Sci-Fi Storm

Syfy has signed actress Valerie Cruz, who most recently starred on ABC’s Off The Map along with stints on True Blood, Dexter and The Dresden Files, as a recurring guest star on its newest original series Alphas, it was announced today.

Valerie Cruz will portray Special Agent Kathy Sullivan, an employee of the Department of Defense whose exact role and intentions are a mystery. She will first appear in the third episode of the series entitled “Cause and Effect” premiering Monday, July 25, 2011 at 10:00 PM ET/PT.

Cruz is well known for portraying multiple complex roles on the small screen over the last decade including Grace Santiago on FX’s Nip/Tuck and Sylvia Prado on Showtime’s Dexter. She also starred in the Syfy original series The Dresden Files. Most recently she portrayed Dr. Zita Alvarez in ABC’s midseason entry Off the Map. She is represented by David Rose of Innovative Artists and Pearl Hanan.

Alphas follows a clandestine group of average everyday citizens with amazing abilities operating within the U.S. Department of Defense. Led by preeminent neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn), the team investigates cases that point to others with abilities like theirs, and as they work against the clock to solve this new brand of crime, they must prevent their own personality differences and disparate backgrounds from interfering with their missions. Alphas premieres on Monday, July 11th at 10/9c, behind the season premieres of Eureka and Warehouse 13.

So, that Torchwood web series starring Eliza Dushku that ties in to the upcoming Torchwood: Miracle Day? Seems it is a bit more than a web series (can we even call it that if its only available via iTunes for a charge? Perhaps the term “micro-series” is better?) – it’s actually an episodic interactive game! It will be released as “10 3-minute chapters” (a 3 minute game?), sold in bundles of 3 for 99 cents or all 10 for $2.99. Still not sure how they package 10 chapters in bundles of 3…but here is a bit more:

“Torchwood: Web of Lies” is an episodic interactive experience for iOS that fuses together motion comic and gameplay elements to tell an original and digitally exclusive Torchwood story. Players will participate in a parallel storyline to “Torchwood: Miracle Day” that includes lead characters Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper – voiced by John Barrowman and Eve Myles.

“Torchwood: Web of Lies” runs alongside weekly premieres of “Torchwood: Miracle Day”, providing fans with a way to engage in the world of Torchwood between episodes. It reveals a past day in the lives of Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper – a day they’ve both forgotten. The events of that day fuel a modern day conspiracy-laced treasure hunt, as Holly Mokri, voiced by Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse,” “Tru Calling,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”), labors to uncover the secrets of Miracle Day. Each week a new episode unlocks, allowing players to access another piece of original motion comic narrative and game which ties into and extends plot developments of the show, as well as providing new twists in its own narrative.

So, it is apparently animated (so I guess we won’t see Eliza…), and runs only on iOS, so I guess I won’t be seeing it for a while…and again makes me think it can’t be called a “web” series.

Like yesterday’s preview for Warehouse 13, here is a sneak peek preview for the upcoming season of Eureka, which also debuts July 11th at 8/7c. And don’t forget the upcoming season includes returning guest stars Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton, plus special guest star Stan Lee!
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Are you excited for the return of Warehouse 13 yet? Here’s a short little look at what’s coming up this season including another appearance of Fargo (Neil Grayston) and new agent Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore), which starts at 9/8c on July 11th on Syfy.
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Deadline has an excellent interview with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard about their 25 year partnership with Imagine Entertainment. As part of that, they ask some questions about the ambitious project to turn Stephen King’s The Dark Tower into three movies and two TV series! And they also say why the reports of a budget cut won’t hurt so bad…first, they were hoping to fast track the production, but Universal balked so they are going with a “more traditional timetable”, which is why it was pushed back, but it still could get done faster than usual.

When asked about the budget Grazer responded, “I’m producing it with Akiva Goldsman, who wrote it to be sensitive to cost and is rewriting it to be more so. Without putting a number on it, the cuts aren’t that deep or that radical.”

So we haven’t heard the last of The Dark Tower.

Peter Jackson revealed on Facebook a couple more castings for The Hobbit: Evangeline Lilly (Lost will play Tauriel, a Sylvan elf created for the movie, and Barry Humphries (best known for one of his alter egos, Dame Edna) will play the Goblin King.

About Tauriel and Lilly, Jackson said, “Her name means ‘daughter of Mirkwood’ and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.) What is not a secret is how talented and compelling an actress Evangeline is; we are thrilled and excited she will be the one to bring our first true Sylvan Elf to life.

“I’m also highly excited that Barry Humphries will be portraying the Goblin King, in much the way Andy Serkis created Gollum. Barry is perhaps best known for his business and social connections as the long-time manager of Dame Edna Everage. He has also been an ardent supporter of the rather misunderstood and unfairly maligned Australian politician, Sir Les Patterson. However, in his spare time, Barry is also a fine actor, and we’re looking forward to seeing him invest the Goblin King with the delicate sensitivity and emotional depth this character deserves.”

TNT’s debut of Falling Skies is off to a great start, pulling in 5.9 million viewers overall for its debut last night – the best cable premiere so far this year, and the best since TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles debuted last summer to 7.6 million pairs of eyes. Whether it keeps those viewers or not – a common problem among recent genre dramas – will be seen starting next week when it moves to its normal 10PM Eastern/Central time slot. I think it can…

In anticipation of the the release of the Blu-ray [sfs=1121]Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Extended Edition[/sfs] on June 28th, Warner Home Video is having a “Middle-earth Midnight Madness” event starting at noon on June 27th at Best Buy’s West Los Angeles location, 11301 W. Pico Boulevard, which will include a costume contest, cast members, and more…and the winner of the costume contest can win an awesome prize, a VIP “Tour of Middle-earth” – an all-expense-paid trip to New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown), courtesy of Air New Zealand and Weta Workshop. Read below for the full press release.

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Deadline is reporting that Benedict Cumberbatch, who stars as the title character in Steven Moffat’s BAFTA-winning retelling of Sherlock and is already lending his voice to the character of the Necromancer (a.k.a. Sauron) in The Hobbit, will play a second role in the films with a tad more physical presence – he will also portray the dragon Smaug via motion capture. Cumberbatch has been very busy as of late, with supporting roles in the upcoming Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and War Horse films, and an expected second series of Sherlock also on the horizon.

Also announced today is the casting of the role of Bard, which has gone to Luke Evans, who previously played Apollo in the recent Clash of the Titans and will play Aramis in the upcoming The Three Musketeers and Zeus in The Immortals.

Just a reminder: the new TNT series Falling Skies debuts this Sunday at 9PM ET/8PM CT, and then will air at 10PM ET each Sunday after that.

If you want a quick glimpse of what to expect from the show, read out “First Look” article from May.