Sci-Fi Storm

Anonymous Coward writes “Since I found out about Dustrunners on this site, it seems like a good place to talk about its rebirth… it seems the show was put through hell and is now (what they’re calling) an open source project. I’m not sure if you can really make a show when you have everyone on the internet offering their $0.02, let alone who owns the stuff once it’s made… in short, it looks like a stretch, but at the very least you get to see what goes into making a sci fi show.”

FilmJerk is reporting that the original Alien will be re-released this Halloween into theaters with a remastered soundtrack and additional footage left on the cutting room floor.

The Babylon 5 Season 3 DVD Box Set is now available for pre-order, with a release date of August 12th, a few months earlier than originally planned. It’s been said that sales have been terrific on the first two.

BaronMoritani writes “On May 25th, the Landsraad has a scheduled chat for the Children of Dune DVD release (released on May 20th, on sale most everywhere)

View your Children of Dune miniseries DVD and chat with fellow ‘raad members as they do the same.

Discuss the VFX extra on the DVD.

You never know who may show up.

6 P.M. Eastern US Standard Time

Must be a ‘raad member to join in on the chat. All polite Dune Fans are welcome to stop by.

Go here for more details:

http://groups.msn.com/TheLandsraad/_whatsnew.msnw“

The kind folks at Warner Home Video came through again and sent me an advanced copy of The Animatrix DVD, but I couldn’t put up a review until this weekend. It was nice, actually, as I was able to watch it once to enjoy it, and then again for the review. Read More for a full review. Brief capsule: A must for fans of The Matrix and anime in general, mut probably not as interesting for the casual person.

(continue reading…)

Marilyn Manson rumors aside, Warner Brothers is serious about producing a new version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Roald Dahl story that became Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in 1971 starring Gene Wilder. Apparently Dahl never liked that version, and WB wants Tim Burton to helm the new version. Burton certainly could bring out the darker aspects of the original story – maybe Manson is available?

The SCI FI Channel has announced some of the voices for its first ever animated series, Tripping the Rift. Stephen Root (NewsRadio) is the purple captain Chode of the smuggling vessel Free Enterprise, with Gina Gershon (Snoops) as Six, a sexy cyborg and “Stuttering” John Melendez (I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out Of Here!) as the voice of Spaceship Bob. Also included is a sexually confused robot named Gus (Maurice LaMarche, Pinky and the Brain); an “aesthetically challenged”, T’Nuk (Gayle Garfinkle); and Chode’s nephew Whip (Rick Jones).

The 29th annual Saturn Awards, given by the The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films (the “Oscars” of the genre), were handed out Sunday, with details provided by Cinescape. Top winner was Minority Report with three wins, with The Two Towers taking two. My childhood television heroes, Sid and Marty Kroft, creators of Land of the Lost and many other genre-themed (amd sometimes nightmarish) children’s shows, received a Life Career award.

The Z Review is reporting (we’ll call it a rumor for now) that Warner Bros. is in talks for the part of the evil Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and the person they are in talks with is Mr. Bean and Blackadder star Rowan Atkinson. I’m really not sure if I can picture this – I can’t recall him ever being in a serious role…

Executive producer and now show-runner Robert Cooper gave SCI FI Wire some details of the upcoming seventh season of Stargate SG-1. Included: Amanda Tapping (Maj. Samantha Carter) directing an episode, Chris Judge (Teal’c) and Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) writing episodes, and even Corin Nemic (Jonas Quinn) will return for an episode he pitched (I knew his role would be reduced, but it sounds nearly non-existant). Also mentioned is the reduced role of Richard Dean Anderson (Col. Jack O’Neill), who will be in almost every episode, but is no longer the focus, that having shifted to the others.