Sci-Fi Storm

CNN.com is reporting, according to Variety, that the Sci-Fi Channel will be getting the 4-hour Firestarter: The Next Chapter from Stephen King, following the main character from Firestarter 20 years later; Saint Sinner from Clive Barker, a TV movie about a 19th-century monk in modern-day Los Angeles hunting down two “buxom” female demons; and Taken, a 20-hour miniseries from Stephen Spielberg about three extended families over the course of 50 years after an alien abduction.

At the same time, it seems the Monday Prime lineup will move to Saturdays, with The Invisible Man moving back to Friday Prime to join Farscape and The Outer Limits, while Black Scorpion and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne will try to find much-needed ratings on Saturday.

This just in from Sci-Fi Wire – JMS is working on Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, a new TV movie to air later this year on the Sci-Fi Channel. According to the report, “The film will take up the story of the legendary Ranger fleet as it attempts to restore order to hundreds of civilizations devastated by the Shadow War.” It will also serve as a pilot for a new series.

Update: According to JMS, the above title is the heading for the movie and series. The title for the movie specifically is To Live and Die in Starlight. Read More for JMS’s announcement.

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JMS announced in rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated that the Sci-Fi Channel will air all the Crusade episodes in a new order, as determined by JMS. Basically, the episodes shot first will be shown first. Read More for more details.

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The Sci-Fi Channel’s mini-series version of Frank Herbert’s Dune is now available on DVD ([asin=B000059H6K]Order from Amazon.com for $17.49[/asin]). Anamorphic widescreen, all the typical goodies – but only Dolby 2.0 audio. Catch a review at ignDVD.

This even showed up on CNN.com – Trek Today is reporting that Scott Bakula is in negotiations to take the captain’s chair for the rumor-laden fifth Star Trek series. Will there be a holographic Al?

While the game-playing world sits and waits for Duke Nukem Forever, the celluloid world may get him first: Dimension Films has acquired the rights to a Duke Nukem movie and plans to kick it off this year, aiming for a PG-13 rating. No word on a script or cast, only that it deals with an alien ship heading to Earth.

JMS, who already has two comics in print and a bunch of other projects, takes over the writing duties for Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man, with the first issue due next month. Find out what’s on tap with Fandom.com’s interview…

Park Wars: The Little Menace has just been released. It is a parody of The Phantom Menace with South Park characters filling the roles. There is some original material, but mostly it takes directly from the audio of the movie (and mentions as much in the original material). Originally planned for 64 minutes, it was cut to under 12 minutes to avoid legal issues…

Is Aeryn really dead? What about Crichton’s brain? Well, it is a Sci-Fi show after all, so we can probably be safe in our assuptions that all will be well – but then again, this is Farscape, so something could still linger in the depths. Farscape‘s season 3 premiere airs at 9:00PM Friday, March 16th, preceded at 8:00PM with a special, Farscape Undressed, on The Sci-Fi Channel.

Updated 3/15: Just a reminder…

Received this in e-mail: The Museum of Television and Radio in Los Angeles will be holding a writing seminar entitled “From The Outer Limits to Roswell: Writing the Fantastic for Television” on March 26th from 5:30-7pm. The panel includes Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, Ronald D. Moore, Steve Roberts, and JMS. Read More for the details.

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