Sci-Fi Storm

No one at Disney is saying a word, but Bruce Boxleitner is. While signing autographs at the recent D23 Expo in Anaheim, the actor who played the title character said that Tron 3 is “already a done deal…it’s already in the works.” He even said that it would likely come out in 2013, but stepped back a bit and said it takes a while to make a movie. 2013 seems rather ambitious for something that the only thing we know about is that it has a writer (David DiGilio, Eight Below).

Before then, we definitely get the animated Tron: Uprising next year, and they might want feedback on that before a full green light on production.

Mike Fleming over at Deadline is reporting that Disney has given screenwriter and Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof a seven-figure paycheck to work on a script, about which the only things we know are that it is a large-scale SF picture, and that it has a working title of 1952, but the latter could mean anything. Lindelof is in high demand: Cowboys and Aliens is getting tons of great press and doesn’t even open for more than a month, he rescued the Ridley Scott Alien prequel plot and made it a standalone film, and he’s expected to run full bore for the Star Trek sequel before working full time on this project.

But this isn’t just a movie…they’ve used the buzzword “multiplatform”. So expect games and web tie-ins at least.

This past weekend was not only the opening of Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but also the grand re-opening of the Star Tours attraction, which now takes guests to 6 different planets and offers 54 variations of the ride. So there were all sort of extra things going on, including a dedication ceremony featuring the Master Jedi himself, George Lucas along with Anthony Daniels.

If you want to check out photos, videos, etc. of the event, I recommend heading over to Inside the Magic’s Star Tours coverage page, which has excellent videos and even an exclusive interview with Anthony Daniels, and then check out the video of this year’s Hyperspace Hoopla (unless you are going to an upcoming weekend, which in that case I don’t want to spoil the surprises…)

Ashley Eckstein (the voice of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars) is at Disney’s Hollywood Studios gearing up for Star Wars Weekends starting tomorrow, and has made a couple of videos previewing the brand-new version of the Star Tours attraction. You can view one video below, and then an exclusive tour of the new attraction queue is available over at Entertainment Weekly…the new attraction boasts incredible 3D projection, a new variable experience (54 possible variations) and all sorts of new details.

In the meantime, Eckstein’s company, Her Universe, which makes science fiction merchandise targeted at women, in partnership with Syfy (a partnership we reported on in October), will finally unveil a Syfy Gear merchandise line for women at San Diego Comic-Con, which runs July 20th-24th as well as available via Syfy.com and heruniverseshop.com (except for a Comic-Con “exclusive”). Both sides are still tight-lipped about what the merchandise might be…
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If you’ve been to Disneyland or Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in the past few years, you may have seen the Jedi Training Academy – your younglings may have even taken part in it (both of mine have – alas, no adults are allowed), where they get to dress up and be trained by a Jedi Master, and ultimately have a quick fight with Darth Vader while a couple of Stormtroopers look on. It’s a lot of fun for the kids, especially if the love Star Wars, and it can be fun to watch too.

Well, in Disneyland a youngling by the name of Sariah Gallego managed to surprise the Jedi Master, Darth Vader, and the Stormtroopers, as she pledged allegiance to Vader and joined the Sith…

I’m sure her parents had something to do with it…the Jedi Master did recover pretty quickly though…

To celebrate the upcoming release of Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Walt Disney Company will be hosting a star-studded gala to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of America at Disneyland, Anaheim, CA on May 7th, 2011. Individual tickets for the premiere event are priced at $1,000 and are now available for sale at www.piratespremiere.com. Disney is donating 100% of the proceeds from the ticket sales directly to Boys & Girls Clubs of America, whose mission is to enable all young people, especially those who need it most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

Read more below, but here is a short new featurette entitled, “From Disneyland to the Big Screen”, about making the Pirates Of The Caribbean attraction into a big screen franchise.

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With the extremely poor performance of Robert Zemeckis’ Mars Needs Moms movie, which only took in $6.9 million 5th place finish in its opening weekend against a reported $150 million budget, it appears that Disney has fired the final torpedo in the salvo that will sink Zemeckis’ planned remake of the Beatles’ classic Yellow Submarine, cutting the project loose even after the cast and crew were hired. Disney has reportedly also been disappointed with Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol as well as motion capture in general (which was used for Moms and was planned for Submarine) which contributed to the decision. However, Deadline has an inside source that says the decision was made some time ago. Zemeckis is free to find another studio should he choose to shop it around.

Star Wars Weekends, an annual four-weekend-long event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, will start May 20th this year – coinciding with the relaunch of Star Tours. The announcement was rather late this year, perhaps due to the Star Tours updates and wanting to make sure it would open in time.

More details about guests are yet to be revealed, but Anthony Daniels will appear for the first two weekends, and Ashley Eckstein (the voice of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and founder of Her Universe, and former DHS parade cast member) once again returns for all 4 weeks and will host the “Clone Wars: Behind The Force” sessions. Feel free to message me on Twitter (@scifistorm) for more details as information is released.

Star Wars Weekends is a fun time for fans…there are plenty of meet and greets with the characters in costume, some of which also float around (the bounty hunters can be especially menacing) and the shows are entertaining. Read our 2009 SWW report for a quick idea of what it is like.

The update to Star Tours is very significant as well. A new projection system is being used (reportedly 3D but this hasn’t been 100% confirmed), and feature a “variable” ride experience – that is, there will be a number of scenes that will randomly be selected for each ride, with a reported 54 possible variations. George Lucas recently got a preview, and reportedly gave it a thumbs up.

Walt Disney Pictures and Imagemovers Digital are releasing the animated motion-capture feature Mars Needs Moms, based on the illustrated book by Berkeley Breathed (Pulitzer Prize winner for the comic strip Bloom County) on March 11th, 2011, and features the talents of Seth Green, Dan Fogler, Elisabeth Harnois, Mindy Sterling, Kevin Cahoon and Joan Cusack, and is directed by Simon Wells, who also shares the screenplay credits with Wendy Wells. The movie is produced by the team of Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, and Steven Boyd.
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Disney’s first major benefit of acquiring Marvel may be in the distribution rights to the upcoming Marvel films The Avengers and Iron Man 3, with Paramount assigning the rights to Disney for a guaranteed minimum up front of $115 million against the distribution fees. Paramount will retain the rights on Thor and Captain America.