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More details on Syfy’s Krypton pilot
by Doc on May.09, 2016, under Television
Syfy made the Krypton pilot green light official today, and gave a few more details on the upcoming production, the much-anticipated Superman prequel set two generations before the destruction of the legendary Man of Steel’s home planet. Krypton will follow Superman’s grandfather — whose House of El was ostracized and shamed — as he fights to redeem his family’s honor and save his beloved world from chaos.
Krypton will be executive produced by David S. Goyer (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Dark Knight trilogy) through his Phantom Four banner. Damian Kindler (Sleepy Hollow) will serve as executive producer/showrunner; Colm McCarthy (She Who Brings Gifts, Peaky Blinders) is set to direct and co-executive produce the pilot. The pilot teleplay and story is written by David S. Goyer & Ian Goldberg (Once Upon a Time, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). Krypton will be produced by Warner Horizon Television and is based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, published by DC Comics.
“Krypton is one of the most iconic stories in the comic book universe,” said Bill McGoldrick, Executive Vice President, Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. “In the talented hands of David S. Goyer and the DC Entertainment/Warner Horizon Television team, this exciting Syfy project will take viewers back to Superman’s home to show how the timeless legend began.”
Will Supergirl fly north? Or jump networks?
by Doc on May.06, 2016, under Television
CBS has still been tight-lipped on the fate of Supergirl, and that could be due to negotiations between the network and the studio to reduce the costs of the show.
Deadline reports a new possibility from the various scenarios we’ve been hearing this week that production could actually move from Los Angeles to Vancouver as a cost-cutting measure – partly spurred by the denial of tax credits for the production from the California Film Commission.A move to Vancouver would also bring the show to the same area as Greg Berlanti’s two other DC Universe shows, Arrow and The Flash, the latter of which already did a crossover to Supergirl.
If CBS ultimately doesn’t bite, there are apparently various outlets that might take the show on. Our money is on it joining its cousins on the CW, which is co-owned between VBS and Warner Bros, which could lessen license fees. However, the budget in general for the show is probably too high for the CW to take as-is, and additional cost cutting might be needed, as it would also be likely for any other outlet beyond the Big Four networks. That would likely mean production cuts – which would likely be most scene in some loss of the cast.
It still remains to be scene where we go from here. We are still pretty confident that Supergirl will go on…somewhere.
Alden Ehrenreich to be the young Han Solo for Star Wars anthology film
by Doc on May.06, 2016, under Movies
Hail Ceasar! star Alden Ehrenreich is in negotiations to play the young Han Solo for the upcoming untitled Star Wars anthology film, which will deal with the scoundrel smuggler’s adventures before the events of A New Hope, although an exact plot is unknown. The film is still in pre-production, with the directing duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie).
The movie is currently scheduled for a May 25th, 2018 release.
Eric Balfour teams with Warren Littlefield for These Broken Stars
by Doc on May.03, 2016, under Books
Haven‘s Eric Balfour and Fargo series executive producer Warren Littlefield are teaming up to develop a series based on the 2013 novel [asin=1423171217]These Broken Stars[/asin] from Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (the first book of the Spellbound trilogy). And it’s already received interest from Freeform (formerly ABC Family) and Sky TV. Continuum creator Simon Barry will pen the adaptation, being set up at MGM TV.
Also joining the production are Stephanie Varella (Inland Empire), Ann Johnson and Martin Berneman.
These Broken Stars follows what happens to the luxury starliner Icarus when it is abruptly ripped from hyperspace and crash lands on a planet, with two survivors: Lilac LaRoux, the daughter of the richest man in the universe, and Tarver Merendsen, who came from nothing but became a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.
Paul Shapiro and Erik Storey exit Syfy as management restructuring continues
by Doc on May.03, 2016, under Television
As NBCUniversal continues to consolidate management among its cable properties, two more senior vice presidents have elected to leave. Paul Shapiro, SVP Original Content and Erik Storey, SVP Original Programming, have both left after Bill McGoldrick, now the Executive Vice President for Scripted Content across Syfy, USA, Bravo and E!, announced his management team last week, mainly consisting of people McGoldrick worked with at USA before he came to Syfy in 2014.
Shapiro, who was in charge of scripted programming development, had been with Syfy for 12 years, while Storey, who managed current scripted programs, was a 15 year veteran of the network. With the exception of Syfy President Dave Howe, most of the executive team has changed in the years I’ve known them.
Production on Maze Runner: The Death Cure on hold indefinitely
by Doc on May.01, 2016, under Movies
If you were looking forwarded to seeing the third installment of The Maze Runner next February, you might need to wait a little longer.
Production on the movie was suspended back on March 28th when star Dylan O’Brien suffered an injury on the set. The injury was never specified, but it is believe that he fell off the back of a set piece and injured his cheekbone or orbital socket. It was hoped that a little time off would help and production would pick up in a couple weeks again, but Fox has now said that production is on hold indefinitely. “The resumption of principal photography on Maze Runner: The Death Cure has been further delayed to allow Dylan O’Brien more time to fully recover from his injuries,” according to 20th Century Fox’s statement. “We wish Dylan a speedy recovery and look forward to restarting production as soon as possible.”
Fox has not yet said anything about the release date (currently February 17th), but the longer it takes O’Brien to recover, the less likely they will meet that date.
Nathan Fillion’s cameo role in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 revealed
by Doc on Apr.26, 2016, under Movies
Browncoats beware…do not read on if you wish to be surprised at Nathan Fillion’s cameo role in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy 2…but sorry ladies, the character is not “Captain Tightpants”…
(continue reading…)
Weekend catchup: Doctor Who companion; Shannara renewed; Iron Man meets Spider-Man; Krypton series; Grimm; Inhumans delayed
by Doc on Apr.24, 2016, under Movies, Television
Sorry for the lack of updates lately…we had to attend to a family emergency this past week and returned home late last night, and we have a lot of decompressing to do while attending to an event this week with its own bit of drama attached…but here is a bit of catch up for this past week…
The big news yesterday is that we know who the next companion is on Doctor Who. West End stage actress Pearl Mackie, most recently appearing in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time for the National Theatre, will play a character named Bill in the 10th season, which will not air until 2017. This will be Mackie’s first major role on television.
While we await renewals for a few shows (notably Supergirl), some others did get the nod this week. Grimm will return for a sixth season on NBC, but the network ordered a base of 13 episodes instead of 22 – but that could still increase. NBC has a lot of shows competing for the schedule next Fall, several of which are serials done in 13-episode chunks, and the shorter order will allow them to have more options in scheduling them. If things don’t work out for one of the other shows, Grimm could see the order increase. Also on the renewed list is MTV’s freshman fantasy series Shannara Chronicles, which had so-so live ratings, but picked up heavily in the L+3 and L+7 rating plus lots of social media buzz and digital downloads making it their best new show.
Syfy has given a green light for a pilot for the long-in-development David S. Goyer project Krypton. The series intends to see what life was like on Superman’s home planet years before its destruction, and follow the house of El and in particular Kal-El’s grandfather who seeks to bring hope and equality to a planet in disarray.
And finally moving from the small screen to the large one with a couple of Marvel tidbits…it appears that Iron Man/Tony Stark will be making an appearance in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming film starring Tom Holland as the webslinger in Sony’s reboot of the franchise. Whether this is an attempt to bring Spider-Man closer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe following his upcoming appearance in Captain America: Civil War, or it is just a courtesy crossover for Sony allowing Spidey in the Avengers universe, who knows. But it can only be a plus.
And lastly, Marvel’s Inhumans film, planned for 2019, has been taken off the release slate – at least temporarily. While this could put the production in doubt, it may just be a scheduling matter – the new Indiana Jones movie was scheduled to release just a week later which would have a Disney/Lucasfilm likely overshadowing a Disney/Marvel film. Plans are still in place for the movie, but they just don’t have a release window picked out yet.
12 Monkeys to make time travel even more bendy
by Doc on Apr.18, 2016, under Television
I have seen the future – and it is changing.
What started out as a Syfy TV series remake of the Terry Gilliam movie of the same name, where a traveler from the future goes back to the present day in an attempt to stop the release of a deadly virus that wipes out most of humanity by a mysterious group called the Army of the 12 Monkeys, 12 Monkeys the series appears to be on the verge of bursting out of it’s original bubble.
Season 2, which starts tonight at 9/8c, shifts gears to place more focus on the time travel, and the consequences of altering the timeline. With James Cole (Aaron Standford) changing things at various points prior to the plague being released, those changes have repercussions on the future where Project Splinter and the time machine exist – and things are changing even for Katarina Jones (Barbara Sukowa), in rather unexpected ways. And lots of people want to control the time machine.
While all of this time-twisting is going to be hard to keep a head around, it does fortunately hold together enough for a compelling story for its characters. We will also learn more about the blue guys called the Messengers, and it looks like we’ll find out that some of the incoherent rambling of Jennifer Goines (Emily Hampshire) might have more meaning.
HotShot Trailer: Marvel’s Doctor Strange teaser
by Doc on Apr.14, 2016, under Movies
Witness the power of the Sorcerer Supreme in the first teaser for Marvel’s Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch, in theaters November 4th!