Sci-Fi Storm

George Takei, who played Sulu on the original Star Trek, will reprise his role – this time in an episode of the fan-created Star Trek: New Voyages. George has always been very supportive of the fans. Also on board with New Voyages is SF writer David Gerrold – who wrote the original episode “The Trouble with Tribbles”.

The BBC has announced books with stories featuring the 10th Doctor Who will be release both in the US and UK. I’ve listed them in the Doctor Who section of Sci-Fi TV Store – note that Amazon’s release dates don’t match the article, but Amazon’s release dates on books don’t seem to be terribly accurate.

This is all over the net, but there are a lot of reports that Disney is negotiating to buy Pixar, giving a major role to Pixar (and Apple) CEO Steve Jobs, who would become Disney’s largest individual shareholder. I’ve also read in print this isn’t likely to happen, but a new deal between the two to continue producing the megahits they have so far is more likely, now that Bob Iger has replaced Michael Eisner at Disney.

The BBC is announcing with flourish that a deal has been struck with the SCI FI Channel to finally bring the new Doctor Who to the U.S. SFC will begin airing the first series in March in the Friday 9pm time slot (presumably the Winter half of Stargate Atlantis will be done by then). SFC also has an option on the upcoming second series. As part of the deal, the release of the DVD set will be delayed until July 4th, 2006 (explaining the earlier article). So, make sure all you U.S. Whovians tune in so we can continue to get the new series in a timely manner.

Josh Silberstein writes “Brooklyn, New York ? January 12, 2006 ? Groundhog?s Day hasn?t historically been the biggest American holiday, but this year Hollywood is gearing up for what promises to be a momentous date. That?s because on February 2nd, the highly coveted Golden Groundhog will be awarded to the Best Underground Movie of 2005. The Golden Groundhog Awards were established to recognize genuinely outstanding films that lacked the distribution and marketing support needed to become the blockbuster hits they deserved to be. It was announced today that the awards ceremony will be hosted by William Shatner, an actor who has enjoyed tremendous success on the silver screen, but who also knows from firsthand experience that great films can fall through the cracks.” Read More for the rest.

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With the success of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (which came on second behind Hostel this week, beating King Kong again, and could become Disney’s highest-grossing live-action movie of all time), work is beginning on the next installment, Prince Caspian. It appears they will follow the order generally recommended, as opposed to the “chronological order”, which would have started with The Magician’s Nephew. This makes sense since you’d want to do the stories that deal with the same characters done together so they don’t age too much, and some stories like The Magician’s Nephew and The Horse and His Boy don’t share characters (at least ones where you’d have human actors) to any great extent as they are more separate stories. And C.S. Lewis has already solved the potential casting problems – new kids rotate in for the later stories…

For those in the U.S. who have been waiting on the DVD set of the first season of the revived Doctor Who, you are going to have to wait a bit longer. It seems that the set has been delayed from the originally announced Feb. 14th date. Some speculation is that the delay could be tied to getting a TV network to pick up the show – a broadcaster would prefer to air the series before the DVDs are out.

The boy wizard sure does have a following. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, sold over 4 million copies on the first day alone, and 7 million overall, in the U.S. in 2005. This dwarfs the number two book, the paperback version of A Million Little Pieces, a recommendation from Oprah’s book club, did a “paltry” 1.7 million copies for the year, and that book is now running into criticism. J.K. Rowling said she’d be starting the seventh and final book with the new year.

The next comic conversion appears to be Aquaman, with a pilot ordered for the WB Network, and featuring newcomer Will Toale in the title role. Producing the pilot is “Smallville” execs Miles Millar and Alfred Gough.

Steve Jordan writes “My latest book, to be released on January 13th, is entitled “Midgard’s Militia.”

Imagine a world of Superheroes: The godlike figures; the daring exploits; the incredible battles; the frightening mayhem; the thrilling victories.

Now imagine a world suddenly without its heroes.

Earth’s heroes have just been killed on an outer space mission. And as the deadly force that destroyed them now rushes towards Earth, brave souls come forward to try to take the place of the heroes… to keep the world safe…

This story is in a “pulp/comic book” style, a very fun read, but at a very grown-up level, with great personal relationships, serious characters, and a realistic take on a world where superheroes walked (if such a thing is possible). As always, it’ll sell for $2.50USD, in multiple e-book formats, and as always, no DRM!

For more details on this and other novels, visit www.SteveJordanBooks.com. Handheld and smartphone browsers can access the mobile-friendly site at www.SteveJordanBooks.com/hand.”