It’s been over a year since we’ve seen any significant developments regarding Slingers, the Firefly-meets-Ocean’s Eleven television show from UK writer Mike Sizemore. The last anyone heard, Slingers was in a developmental holding pattern, existing only as a “sizzle reel.” But now it seems that the show might be moving forward sooner than anyone realized. Jose Molina (fan-favorite writer of sci-fi gems Firefly and Dark Angel) revealed in a tweet that he was prepping to start writing Slingers with Sizemore. Follow the jump for all the details.
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The blurry photo above is making the rounds today, proving that the promo photo (currently shown on the new movie’s IMDb page) isn’t a fluke: Superman is indeed losing his red briefs — or at least wearing them on the inside — just like he did a while back in the comics.
As you might imagine, this has created quite a buzz among aficionados. Change scares the hell out of fans, but it’s not all negative talk. Hell, it’s not even the first costume change for the Man of Steel in recent years. As RoboticJesus points out over on ComicVine, Supes wore jeans and boots once. And he’s a character that response well to change. What do you think?
(via @TheOperatorGWC)
Collider reported this week that MGM hired Noah Oppenheim to pen the forthcoming WarGames update, with Seth Gordon to direct. Oppenheim is a bit of a question mark as a screenwriter. His IMDb page lists producer credits (Losing It with Jillian, Today, Hardball with Chris Matthews), but no completed screenwriting gigs — though Collider reports he’s working with Spielberg and other big-name producers at present. Gordon recently directed Horrible Bosses, and offered Collider some insight into his WarGames take:
“I love the original. I’m a bit of a hacker fanatic, and know a fair bit about that industry and cyber crime and cyber warfare. I have a real point-of-view on the material and how things have changed. And also, I think the politics of the world have changed in really fascinating ways since 1983. There’s no longer a monolithic evil empire somewhere, spreading a different philosophy of life. That doesn’t exist. It’s a much more complicated, nuanced, political world we’re in, and I think that actually makes for a more interesting plot to tell. Frankly, cyber attack is a lot more real.”
If you’d asked me five years ago, I’d have wholeheartedly agreed with the idea that warfare has gone entirely unconventional: that we no longer live in a world of large empires battling as much as we do a world of large empires struggling to retain their stability among many smaller factions fighting to destroy it. And I’d say that’s still true when it comes to guns-and-bullets warfare. But cyber warfare seems like a different story.
Fans at last week’s Las Vegas Star Trek convention got a bit of a shocker from Walter Koenig. His quote (via TrekMovie.com):
“[J. Michael Staczynski] told me that he is in negotiations to re-acquire the rights to Babylon 5 and it looks pretty good. Now what that portends I am not entirely sure. It could be a new series or it could be a feature film, but he was quite animated about it. He seemed very excited and Warner Brothers is dealing with him in good faith. So you might see another Babylon 5 in the not too distant future.”
So maybe there’s reason for B5 fans to get excited after all. Or maybe not. Straczynski is denying the rumors. “Walter misspoke,” he told Spinoff Online, “I am not in negotiations with WB to develop more Babylon 5.”
Earlier this year Warner Bros’ Alcon entertainment made entertainment news headlines by acquiring the “film, television and ancillary” rights to Blade Runner sequels, firing up the rumor mill with possibilities of new Blade Runner content — though not a remake/re-boot as “Alcon’s franchise rights would be all-inclusive, but exclude rights to remake the original.” Fans much lamented the possibility of a Scott-free ‘Runner future. Weep no more, though: Today Alcon announced that Ridley Scott will helm the next Blade Runner.
Our friends over at Slice of SciFi picked up on Eureka producer Amy Berg’s tweets, explaining the reasons behind the show’s cancellation. From their news piece:
“Everyone is asking why [the show was cancelled]. It’s simple, really. We are the network’s golden child in every way, except for profit margins. Fact is, Eureka is an expensive show to make,” she said on Twitter. “We could not maintain the quality of our show with the cuts it would take to make us profitable for Syfy’s new parent company.” Berg went on to say that Syfy wanted to renew the show and worked to try to make that a reality. But in the end, that didn’t happen. “Trust me, they love us,” she said. “We just couldn’t make the numbers work.”
If that’s the case, does this mean that a Chuck-like push to existing and potential advertisers might indeed have a hope of saving the show?
The Operator tipped us off today to an Entertainment Weekly piece interviewing Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the husband-and-wife team who wrote the seriously awesome RotPotA screenplay. The bombshell drops when the interviewer asks about the possibility of sequels. While Jaffa and Silver clearly state that “there hasn’t been any official discussion yet about a sequel,” they admit that they had sequels in mind when they penned RotPotA — and they mention some specifics.
I’m usually one to be completely engrossed in watching a movie at home. In fact, to make sure I hear the dialogue correctly, I usually turn on the closed captioning. But with a movie or franchise I’m really interested in, I know I’ll be watching the movie over and over again, like the obsessed geek I am. I’ll watch the movie, the commentaries if they’re available, and the included special features on the DVD or Blu-ray — then I’ll listen to podcasts that discuss the movie. This week I discovered a new way to geek out over a movie with more in-depth material than I’ve seen before: Disney’s Second Screen.
One of the frequent gripes in the SciFi community is the lack of quality programming for our genre. The shows that do come along don’t seem to get the network and/or fan support they deserve and often end up cancelled before they hit their stride. We all whine, wail, and barbarically yelp about this subject all the time.
So imagine my pleasant surprise when I picked up the April 11-17 issue of TV Guide and saw their SciFi Review. Not only did they spotlight upcoming new shows like Falling Skies (TNT’s alien invasion drama) and FOX’s Terra Nova (now set to premiere in the fall), but they reminded viewers of existing standbys set to begin new episodes or seasons this spring, like Chuck, Torchwood, Sanctuary, and Dr. Who. This list didn’t even include other renewed favorites like Eureka, Warehouse 13, and SyFy’s very successful American version of Being Human.
With all these shows (including all the ones I didn’t name), paranormal fare like Vampire Diaries and Supernatural, as well as the Wonder Woman reboot, I’m left wondering, What exactly are we complaining about?
As I write this blog entry, 2010 is coming to a close and New Year’s is right around the corner. After enjoying Tron: Legacy last week with family and friends, I started to wonder what will be the holiday movie blockbuster next year. From there it was a short trip to wonder what the entire year’s worth of movies would be that interest me. So the list that follows is exactly that: dates and names of movies that I’m looking forward to in 2011 and beyond. Of course the dates get a little more fuzzy the farther out it is, so take them with a grain of salt. If I’ve missed any, please be sure to let us know in comments. If you’re interested in some in particular, let us know that, too! Here’s hoping that 2011 will be a great movie year!
I’ve been meaning to write and recommend Sunshine for ages now, and the Big Three’s discussion on the podcast about Chris Evan’s casting as Captain America has prompted me to action.
Danny Boyle (director of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire), doesn’t like to claim himself as a sci-fi director, but with 28 Days Later and Sunshine under his belt, it’s obvious he’s pretty good at it. In Sunshine, 50 years in our future, an eight-person crew flies a vessel called the Icarus II toward the Sun, pushing a nuclear bomb the size of Manhattan in hopes of reigniting the dying star. When they discover the remains of the Icarus I, the first doomed ship to attempt the mission, things go from bad to worse, and it becomes less and less likely that they’ll survive long enough to save humanity.
Wassup all — it’s the Operator!
It’s award season! That special time of year when LA folks start name-dropping and talking incessantly about who’s who of the what’s what in movies (okay, that’s year round). ANYway, the Producers Guild of America has chosen their nominees for Best Picture. Usually, this list includes one, maybe two I have seen, the rest…not so much.
This is different, however. Three of the nominees for Best Picture are films that some of us may have heard about, if not actually seen.
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
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