Sci-Fi Storm

This is just funny…Cookie Monster and Grover from Sesame Street dropped by Entertainment Weekly, and did a few musical numbers about some popular movies, singing about The Hunger Games, The Avengers, Newsroom, and even Doctor Who! Check out the video at EW’s PopWatch…

Don’t forget…the huge blockbuster The Avengers will be released on [sfs=1249]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1250]DVD[/sfs] this coming Tuesday, September 25th! There is still time to order from Amazon via the above links and if you get two-day shipping (free for Amazon Prime members) and get it on release day!

And if you don’t have any of the individual Avengers team movies, there is also the [sfs=1253]Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled Limited Edition Blu-ray set[/sfs] that includes The Avengers (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray), Captain America: The First Avenger (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray), Thor (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray), Iron Man 2 (Blu-ray), The Incredible Hulk (Blu-ray), and Iron Man (Blu-ray) plus bonus material!

Here is the second trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – I’m getting more and more excited for this!
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When Avatar destroyed box offices all over the world, James Cameron suddenly found himself the target of many lawsuits claiming that the movie ripped off their own stories. Now there is at least one less.

A U.S. District court tossed out a lawsuit filed by Elijah Schkeiban, who claimed that Avatar ripped off his novel (and a screenplay that never got produced) called Bats And Butterflies. But the judge said that the two were not substantially similar, and even after allowing Schkeiban to amend his complaint several times to provide more facts, but he never did, and now it appears that his suit is effectively dead.

Writer and director Wayne Brandenburg, who created the award winning short Blue Haired Girls and has also worked on The Guild, and The Chicago 8, is working on a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the creation of his next film, The Tuning, a feature-length sci-fi film about mind reading gone wrong. Wayne, a long time reader of Sci-Fi Storm, sent in this great article not just about the film he is trying to make, but also about the experience of using Kickstarter to fund it.

KICKSTARTING THE TUNING: A SCI-FI INDY ABOUT MIND READING GONE WRONG

by Wayne Brandenburg

This is a brief account of my experiences with crowdfunding an independent sci-fi movie with Kickstarter.com.
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Well, everyone was hoping that the full title of the upcoming sequel to Star Trek would clue us in on who the big bad is, played by Sherlock‘s Benedict Cumberbatch – which has long-rumored-but-vehemently-denied to be Khan.

Well, Paramount has released the full name: Star Trek: Into Darkness – and I’m not sure that tells us much of anything. Sounds more like a spin-off novel or something… 🙂

Actor Jeffrey Wright, who played James Bond’s American CIA friend Felix Leiter in Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale and also appeared in Source Code, will play the role of electronics expert and repeat tribute Beetee, also nicknamed Volts, in the upcoming The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

From the release:

Santa Monica, CA, September 7, 2012- Lionsgate® and the filmmakers of THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE are pleased to announce that Jeffrey Wright has been cast in the role of Beetee in the much anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ worldwide smash hit novel Catching Fire. Hailing from District 3, Beetee earns the nickname “Volts” because of his electronics expertise.

Critically acclaimed and celebrated by audiences for his performances in theater and on film and television, Wright garnered a Tony® Award in 1994 for his work in Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic “Angels in America” which he reprised in HBO’s 2003 mini-series adaptation, earning both a Golden Globe® and an Emmy®. He has played memorable roles in films as diverse as BASQUIAT, SOURCE CODE, CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE, W, SYRIANA, and CADILLAC RECORDS. Wright can next be seen with Mark Walhberg, Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Allen Hughes’ political thriller BROKEN CITY.

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE begins as Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever.

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE will be directed by Francis Lawrence, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the second in a trilogy that has sold more than 50 million books in print and digital in the U.S. alone.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will be released on November 22nd, 2013.

No need to watch commercial-laden TV to catch the latest 30-second spot for DREDD 3D starring Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby – you can watch it right here! DREDD 3D opens September 21st.
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Here is the new trailer for the upcoming Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters, starring Jeremy Renner (The Avengers, The Hurt Locker) and Gemma Arterton ( Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ) as the fable children, all grown up and hunting witches…the Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow) directed film opens January 11th, 2013.
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The winners of the 2012 Hugo Awards were announced last night at Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention. Neil Gaiman, with several Hugos already, picked up another – but instead of getting Best Novel, he won the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form award for the Doctor Who episode, “The Doctor’s Wife”.

Here is a list of the winners:
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