Sci-Fi Storm

Remember that lawsuit that had been going on for years over the movie rights for the Dungeons & Dragons game franchise? The one that went to court almost eleven months ago?? Well, it’s finally been put to bed, with both sides reaching a settlement.

Many felt this was a “proxy war” between two studios – Warner Bros, who reached a deal with original rightsholder Sweetpea Entertainment and director Courtney Solomon to bring D&D back to the big screen, and Universal, who reached a similar agreement with Hasbro, who owns the game through subsidiary Wizards Of The Coast. Hasbro felt that Sweetpea was simply producing DVD “sequels” just to retain the rights, and sought to reclaim them to hand over to Universal. Sweetpea contested, backed by Warner Bros.

Now it appears that Sweetpea and Warner Bros. were on the winning side in the settlement, and Universal is out of the picture.

“We are so excited about bringing the world of Dungeons & Dragons to life on the big screen,” according to Greg Silverman, WB’s president of Creative Development and Worldwide Production. “This is far and away the most well-known brand in fantasy, which is the genre that drives the most passionate film followings. D&D has endless creative possibilities, giving our filmmakers immense opportunities to delight and thrill both fans and moviegoers new to the property.”

Courtney Solomon and Allan Zeman of Sweetpea Entertainment, Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis, and Roy Lee (The LEGO Movie) are all set to produce. A script has already been written by David Leslie Johnson (The Conjuring 2). No director has been named yet, so it seems likely that we are quite a ways off yet.

From what I’ve been told, Solomon and Zeman will remain producers for all Warner Bros productions of the franchise in theaters or on TV, but overall rights return to Wizards Of The Coast.

Now, let’s see if they can come up with something good. Been waiting 25 years…

The spinoff from the The CW’s DC properties Arrow and The Flash is rounding out its cast. Falk Hentschel (Reckless) is joining the cast of Legends Of Tomorrow as Carter Hall, an archaeologist who is the reincarnation of ancient Egyptian Prince Khufu who can call on the powers of Horus and transform into Hawkman.

Hentschel joins the retreads from the parent shows including Victor Garber, Caity Loitz, Brandon Routh, Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller, plus new cast members Ciara Renee (Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, Hall’s soulmate), Franz Drameh (Jay Jackson) and Arthur Darvill (Rip Hunter).

Syfy and Universal Cable Productions (UCP) today announced that production has commenced in Melbourne, Australia on the upcoming thriller series Hunters. The series is from executive producers Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead, The Terminator Trilogy) and Natalie Chaidez (12 Monkeys, Heroes), who will also serve as showrunner, and Emile Levisetti (Royal Pains). Ernest Dickerson (The Walking Dead, Dexter) is set to direct the pilot.

The series stars Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek) as Flynn, a headstrong Baltimore FBI agent with a dark past trying to piece together the disappearance of his wife. Britne Oldford (American Horror Story) will play Regan, who is one of the government’s most valuable operatives and may be keeping secrets of her own. Julian McMahon portrays McCarthy, an unhinged junkie and Hunter cell leader.

Hunters is inspired by Whitley Strieber’s best-selling novel, Alien Hunter, in which the disappearance of a decorated FBI agent’s wife leads him to a secret government unit assembled to hunt a group of ruthless terrorists – shadowy figures that may or may not be from this world. The series will be tonally dark and offer a unique crossover twist between gritty crime drama and sci-fi thriller.

The 13-part series from Universal Cable Productions will premiere on Syfy in 2016.

Hunters joins other high profile upcoming Syfy originals, including the December 2015 premieres of epic space drama The Expanse, starring Thomas Jane, Steven Strait and Shohreh Aghdashloo; Childhood’s End, the first-ever adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s iconic novel starring Charles Dance, Mike Vogel and Julian McMahon; and The Magicians, based on Lev Grossman’s best-selling books and set to premiere in 2016. Childhood’s End and The Magicians are both from Universal Cable Productions.

A toxic Black Rain storm over Westerly forces John and Pawter to take shelter in the Royale overrun with a gang of dangerous criminals. Tune in for “Come The Rain”, Friday at 9/8c on Syfy.
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The season finale of ABC Family’s Stitchers is already upon us!

The Stitchers team is on the defense when Cameron and Detective Fisher are targeted in a shooting. Kirsten’s stitch leads them to Robert Barbiero (guest star Henry Rollins), a security expert who has worked with Maggie in the past and was close to Kirsten’s mom. As Kirsten follows the clues that Ed Clark left her, she finds unexpected answers to long-held questions.

Meanwhile, Linus is jealous when Cameron starts training Camille to be his back-up in the Stitchers lab.

Tune in to “Full Stop” on ABC Family tomorrow night at 9/8c!

Wasting no time as usual, AMC during a Television Critics Association panel confirmed that they’ve already ordered up a second season of spinoff series Fear The Walking Dead, with 15 episodes. The first season of six episodes starts August 23rd.

FTWD is set in Los Angeles and deals with the outbreak of the virus and will address the collapse of civilization and the response of the government and the military.

On the next episode of Dark Matter, the crew stops at a space station to refuel and rest, but Six has a different agenda — revenge. Tunr in Friday at 10/9c on Syfy!
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The search to uncover the mystery behind D’avin’s missing memories triggers a shocking incident that will haunt the team. Guest starring Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1, Sanctuary).

Tune in for “Kiss, Kiss, Bye Bye” Friday night at 9/8c!
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The Stitchers team investigates the murder of an online psychic whose symbolic, layered memories are further complicated when Kristen sees the murder of another person in the stitch. Maggie expresses her reservations about Kirsten’s relationship with Liam. Meanwhile, Camille hesitantly agrees to meet Linus’s parents.

“Future Tense” airs at 9/8c Tuesday on ABC Family!
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Universal Pictures has already set a release date of June 22nd, 2018, for a sequel to the summer blockbuster Jurassic World sequel, which does not have an official name yet, but stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are confirmed to return, and writer/director Colin Trevorrow will write the script, but is not likely to return as director as rumors have him attached to a future Star Wars movie.