Sci-Fi Storm

Updated 4/14: Well, it seems that Todd Fisher was wrong…according to Kathleen Kennedy a short time ago on stage at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Carrie Fisher will NOT appear in the final epic movie. “Sadly, Carrie will not be in nine,” Kennedy said. “But we will see a lot of Carrie in Eight.” She also added that Todd Fisher was “confused.”

Original: We already knew that the unexpected death of actress Carrie Fisher wouldn’t affect Star Wars Episode VIII, as she completed all her scenes, but we weren’t sure how it would affect the production or storyline for the final saga installment. But her brother, Todd Fisher, confirmed to the New York Daily News that he and his niece and Carrie’s daughter Billie Lourd having given Lucasfilm their approval for existing footage of their mother to be used in Episode IX – and that it is understood that no CGI will be used.

“Both of us were like, ‘Yes, how do you take her out of it?’ And the answer is you don’t,”, according to Fisher. “She’s as much a part of it as anything and I think her presence now is even more powerful than it was, like Obi Wan — when the saber cuts him down he becomes more powerful. I feel like that’s what’s happened with Carrie. I think the legacy should continue.”

It is not clear how much Leia will appear in the movie.

Joss Whedon may yet get his DC heroine movie…after pitching a Wonder Woman movie a 2007, where the studio opted instead to go a different direction which ultimately didn’t happen, Whedon is now in talks with Warner Bros. to bring a Batgirl feature to the big screen under the DC Universe of movies.

Whedon has a knack for strong female characters and leads – from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Firefly to Dollhouse, he hasn’t been afraid to let the women stand on their own, so he seems a good fit to bring us a Barbara Gordon who doesn’t stick to the background of her better-known vigilante friends. Spin it and get out of the way, Bruce…

Remember that lawsuit filed almost two years ago which claimed that Marvel Studios ripped off elements from a comic called Radix for their modern take on Iron Man? Well, it hasn’t gone away just yet – it’s just transformed.

Early last year the court in Massachusetts denied the case based on jurisdiction, but the plaintiffs, brothers Ben and Ray Lai, owners of Horizon Comics Productions, refiled on April 4th, 2016 in New York. On Monday, U.s District Court Judge J. Paul Oetken issued a ruling on Marvel’s motion to dismiss the suit, dismissing portions of the complaint but allowing others to proceed.

In the ruling, Judge Oetken notes that several parts of the complaint revolve around elements that Marvel called “unprotectable” under copyright, and the court agreed. A “highly mechanized suit of armor” was one, as it was too vague, as was the “three point landing” pose that was common between a poster for Iron Man 3 and some Radix promotional artwork. The pose, frankly, is so utterly common it’s now a cliché and is even referred to as “scènes à faire” or an obligatory scene in the ruling, and despite the plaintiffs assertions that Iron Man originally wore spandex and minimal armor, he wore power armor well before Radix existed, and even when he first debuted in 1963. As those elements are unprotectable, they cannot be considered as part of the test for “substantial similarity” for the case.

Some elements, however, may be protectable in comparing the images, notably things like hairstyles, style of the suit, the use of blue lights in the suit, etc. and Judge Oetken will allow the complaint to proceed “in part”. However, with what seems to remain in the complaint to press on, it still looks like an uphill battle that got even steeper for the plaintiffs.

More action, less of the humor of the first trailer…

Opens July 7th, 2017

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is the visually spectacular new adventure film from Luc Besson, the legendary director of The Professional, The Fifth Element and Lucy, based on the ground-breaking comic book series which inspired a generation of artists, writers and filmmakers.

In the 28th century, Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are a team of special operatives charged with maintaining order throughout the human territories. Under assignment from the Minister of Defense, the two embark on a mission to the astonishing city of Alpha—an ever-expanding metropolis where species from all over the universe have converged over centuries to share knowledge, intelligence and cultures with each other. There is a mystery at the center of Alpha, a dark force which threatens the peaceful existence of the City of a Thousand Planets, and Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

Opens July 21st, 2017

Umm…Supes is…missing… 😉

It’s been three years since we’ve heard of any movement on an English-language live action Star Blazers movie. Good news is that it’s still with Skydance, and Christopher McQuarrie is still set to direct. However, since McQuarrie has been busy with Mission: Impossible 6, Skydance has hired Zach Dean to write a new draft of the script. Dean wrote 2012’s Deadfall starring Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde, and also has Voyagers (about Carl Sagan and his wife, Anne Druyan) and World War II drama Atlantic Wall in pre-production. Skydance hopes to have it ready for McQuarrie to direct as soon as he’s done with M:I6.

The original late-70s Star Blazers (original Japanese Space Battleship Yamato) follows the crew of the Yamato (redubbed Argo in the English version, after the ship of Greek mythology and similar story), a rebuilt relic equipped for space flight to travel from Earth, slowly dying after an alien bombardment, across the galaxy following a message from a mysterious source promising a cure for the Earth. 2010 saw a live-action Japanese version that was true to the styles of the original.

It appears that Warner Bros would like to revive The Matrix as a franchise – but they are still trying to figure out how.

Deadline reports that Warner Bros is interested in revisiting the franchise in some form, and may form a team of writers to investigate the possible ways to do so.

The original trilogy consisted of three rather different films. The first, The Matrix, established the two worlds – the real dystopian world and the virtual “normal” world, and grossed nearly half a billion dollars globally. The sequel, The Matrix Reloaded, worked to attempt an explanation for the Matrix itself, but got a little weird at the end – but some spectacular scenes helped and it grossed $742 million. The final movie, The Matrix Revolutions, was a pure action flick (so…many…bullets…) and failed to live up to its predecessor, yet still added another $427 million. There was also the direct-to-video The Animatrix, a collection of anime-style stories that were set in the Matrix worlds, and the game Enter The Matrix.

We’re guarded about a return to the franchise, as this appears to be very early on. And as such, there is no rumblings if this would be for the original cast or something all new.

Just some catch-up stuff before the weekend…

The CW has completed their full house of returning shows, ordering a fifth season of The 100, so all its returning scripted shows that weren’t previously announced as ending have received early renewals for an additional season. Among it’s freshman series, however, the story is less rosy – Riverdale did get a second season, but No Tomorrow and Frequency seem unlikely.

Also, on the less rosy side, remember that little heard of movie Avatar? And the multiple sequels that were supposed to be out by now? Well, they are delayed again. Although James Cameron now says there are no less than FOUR sequels planned, Avatar 2 isn’t even going to make it’s latest planned date of December 2018. Cameron told the Toronto Star, “2018 is not happening,” mainly because they are making four movies, not one. But, “We’re full tilt boogie right now. This is my day job and pretty soon we’ll be 24-7.” I think it is safe to say Cameron is all-in on this, and it will be released when it is ready.

Lastly, we’ll be back in Westoros on July 16th…HBO finally announced that Season 7 will start on that date. If you are like me and HBO is the only channel you don’t get, expect a Season 6 marathon that weekend with a free preview… 🙂

It’s a gun thing…

Opens May 5th!