Sci-Fi Storm

After the surprise that was Edge Of Tomorrow (we ended up enjoying the film, aside from some confusing twists), it’s no surprise that a sequel is in the works. And in an interview with Collider, Director/Producer Doug Liman gave a few clues as to where the sequel is heading.

In the original, a cowardly public affairs officer (Tom Cruise) is busted in rank and sent to the front lines in a war against aliens called Mimics where the humans have been losing badly – and is promptly killed. But he immediately wakes up, back on the base – on the day he arrived, and lives out the same sequence again, always returning when he dies. In a SF military version of Groundhog Day, he learns to survive a little longer, and convinces Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) of what is happening. She trains him more and more until he knows what to do to kill the “alpha” Mimic.

“That is the only sequel that I’m considering doing, and it’s because first of all the story is so amazing—much better than the original film,”, said Liman, “and I loved and loved the original film—and second of all, it’s a sequel that’s a prequel.”

We’re not entirely sure what that means yet…will it start post-war and then loop back to the beginning? Whatever it is, Liman appears to want to “reinvent” the sequel.

“I’ve had some radical ideas about how to make a sequel that would interest me, in the same way that I had ideas of how you make an independent film and then Swingers came along and it was like ‘Aha, that’s the perfect movie for me to test these ideas out on.’ I had these intellectual ideas on how you should make a sequel that are unlike how anybody else makes a sequel, and this script and this idea fit perfectly into that idea. So it’s gonna revolutionize how people make sequels. And again that’s why I try to do things like Invisible that are just, the revolution’s sort of built into the idea. It’s more heresy in the film world for me to pitch things that are sort of unheard of.”

A script has already been written Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse (Race), although no plans for when filming will begin have been made yet.

Her Universe and founder Ashley Eckstein announced today that the Her Universe brand is being acquired by pop culture retailer Hot Topic. Hot Topic will take over operations of the e-commerce and wholesale operations. Eckstein will stay on and continue to develop the brand.

“We are very excited to partner with Ashley Eckstein and Her Universe,” said Steve Vranes, CEO of Hot Topic. “We have worked closely with Ashley, Araca, and Her Universe over the past six years, together bringing fangirl fashion to a growing community of passionate fans. Ashley and Araca have built an incredible brand with a loyal customer base, and we look forward to supporting Her Universe in this new capacity.”

“I am thrilled to be bringing Her Universe to the Hot Topic family of brands,” said Ashley Eckstein, Founder of Her Universe. “Six years ago I founded Her Universe with the mission to create an empowering community and t-shirt brand for fangirls. We’ve since grown into a fashion, entertainment, publishing and lifestyle brand. Operating as a division of Hot Topic, Her Universe will continue to be a stand-alone brand selling to various retailers but with the support needed to grow the company in ways I have always dreamed.”

Eckstein, in a separate letter, said, “I imagine your next question probably is, ‘Will Her Universe only be a brand at Hot Topic now?’ The answer is emphatically ‘no.’ Her Universe will continue to be a stand-alone brand that is available at multiple retailers and on HerUniverse.com just like we always have been. We will also be continuing with the Her Universe Fashion Show and Her Universe Press. Honestly, the Her Universe brand that we’ve all grown and built together will continue as you’ve known it, but exciting growth and amazing opportunities lie ahead.

“What can you expect? Here’s just a sampling:

* We’ll finally be able to offer more plus sizes
* We’re going to offer our designs in Europe
* We’ll be designing some fashion for men
* We’ll be re-launching a new and improved Her Universe Press
* We’re going to add more licenses, more active wear and more fashion categories

“I am personally going to focus on continuing to build our amazing community and offering more content and ways for fans to connect. Honestly, I cannot contain my excitement over what’s ahead! Hot Topic has been such an important partner of ours and now that we are joining forces, we are listening and we are excited to bring you more!”

I met Ashley just over six years ago, and I’ve been asking for men’s items since then, so yes, we’re happy about this announcement! Good luck to Ashley and Her Universe!

It seems Bryan Fuller’s rather full plate was too much for CBS Television Studios to consider sharing…TV Line reports that Fuller is stepping down as the showrunner for the upcoming CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery. It appears that there was tension between the studio and Fuller about the progress of the series, having pushed back the debut of the series last month. Fuller is also working on American Gods for Starz and Amazing Stories for NBC. Fuller will still executive produce and be involved, but executive producers Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg will now be in charge. Akiva Goldsman (Fringe, Childhood’s End) will also join in an unspecified capacity.

Fuller tweeted after the news broke and made a Riker reference…

Riker spent 7 years of TNG unready for Captaincy, @GretchenJBerg @AaronHarberts are ready. Thrilled to see them in command of the Bridge.

— Bryan Fuller (@BryanFuller) October 27, 2016

“We are extremely happy with the creative direction of Star Trek: Discovery and the strong foundation that Bryan Fuller has helped us create for the series,” CBS TV said via statement. “Due to Bryan’s other projects, he is no longer able to oversee the day-to-day of Star Trek, but he remains an executive producer, and will continue to map out the story arc for the entire season. Alex Kurtzman, co-creator and executive producer, along with Fuller’s producing partners and longtime collaborators, Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, will also continue to oversee the show with the existing writing and producing team. Bryan is a brilliant creative talent and passionate Star Trek fan, who has helped us chart an exciting course for the series. We are all committed to seeing this vision through and look forward to premiering Star Trek: Discovery this coming May 2017.”

We’ll see how this plays out. Many fans hoped that Fuller would be the one who would see that Star Trek would be back for good on TV.

Peter Jackson has mentioned in the past that he’s wanted to develop a film based on author Philip Reeve’s novel series [asin=140713499X]Mortal Engines[/asin]. Today he announced on Facebook that it’s their next film project:

Hi Folks,

It’s been a quiet few months, but I’m very happy to tell you that our next project is now underway.

WingNut Films be producing a feature film based on Philip Reeve’s book Mortal Engines, to be directed by Christian Rivers. The script has been written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and myself.

Some of you may recall that Christian was going to direct the Dambusters a few years back. Since then he’s kept himself busy, making short films, and directing Second Units on The Hobbit and Pete’s Dragon.

Our involvement in Mortal Engines actually pre-dates Dambusters (which is still happening) – Christian actually worked on Mortal Engines previs way back in 2009. It’s very exciting to finally get it underway!

We’ve had the rights to Philip’s book series for several years, but have had to wait for the right time to make it.

If you haven’t read the books, you should. They present a stunning look into the future, when all of Earth’s major cities are now mounted on wheels, roaming across the landscape as massive “Traction Cities”. Our society has build itself on the principals of Municipal Darwinism – this basically involves the bigger cities hunting down, and consuming, the smaller ones. And that’s only the backdrop to an original and emotional personal story.

Philip Reeve has created a range of intriguing characters, following their adventures in our strange future world through four books – “Mortal Engines”, “Predator’s Gold”, “Infernal Devices” and “A Darkling Plain”.

The moment we read these novels, we knew what exciting movies they’d make. I literally can’t wait to see them!

The movie will be financed by MRC and Universal, and shooting will get underway next March, in New Zealand. Producers Zane Weiner and Amanda Walker, who both worked on the Hobbit, will be spearheading the NZ based team, along with Deborah Forte in the US.

No casting to announce yet, but Weta Workshop and Weta Digital are both onboard.

With the wheels now rolling on Mortal Engines, I’ll bring you a lot of news and sneak peeks at what we’re doing over the coming months.

Cheers,

Peter J

I’m not familiar with the novels, but they certainly sound interesting. And given that it is a series of books, we expect that we will likely see more than one movie…

I don’t know where to begin. But certainly here be spoilers, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, just stop now.

Last night was just disturbing at several levels.

We knew it was coming. We knew at least one, and probably two, characters were going to die, and at least one of them would have been a long timer. That doesn’t make it any easier in many cases. But I don’t think anyone expected it to happen the way it did.
(continue reading…)

The official Star Wars site confirmed today after months of speculation that the younger version of the smooth operator of Cloud City will indeed be played by actor, writer and Grammy-nominated artist Donald Glover, announced today by Lucasfilm. He joins Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo in the upcoming standalone anthology film, to be released in 2018.

“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” said directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. “These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.”

Logan’s seems to finally be aging in the latest standalone Wolverine movie, Logan…but he hasn’t lost his stuff…opens March 3rd, 2017

Syfy announced today that award-winning actor Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) has been cast in a guest role in season three of the time-travel thriller 12 Monkeys. Lloyd will play Zalmon Shaw, a charming but deadly cult leader who preys upon other’s tragedies and losses in order to recruit new members into the apocalyptic cult the “Army of the 12 Monkeys.” Shaw is the father of the series’ most imposing villain, the enigmatic Pallid Man.

Best known for his iconic role as Doc Brown in the blockbuster film series Back to the Future, Lloyd made his feature film debut in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and has won three Emmy Awards: one for outstanding lead actor in Road to Avonlea and two back-to-back wins for outstanding supporting actor in Taxi. He is represented by The Gersh Agency and managed by Andrew Freedman.

In addition, Terry Matalas, co-creator and series showrunner, will make his directorial debut in the premiere episode, which started production in Toronto this week. 12 Monkeys is produced by Universal Cable Productions, in association with Atlas Entertainment, who produced the original cult classic film, 12 Monkeys. The series, starring Aaron Stanford (James Cole), Amanda Schull (Dr. Cassandra Railly), Kirk Acevedo (Jose Ramse), Emily Hampshire (Jennifer Goines), Barbara Sukowa (Katarina Jones), and Todd Stashwick (Deacon), follows the journey of James Cole, a man from the future sent back in time to stop the malevolent “Army of the 12 Monkeys” from destroying the world.

In season three, James Cole and Cassandra Railly embark on a desperate search across time to find the man responsible for the apocalypse, a time traveler who calls himself the Witness. Killing the Witness will mean saving the world. But the journey will come at tremendous personal stakes for both Cole and Railly and will call into question new alliances, old bonds, and the virtue of the mission itself.

Freeform’s 13 Nights of Halloween kicks off tonight – well, it already started this afternoon – but here is the complete schedule for your viewing enjoyment!

Night One – Wednesday, October 19
5:30 p.m. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
7:00 p.m. R.L. Stine’s Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls
9:00 p.m. Hocus Pocus
12:00 a.m. Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride

Night Two – Thursday, October 20
3:30 p.m. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
5:00 p.m. Hocus Pocus
7:00 p.m. The Addams Family
9:00 p.m. Addams Family Values
12:00 a.m. The Final Girls
(continue reading…)

Director James Gunn knows we are jonesing for some Star-Lord, Gamora and Baby Groot, so he’s released a sneak peek of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2! And he promises a full trailer soon…

Too bad we have to wait until next May!