Sci-Fi Storm

File this FIRMLY under rumors for now, but according to a report from Latino Review (warning – some potentially offensive language), Bryan Singer, who is developing a Battlestar Galactica movie, is looking to revive yet another 70s TV franchise as a feature film, this time it’s The Six Million Dollar Man, and Leonardo DiCaprio is being lined up to star.

Supposedly The Weinstein Company (who they claim are nearly bankrupt) is partnering with Universal for the production, which will be based on the same original story as the original TV series ([asin=0345316207]Cyborg by Martin Caidin[/asin]), and will be retitled The Six Billion Dollar Man (inflation, after all…)

A feature version of Steve Austin has been in development for a long time – we first reported on it in 2002 – and it’s morphed a number of times over the years, mostly into a comedy starring Jim Carrey, and in the late 90s Kevin Smith wrote a script which at one time had Chris Rock associated with it.

Is this just random rumors, or is there substance? Not sure yet. But given that I’ve learned about a remake of The Munsters, I’m firmly convinced “new ideas” are generated by looking randomly through old TV Guides.

There are two Snow White-based movies coming out soon – Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman and Relativity Media’s Mirror Mirror (the title was just released two weeks ago). And now their are trailers out for both.
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Author John Kenneth Muir has brought his unique talents to Horror Films of the 1970s and Horror Films of the 1980s, and he has now tackled Horror Films of the 1990s, in a new book for McFarland.

In addition to hundreds of horror films, he also covers suspense and science fiction.

The Thunder Child has reviewed this book at: http://thethunderchild.com/TheMirrorofEveLeQinu/HorrorFilmsofthe1990s.html

We knew that there has been discussions for a long time about a feature film version of Doctor Who – but always in the context of being within the current franchise. Now Variety is reporting that a Doctor Who film is in the works, but it is going to be a reboot of sorts, and David Yates, who directed the last four Harry Potter films, is in charge.

According to Yates, they will NOT follow the current series. “Russell T. Davies and then Steven Moffat have done their own transformations, which were fantastic, but we have to put that aside and start from scratch,” he said. And neither Davies or Moffat are at this time involved at all. Not sure how this will fly with the current fanbase.

Doctor Who was re-imagined once before, in a pair of movies starring Peter Cushing in 1965/1966, which were adapted from the serials, “The Daleks” and “The Dalek Invasion of Earth”. However Cushing’s Doctor was human, not a Time Lord, whereas Yates mentions the Doctor being a Time Lord specifically. Once pre-production gets going and there is a script, we may find out more just how much of the mythos we are familiar with will get rebooted.

The trailer debuted on Good Morning America this morning, but now it is available worldwide and you can see it right here!

In an attempt to preserve the anticipation and mystery that fans are relishing, the trailer only shows footage from the first half of the film, chronicling events leading up to but not including the Games themselves. After giving fans their first look at all of the book’s beloved characters brought to life, giving viewers who haven’t read the book vital information about the world of Panem, the trailer ends with an electrifying cliffhanger right as Katniss enters the arena.

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Sony has halted pre-production on Roland Emmerich’s SF epic Singularity, which revolves around the term popularized by Ray Kurzweil in his 2005 book [asin=0143037889]The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology[/asin] which is the point at which technology creates a greater intelligence than humans, as explored in numerous movies, TV series and books. In the movie, a nanotech scientist transfers the consciousness of his badly injured son to a nanobot swarm that can take physical form.

Rumors swirled that this was due to Emmerich’s disappointment at having Anonymous suddenly reduced from a wide to a platform release, but both Sony and Emmerich’s people deny that. Instead, it appears that Sony just wants it to be made better before production begins. Ray Kurzweil himself has been brought in to consult on the project, with production start likely delayed but still hopeful of a May 2013 release.

Interestingly, it was a year ago and a day when Emmerich’s The Zone shut down production permanently.

William Gibson introduced the world to the term “cyberspace” and cyberpunk to the world in 1984 with his Hugo, Nebula and Dick award-winning novel [asin=0441012035]Neuromancer[/asin], which has been a focus for movie development for many years but just never seems to find traction. Now producer Peter Hoffman may have found a foothold and apparently lined up backers for the film, and the rumor is that Bruce Willis may star – however, Willis is not currently attached to the film, with CAA only confirming that he is reading the script. And it seem Willis’ name gets bandied about for various movies for sale, whether or not he is involved…

What do you think? Can Willis pull off the drug-addicted former computer hacker?

Two months ago it was announced that Harlan Ellison was filing a lawsuit against New Regency and director Andrew Niccol about the movie In time, which Ellison claims was too similar to his well known story, “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said The Ticktockman”, and would damage his ability to sell his own movie rights. He was seeking to stop the release, destroy all copies, and damages, but the film was released in time (pun!) anyways.

But I’m just learning today that Ellison had settled with the defendants last week, settling at least for screen credit (no mention on a monetary settlement) in future prints of the movie. This settlement echoes a similar lawsuit Ellison won against the producers of The Terminator, also receiving on-screen credit.

Updated 11/9: Maybe it hasn’t…I’m hearing through the twittervine that the original story may be false, and none of the other major orgs seem to have picked up on it. More news when known.

Update #2: Per Andrew Niccol’s lawyer, there has not been any settlement.

In the latest video blog from Peter Jackson, they discuss about filming in 3D, including some of the tech involved. I need to see this movie NOW!

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Ron Howard discussed his upcoming Formula One racing-based movie Rush, but also discussed a bit about the state of The Dark Tower: “We are continuing to work on the script to find ways to make the budget more manageable and still deliver the work in a way that the project deserves,” he said. “We were always racing and fast-tracking the project, so I always wince when I see something written about it and there’s a release date in there. These kinds of projects often take years to come together in the right ways. But I am in love with the material, and the minute it can come together in the right way, I am fully committed to it.”

Not sure how this goes along with the related TV series reportedly finding a network – hopefully we will get more clarity soon – but Howard certainly seems committed to bringing it to the screen.