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. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been avoiding the news so as not to spoil Battlestar Galactica’s return, and hence the delay in posting this latest news summary. But that’s all done now so here we go with the weekend’s sci fi news summary:
Stargate Universe – The cast list keeps growing. It isn’t finalized yet as two cast members remain unannounced. Those that have been announced are Justin Louis, David Blue, Brian J. Smith and Jamil Walker. Looks like, at least to begin with, it’s an all human team.
If you want to learn about which characters these actors will play, and who are the remaining two characters yet to be cast, head on over a read ‘The Characters of Stargate Universe‘ article at Gateworld.
Terminator: Salvation – It seems not a day goes by without news on this 2009 blockbuster. The latest news is that Kyle Reese will be in the new Terminator movie and will be played by actor Anton Yelchin. Remember Kyle Reese in 1984’s Terminator was played brilliantly by Michael Biehn – Yelchin has some mega-metal destroying shoes to fill. Read the rest of this entry »
Veteran actor Robert Carlyle has been named the leader of the new Stargate team in the third Stargate franchise, Stargate Universe. Stargate Universe will chronicle the story of a group of soldiers, scientists and civilians as they survive being trapped aboard an ancient alien spacecraft in the deep space.
Reaction to Carlyle’s appointment has been mixed amongst fans, although I’m quite surprised by this. He’s an excellent actor and his face is very recognizable after top notch performances in movies like 28 Days Later and Trainspotting. Personally I think any poor reaction to the fact that Carlyle is the new face of Stargate is nothing short of foot in mouth syndrome. Serious Stargate fans should rejoice that a high calibre actor will be taking part in this brilliant series.
Well, I say ‘brilliant’ series because Stargate Atlantis has catapulted itself to the second place on my favourite Sci Fi shows list, falling just short of my love for Battlestar Galactica (and just ahead of my love for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). Read the rest of this entry »
Occassionally, very occassionally, you sit down to watch an episode of Stargate and are taken completely by surprise – such was the experience delivered by Stargate Atlantis’s seventh episode of the fifth season – ‘Whispers’. From the very opening Whispers was, well, damn scary. The Stargate team, or rather, Dr. Beckett and Lt. Col Sheppard and a whole new Stargate Team consisting of only women, stumble onto one of Michael’s laboratories, where genetic experimentation has created a race of creatures left behind because even Michael himself couldn’t control them. They are held in stasis pods but a local, attempting to find his missing wife, inadvertently releases them…just before dark.
Without going into the detail, Whispers outright succeeded in delivering A-Grade horror sci-fi – in fact, it delivered the equivalent scarey factor usually left to movies like 28 Days Later and Legend with a little The Ring thrown in for good measure; the only exception being that the alien creatures in Whispers also have a few other nifty tricks up their sleeves, like oozing fog from their necks! Read the rest of this entry »
Hot on the heels of the news that Stargate Atlantis would wrap up at the end of season 5, Stargate fans have been treated to some great news. As of 2009, a new Stargate series will hit television screens, titled Stargate Universe. The new series will premiere as a 2 hour movie in early 2009 and will introduce a team of explorers who discover an ancient and abandoned ship called Destiny. Destiny will be on a pre-programmed mission to the far reaches of the Universe, leaving the team unable to return to Earth.
According to reports, the show will include a lot of space based action, and be less land based than either of the previous two Stargate series. In what might be great news, series producers have stated they don’t intend to just remake the first two Stargate series, but intend to reinvigorate the new series completely. Read the rest of this entry »
