Sci-Fi Storm

This is looking REALLY good…

Syfy announced today it has greenlit to pilot Incorporated, a futuristic espionage thriller from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Pearl Street Productions, CBS Television Studios and Universal Cable Productions. Set in a future where companies have unlimited power, Incorporated tells the story of executive Ben Larson, forced to change his identity in order to infiltrate a cut-throat corporate world, to save the woman he loves. In the process, he will take on the entire system – with deadly consequences.

Created by David and Alex Pastor (Selfless, The Last Days), who wrote and will direct the pilot, the dystopian future of the show reflects contemporary trends: the growing influence of corporations and private interests in Washington, the slow but steady dismantling of the public sector, and the increase of an amazing amount of wealth by an ever shrinking minority. Incorporated will explore these issues via suspense, action, complex characters and a dark sense of humor, plunging viewers into a future world where the ethical boundaries that we know have been completely redrawn.

Ted Humphrey (The Good Wife) will serve as executive producer/showrunner, with Damon, Affleck and Jennifer Todd also executive producing. Pearl Street Film’s Margaret Chernin will serve as associate producer.

“Syfy is working with the best talent in the business to develop the most provocative and smart science fiction programming, and we are delighted to be partnering with Matt, Ben and Jennifer, along with the creative minds of the Pastor brothers and Ted on this pilot,” said Dave Howe, President, Syfy. “Incorporated is an electrifying example of what science fiction does best: holding a mirror to present realities and projecting forward to a recognizable future in which we face the impact and consequences of our actions.”

Said Damon and Affleck: “Incorporated provides us distinct insight into a world dictated by our decisions today. Viewers will delve into the intricacies of our future, one that we are constantly warned of, but as a society have not yet explored. We believe this is an important and timely story to tell and can think of no one better to guide us into this than David, Alex and Ted.”

It seems odd, but it was also a latecomer to the Blu-ray market…but finally Star Wars will enter the Digital universe, with its first ever Digital HD release this Friday, April 10th! All six episodes will be released.

Each episode lists at $20, with all six available for $100 ($89.99 right now on [asin=B00VJ04TH0]Amazon[/asin].)

It may have happened a long time ago, but it’s finally reached the 21st Century… 🙂

Only because it was on Syfy, and people often joked that it made the former Sci-Fi Channel the “Wrestling Channel” – WWE Smackdown will move from Syfy to cable sibling USA in early 2016.

I still maintain that WWE Smackdown was being shown on Syfy because higher ups wanted it that way. WWE, after absorbing all its competition, was trying to develop a rivalry system, and having two competing “brands” on separate networks would help in that goal. It also had great ratings, bringing in advertising dollars which allowed the network to roll the dice on riskier, more expensive ventures. Syfy had plenty of primetime space on the schedule, so it did not mean that they eliminated programming to show it.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Tron Legacy stars Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde, along with director Joseph Kasinski, will return for Tron 3.

It is unclear if the movie has been given a green light yet by Disney, but it does appear that they are aiming to start filming this Fall in Vancouver.

Tron Legacy showed an updated, higher resolution world of that introduced in Tron, the 1982 film that wasn’t a success financially but was cutting edge and became a iconic cult hit, often cited as an influence by other filmmakers. The second film picks up decades later, where Flynn (Jeff Bridges) has been missing for some time, and his son (Hedlund) heads into the system to find him…

Tron Legacy was more of a success, garnering $400 million worldwide, but development on a followup has been slow thus far.

If at first you don’t succeed…Syfy apparently still wants sci-fi/pop culture news on its channel, so it is looking to Chris Hardwick’s Nerdist Industries to take it’s popular Nerdist News YouTube program and bring it to the TV screens in a 30-minute commercial format.

Syfy tried last year with the Wil Wheaton Project starring the popular king nerd himself, using a “Talk Soup” style. While entertaining, at times it seemed like it tried a little too hard early on, and wasn’t able to gain viewership.

Wheaton and Hardwick are in fact former roommates, and Hardwick did appear in the debut episode of Wil Wheaton Project, so I’d expect Wil might not be a stranger to the new show…but no host has been announced yet, and Hardwick himself would only produce the show. Jessica Chabot currently hosts the YouTube show.

Google appears to be getting into TV production now…they are working with The Sean Daniel Company, the company behind Syfy’s upcoming series The Expanse, to produce a series based on the augmented reality game Ingress.

In the game, players use their mobile equipment to seek out “portals” – areas through which Exotic Matter is pouring into our universe from a mysterious culture called the “Shapers”. Two factions, the Enlightened, who believe the Shapers are helping mankind, and the Resistance, who are trying to protect Humanity, compete to control the portals and the Exotic Matter. Occasionally real life interactive events take place at particular locations.

Cassandra Clare’s [asin=1481400835]The Mortal Instruments[/asin] book series may get a second chance at a visual medium, but this time it will be a little smaller screen-wise.

Despite poor results from the 2013 film [asin=B009AMAKWM]The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones[/asin], the second film based on City Of Ashes was still planned to be produced according to producer Constantin Film, but later the plans were put on hold to “reposition” the film. But it appears that things have changed drastically, with ABC Family acquiring the rights to Shadowhunters, a TV series based on the books. The plans were announced last Fall, but now with a U.S. outlet production will go ahead this Fall. Ed Decter will be showrunner. Cast has not yet been set.