Sci-Fi Storm

Given all the doubts about when production will begin, or even who the director is, this is a good sign: images from the Shire, or that which will be the set for the eventually upcoming Hobbit features. Looks like the same attention to detail is being used…

Following up on the new director for Logan’s Run, there are now reports that Alex Garland is negotiating with Warner Bros.. Alex wrote 28 Days Later… and Sunshine, as well as the screenplay for Halo, the ill-fated big screen adaptation of the popular Microsoft franchise.

Doctor Who seems to be all over the news web this week so far, but not because Matt Smith’s debut is reaching it’s conclusion in a couple weeks. First, the UK blogosphere was abuzz about the shower scene in “The Lodger”, this past Saturday’s UK episode (US viewers will see it in a few more weeks), where the Doctor loses his towel momentarily and may have shown his “sonic screwdriver” – but the BBC denies anything was visible because Smith was wearing something to “protect his modesty.” Before that had even died down, co-star Karen Gillan struck back at critics about her short skirts, saying “Amy’s not a schoolgirl, she’s 21, pretty much the same age as me, and we all wear stuff like this.” And finally, Christopher Eccleston finally revealed why he left the show after just one turn as the Doctor – he “didn’t enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in. I thought if I stay in this job, I’m going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong.” No mention of what in particular he didn’t like.

The making of The Hobbit could be as much a saga as the story itself. With the departure of Guillermo del Toro as director of the project, there is a void to fill – if production ever gets moving again. Currently at the top of the void-fill rumor list David Yates, who has directed the last 4 Harry Potter films, including the yet-to-be-released two-part finale. Can he move from one epic series to another?

A new exhibition is set to open in Seattle at the Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum the weekend of October 22nd-24th, 2010 which will feature exhibits from both the original and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series.
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Just a few store updates: [sfs=1028]Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica[/sfs] gets its Blu-Ray release on July 27th; also on July 27th will be the second half of Season 1 of Stargate Universe on [sfs=1031]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1032]DVD[/sfs]; the final full season of Heroes is out on [sfs=1030]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1029]DVD[/sfs] on August 3rd; and the next three classic Doctor Who episodes are [sfs=1025]”The Creature From The Pit”[/sfs], [sfs=1026]”The King’s Demons”[/sfs], and [sfs=1027]”The Planet Of Fire”[/sfs], all out September 7th;

Doctor Who‘s David Tennant has joined the cast of the Fright Night remake, and will play the role of Peter Vincent – although unlike the Roddy McDowell role in the original of a late-night horror show host, he will be a Vegas magician with a horror-show act who claims to be a vampire expert. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass) also is joining the cast as Evil Ed, the friend of primary character Charlie. They join Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) as Charlie, Toni Collette (The United States Of Tara) as Charlie’s mother, and Colin Farrell (Crazy Heart) as the creepy neighbor Charlie believes is a vampire. In the meantime, Babylon 5 alum and stuntwoman Patricia Tallman is hoping to at least get a cameo in the movie, and is asking fans to join her Facebook fan page to show support.

Comic-Con has become such a media event these days, with producers making major use of it for publicity for their TV shows. But now it seems that show outside the typical comic/SF/Fantasy genres are looking for some exposure time as well. But these shows do have some ties CBS’s upcoming Hawaii Five-0 features Lost‘s Daniel Dae Kim, Battlestar Galactica‘s Grace Park, and Buffy/Angel alum James Marsters; Castle of course has Nathan Fillion of Firefly, and Sons Of Anarchy have Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and Katey Sagal (Futurama), so maybe its not so far-fetched.

I haven’t heard from too many people that think Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was great cinema – the plot was far more fantastical than the previous efforts and the action situations even more so – but George Lucas and Steven Spielberg may be betting that the audience is willing to forgive as they are working on a new script for Indy 5, and Harrison Ford is on “stand-by” for filming next year. Reportedly they will try and get back to Indy’s cinematic roots and avoid the CGI frenzy of the last movie. And this will definitely be the last movie of the franchise (at least with Ford, as who knows…) Are you willing to forgive? I think after two really great movies sandwiching mediocre movie, I can forgive a stinker…maybe it’s the inverse of the Star Trek movie curse…Updated 6/11: According to a tweet from producer Frank Marshall, they are NOT ready and the rumor is false.

Breaking news – U.S. premium network Starz has acquired U.S. television rights to the next installment of Torchwood, set to run for 10 episodes and air in both the U.K. and U.S. in Summer 2011. The new series is a co-production between Starz, BBC Wales, and BBC Worldwide. Cast members John Barrowman and Eve Myles will return, and new cast members will be added “reflecting the more international scope of the series.” Russell T. Davies will also remain as show-runner.
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