Archive for March, 2008
Posted by admin in News on March 31st, 2008
J.K. Simmons is the latest actor announced for scripter Diablo Cody’s Jennifer’s Body. Best known today as the father in Cody’s Juno, he’s no stranger to the genre. Also signing on is Adam Brody (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) who will play a vile rocker in the film.
Street Fighter climbs back into the feature ring with a brand new live-action film. Casting was announced this week and the film features Neal McDonough (Tin Man) as Bison, Kristen Kreuk (Smallville) as Chun-Li, Michael Clark Duncan (The Green Mile) Balrog, Chris Klein (Day Zero) as Charlie Nash and Taboo (Black Eyed Peas) as Vega. The 20th Century Fox film is about the begin production with a 2009 release being planned. Directing is Andrzej Bartkowiak (Doom)
Abrams Looking for First Vampire
J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company is trying to snag the remake rights to Sweden’s Let the Right One In , a vampire film already generating buzz as a European hit. You can judge for yourself when the film makes it the United States although right now it’s only screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Magnet Releasing already has announced plans for a DVD release.
Abrams and company are rapidly expanding their reach through film and television with multiple projects in the works, notably the forthcoming Star Trek feature.
Posted by admin in News on March 31st, 2008
Jared Padalecki will play someone who comes investigating Camp Crystal Lake in the forthcoming remake of Friday the 13th. Padalecki is no stranger to horror given his starring role on the CW’s Supernatural. Not only that, Padalecki has been in the remakes of House of Wax and Flight of the Phoenix.
Filming begins shortly in Austin, Texas with a release date set for February 13, 2009 (when else?). Marcus Nispel (Pathfinder) will direct from Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Freddy vs. Jason)’s screenplay.
Odette Yustman (Cloverfield) is the only previously cast actor and Michael Baily Smith (The Hills Have Eyes) said he’s been talking with the team about playing Jason.
Posted by admin in News on March 31st, 2008
Scifi.com will be expanding its offerings including souped up pages in support of their television programming but also expanding their original content, similar to their cool dvice pages.
A Sci Fi game site will launch in mid-April as an expert blog and social hub for gamers in case you need another social networking site. The trivia quizzes and other games are being expanded into a full fledged game center with Asteroids and other classic games being made available. Battlestar Galactica fans will have the chance to compete in a social gaming competition accruing points for either the Cylons or Humans through various online games and challenges
Meantime, the fourth season premier of Battlestar Galactica will be streamed on their Rewind player some nine hours before it airs at 9 p.m. on April 4. Also, expect more webisodes, that is, original content debuting only on the website. Beyond BSG, there will be a Stargate Atlantis spin-off called Starcrossed with David Hewlett.
Meantime, the network has finally given the green light to the BSG prequel, Caprica. Right now it’s only a two-hour telefilm but could be a pilot and launch a series filling in the fifty years prior to the now-concluding BSG. Shooting begins in the spring with no cast or airdate announced.
Four other series have been given various production orders and these include:
True Believer - two-hour backdoor pilot; dramedy about a 20-something avid comic book reader who hires a has-been superhero to be his partner and together they try to save the world.
The Stranded - two-hour pilot; based on the comic book co-created by SCI FI and Virgin Comics. The story is about five ordinary people who realize their life, family and memories are a lie and that they are from another planet.
Deputized - two-hour pilot; a dramedy about an average guy who suddenly has special powers and becomes part of the inter-galactic police force.
Alice - six-hour miniseries; a new version of the Alice in Wonderland story from the team that created the so-so Tin Man.
Posted by bob in News on March 31st, 2008
The coolness that is likely to be Joss Whedon’s new Fox drama Dollhouse has been percolating pre-writer’s strike. With everyone back to work, Whedon has been busy completing the casting of the show which will star Eliza Dushku (Tru Calling) as Echo. Joining her as secret agents whose memories are wiped clean after each mission will be Dichen Lachman (Acquamarine) as Sierra and Enver Gjokaj (Spinning into Butter) as Victor.
Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica) will play FBI agent Paul Smith with Fran Kranz (Welcome to the Captain) playing brilliant scientist and computer programmer Topher Brink who imprints the dolls with specific memories. Smith and Echo will have a complex and yes romantic relationship.
Fox has given the show a seven episode commitment and expects to air this in the fall. With luck, unlike the network’s other SF offerings, this one will last.
Posted by bob in News on March 31st, 2008
He Is Legend: Celebrating Richard Matheson is coming from Gauntlet Press. The celebration takes the form of writers setting original stories in the worlds created by Matheons during his lengthy and prolific career. Edited by Christopher Conlon, the star-studded roster includes F. Paul Wilson, Joe Lansdale, Whitley Strieber, Richard Christian Matheson, William F. Nolan, Gary Braunbeck, Thomas Monteleone, John Shirley, and Ramsey Campbell. The book boasts the first collaboration ever between Stephen King and his son Joe Hill, a novella “Throttle”, which reworks Matheson’s classic Duel.
Matheson will by his 20,000-word, previously unpublished screenplay Conjure Wife, cowritten with Charles Beaumont. The screenplay was released in 1962 as, variously, Burn, Witch, Burn! or Night of the Eagle.
Harry O. Morris, considered Matheson’s favorite artist, has provided the cover and interior illustrations.
Coming in February 2009, Gauntlet Press is already taking advance orders for its various editions including a 750-copy, signed, numbered edition signed by all the contributors for $150; the same signed, numbered edition with a special beveled bonded leather slipcase with the cover art inset into the slipcase for $200 and a 52-copy lettered edition in a special bonded leather traycase (the only edition that Matheson will sign) for $500.
Posted by bob in Films, News on March 31st, 2008
The Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters has the inevitable American remake and has been retitled The Uninvited. The film will be released by DreamWorks.
Afterburn a series from Red 5 Comics, has been optioned for a feature film to star Tobey Maguiire (Spider-Man) with Neal Moritz (I am Legend) handling the script. The post-apocalyptic miniseries debuted in January and is written by Red 5 founders Paul Ens and Scott Chitwood, and illustrated by Wayne Nichols.
Maguire is said to also be developing a live-action version of the classic anime Robotech.
Posted by bob in News on March 31st, 2008
Dee Wallace, whom we’ve adored since The Howling, has been added to the cast of Ti West’s House of the Devil. Also in the cast is The Signal’s AJ Bowen (The Signal) Jocelin Donahue (The Burrowers) and Greta Gerwig (Baghead).
Sam Raimi has rounded out the cast to his Drag me to Hell. Joining Alison Lohman and Jessica Lucas, who play sisters, are Lorna Raver (Boston Legal) and David Paymer (Ocean’s Thirteen). Filming begins this coming Monday.
Agnes Bruckner (Blood & Chocolate) Lola Davidson (The Caretaker), Angel Oquendo (Haunted Echoes) and Jeryl Prescott (The Skeleton Key) star in the direct-to-DVD film Vacancy 2 to be directed by Eric Bross (Vampire Bats).
Posted by bob in Films, News on March 31st, 2008
Robert Zemeckis will follow up Beowulf with another performance capture film, Calling all Robots. The film will be written and directed by Michael Dougherty (Superman Returns ) for Walt Disney Pictures. Zemeckis’ ImageMovers will handle the production on the film described as a sci-fi adventure.
Dougherty will coscript with Breehn Burns and Simeon Wilkins, both of whom will be visual designers on the project. He described the project to Hollywood Reporter as telling “a story that’s a throwback to old Godzilla movies. I grew up watching Godzilla movies. This film is very much rooted in those movies.” Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat is finally set for a 2008 release after being bumped from last fall. Zemeckis himself is at work on A Christmas Carol, also using performance capture and set for a Christmas 2009 release from Disney
Posted by bob in News on March 31st, 2008
Lionsgate will release Alive or Dead on DVD this June 17, retailing at $26.98. They describe the thriller this way: “While traveling down a desolate road, Maria comes upon an apparently abandoned school bus. A girl has written ‘Help Me’ in one of the windows, and Maria quickly discovers the messy secrets that lie in the back of the bus. Maria soon finds herself hidden and trapped with the girl as the killer takes them on the ride of their lives. Their journey leads to a bizarre medieval castle nestled in the desert, a location where they’ll quickly learn their enemy is not who they think. The girls must figure out whom to trust if they hope to make it home, Alive or Dead
Posted by bob in News on March 31st, 2008
William Monahan (The Departed) wrote a story for a forthcoming issue of Playboy that has already been optioned for a film which he will write. It’s a profile of Jim Keene, the son of a police chief, and a drug dealer who works undercover at a psychiatric institute to avoid jail time. His assignment is to get a serial killer to open up and reveal the location of his victims.
Story elements for the fourth Terminator have been leaking out well ahead of its May start date. The McG-directed action-adventure story will spotlight the relationship between John Connor (Christian Bale) and Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), his dad. One of the earlier T-models will also be introduced, played by Sam Worthington (Avatar).
Chris Evans told MTV that the strong negative word of mouth twice over seems to have sunk the possibility of a third Fantastic Four film and you know, we’re okay with that.
J.K. Simmons is the latest actor announced for scripter Diablo Cody’s Jennifer’s Body. Best known today as the father in Cody’s Juno, he’s no stranger to the genre. Also signing on is Adam Brody (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) who will play a vile rocker in the film.
J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company is trying to snag the remake rights to Sweden’s Let the Right One In , a vampire film already generating buzz as a European hit. You can judge for yourself when the film makes it the United States although right now it’s only screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Magnet Releasing already has announced plans for a DVD release.
