Sci-Fi Storm

The (hopefully) first volume of Bablyon 5: The Lost Tales will be released on July 31st – and is now available for pre-orders from Amazon at $16.99 (price subject to change, but if it goes lower before release you’ll get the lower price). Follow the link or check out our complete Babylon 5 Store. This release features two stories with Sheridan, Lochley and Galen.

After reports surfaced that Sam Raimi (Spider-Man 3) had been talking with New Line Cinema about taking the reins of The Hobbit, he confirmed with SCI FI Wire that he talked with studio head Robert Shaye about it, but it was only one conversation. He also confirmed that he would only sign for the film if it was OK with Peter Jackson, who is involved in a lawsuit against New Line.

To celebrate the release of the upcoming Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer on June 15th, 20th Century Fox would like self-described experts on the Silver Surfer help define Who is the Silver Surfer? on their wiki website.

The SCI FI Channel has confirmed that it has picked up Series 3 of Doctor Who to be aired starting in July. This means a U.S. DVD release would be likely in October. The 4th episode of the series, “Daleks in Manhattan”, aired in the U.K. this past weekend.

A new book entitled The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film is sure to refresh memories – and perhaps repair a few faulty ones belonging to the people involved. The book recounts interviews given by the principals involved in the making of Star Wars – A New Hope, including the studio budget cuts, casting, and location filming. Also things like Han Solo as a green, gilled monster. No mention on the fabled “9 films”.

The BBC Doctor Who web site conducted a poll on who were the scariest villains in the new Doctor Who, and toping the list are the Daleks – no surprise there, as hey have always been at the top of such lists. Second were the gas-masked zombies from “The Empty Child”. In general I agree with the list, although I’d perhaps move the Ood up a bit. And the Daleks return this weekend, apparently invading Manhattan…

Christopher Tolkien has been continuing his father’s work, sifting through piles and piles of notes and stories written over many years and editing them into publishable works, but they were not for the average reader, expecting something like The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, being very difficult to read, disjointed, and sometimes conflicting with other works. Not so with The Children of Hurin, originally started by J.R.R. Tolkien 99 years ago, which follows the story of of Hurin, and his children Turin and Nienor. The story has appeared in various forms in previous releases, but this is a newly edited version making it much more readable. CNN has a consise review of the novel. Update: And rumors of a movie are already out. Of course, this is just for the option to make it, which in many cases never get exercised.

MGM has released a list of SF titles coming straight to DVD. Mentioned are the two Stargate SG-1 releases “Continuum” and “Ark of Truth”, but no release dates. In addition, another Species sequel called Species: The Awakening, The WarGames sequel we’ve mentioned before almost 2 years ago called Wargames: The Dead Code (no idea if the plot survives), and a film based on the Showtime series Dead Like Me.

Movie Seals Productions writes “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

World Premiere of RECON 2022 at Sci-Fi London Film Festival

MONTREAL, CANADA, April 17, 2007 ? Movie Seals Productions is delighted to announce that their latest sci-fi/action film RECON 2022: The Mezzo Incident, the sequel to the award winning RECON 2020 : the Caprini Massacre, will have its World Premiere at the renowned Sci-Fi London Festival in England on May 5th, 2007.

Directed by Christian Viel ( Evil Breed : the Legend of Samhain, Recon 2020, Deaden), the film stars Anderson Bradshaw (Gothika), Heidi Hawkins (Evil Breed), Deke Richards (Deaden), Carmen Echeverria (Undressed), with special appearances by Berge Garabedian (aka JoBlo) of joblo.com fame, John Fallon (aka Arrrow in the Head ) and scream queen Suzi Lorraine.”

Read More for the rest of the release. Note that there were some character translation problems as I think it came from a Word document. I think I’ve fixed them.

(continue reading…)

There are two remakes on the horizon. First, the SCI FI Channel is bringing back Flash Gordon to series TV, starring Eric Johnson (Smallville) in the title role. More surprising, and more daring, is a remake of the classic The Day The Earth Stood Still, and is is reported that Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) will direct for Fox.