cross our fingers for some originality.
Stargate Universe – Michael Shanks, aka Dr. Daniel Jackson from Stargate SG-1 looks set to make a cameo in Stargate Universe. In an exclusive interview with SCI FI Wire he said, “I talked to [executive producer] Brad Wright a couple of weeks ago, and he asked me if I’d be interested in doing a cameo in the Universe pilot, and I of course said I would be. And there’s a great deal of talk about [it]. … They’ve got a script going and everything like that.” However according to Gateworld it will most likely be a small part early on in the pilot given that there has been no indication that Daniel Jackson will join the crew of the ancient ship Destiny. Makes sense.
Forbidden Planet - A remake of the popular 1956 film is on its way from Warner Brothers and the latest news is James Cameron (Aliens / The Abyss/ Terminator) has his eyes on the directors chair. This would put Cameron in collaboration with J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5 / Changeling) who has written the story for the film.
Straczynski had this to say about his version of the 1956 film: “It’s not a remake. It’s not a reimagining. It’s not exactly a prequel. You’ll have to see it. It’s something that no one has thought of when it comes to this storyline…It’s not going to be retro, and it’s not going to be a continuation. When Altair 4 blows up, it blows up. I have, however, found a way to honor the original movie without in any way besmirching it in order to do this iteration. Once folks find out what we’re actually going to do, I think they’ll be most pleased. Forbidden Planet remains one of my favorite films of all time, and I wouldn’t even think about doing this project if I didn’t think there was a way to do it that would not in any way diminish the original…which is why this is the the first development in years to actually get to the script stage. Everybody involved is very excited by the approach.”
Cameron has a handful of projects in development and in production, so how he plans to fit Forbidden Planet into his schedule is anyone’s guess. Either he delays work on some of his proposed projects, or he won’t have the time to direct Forbidden Planet. We’ll see how this one pans out. Either way, Forbidden Planet is scheduled for release in 2010.
Want a little spoiler info on Forbidden Planet? Then head over to IESB who have posted a host of them (note that some of the real juicy stuff has been removed at the request of Warner Bros).
Harry Potter – A rumor is floating around that Warner Bros are concerned about the remaining Harry Potter films. The upshot of this rumor is that after Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince there may be no further Harry Potter movies. The concern has apparently been fuelled by screenwriter Steve Koves, who is quoted as having said something like: “Warner Bros are worried about the prospects of the last three films in the series, since J. K. Rowling is no longer driving anticipation for the titles by producing new books.” My take? There’s no chance in hell of the final Harry Potter movies being canceled. It’s only a rumor and only ever will be a rumor. The Harry Potter movie franchise has literally destroyed the box office, with each movie multiplying its budget by almost tenfold. Even if the remaining movies only break-even (which to my mind is an impossibility), the franchise would still be one of the most profitable movie franchises of all time. Enough said.
Heath Ledger – It seems Heath Ledger is dominating the ‘awards of the year’ news lately and this news article is no different. To date he’s been nominated for a BAFTA Film Award, nominated for an ALFS Award for ‘Actor of the Year’, and most notably he’s been nominated for an Oscar. He’s already won the Golden Globe, the Critics Choice Award, and the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award. Now he adds another win to the mix – three days ago the Screen Actors Guild posthumously named him the best male actor in a supporting role for, you guessed it, The Joker in The Dark Knight. Odds are a win at the Academy Award’s is next. I hope somewhere above he can see all this happening!
Cowboy Bepop – It would be understandable if you saw this title and passed on without a second thought. But no, Cowboy Bebop is most definitely a potentially very cool science fiction film and not a comical western as it might first appear. Cowboy Bebop is a live-action sci-fi film adaptation of a Japanese anime T.V. series about a bounty hunter named Spike Siegel who makes his way through space in the year 2071. No director has been signed on as yet and the film has yet to have a script finalized, but amongst all this ‘lack’ Keanu Reeves has signed on to play the lead character. Some people freak out when they hear Reeves is on board with a film. Personally I think Keanu Reeves nearly always suits his characters perfectly (ok ok if Constantine comes to mind, remember I said ‘nearly’!) In all seriousness, could anyone else really have played Neo in The Matrix Trilogy? In any case, his attachment to the Cowboy Bebop project is a stroke of genius to my mind. Anyone who knows the series would instantly be able to see Spike Siegel in him. Great choice.
Underworld – Les Wiseman, who is directing the upcoming Gears of War live action movie (and possibly trilogy), has indicated he might bring Underworld to the small screen in the form of a spinoff series. Wiseman is quoted as saying: “There’s a lot of talk about a television series, I’m looking into that. If I could be very involved and can be a certain way, I’d be very interested in that. We had always hoped to do a trilogy. Now that we completed that trilogy it’s kind of open, if people can join us and go back in time – and then leap forward, I’d like to go jump all across the time line.” Personally I’m not that interested. With the exception of the new BBC series Being Human and with the further exception of True Blood, I”m well and truly over werewolves and vampires. Still, I might be alone with this assertion given the success of Rise of the Lycans at the box office. To many people’s amazement, its currently raking in more $$$ than any other release. Go figure. Either way, its box office success might translate to a spinoff television series and clearly that is good news to those who love the Underworld franchise.
Lost Planet – Yep, another video game is making its way to the movies and although I always have reservations on these, Lost Planet might be one of the exceptions to the ‘poor conversion’ rule. According to Capcom Lost Planet is aiming for a massive $200M budget. If Capcom get their mega-budget approved, Lost Planet could turn out to be one of the biggest sci-fi films of all time. With a huge budget and with the production team that is behind Iron Man, this movie might be one to watch out for.
The Green Hornet – The Green Hornet is rushing back to the big screen with a scheduled release date of 25 June 2010, but if you’re up to date with the news around the traps you’d be under the impression that The Green Hornet movie is officially dead in the water. I’m here to tell you these are just rumors and the movie is still full speed ahead. Fans can rest easy, at least for the moment.
Fantastic Four - According to Chris Evans (the Human Torch) there isn’t any news on the potential production of a third Fantastic Four film. Evans told SCI FI Wire: “No, I don’t think we’re doing another one. I think we’re done. I think if they were going to do another one, you would have heard something. It’s been a while since the second one, and those films usually come pretty quick, one after the next. I kind of think they’re going to close the book on that one. It’s too bad. I had a fun time making them.” Given what happened with the first two, I can only conclude this is the good news of the day. Rule No. 1: Include a big focus on a wedding in a super hero movie and the super hero movie is doomed, whether it has a cool Silver Surfer or not.
The Book of Eli - Jennifer Beals (The Grudge 2 / Devil in a Blue Dress) is the new cast member to join Denzel Washington in this Albert Hughes directed sci-fi actioner from Warner Bros. The Book of Eli is a post-apocalyptic Western that chronicles a lone man as he fights his way across America to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind. Many people have described the movie as having similarities to Mad Max which has certainly tweaked my interest (if it’s similar to Mad Max 2 that is). The Book of Eli also stars Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis and Ray Stevenson and is scheduled for release on 15 January 2010.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Hi there! It’s nice to run across a fellow sci-fi phreak. I have a sci-fi/fantasy podcast called The Warp Zone. We record every other week and talk about the latest news from the industry. We also have a Twitter site that people can follow and get the news as it’s posted.
I would like to add your site to the list of Warp Zone links to follow. I would also like to arrange a time next week to interview you about the latest news. This could also turn into a every-show type feature.
Please let me know if you have any interest in this. Thank you.
-Patrick Murphy
The Warp Zone
thewarpzone.libsyn.com