Sci-Fi Storm

On The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, actor Katey Segal, who provides the voice of Leela, confirmed the return of Futurama with 13 new episodes – alas, they are not scheduled to air until sometime in 2008. All the primary voices are said to return.

Reporter Marc S. Malkin for the syndicated TV tabloid The Insider is reporting in his Star Bytes online column that producer J.J. Abrams, who is developing the Star Trek prequel film, is eying Matt Damon (Syriana) as the young James T. Kirk. The interesting thing is, I can kind of see it. Reportedly William Shatner has given his blessing.

British tabloid The Sun is reporting from “insider” sources on who the next Doctor Who companion will be. Freema Agyeman, who appeared in the British series Crossroads, will reportedly be in the last two episodes of the current series, and join full-time with the third series. And lest you forget – the U.S. release of the Series 1 DVD Set is set for July 4th – pre-order now!

So, I finally got some time and sat and watched two movies: The Cruise/Spielberg War of the Worlds, and the SCI FI Channel’s Black Hole. Here are a couple of micro-reviews (no scores, no in-depth, but impressions) – feel free to add your own.

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JMS has mentioned in the past about how he was involved with a pitch to Paramount about helping out the flailing Star Trek franchise. Well, Bryce Zabel (The Crow: Stairway to Heaven), who met JMS on a plane and suddenly was teaming with him, details the plan on his website. Think a “re-imagining” of the original series, much like Battlestar Galactica. Would the hardcore fans really have followed as they say? Remember, this was before Galactica got the treatment, and those fans perhaps weren’t quite as rabid…Updated: Correct link now…really… 🙂

Jim Baen, owner of Baen Books which publishes a lot of the SF novels out there, and also helped pioneer freely available electronic editions of print books, has suffered a stroke and is in serious condition in the ICU.

This time its true: The BBC has announced that Billy Piper will leave Doctor Who at the end of the current (second) series. She will have a “stunning exit”, but they are mum if this means she may be killed off. “With a series climax called Doomsday on its way, I can’t guarantee who will survive and who won’t, but I can assure you the TARDIS is going on its scariest journey yet!”

Warner Brothers is eyeing a more faithful adaptation of Conan the Barbarian, with Boaz Yakin (Fresh) to write and possibly direct. Of course, they’ve previously tried with the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix Trilogy) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City).

Finally, some news: SCI FI Channel is reporting that Doctor Who has boosted Friday ratings for the channel by 54% viewership over the same time last year. Note that the regular SCI FI Friday lineup would have still been in reruns last year. No mention if they will pick up the second series for the fall break. The first series just completed last Friday.

Early numbers show that the latest Disney/Pixar venture, Cars, took in $62.8 million on the weekend, shaping up to be the third-best Disney/Pixar opening, beating out Monsters, Inc.. Last week’s winner, The Break Up, still managed $20.5 million, with X-Men: The Last Stand, $15.5M; The Omem, $15.45M; Over the Hedge, $10.3M. Update 6/13: Disney actually downgraded the weekend take due to a weak Sunday to $60.1M.