Sci-Fi Storm

In 1987, Leland Goines comes across the preserved corpse responsible for millions of deaths. Check out the preview below, and tune in for “Shonin” Friday at 9/8c on Syfy! And don’t forget the recap of last week’s episode…

Update 3/27: Variety reports that Fox has indeed purchased the spec script from Uhls.

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After the success of the proof-of-concept teaser on Vimeo (shown below), Ruairi Robinson’s The Leviathan got some hefty SF creds on the production team.

X-Men writer/producer and Star Wars: The Force Awakens creative consultant Simon Kinberg, and Neill Blomkamp, who recently announced he will be in the captain’s chair for the next Alien movie, will join the film as producers, while the project is shopped to studios. Kinberg has a first-look deal at Fox, so likely they would get first crack at it, but there is a lot of heat for the project should they pass. Robinson (The Last Days On Mars) is working with Jim Uhls (Fight Club), who is writing the screenplay.

The Leviathan is set in the early 22nd century, when man has managed to colonize many worlds after harnessing exotic matter to make faster than light travel possible. The problem – the exotic matter must be harvested from the eggs of enormous creatures, who don’t take kindly the the efforts of the harvesters – who consist of a mostly involuntary workforce.

In tomorrow night’s new Helix, Winger’s search team makes contact with a terrifying group (I thought the cannibals were bad…) Check out the preview below and tune in at 10/9c on Friday night on Syfy for “Mother”!
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Syfy and The Asylum today announced that the official title of the latest installment in the global pop culture sensation is Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! The two-hour original movie will devour the planet on Wednesday, July 22 at 9/8c.

In addition, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! will wreak havoc on all Syfy channels around the world – 86 countries in all, including the UK, Australia and across Europe, Asia and Latin America – when it premieres in international primetime within 24 hours of the United States debut.

Said Chris Regina, Senior Vice President, Program Strategy, Syfy: “We wanted this third title to boldly go where no shark movie has gone before. Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! embraces the larger-than-life irreverence that has made these movies so popular and entertaining.”

Said David Michael Latt, Producer, The Asylum: “The sharks and tornadoes get all the glory, but we would like to thank our long-time marketing guru Mike DiGrazia who first suggested ‘Oh hell no!’ A dedicated fan of the genre, Mike created the tag lines for 1 and 2 – ‘Enough Said!’ and ‘Shark Happens’ – as well as the Sharknado posters, including the original, which was a viral sensation on its own.”

Sharknado 3 will cause mass destruction in Washington, D.C. before roaring down the Eastern Seaboard and into Florida, and stars Ian Ziering as Fin, Tara Reid as April and Cassie Scerbo as Nova. Joining them will be David Hasselhoff as Fin’s father, Gil; Bo Derek will play April’s mother, May; Ryan Newman will play April and Fin’s daughter, Claudia Shepard, and Jack Griffo will portray Claudia’s friend, Billy.

Additional cameo roles include Mark Cuban as the President of the United States; Ann Coulter as the Vice President; Michele Bachmann as herself; Jerry Springer as Mr. White, a manic tourist; Washington Redskins tackle Tom Compton as a reporter; *NSYNC singer Chris Kirkpatrick as a pool lifeguard, and Chris Jericho, who will portray Bruce the roller coaster ride operator.

Anthony C. Ferrante will once again direct, based on an original screenplay by Thunder Levin. Sharknado 3 is a production of The Asylum.

When it aired last July 30, Sharknado 2: The Second One became Syfy’s most-watched original movie ever.

On tomorrow night’s new episode of 12 Monkeys, Ramse does what it takes to protect his newfound family, leaving Cole to deal with the aftermath. Check out the sneak peek below, along with a recap of last week, and tune in for “Divine Move” at 9/8c!
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Take two stars of a short lived but beloved science fiction show, an idea to spoof their own situations, a little twitter marketing, and some perks, and you may have the recipe for new way to create a series.

Firefly stars Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion are working to produce Con Man, a series following the life of two of the stars of the fictional short-lived SF series “Spectrum” – Wray Nerely (Tudyk), a down-on-his-luck actor trying to make a living on the convention circuit, and his co-star Jack Moore (Fillion), whose career soared. This spoofs what happened after Firefly was prematurely canceled by Fox – Fillion stars in Castle, now finishing it’s seventh season, but Tudyk isn’t exactly forgotten in a convention booth. While not quite as visible as Fillion on small screens, he’s had numerous guest appearances and recurring roles but has also become a successful voice actor, providing voices in a variety of shows and some successful animated movies, like King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph and Alistair Krei in 2014’s number one animated movie, Big Hero 6.

The duo took to Indiegogo on March 10th to raise a modest $475,000 to produce three episodes.

In just six days, their Indiegogo project is closing on $2 million – and there are still 25 days left in the fundraising cycle. This means more episodes (at least 12 are now expected based on their “stretch” goals), more guest stars…and more goodies. Familiar friends are expected to show up, including Sean Maher, Gina Torres, Felicia Day and Amy Acker among others.

Tudyk will write and direct, while Fillion will produce with PJ Haarsma with a planned summer release on Vimeo. And you can be a producer too, if you’re willing to fund it. See the Indiegogo page for funding levels and perks.

Disney had their shareholders meeting today, and Disney CEO Bob Iger gave some interesting info about the plans for Star Wars…

First up, we now know the title of the first “interstitial” movie to be released in 2016, between Episodes VII and VIII, and it will be Star Wars: Rogue One. That alone may not mean much (it is described as “the first film in a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga”), but Rogue Squadron has a fairly extensive presence in the expanded universe, having started with the survivors of Red Squadron who took on the name “Rogue” while on Hoth, and carried through to three games and several books. Filming will start this summer, with a planned December 16th, 2016 release. Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) will helm, and Oscar winner Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) is the first confirmed star. And from the description, it may not be a standalone movie…

Iger also confirmed that Rian Johnson (Looper) will direct Episode VIII, and the release date is set for May 26th, 2017.

Syfy announced today that the widely praised adventure thriller 12 Monkeys has been greenlit for a second season, expected to air in 2016.

With Natalie Chaidez prepping her next Syfy series (UCP and Valhalla Productions’ Hunters), Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett (Nikita), co-executive producers and writers of the pilot, will be stepping up to serve as EP/Showrunners. Atlas Entertainment’s Richard Suckle (Suicide Squad, American Hustle, The International) and Charles Roven (Suicide Squad, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, American Hustle) will continue to executive produce with Atlas’ Jake Kurily producing. Roven served as producer on the original film.

Currently in its first season, 12 Monkeys has reached 15 million viewers to date, and is experiencing record L3 lifts for the network (average L3 lift is 104%). The renewal also comes as the series continues to gain momentum, with its most recent episode (Friday, March 6) seeing an increase of 6% over the prior four weeks, with 1.5 million total viewers.

“We are absolutely committed to 12 Monkeys, and have been incredibly impressed by the outstanding critical and audience praise the series has earned,” said Dave Howe, Syfy President. “The talent both on and off-screen have delivered a series that has us all on the edge of our seats, providing exactly the smart, exciting storytelling Syfy is known for.”

Jeff Wachtel, President and Chief Content Officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, added, “12 Monkeys is a show that has exceeded expectations at every stage. It’s had a great first season creatively, and is building a dedicated audience. We can’t wait to see where – and when! – Terry and Travis will take us next.”

12 Monkeys stars Aaron Stanford (Nikita, X-Men: The Last Stand, X2), Amanda Schull (Suits, Center Stage) and Kirk Acevedo (Fringe, Oz, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).

In this Friday’s episode* – the ninth in the 13-part first season – Cole (Aaron Stanford) finds himself in 2017 at the height of the plague. Out of options, Jones (Barbara Sukowa) faces an impossible choice to replace the Core. 12 Monkeys airs Fridays at 9PM ET/PT; the season one finale will air Friday, April 10.

I sadly found out just a few minutes ago that author Sir Terry Pratchett, best known for his Discworld series of fantasy novels, passed away today at the age of 66 after suffering from Alzheimers since 2007.

Pratchett’s [asin=038553826X]Discworld[/asin], in which many of his over 70 books are set, was a flat world which was sitting on the backs of four enormous elephants, who themselves stood on the back of a giant turtle traveling through space.

He received an OBE for his services to literature in 1998, and was knighted in 2009. In 2001 he was Britain’s second most read author, only behind J.K. Rowling.

He took his illness in stride, and kept writing with his last bpok, an [asin=0544466594]anthology of children’s stories[/asin], released last summer.

His death was announced on his own Twitter account with a sense of Pratchett’s humor and writing style. The first tweet was written in all upper case as he typically represented his character of Death in his books:

AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.

Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.

The End.

Syfy has confirmed in a statement to Deadline that they have passed on taking Ascension to series. But what is more interesting is what they said…”We were very happy with Ascension as an event series, but with so much high profile development in the works, we have decided not to pursue a full series,” according to the statement.

What that tells me is that although Ascension did well, Syfy believes that what they have in the pipeline is likely stronger.

I’m still disappointed…Syfy threw a lot at Ascension, and it appeared that they were “all in” for the show. And now we have this twist at the end that may never be resolved. 🙁

While there is some slight hope it could get picked up by another network, the odds are very slim…network hopping is pretty rare as another network is unlikely to be able to make a show work any better than it did on the previous network to risk it.