Sci-Fi Storm

Just announced at Star Wars Celebration Europe – the next Star Wars Celebration (presumably Celebration VII – connection?) will return to California, and take place April 16th-19th, 2015 in Anaheim.

The previous two Celebrations were held in Orlando, Florida. Celebration IV was held in Los Angeles in 2007.

BREAKING: Kathleen Kennedy, the head of Disney’s Lucasfilm division, has announced at Star Wars Celebration Europe that maestro John Williams will return to score Star Wars Episode VII, as he has done for the previous six films…the following interview video was released with the announcement:

Well, at least we know that the long-gestating live-action Robotech feature is still alive…Latino Review is reporting that while Disney’s heating-up casting for the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII is going after big game, one prize target they apparently had in mind has already said no.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic) has reportedly said NO to Star Wars, instead wanting to work on a different SF epic – Robotech. A live action version of the 80s anime mashup (it was really three unrelated-beyond-mech-tech anime series edited and dubbed together to produce a three-part story) that has been in development since 2007 with Toby Maguire (Spider-Man) as a producer and then-possible star. It’s passed through some writers but only recently got a director in Nic Mathieu, a newcomer to feature films but a successful dramatic commercial director.

In general I’m looking forward to Robotech hopefully getting made – I think CGI technology is sufficient to pull it off now. But as for Leo, all I can think of is, “Whaddayanutz?”

Check out the latest trailer for Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney…the intensity in just these two minutes is pretty high…Gravity opens October 4th.

It’s trailer day! Next up, the trailer for Riddick, the final part of the Riddick trilogy (plus an animated feature).

Warning – this is a RED BAND trailer of an R-rated film, with language and violence. You’ll need to click on “continue reading” if you are reading this from the front page.

Riddick debuts September 6th, 2013.
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Lionsgate may be in damage control, more than three months before Ender’s Game is released to theaters.

Orson Scott Card, who wrote Ender’s Game originally as a short story in 1977 and later expanded it into a novel, is a well known critic of gay marriage rights, and is a practicing Mormon. Fearful of a boycott of the movie being called for by Geeks Out, due to be released November 1st, Lionsgate is distancing itself far from Card, with the author not taking part in the Ender’s Game panel next week.

Now today, they issued a press release calling the author’s views “irrelevant”:

As proud longtime supporters of the LGBT community, champions of films ranging from Gods and Monsters to The Perks of Being a Wallflower and a company that is proud to have recognized same-sex unions and domestic partnerships within its employee benefits policies for many years, we obviously do not agree with the personal views of Orson Scott Card and those of the National Organization for Marriage. However, they are completely irrelevant to a discussion of Ender’s Game. The simple fact is that neither the underlying book nor the film itself reflect these views in any way, shape or form. On the contrary, the film not only transports viewers to an entertaining and action-filled world, but it does so with positive and inspiring characters who ultimately deliver an ennobling and life-affirming message. Lionsgate will continue its longstanding commitment to the LGBT community by exploring new ways we can support LGBT causes and, as part of this ongoing process, will host a benefit premiere for Ender’s Game.

Only time will tell if potential movie-goers will consider it “irrelevant”…

Star Trek: Into Darkness will be released on [sfs=1342]Blu-ray 3D[/sfs], [sfs=1344]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1343]DVD[/sfs] on September 10th, but it will also get a digital release three weeks earlier!

From the press release:

DIRECTOR J.J. ABRAMS’ WORLDWIDE BLOCKBUSTER SETS A COURSE FOR BLU-RAY™, BLU-RAY 3D™ AND DVD
SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

Global Hit Debuts Three Weeks Early on Digital August 20th

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Lauded by critics as “a sleek, thrilling epic” (Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly), “a clever, exhilarating action adventure” (Claudia Puig, USA Today) and “stratospherically entertaining” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone), director J.J. Abrams’ phenomenal global sensation STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS makes its highly-anticipated debut on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD and On Demand on September 10, 2013 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. Fans can be the first to own the film on Digital when it arrives three weeks early on August 20th. Boasting “spectacular visual effects” (Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer) and “one of the best villains in recent memory” (Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS delighted audiences around the world, earning a coveted A CinemaScore.
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Remember when the estate for author J.R.R. Tolkien filed suit against Warner Bros over a Lord Of The Rings-themed online gambling game? Well, it seems that Warner Bros has won the first round.

Warner Bros (and Saul Zentz, the longtime rights holder) filed a countersuit in March against the estate, claiming that the initial lawsuit “hurt financially and had its rights to the author’s properties undermined,” and that it had to cancel the licensing agreement with Microgaming because of the suit, and that the estate has been receiving royalties from the agreement that was re-worked in 2010 already.

Today, a federal judge dismissed the motion by the plaintiffs to have the counterclaims dismissed, allowing the countersuit to move forward.

The characters from Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s series League of Extraordinary Gentleman seem likely to take an adventure on to your TV screens.

The comic series, which features Captain Nemo, Allan Quatermain, the Invisible Man and Dr. Jekyll, among others, going on adventures in the Victoria era (and later) battling evil, has received a put pilot commitment from Fox. Michael Green (Everwood, Heroes) will serve as showrunner for 20th Century Fox TV, alongside Erwin Stoff (Water for Elephants). Moore is reportedly not involved.

20th Century Fox released a film adaptation in 2003, starring Sean Connery, which garnered a cult following.

The “put pilot” commitment means that Fox basically guarantees that the pilot will be shown, whether or not it is picked up for series, or pay a substantial penalty.

Peter Jackson has released his video production diary for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, which you can see below…but sadly, he says there will be no presentation at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con due to time constraints while they finish pick-up shooting.