Sci-Fi Storm

One of the early announcements from Comic-Con is that Guillermo del Toro, who recently left The Hobbit due to the constant delays, is making a new, scary version of Haunted Mansion for Disney, based on the park attraction – of which del Toro is a fan. There will be no connection to the previous version (an Eddie Murphy comedy vehicle), but it promises to be REAL scary. “It’s going to be a thrill ride for the whole family but it’s definitely going to be scary,” he said. “(Walt) Disney is one of the creators of some of the scariest images in my childhood. People forget that he not only made sweet images but also images of nightmare. We need to honor that side of the legacy.” Why would he leave The Hobbit (a potential gold mine, but in stuck in bankruptcy with MGM) for this? Well, it wasn’t just this movie but several projects that were in “deep freeze”, but this one he believes will need special attention and a long development cycle to do right. Hear hear…someone who won’t just stamp out something and depend on the name…

It’s time for one of the best weekends of the year: Comic-Con! MakingOf will be streaming live exclusive interviews and breaking news from the San Diego Convention Center. Tune in tomorrow to our Ustream page to check out the live feed.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/makingof-live-comic-con-2010

In the mean time, we have a new blog post to give viewers a taste of what to expect at Comic-Con 2010.

http://blog.makingof.com/2010/07/comic-con-2010-is-almost-here/

Hope you get your fill of Comic-Con this weekend!

A limited-edition Dollhouse comic book will be included in both the [sfs=1040]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1041]DVD[/sfs] releases of Dollhouse: Season 2, due out on October 12th. The comic, titled Epitaphs, will explore the time period between the main show and the Epitaph 1 and Epitaph 2 episodes. Here is the synopsis:

Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, joined by longtime Buffy the Vampire Slayer artist Cliff Richards, take us on an intricate trip through the precise moment when the Active technology went global, and how the protagonists from Epitaph One and Two narrowly avoided death, and worse. Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen wrote the Epitaph episodes of Dollhouse Seasons One and Two, and currently write for the Starz series Spartacus. This is their first work in comics. Artist Cliff Richards has drawn more Joss Whedon-related comics than any other artist, including issues of Buffy Season Eight.

BBC will release the debut series of the 11th Doctor Matt Smith on November 9th, and to coincide with the change it will also be released on [sfs=1038]Blu-ray Disc[/sfs] in addition to [sfs=1039]standard DVD[/sfs]. The final episode of the 5th series airs this Saturday in the U.S. on BBC America.

I will preface this by saying it comes from the British tabloid The Sun, but then again they did first post that 9th Doctor Christopher Eccleston wanted out after his first: “Pals” report that Matt Smith wants to quit so he can go into Hollywood movies. This is already being denied by co-star Karen Gillan, but we are talking about something that is still a year off, and who knows how the situation will change?

First among the rumors, there is the possibility that David Tennant could take over the apparently vacant role of Bruce Banner/The Hulk in The Avengers; now there is a rumor, although not necessarily a high confidence one yet, that 7th Doctor Sylvester McCoy has been cast in a role in The Hobbit, possibly in the role of Bilbo Baggins – a role he lost out to Ian Holm for The Lord Of The Rings. Lending credence to this is the fact that McCoy is 12 years younger than Holm, and the role is for a younger (relatively, in halfling years) Bilbo…

Producer Joseph Mallozzi posted on his blog that there WILL be a crossover episode between the Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe crews, with two of the cast members of the former signing on. Which cast members? He isn’t saying, as Syfy has that joy all to themselves.

Two to one that Rodney McKay is making appearance.

As we are closing in the 10th year anniversary of my flight of fancy called Sci-Fi Storm, I’m still trying to figure out what to do…is there interest in a full blown forum site for Sci-Fi in general? If there is, I’d gladly foot the bill to get a decent such system like vBulletin vs. a free solution like phpBB – but it can only work if we can get good discussions going. Do we have the interest?

Lately there hasn’t been much other than regurgitated news, mainly because of time constraints and also that I haven’t exactly been getting much in the way of review material either…although I’ve been planning a Retro Review of [sfs=859]The Starlost[/sfs] for a while…

This is neat – Improv Everywhere is a NYC performance arts group that does improv around NYC, often filming it. Sometimes they recreate film scenes, and this time it’s the scene between Leia and Vader from Star Wars – on the NYC subway. Love the book, too…could use one of those.

Just an update on the latest of the Hobbit saga – the production, not the story: Peter Jackson is reportedly meeting with actors this week in LA, with NY and the U.K. on the schedule, even though the production has not yet received a green light from studios WB and MGM due to MGM’s financial situation. WB is reportedly negotiating with MGM – which really means they are negotiating with creditors who probably see this as MGM’s only major franchise…