Sci-Fi Storm

With the growing popularity of Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Walt Disney World, it is perhaps not surprising that they are adding a fifth weekend this year. And maybe not surprising that the theme is “Join the Rebellion”, which will likely tie in Star Wars Rebels. But what is surprising that perhaps the biggest part of the weekends, the Hyperspace Hoopla that happens at the end of the day and features a “dance off” of sorts with the Star Wars characters, is apparently not going to happen this year.

Check out our sister side WDW Untangled for more and continuing coverage of Star Wars Weekends.

In this extended first look at the next Helix, Julia has a jaw-dropping reaction in front of Alan and Sarah while vectors break free! Then see Daniel gets closer to the truth about his past while Sutton wreaks havoc on the base. Day 8 “Bloodline” airs Friday at 10/9c on Syfy.
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Could Harlan Ellison finally be warming up to the idea of a big screen movie of one of his stories? It appears so, but it wasn’t easy, even for J. Michael Straczynski, who successfully optioned the story for a film based on Ellison’s Hugo and Nebula Award-winning story [asin=1887424350]Repent, Harlequin! Said The Ticktock Man[/asin].

Even though they’ve worked together before (Ellison was an advisor on Babylon 5), Ellison wasn’t just going to let JMS have it – in fact, he required JMS to write the entire screenplay first, and then based on that, granted the option. JMS can now shop the screenplay for producers and directors, and plans to hit up Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro first.

Ellison and Hollywood have generally not gotten along. Known for being very litigious over anything that even resembled one of his stories, he most recently had filed suit but later dropped against the movie In Time for similarities to Repent Harlequin!. He settled out of court against the makers of The Terminator for similarities to his Outer Limits episodes “Soldier” and “Demon With A Glass Hand”. He fought with Gene Roddenberry over rewrites to his Star Trek script “City on the Edge of Forever”, and had his name taken off the series The Starlost which he create after the producers kept changing things, opting for his pseudonym “Cordwainer Bird”, which he attaches to anything he does that he feels is not quality, even his own stories. So it will be interesting to finally see a big production made from one of his top stories.

Check out the teaser for the upcoming Star Wars Rebels, dubbed “Spark”…

“To ignite a rebellion, all it takes is a single spark.” Those fateful words open this early look at Star Wars Rebels, in which new character Ezra is shown walking the plains of Lothal and launching a projectile at the pilot of a downed fighter. Also seen is a striking, orange, familiar-looking insignia…

Star Wars Rebels takes place between Star Wars: Episode III and IV as the Empire tightens its grip on the galaxy and a rebellion begins to form. The series, executive produced by Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg, and Greg Weisman, is scheduled to premiere in fall 2014 as a one-hour special telecast on Disney Channel and will be followed by a series on Disney XD.

It was no secret that when Star Wars: The Clone Wars was canceled, there was some in-process material that was left in limbo – we just didn’t know how much. However, it has been announced that there are in fact 13 full episodes now completed, and they will finally be released on March 7th, exclusively to Netflix subscribers to coincide with the entire series being added to the online video provider’s catalog, which will also include several “Director’s Cut” episodes as well.

From the press release:

The Galactic Republic, Disney/ABC Television Group, Lucasfilm, and Netflix Inc. today announced the highly anticipated debut of the sixth and final season of the Emmy(r) Award-winning series Star Wars: The Clone Wars exclusively to Netflix members in the US and Canada on Friday, March 7. Accompanying the 13-episode new season dubbed “The Lost Missions” will be the entire Star Wars: The Clone Wars saga, which includes several director’s cut episodes never seen on TV as well as the feature film. This multi-year agreement also makes Netflix the exclusive subscription service for the entire Star Wars: The Clone Wars series.

In these eagerly anticipated episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, some of the deepest mysteries of the conflict between the light and the dark sides of the Force are revealed. An intrepid clone trooper discovers a shocking secret, Anakin Skywalker’s closest relationship is tested to its limits, and what Master Yoda discovers while investigating the disappearance of a Jedi could forever change the balance of power in the galaxy. Fans will not only be able to watch the thrilling finale, they’ll be able to see more of Star Wars: The Clone Wars than ever before as Netflix will also stream the director’s cut of seasons one to five.

“Star Wars is one of the most iconic franchises of all time and this series joins a long line of Disney content that Netflix members are and will continue to enjoy for years to come,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer. “The Clone Wars marks an important moment as Netflix welcomes more and more first-run content from The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries.”

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the first time any Star Wars content has been available for Netflix streaming members. The deal follows a recent announcement from Netflix and The Walt Disney Company to bring multiple original series based on Marvel characters to the service in 2015. Netflix will be the exclusive US subscription television service for first-run, live-action, and animated movies from the Walt Disney Studios including titles from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Disneynature, and Lucasfilm beginning in 2016. Netflix members can currently enjoy a wide range of Disney, ABC Entertainment Group and Disney Channel films and TV shows across the 41 countries where Netflix operates.

Syfy unveiled their Spring lineup today, with the return of Continuum, the farewell of Warehouse 13, and several new shows and specials.

The final (and short) season of Warehouse 13 will start on Monday, April 14th, at 9/8c. Claudia’s (Allison Scagliotti) epic battle with Paracelsus (Anthony Head) will unleash an unexpected horror — and the Warehouse may never be the same. In the new season, the entire Warehouse team confronts old questions – and new revelations. From a painful realization that Pete (Eddie McClintock) and Myka (Joanne Kelly) must face, and Artie (Saul Rubinek) accompanying Claudia on a soul-searching journey about her sister, to Steve (Aaron Ashmore) colliding with his past, the final six episodes of Warehouse 13 takes viewers on an emotionally-charged roller coaster ride.

Continuum will return for it’s third season on Friday, April 4th, in the 10/9c time slot. At the end of Season 2, Alec Sadler made the Earth-shattering decision to hijack Kiera’s (Rachel Nichols) chance to get home, in order to save Emily, the girl he loves, from certain death. This act of desperation not only jettisoned Alec into the near past, but it condemned Kiera to incarceration by the Freelancers, who are ‘collecting’ time travelers in order to protect history. Now, Kiera must face the consequences of Alec’s betrayal and somehow escape the Freelancers. Even if she can, has Alec’s decision to time travel already changed the future in ways Kiera couldn’t even imagine? What will Kiera sacrifice to ultimately survive – and how will Liber8 factor into this challenge?
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Can a shark storm strike twice? Syfy and The Asylum today announced that Kelly Osbourne, Judd Hirsch, Andy Dick, Judah Friedlander, Vivica A. Fox and Mark McGrath will join the eagerly anticipated Original Movie Sharknado 2: The Second One.

Osbourne will portray a flight attendant and Dick will play a New York City police officer.

Friedlander will play the character of Brian, while Hirsch – who starred in the iconic New York-based TV series Taxi – will be a cab driver named Ben.

Fox will join the cast as Skye, an old high school friend of Fin (Ian Ziering), and Mark McGrath – lead singer of the rock band Sugar Ray and Killer Karaoke host – will play Fin’s brother-in-law.

Anthony C. Ferrante returns to direct a screenplay by Thunder Levin, who also wrote Sharknado.

In Sharknado 2: The Second One, a freak weather system turns its deadly fury on New York City, unleashing a Sharknado on the population and its most cherished, iconic sites – and only Fin (Ziering) and April (Tara Reid) can save the Big Apple.

Wasting no time, the CW gave renewals today to its strongest shows this season, almost all of which are genre shows: The Arrow (the CW’s #1 show), Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, The Originals and Reign. Left out – at the moment – are The Tomorrow People and Beauty & The Beast, which are on the bubble and right now are probably even money on renewal. Some reports say that the CW is waiting to see how the upcoming midseason shows, The Hundred, about 100 juvenile delinquents sent back to a post-nuclear-war Earth to see if it can be repopulated, and Star-Crossed, about a human girl who strikes up a romance with an alien boy when several aliens are integrated into society (a younger Alien Nation?).

This Friday’s episode of Helix features the arrival of Constance Sutton, played by Jeri Ryan! Find out what happens when she arrives to help on Day 7…plus check out the latest “Inside Helix” and the “What the hell?” moments from Day 6. And as a special bonus, we have excerpts of a press call with Jeri and executive producer/showrunner Steve Maeda talking about her character and being on Helix….
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