Sci-Fi Saturday: Cloverfield 2, 300 2, Transformers 2, Batman 2 + Heroes, Atlantis, Jericho & more

This week we have good news on the follow-up to to 300 and bad news on the follow up to Cloverfield. Plus details on the Transformers and Dark Knight sequels along with more new trailers, images and movie posters than you can handle. In TV Land Jericho is still making news, plus we got Heroes details, Atlantis photos and more. Also the Saturn awards were this week and JJ Abrams Lost was the big winner. All that and more below.

2008 Saturn Award Winners
"Lost" was the big winner at the Saturn Awards on June 24th, picking up four awards, including best network television series, best actor (Mathew Fox), best supporting actor (Michael Emerson) and best supporting actress (Elizabeth Mitchell).  Mitchell shared the best supporting actress win with Summer Glau ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles").  Click here read a complete list of winners.

MOVIE NEWS

Cloverfield Prequel NOT Coming Soon
Matt Reeves, who directed the J.J. Abrams-producer monster picture "Cloverfield" told SCI FI Wire that a sequel to the hit film has been put on the back burner:

"The thing that we sort of promised ourselves is we only wanted to do another one if we could come up with something that felt as fresh to us to make as that one did," Reeves told SCI FI Wire in an interview at the Saturn Awards adding "We’re still kind of toying with what it’s going to be and whether or not we’re going to find something that will be as exciting for us to make and, hopefully, for an audience to watch. So we’ll see. It’s really in the baby, baby stages. And right now it’s definitely on hold until we come up with what that would be." 

Reeves also confirmed earlier reports that the next film could be a prequel that runs parallel to the original, exploring the back story of the creature:

"We did talk about that, and I think that we would find some way, if we did it," he said. "Some of the ideas we’ve come up with reference this idea and reference the film, so that there is a sense that it’s related to this film. But it would be different. I would need [it] to be really different." 

Dark Knight Sales Strong, Buzz Building + Ledger Dedication and New Viral
There are some good signs that "The Dark Knight" is primed to open huge on July 18th.  Fandango is reporting that dozens of midnight screenings on Thursday night/Friday morning have already sold out.  Sales are also strong at MovieTickets.com, with the site reporting that the movie has sold eight times as many tickets as "Spider-Man 3" sold at the same point in the sales cycle.  Judging by the first leaked review which compares its quality to "The Godfather II" (read it at AICN and another from Collider here) it seems like this is going to be one amazing movie.  In other ‘Dark Knight’ news, Christian Bale gave an interview with Parade talking about his Batman character (read excerpts here and here) and Warner Bros. has confirmed that the film’s credits will include a dedication to the late Heath Ledger, as well as special effects technician Conway Wickliffe who was killed last September in a stunt-car accident.  The dedication will read as follows: “In memory of our friends Heath Ledger & Conway Wickliffe".  And finally, in viral news, there’s a new edition of The Ha Ha Ha Times/The Gotham Mimes (check it out below).  Sprinkled throughout the paper’s four pages are letters circled in red, when assembled the following messages are formed:

Herrings are red
Corpses are blue
You’re on the right track
But you don’t have the clue

Bay on Tformers 2 Plot + More Set Photos + Rainn Wilson Spotting
In an interview with the New Jersey Times, Michael Bay revealed and confirmed some details about "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (notice that the ‘2’ has been dropped from the title). Bay told the paper that the story picks up with Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) visiting Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) at his university and that the movie "is all about Sam growing up and going to college … a teenager growing into a man."
In other Transformers news, Tranformers Live Blog has a batch of new set photos, including Rainn Wilson shooting a scene where Sam is late to his Astronomy 101 class and Howard Stern personality Lester "Beetlejuice" Green on the set while Movie Chronicles has a snapshot of Shia LaBouf and Megan Fox (shown below) and lastly, The Movie Blog received a tip about one of the film’s scenes:

"On the first day of class, Sam goes crazy just before getting to class for some reason. It seems there is some object that he was exposed to that affected him, our guess is the splinter from the cube. …[In class] Sam read [an entire text book] in five seconds by just flipping through it, then starts telling Wilson’s character about what parts of his book are wrong. He also starts talking about how Einstein was wrong. Sam gets up from his seat and goes up to the chalk board and starts writing a lot of weird symbols on the chalk board (probably Cryptonian)."


Megan and Rainn on the set of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

300 Prequel Moving Forward
While at the Saturn Awards, "300" producers Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari confirmed to Collider that they are going forward with a prequel/sequel to the hit R-rated epic:

"We’re working on sequel of 300, the prequel of 300," said Nunnari. Canton offered the following, "We’re looking to do another 300 and we’re looking for Frank Miller and Zack to do their thing. …Because we’ve had obviously around the world quite seriously such an amazing journey. It keeps on going. We’re talking about the genius of Frank Miller and Zack Snyder."

"300" director Zack Snyder also confirmed the news, telling Collider in a separate interview: "Yeah, I’ve talked to Frank a little bit about it, and he’s going to do something, I think he’s going to draw something. We’ll see what he does. If something’s cool we’ll make a movie out of it."

Mark Millar is Ready to Kick-Ass
Mark Millar, director of "Wanted" told Comic Book Resources that production on his comic-book adaption of "Kick-Ass" has fully commenced:

"The casting’s all been done, and everything’s all in line now with that. There’s two big names attached, which I can’t mention so we can get on the cover of ‘Variety.’ And now we’ve got everyone. The kids who show up at the end of issue #3 – we just cast the girl, and that was a really tricky one because we needed to find someone who could do martial arts stuff."

NEW IMAGES

The Green Hornet (logo from teaser site)

Punisher: War Zone

Saw V (teaser poster)

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (more here)

Cinema Expo Posters (via Film1.nl)

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Dragonball

G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Watchmen (more here)

NEW VIDEOS

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (two more video clips here and here)

Third and final trailer [HD Version]

 

Animated Comic

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor [HD Version]

Space Chimps

MOVIE BITES

  • The movie trailers for "The Day the Earth Stood Still" will be attached to prints of "Hancock" next week, while the first trailer for "Watchmen" will be attached to "The Dark Knight" the week after.
  • "Lost Boys: The Tribe", the straight-to-DVD sequel to the cult 1987 teen-vampire movie will have its world-wide premiere at 10pm on July 24th at Comic-Con International in San Diego.  The movie hits DVD and Blu-ray Hi-Def on July 29th. [SCI FI Wire]
  • The official title for the upcoming live-action "G.I. Joe" adaptation will be "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra."  Check out some new character posters here.
  • Edgar Wright has confirmed that a second draft of the "Ant-Man" script is still underway and that the film will be a "different way of seeing a superhero origin, because you’ve seen so many of them and we really tried to figure out a fresh take on that story. [Cinematical]
  • Bruce Campbell’s horror-comedy "My Name Is Bruce" will hit theaters this October.  And that’s not all, a sequel titled "My Name is Still Bruce" is also in the works. [STYD]
  • Louis Leterrier ("The Incredible Hulk") has been hired to direct the Lawrence Kasdan-scripted remake of "Clash of the Titans". [Variety]
  • "War of Gods", a new Greek mythology epic that will be filmed like "300", has landed a director.  Producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann revealed to Collider that Tarsem Singh ("The Cell") will helm the film.
  • Hans Zimmer and Bob Digi (aka: The RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan) have teamed up to score Vin Diesel’s "Babylon A.D.".  The sci-fi thriller hits theaters this August. [blogs.westword.com]
  • Collider has an extensive three-part video interview with Guillermo del Toro in which the director discusses "Hellboy II", "The Hobbit", "Lord of the Rings" and more.  Check it out here.
  • A new three-disc collectors edition of Rob Zombie’s "Halloween" will be released on October 21st.  The set includes a four-and-a-half-hour long documentary about the making of the film. [CHUD]
  • Out doing promotion of his latest movie, rapper-turned-actor Common gave some of his thoughts on the now defunct "Justice League" movie and talked a bit about his part in "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins": I’m playing the role of Barnes, a resistance soldier with John Connor, fighting the machines". [Cinematical]
  • DreamWorks has acquired the film rights to "The 39 Clues", a multiplatform fantasy adventure series that will be launched in the fall by Scholastic Media.  Variety reports that Steven Spielberg is looking to direct. [ComingSoon.net]

TV NEWS

Tim Kring Talks Heroes: Season Three
"Heroes" creator and executive producer, Tim Kring, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming third season of the series will take viewers deeper into the back story of the show’s characters:

"One of the things that this volume is going to do that, I think, is really going to be fun for the audience is that there were very initial sort of primal questions that the show asked.  "Who am I? What’s happening to me? How am I connected? Where are these powers coming from? All of those questions get reframed and turned on their head in a very interesting way in this volume."

The first volume of the season, titled "Villains", will focus on the nature of good and evil and Kring said that Zachary Quinto (Sylar), who was originally written out of the last half of the second season due to shooting conflicts with his "Star Trek" work, will continue to play a big role in the third season.

"Well, we have no plans of saying goodbye to Sylar right now," Kring assured fans. "I mean, that was yet another silver lining for the strike, was Zach Quinto’s availability to us in the third volume. I mean, that was a huge thing for us to be able to have him back. As you guys know, he would have disappeared for a large chunk of the second half of season two. And so, for us, it was a big, big deal." 

"Jericho" Stars Still Hopeful for Show’s Return, Perhaps as a Feature Film
Brad Beyer and Ashley Scott, two stars of CBS’s twice-canceled series "Jericho", told the gathered press at the Saturn Awards that they would be more than open to shooting a movie based on the series:

"We got here and caught wind of a possible movie idea, which we thought was really good," Scott said  "I think Brad had heard about it online the other day, and I just heard tonight, and I thought that would be really wonderful, wouldn’t it? Kind of put a closing on it."

Beyer echoed the comments, adding that the cast feels like the show still "needs some closure, because it still feels kind of weird," Beyer said. "I mean, we didn’t get to a whole second season. … I think you can do a lot more with it. I think there’s a lot of different ways you can go with the story."

Atlantis Photos
The official photos from Atlantis season five have been released, more at Gateworld.

CBS’s Fall Schedule Released
CBS has released its fall 2008 schedule.  Here are the premiere dates for the networks new and returning Sci-Fi series:

  • The Mentalist – Tuesday, September 23rd at 9pm.
  • The Ghost Whisperer – Friday, October 3rd at 8pm.
  • Eleventh Hour – Thursday, October 9th at 10pm.

TV BITES

  • It’s being reported via various sources that the "Doctor Who" finale will be 65 minutes in length, a good 10-15 minutes longer than the average episode.  It won’t be an issue for the British airing, but it will be when it airs on the SCI FI Channel.  There’s no word on how SCI FI will treat the episode. [TV Squad]
  • Fans of the syndicated Sci-Fi series "Babylon 5" have donated a prosthetic mask that was used to transform the late actor Andrea Katsulas into the alien G’Kar to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, N.Y. A large image of the mask and a detailed description are available on the museum’s web site. [SCI FI Wire]
  • "Supernatural" creator/executive prodcuer Eric Kripke has singed a two-year exclusive deal with Warner Bros. TV, according to Variety. Meanwhile, TV Guide has reported that due to financial reasons, the fourth season of "Supernatural" will go forward sans Katie Cassidy (Ruby).
  • Thomas Dekker, who plays John Connor on Fox’s "Terminator" TV series, gave an interview with Collider in which he talks about the upcoming season.  Check it out here.
  • Michael Shanks will guest star in a four-episode story arc on USA Network’s "Burn Notice" this season.  Shanks will play a spy named Victor. [MichaelShanks-Online.com]

Special Battlestar Galactica Section
With no new "Battlestar Galactica" planned for some time (the second half of the final season isn’t planned to get going until at least 2009, though we could be getting a TV movie.  More on that below), we thought we’d include a special section this week on all the BSG-related news and bits.  Enjoy!

  • The current news is that filming on the "Caprica" pilot has wrapped and that though "Caprica" hasn’t been given a green light for its 13-episode first season, the order could come within days.  The site’s also reporting that the previously reported TV movie will focus mainly on three characters (Cylons) and offers are currently on the table for those actors.
  • Plaidstallions has a collection of vintage BSG toys that you’ve likely never seen before.  Check them out here.
  • Got $8,000 laying around?  NBC is selling life-size (7-foot) replicas of the Cylon centurion robots from the show for the bargain basement price of just $7,900.  Head to your local specialty retailer or online at www.the-robotman.com and NBCStore.com to place your order.
  • Who do you think is the final Cylon?  Place your bets at BetCRIS.com.  Dualla is currently the odds on favorite, with 4-5 odds. [Wired]
  • Follow along as Bear McCreary takes you through what it was like scoring the midseason finale "Revelations" at his blog.

SCI-FI RATINGS

Top 10 SF&F Broadcast Shows   HH Rating/Share
1) Ghost Whisperer (R)   3.2/6 (4.95M)
2) Fear Itself 3.2/6 (4.87M)
3) Smallville (R) 1.2/2 (1.83M)
4) Supernatural (R) 1.2/2 (1.72M)
5) Reaper (R) 0.9/2

5/26/2008 to 6/01/2008 – Source: Nielsen Media Research

Top 10 SF&F Syndicated Shows   Rating
1) Stargate SG-1 0.9
2) Star Trek   0.9
3) Dead Zone 0.6
4) Stargate Atlantis   0.6  


5/26/2008 to 6/01/2008 – Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire

Top 10 SCI FI CHANNEL Shows   Rating  
1) Ghost Hunters 1.7
2) Rise: Blood Hunter 1.5
3) Battlestar Galactica 1.3
4) ECW 1.1
5) Doctor Who 1.0
6) Hybrid 1.0
7) Resident Evil    1.0
8) Cursed    0.9
9) Dog Soldiers    0.8
10) Bride of Chucky    0.8

5/26/2008 to 6/01/2008 – Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire

 

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Thomas Dekker plays John Connor in “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, NOT in “Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins”! T:SCC is the TV series and TS:TFB is the upcoming movie.

First!!!

Can’t wait for season five of Stargate Atlantis to come on.

I can’t wait for The X-Files and The Dark Knight!

4. You just read my mind. I’ve been especially looking forward to The X-Files, since the first mention was thrown out there years ago. Also, early reviews on TDK are great, with some predicting a posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger.

DARK KNIGHT! *dies*

Love that Joker.

I can not believe it!!!!! The Green Hornet!?!? June 25, 2010!?!?! I am so freaking there!!!!! Th 1960s TV series was amazing and the comic book series was awesome! I can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sell Car,,, buy Cylon Centurion,,,

Of course my wife will understand,,,

hmmm,, or I could go with the old,
,”Look what followed me home dear,,can we keep it ? ”

: o )

Some nice news for those of us looking forward to The X-Files: according to IMDb, Tom “Frohike” Braidwood is working on the movie as a first assistant director, second unit. Pretty much doing what he did on the series when he wasn’t onscreen.

I was scrolling through the article and saw a big with “V” on it. I instantly thinking no way! The Visitors are coming back on the big screen! Then a split second later I saw the poster was for Saw 5. Now I’m sad.

I know I know
I’m a geek.

sorry that last post should have read “I was scrolling through the article and saw a POSTER with a big “v” on it..

The way the BSG Caprica snippet is written, it makes is sound as though the ‘prequel’ already has skin jobs. How could they have kept that a secret for 40+ years? I wish prequel-writers would watch that stuff. Continuity (not necessarily canon) matters.

http://www.plaidstallions.com/mattel79/bsgfigures.html

So, the Imperious Leader was a mandrell? Who knew? Plus, I’m not really sure that handgun is for kids… their bored moms, maybe.

300 SEQUEL AND PREQUEL…

Shouldn’t they be called “302” and “-300?” :)

I’D BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT “THE GREEN HORNET”…

…if I was convinced that Seth Rogan was more than a one-note actor. He’s funny in small doses, but he’s not exactly versatile. We’ll see.

um — Who cares about the title actor in The Green Hornet? Won’t people going to see who’s playing Kato?

The Doctor Who Finale is indeed 65 minutes long, can’t believe I have to wait a whole week to see what happens, I won’t spoil anything but there is one hell of a cliffhanger at the end of episode 12!

Just a note, Summer Glau is in SCC, not the new T4 movie.

That aside, I don’t think I’m excited for any other movie this year the way I’m excited for The Dark Knight. I’m fairly certain it’s going to bulldoze right over Iron Man and The Hulk (and hopefully have far less wink-wink, nudge-nudge moments that the Marvel films seem so enamoured with).

Lotta things I could comment on from this entry but the one that comes to mind ….”Lawrence Kasdan-scripted remake of “Clash of the Titans” ”

Without IMDB-ing his career….where has he been lately? Why hasn’t Lucas used him on his latest projects?! Seeing as how he wrote the best Star Wars, – the best of the Indiana Jones, — could his talents have not been used for these rather than a remake of Clash of the Titans?

15

I guess I’m in the minority on this one but this new re-imagining of Batman just hasn’t done it for me. Guess I don’t see it.

I want to see the Day the Earth Stood Still trailer!

I’m looking forward to seeing many movies and TV shows coming up. My Best of List for 2008….thus far is looking pathetic. Note: Some things are missing or shouldn’t be on here, due to not having seen enough movies this year and a writer’s strike.

Movies TV
1Cloverfield 1Lost
2The Happening 2Battlestar Galactica
3Incredible Hulk 3The Office
4Indiana Jones 430 Rock
5Iron Man 5Weeds
6Speed Racer 6Desperate Housewives
7Forgetting Sarah M. 7South Park
8Leatherheads 8Terminator: SCC
9 9Reaper
10 10Nip/Tuck

Dualla is the 4-5 favorite for the fifth Cylon? Only if D’anna was lying in the mid-season finale. She said only four of the five were in the Colonial Fleet.

That rules out Dualla, Adama, Lee and Starbuck. But not Roslyn or Baltar who were on the Cylon base ship.

RE Transformers

“Sam gets up from his seat and goes up to the chalk board and starts writing a lot of weird symbols on the chalk board (probably Cryptonian).”

Cybertronian surely?

That said Superman vs Optimus Prime would be cool

Seth Rogen as the Green Hornet?!?!?
?!?!?!?!?
I guess Jack Black was too busy.

Very cool to read that Syler is going to get some good quality/quantity airtime on Heroes. Quinto has breathed real juice into that character, and the more he is on screen, the better. Who would have known the strike would have such a positive effect on the show.

we didn’t drop 2 from title of Transformers. When Kurtzman came up with that title, it never had a 2 on the cover of our script.

The season opener for Stargate:Atlantis Season 5 is ‘out there on the internets’.

Overall – an amazing episode. Very tight, well scripted and it’s apparent someone got a boost in the EFX budget. Very cool. New opening credits as well, featuring the new doctor and Woolsey.

No spoilers, but the episode does have a few surprises especially in the first 5 minutes.

Only one complaint – this has to be the the biggest ‘wounded hero trying to carry on’ episode of any series or movie ever.

Just a Lurker here coming out of the shadows to point out a spelling error. You forgot the s at the end of the late (and great) Andreas Katsulas’ first name.

Fantastic site, btw. Thanks for keeping us in the know.

tree cube deliver red site house

Re: the BSG toys: not only have I seen them, I used to own half of them!

#20 – No, D’Anna would never lie to the humans. Never. Why would she do that?

I still like Gaeta as the final Cylon. But wasn’t Helo also on the Basestar at the time?

14: Since Rogen is writing it, I think the safe bet is Jonah Hill.

ECW is NOT Science Fiction!

SG1’s dear Don S. Davis passed away on Sunday. So Sad :(

Regarding the identity of the final Cylon on BSG, if Leoben is to be believed in the S1 episode “Flesh and Bone” when he told Roslin that “Adama is a Cylon,” then yes, it could be Dualla because she’s technically still married to Lee.

The problem, however, is figuring out why she wasn’t “summoned” by the music in “Crossroads, Part 2,” along with Tigh, Tyrol, Anders and Tory …

… unless, of course, she was the one broadcasting it, in her capacity as communications officer. However, this further begs the question of why she chose/was influenced to play the music at that particular time.

Most definitely, the final Cylon is female, if the male-to-female ratio of skinjobs mirrors the 12 primary Olympian gods in Greek mythology.

If Roslin marries Bill Adama, however, then she, too, could be the 12th Cylon. Then the question would be why she’s “malfunctioning” and suffering from cancer.

And why couldn’t the final Cylon be Carolanne Adama, the admiral’s “late” wife?

This is what’s so fun about BSG: There are so many plausible theories, based on the in-depth characterizations. Can’t wait for 2009!

Take what Leoben said with a grain of sallt. The skin jobs arent supposed to think about the FF, they were programmed not to. They did not know who they were before D’Anna’s visions…Leoben was just lying. Adama may be the last cylon, but don’t read too deeply into what Leoben said.

omg a 2nd 300 will be amazing. i loved the 1st one nd i deffintaly look forward to it. i hope it’s gonna b as good, if not better than the 1st.

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