Sci-Fi Storm

When Avatar destroyed box offices all over the world, James Cameron suddenly found himself the target of many lawsuits claiming that the movie ripped off their own stories. Now there is at least one less.

A U.S. District court tossed out a lawsuit filed by Elijah Schkeiban, who claimed that Avatar ripped off his novel (and a screenplay that never got produced) called Bats And Butterflies. But the judge said that the two were not substantially similar, and even after allowing Schkeiban to amend his complaint several times to provide more facts, but he never did, and now it appears that his suit is effectively dead.

Writer and director Wayne Brandenburg, who created the award winning short Blue Haired Girls and has also worked on The Guild, and The Chicago 8, is working on a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the creation of his next film, The Tuning, a feature-length sci-fi film about mind reading gone wrong. Wayne, a long time reader of Sci-Fi Storm, sent in this great article not just about the film he is trying to make, but also about the experience of using Kickstarter to fund it.

KICKSTARTING THE TUNING: A SCI-FI INDY ABOUT MIND READING GONE WRONG

by Wayne Brandenburg

This is a brief account of my experiences with crowdfunding an independent sci-fi movie with Kickstarter.com.
(continue reading…)

]This article was written last week – for some reason it never posted]

Walter Koenig, best known for his role as the original Ensign Pavel Chekov in Star Trek but also as Psi Cop Bester in Babylon 5, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday. You can see the video of the ceremony at the official web page of the HWOF.

Some may be unaware of Walter’s other contributions to science fiction however. He also made a couple of appearances in the Canadian cult SF series The Starlost as the alien Oro (complete with gold jumpsuit – see our Retro Review on the series), but he also wrote episodes for TV shows including Star Trek: The Animated Series (episode “The Infinite Vulcan”) and Land of the Lost (“The Stranger”, which introduced the Altrusian Enik). I remember being fascinated as a kid when I figured out the writer of the episode was Chekov…

Well done, Walter, and congratulations!

A cool behind the scenes video about the steampunk style used in Warehouse 13 for the artifacts and technology…and it includes an explanation of the source of the term “steampunk” from Eddie McClintock, complete with accent!
(continue reading…)

Next Monday’s episode of Warehouse 13 is a double-whammy of guest stars, after the earlier announcement of The Game‘s Pooch Hall.

Laura Innes, an Emmy-nominee for both acting (ER) and directing (The West Wing), will guest star on Syfy’s hit series Warehouse 13 this Monday, September 17 at 9PM (ET/PT).

Innes will play Emma Jinks, the mother of Agent Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore), who has been estranged from her son for two years. Steve is forced to seek his mother out when his and Claudia’s lives hinge on solving an artifact-related crisis, but in order to get to the bottom of his case, he and Emma must first make peace.

Innes, who also recently starred on NBC’s The Event and Awake, joins season four guest stars Jeri Ryan, Lindsay Wagner, Pooch Hall, Sam Huntington, Brent Spiner, Kate Mulgrew and Rene Aberjonois, among others.

Pooch Hall, who stars as football player Derwin Davis in the hit CW/BET sitcom The Game, brings both his acting and boxing talents to Syfy’s hit series Warehouse 13 as he fights his way through the Monday, September 17 episode, airing at 9PM (ET/PT).

Said Jack Kenny, Warehouse 13 executive producer: “Pooch Hall plays “Cody Bell,” an Iraq vet and small-town boxer and steel worker who becomes embroiled in artifact mayhem with Pete and Myka. Hall even jumps into the fray with Pete for not one but two exciting bouts that will leave one man fighting for his life! It’s a great episode and we’re thrilled to have Pooch in this role.”

Hall joins season four guest stars Laura Innes, Lindsay Wagner, Sam Huntington, Kate Mulgrew, Brent Spiner, Rene Aberjonois and Jeri Ryan, among others.

Warehouse 13 follows a team of government agents who work at a massive, top-secret storage facility in windswept South Dakota which houses every strange artifact, mysterious relic, fantastical object and preternatural souvenir ever collected by the U.S. government. The Warehouse’s caretaker Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek) charges Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock), Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly), Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti) and Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore) with chasing down reports of supernatural and paranormal activity in search of new objects to cache at the Warehouse, as well as helping him control the Warehouse itself.

On next Monday’s Warehouse 13, Artie’s secret may be out of the bag, but he’s no closer to understanding the consequences…watch next Monday ay 9/8c!
(continue reading…)

Variety reports that Sonar Entertainment has acquired the rights to Terry Brooks long-running bestseller Shannara fantasy series and plans to adapt it for television in partnership with Farah Films.

Plans are to start the first season based on [asin=0345285549]The Elfstones of Shannara[/asin], the second book of the [asin=0345453751]original trilogy[/asin] (with The Sword of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara).

No distribution outlet has been signed yet.

Warner Bros had previously owned the rights and planned to adapt a movie directed by Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), but the rights reverted in 2010.

The Shannara stories are based hundreds of years in the future in a post-apocalyptic Earth that has reverted to medieval times and in which magic has re-emerged. The 20th book, [asin=0345523474]Wards of Faerie[/asin], was just released and is the first of a new trilogy, The Dark Legacy of Shannara.

In case you missed it (like I apparently did), the short-lived Fox series (do we say that too much? 🙂 ) Terra Nova comes to [asin=B004LROMS4]DVD[/asin] today!

The DVD set includes 4 discs for all 11 episodes plus bonus features including deleted scenes, a gag real, and more! Apparently, mysteriously no Blu-ray release is planned at this time…

The show was good, but was likely too expensive to continue due to the massive visual effects, and an agreement couldn’t be reached on a second cheaper season. But that doesn’t mean the story ended – a motion comic will continue the series at terranovastory.com, which appears to be for purchasers of the discs…so order your discs today (and help us out if you use the above links!)

In the season finale of Lost Girl, Kenzi and Bo are preparing for a battle against the Garuda – but a house guest is getting annoyed…tune in Friday at 10/9c on Syfy for the finale! And expect more Lost Girl in 2013!
(continue reading…)