Sci-Fi Storm

Deadline is reporting that Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica ) is in negotiations to star as Dahl, a Nordic mercenary tracking Riddick (Vin Diesel), in the upcoming Chronicles of Riddick sequel.

Vin Diesel and David Twohy have been trying for over 3 years to get a third movie made and things were moving forward recently, but production had to be halted for a couple months recently to deal with budget issues (sounds really familiar lately…)

NBC released a few details on pilots and pick-ups late Friday, and of the five pilots they mentioned, four of them have a science fiction/fantasy elements (some may have been announced earlier but are re-affirmed):

The Munsters: A re-invention of the classic TV series, from executive producers Brian Fuller (Heroes), Bryan Singer (House M.D., X-Men: First Class), and John Wirth (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles). We first caught wind of this in November. Universal Television is producing.

Isabel: Based Le Monde du Charlotte, a French Canadian series, is a comedy about a pretty typical middle-class family, with middle-class issues – except their young girl turns out to be magical as well. Marcia Gay Harden (Damages) has recently joined the cast, likely as the mother, while Isabel will be played by relatively-new Sophia Schloss (Grimm). Howard Busgang and Tom Nursall (Single White Spenny) are the writers and exec producers, with Todd Holland (Malcolm in the Middle) directing/exec producing, and Karey Burke (Free Agents), Aaron Kaplan (Terra Nova) and original series producer Jocelyn Deschenes all joining as executive producers. Universal Television, Kapital Entertainment and Sphere Media are producing.

Beautiful People: An ensemble “what if” drama set “10 minutes in the future” (shades of Max Headroom?) “where families of mechanical human beings exist to service the human population — until some of the mechanicals begin to “awaken.”” Sounds a little like a Cylon backstory? Anyways, they describe it as “low tech, high drama” which might keep the special effects budget down. James Murray (Primeval, Chaos) will play an attorney fighting for android rights, while Patrick Heusinger (Black Swan) plays an android who suddenly finds emotions. Michael McDonald (Cougar Town) is the writer/executive producer; Robert M. Sertner (Revenge) will exec produce and Stephen Hopkins (Californication) will direct. Universal Television and ABC Studios is producing.

Save Me: A religious-tinged single-camera comedy about a woman who believes she has begun channeling God after suffering an accident, comes from Sony Television and Original Films. John Scot Shepherd (Life or Something Like It) is writing/exec producing, with Scott Winant (Breaking Bad) directing/exec producing, plus executive producers Neal Moritz and Vivian Cannon (The Big C).

The Thunder Child is pleased to announce our latest article from James H. Burns,

Growing Up With Flash Gordon: A Tribute to Al Williamson

This is a new one…with all the turmoil regarding the director and host of the upcoming Oscars, the Academy has produced its own trailer, which…well, I don’t want to spoil it… 🙂

The long- and highly-anticipated live action production of the well-known anime feature, Akira (and I mean long – we first reported about it just about 10 years ago), has been shut down by Warner Bros at least for a couple weeks, to see if the producers can shrink the budget even further.

The budget was already cut down to about $90 million when current director Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax) took over, where previously it was looking close to $200 million. But it appears the studio doesn’t believe the cast can draw the numbers still. The only actor currently signed on is Garrett Hedlund, who only saw moderate success with Tron: Legacy, while actors Ken Watanabe (Inception), Kristin Stewart (the Twilight saga) and Helena Bonham Carter (the Harry Potter franchise, Dark Shadows) in negotiations, but apparently that is not necessarily the star power they want for the budget. It is believed if they can cut another $20-$30 million, however, it may move forward.

Hot on the heels of the earlier announcement, another British actor is scored for Star Trek 2: Benedict Cumberbatch, who’s been pretty hot lately. After starring in the British mini-series Sherlock (with more episodes currently airing in the UK), he scored roles in The War Horse and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and is playing two rules in the upcoming The Hobbit films – the voice of the Necromancer and Smaug the Dragon.

Deadline reports that Cumberbatch will be playing a lead role, but nothing more. Could he be a villain? Khan?

Syfy plans to make a mess of the Earth this month with a pair of Saturday original movies.

In Collision Earth, premiering Saturday, January 14 at 9PM (ET/PT), a solar flare knocks Mercury out of its orbit and onto a collision course with Earth. With global devastation quickly approaching, the secret military initiative, “Project 7,” must be activated to save the world from disaster. Collision Earth stars Kirk Acevedo (Fringe) and Diane Farr (Californication), and is a production of Cinetel Films.

In Swamp Volcano, premiering Saturday, January 28 at 9PM (ET/PT), oil rig drillers in the Gulf of Mexico accidentally hit an underground lava flow, causing a massive volcano to form in Miami. Now a vulcanologist and her sister attempt to blow the whistle on an illegal oil drilling scheme before it sets off the eruption that will destroy civilization. Swamp Volcano stars Rachel Hunter (The Benchwarmers) and Brad Dourif (Lord of the Rings) and is a production of Bullet Films.

In a cross-franchise, cross-ocean move, Noel Clarke, who played the recurring role of Rose Tyler’s boyfriend Mickey Smith on Doctor Who, is joining the cast of Star Trek 2 in an unnamed role, but the character is described as “a family man with a wife and young daughter.”

Clarke joins fellow British actors Alice Eve (She’s Out of My League) and Simon Pegg (returning as Scotty).

Star Trek 2 is scheduled for release on May 17th, 2013.

Actor (and Tolkien aficionado) Sir Christopher Lee, who turns 90 in May, gave a video Christmas message to his fans via YouTube, in two parts, which you can see below.

In part one, he talks about his roles of 2011, including Hugo and The Hobbit.

Unfortunately you can see that he has become weaker with age, and he even mentions that he doesn’t take long parts any more as he doesn’t have the energy. About the The Hobbit films, he says, “I hope to live to see.”
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Ghost Hunters returns for an 8th season on Syfy January 18th, and we’ve got a special 9 minute preview of the upcoming season and a look back at some memorable moments!
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