Sci-Fi Storm

Despite the lackluster performance of Green Lantern, Warner Bros. is still planning on a sequel, believing the franchise is worth pursuing. The studio is “somewhat disappointed”, with the movie falling 66% this weekend and a total cume so far of $89.3 million. Given that it took about $200 million to produce without including its extensive marketing costs, “somewhat” seems a bit light, but according to Dan Fellman, WB President of domestic distribution, such “fanboy” films see a similar drop off.

The only way I see a sequel making it is if they find a way to cut the production costs…which likely means less alien scenes and locations.

After the success of Riese: Kingdom Falling (which reached 2 million streams), Syfy is going to introduce another web series through its Syfy.com web site with The Mercury Men, a 10 part series, starting on Monday, July 25th, with a new episode each weekday for two weeks.

Created by acclaimed director Christopher Preksta (Captain Blasto), The Mercury Men draws on the same retro serials that inspired films such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

The Mercury Men is set in Pittsburgh in 1975. Edward Borman (Mark Tierno/The Road, Day of the Dead), a lowly government office drone, finds himself trapped when the deadly Men of Mercury seize the building as a staging ground for their nefarious plot.
Aided by Jack Yaeger (Curt Wootton/Captain Blasto, The Hidden Blade), a daring aerospace engineer from a mysterious organization known as “The League,” Edward must stop the invaders and their Doomsday Device, the Gravity Engine.

The Mercury Men is written and directed by Christopher Preksta, best known as the writer/director of Captain Blasto, for which he was nominated for two Streamy Awards. His work has been showcased at prestigious events including the Tribeca Film Festival and Comic-Con. Producer is Kati Lightholder.

With the buzz about Harry Potter likely to begin to die down after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 next month (at least after the subsequent Blu-ray/DVD release), and J.K. Rowling promising Daniel Radcliffe that no more stories about Harry would be published, what is the writer to do? Well, for the past week the new buzz has been around the word Pottermore, which was hinted at through a form of online scavenger hunt that led to the Pottermore web site, which promised more info today.

Well, the wait is over, and J.K. herself announced via video what it is about (which you can see below). The simple description on the web site says, “Pottermore is an exciting new website from J.K. Rowling that can be enjoyed alongside the Harry Potter books. You can explore the stories like never before and discover exclusive new writing from the author. It is FREE to join and use, and is designed to be safe for people of all ages.”

From her own description, it sounds like it is going to be a Harry Potter-themed social networking site, which will include ways to interact with the story itself by placing you in it, and will include things like the Sorting Hat and wand selections for each person, and even additional content. J.K. also says she will be participating as well. In addition, an exclusive Harry Potter store which will include digital audio books and ebooks will be attached.

Pottermore does not open publicly until October, but you can submit your email now (Ed: it doesn’t appear to be working at press time) and be notified when full registrations open sometime in July, and word is that a just a lucky few (if a million or so is a few…) might get early access and help the site before it publicly launches.
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Syfy has signed actress Valerie Cruz, who most recently starred on ABC’s Off The Map along with stints on True Blood, Dexter and The Dresden Files, as a recurring guest star on its newest original series Alphas, it was announced today.

Valerie Cruz will portray Special Agent Kathy Sullivan, an employee of the Department of Defense whose exact role and intentions are a mystery. She will first appear in the third episode of the series entitled “Cause and Effect” premiering Monday, July 25, 2011 at 10:00 PM ET/PT.

Cruz is well known for portraying multiple complex roles on the small screen over the last decade including Grace Santiago on FX’s Nip/Tuck and Sylvia Prado on Showtime’s Dexter. She also starred in the Syfy original series The Dresden Files. Most recently she portrayed Dr. Zita Alvarez in ABC’s midseason entry Off the Map. She is represented by David Rose of Innovative Artists and Pearl Hanan.

Alphas follows a clandestine group of average everyday citizens with amazing abilities operating within the U.S. Department of Defense. Led by preeminent neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn), the team investigates cases that point to others with abilities like theirs, and as they work against the clock to solve this new brand of crime, they must prevent their own personality differences and disparate backgrounds from interfering with their missions. Alphas premieres on Monday, July 11th at 10/9c, behind the season premieres of Eureka and Warehouse 13.

So, that Torchwood web series starring Eliza Dushku that ties in to the upcoming Torchwood: Miracle Day? Seems it is a bit more than a web series (can we even call it that if its only available via iTunes for a charge? Perhaps the term “micro-series” is better?) – it’s actually an episodic interactive game! It will be released as “10 3-minute chapters” (a 3 minute game?), sold in bundles of 3 for 99 cents or all 10 for $2.99. Still not sure how they package 10 chapters in bundles of 3…but here is a bit more:

“Torchwood: Web of Lies” is an episodic interactive experience for iOS that fuses together motion comic and gameplay elements to tell an original and digitally exclusive Torchwood story. Players will participate in a parallel storyline to “Torchwood: Miracle Day” that includes lead characters Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper – voiced by John Barrowman and Eve Myles.

“Torchwood: Web of Lies” runs alongside weekly premieres of “Torchwood: Miracle Day”, providing fans with a way to engage in the world of Torchwood between episodes. It reveals a past day in the lives of Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper – a day they’ve both forgotten. The events of that day fuel a modern day conspiracy-laced treasure hunt, as Holly Mokri, voiced by Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse,” “Tru Calling,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”), labors to uncover the secrets of Miracle Day. Each week a new episode unlocks, allowing players to access another piece of original motion comic narrative and game which ties into and extends plot developments of the show, as well as providing new twists in its own narrative.

So, it is apparently animated (so I guess we won’t see Eliza…), and runs only on iOS, so I guess I won’t be seeing it for a while…and again makes me think it can’t be called a “web” series.

Like yesterday’s preview for Warehouse 13, here is a sneak peek preview for the upcoming season of Eureka, which also debuts July 11th at 8/7c. And don’t forget the upcoming season includes returning guest stars Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton, plus special guest star Stan Lee!
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Are you excited for the return of Warehouse 13 yet? Here’s a short little look at what’s coming up this season including another appearance of Fargo (Neil Grayston) and new agent Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore), which starts at 9/8c on July 11th on Syfy.
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Deadline has an excellent interview with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard about their 25 year partnership with Imagine Entertainment. As part of that, they ask some questions about the ambitious project to turn Stephen King’s The Dark Tower into three movies and two TV series! And they also say why the reports of a budget cut won’t hurt so bad…first, they were hoping to fast track the production, but Universal balked so they are going with a “more traditional timetable”, which is why it was pushed back, but it still could get done faster than usual.

When asked about the budget Grazer responded, “I’m producing it with Akiva Goldsman, who wrote it to be sensitive to cost and is rewriting it to be more so. Without putting a number on it, the cuts aren’t that deep or that radical.”

So we haven’t heard the last of The Dark Tower.

Peter Jackson revealed on Facebook a couple more castings for The Hobbit: Evangeline Lilly (Lost will play Tauriel, a Sylvan elf created for the movie, and Barry Humphries (best known for one of his alter egos, Dame Edna) will play the Goblin King.

About Tauriel and Lilly, Jackson said, “Her name means ‘daughter of Mirkwood’ and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.) What is not a secret is how talented and compelling an actress Evangeline is; we are thrilled and excited she will be the one to bring our first true Sylvan Elf to life.

“I’m also highly excited that Barry Humphries will be portraying the Goblin King, in much the way Andy Serkis created Gollum. Barry is perhaps best known for his business and social connections as the long-time manager of Dame Edna Everage. He has also been an ardent supporter of the rather misunderstood and unfairly maligned Australian politician, Sir Les Patterson. However, in his spare time, Barry is also a fine actor, and we’re looking forward to seeing him invest the Goblin King with the delicate sensitivity and emotional depth this character deserves.”

TNT’s debut of Falling Skies is off to a great start, pulling in 5.9 million viewers overall for its debut last night – the best cable premiere so far this year, and the best since TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles debuted last summer to 7.6 million pairs of eyes. Whether it keeps those viewers or not – a common problem among recent genre dramas – will be seen starting next week when it moves to its normal 10PM Eastern/Central time slot. I think it can…