Sci-Fi Storm

Verizon’s go90 service has added several Warner Bros. shows that had a strong fanbase, hoping to draw them to their service.

The new shows include Veronica Mars, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Babylon 5, Fringe, Almost Human, Believe, and Stalker. All will start streaming tomorrow, April 4th, except for Veronica Mars which will start sometime in May.

According to Chip Canter, the general manager for Verizon Digital Entertainment, “To be able to bring these seven titles to our users is a great opportunity to continue to double down on a genre that’s performed well for go90 and attract users who have been demanding these series or may be discovering them for the first time. This order represents our commitment to a data-driven programming strategy that marries popular traditional series with our originals and organizes them into 4-5 key audience-specific networks as a way to super serve our audiences; these series are a great fit for our go90 Saga network.”

Verizon’s go90 streaming service provides free streaming service built around a mobile-oriented social platform, marrying traditional series and original programming. Verizon Wireless customers can stream the shows data-free.

To be shown during the Super Bowl…
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It appears that Matt Smith can’t get enough of time travel stories…but this time he may be facing a really mean looking robot…

Paramount announced today that the actor, best known for being the 11th incarnation of the Doctor (well, depending how you count, but we’ve been through that before – let’s just use classic numbering), will join the Terminator franchise reboot, which is expected to be a new trilogy of movies and will once again feature Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reportedly Smith’s role will be major, expanding in the second and third movies. From the press release:

HOLLYWOOD, CA (May 2, 2014) – Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions announced today that “Doctor Who” star Matt Smith will join the cast of the upcoming “TERMINATOR” reboot.

Smith will play a new character with a strong connection to John Connor, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi and Byung Hun Lee.

Alan Taylor is directing the film from a screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. David Ellison and Dana Goldberg of Skydance Productions are producing. Skydance’s Paul Schwake, Annapurna Pictures’ Megan Ellison, Kalogridis and Lussier are executive producing.

Smith is best known for playing The Doctor on the popular “Doctor Who” television series during the 2011-2103 seasons. His other television credits include “Christopher and His Kind,” “Moses Jones,” and “The Street.” He can be seen next on the big screen in “LOST RIVER,” directed by Ryan Gosling, alongside Christina Hendricks, Saoirse Ronan and Eva Mendes.

He is represented by United Talent Agency and Michael Duff at Troika.

The “TERMINATOR” franchise launched in 1984 with Schwarzenegger as the title character and spanned three subsequent films, which have earned more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Paramount will distribute the film worldwide on July 1, 2015.

Terminator star Linda Hamilton, who most recently had a couple guest stints on Lost Girl and had a recurring role as Chuck’s mother in Chuck, will now appear in Season 2 of Syfy’s Defiance in a recurring role as Pilar, the mysterious and long-separated wife of Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene) and mother to their three children.

Premiering its second season on Thursday, June 19 at 8PM ET/PT, the ambitious series delivered an average of 1.5 million viewers 18-49 and 3.2 million total viewers in its first season, based on Live +7 data.

Separated from her family for a number of years, Pilar has now returned home. Pilar suffered from serious mental illness and in the aftermath of the Votan arrival and subsequent war, did not have access to her medication. With her mental state unchecked, Pilar snapped and tried to murder her children. Fearing for the family’s safety, Rafe sent her to an institution and told their children she had died. Now Pilar is back with both a steely resolve and a warm, maternal love for her family. But the motives for her return are unclear, and soon Rafe and others in town begin to question where she’s actually been these past years.

Trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Hamilton triumphed in her breakout role as the iconic Sarah Conner in James Cameron’s action/sci-fi masterpiece The Terminator, followed by the blockbuster sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day. She is also well-known for her popular role on the television series Beauty and the Beast opposite Ron Perlman. Her additional film credits include Mr. Destiny, Silent Fall and Dante’s Peak.

Hamilton joins the previously announced James Murray, William Atherton and Anna Hopkins as new cast additions to season two of the series. Murray will portray the integral role of Pottinger, the new mayor of Defiance. Atherton portrays high-ranking Earth Republic official Viceroy Mercado and Hopkins is Earth Republic soldier Jessica “Berlin” Rainier.

Grant Bowler will return as Nolan, along with Julie Benz as Amanda Rosewater, Stephanie Leonidas as Irisa Nolan, Tony Curran as Datak Tarr, Jaime Murray as Stahma Tarr, Graham Greene as Rafe McCawley and Jesse Rath as Alak Tarr. The cast also features Dewshane Williams as Tommy, Trenna Keating as Doc Yewll, Justin Rain as Quentin McCawley and Nicole Munoz as Christie McCawley.

As the story of Defiance resumes, the lives of the townspeople are in drastic turmoil. The Earth Republic has assumed control of the town, with far-reaching consequences including a new mayor. Nolan traverses the badlands to find a lost Irisa, Amanda has an unexpected new role in the town as she searches for Kenya and the Tarr family desperately tries to keep control of their criminal empire in the midst of dramatic changes.

Kevin Murphy (Desperate Housewives, Caprica) resumes his role as executive producer and showrunner. Smallville’s Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin return as executive producers for season two and Michael Taylor serves as consulting producer. Michael Nankin (co-executive producer) is set to direct the season two opener. Defiance is produced by Universal Cable Productions.

Defiance is an unprecedented partnership between Syfy and Trion Worlds and the first-ever convergence of television and online gaming, featuring an interconnected world and storylines that co-exist on both platforms.

Looks like Summer Glau is never far from our TV screens…according to Deadline she will now have a recurring role in CW’s Arrow…which will further cement my feeling of how similar it is to The Cape – which Summer also starred in…

Summer has also had recurring roles in Dollhouse, The Unit, The 4400 and Alphas, following starring roles in Firefly and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and is a bit of a genre favorite, even playing herself in an episode of The Big Bang Theory.

It looks like a new Terminator movie will finally get made, with the man who was central to the franchise set to return.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been attached to the project for a while, and Megan Ellison (daughter of Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison) recently purchased the right to the franchise. Now Megan and brother David have agreed to each put up one third of the costs of a new movie, with Paramount picking up the final third.

However, the film still doesn’t have a director yet, with Fast and Furious 6‘s Justin Lin passing on a script being developed by Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) and Patrick Lussier (Dracula 2000), but plans are to start filming in January.

Fancy the idea of taking up arms against some of your favorite heroes from SF film and television? Or fancy a blaster fight with a squad of Stormtroopers led by General Motti? (Hey, at least that last one should be easy…we know how well Stormtroopers shoot!)

Well, you might have your chance at Comicpalooza, in Houston May 25-27!

“The next best thing to being a sci-fi or action hero has to be shooting a sci-fi or action hero with a gun. Or maybe being shot by one,” says John Simons, founder and Chairman of Comicpalooza, the Texas International Comic Con. At least that’s the premise that led to the Badass Celebrity Smackdown, in which fans attending Comicpalooza May 25-27 will get their chance to pit themselves against stars of some of the biggest sci-fi and action franchises in Hollywood while helping US veterans at the same time.
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To coincide with the upcoming release of Terminator Salvation in movie theaters, a new bridge between the computer/console game and the movie is taking the form of an online Machinima series. This 6 episode series follows the character of Blair Williams over the two-year gap between game and movie. Director McG was heavily involved with the production as well. Read More to catch the trailer (in HD) and the preview of the first episode. Update: Each episode will be available for download on iTunes.

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One of the greatest action films of all time can now be seen and heard like never before! On behalf of Lionsgate Home Entertainment, we are pleased to present Terminator 2 Skynet Edition on Blu-ray. On May 19th, for the first time fans can experience multiple versions of the movie in explosive, THX certified high-definition and all-new English 6.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Lossless. Terminator 2 Skynet Edition is packed with over 8 hours of interactive special features including over 140 minutes of behind the scenes video and multimedia galleries; interactive quizzes and games; and additional BD-Live^TM enabled content featuring extra content, games and more accessible through internet-connected players. Read More for additional information.

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