Sci-Fi Storm

Excited for tonight? Get a taste with the first four minutes of tonight’s premiere episode right here! The Walking Dead returns to AMC tonight at 9/8c!
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If at first you don’t succeed…producer Kevin Burns has been trying to reboot the various worlds of Irwin Allen for some time through his Synthesis Entertainment company. Two previous attempts to bring back Lost In Space were made, the first in the early 2000’s with the original cast but was shelved with the death of Jonathan Harris, and the second a 2004 backdoor pilot for a reboot that never aired. In addition, a pilot was shot for a new version of The Time Tunnel in 2006 but was not picked up.

Now it seems that Legendary TV really, really wants to get the Jupiter 2 off the ground – literally. They have teamed up with Kevin Burns to put the show back in development, and have set Dracula Untold scribes Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless to write the pilot. Burns and Legendary TV EVP Peter Johnson will join Sazama and Sharpless as executive producers.

In the first-part of tomorrow night’s episode new episode of Haven, Vince and Dave head to North Carolina to investigate Dave’s past, but a body-switching trouble hits Haven. Check out the sneak peek below, and don’t forget that it airs at 7:00pm ET! And also check out Part 2 of Haven: Origins!
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Star Wars Rebels did gangbusters in its debut on Disney Channel, with the special movie, “Spark of Rebellion” taking in 6.5 million viewers…but that’s not enough, apparently, as the broadcast arm of Disney, ABC, will re-air the special on Sunday, October 26th at 7pm ET (hmm…the traditional time slot of The Wonderful World of Disney?)

But to make it a bit suped-up, ABC is getting a bonus: an added scene not only featuring the franchise’s iconic Bad Guy – Darth Vader – but he will be voiced by none other than the voice of Vader, James Earl Jones!!!

Don’t get too excited, though – this is currently just a cameo appearance and there are currently no plans to make him appear again.

Universal Cable Productions (UCP) continues to gain momentum adding star power to a growing roster of A-list producing talent. The studio has signed a first-look deal with Chris Bender, JC Spink and Jake Weiner’s BenderSpink (The Hangover, We’re The Millers, The Ring). As part of the deal, BenderSpink will develop and produce scripted programming with UCP for NBCUniversal and external networks.

“BenderSpink has not only great comedic taste, but also a keen eye for the kind of genre that audiences crave,” said Dawn Olmstead, Executive Vice President of Development, UCP. “We’re excited to bring their vision to life and have a laugh while rolling up our sleeves.”

BenderSpink will expand UCP’s comedy and science fiction footprint by developing scripted content that leverages Chris Bender, JC Spink and Jake Weiner’s successful feature film hallmark. Among their first collaborations already in development at Syfy is the Kickstarter-funded sensation Five Ghosts by Frank Barbiere and Chris Mooneyham. This stylish, pulpy adventure tells the story of a 1930s-era treasure hunter possessed by five literary ghosts (Merlin, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, Musashi, and Dracula) whose unique abilities he can draw on during his adventures. Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsmen), BenderSpink (The Hangover), Jake Wagner, Matt Pizzolo and Brett Gurewitz have signed on to produce.

“We’ve been anxious to build our television business and form the kind of successful partnership we have in features with New Line Cinema,” said Chris Bender, Co-Founder of BenderSpink. “We really clicked with the gang at UCP and their sensibility and are excited to have the opportunity to make great television together.”

BenderSpink joins UCP’s leading producer line-up, including Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment, Doug Liman’s Hypnotic, Jessica Biel’s Iron Ocean Films and Steve Carell’s Carousel Television.

About BenderSpink

BenderSpink was established by partners Chris Bender and J.C. Spink in November of 1998 with American Pie in post-production and 14 writer clients signed to their management company. Jake Weiner joined the company in 2001 as head of production and became a partner in 2006. The film production arm of BenderSpink has had a successful first look deal with New Line Cinema for over 15 years, and they recently signed a first look deal in television with Universal Cable Productions. Jake Wagner, Ryan Revel, and Daniel Vang round out the management arm. BenderSpink has developed or produced projects that have grown into seven franchises in various genres, which include Final Destination, American Pie, The Ring, Cats & Dogs, The Butterfly Effect, The Hangover, and Ride Along. The company most recently produced the comedies The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, We’re The Millers, and Horrible Bosses 2, and are currently in production on Vacation and Criminal.

It seems that Sony is fed up waiting for a Ghostbusters 3 (not that the death of Harold Ramis earlier this year helped.) Sony is pushing forward with a new director Paul Feig (The Heat), and now has a writer, The Heat‘s Katie Dippold.

The film will now be an entire reboot of the franchise, with reportedly no ties to the original team or movies. And this time, it will be a female buddy comedy, with a whole new team of female leads.

I’m all for it, but it’s going to be hard not to think back to Venkman, Spengler, Zantz and Zeddemore.

AMC has held to their pattern of early pickups and ordered a sixth season of its record breaking series The Walking Dead just ahead of the 5th season debut this Sunday.

The Walking Dead has been riding a high, topping the TV charts for adults 18-49 for two straight years and finished off its fourth season with a 15.7 million viewer finale – 3.3 million higher than the previous season finale. It averaged 13.3 million viewers over the whole fourth season.

Metal Hurlant Chronicles, an anthology series that has had two limited runs and was recently aired on Syfy in the U.S., will get a reboot of sorts as they change format to an arc-based serial series, telling a story over the course of a season.

The first two seasons were of independent stories, loosely (and I mean VERY loosely) tied together with an asteroid called the Metal Hurlant that passed by the planet on which they story was taking place, changing the lives of those that it encountered. It based on the Metal Hurlant anthology comic/magazine series.

The idea behind the format switch is to allow time for the audience and characters to connect, “and where we could explore the mythology of the Métal Hurlant,” according to creator/producer Guillaume Lubrano.

In an anthology series, like with The Outer Limits, there is the very limited time to get the audience interested in what they are seeing. It requires strong stories and actors who can engage with the audience quickly. But there is also the regret that if you do make that connection, the audience might regret that they won’t see those characters again (unless there is the rare sequel story, or even rarer spin-off to a series.) In addition, you have a very limited time to tell the story. By switching to the arc format, recently successful with the American Horror Story series, you have more time to develop depth in the characters and weave a more interesting story.

Jamie Mathieson (Being Human, Doctor Who) will write the script, which will be a co-production between Atlantique Productions and the producers of the original series, WE Productions.