Sci-Fi Storm

Like a quilt, sometimes you can take all the little pieces and stitch them together as a work of art…well, it may depend on your definition of art, but this is undeniably neat. In 2009 Casey Pugh took to the internet with an idea – take the entire movie of Star Wars: A New Hope, and remake it – in 15 second increments, crowd-source style. And now it’s available in its entirety online! Each piece was done by someone else, showing a wide range of ideas, from serious to tacky, from CGI to live action, from hand animation to puppets and dolls, from low budget to…well, I’m not sure it ever taxed someone’s wallet. But still, the result is entertaining…
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New Zealand born writer/director Richard Curtis, best known for writing the movies Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones Diary, Notting Hill, War Horse and Love Actually (the latter of which he also directed), will get back in the director’s chair for About Time, a time travel movie from Working Title Productions. No details about the plot are available yet.

Curtis is also no stranger to television, as Doctor Who fans will remember the emotional episode called “Vincent and the Doctor”, featuring troubled artist Vincent Van Gogh, which he wrote. He also wrote many TV episodes of popular British comedies such as the Blackadder series, Mr. Bean, and The Vicar of Dibley.

One wonders with his history of frequently working with both Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Grant, which of the two “honorary” Doctors (both appeared as the Doctor in the spoof, “The Curse of the Fatal Death”) will appear in this movie?

Deadline is reporting that Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica ) is in negotiations to star as Dahl, a Nordic mercenary tracking Riddick (Vin Diesel), in the upcoming Chronicles of Riddick sequel.

Vin Diesel and David Twohy have been trying for over 3 years to get a third movie made and things were moving forward recently, but production had to be halted for a couple months recently to deal with budget issues (sounds really familiar lately…)

This is a new one…with all the turmoil regarding the director and host of the upcoming Oscars, the Academy has produced its own trailer, which…well, I don’t want to spoil it… 🙂

The long- and highly-anticipated live action production of the well-known anime feature, Akira (and I mean long – we first reported about it just about 10 years ago), has been shut down by Warner Bros at least for a couple weeks, to see if the producers can shrink the budget even further.

The budget was already cut down to about $90 million when current director Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax) took over, where previously it was looking close to $200 million. But it appears the studio doesn’t believe the cast can draw the numbers still. The only actor currently signed on is Garrett Hedlund, who only saw moderate success with Tron: Legacy, while actors Ken Watanabe (Inception), Kristin Stewart (the Twilight saga) and Helena Bonham Carter (the Harry Potter franchise, Dark Shadows) in negotiations, but apparently that is not necessarily the star power they want for the budget. It is believed if they can cut another $20-$30 million, however, it may move forward.

Hot on the heels of the earlier announcement, another British actor is scored for Star Trek 2: Benedict Cumberbatch, who’s been pretty hot lately. After starring in the British mini-series Sherlock (with more episodes currently airing in the UK), he scored roles in The War Horse and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and is playing two rules in the upcoming The Hobbit films – the voice of the Necromancer and Smaug the Dragon.

Deadline reports that Cumberbatch will be playing a lead role, but nothing more. Could he be a villain? Khan?

In a cross-franchise, cross-ocean move, Noel Clarke, who played the recurring role of Rose Tyler’s boyfriend Mickey Smith on Doctor Who, is joining the cast of Star Trek 2 in an unnamed role, but the character is described as “a family man with a wife and young daughter.”

Clarke joins fellow British actors Alice Eve (She’s Out of My League) and Simon Pegg (returning as Scotty).

Star Trek 2 is scheduled for release on May 17th, 2013.

Actor (and Tolkien aficionado) Sir Christopher Lee, who turns 90 in May, gave a video Christmas message to his fans via YouTube, in two parts, which you can see below.

In part one, he talks about his roles of 2011, including Hugo and The Hobbit.

Unfortunately you can see that he has become weaker with age, and he even mentions that he doesn’t take long parts any more as he doesn’t have the energy. About the The Hobbit films, he says, “I hope to live to see.”
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The 1953 George Pal version of The War of the Worlds has been named one of the 25 films that will be added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, which lists films that are considered culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. Films so registered are then preserved by the LOC for future generations.

Another movie included is A Computer Animated Hand, a one minute short created by Ed Catmull as a grad student in 1972, which is one of the earliest examples of computer animation. Catmull would go on to co-found Pixar Animation Studios.

Other movies in this year’s class include Disney’s Bambi, Forrest Gump, The Kid (Charlie Chaplain’s first full-length feature), The Silence of the Lambs, and Stand and Deliver (an early starring role for Battlestar Galactica‘s Edward James Olmos).

According to Variety (paid subscription may be required), Harrison Ford is returning to space, having been confirmed for the role of Colonel Hyram Graff in Ender’s Game, based on Orson Scott Card’s novel and adapted and directed by Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine).

Graff is in charge of training at a military academy, which Andrew “Ender” Wiggin attends after showing an aptitude for military decision making, where the students are trained to help battle the insectoid Formics.