Sci-Fi Storm

Here is the first official trailer for Divergent, based on the novel by Veronica Roth. Set in a world where people are assigned to factions based on personality traits (selflessness, peacefulness, etc.), it follows Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) who at 16 on Choosing Day is classified as a “Divergent” – someone who doesn’t fit into any faction, and discovers that someone wants to eliminate all the Divergents.
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Well, we now know ONE thing about Star Wars: Episode VII at least…when we’ll see it.

Disney has set December 18th, 2015 is a the release date for J.J. Abrams-directed film, widely expected to have the original stars of the first three movies, albeit aged as they are now, but the full title, plot, etc. are completely unknown.

“We’re very excited to share the official 2015 release date for Star Wars: Episode VII, where it will not only anchor the popular holiday filmgoing season but also ensure our extraordinary filmmaking team has the time needed to deliver a sensational picture,” said Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.

Shooting is scheduled to begin spring 2014 at Pinewood Studios.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is out on [sfs=1373]Blu-ray 3D[/sfs], [sfs=1374]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1375]DVD[/sfs] this Tuesday, November 5th…I’ve reviewed the theatrical edition already, so what’s so cool about this version? In a word: extras. In a few more words – over nine hours of additional material, not including the feature-length commentary by Peter Jackson and Phillipa Boyens.

First, a quick synopsis:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first in Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated trilogy adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the Wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of 13 Dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild, through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins, Orcs and deadly Wargs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer.
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Not a lot new, but according to Deadline the live-action Star Blazers movie at Skydance Productions announced in 2011 is still on track, but now Christopher McQuarrie will direct as well as write.

Based on the 1974 cartoon series Star Blazers, which had two seasons aired on TV in the U.S. (as well as a [sfs=387]third series released on DVD[/sfs]), which itself was a re-edit and English dub of the anime Space Battleship Yamato, it follows the crew of the Argo, a spaceship rebuilt from the buried remains of the Japanese battleship Yamato, on a mission to save an Earth devastated by radiation from the constant bombardment from an alien attack. Aided by alien technology including the Wave Motion Engine, which can jump the ship across light years of space, and the Wave Motion Gun, one of the most powerful weapons ever built, they race across the universe to pick up the Cosmo DNA, which can remove all the radiation from the surface of Earth and make it livable again.

Space Battleship Yamato was made into a live-action Japanese movie in 2010, but it so far as not seen a release in the U.S.

Here is the official trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past, featuring Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellan, James McAvoy, Michale Fassbender…and Hugh Jackman, with a few cameos as well…and a glimpse into the plot…
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A little more than a month away from the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, on November 5th Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release the Extended Edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which will feature 13 minutes of extra film footage that extends individual scenes, and nine hours of additional special features! It is available now for pre-order in a [sfs=1373]Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/Ultraviolet 5-disc package[/sfs], [sfs=1374]Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet 3-disc package[/sfs], and a [sfs=1375]DVD 5-disc package[/sfs]. A digital version is already available on iTunes and includes the same extra features (iTunes extras may not be available in all countries.)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first in Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated trilogy adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the Wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of 13 Dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild, through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins, Orcs and deadly Wargs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer.
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Michael Arndt is out as sole screenwriter for Star Wars Episode VII, and J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan will be taking over.

In a statement from LucasFilm, LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy said, “I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script. “There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right. Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production.”

Kasdan had already been involved in helping develop some of the future Star Wars films, which was expected to include screenwriting duties for a “non-saga” film to come after Episode VII. Kasdan is also no stranger to LucasFilm properties, having written the original Indiana Jones film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and co-written the next two sequels.

Pre-production work is already well underway for Episode VII, which is expected to begin filming next Spring for a 2015 release.

Middle-earth. Gandalf. Bilbo. Dragon.

‘nough said.
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It’s been three years since the 2010 release of The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, the third film in the The Chronicles Of Narnia, released by Fox after Disney released the first two films (2005’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and 2008’s Prince Caspian), and with waning response from fans (even though they grossed $1.6 billion combined) it seemed unlikely we’d see any of the other books turned into movies any time soon. But that seems to have changed.

The Mark Gordon Company (Criminal Minds) and the C.S. Lewis Company have agreed to develop The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Silver Chair, the next installment of the Narnia franchise.

The Silver Chair was the fourth book published, although it is often numbered 6 in more recent “chronological” numberings), and follows the return of Eustace Scrub (who first appeared in Dawn Treader) to Narnia with schoolmate Jill Pole, as they help the now elderly King Caspian search for his lost son, Prince Rilian. It was previously produced in 1990 by the BBC as a TV movie which featured the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, in the role of Puddleglum, the gloomy Marshwiggle, who helps Eustace and Jill.

Walden Media, who held the rights for the first three films, had instead pushed for a fourth movie to be based on The Magician’s Nephew, which acted as a prequel to the entire series.