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12 Monkeys preview: “Cassandra Complex”
by Doc on Jan.29, 2015, under Television
In episode 3 of 12 Monkeys, Cole receives his next mission (to Haiti) while trouble lurks on the surface. Tune in Friday at 9/8c on Syfy!
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HotShot trailer: Fantastic Four
by Doc on Jan.27, 2015, under Movies
Our first look at the upcoming reboot of Fantastic Four from Fox…
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Melissa McCarthy to be a Ghostbuster; Chris Pratt to be Indiana Jones?
by Doc on Jan.27, 2015, under Movies
We’ve got one casting confirmed, and one hot rumor…
The first lead actress to take on the gender-flipping Ghostbusters remake is Melissa McCarthy, who worked with director Kevin Feig in Bridesmaids and The Heat. Bridesmaids cast mate Kristin Wiig is reportedly also in negotiations as one of the team, as is current Saturday Night Live cast members Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon.
In the hot rumors side, Disney has wanted to relaunch Indiana Jones since obtaining the franchise from Paramount, and even with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull it appeared that there were plans to hand over the whip and fedora to a younger actor in Shia LeBeouf until Harrison Ford snatched his hat back at the end (and probably for the better…)
Now hey may have found are more apt successor, perhaps to replace Harrison Ford as Indy himself, in Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt, according to Deadline. It’s all very early, but it appears the studio is looking at Pratt to lead the franchise, but it will have to wait as Starlord needs to finish The Magnificent Seven for MGM/Sony and of course the obligatory Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
Fox confirms negotiations for X-Men TV series
by Doc on Jan.26, 2015, under Television
Finally answering a long-gestating rumor, Fox is confirming that they are in negotiations to being one of the Marvel franchises it has had success with on the big screen to the small screen.
Fox TV co-chairs Gary Newman and Dana Walden told TV Insider that they are indeed planning on bringing the X-Men to TV, joining ABC and Netflix with Marvel-based shows and the CW with their DC-based franchises. They are currently very early on as they need to negotiate for the rights with Marvel (now part of rival Disney), which could lead to some interesting changes. Fox has the rights to films based on the X-Men, but Marvel has to grant the rights for TV use.
Since this is in the very early stages, nothing else has really been set up yet. It likely would be late 2016 at the earliest that any series could air.
Emma Watson to be Belle in Beauty and the Beast; David Tennant to be Marvel villain on Netflix
by Doc on Jan.26, 2015, under Television
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.
JMS to take on writing Red Mars for Spike TV
by Doc on Jan.22, 2015, under Television
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.
Simon Pegg, Doug Jung co-writing Star Trek 3
by Doc on Jan.22, 2015, under Movies
Simon Pegg isn’t just a comedian and an actor with a penchant for playing zombie chased and starship engineer Scotsmen…he’s also written a number of screenplays. Now he may be co-writing the biggest one of his career – he is teaming up with Doug Jung, the creator of series Dark Blue, to write the script for Star Trek 3 for director Justin Lin, who himself took over from Roberto Orci.
Not much else is know as they are reportedly just getting started. But perhaps we’ll see even more Scotty this time?
I did resist saying that he was “pegged” to co-write the script… 🙂
AMC’s Andie Beckerman walks to Syfy as head of alternative programming
by Doc on Jan.22, 2015, under Television
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.
12 Monkeys shatters Syfy premiere records
by Doc on Jan.21, 2015, under Television
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.
Fox considers the return of The X-Files
by Doc on Jan.19, 2015, under Television
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.