Sci-Fi Storm

With last week’s surprise announcement that Colin Trevorrow was ousted as director of Star Wars IX, speculation ran wild on who would take over…but that’s all put to rest now as it was announced today that J.J. Abrams himself will return to direct and co-write the script with Chris Terrio.

With the change in direction, the release has been pushed back to December 20th, 2019.

J.J. ushered a new era of Star Wars with The Force Awakens, directing and producing along with co-writing with Lawrence Kasdan. He handed the reins over to Rian Johnson for the upcoming The Last Jedi, and was considered the front runner to replace Trevorrow.

Author and technology pundit Dr. Jerry E. Pournelle passed away earlier today, according to messages from his son Alex and daughter Jennifer.

I cam across him in so many ways over the years, although we never had the chance to meet in person. I remember his columns in Byte magazine, one of my favorite parts of the magazine, where he discussed using the various things he was sent to review. And like Larry Niven he provided world building in his fiction stories. I was particularly enthralled by the CoDomunium setting, which I discovered through his collaboration with Niven in [asin=0671741926]The Mote In God’s Eye[/asin] and the sequel [asin=B005KSL45M]The Gripping Hand[/asin], where each author played off each other’s strengths.

I’d later encounter Pournelle again in the tech world through the This Week In Tech podcasts, where he was an occasional panel member.

We will certainly miss him.

The fourth and final season of Star Wars Rebels will premiere on October 16th on Disney XD with an hour-long episode, which finds the crew of the Ghost joining the Rebel Alliance, but when Ezra’s home world of Lothal sees a new Imperial threat, he heads back to to take on Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Check out the second trailer below!

News is spreading across the galaxy fast that directory Colin Trevorrow is out of Star Wars IX in a mutual parting.

In a release from Lucasfilm, the company stated “Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX. Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon.”

Trevorrow, who ushered back the Jurassic Park franchise with Jurassic World, was announced as the director of the ninth saga film just over two years ago. Last month it was announced that Jack Thorne would take over writing duties from a draft Trevorrow and Derek Connolly worked on.

In June, Ron Howard took over the director’s chair for the Han Solo anthology film from co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller after the two were ousted, also over “creative differences”.

Star Wars IX is expected to release on May 24, 2019.

Actor Richard Anderson, best known as the head of a secret government organization who oversaw The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, passed away yesterday at the age of 91 at his home in Beverly Hills.

Anderson rose to prominence when he was cast in the 1957 film Paths To Glory by Stanley Kubrick, a year after a smaller role but in the genre classic Forbidden Planet as Chief Engineer Quinn. A character actor who often presented as an authority figure, he played a number of military roles. But it was in 1973 in a series of TV movies and later a series on ABC about an astronaut rebuild with bionic parts after a crash where he became ingrained in our memories. That series then had a spinoff in The Bionic Woman, in which Anderson reprised his role on both series simultaneously. When The Bionic Woman shifted networks to NBC, he was the first actor to play the same role simultaneously on two different networks.

When both series ended in 1978, he was reappear in the role in a series of TV movies through 1994, after which he was largely retired.

While we were celebrating the renewal of Killjoys for two more runs, we just learned that Dark Matter has been canceled by Syfy. The news was confirmed by co-creator Joseph Mallozzi on his blog.

“It is with great sadness that I confirm the news. Syfy has cancelled Dark Matter after three seasons,” he said.

“To say that I’m incredibly disappointed would be an understatement.

“I’ll save my comments and field your questions in a future blog entry. For today, I just want to extend a heartfelt thanks to my amazing crew, my wonderful cast, and to all of you, our incredible fans.

“You all deserved better.”

Dark Matter starred Melissa O’Neil, Anthony Lemke, Alex Mallari Jr., Zoie Palmer, Jodelle Ferland and Roger Cross and followed the crew of the Raza, who woke up on board with no memory of who they are, and in the middle of a tense galaxy run by corporations. It was based on the graphic novel series from Dark Horse.

Killjoys is coming to an end…but not for a couple more seasons!

SYFY and Space announced today the pickup of Seasons 4 and 5 of the sci-fi adventure series Killjoys ahead of its action-packed Season 3 finale airing tonight at 8/7c. The two-season, 20-episode pickup will act as the final chapters for the fan-favorite space drama. From Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Studios, and Universal Cable Productions (UCP), Killjoys follows a trio of interplanetary bounty hunters – rebel leader Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), tech-savvy John Jaqobis (Aaron Ashmore), and tactical D’avin Jaqobis (Luke MacFarlane) – on the brink of a multiplanetary war. Creator Michelle Lovretta serves as executive producer along with Karen Troubetzkoy and Temple Street’s David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg. Season 4 is set to air in 2018.

“Helmed by Lovretta and driven by the superb storytelling, we are excited to bring Killjoys back for two final seasons,” said Bill McGoldrick, Executive Vice President Scripted Development for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. “Tonight’s game-changing season finale sets the tone for the final chapters of our bounty hunter’s space adventures and we cannot wait for our talented cast and crew to bring to life what is sure to be an epic journey that will leave our passionate fans on the edge of their seats.”

“A final two-season order is a huge vote of confidence for a show that keeps getting better and better,” said Fortier and Schneeberg, co-presidents of Boat Rocker Studios and executive producers of Killjoys. “We are so proud of the support Killjoys has received from critics and fans alike, and are thrilled to plan a deserving ending for Dutch and the Jaqobis brothers; it has been an incredible intergalactic journey and we could not have wished for better partners to share the ride.”

“This renewal is the kind of privilege every creator hopes for – a chance to plan the end of your story with the luxury of 20-episodes to do it,” said creator and executive producer Lovretta. “I’m immensely grateful that both of our network partners – along with Temple Street and UCP – have given our team, cast and fans this incredible opportunity.”

Throughout Season 3 of Killjoys, war has loomed over the J Star System. As the underdog trio struggled to assemble an army, the dangerous force of Aneela and her Hullen crew drew near. In tonight’s finale, the Killjoy militia are finally ready to go to war against her, using Delle Seyah as bait, but as the battle begins, Aneela finds a way to change the entire game.

Killjoys was created by Michelle Lovretta who serves as executive producer. David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg and Karen Troubetzkoy also serve as executive producers. The series is from Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Studios and Universal Cable Productions for Space and SYFY. Universal Cable Productions distributes the series worldwide, excluding Canada.