Sci-Fi Storm

Fox has announced the casting of John Lithgow and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) in the upcoming Rise Of The Apes, a re imagined prequel to the Planet Of The Apes franchise. Also mentioned is the plot, with Pinto playing a scientist testing a possible Alzheimer’s cure on apes, fueled by her desire to help her Alzheimer’s suffering dad (Lithgow). The tests result in Caesar, who develops intelligence rapidly.

Given all the doubts about when production will begin, or even who the director is, this is a good sign: images from the Shire, or that which will be the set for the eventually upcoming Hobbit features. Looks like the same attention to detail is being used…

Following up on the new director for Logan’s Run, there are now reports that Alex Garland is negotiating with Warner Bros.. Alex wrote 28 Days Later… and Sunshine, as well as the screenplay for Halo, the ill-fated big screen adaptation of the popular Microsoft franchise.

The making of The Hobbit could be as much a saga as the story itself. With the departure of Guillermo del Toro as director of the project, there is a void to fill – if production ever gets moving again. Currently at the top of the void-fill rumor list David Yates, who has directed the last 4 Harry Potter films, including the yet-to-be-released two-part finale. Can he move from one epic series to another?

Doctor Who‘s David Tennant has joined the cast of the Fright Night remake, and will play the role of Peter Vincent – although unlike the Roddy McDowell role in the original of a late-night horror show host, he will be a Vegas magician with a horror-show act who claims to be a vampire expert. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass) also is joining the cast as Evil Ed, the friend of primary character Charlie. They join Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) as Charlie, Toni Collette (The United States Of Tara) as Charlie’s mother, and Colin Farrell (Crazy Heart) as the creepy neighbor Charlie believes is a vampire. In the meantime, Babylon 5 alum and stuntwoman Patricia Tallman is hoping to at least get a cameo in the movie, and is asking fans to join her Facebook fan page to show support.

I haven’t heard from too many people that think Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was great cinema – the plot was far more fantastical than the previous efforts and the action situations even more so – but George Lucas and Steven Spielberg may be betting that the audience is willing to forgive as they are working on a new script for Indy 5, and Harrison Ford is on “stand-by” for filming next year. Reportedly they will try and get back to Indy’s cinematic roots and avoid the CGI frenzy of the last movie. And this will definitely be the last movie of the franchise (at least with Ford, as who knows…) Are you willing to forgive? I think after two really great movies sandwiching mediocre movie, I can forgive a stinker…maybe it’s the inverse of the Star Trek movie curse…Updated 6/11: According to a tweet from producer Frank Marshall, they are NOT ready and the rumor is false.

EW.com has picked their list of the greatest 100 characters over the last 20 years. Here is a quick summary of genre-related characters:

91. Hancock from Hancock
89. Wikus van de Merwe from District 9
87. Tony Stark from the Iron Man series
72. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace from Battlestar Galactica
63. John Locke from Lost
59. Master Chief from the Halo series
53. Edward Cullen from the Twilight saga
36. Gollum from The Lord of the Rings
33. Sarah Connor from Terminator 2: Judgment Day
19. Morpheus from The Matrix series
5. The Joker from The Dark Knight
3. Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series

And #1 on the list – Homer Simpson…

Shock: Guillermo del Toro has officially announced his departure from The Hobbit as director. “In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming ‘The Hobbit,’ I am faced with the hardest decision of my life”, Guillermo said. At this point he will continue co-writing the screenplay. Update 6/1: Peter Jackson says that he might direct instead.

When will The Hobbit go before the cameras? Director Guillermo del Toro doesn’t know. “You know, there cannot be any start date, really, until the MGM situation gets resolved, because they do hold a considerable portion of the rights,” del Toro said in a conference call, referring to MGM’s financial troubles, with the studio looking for a buyer to avoid bankruptcy. He also states unequivocally that “It’s not green-lit. That’s categorical. It is not green-lit.”

Just got wind of this…the long languishing remake of William F. Nolan’s Logan’s Run (last to surface in 2007) appears to have gotten yet another director in Carl Rinsch, known for directing commercials (as was his predecessor on the project). But Rinsch is already involved in two projects – Creature From The Black Lagoon and 47 Ronin, so it will likely be some time before it really gets traction.