Sci-Fi Storm

Two cool casting announcements today…

First, Emma Watson has been set to star as Belle in Disney’s upcoming live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, about a self-educated girl that tries to escape the stereotypical female role in her village and the clawing local hunk only to be captured by a horrible beast who needs to learn about love. Emma seems perfect for the role, although she may need to grow out her hair after she cut it short post-Harry Potter…Beauty is just the latest in Disney’s live action re-imaginings of its most popular animated features, most recently with Maleficent and with Cinderella up next and The Jungle Book also in the pipeline. Production will likely begin later this year.

Across the Disney studio in the Marvel section, the Netflix 13-episode original series A.K.A. Jessica Jones has picked up their villain, Kilgrave, in the form of Doctor Who and Broadchurch star David Tennant. Kysten Ritter stars as the title character, a former superhero turned private eye, dealing with cases involving people with remarkable abilities in New York City. Kilgrave, a foe of Daredevil (which will also be a Netflix series, shown before A.K.A. Jessica Jones, but unclear if there will be a relation) who used Jones against him, returns to upend Jones’ world.

Babylon 5 creator and co-writer/showrunner of the upcoming Netflix series Sense8 J. Michael Straczynski has signed on to write the adaptation of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars trilogy as a TV series for Spike TV.

The show has been fasttracked for development by the network after they started development in September.

Given the long history the adaptation has had over the years, I feel a little more confident that this might actually get made.

Robinson’s Red Mars trilogy, which consists of the novels [asin=B000QCS914]Red Mars[/asin], [asin=B000QCS91E]Green Mars[/asin] and [asin=B00165EXI8]Blue Mars[/asin], detail the colonization and terraforming of Mars with very hard science behind it, with a story spanning a couple centuries.

Syfy today announced the appointment of Andie Beckerman to the position of Vice President, Alternative Development and Production.

Beckerman, who developed and oversaw current programming on a wide range of successful unscripted series such as Talking Dead, Comic Book Men and Game of Arms, will be based in the channel’s Los Angeles office.

She will report to Heather Olander, Senior Vice President, Alternative Development and Production, Syfy.

Among her responsibilities, Beckerman will develop and oversee unscripted alternative programming to build upon existing Syfy unscripted hits like Face Off.

In making the announcement, Olander said: “With Andie’s passion for the genre and her keen creative instincts, she’s a tremendous addition to our programming team and to the future growth of the Syfy brand.”

Beckerman joins Syfy from AMC, where she was most recently Director of Development, Unscripted Original Programming. She began her television career at the channel in 2004.

Beckerman graduated from the University of New Orleans with a M.F.A in film production and a B.S. in journalism from Ohio University.

Syfy’s critically acclaimed 12 Monkeys shattered channel records for a series premiere, soaring 85 percent among Adults 18-49, the highest lift ever based on L+3 data.

12 Monkeys delivered 1.0 million Adults 18-49, 1.1 million Adults 25-54 (+73 percent) and 2.3 million total viewers (+73 percent) from its Live+SD deliveries on Friday, January 16.

12 Monkeys also scored the highest Men 18-34 delivery for a Syfy series premiere since Helix in January 2014.

The series, which airs Fridays at 9PM (ET/PT), ranked as a top 10 cable telecast in prime among Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54 and total viewers.

Inspired by the classic blockbuster film, which commemorates its 20th anniversary next year, 12 Monkeys explores the provocative story of a time traveler from a decimated future in a high-stakes race against the clock. Utilizing a dangerous and untested method of time travel, he journeys from 2043 to the present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will all but annihilate the human race. The series is produced by Universal Cable Productions in association with Atlas Entertainment, producer of the original theatrical film.

12 Monkeys stars Aaron Stanford (as time-traveler Cole), Amanda Schull (Dr. Cassandra Railly), Kirk Acevedo (Ramse), Barbara Sukowa (Jones) and Noah Bean (Aaron Marker). Additional key recurring roles include Tom Noonan (Damages, Hell on Wheels) as a mysterious villain and Emily Hampshire (Rookie Blue) as mental patient Jennifer Goines.

X-Philes rejoice! Fox is reported to be considering bringing back the supernatural drama created by Chris Carter and starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson that ran on the network for 9 seasons between 1993-2002. Fox TV Co-Chairman Gary Newman confirmed that they were in talks and were hopeful.

Although what format the return would take (the word “reboot” was used, but that means too many things these days), the talks also related to the recent 24 limited series. In addition, Co-Chairman Dana Walden said they were working on logistics involving Duchovny, Anderson and Carter and windows of availability, so it certainly would seem to involve the return of the primary characters if they can pull off a schedule that works; Anderson is currently involved with Hannibal, which makes working on a full series difficult, and thus a more limited series seems likely.

One last preview ahead of tonight’s premiere of 12 Monkeys! Tune in at 9/8c on Syfy!
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Syfy announced today that Jim Uhls (Fight Club, Semper Fi, Jumper) has signed on to adapt Robert Charles Wilson’s Hugo Award novel, [asin=076534825X]Spin[/asin], into a six hour miniseries. The widely acclaimed novel centers on a young scientist trying to save humanity from the impending apocalypse of a mysterious, impenetrable cloud that has enveloped the entire Earth, blacking out the stars.

Spin, originally published in 2005, is the first of a trilogy in the best-selling series that also includes [asin=0765348268]Axis[/asin] and [asin=0765363208]Vortex[/asin].

Universal Cable Productions will produce the project, along with Rob Morrow’s Bits and Pieces Picture Company and Olympus Picture’s Leslie Urdang. Jim is represented by Paradigm, Anonymous Content and Bloom, Hergot, Diemer.

Bits and Pieces Picture Company produces and develops film/tv/digital content. Currently they are working with The Weinstein Company on a new half hour cable series.

Leslie Urdang and Olympus Pictures are best known for feature work including the Nicole Kidman starrer and Oscar nominated Rabbit Hole, the Oscar winning Beginners, Thanks for Sharing with with Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad and Adam with Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne. OP’s most recent projects are Stockholm, PA, to premiere at Sundance in 2015 starring Saoirse Ronan and the soon to be released Family Fang starring Jason Bateman and Nicole Kidman and directed by Bateman. OP has recently started working in television. In addition to Spin, it has set up a scripted drama called Broad Street at Bravo and an adaptation of the book Peony, described as a Downton Abby set in China, to be written and directed by Michael Hoffman.

Can’t wait for 12 Monkeys? Here are three preview clips! 12 Monkeys premieres at 9/8c tomorrow night on Syfy!
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Here is the trailer for the Syfy series The Expanse…oh my…

Check here for more information on the show…a premiere date has not yet been set.

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Here’s another sneak peek at Season 2 of Helix, which returns this Friday at 10/9c on Syfy! Especially check out the last 10 seconds to see who comes back…
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