Sci-Fi Storm

The Thunder Child writes “The Thunder Child science fiction and fantasy webzine just received a press release regarding the Back to the Future reunion being held on March 5, 2010 at the George Lindsay Theater. (Yes, that George Lindsay). No Michael J. Fox, but Lea Thompson will be there, among others. Check out the details at:
http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2009/10/go-back-to-future-on-march-5-2010.html“

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince reaches homes on December 8th (in several forms: Blu-ray, 2-disc Limited Edition DVD, Widescreen DVD, and Fullscreen DVD), and for those with the Blu-ray version and a BD-Live compatible player, you’ll be able to take part on a worldwide Live Community Screening on December 12th at 3pm EST/12pm PST, including star Daniel Radcliffe and director David Yates watching along with you and answering your questions. Read More for more details, and pre-order your Blu-ray copy today to make sure you have it in time!

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Bryan Singer, who directed the first two X-Men movies but skipped on the third, says he is interesting in a return to the franchise. “I love Hugh Jackman. I love the cast,” he said, and enjoys making movies in the SF&F genres because he can deal with serious issues disguised as entertainment.

Gene Roddenberry didn’t rest after Star Trek ended – he tried a few other things, and then tried to return to the genre with a post-apocalyptic vision of the future in the pilot movie Genesis II, where a scientist from the present day named Dylan Hunt (Alex Cord) who undergoes an experimental suspended animation procedure – only to remain frozen during a war and awakens 154 years later, and must decide whether the Pax or the Tyranian woman who helped revive him is worthy of his help. When that didn’t get picked up as a series, he took a page out of Trek history, and made another pilot movie, Planet Earth. Same situation, same protagonist (although now played by John Saxon), but set some time later and perhaps giving a better picture of how the series would be. Still it was not picked up. Read More for more info…

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Actors Jaimie Alexander (Kyle XY) and Colm Feore (24) have joined the cast of Thor. Alexander will play Sif, an Asgaard warrior, and Feore is playing a mystery character believed to be a villain. Already annoucned (although I missed it) are Chris Hemsworth (Home And Away) as the title character, British actor Tom Hiddleston (Miss Austen Regrets) as Loki, Natalie Portman (Star Wars) as Jane Foster, and the booming voice of Brian Blessed (Flash Gordon) aptly cast as Odin.

I think whether they call it a remake or a reboot, I’m going to collectively call them “retreads”. CNN has an interesting article about stirring the pot of controversy when it comes to remaking a movie – whether the remake does well or tanks. Brief mention is made of Peter Berg’s upcoming epic Dune attempt. In the meantime, Justin Lin has been tapped to direct and Neal Moritz produce the retread of Highlander. The two worked previously on Fast & Furious.

IMAX announced that their release dates for the upcoming Tron Legacy and Spider-Man 4 will coincide with the conventional releases (December 17th, 2010 and May 6th, 2011 respectively), unlike the recent Harry Potter release which lagged behind by couple weeks other than select screenings.

The LA Times has a piece about how the next Star Trek film may deal with contemporary issues, much like the original series did, disguising it under the veil of science fiction and aliens. Update: Speaking of, there was a Slate article in May about torture and its effectiveness, in relation to the ST:TNG two-part episode, “Chain Of Command”.

SCI FI Wire has an interesting list: 5 new things you don’t know about Tron Legacy. In it they discuss Jeff Bridges’ dual roles; making him young again; and upping the ante on the light vehicles.