Sci-Fi Storm

Classic science fiction film Forbidden Planet and Disney’s Mary Poppins will join Pulp Fiction, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Magnificent Seven and others as the 25 films chosen to join the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress this year.

Being inducted into the Registry means that the Library’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation takes special effort to insure that the film is preserved for future generations.

The National Film Preservation Board selects the inductees, and is taking nominations for 2014.

I learned of this directly from writer/director/producer Kenneth D. Barker: On the Shoulders of Giants is an independently produced British 1950s-style retro sci-fi film to be released this summer that he calls a “subtle homage to Forbidden Planet.” Check out the full description and trailer below.
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Actor Warren Stevens, who made many, many guest appearances on television in the 60s and 70s, and can best be remembered by SF fans as Doc in Forbidden Planet as well as Rojan, the Kelvan Empire commander who tries to take the Enterprise to the Andromeda galaxy in the original Star Trek episode “By Any Other Name”, passed away at the age of 92.

Hollywood Treasure returns on Wednesday, June 1st, at 10pm ET/9PM CT…and this episode should be interesting to science fiction fans – because it features Robby The Robot from Forbidden Planet, who also made various cameo appearances on many shows and movies.

Does he still work? Check out the preview below!
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Just found out that Anne Francis, who starred alongside Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon and Robby The Robot in the classic Forbidden Planet, passed away Sunday at the age of 80 from complications due to pancreatic cancer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

JMS recently gave a group interview regarding the upcoming Warner Bros. remake of Forbidden Planet, giving some hints of what is to come. Among those things mentioned – more backstory about how we get to the point of the original movie (such as the landing of the Bellerophon), and perhaps leaving some space for the possibility of some form of sequel – possibly as a franchise. And if you’re worried about it being transformed from a cerebral (both in plot and story) film to an action flick, “There’s a little more action, but it’s still a strong character piece…You need to have that dynamic still in place to respect the original and the source material. So there’s a fair amount of talking, but there’s some really cool action pieces in it as well,” according to JMS.