Sci-Fi Storm

I’ve been hearing rumors of Alien vs. Predator for – well – a decade. All that came out were video games. Now, it seems, a movie might become a reality – Paul Anderson (Resident Evil director) has been hired to write and direct the movie which merges the storylines from the Alien and Predator franchises.

The first part of the two-parter season finale of Jeremiah, “Things Left Unsaid”, airs this Friday at 10:45PM on Showtime, with the conclusion the following Friday. It is a major arc episode, so don’t miss it. Alas, no word on a second season yet.

Might as well just rattle it all off. Unless you’ve been living under a boulder of kryptonite, you’ve heard about Batman vs. Superman, with Wolfgang Petersen at the helm (putting the Ender’s Game project on hold); Serling redux times two – first, UPN produces a new Twilight Zone – now, USA pulls out a new Night Gallery; The Matrix Reloaded gets a release date of May 15th, 2003; and Enterprise kicks off its second season on Sept. 18th.

Fans of Quantum Leap around the world have been begging for a continuation of the series in one form or another since the show ended in 1993. Now that SCI FI Channel is part of Universal Television Group, which owned Quantum Leap, Leapers will get their wish. A two-hour TV movie is being developed, headed by series creator Donald P. Bellisario, that may serve as a back-door pilot for a new series. No word on who else will be involved – too early for that.

I’m back, finally. And topping off the news: apparently Steven Spielberg has begged George Lucas to let him direct an episode of Star Wars – but George has been unwilling to let Steven play with his “baby”.

Well, I’m off on vacation starting tonight, and won’t return until at least next weekend, so barring any earth-shattering news by this afternoon, don’t expect any updates…

The trailer for Star Trek: Nemesis can be seen on TV tonight (Wed 6/26) on Entertainment Tonight. Expect it on the official web site sometime thereafter.

Seems Michael Shanks may return after all – at least for a bit. Seems that producer Brad Wright said in a chat on scifi.com that they have a couple of stories involving Shanks departed character or Dr. Daniel Jackson, including the season finale, and hope that Michael Shanks will want to make both of them. He also let slip that we will also see Ronnie Cox and John De Lancie back, and even Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap) will guest this season.

Shame on me…I forgot to point out the premiere of Odyssey 5 was last night. I forgot myself until I flipped to Showtime. No fear…it repeats 11:45pm tomorrow (Sunday 6/23) night.

So, nothing really earth-shattering happening this week it seems. Buffy may get an eighth season; Doom 3 by id Software took home lots of awards at E3 – even though it is probably still a year away; and despite lackluster reviews but a strong opening weekend, sequel to Scoopy Doo has been fast-tracked at Warner Brothers.