Sci-Fi Storm

Syfy has just announced that it has renewed freshman series Killjoys and Dark Matter. Both will return in 2016, with Killjoys getting 10 episodes and Dark Matter getting 13. No word on a fourth season of Defiance yet.

Produced in association with Space and distributed worldwide by Universal Cable Productions, Killjoys follows a trio of interplanetary bounty hunters who chase deadly Warrants (fugitives) throughout the Quad, a distant planetary system on the brink of a bloody class war. The series stars Hannah John-Kamen as Dutch, Luke Macfarlane as D’avin and Aaron Ashmore as John.

Killjoys averaged 1.5 million viewers (L3) in its first season.

“With exciting space-based action, deep world building, and a standout cast, Killjoys has struck a nerve with viewers and critics alike,” said Bill McGoldrick, Executive Vice President, Original Content, Syfy. “We can’t wait to see what adventures Michelle Lovretta and Temple Street take Dutch, John and D’avin on in season two.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to bring back Killjoys and its stellar cast to audiences across the U.S.,” said David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, co-Presidents of Temple Street Productions and Executive Producers of Killjoys. “We look forward to working with the team at Syfy for a thrilling second season.”

Killjoys is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with Space and Syfy. Creator and showrunner Lovretta serves as executive producer and writer. Executive producers are David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg and Karen Troubetzkoy.

Dark Matter averaged 1.8 million viewers in its first season.

The series, produced by Prodigy Pictures, follows six people who wake up on a derelict spaceship with no memories of who they are or how they got on board.

“With its mysterious premise and fascinating characters, Dark Matter has built an incredibly loyal, passionate and engaged fan base,” said Chris Regina, Senior Vice President, Program Strategy, Syfy. “We look forward to another out-of-the-world season from this talented creative team.”

Created by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, executive producers and writers of the Stargate franchise, and developed with Prodigy Pictures (Lost Girl), Dark Matter is based on Mallozzi and Mullie’s graphic novel of the same name, published by Dark Horse Comics. The series features Melissa O’Neil, Marc Bendavid, Anthony Lemke, Alex Mallari Jr. and Jodelle Ferland with Roger Cross and Zoie Palmer.

Executive producers are Jay Firestone, Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie and Vanessa Piazza.

Syfy today announced that Golden Globe nominee Dennis Haysbert (24), David Hewlett (Stargate Atlantis) and Ian Tracey (Wayward Pines) have joined the cast of the channel’s new futuristic espionage thriller pilot Incorporated from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Pearl Street Films, CBS Television Studios and Universal Cable Productions.

Set in a world where companies have unlimited power, executive Ben Larson (Sean Teale, Reign) is forced to change his identity in order to infiltrate a cut-throat corporate world at SPIGA and save the woman he loves. In the process, he will take on the entire system — with deadly consequences.

Dennis Haysbert plays series regular Julian, Head of Security and probably the most feared person at SPIGA headquarters. Part detective and part grand inquisitor, Julian is a tenacious investigator with an uncanny ability to sniff out moles and traitors in the company. Haysbert’s numerous credits include Major League, The Unit, Absolute Power, Jarhead and Ted 2.

David Hewlett has joined the cast of the pilot as Chad, a high-level executive at SPIGA, the all-powerful company in Incorporated, who has reached his position by appeasing his superiors and taking credit for the achievements of his subordinates. Hewlett has appeared in SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, Dark Matter and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Ian Tracey has joined the cast of the pilot as Terrence, a corrupt businessman who quickly becomes a benefactor to Theo (Eddie Ramos, Parenthood), but could also become a threat to Ben’s plans for SPIGA. Tracey has starred in Intelligence, Rogue and Bates Motel.

The pilot will also star Georgina Haig (Once Upon a Time), Eddie Ramos (Teen Wolf) and Julia Ormond (Mad Men).

Incorporated is created by David and Alex Pastor (Selfless, The Last Days), who wrote and will direct the pilot. Ted Humphrey (The Good Wife) will serve as executive producer/showrunner, with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Todd also executive producing. Pearl Street Film’s Margaret Chernin will serve as associate producer.

We were waiting for the axe to drop, and now it finally has – Syfy has officially canceled Haven after 5 seasons, although 13 episodes remain to air. Syfy had previously said they would wait for the second half of Season 5 to air before making a decision, but when the airing got pushed on the schedule to October, a year after it was filmed, it seemed more and more likely that it would not get renewed.

There were a number of factors working against it. Earlier this year the Nova Scotia government voted to significantly cut the film tax credit given to productions in the province, where Haven was filmed. While this may not have been a direct factor, it would have made the cost of production increase even more.

Also, production typically took place during the summer, where an ice rink in Chester served as the primary studio, with external shots typically taking place around Chester and Lunenburg. When the double-sized season was ordered last year, it meant that production would extend past their typical August end date into December, and Chester needed their ice rink back. So they used a vacated warehouse in Halifax for the second half. If they continued production at this late date, they would still need an alternate studio location.

Plus, contracts for actors, production, storage, etc. only last so long.

I was in Nova Scotia this past week, and people were still hopeful production would begin again. Haven brought $28 million to the province and $1 million just for Chester in local spending.

Fortunately for fans, as mentioned there are still 13 episodes yet to air and they will starting October 8th. And if there is never to be more Haven, they will wrap things up nicely, but the door is still open…TheWrap has a nice interview with showrunner Gabrielle Stanton about the ending. And fans have already started #SaveHaven in the hopes more can be done.

Syfy announced today the premiere dates for Childhood’s End and The Expanse.

Childhood’s End will be a six hour television event, premiering on Monday, December 14th from 8-10pm ET, and continuing on the next two consecutive nights.

The Expanse will premiere on the same night at 10pm ET, then will appear weekly on Tuesdays at 10pm ET for the remainder of its 10 episode run.

Syfy also today announced that it will develop Frederik Pohl’s Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel [asin=0345475836]Gateway[/asin] about humanity’s encounter with a mysterious, ancient alien civilization as a one-hour scripted series with Entertainment One Television (eOne) and Universal Cable Productions (UCP). eOne will distribute the series worldwide.

David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) and Josh Pate (Falling Skies) collaborated on the adaptation and will serve as executive producers on the series. Eick will revise a pilot script written by Pate and serve as showrunner. The series will also be executive produced by Martha De Laurentiis through the De Laurentiis Company, former eOne Television executive Michael Rosenberg, and Lorenzo De Maio. eOne Television’s Gerard Bocaccio, SVP US Scripted Development, will oversee the project for the studio.

In Gateway, humanity discovers an asteroid teeming with the long abandoned spaceships of an advanced alien race — the Heechee – setting in motion a gold rush for alien artifacts and technology. The ships are preprogrammed, transporting their voyagers to distant worlds of riches — or certain death. Undaunted by the peril or the odds, prospector Robinette Broadhead gambles everything on a journey to Gateway. After one nightmare mission, he returns to extraordinary wealth and luxury, but is haunted by the loss of his crewmates, including the love of his life.
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Syfy and Universal Cable Productions’ (UCP) latest scripted drama series, The Magicians, will commence season one production on August 4 in Vancouver, Canada. The 13 episode season will air in early 2016 on Syfy.

Starring Jason Ralph (Quentin Coldwater), Stella Maeve (Julia), Hale Appleman (Eliot), Arjun Gupta (Penny) and Summer Bishil (Margo), The Magicians is based on Lev Grossman’s best-selling novels. The series centers on Quentin, a brilliant grad student chosen to attend Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a secret upstate New York university specializing in magic. He and his 20-something friends soon discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real – and poses grave danger to humanity.

Olivia Taylor Dudley will also join the cast as a series regular, it was announced today. Dudley plays Alice, an intensely shy and delicately lovely young woman. Born of a magical but neglectful family, Alice is an outcast among her fellow students at Brakebills, but nonetheless emerges as the most brilliant magical practitioner in her class.

Dudley appears in the upcoming Lakeshore/Lionsgate film Vatican Tapes opposite Michael Pena, just wrapped production on Paranormal Activity 5 for Paramount, and can be seen in the feature Dude Bro Party Massacre III. She was a lead in Oren Peli’s ensemble horror film The Chernobyl Diaries, from Alcon/Warner Bros. and has also appeared in The Dictator, Moneyball and Just Go With It. Her TV credits include The Comedians, CSI: Miami, NCIS, Don’t Trust the B in Apt. 23 and The Mindy Project. Olivia is a founding member of the prolific online sketch comedy group, “5secondfilms.com” which has gained notoriety through their tireless efforts to post a new, original, sketch every single day.

Additionally, The Magicians announces the following recurring guest stars for season one:

· Rick Worthy as Dean Fogg, the formidable Dean of Brakebills — an exacting leader and a keeper of secrets, balancing a great sense of authority with dry wit. Worthy is best known for his roles in Battlestar Galactica as Simon and Supernatural as the Alpha Vampire. His other recurring roles include Aquarius, The Vampire Diaries, CSI, Heroes, Felicity and Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Voyager. His upcoming projects include a recurring role on The Man in the High Castle.

· Anne Dudek as Professor Sunderland, a smart, charmingly scatterbrained woman dedicated to teaching Brakebills students how to hone their magical skills. Dudek is best known for her series regular role on Covert Affairs, as well as recurring roles on House, Mad Men, Bones, Less Than Perfect, Those Who Kill and Big Love. Dudek’s film roles include Brad Silberling’s 10 Items or Less, Kurt Voelker’s Park and The Wayans Brothers’ White Chicks. She can be seen next in Jenji Kohan’s pilot, The Devil You Know.

· Jade Tailor as Kady, a tough, rebellious and sexy Brakebills student who attracts Penny’s attention in and out of the classroom. Jade previously worked with The Magicians’s John McNamara and Sera Gamble on their NBC series Aquarius. Jade also recurs on TNT’s Murder in the First. Other television credits include True Blood and Vegas. She has appeared in countless independent films including Wedding Day, Karma, Losing Control, Don’t Pass Me By, Cam2Cam as well as the upcoming Higher Power, Juke Box Hero, and Wild for the Night. She has also done numerous musical productions both in New York and LA.

· Esmé Bianco as Eliza, a paramedic who has a hand in initiating Quentin’s journey into real magic. Bianco is best known for her three season-long role of Ros in Game of Thrones. Her film credits include Burlesque Fairytales, Big I Am and Crowley. She will soon be seen in the movies Scorpion King 4, Living Among Us and Mind Puppets.

Groundswell Productions’ Michael London and Janice Williams (Milk) will executive produce The Magicians. John McNamara (Aquarius) and Sera Gamble (Supernatural), writers of the pilot, will serve as executive producers. Mike Cahill (I Origins) directed the pilot. Universal Cable Productions will serve as the studio.

Lev Grossman’s The Magicians trilogy is an international sensation, published and widely praised in more than twenty countries. The epic conclusion to the series, The Magician’s Land, opened at #1 last summer on the New York Times Hardcover Best Seller’s list, and was widely acclaimed as one of the best books of the year.

Syfy and Universal Cable Productions (UCP) today announced that production has commenced in Melbourne, Australia on the upcoming thriller series Hunters. The series is from executive producers Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead, The Terminator Trilogy) and Natalie Chaidez (12 Monkeys, Heroes), who will also serve as showrunner, and Emile Levisetti (Royal Pains). Ernest Dickerson (The Walking Dead, Dexter) is set to direct the pilot.

The series stars Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek) as Flynn, a headstrong Baltimore FBI agent with a dark past trying to piece together the disappearance of his wife. Britne Oldford (American Horror Story) will play Regan, who is one of the government’s most valuable operatives and may be keeping secrets of her own. Julian McMahon portrays McCarthy, an unhinged junkie and Hunter cell leader.

Hunters is inspired by Whitley Strieber’s best-selling novel, Alien Hunter, in which the disappearance of a decorated FBI agent’s wife leads him to a secret government unit assembled to hunt a group of ruthless terrorists – shadowy figures that may or may not be from this world. The series will be tonally dark and offer a unique crossover twist between gritty crime drama and sci-fi thriller.

The 13-part series from Universal Cable Productions will premiere on Syfy in 2016.

Hunters joins other high profile upcoming Syfy originals, including the December 2015 premieres of epic space drama The Expanse, starring Thomas Jane, Steven Strait and Shohreh Aghdashloo; Childhood’s End, the first-ever adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s iconic novel starring Charles Dance, Mike Vogel and Julian McMahon; and The Magicians, based on Lev Grossman’s best-selling books and set to premiere in 2016. Childhood’s End and The Magicians are both from Universal Cable Productions.

Syfy’s pilot Incorporated has found it’s lead.

The pilot, a join effort from Pearl Street Productions (the studio run by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon), CBS Television Studios and Universal Cable Productions, is an espionage thriller that takes place in a dystopian future set in 2062, “where climate change has ravaged the planet, ethical boundaries have been redrawn and American cities have become a tantalizing and terrifying mix of the luxurious and the medieval.” The duo of David and Alex Pastor created and wrote the pilot, and will direct.

Deadline reports that Sean Teale (Reign) will star as Ben Larson, a rising star in a mega-corporation called Chrysalis who is determined to climb the rickety, bloodstained ladder of success in order to find and rescue the woman he loves — and will tromp on anyone who gets in his way.

Syfy announced today it is teaming with Oscar-nominated producer Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Oscar-winning producer Graham King (The Departed, Argo) and Todd Phillips (The Hangover, Old School) to develop Dan Simmons’ Hugo Award-winning best-selling novel [asin=0553283685]Hyperion[/asin] as an event series.

Cooper will executive produce along with King and Phillips. Itamar Moses (Boardwalk Empire) will write the screenplay and serve as co-executive producer. Universal Cable Productions will serve as the studio. Hyperion will be a production of Graham King’s GK Films and Bradley Cooper and Todd Phillips’ 22nd and Green.

Set on the eve of Armageddon with the entire galaxy at war, Hyperion is the story of seven pilgrims who set forth on a voyage to seek the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope and a terrible secret — while one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

“It is an absolute honor to enter into the world created by Dan Simmons that is arguably one of the greatest works of science fiction, and help realize it for television audiences,” said executive producer Cooper.

Said Dave Howe, President, Syfy & Chiller: “As Syfy continues to forge important partnerships with award-winning talent on and off screen, this powerhouse team led by Bradley Cooper, Graham King and Todd Phillips brings an extraordinary track record in producing entertainment of the highest creative ambition. Epitomizing the gold standard of science fiction story-telling, Hyperion tackles smart and provocative themes that help define Syfy’s development vision.”

“Hyperion is a science fiction masterpiece. Dan Simmons’ universe is unique and darkly compelling, and the creative team assembled here is simply as good as it gets,” said Jeff Wachtel, President & Chief Content Officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment.

Cooper is represented by CAA. Moses is represented by UTA, and Phillips is represented by CAA and attorney Warren Dern at Sloane, Offer, Weber, & Dern.

Hyperion is the latest high profile scripted project to be announced by Syfy; others include the recently-announced series pickup of The Magicians, based on Lev Grossman’s best-selling books; the 10-part series The Expanse, airing December 2015 and starring Thomas Jane; Arthur C. Clarke’s epic mini-series Childhood’s End, also set to premiere this December; Aldous Huxley’s classic novel Brave New World with Amblin Television; Gale Anne Hurd’s 13-episode thriller Hunters; David Goyer’s Superman prequel, Krypton; and Incorporated, a futuristic espionage drama from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

Adding to its growing roster of major productions featuring science fiction’s most acclaimed franchises, Syfy is reuniting with Emmy® Award-winning Amblin Television to develop a scripted series based on Aldous Huxley’s classic novel Brave New World.

Syfy and Amblin previously collaborated on Steven Spielberg Presents: Taken, which won a 2003 Emmy® for Best Miniseries, as well as nominations in six other categories.

Brave New World is set in a world without poverty, war or disease. In this world, humans are given mind-altering drugs, free sex and rampant consumerism are the order of the day, and people no longer reproduce but are genetically engineered in “hatcheries.” Those who won’t conform are forced onto “reservations” – until one of these “savages” challenges the system, threatening the entire social order. First published in 1932, Brave New World was ranked fifth among the 100 best English language novels of the 20th Century by Modern Library.

Said Dave Howe, President, Syfy & Chiller: “Brave New World is one of the most influential genre classics of all time. Its provocative vision of a future gone awry remains as powerful and as timeless as ever. Promising to be a monumental television event, Brave New World is precisely the groundbreaking programming that is becoming the hallmark of Syfy.”

Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey of Amblin Television (The Americans, Falling Skies, Under the Dome) will be executive producers. Les Bohem (Steven Spielberg Presents: Taken) will write the screenplay and also executive produce.

Universal Cable Productions will serve as the studio.

“We’ve been looking for an opportunity to reunite with Les, Bonnie Hammer and Dave Howe, ever since our collaboration on Taken over a decade ago, and Brave New World is just the project we’ve been waiting for, to bring the band back together,” said Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, Co-Presidents, Amblin Television. “We’re thrilled to be working with Dawn Olmstead, with whom we produced The Whispers for ABC, and under the leadership of Jeff Wachtel and Universal Cable Productions, we know the project is in just the right hands.”

“Brave New World is science fiction at its best – a brilliant, poignant story that continues to fascinate and illuminate,” said Jeff Wachtel, President and Chief Content Officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. “And there is simply no better team than Amblin to bring this exquisite project to life.”

Brave New World is the latest high profile scripted project to be developed and produced by Syfy; others include the recently-announced series pickup of The Magicians, based on Lev Grossman’s best-selling books; the 10-part series The Expanse, airing December 2015 and starring Thomas Jane; Arthur C. Clarke’s epic mini-series Childhood’s End, also set to premiere this December; Gale Anne Hurd’s 13-episode thriller Hunters; David Goyer’s Superman prequel, Krypton; and Incorporated, a pilot from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

NEW YORK – May 4, 2015 – Continuing its commitment to developing bold, high profile scripted dramas, Syfy today announced it has greenlit The Magicians to series.

Based upon Lev Grossman’s best-selling books, The Magicians stars Jason Ralph (A Most Violent Year, Aquarius) as Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant grad student who enrolls in Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a secret upstate New York university specializing in magic. He and his 20-something friends soon discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real – and poses grave danger to humanity. Stella Maeve (Chicago P.D.), Hale Appleman (Teeth), Arjun Gupta (Nurse Jackie) and Summer Bishil (Towelhead, Lucky 7) also star in this one hour drama.

Groundswell Productions’ Michael London and Janice Williams (Milk) will executive produce. John McNamara (Aquarius) and Sera Gamble (Supernatural), writers of the pilot, will serve as executive producers. Mike Cahill (I Origins) directed the pilot. Universal Cable Productions will serve as the studio.

“The Magicians pilot beautifully delivers a world filled with wonder, fantasy and intrigue,” said Dave Howe, President, Syfy. “We can’t wait to delve deeper into the lives of Quentin and his college friends, as they struggle with the enormity of their burgeoning powers – and unleash them upon the world.”

“Ever since ‘[asin=0525427341]The Magicians[/asin]’ was published I’ve wanted to see this story on screen,” said Lev Grossman. “The people, the school, the other worlds, the magic. I’m so thrilled that it’s finally happening, and I’m beyond thrilled that we found the right people to do it. Get ready; you’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Lev is a visionary world-creator. It’s an awesome responsibility to honor the novels’ core audience and also to translate that vision to the screen,” said Jeff Wachtel, President and Chief Content Officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. “We are lucky to have Sera Gamble, Michael London, John McNamara and Janice Williams as the team bringing this series to life.”

Lev Grossman’s “Magicians” trilogy is an international sensation, published and widely praised in more than twenty countries. The epic conclusion to the series, “[asin=0670015679]The Magician’s Land[/asin],” opened at #1 last summer on the New York Times Hardcover Best Seller’s list, and was widely acclaimed as one of the best books of the year.

The twelve episode season will begin shooting in Vancouver in July.