23 years of this site still chugging along...
Dino De Laurentiis has passed away
by Doc on Nov.11, 2010, under Movies, Obituaries
Oscar-winning producer Dino De Laurentiis, who produced over 150 movies including Dune and Flash Gordon, passed away yesterday. His daughter, producer Rafaella De Laurentiis, released a statement: “Dino De Laurentiis, patriarch of the De Laurentiis family, Academy Award-winning producer and film legend, died on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 10PM (PST) at his home in Beverly Hills, California surrounded by family. He was 91.”
Radcliffe does not want more Harry Potter
by Doc on Nov.11, 2010, under Books, Movies
It seems that Daniel Radcliffe may not have been pleased to hear that author J.K. Rowling could write more Harry Potter books (she mentioned the possibility on Oprah last month). “Oh God, she promised me categorically that there wouldn’t be another book involving Harry,” he said in an interview with Sky News. “I think 10 years is a long time to spend with one character.” I suppose it would depend on what stories she wanted to tell, though….obviously if its going back to a younger Harry, he probably wouldn’t be in the movie – if a movie were to even be made.
Moore IS remaking Wild Wild West!
by Doc on Nov.10, 2010, under Television
Apparently the rumors were true (although when I asked him last month, he couldn’t say anything.) Ronald D. Moore and Naren Shankar (former exec for CSI) are writing/exec. producing The Wild Wild West for CBS (after a deal is worked out with Sony, who Moore has a development deal with).
It appears that CBS thinks pairing SF writers with CSI producers is a winning combo, given the success of their reboot of Hawaii Five-0.
JMS steps away from monthly Superman and Wonder Woman
by Doc on Nov.10, 2010, under Comics
This was floating around the Twitterverse, but JMS confirmed it a short time ago on Facebook:
As reported: with the huge success of the Superman GN, DC wants to fast-track the next one. This will require a great deal of care, requiring me to step back from scripting the monthlies to focus on this. Those stories will continue to their conclusion, based on my outlines. I’m also taking this opportunity to take a 1-5 year sabbatical from writing comics to concentrate on GNs and miniseries.
And he followed up:
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Stargate Worlds developer wins IP, loses license
by Doc on Nov.10, 2010, under Games, Television
AirlockAlpha has an article about the win-lose situation involving the Stargate Worlds MMOPRG game that has been in development for years and put on hold earlier this year – and now will likely never see the light of day. Developer Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, won a court ruling that says it owns all the intellectual property for the game, which former employees tried to walk away with and form a rival company. However, MGM has revoked their franchise license – so all the materials regarding Stargate can no longer be used. However, Stargate: Resistance was apparently not affected by the license.
Emmerich’s The Zone is dead
by Doc on Nov.09, 2010, under Movies
Interesting – Roland Emmerich’s latest project, a low budget sci-fi found-footage flick called The Zone, has been shut down, just a week before filming was to begin. And one factor may have been the Weinstein Company’s announcement Sunday of Apollo 18, which was targeted to open just before The Zone, and is based on the same “found footage” concept that has been popular lately.
Meanwhile, in the TARDIS…
by Doc on Nov.09, 2010, under Television, Video/DVD
Haven’t received your [sfs=1039]Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series[/sfs] discs yet? Well, you don’t have to wait to check out the two “mini-episodes” included – check them out right here!
These minis fill in between two episodes, with the Doctor explaining to Amy about things, and Amy grilling him on his past companions – some brilliant dialog, including why the Doctor likes to have companions…
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Dalek – Will It Blend?
by Doc on Nov.09, 2010, under Fun Stuff, Television
What happens when the Doctor’s most fearsome enemy meets the world’s most powerful blender? You find out when Tom Dickson of Blendtec’s “Will It Blend?” series meets up with Sebastian J. Brook of Doctor Who Online with his Dalek…
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Is Paramount’s Dune dead?
by Doc on Nov.09, 2010, under Movies
The long-languishing Dune remake that’s been simmering at Paramount for several years may get permanently shelved. Deadline reports the clock is ticking on the rights, with a production start date required to be set by next Spring. And part of the problem is that all the rights holders need to agree on various aspects of the production – like a director. First Peter Berg walked away after heading the initial development to make Battleship instead, and it is possible that Pierre Morel has also stepped down.
AMC renews The Walking Dead
by Doc on Nov.08, 2010, under Television
After just airing its second episode, AMC has already ordered a 13-episode second season of its smash hit The Walking Dead. “I wish all programming decisions were no brainers like this one,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, SVP Scripted Programming. “No other cable series has ever attracted as many Adults 18-49 as ‘The Walking Dead.’” according to Charlie Collier, President of AMC. “This reaffirms viewers’ hunger for premium television on basic cable. We are so proud to be bringing back ‘The Dead’ again, across the globe.”
AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. Shot on location in Atlanta, it is led by a cast that includes Lincoln (Teachers, Love Actually) as Rick Grimes, Jon Bernthal (The Pacific, The Ghost Writer) as Shane Walsh, Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break) as Lori Grimes, Laurie Holden (The Shield, Stephen King’s The Mist) as Andrea, Jeffrey DeMunn (Stephen King’s The Mist, The Green Mile) as Dale, Steven Yeun (The Big Bang Theory) as Glen, Emma Bell (The Bedford Diaries) as Amy and Chandler Riggs (Get Low) as Carl Grimes.