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| The Zocalo Today
Welcome and thank you for dropping by. Babylon 5
brought many of us together -- and it remains with us, despite the fact that
is no longer in production. The good thing is that the internet gives a LOT
of ways to stay in touch. Don't be shy. Join in the discussion today or drop
by Facebook or Twitter.
If you have questions or items for the news, drop me a line at sgbruckner@aol.com.
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NEWS FROM JULY 2014
THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 3
It's time to go back to the museum, and this time, the adventure's going international.
While they've always had to settle for mixed reviews so far, the Shawn Levy-directed Night at the Museum films have raked in more than $1 billion in worldwide box-office grosses, and they continue to be a hit with families to the extent that, even if you can't stand them, you've probably had a hard time avoiding a glimpse of cable reruns. So it was no surprise when a third film was announced to follow 2009's $400 million hit, Battle of the Smithsonian.
Today, Fox released the trailer for the third installment in the franchise, subtitled Secret of the Tomb, and it packs the same brand of humor and adventure that kept audiences coming back to the first two films, with a twist: The magic of the Egyptian tablet that makes all of the characters in the museum come to life seems to be running out. To save his friends, former security guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) must head to London to visit the British Museum, and hopefully learn the secrets of the tablet from the Pharaoh who created it (Ben Kingsley). Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais and more return to reprise their roles, with the addition of new cast members like Kingsley, Dan Stevens and Rebel Wilson, who's featured heavily in the trailer.
If you're a fan of these movies, you'll probably get a kick out of it. If you're already over them, it's probably not the sort of thing that'll change your mind. As for me, I'll admit there were some chuckles.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb opens Dec. 19.
PACIFIC RIM SEQUEL NEWS
Guillermo del Toro’s passion positively bleeds into his movies, and there’s hardly a film that can rival Pacific Rim when it comes to pure, fist-pumping fun. So what does he have planned for the sequel?
Del Toro obviously isn’t spilling everything just yet, but now that a sequel is officially on the way, he chatted with Hero Complex about where he’d like to take the Pacific Rim universe next. We’ve already heard that he wants to dig into the world-building with that upcoming animated series, but what about the big-screen followup?
The director said the first draft of the screenplay will be done within a month, and they’re in the prep stages of cranking up design work. Considering all the monsters and mechs, we could see where the design phase might take a while. As for the story, he promised a whole lot of new things for everyone’s favorite pilot, Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam), plus a deeper exploration of the Anteverse:
“We start designing in three weeks. We get the first draft of the screenplay in three weeks; Zak Penn and I are co-writing and then there’s a long, long, long journey of drafts and design. It took nine months to design “Pacific Rim”; it will take nine months or more to design the second one. We start scouting for the movie in the summer next year, July, and then we start shooting in November. Then it’s a long year of post after we wrap and we’ll probably be showing the movie in January/February 2017 to test audiences …
No, it’s all over the world this time. I want it to be different enough to the first one that you don’t feel you’re seeing the same movie. I’m doing a little more location-oriented stuff, there are night battles, but there are also daylight battles. The things we do in the action scenes is very different from the first one. We are expanding the mythology of the Anteverse. We are taking the characters into a completely different journey this time because Raleigh for me solved his problem the minute he was able to go full circle and save Mako by sacrificing himself, which is what he couldn’t do with his brother. He’s not on that journey anymore, he’s on a new journey.”
Though it borrowed from the proud tradition of massive monster movies from decades past, Pacific Rim was one of the most distinctive films we’ve seen in years.
INTERSTELLAR
One of the buzziest trailers to debut at San Diego Comic-Con belonged to Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic Interstellar, and now the rest of us have a chance to check out the awe-inspiring new footage.
From Inception to his Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan has never taken the easy approach when it comes to the genre. The more we see of Interstellar, the more it seems like this has a chance to be his magnum opus. It’s sweeping, heartfelt and gorgeous — and above all, ambitious.
It’s hard to sum up in a logline, but the film essentially focuses on a dying Earth as we reach the tipping point of sustainability and look to the stars for a chance at survival. This being Nolan, it seems to tackle the big issues of society and space exploration through the hyper-focused lens of Matthew McConaughey's character and his family.
The Comic-Con trailer shows off some great new footage, including more of our dust-covered planet and the stunning deep-space vistas McConaughey will find once he heads out into the stars. Check out the new trailer below and let us know what you think:
The film stars McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace and a few others. Interstellar opens Nov. 6.
12 MONKEYS
The first trailer for Syfy’s upcoming 12 Monkeys series left us impressed, and now the studio is ramping up production on the full 13-episode run ahead of the January 2015 premiere.
As the series looks to expand beyond the world of the pilot, producers have added a few more cast members to round out the reimagined time-travel universe. Both Tom Noonan (The House of the Devil, Hell on Wheels) and Emily Hampshire (Cosmopolis, Rookie Blue) have signed on in recurring roles.
Noonan will portray a mysterious villain who is the face of the enigmatic Army of the 12 Monkeys. He’s described as “imposing and intelligent,” and he will be at the center of the conspiracy. Hampshire will play Jennifer Goines, a dangerous, unstable mental patient who might just hold the key to unraveling the mystery of the 12 Monkeys.
The series is slated to commence full production on Aug. 6, 2014, in Toronto, Canada. These new casting additions will join series regulars Aaron Stanford (Cole), Amanda Schull (Dr. Cassandra Railly), Kirk Acevedo (Ramse) and Noah Bean (Aaron Marker).
THE MUMMY REBOOT
Alex Kurtzman is in final negotiations to direct Universal’s reboot of The Mummy.
Kurtzman, who with former writing partner Roberto Orci wrote some of the biggest franchise players in the past decade, already is producing the movie with Chris Morgan. Kurtzman and Morgan are weaving together a cinematic universe for Universal based on its movie monsters properties, and Mummy is due to be the first one out of the gate, with a release date of April 22, 2016. The movie is important as it will set the tone and stage for the rest of the universe.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it’s understood that the new Mummy is set in the present and is not a horror play but rather an action-adventure tentpole with horror elements. It also will feature new characters and not rehash previous incarnations.
Jon Spaihts worked on the script, as did Kurtzman and Orci. Sean Daniel also is a producer on the project. Bobby Cohen is executive producer.
The project already has gone through a couple of directors — Len Wiseman and Andy Muschietti (Mama) — but that was before Universal began implementing its master monster plan.
“Over the course of developing The Mummy, Alex has demonstrated such clarity and passion about this character and mythology," said co-president of production Jeff Kirschenbaum. "He knows why The Mummy has fascinated us for so long and how to bring that into an inventive, incredible new adventure. It became obvious that he is the perfect choice to be not only one of the narrative engineers of this new vision but its director as well.”
Kurtzman made his directorial debut with the modestly budgeted drama People Like Us, which starred Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks, so Mummy would mark a significant leap in terms of budget and scope. He also is attached to direct Venom, the Spider-Man spinoff, for Sony, though that project is not on the studio’s release calendar for the foreseeable future.
He is repped by CAA.
Universal executive vp production Jon Mone and director of development Jay Polidoro are overseeing the project .
AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. NEWS
Deadline brings word that “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” has cast Simon Kassianides (Quantum of Solace) in the major recurring role of “Bakshi,” who is described as a “confident right-hand man who’s not afraid to do the dirty work.”
The “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” cast includes Clark Gregg as fan favorite Phil Coulson, along with Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz and Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons.
The series is executive produced by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell and Jeph Loeb. Season 1 of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” will debut on DVD and Blu-ray on September 9, with Season 2 set to premiere on September 23.
THE FLASH NEWS
It was just days ago that we learned that DC supervillainess Plastique would be heading to The CW’s upcoming “The Flash.” Now, E! Online has learned that the character of Bette Sans Souci will be portrayed by actress Kelly Frye!
Having first appeared in “Fury of Firestorm” #7, Plastique was primarily a villain against Captain Atom and sometimes Firestorm (who could potentially appear in the series as Robbie Amell has already been cast as half of the nuclear man). The character also has had ties to both the Justice League as well as the Suicide Squad and made a previous live-action appearance in the eighth season of “Smallville”. There, she was played by Jessica Parker Kennedy.
“The Flash” arrives from co-creators Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, who, along with Geoff Johns, wrote the pilot episode which was helmed by “Arrow” pilot director David Nutter. Grant Gustin will star as the titular hero along with Candice Patton as Iris West, Jesse L. Martin as Iris’s father, Detective West, Michelle Harrison as Barry’s mother Nora Allen and many others, including John Wesley Shipp, from the original “The Flash” TV series as Barry’s father.
“The Flash” premieres October 7 on The CW. Look for Frye to make her debut in the fifth episode of “The Flash.”
INTO THE WOODS
The trailer for Disney’s forthcoming adaptation of the beloved Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods is on the horizon—but before the trailer debuts, the studio has released ten new production photos from the film exclusively to People.
Previously, fans have only seen a glimpse of Meryl Streep’s Witch. Now, though, they can take a good look at (almost) every major character in the movie, in which a handful of fairy tale characters—including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, and Jack (of beanstalk fame)—weaving an interconnected story as they each journey into the forest to find their dreams and make their wishes come true.
In addition to Streep as the rapping Witch and Johnny Depp as the Wolf (whose face has been kept hidden in the shots), Into the Woods stars a huge ensemble of both established film stars and relative newcomers from New York theater. The film hits cinemas on December 25.
Meryl Streep as the Witch and James Corden as the Baker.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2014
J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI PROJECTS
Rolling Stone reports:
If you want the scoop on the next five years' worth of sci-fi blockbusters, you just have to show up at Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski's annual foul-mouthed solo panel. Among the announcements: he's moving ahead on a Babylon 5 movie reboot for 2016, a TV network is negotiating to adapt his supernatural comic Ten Grand and the Walking Dead producer Gale Hurd is producing his mystery project, Two Streets. He also promised that his upcoming Netflix series Sense8, co-created with the Wachowskis, will explore gender and identity just as strongly as House of Cards treated power and politics.
DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN
Warner Bros. has picked up the screen rights to all twenty-two novels in Anne McCaffrey's sprawling fantasy novel series "Dragonriders of Pern".
First published in 1968, the stories center on a group of warriors and their telepathic dragons who try to save their home planet of Pern from a deadly airborne threat, a rain of spores that hails from the orbit of the Red Star.
No screenwriter is currently attached to adapt the work at this time, David Hayter penned a draft for an earlier incarnation back in 2011 in development at Copperhead Entertainment, Dark Hero Studios and Angry Films.
THE FLASH
How fast does Barry Allen run? A new trailer for "The Flash" has the answer.
It turns out that a police radar gun clocks the "fastest man alive" as going at 760 miles per hour. That's very fast. Barry (Grant Gustin) would even be deserving of a hefty speeding ticket were it not for the fact that no police car, helicopter or even airplane would be able to catch up to him. The poor cop who clocks the Flash would have done better to stop the car doing 84.
For an extra bonus, check out the answers that cop is using for his crossword puzzle. In addition to "The Flash"-specific words like "Allen" and "dad," there's "Grodd," a DC-comics character that will very likely show up on the show at some point.
"The Flash" premieres Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
ABSOLUTE ZERO
An alien invasion is coming our way as Syfy is developing a brand-new, futuristic thriller, Absolute Zero.
Deadline reports that the new sci-fi drama has been put in development and is the love child of former Burn Notice co-executive producer Michael Horowitz (who is heading into pure sci-fi territory here), Universal Cable Prods, and Doug Liman and David Bartis’ studio-based Hypnotic.
Set in the year 2124, Absolute Zero will follow the inhabitants of a remote mining colony (shades of Aliens, anyone?) who come across a dangerous new species on one of Jupiter’s moon, setting up the stage for an alien invasion that’ll ultimately head to Earth.
Horowitz will be writing the script and will executive produce along with Hypnotic’s Loman, Bartis and Gene Klein.
We don't know about you guys, but we're actually digging the premise of the story. It'll definitely be great to head back to space for some good ol' futuristic science-fiction fun
ARROW NEWS
Even more DC Comics influence will be coming to Arrow this season, and it sounds like this particular addition is one of the good guys.
If you're an Arrow fan, you know how fun it is to find out which DC Comics character will be popping up in Oliver Queen's adventures next, and the show keeps delivering an entertaining parade of heroes and villains to keep us hooked. Last season, the formation of the Suicide Squad was one of the show's biggest moments ever, and we've already heard that legendary DC Comics supervillain Ra's al Ghul will be appearing for season three. But he's not the only one.
While at San Diego Comic-Con a few days ago, Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim teased that DC superhero Wildcat will be appearing on the show's upcoming season, and now that news is official. Deadline reports that J.R. Ramirez (Emily Owens M.D., Power) will play Wildcat, whose real name is Ted Grant, in a "potentially recurring" role for season three.
First introduced in 1942 by writer Bill Finger and artist Irwin Hasen, Wildcat was a heavyweight boxing champion until, after being framed for the murder of his mentor, he became a costumed vigilante who first fought to clear his own name, then continued fighting crime in general. He was an early member of the Justice Society of America and has become a mentor figure of sorts in the DC universe, training characters like Batman and Black Canary in the various martial arts he's mastered.
On the show, Wildcat will reportedly also be a former boxer, and will run a gym for "underprivileged youth." Like so many Arrow characters, he'll have a "mysterious past," and he'll also play a "pivotal role" in Laurel Lance's (Katie Cassidy) life in season three. Since Laurel seems all set up to become Black Canary, it's quite possible we'll see some training sequences soon.
CSI NEWS
Mark Valley is going to Vegas: The ruggedly handsome TV actor is joining CBS’ CSI.
The Fringe and Human Target actor has signed on for a recurring role this fall as a former detective who now works as a private investigator. When Valley’s partner goes missing, he teams with Finlay (Elisabeth Shue) to try and solve the case. We’re told “while their relationship may be a bit prickly, the attraction between them is undeniable.”
CSI is entering its 15th season on a new night—Sundays at 10 p.m.—starting Sept. 28. The veteran drama’s new spin-off, CSI: Cyber starring Patricia Arquette, is expected to debut midseason 2015.
TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2014
AIR
Here's the first claustrophobic teaser for the indie sci-fi flick from The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman, starring Norman Reedus and Djimon Hounsou. Directed by Christian Cantamessa (Red Dead Redemption), this suffocating sci-fi thriller takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where Earth's supply of air has become unbreathable. Reedus and Hounsou play antsy roomates in an underground hibernation bunker tasked with eventually repopulating the planet.
Produced by Skybound Entertainment, Kirkman's publishing company, Air is the undead maestro's first foray into film, and its psychological tension and cramped quarters could make for a unique doomsday scenario. Air is set to leak into theaters in Spring of 2015.
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES
The final Hobbit film is just months away, and we've got the haunting teaser trailer.
Peter Jackson's been living in Middle-earth for a long time. He began developing what would become his Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy all the way back in 1997, and though he took a break for things like King Kong and The Lovely Bones, he couldn't stay away long. Not so long ago, The Hobbit was supposed to be two films helmed by the great Guillermo del Toro, but here we are in 2014 with two Jackson-directed Hobbit films already on the shelf, and the third -- which is likely to be Jackson's final Middle-earth adventure -- on the way this December. It all seems a bit unlikely, but then again, so did everything that happened to Bilbo Baggins after he stepped out of Bag End and went on an adventure.
Jackson brought several members of his Middle-earth cast with him to San Diego Comic-Con last weekend to premiere the first trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (recently retitled from The Hobbit: There and Back Again), and reminisce about his time among the hobbits, elves, dwarves, orcs and wizards. And now the trailer has hit the web for the rest of the world to see. For the most part, this trailer is all about the emotional buildup to the titular battle as Bilbo, Thranduil, Bard, Gandalf and many others prepare to meet what could be their end (though, of course, we know that many of them survive) and Thorin Oakenshield readies his company for one final fight to reclaim their lost kingdom.
To heighten the haunting tone, the trailer is set to Billy Boyd's "The Steward of Gondor: Mist and Shadow," a song from one of the darkest moments of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. While you might consider it cheating to steal such a moving moment from the first trilogy to play up the second one, it's hard to argue its effectiveness.
It's rather gutsy to refer to this film as "the defining chapter" of all of Jackson's Middle-earth films, particularly when one of the films that came before tied an Academy Awards record. Because Jackson's been weaving in bits of other Lord of the Rings lore in these films to show us both the battle for Erebor and the rise of Sauron in the East, though, we'll certainly see some things that set us on the path to The Lord of the Rings. So maybe that's not such a jarring statement after all.
Many of us (myself included) have been pretty cynical about the Hobbit films, particularly the decision to stretch the story into three massive movies. But if I'm being honest, I have to say something about this trailer really got to me. This might be the last of these films we get to see, and for some of us, heading to Middle-earth on the big screen has been a defining part of our lives as nerds and as movie lovers. In that way, we won't just be seeing a movie this time. We'll also be saying a kind of goodbye. Whether Jackson can deliver the same kind of emotional punch that he did with The Return of the King, though, is something that remains to be seen.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies arrives in theaters on Dec. 17.
ONCE UPON A TIME
UPDATE: Once Upon a Time has also cast Frozen's Prince Hans.
Once Upon a Time has added John Rhys-Davies to its cast in yet another Frozen role.
The Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones actor has joined the season-four ensemble in the voice role of the CG version of Pabbie the Troll King, who rules the Valley of the Living Rock, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. As in Frozen, Pabbie is "gentle, wise and the source of unexpected insight."
Executive producer Adam Horowitz announced the news via Twitter on Monday.
MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014
AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. COMIC
Do you like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but find it a bit lacking in the superpowers department? Well, Marvel Comics is about to fix that.
The Marvel live-action series is about to enter its second season, and while we have seen characters like Deathlok play a major role in the story so far, and heard that characters like Mockingbird will join the action next season, some fans still miss the superhero scope that Agent Phil Coulson was first thrown into on the big screen. For many viewers who'd been dazzled by things like The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just felt small, and while you might think it unfair to criticize a TV show with a much smaller budget for being not enough like a movie, the good news is that comic books have no such constraints. Fortunately for us, Marvel Comics seems to have realized that.
During the publisher's "Next Big Thing" panel Sunday at San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that fan-favorite writer Mark Waid (Daredevil, Indestructible Hulk) will script a brand-new series simply called S.H.I.E.L.D., working alongside a rotating team of artists that will begin with Carlos Pacheco (Uncanny X-Men, Ultimate Comics: Avengers) and continue with the likes of Alan Davis (Excalibur, Uncanny X-Men) and Chris Sprouse (Tom Strong, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne).
The series will star Agent Coulson (who's already had a presence in the Marvel Comics universe) and feature other characters from the TV series, including Fitz (who, apparently, gets a monkey), Simmons, May and Skye. Waid said he hopes to focus on Coulson's superhero fandom and use that to pair the S.H.I.E.L.D. team up with a number of superheroes (Rocket Raccoon and Howard the Duck were both named) from throughout the Marvel universe for what sound like self-contained stories that will be easily accessible to fans of the show who might not be so familiar with comics.
"This is S.H.I.E.L.D. the TV show, the unlimited budget edition," Waid said. "This is our chance to introduce a lot of the other characters into the Marvel Universe, and give them the Marvel Universe spin."
We don't know yet when the first issue of this series will hit (UPDATE: This December), but it's honestly kind of surprising that it took this long for Marvel to launch such a title in the first place. In any case, it's nice to see them take advantage of the cross-promotion opportunity now, and it's nice to see a writer like Waid, who has both an incredible knowledge of comics minutiae and a talent for getting everything to make sense for new readers, taking the helm on this project.
Marvel also released a promo image for the series by Mike Deodato, which features the S.H.I.E.L.D. team sharing the page with the likes of Captain America, Thor, Storm, Spider-Man and the Thing.
OUTLANDER
Starz has released the opening credits for Ronald D. Moore's upcoming time-travel series Outlander.
Written by Emmy-award-winning composer Bear McCreary (Da Vinci’s Demons, Black Sails, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Walking Dead), the hauntingly beautiful opening credits theme is an arrangement of the “Sky Boat Song” featuring the amazing vocals of Raya Yarbrough.
The opening sequence -- which Starz unvealed with Outlander fans during yesterday’s Comic-Con premiere -- also has snippets of never-before-seen footage.
On hand during the panel were actors Graham McTavish (Douglas MacKenzie), Lotte Verbeek (Geillis Duncan), Tobias Menzies (Frank Randall/Black Jack Randall), Caitriona Balfe (Claire Randall), Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser), Herself -- author Diana Gabaldon, and executive producer extraordinaire Ron D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica), who's totally rocking that kilt.
HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY
The first trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 debuted Sunday night. While Lionsgate did not host a panel at Comic-Con, it did put together some special events to promote the upcoming third installment in the mega-YA franchise, including premiering the first trailer on Friday.
Jennifer Lawrence reprises her role as Katniss, who has been recruited by the rebel District 13 to help inspire the people of Panem to fight against their corrupt government, The Capital.
Directed by Francis Lawrence, Mockingjay is an adaptation of the first half of Suzanne Collins' third book. It's also the first book to not feature an actual Hunger Games (where teens were forced by the government to fight one another to the death), focusing only on the political rebellion.
The film, hitting theaters on November 21, also stars Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The final installment, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2, will hit theaters one year later, on November 20, 2015.
SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2014
JMS PLANS BABYLON 5 MOVIE
Major announcement from JMS at San Diego Comic-Com: He will be writing a B5 feature film in 2015. He'll give WB the opportunity to be involved but if not, Studio JMS will make it in 2016.
JMS TO BRING TITANS TO BIG SCREEN
From: Deadline.com
Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and digital company Graphic India have joined with Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes‘ Chernin Entertainment to turn Straczynski’s upcoming graphic novel Titans into a feature.
Said Straczynski: “In an increasingly international marketplace, Titans represents the kind of multinational storytelling that will play an ever more important role in both film and publishing. Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra have been extremely supportive of this story, and Peter Chernin is exactly the right person to shepherd this into a successful film franchise.”
Go to http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/comic-con-babylon-5s-j-michael-straczynski-teams-with-graphic-india-chernin-entertainment-on-titans-feature/ to read the entire article.
PERSON OF INTEREST
"Person of Interest" took a major turn at the end of its third season, and when it returns for Season 4 in September it will be a very different show. The protagonists are now fugitives hiding in plain sight, and that will change the show's tone significantly.
"This season is about war," says executive producer Greg Plageman during the show's San Diego Comic-Con 2014 panel. "There's another machine in charge, and I think all of our guys will find themselves severely challenged."
The Saturday panel featured Jim Caviezel (John Reese), Kevin Chapman (Detective Fusco), Michael Emerson (Harold Finch), Sarah Shahi (Sameen Shaw), Amy Acker (Root), and executive producers Plageman and Jonathan Nolan. They shared stories about working on the show and teased its upcoming fourth season.
The panel members said working on a show about all-seeing government machines has made them more paranoid, especially since the US government's own surveillance programs surfaced in recent years, mirroring the show's plot.
"I was able to fire my therapist," jokes Nolan. "It encouraged us to get even further out there. It felt to us like a challenge. OK, the world has caught up to us. Let's get out and find out what the next five years have in store for us."
"Before the show I lived in my very happy pink bubble, which consisted of frozen yogurt and babies," Shahi adds. "Now I'm just all screwy in the head. Yeah, it's really done a number on me."
The producers of "Person of Interest" have shown more than once that they're not scared to kill off characters, and one fan asked about the chances of some of those characters returning. Regarding Paige Turco's character Zoe Morgan, Nolan says they "will definitely be looking for chances to get her back into our story."
When the conversation turned to the more recent (and hard-hitting) death of Taraji P. Henson's Joss Carter, though, he kept his cards closer, refusing to give any hints about the possibility of her return.
Asked whether he'd like to continue working with his real-life wife -- "True Blood" star Carrie Preston, who has appeared in six episodes -- Emerson replies that it presents unique challenges.
"I like working with my spouse on the show, although it's strange, and it is an added layer of acting difficulty," he says. "But I love the flashback stuff, and it's the only role I've ever played where I had a romantic life." He adds that it's a bit of a shame that the only woman he's ever kissed on camera is his actual wife.
But the highlight of the panel came when a young fan asked Caviezel whether working on "Person of Interest" is more or less fun than starring in "Passion of the Christ" was.
"This one is a little more funner, by this much, because we get to shoot guns a lot," Caveziel jokes in response, asking the fan's age. "You're the same age as my daughter, and you're beautiful," he tells her, hopping over the tablet to give her a hug. She promptly burst into joyous tears.
"Person of Interest" Season 4 premieres Tuesday, Sept. 23 on CBS.
WONDER WOMAN
Zack Snyder has revealed the first look at Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman on Saturday. The image shows the superhero ready for battle while standing in a volcanic landscape.
Meanwhile, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Gadot kicked off the Warner Bros. panel for Hall H with a bang and a teaser made just for the Comic-Con crowd.
Rumors abounded that the studio would to do something with its highly anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie, but no one expected it would kick off the presentation. The crowd, already primed, went bananas.
The trio were fashioned in the color palette of their characters. Affleck was dressed in a black leather jacket and dark gray shirt. Cavill had a white shirt, while Gadot sported a leather vest and pants.
Director Zack Snyder said he wasn't going to let the trio talk to the crowd because he didn't want them to spill any secrets.
"We have a teeny little thing," Snyder stated before unveiling a very short teaser scene, which featured a dark and rain-soaked skyline where Batman, on a rooftop, pulls back a tarp covering the Bat signal. He lights it, revealing Superman floating in the sky. Superman's eye lights up red, he's clearly peeved. The camera then tracks into Batman's face, his eyes glowing white.
"We have to go back to finish the movie," said Snyder, before whisking off the actors as the teaser was shown again to great cheers and piercing screams. The director, who previously revealed a new image of Affleck as Batman, debuted the photo of Wonder Woman on Twitter.
SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2014
THE ORIGINALS
"The Originals" debuted a thrilling first look at Season 2 of The CW's "Vampire Diaries" spinoff.
The video starts with a recap of Season 1, narrated by Rebekah (Claire Holt), before launching into the Season 2 trailer that heavily features Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin), who is literally out for blood. Meanwhile, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Elijah (Daniel Gillies) are being threatened by both of their parents, so the only question is -- which one do they kill first?
"The Originals" returns Monday, Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
ARROW
One of the highlights of the "Arrow" panel at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con was the Season 3 trailer video.
Some of the highlights of the video include:
Oliver asking Felicity out on that date
Amanda Waller threatening Oliver in a Hong Kong flashback
Oliver and Diggle arguing
The new Count Vertigo appearing to menace Oliver
Sara's return
Lance wearing a Captain's uniform
The arrival of Ray Palmer to vie for Queen Consolidated
Oliver and Laurel working together in some way
And of course there's that image of Felicity lying bloody on a slab -- wearing the same dress she had on for the date. That can't be good.
It is however an excellent tease for the season. "Arrow" returns Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. team brought plenty of new goodies with them to San Diego Comic-Con this year.
On Friday afternoon the cast and showrunners of Marvel's first live-action TV series took the stage in San Diego to talk about the biggest moments from the show's first season, and offered up a few more teases of what's to come in season two. So, what was revealed?
First, let's talk existing characters. We already heard a few days ago that Xena star Lucy Lawless is set to join the series in a recurring role, and now that role has been revealed. She'll play Isabelle Hartly, a character showrunner Maurissa Tancharoen described as someone you don't want to mess with:
"She will play a long-time S.H.I.E.L.D. veteran," Tancharoen said. "She's tough. She may have a knife that's always by her side."
So, it doesn't seem like Lawless will be playing an existing Marvel Comics character on the show, but it does look like she'll join the series ready to fight.
Speaking of existing Marvel Comics characters, though, the show also announced three of those who will join the show next season. British actor Nick Blood will play Lance Hunter, a character who, in the comics, led the British intelligence agency S.T.R.I.K.E.. This incarnation, though, won't be heading up a spy agency. Instead he'll play a mercenary who'll get a call for help from Director Coulson. On the villain side of things, Dollhouse co-star Reed Diamond will appear as Daniel Whitehall, also known in the comics as "Kraken," who'll be a new H.Y.D.R.A. adversary for the team.
That seemed to be the end of the character news, but then a teaser was shown featuring Patton Oswalt as two different incarnations of his Agent Koenig character, and another name was dropped. Check it out and hear which Marvel superhero is headed to the show.
That's right. Barbara "Bobbi" Morse, aka Mockingbird, will appear in live-action for the first time. We don't know who's playing her yet, but we do know that it's good to have some more superpowered characters on the show.
And, for one final treat, we've got the season one gag reel, featuring giggle fits, Charlie's Angels tributes, and taco talk.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns to ABC, with plenty of new allies and enemies, on September 24.
GAME OF THRONES
BO has revealed the names of the actors who’ll be joining the cast for the upcoming fifth season of Game of Thrones, and there are a lot of them.
As expected, there’s going to be a lot of Martells who’ll finally make their eagerly-anticipated appearance on the hit HBO fantasy series, as we’re heading to Spain Dorne for the very first time.
But there is one big name that stands out from the fray and it’s that of the A-MA-ZING Alexander Siddig (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Da Vinci’s Demons) who’ll play Doran Martell -- the Pince of Dorne and elder brother of the great (and late) Prince Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), aka the Red Viper.
Siddig’s name has been bandied about before by many a Game of Thrones fan when the HBO powers-that-be were casting their nets for Oberyn, but we've got to admit that Siddig is perfect for the role of Doran Martell. PERFECT.
Below is a full breakdown of all the new casting announcements, via HBO:
Alexander Siddig as Doran Martell. Doran Martell is the ruling lord of Dorne and older brother to the late Prince Oberyn Martell. Unlike his brother, Doran is even-tempered and deliberate. Now, all of Dorne waits to see how their lord will react to his brother’s death.
Toby Sebastian as Trystane Martell. Trystane Martell is Prince Doran’s son and heir to Dorne. His father betrothed him to Myrcella Baratheon as part of the alliance offered by Tywin Lannister, then Hand of the King.
Nell Tiger Free as Myrcella Baratheon. Myrcella Baratheon is officially the eldest child of Cersei Lannister and the late King Robert Baratheon, though in truth her father is Cersei’s own brother, Jaime Lannister. For years, she has been a guest and ward of Prince Doran, betrothed to his son, but her position has become tenuous with the death of Oberyn Martell, the Prince’s brother.
DeObia Oparei as Areo Hotah. Areo Hotah is the long-serving captain of Doran Martell’s palace guard, renowned for his loyalty and his longaxe.
Enzo Cilenti as Yezzan. Yezzan was an extremely wealthy slave trader before Daenerys Targaryen outlawed the slave trade.
Jessica Henwick as Nymeria (“Nym”) Sand. Nym Sand is the second eldest of the late Prince Oberyn’s bastard daughters. Her mother was an Eastern noblewoman who brought Nym up to be cultured, graceful and deadly with a whip.
Rosabell Laurenti Sellers as Tyene Sand. Tyene Sand is the daughter of the late Prince Oberyn Martell by Ellaria Sand, his final paramour. Tyene is fiercer than she looks, especially with her twin daggers.
Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand. A fearsome warrior, Obara Sand is the eldest bastard daughter of the late Prince Oberyn Martell. Her mother was a Dornish peasant girl who caught the eye of the late Prince.
Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow. A devout and pious man, the High Sparrow came to King’s Landing to serve those forgotten by much of the world – the poor, the downtrodden and the infirm – and quickly amassed a large following. His fellow believers have swarmed over the city, ministering to the lowest and decrying the corruption of the highest.
Along with the casting buzz, here are some highlights from the Game of Thrones panel:
They lost a location this year to a man who did not want his property associated with 'Porn of Thrones.'
When Kit Harington was asked what he did to prepare for the role, he revealed he was starting to film Season 5 on Monday, and that getting into the costume gets him into Jon Snow mode. George R.R. Martin also mentioned the hair products, which Kit agreed to.
Natalie Dormer said she wanted to kill someone.
Jeyne Westerling, who is Robb's book-wife, will be seen in the prologue of The Winds of Winter. The books and the TV series being two different worlds.
Pedro Pascal said his first day on set was the cell scene with Tyrion and that it was nerve wracking and intimidating. His fight sequence came toward the end.
About the best moments from the exciting Brienne vs. The Hound fight scene from the season four finale: Rory: "When she punched me.." Gwen: "Best moment of my life." Rory: "And when she bit my ear.." Gwen: "Second best moment of my life". (This drew lots of laughter) to which George said "Well it was a great scene. David, Dan, and Bryan Cogman have added some scenes that aren't in the book, from every season, that I've loved."
Sophie Turner hopes that one day Sansa and Tyrion will meet again and that they could be a power couple, like Brangelina.
Maisie Williams said that now that Arya was on her own, she was no longer attached to her identity as a Stark. "She is no one."
FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014
INTERSTELLAR
Even though he's made three of the biggest superhero movies of all time with the Dark Knight trilogy, Christopher Nolan has never made the trek to Comic-Con. Until now.
In a surprise visit (that was heavily rumored just an hour or two beforehand) at the end of a larger Paramount presentation, Nolan turned up at the gigantic fan celebration for the first time ever on Thursday -- showing up in Hall H along with fellow first-timer Matthew McConaughey to promote their upcoming film, Interstellar, with a brand new trailer.
McConaughey came out first, introduced by moderator and EW editor Matt Bean, but said very little about the film -- par for the course for all Nolan projects -- except to enthuse that the director's "reach had exceeded his grasp" and he had made his most ambitious movie to date. Bean and the Oscar-winning actor then welcomed the director the stage to a hugely appreciative reception from the audience.
The typically reserved Nolan thanked the fans for all their support and said he finally came to Comic-Con to "See what all the fuss was about." But on a more serious note, he said he made Interstellar because "I grew up in a time when to be an astronaut was the highest ambition. The idea that we'd keep exploring space, pusdhing farther and farther out, seemed inevitable. I felt that had fallen off greatly over the past couple of decades."
Nolan said he shot most of the film in IMAX because he "Wanted to use the biggest canvas possible to show audiences the biggest phenomena we could."
The new trailer, unspooled exclusively at the con ahead of its release to the general public, shows more of the vast journey to the stars that McConaughey and Anne Hathaway undertake, with a quick montage of dazzling inmages that appear to show the crew exploring a silvery alien landscape and possibly coming across a new life form.
The imagery recalled 2001, which Nolan cited as his single biggest influence on this film, adding, "You'll see all the things I've ripped off and I'm not joking when I say that." He recalled going to see a reissue of 2001 as a boy with his father, saying he wanted to recreate that eye-filling experience for families today.
With Interstellar, he just might do it.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
The folks at DC are showing off a ton of new Batman art at San Diego Comic-Con in honor of the Caped Crusader’s 75th anniversary, and one of those shots just happens to be the first color pic of Ben Affleck from Batman v Superman.
Though it's admittedly tight, the shot marks the first non-black-and-white pic we’ve gotten of Affleck sporting the cowl in the Man of Steel sequel. We can get a good look at how his face fits the mask (note the grizzled chin), as well as the actual material used in the costume. We can also confirm they're sticking with a dark aesthetic (duh).
From the look of how the suit flows and connects at the neck, it seems the new costume is going with a more traditional fabric-style take that is less armored than recent designs, especially when compared to Christopher Nolan’s seminal Dark Knight trilogy. We’re also still digging those short, Dark Knight Returns-style ears. Though he is still rocking the Sad Batman look ... but we digress.
We’re glad to see DC rolling out some teases, but c’mon guys, where’s our first full look at the new Batman — or even better — a shot of Gal Gadot rocking her Wonder Woman duds? Fans are salivating for more from this project, and DC could fire a shot across the bow at Marvel (much as they did last year when announcing the film) by showing off some concept art/footage/something from the film. Perhaps it's coming in panel form.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is slated to open in May 2016.
TEEN WOLF
MTV has renewed Teen Wolf for a fifth season.
Executive producer Jeff Davis announced at Thursday's Comic-Con panel in Ballroom 20 that the series will return for an expanded two-part 20-episode run.
Dylan Sprayberry, who joined the show early in the current season, has been promoted to series regular for the new season.
The renewal news doesn't come as much of a surprise for one of MTV's top scripted dramas. Currently in the middle of its fourth season, Teen Wolf returned to 2.2 million viewers for its June 23 launch and has averaged around 1.7 million viewers.
Teen Wolf remains a a valuable property for MTV, which is seeking to expand its presence in the scripted arena with presold titles with its recent series order for Shannara. With Teen Wolf remaining in the MTV FAMILY, it joins originals Awkward, Faking It, Finding Carter and the upcoming Happyland.
Teen Wolf was developed by Davis, who also serves as executive producer. Additional executive producers include Russell Mulcahy, Marty Adelstein, Rene Echevarria, Tony DiSanto, Liz Gateley and Ian Stokes. Tyler Posey, Dylan O'Brien, Tyler Hoechlin, Holland Roden and Sprayberry star.
STAR WARS REBELS
At the San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, Disney XD and Lucasfilm released this new “Star Wars Rebels” preview! Get a sneak peek at what’s to come in the first season, including new scenes featuring the Inquisitor, Ezra’s Jedi TRAINING, and the appearance of a certain droid duo.
“Star Wars Rebels” continues the epic tradition of the legendary Star Wars saga with all-new exciting, action-packed adventures. It is a dark time in the galaxy, as the evil Galactic Empire tightens its grip of power from world to world. As the series begins, Imperial forces have occupied a remote planet, ruling with an iron fist and ruining the lives of its people. The clever and motley crew of the starship Ghost is amongst a select few who are brave enough to stand against the Empire. Together, this ragtag group will face threatening new villains, encounter colorful adversaries, embark on thrilling adventures and become heroes with the power to ignite a rebellion.
Scheduled to premiere in October 2014 as a one-hour special telecast on Disney Channel, “Star Wars Rebels” will be followed by a series on Disney XD channels around the world.
THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2014
MANHATTAN
MANHATTAN: Beyond the Bomb
Take a look inside what life was like for the families and scientist living in the secret city of Los Alamos who were tasked with inventing the world's first atomic bomb.
Don't miss the premiere of the explosive new series, "MANHATTAN", on Sunday at 9/8c on WGN America.
THE FLASH
"The Flash" Season 1 is adding a new meta-human character to the mix in Season 1: Plastique.
According to TVLine, Sergeant Bette Sans Souci was once a bomb specialist in the Army before being injured by an IED in the Middle East. She gets exposed to the STAR Labs particle accelerator explosion, just like Barry Allen, and things change a bit. In her new persona as Plastique, the red-haired woman is capable of turning anything into a bomb with just a touch of her hand.
There is no word yet on whether Bette will be a hero or a villain. Either way, she is bound to be a formidable character.
"The Flash" series premiere airs Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
MARVEL COMICS
Better clear your calendar for a month-long carnival of digital comics as Marvel announces its 99-cent access to a treasure chest of Marvel Unlimited online content, made up of more than 15,000 comics. For one week only, in honor of the annual San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel gives up the keys to the kingdom for the price of a Snickers bar, with access to its deep archive of modern and classic titles from its entire universe.
All comics can be viewed on a Mac or PC and any iOS and Android device after installing a Marvel Unlimited app. Rabid readers may download up to 12 comics at a time for extended offline personal reading for a whole month.
Access also includes samplings from their new experimental line of Infinite Comics, which are infused with dynamic sound cues as you page through the story. New titles are absorbed into the Marvel Unlimited vault following a six-month publication period and includes most books making up the current Marvel Now! launch.
ARROW
Starling City is about to see the rise of a brand-new superhero, as Arrow’s Colton Haynes will suit up to join the fight against evil.
During the last season of The CW's Arrow, Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) found himself injected with Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke’s (Manu Bennett), Mirakuru serum as he began to train with Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) green-clad superhero. But he was eventually cured after joining the good fight against Arrow's nemesis, and we were left to wonder if the non-superpowered Harper would ever don his own hero gear. Now we have an answer.
Apparently in between the end of season two and the start of season three, Roy Harper will have fully suited up in black and red leather as Arsenal, as a full-fledged, evil-fighting member of Team Arrow.
Have a look below, and note he has his own bow and Arrow-like mask now (plus the hoodie-style costume):
Arsenal will make his first appearance in the premiere episode of Arrow's third season, which is set to air Oct. 8 on The CW.
DOCTOR WHO
With one month to go, here's a little nugget of truth from each and every episode of Doctor Who's upcoming eighth series.
It's 31 days and counting to the dawn of the age of Peter Capaldi, and so, with only a month left, it's time to move beyond simple trailers and start getting into the meat of what each of the Doctor's latest stories will be about.
And, thankfully, SFX magazine has got just that. Every episode is represented in the tantalizing season wrapup below with something, even if it's just the most teasing of teases. Ya ready?
801. Clara trying to cope with her best friend being someone else. A terrifying monster.
802. Gritty Dalek ep that goes into the last place in the universe the Doctor should be.
803. Very funny Robin Hood story all about being a hero and whether the Doctor is as a good man.
804. The story of a date and the Doctor having what appears to be a mild nervous breakdown. Tiny guest cast, no CGI. A bit of Coupling. Quite scary.
805. A Doctor Who heist movie with a cracking monster, one of Neill Gorton’s best.
806. What effect would slipping away with the Doctor have on your life? A hoot with some serious bits. Bit like The Lodger.
807. Proper drama with monsters and all the Doctor Who stuff that you could want. Also features a callback to a past episode (sort of).
808. Moffat playing the long game with a callback to something from Matt’s first series. A brilliant idea of a monster. Foxes singing.
809. A horror story that starts off with a very cute idea and becomes really quite frightening by the end. One of the best ever sight gags in it.
810. Boldly beautiful, lyrical and poetic. A fairytale, but not Moffat fairytale. Quite different with a clever main visual idea.
811/12. High octane action, with Cybermen and some proper UNIT stuff. Strong emotional story about Clara and the Doctor and the fact that the way they interact might not be healthy for everyone around them.
Lots to chew over. Nice little detail about episode one. The way it's described -- is the terrifying monster the villain of the story, or the Doctor himself? We're also glad the Dalek episode will come around so soon, so that fans can get to them right away, and, for those who are sick of them, they can be out of the way just as quickly.
A lot of them look good, and it's exciting that so many of them seem to be featuring new monsters.
ANT-MAN
Marvel Studios has released new Comic-Con concept art for Ant-Man.
The movie is set to start shooting in August for a July 17, 2015 release. Directed by Peyton Reed, Ant-Man will star Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Patrick Wilson, Corey Stoll and David Dastmalchian.
Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang (Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
DOCTOR WHO COMIC BOOKS
If you aren't adequately prepared for the brand new "Doctor Who" comic books, Titan has put together a special trailer just for you. The two-minute clip features many images from both the 10th and 11th Doctor premiere issues, including peeks at the brand new companions, Alice and Gabriella.
The first issues of each new comic series go on sale July 23, just in time for you to pick up and read on the way to San Diego Comic-Con. A series based on the next Doctor, Peter Capaldi, will hit stores in October.
If you want to see a little but more of what to expect from the comics, you can preview a few pages from each issue using this link.
WESTWORLD
HBO continues its ability to draw big-name movie actors to jump to television with landing Anthony Hopkins for its pilot "Westworld," which is loosely based on Michael Crichton's 1973 sci-fi movie of the same name.
Hopkins will play Dr. Robert Ford, the brilliant creative director and chairman of the board of Westworld, a futuristic amusement park that is populated by androids so lifelike that it's hard to tell them apart from the humans. Dr. Ford has an "uncompromising creative vision" for Westworld and will stop at nothing to achieve it.
Evan Rachel Wood joins Hopkins in the pilot as Dolores Abernathy, a farm girl of the frontier who is about to find out her entire life is a well-produced lie. James Marsden is also in talks for the pilot.
The exact plot and similarity to the Yul Brynner-starring movie is not yet known, but in the film, the park is made up of three areas -- Westworld, Medieval World and Roman World. Presumably the frontier land for which the series is named is where Wood's character Abernathy discovers the truth about her "reality."
MANIMAL
The world was not ready for "Manimal" in 1983. Perhaps it will be in 2016 or so.
Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are teaming up with producer Jimmy Miller to produce a live-action/animated feature film based on the 1983 series about a doctor (Simon MacCorkindale) who could transform into several different animals, Deadline reports. The show's co-creator, Glen A. Larson, is also involved.
"Manimal" lasted only eight episodes on NBC, but pop-culture nerds of a certain age (Ferrell and McKay, for instance) have a warm place in their hearts for the show about Dr. Jonathan Chase, who was "master of the secrets that divide man from animal, animal from man."
"Like 'The Catcher in the Rye' or 'The Sound and the Fury,' 'Manimal' has always been one of those elusive projects every producer dreams of taking to the silver screen," McKay tells Deadline. "I know the movie will be funny and entertaining, but will it be the first film to win a Pulitzer? We'll just have to see."
The movie, which Jay Martel and Ian Roberts ("Key & Peele") are writing, will lean into the strangeness of the premise and be an action-comedy with heavy visual effects. A release date hasn't been set but can't come soon enough.
Take a look at the "Manimal" opening sequence and a transformation sequence that seemed very cool 31 years ago.
NIGHTFALL
The first pics from Ridley Scott’s new live-action, low-budget Halo series, Nightfall, have been released — and war is definitely looking gritty.
The pics show series star Mike Colter as the character Jameson Locke, a surgically enhanced super soldier who is a rising star in the futuristic Spartan army troubled by the military industrial complex he inhabits. The story will be set between the events of Halo 4 and the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians, in which Locke will play an integral role.
The series, which is essentially a feature film broken into separate episodes, will be directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Falling Skies) and produced by sci-fi legend Scott. It'll be released on the Xbox. Colter opened up about the project in a recent interview, teasing his take on the script and some of his experiences shooting the series:
"(The) script was incredibly gripping. It introduces an intriguing and mysterious world that I wanted to know more about … It was a new medium for me. Who would the audience be? How would they access the series? Fortunately, ensuring accessibility to a broad audience is one of the things that Scott Free TV and 343 values first and foremost. Not only does Halo: Nightfall cater to the hardcore Halo fans, but it's also designed so newcomers to the franchise, like me, can easily enter the Halo universe, identify with the characters and be entertained by the story being told on screen …
My favorite experience thus far would be shooting a scene in Belfast where I'm chasing an enemy who poses a serious threat to the people Agent Locke has sworn to protect through the city. The scene is an action-packed sequence that involves some cool special effects and a lot of coordination with the stunt team to fulfill the director's vision. I can't wait to see how it turns out.”
The series will be included with the upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection arriving Nov. 11.
BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY
The first season of Gotham will not only see the introduction of yet another classic Batman supervillain; it'll also add another Big Bad who recently appeared as an Arkham games villain to its already busy roster.
Gotham’s showrunner, Bruno Heller, confirmed that Harvey Dent will be heading to Gotham City in the first season of Fox’s Batman TV prequel.
Here’s what Heller told IGN:
“We're playing Harvey Dent slightly older. He's more Gordon's age in this telling. One of the things to avoid in order not to tell a high school story -- which would be great, but it''s a different show on a different network at a different time that I would not be a part of. But he will go back to school and villains will be part of that world.”
Not only will Dent -- who will later become Dark Knight nemesis Two-Face -- appear on Gotham, but so will Professor Hugo Strange, another classic supervillain who will also be familiar to videogame players: The character showed up in Batman: Arkham City. Strange is known for making monster men through psychological or chemical means. He later learned the Caped Crusader’s secret identity, which led Strange to become obsessed with Batman/Bruce Wayne.
“Hugo Strange is going to pop up because we're going to start dealing with how Arkham was created and why Arkham was created in the way that it was so, yeah, absolutely. It's a Season One thing because in our telling of it the way Arkham was created and the why and how is one of the causes of the particular criminal climate in Gotham that allowed Batman to happen. The revolving door of Arkham is both a brilliant narrative device because it allows you to -- you don't have to kill people off, you can just put them in cold storage -- but if you're telling the story from the start you kind of have to explain, 'What the f***? Why don't you make that place a place people don't escape from?' We're going to explain why it is the way it is and Hugo Strange is a big part of that.”
Along with Two-Face, Gotham will also see the introduction of such classic Batman villains as Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), aka Catwoman, Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), aka the Riddler, Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Taylor), aka the Penguin, and Ivy Pepper (NOT Pamela Isley as in the comics, played by Clare Foley), aka Poison Ivy, before they became the comic-book characters we all love to hate and hate to love.
Are you guys looking forward to seeing both Harvey Dent and Professor Hugo Strange on Fox’s Gotham, or do you think it’s getting a little too crowded?
Gotham stars Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon, Donal Logue as Detective Harvey Bullock, David Mazouz as a young Bruce Wayne, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth and Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney. The series is set to premiere on Sept. 22.
TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014
PREDESTINATION
The first trailer for this new, low-budget sci-fi flick with Ethan Hawke is surprisingly sharp.
Dubbed Predestination, the trailer plays like a gritty mashup of Looper and TimeCop, with a few other nice sci-fi tropes thrown in for good measure. The gist is this: Hawke plays a temporal agent tasked with stopping a bombing in 1970s New York, and the period-piece angle gives it a nice visual flourish and stark contrast between the future-set shots.
The effects are simple but effective, and the trailer does a solid job of setting up the stakes. But a few red flags do pop up. The film was directed by the Spierig brothers, aka the guys who made Hawke’s mediocre 2009 vampire flick Daybreakers, so take that into consideration. Festival reviews have also been a bit mixed. But, dang, this trailer still looks good.
Check out the appropriately trippy official synopsis below:
In mid-’70s New York, a man in a fedora slips into an office building’s boiler room, carrying a mysterious briefcase. He uncovers a bomb, and is attacked while struggling to deactivate it. He succeeds — almost. Horribly disfigured, he’s transported to his agency’s headquarters where he receives a new face. He’s a temporal agent, traveling back and forth through time, altering history, and his assignment — thwart the mass murder perpetrated by the so-called “Fizzle Bomber” — continues. New face, new place. Now he’s undercover as a bartender. He falls into conversation with a tough yet androgynous customer. There’s something off about the guy, who offers to enlighten the agent with “the best story you ever heard”…
There’s no release date yet, but hopefully we’ll hear something soon.
STAR WARS: EPISODE VII
Director J.J. Abrams is promoting a non-profit fundraiser on the set of Star Wars: Episode VII, and he sure does know how to get our attention.
While talking up the “Force For Change” initiative for UNICEF Innovation Labs, Abrams set up shop in front of a full-size, new-look X-Wing starship prop from the upcoming Star Wars sequel. Seriously, it looks like all you’d have to do is jump in, turn the key and take off into the starry night.
The actual clip finds Abrams talking up the fundraising initiative, which has already attracted donors from 119 different countries and well over $1 million. The contest is entering its final week, with a grand prize that is nothing to sniff at: an actual role in the film, along with a flight to London to meet the cast and crew. They’re also giving away an advanced, private screening of the film, plus a bunch of other prizes.
Star Wars: Episode VII is set to open Dec. 18, 2015.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
We continue to have mixed feelings about Michael Bay’s upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flick, so here’s a boatload of footage that might help us all get off the fence.
Produced by Bay (Transformers) and directed by his pal Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans), the new Ninja Turtles flick has gotten a bad rap for all the reported alien shenanigans and the fact that all the initial footage looked essentially like Transformers, just with Ninja Turtles.
Well, a lengthy new behind-the-scenes clip has been released digging into the production, looking at everything from the effects to the cast. What do we learn? Despite the inherent darkness in the initial trailers, the film might actually be a little bit fun — which is a nice nod to the Turtles of yore. Oh, there's also a lot of Megan Fox. So, yeah, your mileage may vary.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opens Aug. 8, 2014.
STAR WARS REBELS
The extended trailer for Disney's Star Wars Rebels is here.
An extension of the minute-long teaser released on May the Fourth, the new offering sets up the conflict that kicks off the upcoming animated series to fuller effect. Obi-Wan Kenobi breaks the news that the Republic and the Jedi have fallen, forcing a group of unlikely heroes to stand up — igniting a rebellion. There are far more action sequences, more footage of the series' core characters and heightened tension as the main battle between the Inquisitor and the rebels begin to take shape.
Star Wars Rebels takes place between Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope, which spans about two decades. The animated series is set "in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape."
Star Wars Rebels will premiere in the fall as a one-hour special on Disney Channel, before debuting as a series on sister channel Disney XD worldwide. Freddie Prinze Jr., Taylor Gray, Steve Blum, Tiya Sircar, Vanessa Marshall, Jason Isaacs, David Oyelowo and Billy Dee Williams are the voice stars.
Disney will tout Star Wars Rebels at San Diego's Comic-Con with a special screening the evening of July 24 at the Gaslamp Reading Cinemas as well as a panel session with the creative team and voice stars that day at 6 p.m. in Room 6BCF.
Star Wars Rebels premieres in October.
AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. NEWS
TV Guide brings word this afternoon that former "Xena" star Lucy Lawless will be joining the cast of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." in an unspecified role. While the details of her character and episode count weren't revealed, we'd be willing to wager more details will be revealed at the “Marvel Television Presents” panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 25, in Ballroom 20 from 3:00-4:00 p.m.
The “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” cast includes Clark Gregg as fan-favorite Phil Coulson, along with Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz and Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons.
The series is executive produced by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell and Jeph Loeb. The second season of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." will premiere Tuesday, September 23.
TWILIGHT ZONE #7 PREVIEW
Preview for my next Twilight Zone issue, out Wednesday. Also: expect some cool announcements at my Saturday spotlight at SDCC 5:30 room 7AB. Maybe some cool TV news, maybe some interesting film news...who knows, I may even have something B5 related to discuss...who can say? Let's just say you don't want to miss this.
Diana Westby has a decision to make and not a lot of time in which to make it. She knows she can't go to the police about the nuclear holocaust she has seen in the minds of others because there's no evidence and they've hidden their tracks too well. The only way to stop the blast that will kill untold numbers of people is if she personally goes after the terrorists. But if she takes that step, she may not survive the attempt. It comes down to a simple question: run and save her life, or fight for the lives of others.
Go to http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=22668&page=preview to see more.
MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014
SUPERIOR IRON MAN COMIC
As we're riding the tsunami-sized wave of Marvel’s massive comic-book shakeup, we’ve got the first few pages — as well as our first look at Iron Man's new suit, some key art and juicy info! — from Marvel’s upcoming Superior Iron Man comic book.
Those first pages, which also happen to showcase She-Hulk, are here thanks to the good folks over at Bleeding Cool, who’ve managed to snag some completed pen-and-ink artwork by artist Yildiray Cinar, with a storyline penned by Tom Taylor.
Superior Iron Man is part of Marvel’s upcoming Avengers NOW! initiative, which’ll feature some pretty radical changes for some of the company's established superhero characters, including the "Big Three": Thor, Captain America and Iron Man.
Those changes range fom the God of Thunder’s rather shocking gender swap to Captain America’s pal Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, suiting up as the brand-new Cap (all the while keeping his trademark wings on) in the wake of the jaw-dropping events of Captain America #21.
To be released in November, Superior Iron Man #1 will see Tony Stark heading to San Francisco sporting not only a shiny new suit of armor but also a whole new attitude on life.
Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso told Entertainment Weekly that “The Genius Bar costume is there for a reason. The newly transformed Superior Iron Man has very ambitious plans for the city that some of its residents embrace, but not all.”
The last time someone had the word “Superior” added to the title was Superior Spider-Man, when Doctor Octopus took over Peter Parker’s brain. No such thing will happen to Tony, but Alonso notes that “like the Superior Spider-Man, Superior Iron Man is a character that’s hard to root for.”
Stark’s move to San Francisco will see the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist promote the launch of a new mobile app (welcome to 2014!), a version of his ambitious and abused Extremis tech, that'll tempt users with the possibility of physical perfection and perhaps, as well, even immortality. Talk about walking on the dark side.
The indefinite run will also see Stark being pitted against Daredevil — who is also relocating to the City by the Bay (real estate must be killing it over there) — who won't look kindly on Stark's vision of the future.
Alonso told Mashable:
"What we’re doing here is a little different -- it’s Tony Stark, the one and only Tony Stark -- and in the aftermath of the Axis event, he will surrender to his id and his legendary ego. You’ll see Tony in a new place spiritually and intellectually."
"What you're seeing in Superior Iron Man is a Tony Stark who’s seen both his worst and best impulses all let loose. It is Tony, but he’s going to be in a zone now where he’s never been. He's more ambitious, cunning, egotistical ... all of those quantities are unharnessed. He has a vision for the world. I like to think his position is defensible -- controversial, but defensible."
Though we've been focusing on Iron Man, Avengers NOW! will also see changes in more than just the Big Three listed above.
All the characters featured in the first image from the gallery below — including Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and Scarlet Witch (who will all be featured in upcoming Marvel flicks), as well as Winter Soldier, Deathlok and Angela (who is in the midst of her Marvel debut, as she was originally an Image comics character but is now being worked into Thor), and Inhuman alums including Medusa and Inferno — will play a much more prominent role in the upcoming Marvel Universe going into 2015.
Alonso wouldn’t confirm which particular characters were getting solo books, but Marvel has more than 10 titles already in the pipeline, and we'd expect a lot more to be revealed during next weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, as well as throughout the next few months as we get closer to the launch.
STAR WARS NEWS
24 as Mariana. She was in a really brilliant episode of the new Twilight-Zone-style show Black Mirror called "The Waldo Moment" (highly recommended), and she was on Doctor Who playing Lorna Bucket. Do you remember Lorna? She was in A Good Man Goes to War, she apparently met the Doctor once before in the Gamma Forest, and she gave Amy that cloth with her baby's name in the language of Lorna's people. The one that translates as "River Song."
And then she dies! But not before doing an awful lot of heavy lifting for a one-shot character.
What's impressive, though, is that her film and TV career didn't really start until 2008. She's done a lot in just six years. And now she'll be adding to that by joining the cast of Star Wars. We haven't heard what part she'll be playing, but just based on what we've seen of her, we're very excited to see her on board.
We'd say she's very lucky to be part of one of the largest sci-fi franchises of all time, but, really, Star Wars is lucky to have her.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
We're over halfway through one of the worst Julys in recent memory at the box office and the release of three new movies in wide release, including two sequels, wasn't enough to revive things as 20th Century Fox's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes remained in first place for a second weekend in a row with $36 million. That was down about 50% from its opening weekend, which isn't great, but it isn't bad compared to some of the summer's other big sequels which fell much harder in their second weekend. So far, the sci-fi thriller directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) has grossed $139 million domestically after just ten days. Overseas, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes added $61 million for an international total of $103 million and worldwide total of $242 million.
Faring the best of the new releases, James DeMonaco's violent sequel to the 2013 surprise hit The Purge: Anarchy (Universal), starring Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Michael K. Williams and Zach Gilford, opened with $28.3 million in 2,805 theaters, approximately $10 thousand per location. While this was down from the $34.1 million opening of the original movie, the sequel was still made on a fairly modest $9 million budget, putting it already into the black just from its opening weekend. "Anarchy's" B CinemaScore isn't great but it's also better than the first movie and reviews were generally better as well. It's possible that the sequel can achieve the original movie's $64.5 million gross, although it does have a lot of competition in the coming weeks.
The second new sequel of the weekend was Planes: Fire & Rescue (Disney), featuring the voices of Dane Cook, Ed Harris, Julie Bowen and more, but it failed to open as well as the original with a third place opening of just $18 million in 3,826 theaters. The original Planes, originally meant as a Blu-ray/DVD-only release, grossed $90.3 million after a $22.2 million opening, although that amount may be tough even with very few family-friendly films opening in the coming weeks.
Despite having the biggest star power and reteaming two of the leads with the director of Sony's 2011 hit Bad Teacher, the R-rated comedy Sex Tape, starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, failed to meet even the lowest projections with a weak opening of $15 million to take fourth place. It did make another $3 million from 9 international markets including Australia, New Zealand and others, but most of that money came from Australia.
Michael Bay and Mark Wahlberg's global blockbuster Transformers: Age of Extinction (Paramount) added another $10 million domestically as it took fifth place for the weekend. With a four-week domestic gross of $227.2 million, the fourth "Transformers" movie is vying for the top movie of the summer domestically over X-Men: Days of Future Past (leveling off with a total gross of $230.5 million) but Disney's Maleficent may have something to say about that (See below). Internationally, the film added another $81.2 million to take its overseas total to $659.1 million. Worldwide, Transformers: Age of Extinction has earned $886.3 million so far.
Sixth place went to the Melissa McCarthy comedy vehicle Tammy (Warner Bros.) with $7.6 million, bringing its total to $71.3 million.
Continuing to be one of Sony's biggest hits of the summer, the Channing Tatum-Jonah Hill comedy police comedy 22 Jump Street dropped to seventh place with $4.7 million as it has reached $180.5 million to date.
Also dropping three places in its sixth weekend in the Top 10, DreamWorks Animation's animated sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2 took eighth place with $3.8 million and a relatively weak $160.7 million grossed domestically.
Angelina Jolie's Maleficent (Walt Disney Studios) has now been in the Top 10 for eight weeks as it dropped one notch to ninth place with $3.3 million. With $228.3 million grossed in North America so far, the fairy tale reimagination is just $2 million away from becoming the top grossing movie of the summer. Even so, it's very likely to soon fall behind Transformers: Age of Extinction which is trailing it by just a million while still playing in more theaters. Even so, Jolie's latest added another $8 million overseas which brings its global total to just under $700 million.
The family sci-fi action-adventure Earth to Echo (Relativity) rounded out the Top 10 with slightly less than Maleficent, having grossed $32.1 million domestically, which isn't bad when you consider that it cost $13 million to produce.
The Top 10 was down once again from last year, off 25% from the mid-July weekend when James (Insidious) Wan's The Conjuring topped the box office with $42 million, followed by Despicable Me 2 with $25 million in its third weekend. Similar to this week, the other three new movies had disappointing openings with DreamWorks Animation's Turbo having one of the animation studio's worst openings ever with $21.3 million and the comic adaptations RED 2 (Summit) and R.I.P.D. opening in fifth and seventh place with $18 million and $12.7 million, respectively.
Another wide release with a lower profile than the other three, Daniel Lusko's religious thriller Persecuted, starring James Remar, Fred Dalton Thompson, Gretchen Carlson, Dean Stockwell and Bruce Davison, opened in 736 theaters Friday where it grossed $959 thousand for the weekend, a measly $1,302 per theater.
After an impressive opening weekend, Richard Linklater's Boyhood (IFC Films), starring newcomer Ellan Coltrane, Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, expanded into 34 theaters where it grossed another $1.2 million, over $35,000 per theater. If it continues to do this well, it may become IFC's first movie to expand into nationwide release in over 12 years when My Big Fat Greek Wedding played in 2,016 theaters.
That brings us to this weekend's new limited releases.
Getting help to fund his new movie with a 2013 Kickstarter campaign, actor/filmmaker Zach Braff's Wish I Was Here (Focus Features), his follow-up to the 2004 cult hit Garden State, co-starring Kate Hudson, Josh Gad, Mandy Patinkin, Ashley Greene and more, opened in 68 theaters on Friday where it took in $495 thousand or $7,300 per site.
Not faring as well, Mike (Another Earth) Cahill's sci-fi drama I Origins (Fox Searchlight), starring Michael Pitt, Brit Marling, Steven Yeun and Astrid Berges-Frisbey, opened in four theaters in New York and L.A. with $28.7 thousand.
Michael Gondry's quirky adaptation of the French novel Mood Indigo (Drafthouse Films), starring Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou and Omar Sy, brought in $25 thousand in two theaters, one in New York and one in L.A.
SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2014
JAMES GARNER HAS DIED
Hollywood legend James Garner -- star of "The Notebook" and "The Rockford Files" -- has died at the age of 86, TMZ reports.
The outlet has reported an ambulance was dispatched to the actor's Los Angeles home Saturday (July 19) evening, but Garner was dead upon arrival. No cause of death has been reported at this time.
Garner was notably one of the first actors of his time to gain major success in both film and TV. The actor played the title role in several long running TV series, including Jim Rockford in "The Rockford Files" from 1974-1980, as well as the role of Bret Maverick in the western series "Maverick" from 1957-1960, in addition to the short lived 80s remake.
Garner went on to co-star in the 1994 film version of "Maverick" alongside Mel Gibson. Many people will also recognize him from one of the most touching roles in the legendary romantic film "The Notebook" (2004), where he plays the older version of Ryan Gosling's character, Noah.
The actor is survived by his wife Lois and children. James and Lois married after only two weeks of dating and were together for 56 years.
AGE OF ULTRON
A few pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together, and now Joss Whedon himself has revealed more of how Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch fit into Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Though our first official peek at the super-powered siblings found them locked up in Baron Von Strucker’s basement in the post-credit scene of Winter Soldier, Whedon confirmed they’ll apparently be playing for “Team Ultron” by the time the Avengers sequel rolls around.
In addition to being two formidable allies for the latest foe to take on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Whedon teased that their certain brand of super powers will also present a whole new set of challenges for the good guys. As the director succinctly explains to Entertainment Weekly, there are a lot more skills in play now than just the ability to punch things really hard:
“They're on Team Ultron, which makes things really hard for the Avengers because all of sudden they’re dealing with powers that they’re not used to. With the [first] Avengers, everybody pretty much had the power of being able to punch somebody, and now we have a woman who can get inside your head and move objects, and a boy that can move faster than anything, and a robot [Ultron] who can self-replicate and is out of his mind. So all of sudden, it's a darker, weirder, tougher world that they’re living in."
Quicksilver himself, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, also opened up a bit about the dynamic he gets to play with his on-screen sister Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen:
“There's a lot of clashing. He’s quick tempered. He gets agitated. He's impatient. But he's super protective. They’re very yin-and-yang in that twin sense. In his power, he's physical and she's psychological. My character is very much on the frontline, but he can be quite emotional. You see this beautiful tenderness between them.”
Though comic fans know Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch eventually find their way over to the good side, it should be extremely entertaining to watch that journey take place on-screen. If nothing else, Age of Ultron seems to be diving into the deep end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe pool.
Avengers: Age of Ultron opens May 1, 2015.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
An action-packed, epic space adventure, the movie expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.
Opening in theaters on August 1, the big screen adaptation stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Benicio del Toro.
SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2014
DOCTOR WHO COMICS
The brand new "Doctor Who" comics from Titan are set to debut on July 23, introducing brand new companions for the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. If you just don't want to wait though, you can see a few pages from each of the first issues right now.
In the first issue for the Tenth Doctor, which continues the adventures of David Tennant's time in the TARDIS, Whovians will be introduced to Gabriella Gonzalez. She can't be seen in the pages on the link below, but her name is mentioned. It looks like the Doctor has a big challenge ahead of him in the first issue.
In the Eleventh Doctor's debut issue, featuring a nicely drawn Matt Smith, you do meet his new companion. Alice Obiefune is grieving the death of her mother when the Doctor appears in her life. As can be seen below, the Doctor is convincing enough when asking her to join him on a trip through space and time.
The newest Doctor, Peter Capaldi, will also be getting his own comic book. However, that won't debut until October, after Season 8 has begun.
Take a look at all the featured pages using this link,
http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/doctor_who_pages_pics_matt_smith_david_tennant-2014-07.
ARROW NEWS
Classic DC baddie Captain Cold is coming to The Flash, and they've nabbed a Resident Evil star to play the role. And to top it all off, get ready for a major two-hour crossover event with Arrow. It's going to be a fun fall, right?
Actor Wentworth Miller has been booked for a guest stint as Leonard Snart, aka Captain Cold on The CW’s upcoming superhero series The Flash. He’ll reportedly be introduced in the fourth episode. The casting news was revealed by executive producer Greg Berlanti during the Television Critics Association summer press tour taking place in Beverly Hills today.
In the DC comics, Captain Cold is a villain and a bitter enemy of The Flash. He is also the leader of the Rogues and a recent member of ... the Justice League!
This casting coup is really interesting because it shows that the series is definitely leaning toward the younger version of the classic comic-book character — the one who was introduced in “The New 52.”
It’s also pretty nice to see Wentworth Miller — who had shown a clear indication that he wanted move away from acting in order to concentrate on scriptwriting (he wrote the critically acclaimed script for Stoker) — back on the small screen in a role that may suit him like an icy glove. That, and he’s also coming back as Chris Redfield in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, so yay!
The Flash will center on Central City assistant police forensic investigator Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), who visited Starling City in order to look into a series of unexplained robberies that may have a link to a tragedy in Allen’s past. Allen is then given the power of super speed through a freak accident, turning him essentially into the fastest man alive.
“It's probably the most faithful DC Comics adaptation ever," executive producer and DC Comics chief Geoff Johns said. "We've incorporated almost everything of the mythology into it and added a new backstory with S.T.A.R. Labs.”
Miller also joins John Wesley Shipp (who played the Flash for one season in the CBS TV series back in 1990-1991) as Barry’s dad and Robbie Amell (cousin of Arrow star Stephen Amell, who’ll make a cameo appearance early The Flash’s first season) as half of Firestorm. Berlanti revealed that there was a very good possibility that we’ll get to meet the other half of Firestorm: Dr. Martin Stein, who was, Berlanti says, "in a version of the pilot."
It was also revealed that they tried (make it FOUGHT REALLY HARD) to include a Gorilla Grodd easter egg in the pilot episode, and they hope to bring this particular villain into the series at some point — despite not having a budget that matches something like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Or even the great Andy Serkis to portray him, for that matter. “We can see exactly what jumped out of that cage,” Arrow producer Andrew Kreisberg said.
We don't know how long Captain Cold's stay in Central City will be or what his role and storyline will be like in the long run — or even how he'll be introduced — other than “We'll be seeing his origin [story] and the origin of the Rogues,” Berlanti said of the intro plan.
Even cooler (pun intended) is the fact that The Flash and Arrow will have a two-hour crossover event that'll take place in the first half of The Flash's first season and Arrow's third, respectively. Kreisberg told TV Guide that “Episodes 8 of both shows, Arrow and Flash, are going to be a two-hour crossover event. [Also], in Episode 4, Felicity [Emily Bett Rickards] is going to come to The Flash.”
The CW’s The Flash is set to premiere on Oct. 7.
TNT RENEWALS
TNT's Falling Skies is coming back for a fifth and final season, while The Last Ship will also return for a second, bigger season order.
The network has renewed its veteran alien-invasion sci-fi series Falling Skies, starring Noah Wyle, for a fifth and final season comprised of a fresh new batch of 10 episodes.
The network has also put out a 13-episode order of this summer’s surprise hit show, The Last Ship, which is a jump from season one's 10-episode run.
Here’s what Michael Wright, president and head of programming for TNT, had to say on all the pickups:
“TNT’s refreshed and recharged drama brand is soaring this summer, and that is due in large part to these three enormously popular dramas. The Last Ship has become this summer’s top drama among key adult demos with its epic scale and visceral storytelling. Major Crimes continues to be one of the most enduring and popular crime-drama franchises on television. And Falling Skies has begun an ambitious and thrilling story arc this summer as it sets the stage for next year’s climactic final season.”
The Last Ship -- TNT’s post-apocalyptic (thanks to a very deadly worldwide virus outbreak a la Helix) sci-fi naval drama starring Rhona Mitra (Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Strike Back) and Eric Dane (Grey's Anatomy) -- has garnered TNT’s highest ratings this year with an average of 7.2 million viewers (they also included the seven-days DVR playback), while Falling Skies has had an average of 5.5 million viewers.
MARVEL STUDIOS MOVIE TIMELINE
The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to grow today with the announcement of five new release dates, taking the big screen universe through 2019!
The studio already had mystery placeholders for films that will be released on July 8, 2016 (following a third Captain America film on May 6, 2016) and then another on May 5, 2017. Now they've earmarked July 28, 2017, November 3, 2017, July 6, 2018, November 2, 2018 and May 3, 2019.
No titles announced yet (outside of Doctor Strange, which is likely the July 8, 2016 release), but it's a fair bet that's going to change after next week's Marvel presentation at Comic-Con on July 26!
FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2014
STAR WARS: INQUISITOR
One of the first things we ever saw from the upcoming animated series Star Wars: Rebels was the surprisingly scary-looking baddie the Inquisitor, and now we know who’ll be giving him his voice. Spoiler alert: He’s suitably creepy and intimidating.
Producers of the Disney XD series have tapped veteran actor Jason Isaacs (Awake, Harry Potter) to voice the Jedi-hunting villain, who’ll be menacing the Rebels era between the Star Wars prequels and original trilogy.
Entertainment Weekly confirmed the casting and chatted with Lucasfilm Story Group’s Pablo Hidalgo about the character. Hidalgo touches on how they wanted to differentiate the Inquisitor from the Star Wars villains who have come before, and we’re actually pretty psyched to see this guy in action:
“He’s cold, he’s analytical, he doesn’t get angry. We all took care to make sure our villains have real presence and our heroes just can’t walk all over him. This isn’t like cartoons I grew up with in the 80s where you’d have the villain lose every week and yet every week we’d have to believe he’s some sort of threat. When The Inquisitor shows up, it means something significant and it’s a definite challenge for our heroes.”
Star Wars: Rebels is set to premiere this fall as a one-hour special on Disney Channel, before it migrates over to Disney XD for its regular series run.
STAR WARS CASTING
You may not have heard of Christina Chong, but you've probably seen her and didn't even realize it. Most recently, she was in that surprising reboot for 24 as Mariana. She was in a really brilliant episode of the new Twilight-Zone-style show Black Mirror called "The Waldo Moment" (highly recommended), and she was on Doctor Who playing Lorna Bucket. Do you remember Lorna? She was in A Good Man Goes to War, she apparently met the Doctor once before in the Gamma Forest, and she gave Amy that cloth with her baby's name in the language of Lorna's people. The one that translates as "River Song."
And then she dies! But not before doing an awful lot of heavy lifting for a one-shot character.
What's impressive, though, is that her film and TV career didn't really start until 2008. She's done a lot in just six years. And now she'll be adding to that by joining the cast of Star Wars. We haven't heard what part she'll be playing, but just based on what we've seen of her, we're very excited to see her on board.
We'd say she's very lucky to be part of one of the largest sci-fi franchises of all time, but, really, Star Wars is lucky to have her.
FRANKENSTEIN REBOOT
Universal Pictures is going to reboot its iconic collection of classic movie monsters for the big screen, and there's really only one person who should direct the new version of Frankenstein.
That person is Guillermo del Toro, who has dreamed for years of doing his own take on Mary Shelley's landmark sci-fi/horror tale, which he says is his favorite novel of all time. And with Universal officially announcing that it is going to relaunch the tale of Victor Frankenstein and his creature -- along with Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Invisible Man in a shared universe -- it seems that del Toro's name should be at the top of the studio's wish list.
Fortunately, that seems to be the case. Del Toro told Collider that even before the new CMU (Classic Monsters Universe) was unveiled, Universal chairperson Donna Langley had approached him about getting Frankenstein into the lab and powering it up.
So why hasn't del Toro done so yet? Because he's "chickens--t":
“I would love to. I mean, look, I would love to do Frankenstein and Bride (of Frankenstein), or Frankenstein for sure, but it really, Frankenstein has been -- I’ve been really, really, afraid. Donna has approached me a few times to start it now and I’m always like, you know, it’s like the dream project so I’m a little, I’m a chickens**t, you know? When I do it, I need to do it. Like, if I do Frankenstein, I literally would stop everything, and I’m going to a sabbatical of three years, just to write that. It’s not something that’s gonna just flow, like second nature. It’s my favorite book in history (laughs)."
Although del Toro may or may not have been aware at the time of the interview of the new, interconnected series of classic monster remakes that Universal is planning, he offered his advice on how such a project should be approached:
“I think that it’s a great universe to develop. I personally think that they should all be period movies. I would love to see Creature from the Black Lagoon in Victorian England with the Victorian exploration, with a balloon and steam riverboats. I would love to see The Hunchback (of Notre Dame), Phantom (of the Opera), you know?”
Now that del Toro has found a home at Universal through Legendary Pictures, via its deal with the larger studio, it seems like a no-brainer to get del Toro involved with the classic monsters at a higher level, possibly comparable to the role Joss Whedon plays at Marvel. The only enemy is time: Del Toro is finishing one film (Crimson Peak), overseeing a TV series (The Strain) and has his next two movies pretty much lined up (an unnamed horror film and Pacific Rim 2).
But the man said it himself: He'd stop everything for a chance at doing Frankenstein.
HAUNTED MANSION
Disney Television Animation is in development on "Haunted Mansion," a special for Disney Channel and Disney XD inspired by the popular Disney Parks attraction. Legendary horror genre artist and children's book illustrator Gris Grimly ("Gris Grimly's Wicked Nursery Rhymes") is attached to executive produce and art direct with Scott Peterson executive producing, story editing and writing and Joshua Pruett consulting producing and writing, both of "Phineas and Ferb." The news was announced today by Eric Coleman, Senior Vice President, Original Series, Disney Television Animation.
"Over the past few years we have focused our strategy on making Disney Television Animation the home for the strongest talent in the business," says Coleman. "We have steadily built our roster with both animation veterans and fresh voices, and have fostered an environment where artists support and inspire one another. This group will help us continue to deliver the great storytelling and beloved characters that the Disney animation legacy is known for."
The news arrives just one week after Guillermo del Toro offered an update on that status of a Haunted Mansion live action feature film.
PADDINGTON
Ben Whishaw (Skyfall) will replace Colin Firth as the voice of Paddington Bear in the Weinstein Company’s Paddington, based on the popular children’s literature character. Firth departed the live-action/CGI-hybrid project in June. Producer David Heyman told the Daily Mail, which broke Thursday’s news, that Firth’s voice was “too mature” for the part; the film needed a slightly younger voice for the beloved bear who arrives in England from Peru. Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, and Peter Capaldi will also lend their voices to the film. [The Wrap]
Christina Chong has been cast in Star Wars: Episode VII, joining Adam Driver, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford, among others. Chong’s role is unknown at this time, but it is believed to be minor. The actress most recently appeared in Fox’s 24: Live Another Day. The Disney and Lucasfilm project is being directed by J.J. Abrams and is set to hit theaters December 18, 2015. [Variety]
Renée Elise Goldsberry has joined Universal’s comedy The Nest. She will play the role of Kim, an old friend of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s characters who host one final house party at their parents’ place. Goldsberry has a recurring role on The Good Wife as Assistant D.A. Geneva Pine, and recently appeared on The Following and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She’s expected to do a bit on the ongoing second season of Masters of Sex. [Deadline]
Glen Powell (Fast Food Nation, Best Friends Forever) has been cast in Universal’s Ride Along 2, teaming up with leads Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. Tim Story will direct. Cube and Matt Alvarez are producing for Cubevision along with Will Packer Productions’ Will Packer and Larry Brezner. Powell can next be seen in The Expendables 3, which arrives in theaters August 15. [Deadline]
DAREDEVIL
A True Blood actress has found her next gig, and it’s a big one: Deborah Ann Woll has landed the female lead in Marvel’s upcoming Daredevil series, sources say. With HBO’s vampire drama coming to a close this year, Woll has signed on to play Karen Page in the Netflix-distributed series.
In the Daredevil comics, Page is the longest-running love interest of Daredevil’s alter ego Matt Murdock, having been introduced in the series’ first issue. The character was briefly glimpsed in the Daredevil film, but this is the first time she’ll be actively portrayed on screen.
Woll played Jessica Hamby on True Blood during the show’s seven-season run. On Daredevil, she joins Charlie Cox (Boardwalk Empire) as Murdock/Daredevil, along with Elden Henson (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay) as Murdock’s best friend and legal partner, Vincent D’Onofrio (Men in Black) as crime lord Kingpin, and Rosario Dawson (Sin City), who has a secretive role on the show.
Including Daredevil, Marvel will soon have at least three television shows on the air, including ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the upcoming Captain America spin-off Agent Carter, which ABC plans to launch in midseason. Daredevil is from showrunner Steven S. DeKnight (Spartacus) and will premiere on Netflix next year. Marvel and Netflix had no comment on the casting.
THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2014
CAPTAIN AMERICA NEWS
There are some big changes happening at Marvel.
Hot on the heels of the big announcement of a female comic book version of Thor, the publisher made another universe-altering announcement on Wednesday (July 16).
Marvel CCO Joe Quesada appeared on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" to reveal that Sam Wilson, a.k.a. the Falcon, will be the new Captain America beginning this October. Wilson will take up the mantle of Captain America in "Captain America #25," written by Rick Remender.
This is the first time the iconic shield will be held up by a black character, though it is not the first time it has been used by someone other than Steve Rogers. That's good news for Anthony Mackie -- who portrays Wilson in the "Avengers" films -- right?
12 MONKEYS
If he succeeds, he will cease to exist.
"Nikita's" Aaron Stanford is traveling through time to wipe out his own existence for the good of the entire world in Syfy's new thrilling series, "12 Monkeys."
Based on the 1995 movie, the 12-episode series is about a time traveler (Stanford) from the post-apocalyptic future, on a mission to eradicate the source of a deadly plague. The series also stars Amanda Schull, Noah Bean, Kirk Acevedo and Zeljko Ivanek.
"12 Monkeys" premieres January 2015 on Syfy.
ARROW
The "Arrow" Season 3 premiere is going to be a busy one, despite being called "The Calm." Not only will Oliver and Felicity have a much-anticipated date, but the Canary -- Sara Lance -- will return to Starling City.
Sara's (Caity Lotz) return was first reported by TVGuide.com and unfortunately comes with no details. A great deal of time will have passed by then, so perhaps Sarah just wants to visit her father and sister. Surely even an international assassin gets vacation days.
Meanwhile, executive producer Greg Berlanti confirmed to TVLine that there definitely will be a date between Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) -- and that it will have a major impact on Season 3 as a whole.
"They're real characters to us, and they had that conversation on the beach, and they had that conversation in the house to help capture Slade," Berlanti says. "So the question you have to ask is: Does Oliver have real, genuine emotions for her? And how aware is he of that? And how aware does he make her of that? That is an active part of the season this year."
"Arrow" Season 3 returns Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
THE DOVEKEEPERS
Two years after Cote de Pablo left her megahit CBS series, "NCIS," she'll return to the network to star in a new miniseries called "The Dovekeepers."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, de Pablo will star in the four-hour event, based on the Alice Hoffman historical novel of the same name that follows "four women as their lives intersect in a fight for survival at the siege of Masada in ancient Israel."
De Pablo will play Shirah, a "sensual, mysterious and fiercely independent single mother" who's known to some as the Witch of Moab due to her secret practice of ancient magic.
"The Dovekeepers" is produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, and will premiere on CBS in 2015.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
With Guardians of the Galaxy just a few weeks away from release, Marvel is finally starting to dig into the team and spotlight some of the lesser-known players. After watching this, we’re pretty sure we’re going to love Drax and Gamora.
This latest extended TV spot, which debuted during the MLB all-star game, features a boatload of new footage focused largely on Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista). These two characters typically got the shorter end of the stick in the comic run the film is based on, but director James Gunn seems to have infused a good bit of character into the hardened killers.
If you’ve been worried about how wrestler-turned-actor Bautista would do in his role as the knife-wielding maniac Drax, this should assuage your fears, because he kicks ass and rounds out a few solid laughs. Saldana’s Gamora also gets some screen time, and it's easy to see why Quill is starting to crush on her.
OUIJA
Universal Pictures has summoned the theatrical trailer for their upcoming supernatural thriller, Ouija. Check it out in the player below! We've also got Ouija's official poster and the first three stills from the October 24 release, all of which can be seen in the gallery viewer at the bottom of this page.
Directed by Stiles White and starring Olivia Cooke, Douglas Smith, Bianca Santos, Daren Kagasoff, Vivis Colombetti, Ana Coto and Erin Moriarty, Ouija follows a group of friends who must confront their most terrifying fears when they awaken the dark powers of an ancient spirit board.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014
GOTHAM
FOX's fall series "Gotham," the Batman prequel that chronicles the rise of Benjamin McKenzie's Det. Jim Gordon, has yet another gorgeous new promo that debuted on TV during the MLB All-Star Game.
The clip focuses on Gordon's quest to eradicate Gotham's bad guys -- and includes ominous shots of all the future Batman villains introduced in the drama's premiere, including Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler and Jada Pinkett Smith's Fish Mooney.
Check it out below. "Gotham" premieres Monday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.
BONES
"Bones" Season 10 has made its first major casting decision. John Boyd ("24") will play Booth's new protege, James Aubrey.
According to TVLine, Boyd's role of a junior FBI agent will be recurring. The character is described as "charming and unapologetically confident" -- Booth (David Boreanaz) will need to tame some of that confidence when it morphs into excessive ambition.
Aubrey will presumably join the show at some point after Booth clears his name for multiple murders.
In addition to playing CTU analyst Arlo Glass on "24," Boyd has also appeared on "Touch" and "The Carrie Diaries."
"Bones" Season 10 will premiere Thursday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.
STAR WARS
Star Wars is back at Marvel Comics, and before the House of Ideas gives us all new adventures in a galaxy far, far away, they're letting us relive the old ones.
Earlier this year comics fans got the bittersweet but probably inevitable news that, after more than 20 years at Dark Horse Comics, the license for Star Wars comic books would return to Marvel Comics, the publisher owned by Lucasfilm's new parent company, Disney. Dark Horse did a great job with Star Wars and produced some amazing stories, so we're sad to see them go, but the prospect of the franchise returning to a place with the resources and talent of Marvel is certainly an exciting one. We're all looking forward to what Marvel does with new Star Wars comics, but fans who remember the company's original run of more than 100 Star Wars issues from 1977 to 1986 have also been wondering if new reprints of the classic Star Wars books would be coming. Now we have an answer.
Marvel announced today that in January they'll release the first volume of Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years, a new omnibus collection gathering Marvel's run with Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie and the gang. Volume one will collect Star Wars #1-#44, plus Star Wars Annual #1, featuring work from comics legends like Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, Archie Goodwin, Walter Simonson, Chris Claremont, Carmine Infantino and more, plus new covers by Chaykin and Greg Hildebrandt. These issues have been available through Dark Horse Books Omnibus collections for a while, but this time they'll be packaged in a hefty, oversized Marvel hardcover.
"With Star Wars poised to return to its comic book home, what better time to revisit the first adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2 and, of course, Darth Vader?" Marvel Editor In Chief Axel Alonso said. "I am extremely proud to present these original Star Wars stories, told as only Marvel can, in the first in a massive and glorious Omnibus series."
So if you've been looking for an excuse to update your comics collection with new Star Wars books, and you want to look back at the original adventures Marvel published in the midst of the original trilogy's release, watch out for this omnibus in January.
GOTHAM
The folks behind Fox’s Gotham series have been dropping hints they’ll introduce Batman’s archnemesis, the Joker, and now we know the strategy they’ll be taking with the character.
Though they’ve already cast a few future baddies, the one thing we haven’t had confirmed is who will be playing the (future) Joker. Well, Bleeding Cool reports there’s a good reason for that — they plan to tease out the reveal for at least the first season.
How? They’ll apparently introduce a character who could potentially become the Joker in each episode by “emphasizing aspects of the character’s iconography.” That means we can expect to meet characters like a comedian, flower salesman, clown, card sharp, etc. in different episodes during the first season.
Leaked intel from the pilot indicates we’ll meet a comedian played by Jon Beavers, who will apparently be the first Joker tease of many. To keep us on our toes even more, each character will apparently be played by a relative unknown, so stunt casting probably won’t give off the reveal.
HORNS
Former Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is getting into some devilish territory in the first trailer for his new movie, Horns.
We'll say this for Radcliffe: He's been doing a lot of genre films while avoiding typecasting as much as possible. Following his Gothic turn a couple of years ago in The Woman in Black -- and before we see him as Igor in Victor Frankenstein -- he is delving into even darker territory with Horns.
In the film, he plays a young man named Ignatius Perrish who is suspected of raping and murdering his girlfriend (Juno Temple). Vilified by the residents of his small town, even though he knows he's innocent, Ignatius wakes up one morning with a pair of horns growing out of his head which have a strange power that forces people to tell the truth. Armed with his bizarre new body parts, Ignatius sets out to find the real killer.
Horns is directed by Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes remake, Piranha 3D) and based on a novel by Joe Hill (author of the Locke & Key comics and son of Stephen King). I read and enjoyed the book, but wondered as I got through it whether it could be translated to the screen. This moody first teaser gives us some idea of what Aja is going for, although we don't glimpse the titular appendages until the very end.
Horns played the Toronto Film Festival last fall to mixed reviews, but as a fan of Hill's work I'm curious to see how the first big-screen adaptation of one of his books fares (sadly, it seems the film version of his first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, is lost in development hell). The movie also stars Max Minghella, James Remar, Joe Anderson, and Kelli Garner, and will be the focus of a Hall H panel at Comic-Con next week, where hopefully we'll see more footage.
Horns comes out this fall in theaters and on VOD.
THOR - CHANGES
Thor won't be cut out to hold Mjolnir much longer, and *gasp* some lady is gonna take it for her own comic!
Yesterday, a not-so-subtle rumor started going around that Marvel was going to be making a big announcement -- on ABC's The View. Like you, we also thought, "What? You mean the show Guinan is on?"
After having a long think about how much we miss Guinan's fancy hats, we settled in to see what this big announcement would be. Turns out it's all about the new Thor. And the new God of Thunder, turns out, is gonna be a goddess.
GAME OF THRONES
Expected to premiere its fifth season in April of 2015, HBO has today revealed to EW the five directors that will helm all ten episodes. This time around, HBO is setting some new talent loose in Westeros. Michael Slovis ("Breaking Bad") will direct episodes one and two, Mark Mylod ("Shameless") will take on three and four, Jeremy Podeswa ("Boardwalk Empire") will helm five and six, Miguel Sapochnik ("Fringe") will handle seven and eight while David Nutter, the only name on the list to have previously directed "Thrones" episode, will round out the season with episodes nine and ten.
"Game of Thrones" will be hosting a panel on the fifth season as part of the series' Comic-Con festivities. Check back next Friday, July 25 for full coverage from the Hall H panel!
Based on the popular book series "A Song of Ice and Fire," by George R.R. Martin, the hit Emmy-winning fantasy series chronicles an epic struggle for power in a vast and violent fantasy kingdom. Members of the ensemble cast include Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kit Harington, Natalie Dormer, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner. The executive producers are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield, and co-executive producers are Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis and George R.R. Martin.
TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2014
ASCENSION
Syfy's forthcoming series "Ascension" has a very intriguing speculative-fiction premise and also a novel twist that's unusual for shows set in space: It takes place in the present day.
The show, which premieres in November, sets up a version of reality in which President Kennedy, fearing the Cold War will become hot and lead to the destruction of the planet, sends 600 people into space on a massive, self-sustaining ship. The audience will meet the characters at the midpoint of their 100-year journey -- which is right about now.
"The people on the ship, only some of their children, but most of their grandchildren, are the only people who are going to arrive at this new world," executive producer Jason Blum says Monday (July 14) at the TV critics' summer press tour. "... A lot of the people who started on this ship have died. It's their children, their children's children, who are going to get to where they're going. And there are a lot of conflicts going on. Should they turn around and go back to Earth, which they've lost touch with? So they have no idea of what Earth even looks like now. Should they continue? Also there's been a murder on the ship, which never happened before. So that's kind of what starts it."
Brian Van Holt ("Cougar Town," "The Bridge") plays the captain of the ship, and Tricia Helfer ("Battlestar Galactica") is his wife. They don't have children, but Helfer says her "manipulative" character considers herself the "mother of the people on the ship, the mother of humanity in one way if Earth did blow itself up."
Creator Philip Levens ("Smallville") says "Ascension" will explore how technology has evolved on the ship and the way morality is still rooted in an early-'60s, pre-Civil Rights Act view humanity. Issues of class -- the ship is divided into decks, with people in positions of power living on the upper ones -- will also come into play.
"There's much more of a sense of obeying your parents because, you know, for the ship to really work, everybody has to cooperate," Levens says. "The murder is kind of the starting of the unravelling, so to speak. And kids start to question choices made by their grandparents. There's a thing on board the ship called 'the crisis.' It's this existential dilemma that everyone has to go through when they realize that, you know, their life has been circumscribed for them. You know, everybody they ever know or ever will know is already around them. So there's lots of issues like that kind of play [as] a coming of age thing with the kids and their parents."
Syfy is billing the six-episode "Ascension" as an "event series" (i.e., a miniseries), but if it does well Levens already has ideas for future seasons in mind. It's set to premiere on Nov. 24.
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
Sheriff Forbes might need to step up her game when "The Vampire Diaries" returns this fall for Season 6.
Executive producer Julie Plec announced on Twitter Monday (July 14) that a new face is heading to Mystic Falls to give Caroline's mom "a run for her money."
"Hey #TVD twitter folk, see how long it takes for you guys to figure out who just got cast in the new role of TRIPP for season 6," Plec tweeted. "For those of you who are sneaky/savvy and see the casting sides, the role was formerly called MITCH."
The mystery was quickly solved when a fan tweeted to Plec asking if it was Colin Ferguson, and she replied, "Yes indeed!"
Then, Ferguson -- best known for playing Jack Carter on "Eureka" -- shared the news on Twitter himself. "Hmmm.... Seem to have 'tripped' my way into a new role... Mystic Falls, hunh? This is gonna be fun :)," Ferguson tweeted. "Classic! Everyone who knows the show is telling me I'm going to die. I think I packed too much.."
Ferguson's Tripp is the head of a community militia who will "do anything to protect his town," so it sounds like Sheriff Forbes' plate is going to be full when The CW drama returns this fall.
"The Vampire Diaries" Season 6 premieres Thursday, Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
THE FLASH
The CW is bringing back an alum of the old WB series Roswell for a DC-based role in The Flash, and it might hint at the future introduction of superhero Metamorpho.
Actor William Sadler, who portrayed Sheriff Jim Valenti on Roswell, will play shady DC businessman Simon Stagg in episode two of The Flash in a role that will likely be recurring on the series. Stagg is CEO of Stagg Industries, which is one of the many major corporations kicking around the DC universe comic canon.
Though he’s popped up in a fair share of arcs, he’s likely best known as the guy who indirectly led to the creation of superhero Metamorpho. In the comics, Stagg’s daughter, Sapphire, is being courted by adventurer Rex Mason, who is sent to Egypt to recover the Orb of Ra. Stagg has him beaten once he arrives, though he’s near the orb by that point and is transformed into Metamorpho.
Considering The Flash will be expanding into the more super-powered corners of the DC universe, there’s a solid chance this could be planting some seeds for the future.
HERCULES
Here is an exclusive first look at the new TV spot for Hercules, starring Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, John Hurt, Rebecca Ferguson, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Aksel Hennie and Reece Ritchie.
Both man and myth, Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) leads a band of mercenaries to help end a bloody civil war in the land of Thrace and return the rightful king to his throne. A tormented soul from birth, Hercules has the strength of a God but feels the suffering of a human.
Unimaginable villains will test the mythical power of Hercules in director Brett Ratner‘s gritty take on one of the most epic action heroes of the ages. Hercules hits 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D theaters on July 25.
MONDAY, JULY 14, 2014
DOCTOR WHO
There's a new Doctor arriving to "Doctor Who" in more ways than one. A new trailer for Season 8 shows that, in addition to Peter Capaldi giving the Doctor a new face, he's also giving the character a new personality.
With every new incarnation of the Doctor comes a new persona, but Capaldi's Doctor seems to be pretty dark. He asks Clara (Jenna Coleman) if he's a good man, and she seems to honestly not be sure. She also admits that she's not sure if she knows who he is anymore.
It's worth noting that Rose (Billie Piper) is the only Companion since the "Doctor Who" relaunch who's had to deal with a Doctor regenerating during her time as his second-in-command. Then the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) was noticeably lighter than Nine (Christopher Eccleston). It's exciting to see how Coleman's Clara will deal with that transition.
Fortunately Capaldi's Doctor also seems to be making good on the promise at the end of the 50th anniversary special as he promises to right "mistakes" he's made in the past -- likely something to do with learning the Time Lords and Gallifrey can still be saved.
In addition to teasing the new Doctor, the one-minute-long trailer also shows everything from Daleks to dinosaurs running through London. The new Doctor lands on Aug. 23.
PETER PAN LIVE
NBC announced the first cast member for "Peter Pan Live," its next live musical. At the 2014 summer TV press tour, chairman Bob Greenblatt announced that Christopher Walken will play Captain Hook.
"He's one of the most unique actors in our business," Greenblatt says. "He might really just be a song-and-dance man at heart."
More information about other cast members and key details from the musical are coming soon, but it's clear Greenblatt is enthusiastic about Walken's involvement. "He always comes to play. We're thrilled to have him on board 'Peter Pan," he says. "This might be the first tap-dancing Captain Hook you've ever seen."
Greenblatt confirms to critics that he is looking for a female character to play the lead role of Peter Pan, and that it could have gone to Kristen Bell if she hadn't had a scheduling conflict.
"We've actually had several women who wanted to do it but they're either busy or their schedules don't work. It's not like we can film this at any time," he says. "I need that person from Aug. 5 to Dec. 5 and so that knocks out the Kristen Bells of the world -- who is someone that I talked to about doing it and she was interested, but she's doing "House of Lies.'"
He adds, "It's tricky finding the right person, but we're actually close."
"Peter Pan Live" will air live on Dec. 4, 2014 on NBC. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who executive produced "The Sound of Music Live," are returning in the same capacity.
THE ELFSTONES OF SHANNARA
One of the most popular fantasy series of all time is finally getting adapted after more than 35 years in print.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, MTV has just given a 10-episode straight-to-series order to Shannara, a TV series based on Terry Brooks' bestselling fantasy series of the same name. Beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977, the series has spawned 25 novels, with several more already on the way. The U.S. alone has more than 26 million copies of the Shannara books in print, making it quite possibly the most popular fantasy series never to get a TV or movie adaptation, and Brooks is second only to J.K. Rowling on the list of highest-selling living fantasy authors (though George R.R. Martin might give him a run for his money in years to come).
Back in 2007, it seemed a Shannara movie might come our way from Warner Bros., but the rights expired in 2010. Now the saga is coming to the small screen under the leadership of Smallville co-creators Al Gough and Miles Millar. Brooks himself will serve as an executive producer of the series, alongside Gough, Millar, Jon Favreau (who was originally slated to direct the pilot but backed out due to scheduling), Dan Farah and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles director Jonathan Liebesman, who will direct the first two episodes of the series.
Shannara is set in the Four Lands, a future version of North America that was once ravaged by a nuclear disaster known as the Great Wars. In the aftermath of the Great Wars, civilization reorganized, medieval technology became the norm again, and magic returned to the world, and with it races of elves, dwarves, demons, trolls, gnomes and more. The Shannara novels encompass a vast chronology of events featuring many characters and races, but the first season of the series will reportedly focus on adapting the second novel in the series, The Elfstones of Shannara. Published in 1982, it's the story of a quest by the Elves to create a new magical tree known as the Ellcrys, which will help them contain the Demons, and of efforts by the Elven army to distract the Demon forces until the Ellcrys can be re-established. It's got all the makings of full-on epic fantasy, complete with unabashed magic, and if the adaptation proves successful it could prove a worthy match for Game of Thrones and usher even more fantasy television onto our screens.
There's no news yet on who'll star in the series, or when it will debut, but at long last Shannara is coming.
CONSTANTINE
Days after co-lead Lucy Griffiths exited NBC's Constantine, the DC Comics adaptation has found Zed: Angelica Celaya.
Executive producer David Goyer revealed the casting news during the show's panel at Sunday's summer Television Critics Association press tour.
"She's someone who can go toe-to-toe with John [Constantine], and that's ultimately something we felt like we needed," said executive producer Daniel Cerone of the new DC Comics character to be introduced early in the season. "We wanted a more dynamic relationship, as opposed to someone who is a teacher/mentor and a student. It just didn't feel as fertile and rich of an area as just a strong a man and a strong woman who are both very different."
Earlier Sunday, NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke emphasized that the network was specifically looking for an "authentic Latina actress" for the new female lead, Zed, a character from the Constantine books "with a very dark past." Zed is seen as a foil for the show's title character, who becomes his right-hand woman and will be the first of several DC characters to appear on Constantine.
Griffiths played the non-DC character Liv, an offbeat woman who finds herself teamed with Constantine after she is marked for death by a powerful demon. (Her exit will be explained in the second episode, which begins filming Tuesday.) In further explaining the producers' sudden decision to change gears creatively after establishing Liv and John's relationship and backstory in the pilot, the writers "felt a bit hamstrung" by Liv, Cerone admitted, as they looked ahead.
"Liv is a great character. She's very wide-eyed, she's very reactive, she doesn't have powers, and when we started to look at the story, we thought this is a character who is always going to be reactive," Cerone said. Thus began the conversation of seeking out other Constantine characters who they felt better fit within the confines of the universe. Cerone revealed that the writers had originally toyed with bringing Zed in the pilot. It was when they "started writing ourselves into the corner" without Zed that they decided to go for it. "We hope it energizes the fan base."
With such significant changes, the Constantine team felt they didn't need to scrap the original pilot and film a new one. (There will be "one little scene" that will be reshot from the pilot.) "One of the hallmarks of John is his friends drop like flies," Goyer explained, making a point to praise Griffiths' job in the pilot. "They almost all die around him. It's the price of doing business. He is this classic noir character who often ends up alone, and we thought it was consistent with the character."
Goyer also had ambitions of using Constantine to potentially launch a franchise similar in vein to NBC expanding the Chicago Fire universe with Chicago P.D., though the TV and film producer-writer had no timeline.
As for the tone of the series, Goyer and Cerone maintained that Constantine is a "horror show," but will keep in line with the comic books by using a balance of comedic (in part due to John's "smart-ass" humor) and fun elements.
Constantine centers on master of the occult John Constantine (Matt Ryan), who struggles with his faith as he is haunted by the sins of his past and is suddenly thrust into the role of defending humanity from the gathering forces of darkness.
In the comics, Constantine is a heavy smoker — something Goyer said the show touches on, though it won't be a heavy focus. "He is a smoker in the show. We're not shying away from it, but we're not glorifying it," he maintained. Another question was raised about Constantine's bisexual nature — a strong recurring theme in the comics. Producers said there are "no immediate plans" to venture into that territory.
Celaya, a telenovela star, is repped by Innovative and DePaz Management. Her English-language TV credits include Dallas and Burn Notice.
Constantine premieres Oct. 24 at 10 p.m. on NBC.
BIG HERO 6
Walt Disney Animation Studios has debuted a new (but brief) TV spot for their first Marvel adaptation, Big Hero 6.
Big Hero 6 is an action comedy adventure about brilliant robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who finds himself in the grips of a criminal plot that threatens to destroy the fast-paced, high-tech city of San Fransokyo. With the help of his closest companion—a robot named Baymax—Hiro joins forces with a reluctant team of first-time crime fighters on a mission to save their city.
Voiced by TJ Miller, Jamie Chung and Maya Rudolph, the movie is inspired by the Marvel comics of the same name and is set to hit theaters November 7.
SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2014
DOCTOR WHO
The BBC is having trouble holding on to "Doctor Who." Following a material leak that hit the news on July 7, it now seems that the entire Season 8 premiere episode -- featuring the debut of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor -- is available on video-piracy sites.
The Radio Times reports that its reporters have actually watched the "Doctor Who" footage and confirms that it appears to be an entire episode.
"RadioTimes.com has seen the black and white footage branded with BBC Worldwide watermarks," the site's report reads. "Numerous visual effects shots are missing and it uses a placeholder title sequence from Matt Smith's last series. Nevertheless, it appears to be Peter Capaldi's first episode in its entirety."
The leak reported earlier included "Doctor Who" scripts and shorter pieces of footage. Now that more footage has leaked, the BBC issued a statement regarding the episode:
"This is part of BBC Worldwide's ongoing security investigation into leaked unfinished 'Doctor Who' materials. This content is currently being removed and originates from the same Miami server disabled last week, it is not a new issue. We'd like to thank the amazing 'Doctor Who' fans who are continuing to keep fansites and social media spoiler-free."
"Doctor Who" Season 8 premieres with "Deep Breath" on Saturday, Aug. 23.
DRACULA UNTOLD
There’s a new video for Dracula Untold that gives us a sneak peek at the behind-the-scenes of this brand-new interpretation of the Dracula mythos.
The lucky folks over at ET Canada were invited onto the set of the upcoming Universal Pictures vampire flick (of the non-sparkly kind) starring Luke Evans (Immortals, The Hobbit) as Vlad Tepes, the original Prince of Darkness, who inspired Bram Stoker’s immortal classic Dracula.
Tepes, a Romanian Prince of Wallachia, was also known to all his pals and his enemies as Vlad the Impaler.
Dracula Untold -- a dark retelling of Dracula’s origins -- also stars Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) in the role of a vampire Vlad Tepes turns to for help in order to destroy the brutal Sultan Mehmed (Captain America: The First Avenger's Dominic Cooper) in order to save his family.
Sarah Gadon (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Diarmaid Murtagh (Vikings) and Charlie Cox (the upcoming Daredevil Marvel/Netflix series) round out the cast.
Dracula Untold is set to hit theaters on Oct. 17, 2014.
THE AFTER
Chris Carter has big plans for Amazon Studios' The After.
The X-Files creator is modeling his latest sci-fi drama, which currently has an eight-episode order, with a bold 99-episode plan. You heard that right: 99 episodes.
Carter, who took a lengthy break following the wrap-up of The X-Files on Fox (he spent his time off reading, watching The Shield and The Wire, "climing mountains," surfing), made his declaration Saturday afternoon during Amazon's summer Television Critics Association press tour session, saying that he based the mystery-focused The After on Dante's Inferno, which has 99 cantos in its story. "I'm using that as my model," he revealed.
Premiering in early 2015, The After will receive a slower rollout than say, Transparent, which debuts its entire 10 episodes at once in late September. Carter says his series will be released in four two-hour installments.
"Amazon is going to show these an episode at a time," he said, "which I think is really good for this type of show. The audience likes to tease the clues out."
Carter hinted that there would likely be some additional opportunities to utilize transmedia platforms like Twitter to help supplement the content. "Now, there are really interesting opportunities with technology to tease these clues out," he said.
The After is loosely described as a post-apocalyptic drama centered on eight strangers who must work together in order to survive in a violent, unpredictable new world with the date of March 7 serving as a common thread that ties them together.
Carter, who was resistant to labels like "science fiction" and "post-apocalyptic," maintained that The After will have "a good mix" of drama "from the group dynamic and from the supernatural, if you will. I've always resisted the science fiction label but there's a significant number of science fiction in this."
When asked about the likelihood of members of the core group, which stars French actress Louise Monot (her character was modeled after Melanie Laurent), Sharon Lawrence, Aldis Hodge, Adrian Pasdar, Arielle Kebbel, Jamie Kennedy, Andrew Howard, Jaina Lee Ortiz and Sam Littlefield, getting killed off over the course of the series, Carter remained mum. But Hodge joked: "All I know is I better not die first!
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2014
THE EXTANT
Syfy's ambitious new space opera series has just cast its hardened detective from the asteroid belt.
Thomas Jane, best known for his roles in the The Punisher, The Mist and the HBO series Hung (for which he received three Golden Globe nominations), has just been cast as the lead in The Expanse, Syfy's new drama based on James S.A. Corey's acclaimed NOVEL Leviathan Wakes. The series will follow a "hardened detective" and a "rogue space captain" who are brought together by the case of a missing heiress and are eventually swept up in "a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history."
After winning the rights to the novel in a bidding war, Syfy gave the drama a 10-episode, straight-to-series order earlier this year. The series is being developed by Oscar-nominated writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby (Children of Men and Iron Man), and is one of a number of projects at Syfy with a harder sci-fi edge than many of its recent original efforts.
Jane will play Miller, a "world-weary" detective who lives in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and works for a CORPORATE SECURITY firm that serves as law enforcement in the region. Though he's weary, he's still very good at his job and gains "a newfound sense of purpose" when he's given the case of a missing heiress to investigate. We don't know yet who'll play the rogue space captain alongside Miller, but it's easy to see Jane in this role, so we'd say The Expanse casting is off to a good start.
The Expanse, along with projects like 12 Monkeys, Z Nation, Ascension and Olympus, is part of an ambitious slate of new series that Syfy hopes to use as a return to its heavy genre roots. Will this be the show that recaptures the magic of things like Battlestar Galactica, or will it be another gone-too-soon series? We'll find out soon enough.
THE BADLANDS
AMC is adding to its drama roster.
The cable network on Friday announced a straight-to-series pickup for martial arts drama Badlands.
Badlands is described as a genre-bending martial arts series very loosely based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West. In a land controlled by feudal barons, Badlands tells the story of a great warrior and a young boy who embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.
The home of Mad Men and The Walking Dead has ordered six hourlong episodes of the drama from AMC Studios for a premiere in late 2015 or 2016. The drama was created by writers/showrunners AlGough and Miles Millar (Smallville), who will exec produce alongside Stacy Sher and MichaelShamberg (Pulp Fiction) and martial arts filmmakers Daniel Wu (Tai Chi Zero) and Stephen Fung. Entertainment One will handle international distribution.
Badlands becomes AMC's third show picked up straight to series at the network, joining Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul and ratings hit The Walking Dead.
“We are incredibly excited to help Al and Miles, as well as Stacey and Michael from Double Feature to bring Badlands to life,” said AMC exec vp original programming Joel Stillerman. “This creative team has so much expertise in bringing a fresh take to classic genres from their film and television experience, and their take on martial arts will be no exception. Along with a beautiful story, they've also assembled the A-Team of martial arts fight choreography in Daniel Wu and Stephen Fung.”
For AMC, Badlands comes at a good time for the network, which has seen its latest two original scripted dramas — Turn and Halt and Catch Fire — stumble out of the gate. While Revolutionary War drama Turn was renewed for a second season and a decision on critical darling but ratings under-performer Halt has yet to be made, neither series has broken through in a major way as AMC looks to replace Breaking Bad and the soon-to-sign-off Mad Men.
Badlands joins a scripted roster that also includes veteran Hell on Wheels and dramas Knifeman,Galyntine and We Hate Paul Revere, the latter three of which are in the pilot stage. The network is also working on a Walking Dead companion series which it is also eyeing for 2015.
For Gough and Millar, Badlands becomes their second series on the air — and second one ordered on Friday. The pickup comes just hours after MTV ordered its adaptation of Shannara — also a straight to series addition — with a 10-episode commitment.
COMICS FOR ARROW AND THE FLASH
The CW’s returning hit show Arrow and the upcoming The Flash might be based off of well-known comics, but the shows themselves are about to get digital comics of their own.
DC Comics announced that it is creating Arrow: Season 2.5 and The Flash: Season Zero to launch this Fall. In the new digital series, which will be written by the showrunners of Arrow and The Flash, the stories will fit into the timeline of the show, giving fans a glimpse at what happens when the show isn’t on the air. For Arrow fans, that means everything from “Olicity” action to meeting new characters.
First reported by TV Guide, Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim will write the comic alongside fellow Arrow writer Keto Shimizu. “It will take us from the end of season two right up to the beginning of season three,” Guggenheim told TV Guide. “We’ve tried to put in all the elements that people like about the show, so there will be Oliver and Felicity banter. We’re going to see what’s happened to Detective Lance after he collapsed in the season finale. A good chunk of the burning questions left over will get answered in the tie-in comic.”
With art by Joe Bennett and inks by Jack Jadson, Arrow: Season 2.5 will also give readers a first look at some of the new characters joining the show in season three.
As for The Flash, showrunner Andrew Kreisberg will write the series with help from co-writers Brooke Eikmeier and Katherine Walczak and art by Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur. “Flash: Season Zero takes place between the pilot and episode two,” Kreisberg told TV Guide. “Barry will [already] be the Flash, he will have his team, everyone will be in that world, and we’ll introducing a new set of villains that we won’t be seeing on the TV show. It’ll feel like the same heart, humor and spectacle that you get watching Flash.”
Arrow: Season 2.5‘s first chapter will be released Monday, Sept. 1, followed by The Flash: Season Zero‘s first chapter on Monday, Sept. 8. Both series will be collected in print in October.
As for the shows, The Flash premieres on Tuesday, Oct. 7, and Arrow launches its third season on Wednesday, Oct. 8, both at 8 p.m. on The CW.
OUTLANDER
You won’t have to wait quite so long to watch Starz’ eagerly awaited fantasy drama Outlander.
The premium network plans to make the premiere available free online one week before its planned series launch date. The first Outlander episode will be put online Aug. 2, with the series premiere on Starz as planned Aug. 9. The first eight episodes of the 16-episode debut season will air over eight consecutive Saturdays through September 27. Then Starz plans to put the show on winter hiatus, with the second half scheduled to CONTINUE in early 2015.
Outlander is adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling BOOKS and with Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) as showrunner. Starz CEO Chris Albrecht told reporters Friday that he’s hopeful Outlander runs for years on the network, covering Gabaldon’s, just like HBO’s Game of Thrones. And given the network’s penchant to pick up shows early (Black Sails was renewed before it premiered), there’s always a chance Outlander might see a quick pickup.
“It’s so good,” Albrecht said. “I just saw episode eight this morning …Diana Gabaldon has given us years of great drama. If the audience and subscribers are as interested as we THINK and the fans get behind it I don’t see any reason [why the show won't continue].”
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014
CONSTANTINE NEWS
"Constantine" is facing a major change before it even premieres on NBC. Lucy Griffiths, the comic-book adaptation's female lead, will depart the series at some point early in its run.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Griffiths' exit comes after the "Constantine" producers decided to take the "Hellblazer" adaptation in a different direction.
Griffiths' character of Liv -- who plays a central role in the pilot episode -- is a powerful psychic who allies with John Constantine (Matt Ryan) when a demon comes after her. Liv will now be written out of the show, later to be replaced by Zed, a female character from the comics who works closely with Constantine on matters of the occult.
The "Constantine" series premiere will air Friday, Oct. 24 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
GOONIES/GREMLINS
Two classic '80s franchises are reportedly coming back to life, and it sounds like one of the original writers could be along for the ride.
The Tracking Board is reporting that Chris Columbus, who wrote the screenplays for 1985's The Goonies and 1984's Gremlins, is reportedly in talks to produce revivals of both of those fan-fave franchises in the coming years. Columbus has previously expressed an interest in revisiting Gremlins, so it's not too much of a stretch to think he would be game for this.
Additional details were relatively slim, though /Film noted the Gremlins project is reportedly a sequel-style reboot as opposed to a total remake of the original film, meaning it’d be set in the same “world” as the first film, just 30 years later. The story would apparently fall in line with the original tale, which followed a young boy who receives a strange pet that comes with even weirder rules. Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg are currently attached as producers.
Rumblings of a new Goonies flick have also been bouncing around for years, and if it ever does happen, we’re glad to hear Columbus might be involved. He helped put the heart and soul into the original, and it’d be a nice touch to have that guiding hand once again. Original director Richard Donner is already linked to return for Goonies 2, so if Columbus returns, they’ll essentially be getting the band back together.
ARROW THIRD SEASON
It's still months to go before Arrow returns for its third season on Oct. 8. Thankfully, there's always an official synopsis to tide us over!
So you want to know what's next for Oliver, Felicity, Dig, Laurel, et al.? Well, you, sir or madam, are in luck. The CW has released an official synopsis that tells us where season three will begin and what shape it will take.
But beware, there are some spoilers afoot. Consider yourself warned. And on that note:
In the aftermath of this victory, Season Three opens with Arrow now a hero to the citizens of Starling. Crime is down, people feel safer, and Captain Lance even calls off the Anti-Vigilante Task Force. Basking in his success, Oliver believes he can finally have a private life and asks Felicity out on a date. But the second Oliver takes his eye off the ball, a deadly villain reappears in Starling, forcing Oliver to realize that he can never be Oliver Queen – not as long as the city needs The Arrow.
So Captain Lance won't die? Can't exactly call that a huge surprise, but it's technically a spoiler. And danger getting in the way of all that Olicity? Well, yeah. Par for the course.
But who is our deadly villain? Malcolm Merlyn seems the obvious choice, but you never know. The Arrow has been busy, and he's made a lot of enemies just while he's been back in Starling. We don't even know all the other enemies he made while he was both on and off the island.
THE MAGICIANS
If you're hoping for more magic on television, then Syfy's next project could be just what you were waiting for.
Deadline reports the network has just ordered a pilot for The Magicians, an hourlong fantasy drama series written by John McNamara (Prime Suspect) and Sera Gamble (Supernatural), and produced by Michael London and Janice Williams. Adapated from Lev Grossman's acclaimed novel of the same name (and its sequel, with a third book on the way), the series follows a group of young magicians in New York City who attend an elite magic academy and also discover that a fantasy world they read about as children is, in fact, very real. Think Hogwarts, but a bit more grown-up and cynical.
The Magicians earned plenty of acclaim when it was first published in 2009, and it has since spawned two sequels: 2011's The Magician King and The Magician's Land, which is set to be published later this year.
Development of the series dates back to the fall of 2011, when it was set up at Fox under London's leadership. Though it seemed like a hot property at the time, the series didn't get the chance to go forward at that network, and London and company opted to shop it around to other networks in the cable arena. Now Syfy wants a pilot, leaving the project poised to join the network's ambitious new lineup of original series in the coming years, which already includes the likes of Ascension, 12 Monkeys and the developing Pax Romana, among others. Whether it'll get there remains to be seen, but this is the furthest The Magicians has made it in the development cycle so far, so there's cause for celebration.
CRIMINAL
Gary Oldman, whose Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is opening this weekend to some of the best reviews of the year, is in negotiations to board Criminal, a thriller from Millennium Films.
Kevin Costner is starring in the movie, which centers on a dead CIA operative's memories, secrets and skills that are implanted into a dangerous prison inmate in hopes that he will stop a diabolical plot.
If a deal makes, Oldman would play a CIA chief.
Ariel Vromen, who wrote and directed The Iceman, is directing Criminal. Douglas Cook and David Weisberg wrote the script.
Producing are Chris Bender, J.C. Spink, and Kevin King. Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman and Jason Bloom are exec producing.
Oldman also appeared in this year’s Robocop remake and has Child 44, a Soviet-era thriller with Tom Hardy and Joel Kinnaman, in the can.
APEX
Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed several of the Saw movies, is attached to helm Apex, an indie sci-fi action project from 2511 Productions.
Described as Predator meets Call of Duty, the plot tells of a Special Ops team sent to obtain a WMD from North Korea that is transported to another world. The team then finds themselves pitted against a dangerous alien race.
James E. Cavanaugh conceived the idea and wrote the screenplay with an eye on current scientific trends in physics and biology.
Apex is being produced by 2511 Productions in association with Ambiance Pictures. Producing are Joe Di Maio, whose credits include Kid Cannibis and The Last Call, and Aaron Ray, who was involved with the V/H/S anthology horror movies and whose credits include Big Momma's House and the Michael Douglas drama Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Cavanaugh will also produce.
The producers, who are looking at Apex as a transmedia property, hope to reveal key art and alien designs timed to this year's Comic-Con.
Bousman's trio of Saw movies (numbers II, III, and IV) grossed over $440 million worldwide, and the director is also behind the cult movies Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil's Carnival.
Bousman sees Apex as "a love letter to the sci-fi films I grew up watching with my dad, such as Alien, Predator, Enemy Mine, Tremors. But I also want it to have the more modern feel of some of the recent video games I am currently playing, like Halo and Call of Duty."
Bousman said he wants to meld 1980s movies-style action with the reality and details seen in such war films such as Lone Survivor.
"This can be a balls-to-the-walls action fantasy and it's franchisable outside of the movie universe," said Bousman. "There is a whole world to explore with Apex."
THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014
ORPHAN BLACK RETURNING
Hey. Remember that long time ago (less than a month) when we told you that Orphan Black was the best, new original sci-fi show, but we were worried because a lot of you still weren't watching it yet? Well, there's good news for both those of us who are obsessed, and those of you who are of the future-obsessed variety -- Sarah, Alison, Helena, Cosima, Rachel the pro-clone, Fi, and all the rest will be back for season 3!
Phew! That is a relief. Granted, BBC America seems like they're well in support of the show, but, sometimes bad things happen to great programming. Thank goodness we won't be left hanging on that big cliffhanger from last season that you ought to know about. Do you not know about the cliffhanger? You should probably catch up on Orphan Black, dude. Seriously, what are you waiting for? There are British clones, gay clones, transgender clones, soccer mom clones. All the clones are on this show. Watch it.
SLEEPY HOLLOW
In the words of John Noble's Henry Parrish: "War is not coming to Sleepy Hollow, it's been here all along."
But we have to ask: Have you guys been missing dear old Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and his deputy sidekick Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) as much as we did?
Sleepy Hollow was undeniably last year’s surprise hit series -- garnering praise from critics and viewers alike -- which led to Fox promptly renewing the series for a second season, even before season one had finished its run, which was probably a first for Fox.
Now you can all feast your eyes on this exciting new promo,which promises that “evil takes hold” in the upcoming second season:
As you can see, Ichabod is already free from the wooden coffin (did you guys have any doubt at all that Ichy would escape?) in which he was interred by his vengeful son Henry in the mind-blowingly twisty season-one finale.
“You didn't travel through two centuries to die in a pine box,” says Abbie to Ichabod in this promo, which includes a bunch of new footage from the season-two premiere episode, titled “Hellfire."
Not only is our Ichy free, but so is Abbie, who was left behind and trapped in purgatory. The fun will be to see how both Ichabod and Abbie have managed to free themselves from their pesky predicaments.
Talking of Abbie, it looks like we’ll get to learn more about our fave deputy in the upcoming second season. Executive producer Mark Goffman told TV Guide:
“We're going to be digging into Abbie's past a lot more and getting to know more about her family and her heritage, which is a big part of the show this season. We're also going to be filling out the town even more, so we'll get to see what the people of Sleepy Hollow are like.”
Also rounding out the cast of fresh new faces in season two are Sakina Jaffrey (House of Cards), who will be playing Leena Reyes, the new sheriff in Sleepy Hollow, and Matt Barr (Hellcats), who will play Nick Hawley, a, erm, rugged bounty hunter AND Abbie's new love interest, who is "far too attractive" for actor Tom Mison's liking.
Sleepy Hollow will return on Sept. 22 on Fox.
ALIEN ISOLATION
The crew of the Nostromo are coming back, and we'll all get a chance to play as them.
After the notorious failure of the game Aliens: Colonial Marines, Alien fans are understandably nervous about any further game adaptations. Despite that trepidation, however, there has been a metric ton of hype surrounding the survival horror game Alien: Isolation. And it's been pretty easy to see why. Rather than focusing on a shoot-em-up FPS, development team The Creative Assembly are harkening back to what made Ridley Scott's original film so scary -- the dread of being trapped on a small ship in the emptiness of space with a deadly, unknown creature.
Up until now, we thought we'd only be playing the game from the perspective of Ellen Ripley's daughter, Amanda. But it turns out that if you preorder the game you'll get the chance to play two special DLC missions -- as a member of the crew of the Nostromo.
And the biggest news of all? The actors who made those characters famous are returning too!
The first DLC mission, Crew Expendable, will apparently take place right after Brett's death, while the second mission, Last Survivor, will have players acting out Ripley's experience escape to the Narcissus shuttle.
Sigourney Weaver will be returning as will Tom Skerritt, Yaphet Kotto and Veronica Cartwright.
So basically, if you weren't excited for Alien: Isolation, you really should be now. The title is currently set to hit store shelves on Oct. 7.
HELLBOY
It's Hellboy's 20th anniversary, and Dark Horse Comics plans to close out the character's first two decades with a new miniseries from an all-star creative team.
It's been a big year for fans of the character first introduced by writer and artist Mike Mignola in 1994. Back in March, fans celebrated "Hellboy Day" to honor the character, Mignola returned to draw him this year for the hit Hellboy In Hell story arc, and The First 20 Years collection of some of Hellboy's best tales became a bestseller. That's a lot of celebration, but we're not done yet. This December, Mignola will team with artist Alex Maleev (Daredevil, Scarlet) and longtime B.P.R.D. writer John Arcudi for Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., a miniseries chronciling the "lost years" that feature Hellboy's earliest adventures with the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense.
Set in 1952, the series will follow in the footsteps of the B.P.R.D. miniseries 1946, 1947 and 1948, and will feature the story of when a younger Hellboy first ventured out with the bureau that would become his home. Mignola will handle plotting duties and write all of Big Red's dialogue, while Arcudi will handle scripts and Maleev will handle art. It's a potent team-up, to be sure, and though we don't yet know where exactly the story will take these characters, the creative powers at work alone are enough to get us stoked.
Any Hellboy fan knows it's been a joy to watch the character's universe grow from those early stories to the tales of the B.P.R.D. and beyond, and this looks like another intriguing piece of the Hellboy saga that'll become an indispensable part of the tale. We've seen tales of Hellboy's past before, but likely nothing like this.
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. arrives from Dark Horse in December.
CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR
Lifetime is taking a plunge back in time.
The cable network has ordered a pilot for The Clan of the Cave Bear, based on Jean M. Auel’s series of best-selling novels. The drama project, which is targeting a 2015 launch, hails from Imagine's Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo along with Allison Shearmur (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), Auel and writer Linda Woolverton (Maleficent).
“I’ve always admired Jean M. Auel’s timeless work,” said Lifetime GM Rob Sharenow in a statement announcing the news Wednesday. “With the visionary creative team of Ron Howard, Linda Woolverton, Brian Grazer, Alli Shearmur, Jean M. Auel and Francie Calfo behind it, this project has it all — epic storytelling, great characters and a unique world that’s never been explored on television before. This is exactly the type of top-tier creative talent and great stories we embrace at Lifetime.”
The ambitious effort, which is a co-production of Fox 21 and Lionsgate in association with Imagine and Allison Shearmur Productions, is part of Lifetime's continued push to be a destination for high-end scripted drama. The cable network will look to leverage Auel's built-in readership. Her book series, which includes six New York Times best-sellers, has sold more than 60 million copies globally.
The first book of the series, The Clan of the Cave Bear, takes place more than 25,000 years ago, when Neanderthals shared the Earth with the first early modern humans and a band of cave dwellers adopt blond, blue-eyed Ayla, a child of the “Others.” As Ayla matures into a young woman of spirit and courage, she must fight for survival against the jealous bigotry of Broud, who will one day be clan leader.
HEAVENLY SWORD
Sony (via IGN) has officially announced that the film adaptation of Heavenly Sword will debut on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital on September 2.
Heavenly Sword is a dramatic tale of revenge that sees Nariko, a fiery red-haired heroine, embark on a quest for vengeance against the invading King Bohan and his army. Once considered the failure of a legendary prophesy, Nariko must wield a sword that was ultimately meant for another. This ancient Heavenly Sword, once belonging to a powerful deity, can never be wielded by a mortal without it slowly but inevitably killing them. For Nariko it is a race against time to avenge her clan before her life is irreparably overtaken by the omnipotent Heavenly Sword.
Starring Anna Torv as Nariko, Alfred Molina as King Bohan and Thomas Jane as Loki, Heavenly Sword will also debut on the PlayStation Network.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
The longest look at "Guardians of the Galaxy" yet is here. After previewing 17 minutes of the movie at select IMAX theaters Monday night (July 7), Marvel has put out an extended trailer with lots of new footage.
The two-and-a-half minute clip shows the fight between Gamora and Nebula and even includes dialogue from both Drax and Ronin. However, the special treat at the end is the first real look at Michael Rooker as Yondu.
There's also a quick look at Benicio Del Toro as The Collector and quite a bit more contained in the trailer. "Guardians of the Galaxy" is in theaters August 1.
THE ZERO THEOREM
A brand new trailer for Terry Gilliam’s upcoming sci-fi flick The Zero Theorem has been released, and it’s fantastically bizarre.
This newest flick from the twisted (but cool) mind of Gilliam -- you know, the dude who brought us the amazing Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Brazil, and 12 Monkeys amongst many others -- stars Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Matt Damon, Ben Whishaw, Mélanie Thierry and David Thewlis with a story revolving around an eccentric and reclusive genius named Qohen (Waltz) who’s plagued with existential angst as he works on a mysterious project meant to discover the purpose of existence (or the lack thereof) once and for all.
This is the film’s blurb:
Living in isolation, Qohen is obsessively working on a mysterious project personally delegated to him by Management (Matt Damon) aimed at discovering the meaning of life – or the complete lack of one—once and for all. Increasingly disturbed by visits from people he doesn’t fully trust, including the flirtatious Bainsley (Mélanie Thierry), his unpredictable supervisor Job (David Thewlis), and would-be digital therapist Dr. Shrink-Rom (Tilda Swinton), it’s only when he experiences the power of love and desire that he’s able to understand his own reason for being.
Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem will hit theatres on September 19.
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
Clark Gregg’s Agent Phil Coulson has always been the heart of the Avengers. So does that mean that he will he be part of Avengers: Age of Ultron? And what about his story arc?
As for being in Age of Ultron, the answer is a big, resounding NOPE!
According to the new issue of Total Film (out on stands now), Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s very own Agent (or should we say Director ) Coulson won’t even pop in in director Joss Whedon's upcoming Age of Ultron, and that the impact of his “death” in 2012’s The Avengers will still be felt by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
If you guys will recall, it was Coulson’s demise -- and Colonel Nick Fury's deft manipulation of that event -- that ultimately galvanized the team into coming together to defeat Loki and the Chitauri army.
Worse, they won’t even find out that Coulson is actually still alive and kicking, and that he’s busy running a brand-new, slimmed-down version of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the wake of the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which carried over the final episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., until The Avengers 3.
Well ... that’s a bit of a bummer.
Apparently Coulson’s arc WILL be resolved, but not until the third entry in the Avengers franchise -- which should be released around 2018.
This means we'll get a couple of seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. under our belts before we finally get a resolution to everything that’s happening to Coulson. Remember, he started scribbling what looked like some weird alien writing in the season-one finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which could have very dire consequences for our favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
Being brought back to life under the infamous T.A.H.I.T.I. project by being injected with that creepy and very dead blue alien's blood (quite possibly a Kree), as well as getting one's brain reprogrammed, will do that to ya, for sure.
Avengers: Age of Ultron will hit theaters on May 1, 2015.
SHARKNADO 2
The first full trailer for Sharknado 2: The Second One has arrived, and it's pretty much exactly what you’d expect.
Considering the fact that the first film was a cheese-tastic good time, the folks at Syfy seem to have cranked it up to 11 for the sequel. Believe it or not, this trailer for The Second One makes things look even zanier than the first film. If that’s even possible.
It’s loaded with cameos and puns, which are played for good laughs, and if you enjoyed the B-movie schlock of last year’s original this bad boy should be right up your alley. If not, then just kick back and take in the brain candy.
Along with the above trailer, the studio has also wisely dropped a 4+ minute recap of the original film, which sounds even stupider and crazier when you condense that plot to such a short amount of time. But still, it's pretty amusing. In a dumb way.
The Sharknado sequel is set to premiere Wednesday, July 30, on Syfy.
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS
Twentieth Century Fox has released the first trailer for the Ridley Scott-directed Bible epic “Exodus: Gods and Kings.”
Pic stars Christian Bale as Moses and Joel Edgerton as Rhamses and looks to have the scale of previous Scott action adventures like “Gladiator.”
Chernin Entertainment will produce with the pic bowing on Dec. 12.
The trailer comes has Scott and Chernin have also announced plans to develop another pic based on a famous biblical character, King David, that Fox will also distribute.
AMERICAN HORROR STORY
Wes Bentley has gone from an American Beauty to an American Horror Story.
The Hunger Games actor will once again show off his dark side in the two-part Halloween episode of the upcoming season of FX’s American Horror Story: Freak Show. EW has confirmed that Bentley will play Eddie, a shady figure from Kathy Bates’ character’s past seeking revenge. The project reunites Bentley with show cocreator Ryan Murphy after working together on the HBO pilot Open.
The FX anthology hit’s fourth season will center around on the last American freak show in 1950s Florida with returning stars to the series Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy and Bates as well as newcomer to the group, Michael Chiklis.
SENSE8
Courtesy of the unofficial site, the eight primary characters/actors for Sense8. They're a ridiculously attractive bunch of folks and massively talented. One of the best ensembles I've ever seen.
Going clockwise from the upper left corner: Brian J. Smith, Tuppence Middleton, Max Riemelt, Miguel Angel Silvestre, Tina Desai, Aml Ameen, Doona Bae, and Jamie Clayton.
Not included in this photo of the 8 in Sense8, playing major, important characters, are such luminaries as: Daryl Hannah, Freema Agyeman, Naveen Andrews, Terence Mann and many other terrifically talented folks.
TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2014
SENSE8
JMS' new Netflix series will start filming in Chicago tomorrow. It is scheduled to wrap on August 8. Naveen Andrews (Lost) and Daryl Hannah (Hawaii Five-0) are among the just-announced stars of the upcoming sci-fi drama.
“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,” “Sense8” 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 while being hunted by an organization out to capture, kill or vivisect them.”
The 10-episode “Sense8” began filming in San Francisco last month and will also shoot in Mexico City, London and Berlin, among other places. The show is scheduled to debut in 2015.
DOCTOR WHO SCRIPTS
Five "Doctor Who" Season 8 scripts have leaked, and the BBC doesn't want the information to spread amongst fans of the series.
Season 8 will premiere in both the U.K. and the United States on Aug. 23. BBC issued a statement, via Entertainment Weekly, begging fans not to share the leaked material for fear of spoiling the upcoming season.
"BBC Worldwide is currently investigating a security issue around 'Doctor Who' Series 8 where unfinished material has inadvertently been made public. We deeply regret this and apologise to all the show's fans, the BBC and the cast and crew who have worked tirelessly making the series. We would like to make a plea to anyone who might have any of this material and spoilers associated with it not to share it with a wider audience so that everyone can enjoy the show as it should be seen on 23rd August. We know only too well that Doctor Who fans are the best in the world and we thank them for their help with this and their continued loyalty."
Peter Capaldi will take on the mantle of the Doctor in Season 8. The premiere episode is said to be feature-length, while it's believed that the upcoming season could be 12 episodes long.
DOCTOR WHO
We’re still two months away from the debut of Doctor Who’s eighth season, but a new teaser gives us a peek inside Peter Capaldi’s version (literally) and hints at the return of an old enemy.
The all-too-brief teaser shows Capaldi’s Doctor getting electrocuted in the TARDIS, and we glimpse the two beating hearts that keep the Time Lord kicking. There’s also a very creepy voice chatting over the visuals, saying, “I see into your soul, Doctor. I see beauty, divinity, hatred.”
It sounds very Dalek-y, and some fans are speculating it's the voice of Davros, the Doctor’s archenemy, who created the Daleks. It makes sense, and it’d be a nice throwback baddie to give Capaldi’s Doc a run for his money during his first full season.
The new season of Doctor Who debuts Saturday, Aug. 23.
ARROW
"Arrow" Season 3 is bringing a Superman to the show, kind of. Brandon Routh is set to join the cast in the recurring role of Ray Palmer, otherwise known as The Atom.
According to TVLine, Routh's Palmer will recur as the new owner of Queen Consolidated. Not just content to run Oliver Queen's former birthright, The Atom may have some mysterious plans for the Applied Sciences Division of that company.
Who is this Atom guy? In the DC Comics, Atom is a man who can alter the size of his body and other objects. That should be an interesting feat in the reality-skewing world of "Arrow."
In addition to the title role in the film "Superman Returns," Routh is mainly known for TV roles in shows like "Chuck," "Partners" and "Enlisted."
"Arrow" Season 3 premieres Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
MARVEL TIMELINE
Ask any comic-book reader who scratched his head at Jane Foster's work as an astrophysicist or Bucky's prewar friendship with Steve Rogers: The Marvel Cinematic Universe is distinctly different from the comic books and has its own unique history. So how do you keep that history straight? You don't. Two fans have already done it for you.
Rich Drees, the editor/publisher of Film Buff Online, wrote an initial timeline, which was later embellished by Andrew Norfolk, documenting all the major events that happened in the MCU. It's astonishing work.
It starts with the attack of Dark Elves, back in 2987 BC. Other events include young Tony Stark building his first circuit board and Hydra attacking Guernica (!?)—and pinning the blame on the Luftwaffe. Some of these entries have lengthy descriptions, which will impress even the most detail-oriented among us.
The site is laid out in an easy-to-browse manner and includes screenshots of the references, and in some cases timestamps from the nine movies (and counting) the item is referencing. But it's not just the movies that this timeline covers. Important events from Agents of SHIELD are also highlighted, as well as comic books that tie in to the MCU.
It's a fun browse for any fan who has ever wondered when Howard Stark located the tesseract. Check it out here.
ROBOTECH ACADEMY
There’s a new pilot in the works for the acclaimed Americanized anime series Robotech; the producers just need a little more cash to make it happen.
Producer Carl Macek had teamed up with production and distribution company Harmony Gold on the new Robotech: Academy, a new series set in the Robotech universe that will follow several new cadets in their adventures around the universe. The only problem? They need half a million bucks to put it together.
They’re aiming to raise $500,000, which will be used to produce a full 24-minute pilot episode. According to the Kickstarter, that cash will cover character design, mecha design, 3D modeling, 3D animation, 2D animation, screenwriting, sound engineering, music composition, casting, voice acting and recording. This will also afford us a foundation on which to build future episodes.
For a bit more background, here’s an excerpt from the pitch:
In 1985, the animated series known as Robotech hit the airwaves in the United States and became an overnight sensation. Combining fast-paced giant robot action with some genuinely mature drama, it was a breath of fresh air for many children who had gotten tired of the usual cartoons on TV at the time. For many fans, it was their first exposure to Japanese anime, and is often credited with starting the anime industry in the US. It spawned over twenty novels, hundreds of comics, video games and dozens of home video releases all over the world.
The studio has also put together a pitch video.
They’ve currently raised a bit more than $60,000 — so there’s still a ways to go. Click here for more intel on the project.
SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2014
THE WITCHES OF EAST END
There's going to be a lot more magic in Season 2 of "Witches of East End" now that Freya and Ingrid Beauchamp have discovered they come from a family of witches -- and they happen to have unlocked a portal to another, magical world.
Star Rachel Boston, who plays Ingrid, tells Zap2it at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas that you can expect a "darker, sexier" Season 2. "Season 2, the whole theme is 'darkness is rising.' Now that the portal's open, we have no idea what came out," she explains. "Now that Freya and Ingrid know that they're witches, the whole house is just taken over by magic because they don't have to hide it anymore."
That's not to say it's going to turn into a different show -- "there's still the grounded unit with the family" and all their human drama, Boston says, "but the circumstances surrounding the family are enhanced."
Boston says she's loved watching Ingrid transform over the first season of the show. "It's incredible to play a woman who goes from being so reserved and so conservative and so sure of herself in a lot of ways in her safe environment but not comfortable with this universe of magic, and then by the end, discovering she's the key," she says.
Plus, she can't exactly change her circumstances now. "There's really no turning back -- once she opens the portal, the world of magic is real. There's no way she can go back to her old life. That acceptance, moving into Season 2, has been really fun to play."
So, what can we expect in Season 2? First things first, Freya and Ingrid will find out about their long-lost brother.
"[The world] continues to expand in Season 2 -- we learn about the brother and there are more revelations of this world of Asgard coming right away -- so all the relationships get deeper," including both Freya and Ingrid's relationship and their strained relationship with their mother.
Boston continues, "Anytime something is revealed there's that tension of 'Why did you hide this from me?' I think Freya and Ingrid are starting to understand more what their mother was protecting them from, so that is going to come to the surface in Season 2. We're going to see the dangers our mother was trying to keep us [away from]."
"Witches of East End" Season 2 premieres Sunday, July 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Lifetime.
PLANES: FIRE AND RESCUE
Walt Disney Pictures has debuted a new "Heroes" featurette for Planes: Fire & Rescue, opening in 3D and 2D theaters on July 18.
Planes: Fire & Rescue is a new comedy-adventure about second chances, featuring a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from raging wildfire. When world famous air racer Dusty (voice of Dane Cook) learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of aerial firefighting. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his courageous team, including spirited super scooper Dipper (voice of Julie Bowen), heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, ex-military transport Cabbie and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers. Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero.
THE FLASH
A new behind-the-scenes look at The CW's "The Flash" has surfaced! "The Flash" will premiere on October 7.
"The Flash" arrives from co-creators Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, who, along with Geoff Johns, wrote the pilot episode, which was helmed by "Arrow" pilot director David Nutter. Grant Gustin stars as the titular hero along with Candice Patton as Iris West, Jesse L. Martin as Iris's father, Detective West, Michelle Harrison? as Barry's mother Nora Allen and many others, including John Wesley Shipp, from the original "The Flash" TV series as Barry's father.
GOTHAM
Danny Cannon, the director of the pilot of Fox's upcoming Batman prequel series "Gotham," recently spoke with IGN about giving the show a very different look to the Christopher Nolan directed Batman trilogy.
The look they ultimately went for is both familiar and unique to the Bat universe - neither the glossy and contemporary world of the Nolan films nor the Gothic wonderland of the Tim Burton films and 'Arkham' games. Instead, we're dropped in rainy, dirty, gritty city with minimal use of modern tech (cell phones are barely used) and the feel isn't too far off the likes of "Serpico" or "The French Connection":
"It was daunting at first, because you're following three masterpieces. So I settled with the fact that -- what we talked about when we first pitched this was, '20 years before Batman.' A world that's starting to see a corrupt city rotting from the inside. It reminded us of New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s. That was our first meeting, and we kind of spring-boarded off of that. Luckily, that's uncharted territory. Hopefully in the atmospherics of Gotham we created a romantic, gothic, Dickensian kind of world."
Cannon was also asked about the comic book storylines and whether any of those story arcs were influences here or might even make it into the narrative down the line:
"You know, I read everything, and you reach that point where you have to make it your own. DC were very supportive in that too, because they know when they've done things badly and when they've done things well. So far, what they've done well has just far outweighed, but you have to make these things your own. At some point, you have to plunge in and go, 'All right, hate me or... hate me. [Laughs] I've got to make this my own.'"
SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014
DOCTOR WHO
Steven Moffat really is going all out with "Doctor Who" Season 8. You've already got Cybermen on the way, but a new teaser from the BBC also promises the return of an even more formidable foe.
The new 19-sdecond clip features an all too familiar voice Telling new Doctor Peter Capaldi, "I see into your soul." The, dear Whovians, certainly sounds a lot like Davros, creator of the Daleks. The character has only made on appearance since the 2005 series relaunch, during the two-part Season 4 finale.
With all of this evil coming his way, the Doctor will certainly have his work cut out for him. "Doctor Who" Season 8 premieres August 23 on BBC America.
PACIFIC RIM ANIMATED SERIES
Now that we’re officially getting a sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s awesome robots-vs.-monsters flick Pacific Rim, we’re keen to hear what he has to say about his plans for the followup.
The director chatted with the Wall Street Journal about several of his pending projects, including the nifty new Pacific Rim sequel and animated series. Del Toro had some very interesting things to say about the big-screen sequel, talking about the work that went into establishing the world and how they’re ready to finally get to play in it with part two:
“We are three years away, so to spoil anything would be fantastically silly of me. What I can tell you: [screenwriter Zak Penn] and I really went in, we started with [screenwriter Travis Beacham] about a year and a half ago, kicking ideas back and forth. And, admittedly, I said to Zak, let’s keep kicking ideas till we find one that really, really turns the first movie on its ear, so to speak. (…) It was hard to create a world that did not come from a comic book, that had its own mythology, so we had to sacrifice many aspects to be able to cram everything in the first movie.
Namely, for example “the Drift” (editor’s note: the neural link between pilots of the giant robots, or jaegers), which was an interesting concept. [Then there was] this portal that ripped a hole into the fabric of our universe, what were the tools they were using? And we came up with a really, really interesting idea. I don’t want to spoil it, but I think at the end of the second movie, people will find out that the two movies stand on their own. They’re very different from each other, although hopefully bringing the same joyful giant spectacle. But the tenor of the two movies will be quite different.”
As for that pending animated series based on the film? It sounds like del Toro wants to use the change in medium to dig deeper into the world of Pacific Rim, and as huge fans of monster battles and giant robots, we’re glad to hear it. It could be interesting to delve into the training process and Drift tech, and moving things into animation should allow them to put together some even crazier battle scenes. Sounds good to us:
“We are talking about all the possibilities in terms of networks. We’re formulating ideas that are, again, interesting and not the usual route, but the series tackles the stories that happened to pilots working in the Shatterdome (editor’s note: a building where jaegers are built and maintained and pilots train), but also cadets learning how to become pilots. All of this happens prior to the first movie, and it gives you a little more depth into the background of certain characters that will appear in the second movie. So it’s really expanding the material. I was incredibly happy with the comic book series that came about from a graphic novel called ‘Tales From Year Zero,’ and we are continuing the tales for the next three years.
So by the time the second movie comes out, you will have probably one year of the animation airing, and you will have three years of the comic book series ongoing, so we are trying for all these things to be canon, to be in the same universe, to not wing anything, so that if anyone … a lot of kids, for example, have discovered Pacific Rim through the toys. They come in through the toys, and then they watch the movie, and then they learn this, they learn that through the movie or the comic book series, so we’re trying to make it canon so we can expand the universe. And by the time we come into the second movie, you have a good feel for the world, and we can dedicate ourselves to character and ideas and spectacle.”
Pacific Rim 2 is set for release in April 2017, and judging by the comments here, the animated series could debut a year earlier, in mid-2016.
SNOWPIERCER
It’s been a long wait, but sci-fi fans across the U.S. will finally have a chance to see Snowpiercer this weekend — and here’s where it’ll be playing when it goes nationwide.
Director Bong Joon-ho spent the past year duking it out with The Weinstein Company over final cut of Snowpiercer, eventually landing on the compromise that Bong will have final cut for a limited release instead of a nationwide opening. The only hope? A massive limited opening that gives the studio enough confidence to roll it out.
Well, good news: The past few weeks of showings in New York and California (not to mention a mountain of positive reviews and buzz) has shown the distributor there’s definitely an audience for this unique sci-fi flick.
Starting July 4, the film will be playing across the country in 150+ theaters in a boatload of states. To find a showing near you, head over to the constantly updating list at the film’s official website.
We can’t advocate enough for this film. It’s fantastic. No, it's not perfect, but it's one of the most unique and ambitious sci-fi flicks you’ll see this year. After the fireworks have burned out, wind down your weekend with Snowpiercer. You won’t be disappointed.
SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR
Dimension Films has debuted a new clip from Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For featuring Jessica Alba as Nancy Callahan.
Opening in theaters on August 22, the film also stars Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin, Powers Boothe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Eva Green, Dennis Haysbert, Martin Csokas, Rosario Dawson, Jamie Chung, Jamie King, Alexa Vega, Julia Garner, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Ray Liotta, Juno Temple, Christopher Lloyd, Stacy Keach and Jude Ciccolella.
Co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller reunite to bring Miller's visually stunning "Sin City" graphic novels back to the screen. Weaving together two of Miller's classic stories with new tales, the town's most hard boiled citizens cross paths with some of its more notorious inhabitants.
FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2014 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA
ARROW
"Arrow" Season 3 has a new Count Vertigo: Peter Stormare. The veteran actor will appear in this fall's premiere episode as the villain.
According to TVGuide.com, Stormare's character is called Werner Zytle, Starling City's newest purveyor of the Vertigo drug. The original Count Vertigo (played by "Salem" star Seth Gabel) was killed in Season 2 when Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) had to defend Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) in a deadly situation.
Stormare's Zytle will take up the Vertigo name as the first villain of the new season in the fall. Although known for films like "Fargo" and TV shows like "Prison Break," Stormare was most recently seen on "The Blacklist" as one of the many listed villains.
The "Arrow" Season 3 premiere airs Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
Out SohoTv by out-italy
OUTLANDER
A brand-new trailer for Ronald D. Moore’s upcoming time-traveling series Outlander has been released, featuring loads of never-seen-before footage.
The action-packed, sexy trailer comes from SoHo, the Australian channel that'll be showing the upcoming Starz series Down Under.
Apparently not content with showing an already-released trailer, SoHo decided to make its own, and what's pretty amazing about it is that most of the footage shown here has never been seen in the previous trailers.
Not only do we get lots of brand-new scenes with our main characters, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan), but we also have our first look at Colum (Gary Lewis), Laoghaire (Nell Hudson), Jamie’s sister Jenny (Laura Donnelly), Geillis (Lotte Verbeek) and many others in action.
Produced by Ron D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) and based on Diana Gabaldon’s best-selling series of novels (there are now eight of them), Outlander tells the story of World War II combat nurse Claire Randall, who is flung back in time in 18th-century Scotland, where she meets young Scottish Highlander James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser (JAMMF).
Outlander will premiere on Starz on Aug. 9.
BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
We've glimpsed a fair number of set pics, but Zack Snyder has finally revealed the first official photo of Clark Kent's alter ego from Batman v Superman.
Though most of the attention has been placed on Ben Affleck’s rebooted Bruce Wayne, whom director Zack Snyder described as “a crusty old Batman beating the snot out of guys” in an interview with USA Today, this is still technically a sequel to Man of Steel.
To that end, Snyder said he’s had a good time trying to figure out obstacles to put in front of Superman so they can “push him around a little bit,” and praised Henry Cavill’s performance. Snyder also admitted he was in “no rush” to add Batman to the film, but after looking at their long-term arc, decided it “seemed organic the way our story was unfolding to start to feather him in.” Fair enough.
Snyder also finally took a shot at trying to explain that bizarre “v” in the film’s title, which is more akin to a court case than an actual “vs.” symbol. It’s apparently not a typo. Snyder explains it was a deliberate decision to “keep it from being a straight 'versus' movie, even in the most subtle way.” Hmm, okay. But, c’mon — it either is or isn’t a “versus” movie. If it’s not a “versus” movie, then call it something other than Batman v Superman. Just sayin’.
In our first official look at Cavill's return, the big boy scout is looking darker than usual, and that might just be Gotham City serving as a backdrop for this rain-soaked shot. Maybe.
MAX STEEL
The first stills from Open Road Films' Max Steel have arrived.
Max Steel stars Ben Winchell as Max McGrath and Ana Villafane as Sofia Martinez. Written by Marvel Studios veteran Christopher Yost (Thor: The Dark World) and directed by Stewart Hendler ("Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn"), the film is said to be an in-depth origin story that chronicles the adventures of 16-year old Max McGrath and alien companion Steel, who must harness and combine their tremendous new powers to evolve into the turbo-charged superhero Max Steel. As these two unlikely friends struggle to accept their oddly connected fates, they begin to uncover unimaginable secrets, working together to find the truth, and fighting the mysterious forces threatening their world.
Andy Garcia also stars in the film, which is planned to hit theaters on an as-of-yet-unspecified date in 2015.
ONCE UPON A TIME
Following word earlier this week that Elizabeth Lail had been cast as Anna and Scott Michael Foster will play Kristoff in Season 4 of ABC's "Once Upon a Time" comes news that Elsa from Disney's Frozen has been cast as well.
Actress Georgina Haig, who played Henrietta Bishop on FOX's "Fringe" and can currently be seen on CBS' "Reckless," has landed the role!
The Frozen arc on the ABC series is expected to follow the events of the hit movie.
In May, the Season 3 finale of "Once Upon a Time" revealed that characters from Frozen was going to appear on the fourth season with the below tease.
THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014
HERCULES
Fans of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson have been watching him fight for years, dating back to his time in WWE, but this might be his biggest challenge yet. In a new motion poster for Johnson's movie "Hercules," he's squaring off with a gigantic lion.
Regardless of the size, is any lion truly problematic for the son of Zeus? "Hercules" also stars John Hurt, Ian McShane and Joseph Fiennes, and is directed by Brett Ratner. It hits theaters July 25.
HOLIDAY MARATHONS
There are many, many more marathons taking place over this holiday weekend. Here are just a few you might want to take in.
Friday, July 4
American Ninja Warrior (6am-ypm, Esquire)
NCIS (6 a.m.-8 p.m., USA)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (8 a.m.-6 a.m. Saturday, BBC America)
The Twilight Zone (8 a.m.-8 p.m., Syfy)
The Walking Dead (9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday, AMC)
Transformers Rescue Bots (11 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Hub)
Cube (1-7 p.m., Chiller)
Criminal Minds (4 p.m.-4 a.m. Saturday, A&E)
Saturday, July 5
Alaskan Bush People (11 a.m.-4 p.m., Discovery Channel)
Heroes (11 a.m.-4 p.m., G4)
Deadliest Catch (4 p.m.-3 a.m. Sunday, Discovery Channel)
Sunday, July 6
NCIS (9 a.m.-midnight, USA)
American Ninja Warrior (9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Esquire)
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction? (2-7 p.m., Chiller)
ARROW NEWS
"Arrow" Season 3 has another martial arts expert coming to the flashback world of Oliver Queen: Karl Yune will play Maseo Yamashiro in several episodes when the show returns in the fall.
According to TVLine, Maseo is one of Oliver's handlers when he is taken to Hong Kong by A.R.G.U.S. Both a teacher and a friend to Oliver (Stephen Amell), Maseo is also the husband of Tatsu Yamashiro -- also known as Katana.
The full relationship between Oliver and the Yamashiros will only become clear when "Arrow" Season 3 premieres Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
Marvel’s small screen spin-off Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. dropped some major bombshells in that season one finale, and now Agent Coulson, himself, has opened up about what’s coming next.
Clark Gregg, who plays the resurrected agent-turned-S.H.I.E.L.D. director, chatted with IGN about where the series might go once it returns this fall. With all the Hydra fallout and post-Winter Soldier insanity, the season ended on a great setup for a bolder, more ambitious (and hopefully more interesting) year two.
Gregg seems to agree, and had this to say when asked if we’ll see a more “off-the-grid,” take on S.H.I.E.L.D. now that its essentially an unaffiliated, rogue agency being rebuilt from the ground up:
“That's a really interesting point just because what's been clear to me is that the Agent Coulson who's running this team post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, post-Hydra, post-being killed and brought back to life with something in him he doesn't understand… He’s a very different Coulson than the guy who everyone knew. A lot of people who knew him in the old days say, "He's different." I think you would have to be different having gone through that stuff. So I think he's reinventing himself and re-understanding himself as a person anyway, which is probably really necessary to taking in the new environment and figuring out what SHIELD ought to be in a way that it doesn't get rotten again …
Well, Coulson got to watch himself pre-memory wipe describing why he thought the whole Tahiti Project was a bad idea. He was talking about all the things that were happening to the people they were using on it and why he suggested they can the whole thing - and looked pretty shaken while he was saying it. So I've got to suspect that some of the stuff he saw and some of those patients have some version of the stuff that's going to happen to him. So we go from having no SHIELD at all, with a director on the run, to a tiny Guerrilla SHIELD with Agent Coulson at its head, and maybe not in his own right head. That sounds fun. That sounds like an interesting Season 2.”
We’d have to agree. The first season was alright, but it was missing that spark that keeps the Marvel movies burning. It started having fun by the end, though, and we’re hoping that excitement will carry over into the new season.
Gregg also touched on the network’s plan to finally keep the series running consecutively week-to-week (as opposed to a week on, two weeks off), except for a mid-season break that will make room for the new prequel series Agent Carter. Here’s his take on the new scheduling plan:
“I think it's a great idea. I think in the present age of TV, nobody wants to go down two weeks here, three weeks there. I don't like it. I don't think our fans liked it. It didn't let us keep the momentum going with the story. It's been amazing to watch how much the show clicked into gear, first of all, after the events of Winter Soldier, but when we got to run 10 episodes without a break. You can download the season of so many shows on Netflix in one day -- who wants to take a two-week pause? I don’t!"
BATMAN AT COMIC-CON
It’s been a long wait, but the acclaimed 1960s Batman series is finally (finally, finally) getting a home release. Want to see the first trailer?
The rights to the show, which starred Adam West as the comic book-y Caped Crusader, have been mired is red tape for years, which has prevented the series from ever getting a legit, full-fledged DVD or Blu-ray release with all 120 episodes. Until now.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment plans to make a splash about pending release of Batman: The Complete Television Series at Comic-Con later this month, and has scheduled a panel with special guests Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar for Thursday, July 24 from 6-7 p.m. in Hall H.
The studio will be dropping some new info on special features and the like at the event, but while we wait, they’ve released a stellar sizzle reel that is a zip-bang dash of nostalgia.
The home release is tentatively set for November 2014.
HAUNTING OF CELLBLOCK 11
Writer/director Andrew P. Jones' Haunting of Cellblock 11 is now available on VOD from Gravitas Ventures and and you can check out a trailer for the horror thriller. Hitting DVD this September, the movie stars Jeffrey Johnson, Linara Washington, Charley Koontz and Dee Wallace.
In Haunting of Cellblock 11, a television ghost hunting show called "Ghost Sightings" is having trouble capturing compelling paranormal activity and faces possible cancellation by the TV network. As luck would have it, they are approached by an elderly man who is being tormented by entities and needs the team's help to rid him of his unrelenting demons. In a last ditch effort to capture apparitional evidence, the team follows the man's lead and heads to an abandoned prison in the middle of the country where they encounter skittish locals, leery of the prison and the secrets it holds.
Despite the warnings, the team sets up their cameras and investigates the infamous Freeling State Penitentiary in hopes of capturing enough evidence to keep their TV show on the air. However, it doesn't take long before the team is faced with malevolent spirits that put their lives in true danger. As the night wears on, it becomes a fight for their lives as the team struggles to survive against the ghost of an inmate who died in the prison and now is attempting to come back by inhabiting one of the team members, presenting a real, physical threat to the remaining ghost hunters.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014
SHERLOCK
"Sherlock" has at least one nearly definite death in its future: Mary Watson, nee Morstan, will die at some point in the series. While she will probably survive Season 4, John Watson's wife is probably doomed.
Why? That's mainly because death was the fate of Mary Watson in the original Sherlock Holmes series of stories. "While we play fast and loose with the original stories, we generally follow the trajectory of what Conan Doyle did," "Sherlock" star Martin Freeman tells the Telegraph in a recent interview. "[Watson] gets married, and then Mary dies -- so at some point presumably she'll die."
Don't worry about losing Amanda Abbington -- the actress who plays Mary on the show as well as Freeman's real-life partner. Freeman also points out that Abbington will be around the program "for the foreseeable future."
Fans will just have to hope that she will survive at least until Season 5 of the always-delayed British series.
AMERICAN GODS
A TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel "American Gods" has new life thanks to Starz -- and it's hired a couple of big-name writers to bring it to the screen.
The book, about a pending battle between the mythological Old Gods and new gods created by Americans' love of money, media and technology, had been in development at HBO. The cable channel ulitmately passed, citing problems with getting the script right. Production company FremantleMedia then picked up the rights to the novel and struck a deal with Starz to develop it as a series.
Bryan Fuller ("Hannibal," "Pushing Daisies") and Michael Green ("The River," "Kings") will write a pilot script and executive produce the show with Gaiman. Fuller and Green will also serve as showrunners if "American Gods" goes to series. The two previously worked together on "Heroes."
"When you create something like 'American Gods,' which attracts fans and obsessives and people who tattoo quotes from it on themselves or each other, and who all, tattooed or not, just care about it deeply, it's really important to pick your team carefully," Gaiman says in a statement. "You don't want to let the fans down, or the people who care and have been casting it online since the dawn of recorded history. What I love most about the team who I trust to take it out to the world, is that they are the same kind of fanatics that 'American Gods' has attracted since the start. I haven't actually checked Bryan Fuller or Michael Green for quote tattoos, but I would not be surprised if they have them."
ZOO
After the success of the Stephen King novel-turned-show "Under the Dome," CBS has ordered another summer series based on a book. The network announced it is adapting James Patterson's "Zoo" into a 13-episode series set to air during the summer of 2015.
"Zoo" is a thriller about a young biologist who must solve the mystery surrounding a wave of violent animal attacks against humans throughout the world. The No. 1 New York Times bestseller was originally published in September 2012.
Patterson will executive produce the project, along with Jeff Pinkner ("Fringe"), "Star-Crossed's" Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg ("Life on Mars"), who all wrote the script. James Mangold, Cathy Konrad, Bill Robinson, Leopoldo Gout and Steve Bowen are also EPs.
"'Zoo' further demonstrates our commitment to high-quality, year-round programming and to high-concept series that play to summer audiences in the U.S. as well as on a global scale," CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler says in a statement, calling the series "another summer blockbuster event."
SCIENCE FICTION ON NETFLIX
Whenever Netflix includes a robust crop of sci-fi, fantasy and horror films and series in its monthly Watch Instantly additions, we like to round them up here as a heads-up for you, because we know how much you enjoy that quality time with your couch. This month brings with it plenty of TV, including the return of the Netflix original horror series Hemlock Grove and new seasons of Continuum, Lost Girl and the acclaimed new anime Knights of Sidonia. Plus, Rick Moranis shrinks his kids, Timothy Hutton fights with his pseudonym, Star Trek boldly goes to the movies for the first time, and Casper Van Dien made a Sleeping Beauty adaptation.
DOCTOR WHO
A new set pic from Peter Capaldi’s upcoming season of Doctor Who, and it looks like everyone’s favorite killer robots are back.
The pic show’s Capaldi’s 12th Doctor and guest co-star Michelle Gomez posing on the street as a gaggle of Cybermen come creeping up behind. No word on which episode this might be from, but we can’t wait to see how Capaldi handles them.
The Cybermen were last seen in Matt Smith’s 2013 episode “The Time of the Doctor.”
The eighth season of Doctor Who will debut at BBC America on Saturday, Aug. 23.
ARROW
Actress Devon Aoki has been cast as Tatsu Yamashiro, aka Katana, for the upcoming third season of "Arrow"!
A skilled martial artist, Katana gets her name form the deadly sword she wields which contains the souls of everyone she has killed, including her late husband. It's unclear if this supernatural angle will manifest itself in the character in the series, but we do know that she will be important to Oliver's flashback sequences in the upcoming season. In the comics, the character is closely associated not only with the Birds of Prey but also Batman's The Outsiders.
This isn't the only sword-bearing comic character Aoki has played either, as she took on the role of Miho for the original Sin City in 2005.
"Arrow" airs Wednesdays at 8 P.M. ET/PT on The CW with the new season set to premiere on October 8th.
TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2014
HIEROGLYPH CANCELLED
Though FOX ordered its Egyptian drama "Hieroglyph" to series for a midseason launch, the project has been canceled.
THR reports that the plug had been pulled due to "creative reasons." Only one episode of the 13 that were ordered had been filmed when the decision to cancel was made. Writers on the series were working on scripts for the remaining episodes.
The cancellation comes only a month after FOX Entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly announced he would be leaving the company. A replacement has yet to be named.
SHERLOCK RETURNS - 2015
"Sherlock" Season 4 may still be years away, but star Martin Freeman thinks the BBC could air a "Sherlock" Christmas special for the holiday season of 2015. Sher
The news comes from an interview with Britain's Telegraph published on Sunday (June 29). Freeman first indicates that "Sherlock" production could resume in early 2015 -- saying it "looks pretty likely" at that time. When questioned further about what is coming in the hugely popular mystery series, Freeman offers a prediction with reservations.
"If that's going to be a special -- I'm speaking off message ... I think that might be for next Christmas," he says. "A Christmas special. That's what I understand."
This is both good news and bad news for "Sherlock" fans. Any sort of return date is a plus, but the Christmas special also indicates that audiences might have to wait even longer for a full Season 4.
Neither the BBC nor U.S. broadcaster PBS has made any announcement about a "Sherlock" return date.
THE ZERO THEOREM
It's been a while since we last heard anything about Terry Gilliam's return to science-fiction, but now we've got concrete info on when you can check it out.
The movie, called The Zero Theorem, made the festival rounds late last year and then secured distribution in March. There's been little news since then, but Giant Freakin' Robot now reports that the picture will bow on VOD systems on August 19, followed by a theatrical rollout on September 19.
I expect more people will get to find it on VOD, which seems to be the case with anything these days that doesn't say "Marvel" or "Transformers" in the title. A lot of movies that are just not easy to market in multiplexes are going that route, and regardless of whether The Zero Theorem is good, it does not sound like something with a lot of mainstream appeal.
Then again, that could apply to almost all of Gilliam's films. His last real hit was 12 Monkeys back in 1995, and the last movie of his to get any half-decent distribution was The Brothers Grimm, which briefly occupied 700 screens 10 years later. Barely anyone saw his last two efforts, Tideland and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.
I'll always find time for a new Gilliam, however, and so do a lot of top shelf actors: The Zero Theorem boasts Christoph Waltz, Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton and Ben Whishaw, among others. A new international trailer is available below in case you have not had a chance to get a look at what this probably odd and hopefully wonderful new movie is aiming for.
85 YEARS OF FAMOUS ROBOTS
Whether the great robot uprising occurs in our lifetime or not, we're certainly smitten with the mysterious metallic monsters, maniac machines and cyborg creatures invading film and TV.
Call them walkers, robots, cyborgs, replicants or droids, they've populated our popular sci-fi entertainment for nearly 90 years. Here's a video montage salute to the multitudes of intelligent machines marching through movies and television by Michael Mirasol, from Metropolis' Maria to Blade Runner's Roy Batty, Transformers, AT-ATs, droids, the Borg, Gipsy Danger, Data, WALL-E and the T-1000, it's a charismatic riot of rampaging robots destined to rule the world.
Take a peek and remember, most of these A.I. amazements are friendly...for now!
CONSTANTINE
Some new info on NBC’s Constantine series has arrived thanks to the pilot episode’s director Neil Marshall, and it sounds like the small-screen Hellblazer will officially be smoke-free.
Marshall chatted with Collider at the recent Saturn Awards ceremony and dropped some interesting intel about the latest DC television series. According to Marshall, the series (at least in the early going) makes no mention of him having cancer, which as comic fans know, is a pretty key part of the mythos. The character will also not have a smoking habit.
Here are some choice excerpts from the interview:
"No we’re not (smoking). It’s the one thing, a compromise I guess. On network it’s the one thing you can’t smoke on network. That’s one of his character traits. We’re working around that. We’re trying to get aspects of it in there as much as possible. We’ll see …
Hannibal is on NBC, and that’s pretty dark and disturbing. Whatever the regulations are, you can be as dark and disturbing as you want and we’re going to go in that direction. The intention is to be as dark and scary as possible with the show. And that was our whole kind of plan going in, to make it scary. So we’re going to explore all kinds of things. But the smoking is very frustrating. Who knows where it will go; where the story will go; where the character will go. There’s still lots of options.”
Yes, logistically, it makes sense the character won’t be lighting up. That’s a pretty common rule on network television — the no-smoking thing — so it makes sense they’ll have to follow it. But it still represents a major tweak to the comic canon. We’ll be curious to see how they play this, and if they might throw some homages in there (i.e., perhaps he’s on the patch?).
As for the other stuff? We’re glad to hear they’re going the dark and disturbing route, and the Hannibal comparisons are a nice sign. The ratings might stink, but Hannibal is one heck of a good show. So, nice connection to make there.
The series premieres this fall on NBC.
BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
Fans eager to see what Clark Kent will look like in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice got what may be a sneak peek from an unlikely source Monday when an image of Henry Cavill from the set of the movie appeared on Twitter.
The official account of the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund posted an image of Cavill holding up a shirt supporting the cause, while standing next to a chair with the name “Clark” and dressed in a smart trench coat, suit and tie combination that would appear to be classic Kent if not for the fact that it’s missing the trademark glasses (Cavill, of course, doesn’t wear them himself).
The “RM1664Challenge” that the tweet says Cavill is supporting is a 6656km marathon Royal Marine Commandos are undertaking this year to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the organization. The challenge aims to raise money for the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund, which helps wounded and injured marines transition back to civilian life. The challenge is split into five phases—skiing, sailing, cycling, kayaking and finally running—with the marines currently in the final phase as they run 1664km across the United Kingdom.
Batman V Superman is currently in production for release May 6, 2016. Below, enjoy your first look at Superman’s alter ego from the movie (Feel free to Photoshop in the specs yourself).
WALKING DEAD MARATHON AND SNEAK PEEK
For the July 4th weekend, AMC will air a special marathon of "The Walking Dead." All four seasons of the hit series will air back-to-back beginning Friday, July 4 at 9:00 a.m. ET/PT, and also include a first look at the highly-anticipated fifth season. The marathon weekend culminates with a "Talking Dead Season 5 Preview Special," hosted by Chris Hardwick, on Sunday, July 6 at 9:00pm ET/PT featuring "The Walking Dead" showrunner and executive producer Scott M. Gimple and actress Aisha Tyler. The fifth season of "The Walking Dead" premieres this October.
Fans can also check out two new documentaries about "The Walking Dead," produced by Big Machine for AMC Studios, which feature all-new behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and producers from the set in Atlanta:
"Inside The Walking Dead" – Tuesday, July 8 at 10:00pm ET/PT: This one-hour documentary will showcase how this remarkable series is made. The executive producers will discuss the process of mapping out the show and viewers will hear from all of the key production departments – from production design and special effects to costumes and makeup – about their role in crafting the world of "The Walking Dead."
"Inside The Walking Dead: Walker University" – Tuesday, July 15 at 10:00pm ET/PT: AMC’s second doc will follow the journey from extra to walker. Viewers will learn that there is much more to becoming part of the living dead than just make-up, and will get an inside perspective on the choreography, acting and motivation behind each zombie, including a look at what takes place at The Walking Dead’s own Zombie School.
"The Walking Dead" is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. The series tells the story of the months and years after a zombie apocalypse and follows a group of survivors, led by sheriff Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. "The Walking Dead" stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Chandler Riggs, Melissa McBride, Emily Kinney, Danai Gurira, Chad Coleman and Sonequa Martin-Green. The series is executive produced by Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, David Alpert and Tom Luse.
Sandra Bruckner (sgbruckner@aol.com)
Editor/Publisher
ISN News: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net
Copyright - SBruckner, 1999-2014
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