Sci-Fi Storm

You may have heard that the USPS was deploying a number of mailboxes dressed up as R2-D2 in major cities – and now here is the reason. A stamp set featuring Luke, Yoda, Darth Vader and others from all six movies is being released by the USPS. These don’t appear to be the “forever” stamps recently announced, but standard 41 cent stamps.

The nominees for the 2007 Hugo Awards have been released. For Dramatic Presentation Short Form, Doctor Who received three nominations (the two-part “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday”, “Girl in the Fireplace” and “School Reunion”), bookended by Battlestar Galactica (“Downloaded”) and Stargate SG-1 (“200”).

The covers for the U.S., U.K. Adult, and U.K. Children’s editions of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have been released to the public – you can catch all three at Mugglenet. If you’d like to be among the millions to receive a copy on the day of release (at least if you are in the U.S.), you can pre-order the regular and deluxe editions from Amazon.com.

According to GateWorld, a new, third series based on the Stargate universe is in the works. With the working title Stargate Universe, it currently exists only as a one-page treatment, according to exec producer Robert C. Cooper, and will be completely separate yet “connected” to the existing Stargate franchise. More will be fleshed out after principal photography wraps up on the two Stargate SG-1 movies.

The SCI FI Channel, after originally ordering only a 13-episode fourth season of Battlestar Galactica, has increased the order to a full 22 episodes, including a two-hour extended episode that will air in the 4th quarter of this year and will get a special DVD release. Across the pond, confirmation of a 4th series for Doctor Who has been release – although they are mum on whether current Doctor David Tennant is attached. The Doctor is seriously running short of regenerations…the third series begins airing on BBC One on March 31st – and should be on all the Bittorrent trackers about two hours later. High 4s all around!

Theo Dumont writes “Former Stargate SG-1 Actor and Executive Producer Travels to North Pole Location to Reprise His Role as General Jack O’Neill

LOS ANGELES, CA March 20, 2007—Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) today announced that Richard Dean Anderson will be reprising his role as General Jack O’Neill for the Studio’s upcoming Stargate: Continuum.”

Read More for the full release.

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The Official Highlander Message Board is reporting that producer Bill Panzer, one half of the producing team that did the Highlander films and movies, has passed away. The news and a tribute also appear on Adrian Paul’s website.

Rumors have been circulating that she may not return, but Emma Watson has appeared on various shows saying she will appear in the last two films and Warner Bros says “We’re extremely confident that Emma will be back for films six and seven,” although she hasn’t actually signed the contract yet. Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint have already signed. Filming is set to begin later this year. Update 3/24: Warner Brothers are announcing that Emma has now signed, so all three stars are set to appear in the last two movies.

Scott Laming writes ” I just wanted to let you know that AbeBooks just launched a contest where we are going to give a pair of SF&F fans a weekend at the Nebula Awards in New York. A pair of banquet tickets and two nights in the event hotel will go to the winner. The contest is free and open to everyone, I thought your readers might want a shot at going. All the details about the event and the contest are at the link below. Thanks and good luck =).

http://www.abebooks.com/docs/ScienceFiction/nebula -contest.shtml“

TheThunderChild writes “Radio drama in the United States ended in 1962, but has been going strong in England for decades. Including science fiction drama. The Thunder Child has just interviewed Simon Bovey, author of the 5-part serials “Voice of God” (a sonic weapon falls into the wrong hands) and “Cold Blood” (a scientist in Antarctica experiments on himself), and the short sf film, “The UnGone,” about the side-effects of matter transportation. Bovey is a great interview, with lots of insight into writing and sf. Enjoy! http://thethunderchild.com/RadioDrama/BBC7/SimonBo vey/SimonBovey.html“