30/04/08 - Hill in talks to transform his image

Comedy actor Jonah Hill (Superbad) [pictured right] looks set to star in the follow up to 2007's Transformers movie, according to American magazine Entertainment Weekly.

Hill is in talks to play Chuck, the college roommate of Sam Witwicky (played once again by Shia LaBeouf).

A casting sheet for the movie has been obtained by entertainment website IESB.net, which describes the character as: "19-25 yrs., Sam's roommate at Princeton. He runs a conspiracy theory website. Funny in an irreverent, edgy way, he is shocked to see his conspiracy theories come to life. "

Transformers 2 will begin filming this summer and is expected to be released in US cinemas on 26 June 2009.

 

29/04/08 - Henstridge's next project is a disaster

According to a report on Sci-Fi Wire, Natasha Henstridge (Species) [pictured left], James Cromwell and David James Elliott are to star in a two-part sci-fi disaster TV movie to be called Impact which will focus on a dwarf star striking the moon and wreaking havoc on Earth.

The TV movie is being directed by Mike Rohl (Smallville) from a script by Michael Vickermanh, and has already been pre-sold to more than 90 territories, including Austria, Russia, Poland, Latin America and the Middle East.

 

28/04/08 - First look at new Indiana TV trailer

The second TV trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is now available to view online - ahead of its TV release.

The new movie is set in 1957, and sees an older and wiser Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) up against agents of the Soviet Union - led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) - in an adventure to procure a priceless crystal skull.

Indy is aided by former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) and fellow archaeologist "Mac" George Michale (Ray Winstone). John Hurt and Jim Broadbent also appear as fellow academics.

The fourth Indiana Jones film will be released on 22 May.

 

25/04/08 - Sky to make space for a new Blake's 7

Blake's 7, the sci-fi show which originally ran on the BBC from 1978 - 1981, looks set to return to our screens for a new series.

Sky One has been given the go ahead to produce two 60-minute scripts which, if popular, could spawn a full series.

Elaine Pyke, commissioning editor for drama at Sky One, Two and Three, said: "The time is ripe for a revival of a show that represents the best traditions of the genre, not to mention one of the best-loved and most successful dramas of all time."

Blake's 7 followed a gang of rebels fighting an evil federation that ruled the galaxy.

 

24/04/08 - Latest Harry Potter game announced

Electronic Arts and Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment will be releasing a new Harry Potter console game later this year based on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Like the film, the game is based on the sixth volume in J.K. Rowling's best-selling franchise. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was.

In the game, players will return to Hogwarts to help Harry survive his sixth year by engaging in wizard duels, mixing and brewing magical ingredients in potions class and taking to the air to lead the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is scheduled for release in time for the movie launch this autumn and will be available for the Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS, PC, Macintosh and mobile devices.

 

23/04/08 - Black Panther makes the leap to TV

Marvel Comics's The Black Panther is about to make the leap from comic book to animated TV series, according to a report in trade paper Variety.

In the comics, The Black Panther is actually T'Challa, the king of the African nation of Wakanda. T'Challa is mystically linked to the Black Panther totem, which enhances his strength, agility and senses to superhuman levels.

In addition, Wakanda is the sole source of the metal known as Vibranium, and as such, has access to extremely high technology, which T'Challa uses to aid him in his role as the Black Panther.

 

22/04/08 - Live and let dive for Bond stunt driver

Filming on the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, was disrupted recently when a stunt driver crashed Bond's car into Italy's Lake Garda.

The driver was delivering the iconic Aston Martin DBS to the film scene in heavy rain when he lost control around one of the lake's narrow curves. The driver was quickly rescued and taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Italian TV showed the car, reportedly the only one available for use in the film, being winched out of the lake.

Click here to see footage of the car being recovered from the lake.

Quantum of Solace will be released in the UK on 31 October.

 

21/04/08 - Sarah Connor isn't terminated

TV Guide in America is claiming to have an exclusive scoop on the future of TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

According to the weekly magazine, the show has been given the green light for a second season.

The Fox Network, on which the show airs, has yet to make any official announcement on the future of the show.

The series stars Lena Headey as Sarah Connor, the mother of John Connor (played by Thomas Dekker), who will one day become the leader of the human resistance against the Terminators. Summer Glau (Firefly / Serenity) also stars as a Terminator sent back from the year 2027 to protect John Connor.

 

18/04/08 - Is another Indiana movie on the cards?

In a recent interview with USA Today, Harrison Ford revealed that he would be interested in reprising the role of Doctor Henry Jones Jnr. in another movie after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull if the opportunity arose.

It has been almost 20 years since he last played Jones in 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and nearly 27 years since he first played the character in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark. But Ford said that getting back was easy. "It's as though you put on that hat, the leather jacket, the bag, the whip, the gun - or even the schoolteacher's suit - and it comes back to you", he said.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is released worldwide on 22 May 2008.

 

17/04/08 - X-Files news story you can believe in

The new X-Files movie will be called The X-Files: I Want to Believe, according to trade paper Variety.

"I Want to Believe" was a slogan which featured throughout the TV series and appeared on a poster hanging in Mulder's office.

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson return as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe is due for release in UK cinemas on 01 August.

 

16/04/08 - Young X-Men movie in the works

In a recent interview writer-director Zak Penn (The Incredible Hulk) revealed that he is currently involved in two further sci-fi projects.

Talking to ComicMix, Penn [pictured right] talked about writing and directing an X-Men spin-off film. "It's like a young X-Men. It's a pretty cool idea, actually. I can't sell you the whole idea, but it involves a younger group of X-Men at the beginning."

He also added that the film will be "getting back to the classic X-Men."

Penn also talked about a another movie he's developing entitled Bermuda Triangle, a sci-fi film that is designed to be a summer blockbuster:

"It is about the Bermuda Triangle and about all those kinds of mysteries, but he has a really cool take on it and it's like a big summer event movie."

 

15/04/08 - New life given to Ghost in the Shell

A 3-D live-action movie is being planned for Ghost in the Shell after DreamWorks acquired the rights to the Japanese manga and anime franchise.

Ghost in the Shell is a futuristic police thriller, set in Japan, that follows the exploits of a member of a covert ops unit of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission that specializes in fighting technology-related crime.

Created by Masamune Shirow the franchise, which was first saw life as a manga in 1989, has gone on to spawn three anime film adaptations, an anime TV series and three video games.

 

14/04/08 - First look at the Clone Wars series

The trailer for the upcoming animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is now online [see below].

The series is set on the front lines of an intergalactic struggle between good and evil, where fans young and old will join such favourite characters as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala, along with brand-new heroes like Anakin's padawan learner, Ahsoka.

Sinister villains - led by Palpatine, Count Dooku and General Grievous - are poised to rule the galaxy. Stakes are high, and the fate of the Star Wars universe rests in the hands of the daring Jedi Knights.

 

 

11/04/08 - Is this the future of movie posters?

The makers of the movie Speed Racer have unveiled a hi-tech 3D image which is being hailed as the future of movie posters.

An online version of the poster is available where the figure of Speed holding his helmet in the foreground moves in 3D.

Speed Racer is based on a Japanese TV series and stars Emile Hirsch and is directed by the Wachowski brothers, who also made the Matrix trilogy.

As well as featuring live actors, the film uses high-definition digital image capture of locations including Italy, Morocco, Austria, Turkey and Death Valley to create wrap-around virtual sets.

Speed Racer is released in the UK on 9 May.

Click here to view the online version of the poster (format: Quicktime)

 

10/04/08 - Firefly to get Blu-ray special edition

Jewel Staite, who played Kaylee on the short-lived sci-fi series Firefly, has revealed that a Blu-ray special edition of the show will be released soon.

Talking to a crowd at the 2008 Supernova Pop Culture Expo in Melbourne, Australia, Staite said: "I just heard that they're re-releasing Firefly, a special edition of Firefly, in a box set. They actually asked me if I was able to come down to L.A. and do a commentary in the spring. So I think that would be fun."

 

09/04/08 - Stormtrooper forced to attend court

A legal battle has begun at the High Court in London over who owns the rights to the Stormtrooper costumes used in the Star Wars films.

Lucasfilm, which owns the Star Wars brand, sued Andrew Ainsworth, who made some of the costumes for the 1977 Star Wars movie, in 2004 when it found he was selling replica outfits from his London-based Shepperton Design Studios.

Ainsworth's company was originally fined £10m by a US judge for copyright infringement, and now Lucasfilm is bringing a similar case to the UK.

A Stormtrooper costume used in the original Star Wars movie was brought into the High Court for the hearing. Michael Bloch QC, representing Lucasfilm, said the Stormtrooper evolved from an original idea by George Lucas which was developed within the studio. But Mr Ainsworth is resisting the copyright claim and says he owns the rights.

The court heard how all of the Stormtrooper costumes were based on an original painting by Ralph McQuarrie. The case continues.

 

08/04/08 - Hulk feature smashes onto Internet

A new behind-the-scenes feature for The Incredible Hulk movie has been posted on the Internet by Universal Pictures and Marvel Studios.

In this new beginning, scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) desperately hunts for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of rage within him: The Hulk.

Living in the shadows - cut off from a life he knew and the woman he loves, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) - Banner struggles to avoid the obsessive pursuit of his nemesis, General Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt), and the military machinery that seeks to capture him and brutally exploit his power.

As all three grapple with the secrets that led to The Hulk's creation, they are confronted with a monstrous new adversary known as The Abomination (Tim Roth), whose destructive strength exceeds even The Hulk's own. One scientist must make an agonizing final choice: accept a peaceful life as Bruce Banner or find heroism in the creature he holds inside - The Incredible Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk will open on US cinemas on 13 June.

Click here to view this feature (format: Quicktime)

 

07/04/08 - Charlton Heston dies aged 84

Charlton Heston - the Oscar winner best known to sci-fi fans for starring in the original Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green and The Omega Man - has died at his home in Beverly Hills.

Heston, who was 84, first found worldwide fame in the '50s, playing Moses in the biblical epic The Ten Commandments. He won the Best Actor Oscar for the title role in Ben Hur in 1959, and went on to star in '60s and '70s hits including Planet of the Apes and The Omega Man.

In a statement, Heston's family said: "Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice and, of course, for the roles he played.

"No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession and to his country."

Heston's publicist Michael Levine said: "If Hollywood had a Mount Rushmore, Heston's face would be on it. He was a heroic figure that I don't think exists to the same degree in Hollywood today."

 

04/04/08 - Bond causes an international incident

According to the BBC, a local politician has been arrested after driving onto the Chilean set of the latest Bond film, Quantum of Solace, to protest against the filming.

Carlos Lopez briefly interrupted the shooting to object to its producers using his community to film scenes ostensibly set in Bolivia.

Anne Bennett, Eon's director of marketing, said that Mr Lopez nearly ran over a local policeman as he drove through a cordon around the train station being used for the filming. He pulled up in his saloon car between the camera and a vehicle in which Bond actor Daniel Craig and co-star Olga Kurylenko were seated.

Quantum of Solace, named after an Ian Fleming short story, will be released in the UK on 31 October.

 

03/04/08 - Studio chickens out of Heroes spin-off

According to Sci-Fi Wire, Heroes will return to American screens for a third season from 15 September, but the proposed prequel spin-off, Heroes: Origins, will not be going into production.

Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, explained why Heroes: Origins was scrapped. The show was originally conceived to help eliminate Heroes repeats, and directors and writers - including Kevin Smith, Eli Roth and Michael Dougherty - had already agreed to be involved.

Silverman added: "We were taxing our creative team to do too much around that. We wanted 35 Heroes [episodes] and 12 Heroes: Origins, each of which was supposed to be a mini-movie and backdoor pilot. We reached far and challenged our people, and we decided it was better to focus on keeping the Heroes mothership as strong as possible."

 

02/04/08 - Who will return to Who after 2009?

According to a report on the BBC's website, Doctor Who star David Tennant and his latest assistant Catherine Tate attended the launch of the fourth series. Neither would be drawn, however, on their future in the programme beyond the three specials planned for 2009.

Fuelling speculation about his own future with the show Russell T Davies (executive producer and chief writer) told reporters it was "none of their business. I'm committed as long as I'm committed. Never mind what happens behind the scenes, it's what happens on Saturday night that's important."

Future episodes will see the Doctor meeting Agatha Christie, confronting classic villains the Sontarans and catching up with his former assistant Rose, played by Billie Piper. Tennant also revealed that the season finale would be "the biggest, boldest, maddest, saddest, most exciting story we've ever done".

Doctor Who returns to BBC One on 5 April at 6:20 pm.

 

01/04/08 - Ashes to Ashes to be resurrected

BBC One's time-travel series Ashes to Ashes has been recommissioned for a second series.

Though not as popular as predecessor Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes achieved a strong average audience of 6.5 million viewers and the opening episode achieved audience figures of more than eight million, according to the BBC.

Details of the new series are being kept under wraps. Filming on Series Two will begin in the summer and Ashes To Ashes will return to BBC One in 2009.

 

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