Sci-Fi Storm

It’s been a while since we heard news, but things are again moving forward for The Hobbit, with Warner Bros. taking over world wide theatrical and video distribution of both parts, while MGM retains international television licensing. In the process, it is reported that WB will foot the bill for the production – which is estimated in the $500 million range.

This is hopefully the last hurdle as MGM escapes bankruptcy and the long-dwelling epic production can get moving. Hopefully we’ll hear some final casting announcements (Ian McKellan still isn’t confirmed, and I’m hearing rumors of others returning although how I’m not sure) and production start can be firmly scheduled for the Spring.

At last! The complete Star Wars movie saga will be available on Blu-ray in September of this year – the exact date isn’t set yet, but pre-orders are already available. It will be offered in three versions – [sfs=1099]The Original Trilogy[/sfs], [sfs=1100]The Prequel Trilogy[/sfs], and [sfs=1098]The Complete Saga[/sfs]. The latter of which will also include 3 additional discs, with 30 hours of additional materials including never before seen footage and delete scenes!
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Merlin‘s back on Syfy tomorrow night (January 7th) at 10PM ET with it’s third season, and Merlin and Arthur are back in Camelot…and so is Morgana.

It’s still a long way off from hitting the airwaves still, but /Film has some of the first images from the Fox/Dreamworks series Terra Nova, being produced by Steven Spielberg.

Terra Nova stars Jason O’Mara (Life On Mars) as Jim Shannon, the father of a family who travel into the prehistoric past to escape the doom of civilization. From the press release:

From executive producers Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, Brannon Braga (24, “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and David Fury (“Lost,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) comes an epic family adventure 85 million years in the making.
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The Torchwood team is getting bigger. Michael Ausiello broke the news that Alex Havins (All My Children) is joining the cast as a regular, playing Ester Katusi, a CIA Watch Analyst, and will reportedly have a crush on Rex, played by Mekhi Phifer. In addition, Dichen Lachman (Sierra, Dollhouse) will guest on the season premiere, although her role hasn’t been specified, other than working for the CIA.

Seems the CIA is going to be involved a lot…

10th Doctor David Tennant and girlfriend actress Georgia Moffett are engaged to to be married, with a wedding planned for New Years Day 2012. The two met on the set of Doctor Who during Tennant’s third year, where Moffatt played the titular and ironic role of “The Doctor’s Daughter”, also known as Jenny. Moffett is in fact the daughter of Peter Davison, the 5th Doctor, with whom Tennant appeared in the 2007 Children In Need special short episode, “Timecrash”. Davison has already given his blessing, along with Moffett’s mother, actress Sandra Dickinson (best known in the genre perhaps as Trillian from The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy mini-series). Davison and Dickinson split in 1994.

I found the headline from this article a bit humorous though: “Harry Potter’ Star David Tennant Engaged to Georgia Moffett” As popular as Harry is, I’m not really sure Tennant’s popularity really stems from the limited screen time he had in one movie… 🙂

Little is known about the plot and no studio has been approached yet, but Neill Blomkamp’s next sci-fi film, Elysium, has some star power. Jodie Foster has just committed to join the film, with Matt Damon and Sharlto Copley (who starred in Blomcamp’s District 9) already attached.

I already tweeted about this, but it bears repeating – if you are planning for your DVR to automatically record the final five episodes of Caprica on Syfy (in a single block starting at 6PM ET Tuesday), double check your recording schedule. Several data sources, including Tribune (used by TiVo), do not have the episodes marked as “new” or “first run”, so if your settings for Caprica only include new episodes, it may not record be default. This may be due to the data having the originally scheduled air date…

Just found out that Anne Francis, who starred alongside Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon and Robby The Robot in the classic Forbidden Planet, passed away Sunday at the age of 80 from complications due to pancreatic cancer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

I never really watched the Ghost Hunters shows until the live Halloween episode – now the whole family is hooked on them. But it’s a good idea not to watch them right before bed 🙂 Some are just creepy.

I got a rough cut of the upcoming season premiere of Ghost Hunters International, which airs this Wednesday, January 5th, at 9PM ET, where they investigate Kronborg Castle in Denmark, the inspiration for the location of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
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