23 years of this site still chugging along...
AMC buys SF drama Thunderstruck from Boardman, Derrickson and Eick
by Doc on Nov.12, 2011, under Television
AMC looks to be expanding into genre programming after the success of The Walking Dead, as they’ve just purchased a new one-hour drama project called Thunderstruck, from the writing/directing team of Paul Boardman and Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism Of Emily Rose) and producer David Eick (Battlestar Galactica). The show is described as “about powerful and enigmatic entities that begin appearing all over the world. After one shows up in the town of Great Falls, Montana, the local citizens must grapple with the dramatic effects and growing mystery of repeated visitations.”
McKellar, Ohno to fight with the Tasmanian Devil on Syfy
by Doc on Nov.11, 2011, under Television
Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years, The West Wing, and super-smart geek girl) and Olympic speed skating champion Apolo Ohno will take on a deadly mythical beast in the new Syfy Saturday Original Movie Tasmanian Devil, which will begin production in British Columbia this month.
Kenneth Mitchell (Jericho) will also star in Tasmanian Devil, which is scheduled to premiere on Syfy in 2012.
In the movie, scheduled to premiere on Syfy in 2012, base jumpers in a remote Tasmanian national park are pursued by grizzly bear-sized Tasmanian Devils – legendary creatures created to protect the land from intruders.
Tasmanian Devil is a production of Vesuvius Productions.
UK Being Human‘s Russell Tovey announces he is leaving
by Doc on Nov.11, 2011, under Television
Russell Tovey, who stars as the werewolf George in the original UK production of Being Human tweeted today that he is leaving the show:
“Hey my lovely witty’s, you may or may not know by now, but I am leaving Being Human officially.. Thought you should all know… Im sorry x”
Previously co-star Aidan Turner, who plays the vampire Mitchell, left the show to star in The Hobbit, and was replaced by Damien Molony as a new vampire, Hal, for the fourth series that should air next Spring.
Emmerich’s Singularity stops pre-production
by Doc on Nov.10, 2011, under Movies
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.
Could Gibson’s Neuromancer get made, with Bruce Willis starring?
by Doc on Nov.10, 2011, under Books, Movies
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?
Three new scripted projects in development from Syfy announced today
by Doc on Nov.09, 2011, under Television
Syfy announced a trio new scripted projects in development with Universal Cable Productions, CBS TV Studios and Fox Television Studios as the channel continues to expand it’s stable of original scripted programming, currently led by the quartet of Warehouse 13, Alphas, Eureka and Haven.
Leading the charge is an untitled project by Robert Hewitt Wolfe for Universal Cable Productions, which is about the Starship Defender on an expedition in search of lost worlds requiring law and order. Sounds a bit like Andromeda, which isn’t surprising: Wolfe was the series showrunner and developer, and has written and produced a number of other shows, notably Syfy’s Alphas.
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Sanctuary preview: “Homecoming”
by Doc on Nov.09, 2011, under Television
In the next episode of Sanctuary, Magnus sends Henry to round up others for a meeting and news that all must hear while Will runs into trouble and is mugged and left unconscious. Catch the all-new episode this Wednesday at 9/8c to find out what they took from him and why it was important enough to beat him over the head for it.
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Former Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark director sues producers
by Doc on Nov.08, 2011, under Comics
Apparently it’s been far too long since the Broadway production of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark has been mentioned as having troubles…now former director Julie Tamor is filing suit against the producers for using the stuff she developed without paying her. Apparently she believes she is due royalties from the production, but has yet to receive anything.
Another cool Doctor Who music video with the cast and crew
by Doc on Nov.07, 2011, under Television
When I heard recently about a video set to The Proclaimers “500 Miles”, I thought it was the video I’d seen before with David Tennant singing the song along with The Proclaimers themselves.
No, this was a new video – which looks like it was filmed at various stages in David Tennant’s tenure, and features various companions, enemies and the crew and even some old friends – I shed a tear when the late Lis Sladen appeared… 🙁
Harlan Ellison In Time lawsuit settled – or has it? NOPE
by Doc on Nov.07, 2011, under Movies
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.