Sci-Fi Storm

When we first heard that showrunner Steven Moffat was stepping down from Doctor Who, to be replace by Chris Chibnall, we immediately began to think, would current Doctor Peter Capaldi also leave the show? After all, that’s what happened when Russell T. Davies, who helped resurrect the show, stepped down, with David Tennant likewise retiring from the role, handing Steven Moffat a clean slate to work with.

Well, the Mirror appears to think so to, saying that a BBC source says he will step down after the next series in 2017, and that his current contract only covers 2017. So it seems like it would be a perfectly ideal time for a fresh start.

So the speculation begins, even though we are more than a year away from a regeneration scene. Idris Elba was a favorite last year, and is likely to be top of the speculation ladder this year…but will there be an increase of possible female Doctor candidates?

Just some quick stories…first, Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford, will star in a Wonderful World of Disney special called “Disneyland 60” where he will preview the upcoming Star Wars-themed park areas at both Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios park in Walt Disney World. Filming of the special starts tomorrow and will air on February 21st on ABC. The special itself will focus on Disneyland’s 60th anniversary, with Derek Hough as host and Elton John, Josh Gad and Witney Carson already announced as guests.

The 100‘s Ricky Whittle will be protagonist Shadow Moon in the upcoming Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, about the struggle between the old gods of mythology and the new gods that represent modern society’s influences – money, power, technology, etc. Ex-con Shadow find himself as a bodyguard to the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, “a conman but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.” Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are writers/showrunners, and David Slade (Hannibal) is directing the pilot and will direct additional episodes. Shooting is expected to start in April.

The Time After Time series remake for ABC we reported on in September has gotten a pilot order from ABC. It’s still early in the process as there does not appear to be any casting contingency in the pilot order, but I understand that studio Warner Bros. TV had one or more “if come” deals with casting directors if the project got picked up.

The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home.

So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.

Directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) and written by Charles Leavitt and Jones, the film starring Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Rob Kazinsky and Daniel Wu is a Legendary Pictures, Blizzard Entertainment and Atlas Entertainment production.

In theaters June 10th, 2016

(and if you look closely, you’ll see one of our favorites, who has appeared in various Syfy and other genre programs: Ryan Robbins, who was been in Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Sanctuary, Continuum, Ascension and most recently Arrow)

It’s just a couple months away! Part one of the third book of the series (and sharing it’s name – part 2 will be called Ascendant), Divergent Series: Allegiant, where Tris must escape with Four and go beyond the wall enclosing Chicago. For the first time ever, they will leave the only city and family they have ever known in order to find a peaceful solution for their embroiled city. Once outside, old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless with the revelation of shocking new truths. Tris and Four must quickly decide who they can trust as a ruthless battle ignites beyond the walls of Chicago which threatens all of humanity. In order to survive, Tris will be forced to make impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice and love.

Divergent Series: Allegiant debuts March 18th, 2016.

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, who feels his “timey-wimey is running out”, will depart the show following the next series (the tenth since the show was revived) – and it won’t air until Spring 2017!

According to the Radio Times, Moffat will hand the TARDIS over to writer and fellow fan Chris Chibnall, who has written for Doctor Who before (“42”, “The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood”, “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” and “The Power of Three” along with the “Pond Life” webisode), and also served as head writer and co-producer of Torchwood. Most recently he created and co-wrote Broadchruch which featured David Tennant and will go into production this summer for a third series.

Although the next series won’t air until next year, there will still be a Christmas episode.

Explaining the decision to hold Moffat’s last series until next year, BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore said: “I have decided to schedule Steven’s big finale series in Spring 2017 to bring the nation together for what will be a huge event on the channel. 2016 is spoilt with national moments including the Euros and Olympics and I want to hold something big back for 2017 – I promise it will be worth the wait!”

“Feels odd to be talking about leaving when I’m just starting work on the scripts for season 10, but the fact is my timey-wimey is running out,” Moffat said. “While Chris is doing his last run of Broadchurch, I’ll be finishing up on the best job in the universe and keeping the TARDIS warm for him. It took a lot of gin and tonic to talk him into this, but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British Television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future. At the start of season 11, Chris Chibnall will become the new showrunner of Doctor Who. And I will be thrown in a skip.”

Chibnall said of his upcoming position, “Doctor Who is the ultimate BBC programme: bold, unique, vastly entertaining, and adored all around the world. So it’s a privilege and a joy to be the next curator of this funny, scary and emotional family drama. I’ve loved Doctor Who since I was four years old, and I’m relishing the thought of working with the exceptional team at BBC Wales to create new characters, creatures and worlds for the Doctor to explore. Steven’s achieved the impossible by continually expanding Doctor Who’s creative ambition, while growing its global popularity. He’s been a dazzling and daring showrunner, and hearing his plans and stories for 2017, it’s clear he’ll be going out with a bang. Just to make my life difficult.”

Netflix has ordered futuristic drama series Altered Carbon, based on the 2002 [asin=B000FBFMZ2]Richard Morgan novel[/asin], from Laeta Kalogridis and Skydance Television.

The book (and two sequels) are set 500 years in the future, after mankind has managed to colonize some extra-solar planets, as well as conquering death by learning how to digitize human personalities (their “soul”) and can download them into new bodies, called “sleeves”. Not everyone can afford a new sleeve, however. The rich can also afford to keep backups of their mind in storage and update them periodically, in case something happens to them before they can be downloaded.

The story follows Takeshi Kovacs, a former Envoy, an elite form of soldier for the U.N., trained to deal with the problems of interstellar warfare. Since FTL travel is only possible via data transmission, an Envoy is specially trained in more mental techniques than physical, since they could be transmitted into a new sleeve on another planet.

In Altered Carbon, on Kovacs home world called Harlan’s World, he is hired to investigate the suicide of a Meth (short for Methuselah, one of the long-lived rich people who can afford replacement sleeves) named Laurens Bancroft – by Bancroft himself. He believes his suicide was actually a murder, but his backup was 48 hours old, so he has no recollection of the events preceding his death.

Kalogridis (Avatar, Shuttered Island) optioned the books four years ago, and wrote a screenplay (with David H. Goodman, Once Upon A Time), which Netflix wants adapted to a series. Kalogridis will serve as executive producer/showrunner, with Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross serving as executive producers. Kalogridis’ partners in Mythology Entertainment Brad Fischer and James Vanderbilt will produce along with Russel Friend, Garrett Lerner, Mike Medavoy and Arnie Messer.

OK, my interest has shot WAY up…

Opens on August 5th

Perhaps not very surprising, after the huge success at the box office for Star Wars: The Force Awakens with the December holiday debut (the first time a Star Wars film opened outside the traditional “Summer Blockbuster” period), Disney and Lucasfilm pushed the next film in the saga story to open on December 15th, 2017, rather than the previously scheduled May 26th, 2017 date, presumably to once again capture the rich holiday box office it gained last time. This also provides some more room for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 to shine, which was originally only going to have three weeks before its sibling studio’s Jedi Juggernaut, opening on May 5th.

However, it does put it up directly against Dreamworks’ Ready Player One, and just 10 days later Avatar 2, which could make for a very interesting box office…

After 5 weeks, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has passed the $1 billion mark in the international box office, as it closes in on $1.9 billion globally. This marks the first Disney movie to pass the $1B mark internationally.

This also places it 5th in the all time international list, and should in fact move to fourth past Jurassic World within a day or two. Globally it’s in third place behind Titanic and number one Avatar, with about $317 million left to move into second place.

The Force may be with Rey and Finn, but the Academy isn’t. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was left out of the “big six” awards when the nominations came out this morning, although Mad Max: Fury Road (who led all nominations with 10) and The Martian snagged Best Picture nods, with Mad Max also getting the nod for Directing for George Miller, and The Martian a Best Actor nomination for Matt Damon. The Martian director Ridley Scott was left off the list.

Star Wars did pick up nominations for Film Editing (Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey), Original Score (John Williams), Visual Effects (Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould), Sound Editing (Matthew Wood and David Acord), and Sound Mixing (Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson).

Mad Max: Fury Road also received Film Editing (Margaret Sixel), Production Design (Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson), Visual Effects (Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams), Cinematography (John Seale), Costume Design (Jenny Beavan), Makeup and Hairstyling (Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin), Sound Editing (Mark Mangini and David White), and Sound Mixing (Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo).

The Martian also received Production Design (Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak), Visual Effects (Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner), Adapted Screenplay (Drew Goddard), Sound Editing (Oliver Tarney) and Sound Mixing (Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth).