Sci-Fi Storm

Rejoice Sensates! Sense8 will return, at least temporarily…

After getting canceled by Netflix earlier this month with some things unresolved, Lana Wachowski, via the official Sense8 Twitter account, explained why she hasn’t said much, but also why she is talking now!

Death doesn't let you say goodbye. 2 hour finale episode in the works. Tell your cluster. pic.twitter.com/GHZgGuHwS0

— Sense8 (@sense8) June 29, 2017

So it seems we will at least get some closure – and just maybe, a bit more…

Less than a month after the release of the second season of Sense8, the sci-fi series from Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski, Netflix has announced there will be no third season.

In a statement, Netflix’s Vice President of Original Content Cindy Holland said, “After 23 episodes, 16 cities and 13 countries, the story of the Sense8 cluster is coming to an end. It is everything we and the fans dreamed it would be: bold, emotional, stunning, kick ass, and outright unforgettable. Never has there been a more truly global show with an equally diverse and international cast and crew, which is only mirrored by the connected community of deeply passionate fans all around the world. We thank Lana, Lilly, Joe and Grant for their vision, and the entire cast and crew for their craftsmanship and commitment.”

Sense8 had a lofty budget and long production time, with Season 2 release almost two years after the original premiere. In fact, the options on the actors had lapsed after filming on Season 2 so while editing was being done they started to negotiate for a potential third season, with about half the leads having already climbed on board, but apparently Netflix decided against moving forward.

It seems Doctor Who isn’t the only SF program in a festive mood this holiday season…Netflix has announced that a two-hour Christmas Special of Sense8 will debut globally on the streaming service Friday, December 23rd at 12:01am Pacific Time.

In addition, the second season will debut on Friday, May 5th, at 12:01am PT. Season 2 will pick up where Season 1 left off, with the Sensates on the run from the Whispers while learning how to come together mentally and physically to live with and protect each other.

Netflix announced today on Twitter that they are renewing Sense8 for a second season:

Birthdays are just the beginning. #sense8 is reborn. https://t.co/tmMV66gKhm

— Netflix US (@netflix) August 8, 2015

(not sure why that doesn’t seem to embed in the right style 🙁 )

I also just found out about a new 25-minute behind the scenes video for Sense8…check it out!

No details on the renewal yet, but I’m sure we’ll get that in the coming weeks.

One moment links 8 minds in disparate parts of the world, putting 8 strangers in each other’s lives, each other’s secrets, and in terrible danger.

Sense8 launches on Netflix on June 5th.

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.

We didn’t know a lot about the upcoming Netflix series Sense8, from Andy and Lana Wachowski with J. Michael Straczynski, but now we know who will be in it, and a bit more on what it is about.

According to Deadline, the international cast includes U.S. actors Daryl Hannah (Splash, Kill Bill Vols. I and II), Brian J. Smith (Stargate Universe) and Terrence Mann (The Dresden Files); British actors Naveen Andrews (Lost, Sinbad, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland), Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who, Torchwood), Tuppence Middleton (Sinbad, Trance), and Aml Ameen (Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Harry’s Law); Mexican actors Alfonso Herrera and Erendira Ibarra; Indian actress Tena Desae (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel); South Korean actress Doona Bae (Cloud Atlas); and German actor Max Riemelt (The Wave), along with Jamie Clayton and Miguel Silvestri.

“The series follows eight characters around the world who, in the aftermath of a tragic death, find themselves linked to each other mentally and emotionally,” co-showrunner J. Michael Straczynski told Deadline. “They can not only see and talk to each other as though they were in the same place, they have access to each other’s deepest secrets. Not only must they figure out what happened and why and what it means for the future of humanity, they must do so netflix-logowhile being hunted by an organization out to capture, kill or vivisect them.”

Finally, there are a few details about the upcoming Netflix series Sense8, from Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy) and showrunner J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5).

According to TV Line:

The sci-fi drama will focus on eight people scattered around the globe who are connected by a shared — violent — vision. (Because it’s never a vision of kittens, is it?) Each episode — shot in the UK, Seoul, Mumbai, Nairobi, Berlin, Mexico City, San Francisco and Chicago — will follow the characters’ separate stories, even as one entity tries to bring the octet together and another tries to kill them.

Among the regulars (as yet uncast) are: a closeted Mexican telenovela hunk, an Icelandic party girl, a German safe-cracker, a Korean businesswoman, an African bus driver and a transgender American blogger (a la Lana?). Perhaps most intriguing, though, are Jonas, an apparently magic African-American who appears to all of the “visionaries,” and his evil counterpart, Mr. Whispers (arguably the best-named villain since The X-Files’ Cigarette-Smoking Man).

With JMS running the show, I’m sure the story will be compelling and told well…next up, director and cast!

Sense8, the sci-fi drama which marks the first foray into the television format from Andy and Lana Wachowski, has been picked up for 10 episodes by Netflix. Georgiaville TV and Reliance Entertainment are producing in association with Studio JMS (the studio set up by J. Michael Straczynski last year.)

Details of the show are scarce, other than it being describes as “A gripping global tale of minds linked and souls hunted.” The Wachowskis said, “We’re excited to work with Netflix and Georgeville Television on this project, and we’ve wanted to work with Joe Straczynski for years, chiefly due to the fact his name is harder to pronounce than ours, but also because we share a love of genre and all things nerdy.”

Sense8 is expected to be released in late 2014, with all 10 episodes released simultaneously.