Sci-Fi Storm

One day to Arkfall!

Stars Grant Bowler and Stephanie Leonidas took the time to speak with the press to answer some more questions ahead of the debut of the show. Catch what they had to say. Don’t forget to tune in tomorrow night at 9/8c on Syfy for the two hour premiere!

And scroll all the way to the end to see the funny mock commercial by star and “teen sensation” Jesse Rath done for Spanish-language network mun2, advertising a “learn Castithan” book and CD set…what’s funny is I think David J. Peterson, who created the language, could probably make a learning series that big…
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Arkfall in 4 days…

Two new videos for you. In the first, David J. Peterson talks about creating the languages for all the Votan races. Then Julie Benz talks about taking classes in those languages on VH-1’s Big Morning Buzz…
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Syfy announced last night that it will begin production on the pilot of High Moon, an adaptation of John Christopher’s best-selling novel [asin=0020426917]The Lotus Caves[/asin]. Along with a creative team featuring Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies) and Jim Danger Gray (Pushing Daisies, Hannibal), Universal Cable Productions will serve as the studio.

Said Mark Stern, President, Original Content, Syfy, and Co-Head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions: “In the hands of visionary Bryan Fuller and this outstanding production team, High Moon will be an imaginative, groundbreaking story featuring complex characters in a high-stakes drama. This represents our commitment to quality programming that redefines the genre and we’re excited to begin production.”

High Moon is an imaginative, out-of-this-world series exploring what happens when the countries of Earth establish colonies to mine the Moon’s resources and discover a new form of life. Chaos erupts in a genuinely emotional, humorously thrilling and always unexpected fashion as the people of the Moon race to uncover this life form’s powerful secrets. Co-executive producer/writer: Jim Danger Gray (Pushing Daisies). Executive producer/writer: Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies). The pilot is written by Gray from a story by Fuller and Gray. Executive producers: Cary Granat & Steve Granat of Reel FX and Don Murphy & Susan Montford of Angry Films (Real Steel, Transformers). Studio: UCP.

For anyone that thinks Syfy wanted out of the space-based science fiction show business, think again: At the upfronts they announced a bunch of new shows in development, and many are space-based! Here is a list with synopses (borrowed from THR), some of which we’ve talked about before. Note: These are in development (like Blake’s 7), and not all are likely to make it to series:

Orion
The space opera centers on Orion, an adventurous female relic hunter who tracks down valuable artifacts while trying to piece together her past. Set amid an intergalactic war pitting humans against a terrifying alien race, Orion must decide whether to use her abilities to save herself or commit to the cause and unearth long hidden artifacts that could free all of humanity from a horrible fate. Ron Milbauer and Terri Hughes Burton (Alphas) will write and executive produce, with George Krstic and Ryuhei Kitamura on board as co-executive producers. F.J. Desanto will serve as a supervising producer on the UCP project.
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Another announcement from the upfronts – and there may be more as the night goes on (assuming I last long enough): Being Human has been renewed for a fourth season, which is a good thing, considering how Season 3 ended 🙂

Could we yet see an adaptation of Ringworld, SF writer Larry Niven’s most well known novel? It appears so – according to EW, Michael Perry (The River, Paranormal Activity 2) is adapting it for a mini-series, and Syfy just confirmed it at the up-fronts taking place right now in New York City. Ringworld follows some explorers from several races who investigate – and crash land on – a gigantic artificial structure orbiting a star that has the surface area of millions of Earths.

In addition, EW says another classic novel, Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End is also looking at a mini-series adaptation executive produced by Michael DeLuca (The Social Network), and is about a peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war and turns the planet into a near-utopia. However, I have not seen a confirmation on this yet. [Update: This was confirmed in a press release]

Now we have an idea of what Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium is about, through the trailer you can watch below.

Elysium appears to be an orbital station, similar to a Ringworld/Halo construct, although in some scenes it looks open and others more like the old “wheel in space” space stations. On board live the rich elite, while those left on earth suffer in poverty on a devastated Earth…but it looks like the peace of Elysium won’t last long. Reminds me a bit of “The Cloud Minders” in Star Trek…

In another I’m-not-dead-yet production, Disney’s remake of it’s own 1980 critical failure The Black Hole, which we last caught wind of in 2009, is still a work in progress. Scribe Jon Spaihts, who wrote the pre-Lindelof script of Prometheus and is also attached to a remake of The Mummy, is now working on the script previously written by Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans).

Joseph Kosinski (TRON Legacy and the upcoming Oblivion) is still attached to direct.

I’ve been waiting for a Blake’s 7 remake for, well, since I first saw Blake’s 7 – heck, I advocated a remake back in 2001. Last year things started to look more real for it actually happening when Georgiaville TV took to the reins and started development for Syfy.

Today it was was being shopped around at MIPTV in Cannes for international outlets, but what it perhaps notable is who was doing it – FreemantleMedia, best known for various reality and competition series bu whose name seems to be popping up in everything lately.

What we did get from the pitch synopsis is a few more details…Blake is a former soldier and had a wife, but she is deceased (no mention of a wife was made in the original), and it is set in the year 2136. The plan is for 13 episodes.

Here is a full synopsis – and perhaps the first time I’ve seen the word “amazeballs” used in a business setting…
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It’s just a week away…but here’s one more making-of featurette for Defiance, this time discussing how the game (which debuted last week) and the show will interact.