Sci-Fi Storm

Starz has reportedly canceled a second season of it’s freshman Arthurian fantasy drama Camelot after disappointing ratings (averaging a little better than 900,000 viewers, steady by not good). It did have the unfortunate luck of debuting against the heavily buzzed Game of Thrones), which enjoyed closer to 3 times the audience.

Although I liked the series, it seemed like I was always waiting for Merlin (Joseph Fiennes) to finally whip up some magic, or something a little more profound from Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower), and occasionally getting confused between Igraine (Claire Forlani) and Morgan (Eva Green) even without Morgan’s disguises.

Update: Hearing that scheduling conflicts may have also played a part in the decision, and that ratings had actually risen towards the end, with 1.5 million viewers in the finale.

World War Z, the post-Zombiepocalypse movie based on the [asin=0307346617]book by Max Brooks[/asin] being directed by Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace), penned by J. Michael Straczynski and Matthew Michael Carnahan (Lions for Lambs) and starring Brad Pitt, reportedly lost two of its other stars: Matthew Fox (Lost) and Ed Harris (The Abyss) – just as production is starting. Fox reportedly has a scheduling conflict (he is also scheduled to star in I, Alex Cross with Tyler Perry), but no word on why Harris has backed out. Auditions have already begun for replacements.

World War Z is a historical account of first-hand experiences of the zombie crisis garnered by the “author” as he travels to gather information for a United Nations report a decade after the war.

Syfy just announced that Dichen Lachman, who starred as Sierra on Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse on Fox and appears in the upcoming Torchwood: Miracle Day, as well as guest appearances on Hawaii Five-0 and NCIS: Los Angeles, will play Izumi, a reclusive, centuries-old vampire royal whose unexpected return to Boston’s vampire society throws main character Aidan (Sam Witwer) and the city into disarray. Being Human begins production on its second season this month in Montreal and will air in 2012.

Being Human became an instant hit for Syfy when it premiered in January 2011 averaging 1.8 million viewers making it the channel’s most successful winter season scripted series launch in 6 years.

In the series, leading everyday lives is a lot harder than it looks for three supernatural roommates – vampire Aidan (Sam Witwer), ghost Sally (Meaghan Rath) and werewolf Josh (Sam Huntington) – who share their secrets and a Boston brownstone. Together they learn that there are fates worse than death and more to life – and the afterlife – than most “normal” humans could ever imagine.