23 years of this site still chugging along...
TidBits: Lots of stuff to catch up on…
by Doc on Jun.12, 2018, under Movies, Television
I am so sorry for the lack of updates lately. The last few weeks has been CRAZY. My oldest daughter graduated high school, and my youngest had her middle school play – we are heavily involved in the drama programs with both kids, and I emcee the annual high school drama banquet, which was a few weeks ago as well. And that’s on top of “normal life” – so it’s been tough trying to follow all the news – we’re very behind in all our RV shows as well, and I owe a friend a book review as well…but anyways, here is a rapid recap of the last week or so…
HBO has given a pilot order for one of five the potential Game Of Thrones spinoffs, this one for a prequel series set in the “golden age of Heroes”, which “descends into its darkest hour”, where we will learn about the white walkers, the Starks of legend, and more. Given it was just announced, there is no director, cast, etc. yet but it comes from Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Kingsman) and George R.R. Martin, with Goldman acting as showrunner. Martin said on his blog he currently prefers the title “The Long Night”, but that isn’t definite yet. Martin also said that one of the other four ideas for spinoffs has been shelved, but the other three are still possible.
As for that other fantasy mega-franchise, Amazon appears to be banking on its deal for the Lord of the Rings franchise, having cleared a lots of its shows off the slate. The head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke said in a Deadline interview that they aren’t going to try and compete at the volume level with Netflix, adding, “You can’t go big and go irrelevant.” While there is little to go on, they are currently only working on one series – “one big series,” and that while it isn’t remaking the movies, it will involve “it’ll be characters you love.”
Speaking of Salke and Amazon, she also addressed the idea of Amazon Studios picking up the canceled Lucifer. “I know that international, especially the UK group, was really bullish on that show, I haven’t checked in on that today (Thursday), but I heard conversations were ongoing on that yesterday.” So, keep heart, fans. Amazon recently rescued The Expanse after Syfy canceled the show, just as it was heading into the next phase of the story.
As for Amazon’s cross-net rivals, Netflix has given a 10-episode order for Away, about an international crew on a treacherous year-long mission to Mars, from Andrew Hinderaker (Penny Dreadful), Jason Katims (Parenthood) and Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). It centers on an American astronaut who leaves behind a husband and daughter to lead the crew in a story of hope and humanity.
The upcoming BBC series His Dark Materials based on the novels of Philip Pullman has some cast…James McAvoy (the X-Men franchise) will play Lord Asriel, the father of the primary character Lyra (Dafne Keen, Logan), who discovers a way to parallel worlds. Clarke Peters (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) plays the master who raises Lyra. Ruth Wilson (The Affair) will play Marisa Coulter, Asrael’s former lover and appears to want Lyra for a mysterious purpose. Earlier this year, Lin-Manuel Miranda (Mary Poppins Returns) was announced to play Lee Scoresby, an “aeronaut” who helps Lyra. Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) will direct.
I haven’t mentioned Marvel at all yet, have I? Well, Avengers: Infinity War became just the fourth movie to cross the $2 billion international box office mark, after Avatar, Titanic and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And it is still holding strong at the box office. On Marvel’s small screen, Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger became Freeform’s biggest new series in two years, with an L+3 of 1.64 million, which also put it as the most watched telecast on the network in nearly a year.
And finally, we don’t talk much about MTV, but while the network might not be returning to its real roots in music, it may return to its past – a live action version of Aeon Flux, the sci-fi series that started as a series of shorts on the network’s Liquid Television block of trippy animated series. THe show was previously turned into a live action feature starring Charlize Theron as the tightly-clad assassin n 2005, but the movie flopped. Jeff Davis (Teen Wolf) and Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead) are set to produce, with Davis writing.
The Librarians officially dead
by Doc on Jun.06, 2018, under Television
Sadly, the word has come down on the future of The Librarians, and it wasn’t good. From producer Dean Devlin:
Sad news. After multiple negotiations at several different networks, we’ve been unsuccessful at moving #TheLibrarians to a new home. Unfortunately that means season 4 was our last season.
— Dean Devlin (@Dean_Devlin) June 6, 2018
The official Facebook page was a bit more hopeful of it continuing in another form at least:
Shadowhunters to end after third season, but will get a 2-hour finale
by Doc on Jun.06, 2018, under Television
Freeform has decided not to renew Shadowhunters for another season, but has elected to order two more 1-hour episodes to allow for a proper conclusion.
The show, based on [asin=1481444433]The Mortal Instruments series of novels[/asin] from Cassandra Clare, has covered the existing novels so far, with Season 3 covering books 4 and 5. The two extra episodes will cover the final book, and not end the show on a cliffhanger as the remaining Season 3 episodes, part of a 10-episodes back half order and not expected to air until next Spring, were already in the can.
According to a statement from the network, “We are very proud of Shadowhunters, a series that broke new ground in the genre world and became a fan favorite. However, along with our partners at Constantin, we reached the very difficult decision not to renew the show for a fourth season. But as big supporters and fans ourselves, Freeform insisted on and championed the filming of a special two-part finale that would give devoted fans a proper ending. The twelve episodes will air in spring of 2019. We want to thank our talented creators, producers, cast and crew along with our colleagues at Constantin for their hard work and dedication and to Cassie Clare for her incredible book series. We look forward to the final chapter of this breakthrough drama.”
EVP of Programming Development Karey Burke added later that the decision was “purely economic”. The network has been shifting to shorter orders of shows, and that apparently triggered a clause that ended the deal between Netflix and Costantin Films, the production partner for the show, making it harder to justify the costs.
HotShot Trailer: Bumblebee
by Doc on Jun.06, 2018, under Movies
Both this Transformers spinoff movie…and Bumblebee’s body style…are set in 1987…I wonder how they upgrade their bodies?
HotShot Trailer: Mortal Engines
by Doc on Jun.06, 2018, under Movies
Peter Jackson released the first trailer for the upcoming Mortal Engines – check it out!
Ready Player One available on Digital HD July 3rd, 4K/Blu-ray/DVD July 24th
by Doc on Jun.03, 2018, under Movies
Join an immersive virtual universe when Ready Player One arrives on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, [sfs=1653]Blu-ray Combo Pack[/sfs], DVD and Digital HD. From Warner Bros. Pictures, Amblin Entertainment and Village Roadshow Pictures, along with filmmaker Steven Spielberg, comes the action adventure Ready Player One, based on Ernest Cline’s [asin=0307887448]bestseller of the same name[/asin], which has become a worldwide phenomenon.
Ready Player One stars Tye Sheridan (“X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Mud”), Olivia Cooke (“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” TV’s “Bates Motel”) and Ben Mendelsohn (“Rogue One – A Star Wars Story,” TV’s “Bloodline”). The ensemble cast also includes Lena Waithe (TV’s “Master of None”), T.J. Miller (“Deadpool,” TV’s “Silicon Valley”), Philip Zhao, Win Morisaki, Hannah John-Kamen (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”), Simon Pegg (the “Star Trek” and “Mission: Impossible” movies) and Oscar® winner Mark Rylance (“Bridge of Spies,” “Dunkirk”).
Three-time Oscar® winner Spielberg* directed the film from a screenplay by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline. It is based on the novel by Cline, which has now spent more than 100 weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers List, recently climbing to the No. 1 spot, as well as reaching No. 1 on Amazon’s Most Read Fiction chart. Ready Player One was produced by Donald De Line, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Dan Farah. Adam Somner, Daniel Lupi, Chris deFaria and Bruce Berman served as executive producers.
(continue reading…)
Solo: A Star Wars Story is a film that is worth watching
by Doc on May.27, 2018, under Movies
Spoiler free…
Way back when (well, just over 11 months ago) when we learned that Ron Howard was taking over as director for the upcoming Star Wars anthology film featuring a young Han Solo, with just a couple weeks left in filming and the ouster of the previous co-directors, we were filled with trepidation. We weren’t sure how we felt about doing the “Young Solo” film in the first place. And a late director change is never a good sign. There would be reshoots, rewrites, etc. Additional actors were being brought in late in the game. All things pointed to a mediocre film at best. The one bright spark? Ron Howard. The man is a genius.
As the film neared release, our hopes began to rise. We were only hearing good things about it. Even from sources we would expect to be more pessimistic. We went last night to see it. And this movie is GOOD.
One of the things we heard before the changes was that it was aiming to be more slapstick, or at least have a lot more humor than any previous Star Wars film. I was afraid we were going to get a “buddy smuggler” film. The end result still had humor, but the amount you’d expect from a film with Han, Chewie, and Lando, along with a few new enjoyable characters thrown in. And it adds some background to characters that you only heard about, or even didn’t have any idea of. But everything made sense in the context of what we already knew about the characters.
Alden Ehrenreich was pretty much unknown to me. At first I didn’t think I could buy him as Han. But as the film went on I started to see it…he does look like a young Han…and at one point even gave this very intense look that really reminded me of Harrison Ford.
This film is really worth seeing for all Star Wars fans. You can even play “spot the reference” when they name various other characters from the canon.
Sadly, the movie is tracking lower than expectations on the holiday weekend, looking at about $114.5 million for the 4-day total. However, increasing good buzz might lead to the film performing well over a longer period similar to what The Greatest Showman did at the beginning of the year.
Now we just need them to announce a sequel such that the final twist at the end can be explained… 🙂
Amazon saves The Expanse
by Doc on May.26, 2018, under Television
Hooray! Amazon boss Jeff Bezos announced last night at the International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles that Amazon would pick up The Expanse after the show ends its current third season on SYFY, after that network announced it would not pick it up again earlier this month.
The Expanse team was on hand, and Cas Anvar even recorded it…
I'll just let him say it…#TheExpanse#RocinanteIsSafe#BreakingNews
Thank you @JeffBezos pic.twitter.com/wxHN31zgJs
— Cas Anvar (@Casanvar) May 26, 2018
Krypton Season 2 teaser
by Doc on May.23, 2018, under Television
Now that you’ve seen the Season 1 finale of Krypton, check out the first teaser for Season 2!
SYFY renews Krypton before season finale
by Doc on May.22, 2018, under Television
SYFY today announced a second season pickup of Krypton, the untold Superman story based on DC characters from Warner Horizon Scripted Television. Krypton, which has averaged 1.8 million viewers L3 per week to date, is SYFY’s most-watched debut season among total viewers for an original series since Ascension in 2014, and the most-watched season for any scripted series on the network since Defiance in 2015. With the can’t-miss Season 1 finale airing this Wednesday, May 23 at 10/9c, Krypton’s second season is expected to return in 2019.
Krypton is set two generations before the destruction of Superman’s home planet. The series follows Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), the legendary Man of Steel’s grandfather, as a young man who is faced with a life and death conflict – save his home planet or let it be destroyed to restore the fate of his future grandson. In Season 1, with Krypton’s leadership in disarray and the House of El ostracized, Seg found himself in a difficult position: redeem his family’s honor and protect the ones he loves, while being challenged by familiar DC characters Brainiac and Earthly time-traveler Adam Strange.
With this pickup, Krypton joins an upcoming SYFY lineup that includes returning originals
Based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Krypton is from Warner Horizon Scripted Television and is executive produced by David S. Goyer (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) through his Phantom Four banner, alongside Cameron Welsh, who serves as showrunner.
Viewers can catch up on Krypton at SYFY On Demand, which includes SYFY.com and the SYFY App.