Sci-Fi Storm

Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice In Wonderland (planned for a 2010 release) is getting a wide ranging cast, which now includes Christopher Lee and Alan Rickman, with Rickman as the Caterpillar (Lee’s role was not announced). Some of the previously announced cast include Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter as the Queens, and Australian Mia Wasikowska (Amelia) as Alice.

Traileraddict.com has made the international trailer for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince available for viewing to everyone. Be sure to watch to the end.

Rich Handley writes in to let us know about his new book being release for the 40th anniversary of the Planet Of The Apes film series, “Timeline of the Planet of the Apes: The Definitive Chronology”. Read More for the full press release.

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It is scant on details, but writer/director Kevin Smith (Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back) is developing a space comedy, his first SF film, which will revolve around a father-son relationship and pay homage to other SF films. Update 10/21: Smith is downplaying the report, saying that he frequently mentions wanting to do it…

Various images relating to the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie are appearing around the web. Two notable ones are attached to an interview in Entertainment Weekly (including the cover photo), along with collections of photos over at TrekMovie.com. From the looks of it, this is going to be a re-imagining (like with Battlestar Galactica), with some elements severely updated (like the bridge), and stretching if not breaking existing canon.

Don Cheadle (Ocean’s Eleven and sequels) will take over the role of Jim Rhodes in the upcoming Iron Man 2. Played by Terrence Howard in the first movie, the character within the comic mythos becomes War Machine, using another suit of armor created by Stark, although there is no indication that will happen in the sequel. Howard and Marvel apparently disagreed on financial arrangements, and Marvel had interest in working with Cheadle. I’ve been impressed with Cheadle and his various roles, so this may be a move in the right direction.

Sir Ridley Scott, who has not directed an SF film since 1982’s Blade Runner (and prior to that 1979’s Alien) has acquired the rights to Joe Haldeman’s 1974 novel, The Forever War. Scott originally wanted to make the movie after Blade Runner, but the rights had already been acquired by Richard Edlund (visual effects guy for the original Star Wars trilogy and won an Oscar for Raiders Of The Lost Ark), who still held them until selling them to Scott. Scott still has a busy queue in front of him, so it remains to be seen if this makes it off the shelf.

Rendezvous With Rama, which Morgan Freeman has been trying to get off the shelf for years, may have fallen into the trashbin, according to David Fincher, who was attached to direct. Apparently a script never materialized, although it sounded hopeful last December. Rama, Ringworld, even Halo…seems we may never get to see a good vision of a megastructure epic…

Director Andrew Stanton (Wall*E), who is also performing writing duties for the upcoming John Carter of Mars movie, gave more details to SCI FI Wire on the early stages of the film’s production. Apparently the look will differ from the classic bookcover imagery of the Burroughs series, and may diverge from the books themselves. “I’m going to do what I remember more than what they exactly do.” They are still mum on the format, but reports are that it may be a mix of live action and animation.

Disney, who has been looking at its theme parks for inspiration, especially with the success of Pirates of the Carribean, may make Tomorrowland its next movie source. According to reports, Tomorrowland is set to be a vehicle for Dwayne Johnson, who recently starred in The Game Plan and is in the upcoming Disney feature Race To Witch Mountain, and the writing team of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (Rebound) are drafting a script. Disney is denying the title or that it has anything to do with the parks.