Sci-Fi Storm

The BBC has already given a second season order of 8 episodes for the big budget TV adaptation of His Dark Materials, based on the books by Philip Pullman, and which just started filming in Wales, according to Deadline. In addition, it was announced earlier today that HBO has join as co-producer and distributor.

The series follow the young orphan Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen, Logan), who exists in a parallel world to our own where each person’s inner self, called a daemon, has physical form outside their bodies in the form of a sentient animal. Their form can vary when the person is young but eventually take a single form as they grow older. Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon (who has not yet fixed form) discover Dust, a strange particle that was being researched by her uncle, Lord Asriel (James McAvoy, X-Men: First Class), and may hold the key to travel around the multiverse. The series also stars Ruth Wilson and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

HBO acquired the worldwide rights to the series outside the United Kingdom.

HBO has given a straight-to-series order (Deadline) for a series based on author Audrey Niffenegger’s 2003 best-selling novel The Time Traveler’s Wife from former Doctor Who head writer/producer Steven Moffat. The story follows a romance between Henry, a man who has a disorder that results in him randomly traveling through time, and his wife Clare who has to deal with his disappearances and the danger he is often in.

In fact, Moffat said that the Doctor Who episode “The Girl in the Fireplace” was a result of him reading the novel – and apparently Niffenegger took notice. “When, in her next novel, Audrey had a character watching that very episode, I realized she was probably on to me,” he said. “All these years later, the chance to adapt the novel itself, is a dream come true. The brave new world of long form television is now ready for this kind of depth and complexity. It’s a story of happy ever after – but not necessarily in that order.”

Moffat, Sue Vertue and Brian Minchin will executive produce for Hartswood Films in conjunction with Warner Bros Television. The novel was previously adapted into a film in 2009 starring Eric Bana and Rachael MacAdams.

HBO has given a green light for a pilot and backup scripts based on the limited comic series Watchmen from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The project comes from Damon Lindelof, who teased the project on Instagram (see below) before the announcement, and Warner Bros TV.

Zack Snyder previously adapted Watchmen into a feature film in 2009.

Watchmen is set in an alternate history world in 1985 at the height of the cold war. Superheroes exist and have had a hand in changing the outcomes of major events for about 50 years, but they are now mostly retired, with a few working as government agents.

Day One.

A post shared by Damon (@damonlindelof) on Sep 19, 2017 at 10:49am PDT

Some tidbits as I get caught up:

The Prototype series developed for Syfy is not moving forward at the network, but might be shopped elsewhere. The pilot starred Jack Davenport (Smash) and Cote de Pablo (NCIS), and followed Edward “Eddy” Conway (Davenport), an aging playboy and former Silicon Valley wunderkind who has retreated from the tech world to return to UCLA as a physics professor. Eddy’s lack of self-control, be it with coeds or sports cars, has made him familiar with some unsavory characters, but his latest project might prove to be his most dangerous endeavor to date.

The CW announced that Alexandra Metz (Chicago Fire) will join the upcoming Frequency series, based on the 2000 film, as Maya, a college student desperate to prevent herself from becoming a victim of a violent crime. In addition Chai Romruen (Mako Mermaids) will join The 100 as the recurring character Ilan, a Grounder haunted by the horrors he committed while under Alie’s control.

Co-creator Brian Michael Bendis tweeted that the second season of Powers on Playstation Network – for now. But it seems the second season premiere episode was available for free not just on PSN but other outlets like YouTube – and YouTube recorded over 4.6 million views and counting. So maybe it could find life elsewhere…and the comic will continue.

No surprise that a sequel to the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is being worked on, but it already has a release date – November 16th, 2018, almost 2 years after the first.

And in case you haven’t heard (I did, but was on vacation at the time…) HBO’s Game Of Thrones will definitely end with the conclusion of Season 8. HBO would like to do more according to programming chief Casey Bloys, but the decision was from series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. It’s not suprising as they overtake the source material from George R.R. Martin. Also, Season 7 won’t air until Summer of 2017, as they need to take advantage of some colder weather for shooting the upcoming season and thus are delaying production.

This is looking good…HBO’s upcoming series Westworld, based on the classic 1973 movie about a theme park designed to look like the old West, populated by androids that soon begin to explore their own existence and question reality. Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, executive produced by Nolan, Joy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk, it stars Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, and more.

Some post pilot cast changes are happening for HBO’s Westworld, based on the Michael Crichton 1973 movie about a theme park full of robots that goes horribly wrong.

Miranda Otto (Eowyn in Lord of the Rings), who was in the pilot, is exiting the show and taking a regular role on Homeland instead. She will be replaced with Sidse Babbett Knudsen (Borgen) as the head of operations. Eion Bailey will play Logan, a playboy of sorts who returns to Westworld to show his friend William (Jimmi Simpson, House of Cards) the park. Clifton Collins Jr. (Pacific Rim) plays Lawrence, a criminal who apparently knows his way around Westworld.

HBO has given a series commitment to Westworld, a remake of the 1973 classic movie from Michael Chricton about a world at the dawn of artificial intelligence and it’s use in a theme park when things go horribly wrong.

The new Westworld comes from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Warner Bros TV, along with Jonathan Nolan (Person Of Interest), Lisa Joy (Burn Notice), and producer Jerry Weintraub. Joy wrote the pilot.

The series boasts a star-studded cast, including Sir Anthony Hopkins in his first TV role, along with Evan Rachel Wood, Ed Harris, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Miranda Otto and Jeffrey Wright.

Sir Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs, Thor) is climbing on board his first potential TV role in the pilot for Westworld, based on the classic 1973 movie by Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park).

Hopkins will play Dr. Robert Ford, the head of the fantasy park who has “unorthodox methods” for building his vision.

Evan Rachel Wood (True Blood, The Wrestler) will play Dolores Abernathy, “a sweet, Midwestern farm girl who has a very rude awakening during the series.”

Jonathan Nolan (Person of Interest, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises and the upcoming Interstellar) will direct from a script by himself and Lisa Joy (Burn Notice), with both producing alongside J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Wars Episode VII), Jerry Weintraub (Ocean’s Eleven) and Bryan Burk (Revolution).

The fourth season of Game of Thrones will debut April 6th on HBO.
(continue reading…)

HBO has given a pilot commitment to a Westworld series from J.J. Abrams, ad Robot, Jonathan Nolan, Jerry Weintraub and Warner Bros. TV. Inspired by the 1973 movie from Michael Chrichton, the series as described as “a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin.” The movie, which starred Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin, was about a near-future amusement park where guests could live out fantasies in various worlds, including the western-themed West World, populated by androids. However, a malfunction spreads through the system and the androids begin to kill the guests.

It was followed by a sequel, Futureworld, and a short lived series, Beyond Westworld.