Sci-Fi Storm

Ahead of their season finales tonight, Syfy has renewed both Ghost Hunters and Paranormal Witness for 13 episodes each.

In Season 11 of Ghost Hunters, TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) founder Jason Hawes will lead investigations at reportedly haunted locations including the Cleveland, Ohio’s Midwest Railway Preservation Society, believed to be tied to the notorious, unsolved Cleveland Torso Murderer serial killer case; Crown Point, Indiana’s Old Lake County Jail, famed for being home to gangster John Dillinger…until he escaped; and the Toledo Yacht Club in Toledo, Ohio, said to be haunted by a boy who died over a century ago.

The fifth season of Paranormal Witness: True Terror will delve deeper into actual horror stories, while continuing to feature eyewitness accounts of the most frightening and compelling first person accounts of paranormal encounters, alongside dramatic reenactments of those experiences.

Both series will have their current season finales tonight, Wednesday, November 18. At 9PM, Ghost Hunters returns to author Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts, to investigate claims of increased paranormal activity since the team’s last visit in 2008. At 10PM, Paranormal Witness concludes with a terrifying account of a young family that moved into a house plagued by the vengeful spirit of their great aunt.

Ghost Hunters is produced for Syfy by Craig Piligian’s Pilgrim Studios (Fast N’ Loud, Street Outlaws, The Ultimate Fighter). Piligian, Mike Nichols, Thomas Thayer and Alan David serve as executive producers.

Paranormal Witness: True Terror is produced by Raw TV (The Imposter, Locked Up Abroad and Gold Rush). Executive Producer is Mark Lewis, Series Producer is Crispin Reece, and Supervising Producer is Simon Mills.

Phillipa Boyens, well known for her collaboration with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh on The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit franchises, has signed on to help Disney kickstart a new fantasy franchise – this time based on T. A. Barron’s [asin=0142418897]The Merlin Saga books[/asin], about the early life of the wizard of Arthurian legend.

With something of a void to fill in the fantasy series realm after years of hobbits and young wizards (Warcraft is on deck, along with some new Harry Potter films, but our journey in Middle-earth is done, and even YA post-apocalyptic franchises are reaching their conclusions), Disney is hoping to launch a new title, and Barron has already created a wide setting (spanning 12 books) that could take the legend closer to a Harry Potter audience, and Boyens, who shared the 2002 Oscar with Jackson and Walsh for The Return Of The King, could be perfect for leading a expansive vision on screen. Gil Netter (Life of Pi) is producing. No director has been named yet.

The project was previously set up at Warner Bros where it seemed to be making progress, but after a couple years of silence it moved to Disney last year.

I…can’t…wait…

Last year we attended Rhode Island Comic Con – “The Biggest Show in the Smallest State”, and there were a number of issues relating to its explosion in size, but aside from capacity related issues it was still a fun time. This year they expanded to make use of space at the connected Dunkin’ Donuts Center (a hockey arena) to hopefully spread things out, which would also come with more entrances, more concessions – but above all, more space for celebrities (and the lines of fans), vendors, photo ops and more. But they are still learning how to deal with their own size. Nothing as serious as last year, but more things that hopefully will be addressed for next year.
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The first TV spot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released last night, “Every generation has a story”…it’s getting closer!

Star Wars Weekends, a multi-weekend event that Disney has hosted for annually for the last 13 years and occasionally before that, is over.

It was announced on the official Disney Parks Blog today, although we believed it already to be the case.

Construction will begin next year in Disney’s Hollywood Studios park, where the Weekends were held, in order to provide a whole new “land” dedicated to Star Wars. Previously, the Star Wars presence was limited to the Star Tours attraction, the Tatooine Traders shop, and more recently the Jedi Training Academy (where children get trained by a Jedi and then face Darth Vader!) With Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 everyone expected a bigger park presence and it’s on the way. A few details were released about that expansion:

• On December 1st, “Star Wars: Launch Bay” opens, giving fans a look at the franchise and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens with special exhibits and peeks behind-the-scenes, special merchandise and opportunities to encounter Chewbacca and Darth Vader.
• Star Tours: The Adventure Continues will feature a new scene inspired by Star Wars: The Force Awakens: a chase following the Millenium Falcon through the ship wreckage on the desert planet of Jakku. Those familiar with the random scenes in the attraction might be glad to know that for a few months, the Jakku scene will be in every ride, and then it “will be up to the will of the Force”.
• Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple (opening early December) is a re-imagining of the Jedi Training Academy which will take younglings to the secret site of an ancient Jedi temple where they will face Darth Vader along with the Seventh Sister – a new villain from the Disney XD series Star Wars Rebels
• Star Wars: Path of the Jedi will feature scenes from the complete Star Wars saga, also giving anyone new to the Star Wars galaxy an opportunity to get acquainted with the films.

Syfy and The Asylum today announced that scripted drama series Z Nation will be back to Z-Whack its way through a third season of zombie road trippin’ action. A 15-hour third season is slated to premiere on Syfy in 2016.

Z Nation takes place three years after a zombie virus gutted the country. A team of everyday heroes is tasked with transporting the only known survivor of the plague across the country to the last functioning viral lab in post-apocalyptic America, in hopes of using his blood to create a cure for the virus.

Currently in the midst of Season 2, Z Nation is averaging 1.5 million total viewers per episode (Live +7). To date, it ranks as the network’s most social original series in total social engagements.

Z Nation stars Kellita Smith (The Bernie Mac Show), DJ Qualls (Supernatural, The Man in the High Castle), Keith Allan (Rise of the Zombies), Anastasia Baranova (The Darkness II), Russell Hodgkinson (Big Fish), Nat Zang and Matt Cedeño (Devious Maids). This season, Emilio Rivera (Sons of Anarchy) appears as a recurring guest star.

Karl Schaefer (Eerie Indiana, Eureka, The Dead Zone) serves as executive producer and showrunner. The series is produced by The Asylum and sold internationally by Dynamic Television.

Z Nation is currently airing Fridays at 10/9c on Syfy. Upcoming guest stars include Missi Pyle, Doug Jones, Anthony Michael Hall and Gina Gershon.

This looks good! The war between Men and Orcs comes to the big screen! Opens June 10th, 2016

We may have had the “final” U.S. trailer, but this Japanese one focuses on Rey, and shows us some more interesting scenes…I’m almost getting a Katniss Everdeen vibe…

SIX WEEKS!

Check out these cool character posters released today for Star Wars: The Force Awakens – five characters each holding their weapon (except Leia, whose weapon appears to be information/strategy)…pretty awesome!

You can see the crackle and sparks to Kylo Ren’s lightsaber – perhaps betraying a less refined origin…