The Summer movie season is winding down and it is now time to think about future blockbusters. We got news on Transformers 2, the new Robocop, Venom spin-off, a possible Indy 5 and much more. Plus photos and vids from tons of movies including Friday 13th, the new Harry Potter, and Terminator 4. Plus TV news from Dollhouse, Heroes, Knight Rider, Doctor Who, Battlestar and many more.
MOVIE NEWS
The Fallen Confirmed for Transformers 2 + Possible September Teaser
Here’s further confirmation that the main villain in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" will be The Fallen. IDW Publishing spoke to MTV about a five-part prequel miniseries they’re launching entitled "Transformers: Destiny": "[We’re going to] explore the background of The Fallen — the main villain of the movie — as well as expand on the ‘Reign of Starscream’ story that we’re doing and tie everything in to what this next movie is going to be,” explained writer Chris Mowry. Also, co-producer Roberto Orci left a message on the Don Murphy message boards that the film’s teaser trailer may be attached to "Eagle Eye", which hits theaters on September 26, 2008.
George Lucas Interested in Indy 5, Though Spielberg More So
In a new interview with The Sunday Times,
George Lucas was asked if he, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford would be up for a fifth film in the "Indiana Jones" franchise, to which Lucas responded:
"If I can come up with another idea that they like, we’ll do another." Lucas went on to say that for the fourth film, he had to convince Spielberg to come on board, but now it’s the other way around: "Really, with the last one, Steven wasn’t that enthusiastic. I was trying to persuade him. But now Steve is more amenable to doing another one." That brought Lucas to reveal an interesting bit of information cluing us into what parts of ‘Indy 4’ were his idea, and which were Spielberg’s:
Yet we still have the issues about the direction we’d like to take. I’m in the future; Steven’s in the past. He’s trying to drag it back to the way they were, I’m trying to push it to a whole different place. So, still we have a sort of tension. This recent one came out of that. It’s kind of a hybrid of our own two ideas, so we’ll see where we are able to take the next one.
Darren Aronofsky’s Robocop Will Be Rated-R + No Plans to Release in 3D
When a new "Robocop" installment was announced, it was rumored that MGM was targeting a PG-13 rating. Thankfully, MTV is reporting that the Aronofsky-directed film will most likely be Rated R (just like the original), according to producer Mike Medavoy. Medavoy also denied reports that the film might be filmed and released in 3D. Head on over to MTV to read the full interview.
Robocop: keepin in old school
Venom Spinoff Still Moving Forward
Sony is looking into developing a "Spider-Man" spin-off film based on the villain Venom, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Sony had previously commissioned a draft of the script from Jacob Estes, but have decided to go in a different direction and are currently looking for writers to draft a new script. In terms of the cast, Topher Grace, who played the role of the villain in "Spider-Man 3", is likely not in consideration, with the studio more interested in going after another actor who they feel is more capable of anchoring a tent pole picture.
Ash Coming Back!
Over the weekend at Comic-Con, director Sam Raimi confirmed that "Evil Dead 4" is in the works and that Bruce Campbell will be returning: "I’d love to make another "Evil Dead" picture. And actually that’s in the wheelhouse. I’d like to work on it with my brother Ivan [Raimi] when he comes up next week." [Geeks of Doom]
come get some
Warner Bros. Ready to Move Forward with Super Max Movie?
Writer/director David S. Goyer told SCI FI Wire that Warner Bros. liked his script for his Green Arrow based film "Super Max" and that he believes the studio is ready to move ahead with the movie:
"The studio really likes the script," Goyer said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego. "Green Arrow seems to be one of the characters in the wake of this phenomenal summer … book-ended by "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight" [for which Goyer received a story credit]. I know that [for] Warner Brothers, Green Arrow is one of the characters that they’re really interested in [and] seem to be interested in moving forward with next."
Goyer told SCI FI Wire that the story "started out as a super villain-escape idea, and the idea was, well, we can either go Marvel or DC," Goyer said. "And I talked to both of them, and I kind of said, ‘Well, who can you give me?’ Because I needed a superhero that I can bounce off of. And I don’t know. For my money it was, if we went Marvel, it would be Captain America. If we went DC, maybe Green Arrow. And Green Arrow seemed like the best fit."
Baker Growls Over Possible CG Wolfman Transformation
Legendary make-up artist Rick Baker has created Benicio del Toro’s new look for the upcoming Wolfman movie, but he isn’t pleased about the transformation being done in CGI, telling MTV:
[CGI] can be really great, and I think it’s a great tool. But I think we should have been more involved with makeup in the transformation. Because, basically, we aren’t involved with the transformation at this point. Which is one of the more fun things to do in a movie.
Baker does add, however, that there’s still plenty of time to get something done: "At this point, nothing’s really been done [that is permanent]," Baker said of the April 3, 2009 film. "So, I’m lobbying to be part of that; I’ve been talking to the producers and saying ‘It’s my creation in the end, there’s a certain logic in the design of it. I know it’s different between Benicio’s face and the wolf face, because I sculpted that face. I know how the anatomy changes; I should at least be giving some guidance to the guys who are doing [the transformation in CGI]." Read the rest of the interview at MTV.
NEW IMAGES
Dragonball
Friday the 13th
Gatchaman (CG Rendered Concept Art–more here)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (more here)
Red Sonja
The Spirit
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li (Set Photos–more here)
Terminator Salvation
True Blood (more here)
Watchmen (more character posters here and more Empire photos here)
NEW VIDEOS
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [HD Version]
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Extended Clip)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
TR2N (Comic Con trailer…not good copy, but hard to find online)
MOVIE BITES
- One of the biggest surprises at this year’s Comic-Con, was the debut of the 3-minute long "Tron 2" trailer. Click here to get the story behind the creation of the trailer. [Jim Hill]
- Guillermo del Toro is producing a remake of ABC’s 1973 cult classic TV movie "Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark" for Miramax. Del Toro will be working with comic book artist-writer Troy Nixey, who will be making his directorial debut. The film is still in its early stages and research and development of the monsters still hasn’t begun yet. [THR]
- Wes Craven told MTV that he has had discussions with Bob Weinstein about a fourth installment in the "Scream" film franchise.
- Disney has pushed back the release of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" one year. The film was originally scheduled to release on June 19, 2009–one week before "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"— but will now be released on May 28, 2010. Though the new date takes it away from ‘Transformers 2’, it’ll now be released in between "Shrek Goes Fourth" and "Thor". [ComingSoon.net]
- "X-Files: I Want to Believe" executive producer Frank Spotnitz believes that the film did poorly not because of low awareness but because "we [Fox] weren’t counter-programming, like "Step Brothers" and "Mama Mia!" were. If you were looking for a dark, scary movie experience, you were almost certainly going to "The Dark Knight" that weekend, unless you happened to be a big X-Files fan." [IF Magazine]
- Disney has launched an official teaser website for their "Race to Witch Mountain" remake. Check it out at this link.
- Warner Bros. is developing a "Marvin the Martian" film that will blend live-action with CGI. The story pitched to WB has Marvin coming to Earth to destroy Christmas but being prevented from doing so when he’s trapped in a gift box. No writer or director has been signed yet. [Variety]
- Michelle Yeoh ("The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor") spoke about her role in the upcoming Mathieu Kassovitz futuristic sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D.", which stars Vin Diesel. [SCI FI Wire]
- Vivendi Entertainment has picked up the North American rights to David Zucker’s new supernatural comedy "An American Carol". Zucker is the director, producer and co-writer of the film, which opens wide on October 3, 2008. [Variety]
- Shia LaBeouf’s recent car accident that led to his arrest over the weekend, caused a hand injury that has slightly disrupted the production schedule for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". The actor will return to the set within a month. There’s no work stoppage, though a DreamWorks source told Variety that scenes featuring co-star Josh Duhamel had to be moved to work around LaBeouf’s absence. At least two days of filming were lost. [Variety]
- Five posters signed by "The Punisher: War Zone" star Ray Stevenson at Comic-Con last weekend will be auctioned off to charity. The five auctions will take place on eBay here, here, here, here and here. [SCI FI Wire]
- Carla Gugino talked about the role UFO’s play in the upcoming Disney remake "Race to Witch Mountain" and more with SCI FI Wire.
- Xingu Films has acquired the film rights to "American Reaper", the upcoming graphic novel created by Pat Mills and Clint Langley. Mills will write the screen adaptation, but not cast or director is attached. They’re targeting a budget of $50M+ for the film. [THR]
- David Goyer provided the following update on his "The Invisible Man" project which is a sequel to H.G. Wells novel and 1933 film: "I’m writing it right now," Goyer told ShockTillYouDrop. "I got Universal to hire some conceptual artists for me so they’re working tandem with me writing." The film will pick up months after Wells’ novel and it will be a period piece, loaded with several historical figures, including William Melville, head of Scotland Yard and founder of MI6.
- Anton Yelchin ("Star Trek") told reporters at Comic-Con that he based his character in part on Michael Biehn’s original in the first "Terminator" film. [SCI FI Wire]
- Chris Evans restated at Comic-Con what he said this past March: that there likely won’t be a third installment in the "Fantastic Four" franchise: "The second one came out, and I haven’t heard a word, and it’s been almost a year now. I would imagine "Fantastic Four" is done." Evans, who’s under contract should the studio decide to do another film, noted that "[Fox is] probably going to take the "Silver Surfer" franchise and run with that". [SCI FI Wire]
TV NEWS
More on that New Dollhouse Pilot
Taking a break from the set of filming on "Dollhouse", Joss Whedon explained why a new pilot episode needed to be filmed:
"It was interesting because when I was talking to the network, I could sense some hesitation about what I had given them and I understood why… I hit them with, ‘Let’s leave this, I’ll tweak some of it, which I was gong to do anyway, and let me write what I refer to as a prequel,’ because we come into this world with all of these people already.
Whedon echoed that sentiment in an interview with SCI FI Wire indicating that he’s shooting a new first episode (which goes into production on August 4th) mostly because of Fox’s reaction to the original pilot:
"It definitely has to do with the network and what I presented to them," Whedon admitted in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego over the weekend. "It was one of those situations where we were all very enthusiastic about the world we were building, but they loved the pilot when they read it, and then they saw it and they said, ‘OK, this feels a little different than we thought it was going to.’ I began to suspect that they wanted something from the first episode that that episode didn’t have. They [were] sort of wishy-washy about it, and I don’t say this against them, because what they were trying to do was not rock my boat. So I was like, ‘I think I can give them exactly what they want. It will make the show better, because everything I do in this episode will only have more resonance.’"
Heroes Creator Kring Worried About Online Content and Product Placement of Series
Tim Kring admits that there might be a little bit too much online content and product placement of the series. Kring made the comments at a NATPE LATV Festival panel discussion, saying that the abundance of content could take away from the experience of the show and the storyline The fact that the creative team working on the online content isn’t close to the team working on the TV show also complicates matters. He also expressed concerns over the product placement and corporate sponsorship.
New Doctor Who Showrunner Says Billie Piper Won’t Return
"Doctor Who" writer Steven Moffat says that Billie Piper won’t be returning to the series. Moffat says that what went down in the season four finale was a clever way to ditch the Doctor’s sidekick and in comments to fans, revealed that he wasn’t much of a fan of the character: "You have to hand it to the Doctor for dumping a slightly needy girlfriend by palming her off on a copy of himself," Moffat said, adding "He tried leaving her in a parallel universe and that didn’t work!"
New Direction for Knight Rider
Gary Scott Thompson, executive producer of NBC’s "Knight Rider" series told SCI FI Wire that he learned lessons from the backdoor pilot movie last year when they charted a new direction to take for the show this fall:
"I didn’t have anything to do with the two-hour [telefilm]," Thompson said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego over the weekend. "I was brought in after the movie to create the series, but what I found was that fans missed certain things–like the turbo boost and the interaction [between Mike, played by Justin Bruening, and K.I.T.T., voiced by Val Kilmer]."
Thompson, who was an executive producer on "Las Vegas", added that he "came in and wanted to revamp. "I went back and watched the original series, the first season, and asked, ‘What’s the mythology? Where are we going, and how do we create this 25 years later?’ It’s been all about taking the concept to the next level." "Knight Rider" premieres September 24th and will air Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT.
Heroes Part of the Inspiration for Kings
Executive producer Michael Green told SCI FI Wire that his previous work as a staff writer on "Heroes" was a big inspiration for the upcoming NBC drama, which is loosely based on the biblical story of King David:
"I wrote this while working on "Heroes" and was absolutely inspired by the work we were doing there: the larger-than-life storytelling," Green said during an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego over the weekend. "I absolutely bounced ideas off the writers there and asked for their help and advice at various points. I probably could not have written this without them being there encouraging me and giving me good ideas when I didn’t have them."
Green also noted that the series is not literal and that it veers into what he calls "soft sci-fi": "I’m not afraid of sci-fi, and I love it," he said. "We didn’t want to do this as a space opera. We wanted it to be a familiar world, but at the same time we are inventing a world. We had a lot of fun inventing what this world is going to look like. We are taking New York and impressing our own aesthetic and own iconography. We got to have a lot of fun with that. I remember talking to David Eick about this when he was doing ‘Battlestar, and he said they were always asking themselves the question ‘What do doorknobs looks like?’ We decided that we wanted to have things look like they could fit in our worlds, but you’re not sure what city it is." ‘Kings" will premiere on NBC’s midseason schedule in early 2009.
Battlestar Galactica Panel + Longer Episodes For Final Half of Season Four
The panel for "Battlestar Galactica" took place on the second to last night of Comic-Con 08. Here are some highlights of what was presented and what was said. First up, they screened a new trailer for the attendees. Click here to read a summary of it. The panel then moved into a Q&A. Here are some highlights courtesy /Film, Maureen Ryan and IGN:
- Ronald D. Moore offered the following clue about who the final Cylon is: "It’s someone you’ve seen before," Moore said. "It won’t be a guest star, it will be somebody who has graced your television screen on our program before."
- In the final set of 10 episodes, there’s "a tremendous amount of upheaval" and "things aren’t pretty" among the human survivors who’ve arrived on Earth, Moore said.
- When asked if she was the final Cylon, Sackhoff gave the following response: "I cannot confirm nor deny if I am alive or dead, the final Cylon or not [in the series finale], only that Kara finds peace at the end."
- Tricia Helfer (Six) told the crowd that, in the finale, she "gets to shoot some guns," and that Six’s last scene with Gaius involved a lot of "guns, running." It wasn’t revealed whether they were shooting at each other or someone else, but she described filming the ending of BSG as "like being in Apocalypse Now".
- All the panelists agreed that when they read the script for the finale, it was the only way for the show to end: "The ending is a perfect way to finish the show. Does everyone and everything justice," Tahmoh (Helo) Penikett said. "There is a lot of closure, and still some questions left."
Also, in an interview with SCI FI Wire at the event, executive producer David Eick revealed that producers have been "able to convince the network to let us air … long episodes–[to] take single episodes and make them double episodes, … [and to take] double episodes and make them quadruple episodes." Eick added: "Our episodes are always … long, and we’re constantly getting into the editing room with 10, 15, sometimes 20 minutes of material that you can’t get into an episode." With just a half-season remaining, Eick said, "the story has become so critical in order to realize the arc of the series that we can’t just cut stuff out and save it for later or push it ’til next year, the stuff we’re used to doing. It’s all got to be there." Click the image below to watch the nearly 1-hour long panel moderated by Kevin Smith.
TV BITES
- Formerly iTunes-exclusive episodes of "Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog" are now back online at Hulu, with a few changes. The episodes now come with short sponsor messages and you also have the option of watching the whole three-part series in one 42 minute sitting. [Dr. Horrible Twitter]
- Singer-turned-actress Shirley Manson talked about her new role in Fox’s "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" in an interview with SCI FI Wire.
- Robert Forster has joined the cast of "Heroes". Forster will play Arthur Petrelli, the father of Nathan and Peter Petrelli. The character has been established as being dead on the series, so it’s unclear in what sense he’ll be shown on the show, and whether he’ll be good or bad. [EW]
- David X. Cohen gave an interview with IGN about the latest direct-to-DVD/Blu-ray "Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs". In addition to tackling the topic of a proper "Futurama" theatrical release, Cohen also gave details about the Blu-ray release of the film, including special features, Easter eggs and more. [IGN]
- Justin Hartley, who plays Oliver Queen/Green Arrow on The CW’s "Smallville" talked to SCI FI Wire about his expanded role as a series regular in the show’s eighth season (September 18th).
- Gretchen Mol and Lisa Bonet have been added to the cast of ABC’s British remake of "Life on Mars". Bonet will play lead star Jason O’Mara’s present-day girlfriend, while Mol will play his 1970s girlfriend Annie Norris. [TV Guide and EW]
MISC
Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert Writing Batman RIP Sequel
Neil Gaiman is teaming up with Andy Kubert to write "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?". The book’s name is a reference to the 1986 Superman story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" (written by Alan Moore and Curt Swann) and will be reuniting the team that wrote 2003’s "Marvel 1602".
MISC BITES
- Kevin Smith has announced that he is co-writing a new "Batman" miniseries with Walt Flanagan. The three issue mini-series will re-introduce Onomatopoeia, whom Smith created during his "Green Arrow" run. [/Film]
- The battle between George Lucas and a UK costume maker (Andrew Ainsworth) over the rights to sell the Stormtrooper uniforms has been resolved. British High Court judge Anthony Mann ruled that Ainsworth violated Lucasfilm’s U.S. copyright by selling the replica uniforms through his Web site to customers in the US, but the judge refused to enforce a $20 million judgment LucasFilm won against Ainsworth in a California court in 2006. More details at Telegraph.co.uk.
SCI-FI RATINGS
| Top 10 SF&F Broadcast Shows | HH Rating/Share |
| 1) Ghost Whisperer (R) | 3.7/8 |
| 2) Eli Stone (R) | 1.5/3 |
| 3) Supernatural (R) | 1.3/2 (2.02) |
| 4) Smallville (R) | 1.3/2 (1.89) |
| 5) Reaper (R) | 0.9/1 |
7/7/2008 to
7/13/2008 – Source: Nielsen Media Research
| Top 10 SF&F Syndicated Shows | Rating |
| 1) The Dead Zone | 0.8 |
| 2) Stargate SG-1 | 0.8 |
| 3) Star Trek | 0.8 |
| 4) Stargate Atlantis | 0.7 |
7/07/2008 to 7/13/2008 – Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
| Top 10 SCI FI CHANNEL Shows | Rating |
| 1) Ghost Hunters | 1.6 |
| 2) Scare Tactics | 1.4 |
| 3) ECW | 1.4 |
| 4) Stargate Atlantis | 1.3 |
| 5) The Brother Grimm | 1.2 |
| 6) Star Trek: The Next Generation | 1.1 |
| 7) Ghost Hunters International | 1.1 |
| 8) Dragon Sword | 1.1 |
| 9) Ghouls | 1.0 |
| 10) Doctor Who | 1.0 |
7/07/2008 to
7/13/2008 – Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
The new Mummy trailer looks great! That is one I have been waiting for!
Wow! Great job compiling all of this! Thanks!
For those of you that are interested, my fathers ashes will be sent into space in T-15 min.
Go to http://www.spacex.com to view live lift-off
This time, his ashes will stay in space.
Glad to hear Sci-Fi is giving Moore a free hand to tell the final tales of BSG. The longer the episodes, the better….
UPDATE: It’s now scheduled for 8:00 PDT
#3
Maybe I’m a luddite but I couldn’t find a live lift-off from this link….
#3 & 5
Found it. Very appropriate final resting place for your father. I met him at a convention a long time ago. A true gentleman.
I would think Stargate Atlantis and Doctor Who would have better ratings.
Sci-Fi needs to do a better jo promoting their shows, the only thing I see advertising for is Ghost Hunters.
That Tron2 (TR2N) trailer has gotten quite a lot of buzz. I’m shocked Disney hasn’t released it in high-def Quicktime.
#8
Sci-Fi has never really promoted what they have very well. They tried BSG on the mothership, NBC and got fair ratings a couple of years ago, but unless you really monitored NBC programming, it was kept pretty much a secret.
Somehow, I think that just because Rose Tyler will no longer be featured on DW, I think we have yet to see the last of the Clone Doctor. Two Doctors running around, albeit in parallel universes, is likely to attract the attention of someone.
Robert Forster on Heroes – huzzah!
And I’m in the very small minority of people who really liked the X-Files movie.
That’s strange – we rented the new Futurama “Beast With a Billion Backs” a few weeks ago here in Canada. Did it not come out everywhere?
And Chris – I hope it all went without a hitch. It means something to me too. :)
#3: Chris, I met your dad once a long time ago at the one and only convention I ever attended. The promoters were being very strict about the autograph lines (we weren’t supposed to talk to the stars) but your dad completely ignored that. He chatted with every fan, asked everyone their name, and seemed genuinely happy to be there. He was by far the most personable celeb there. I’m sure you hear these stories all the time; as much as we miss our Scotty I’m sure you miss him even more.
Good luck Mr. Doohan. I hope it turns out all right.
#11: What I like about the clone doctor is that, since he ages, they can bring back David Tennant 20 years from now in some kind of nostalgia episode and they won’t need to try to make him look younger or handwave away why he doesn’t :)
And a big salute to Mr. Doohan; hope everything goes smoothly.
We should all fall to our knees and declare thanks to the heavens that they will not be making any more of those awful Fantastic Four movies.
The launch site says “Webcast suspended.” Ugh.
I guess the web folks didn’t draw inspiration from a certain “miracle worker.” :P
Mr. Doohan – thanks for letting us know about the launch. While this may seem like self-promotion, I wish you and Anthony (this site) would have made a bigger splash about the event.
Just my two cents. Godspeed, James Doohan.
I’ve waited 35 years for someone to remake “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”. Man, when I was a kid, that movie scared the crap outta me. I recently watched it on VHS thinking that it would be what it was, a hokey made-for-TV movie. Well…it wasn’t so much scary as it was hella creepy.
To make matters worse, I live in a 120 yr old Victorian that talks to itself. I’m all looking at my dachshunds going, “Why can’t you guys be rottweilers?”
I was going to send it to my badass Army brother and he was all like, “No way. That movie will make me scream like a girl.”
Now if someone would remake “Trilogy of Terror” I’ll be set.
I’m a little worried about Bruce Wayne these days. He’s missing in Robin and Nightwing’s books, he’s seeing dead crackheads (And dressing up like an alien) in RIP, and he’s in a torture machine underneath Bludhaven in Final Crisis. Now they’re making a “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader”?!?! Ouch. Character “Deaths” and resurections are tricky. It’s a fine line between terrible and… not as terrible. I just hope Morrison and Co. know what they’re doing. That being said, RIP is awesome. I can’t wait for the next issue.
Thomas Wayne = Simon Hurt?????????????
Also, Geoff Johns’ upcoming Flash: Rebirth (If half as good as Green Lantern: Rebirth) is gonna kick butt.
George Lucas needs to let Spielberg and Ford be the masters of the fifth Indy, no matter what.
And here’s why:
If Spielberg and Ford do it and are the main ones in charge of the fifth film….if it stinks, then it can be said it’s due to these two. The last one got mediocre reviews by the critics–whom I don’t listen to–as well as the fans. The Phanton Menace stank. The Attack of the Clones was all right. The Revenge of the Sith could have been great but only came to goo because of wooden dialogue (which showed talented actors act bad–Portman and Jackson are great actors. They read the script like it was writen. Get Kasden back) and an over reliance on CGI. Let Spielberg and Harrison Ford be the ones who do number five. Avoid Mutt. Let this be just about Indy on his last adventure. If Lucas says he wants Mutt to take over–that’s fine. But Let Indy have a film Mutt free, full of Indy. If it fails, Mr. Lucas, no one can blame you. If it works, it’s the last Indy film and Mutt can be your next project, if you want. Trust me Mr. Lucas. I am a fan.
My love of X-Files is second only to Star Trek. Star Trek is #1, X-Files is #2 for me, dig?
I have never felt more abandoned as a fan as I did sitting in the theatre watching the new X-Files movie.
Hey Chris Carter, thanks for carving the last nail for the X-Coffin out of a frozen turd and planting it squarely in my broken heart. You had over five years to redeem my second favorite show with something good, and you FAILED. I hate I hate you I hate you Chris Carter, have fun in that special room in hell with your roomie G. Lucas and Jar-Jar.
I can’t wait for Trek XI, I think it’ll make up for it :)
Still looking forward to The X Files. Not once I have I expected a film with M&S back at the FBI (indeed, I always assumed they’d be independent by the end of the series. I always thought that this movie would be a low-budget film that would go out in a month like November. it looks like a winter film. I think it has a badly-timed release, iffy publicity, a noisy bunch of (idiot) ‘fans’ on its back who wanted an alien invasion epic and the expected critical distain: after all FILM critics hate to see anything connected to a TV show (although, interestingly, Roger Ebert liked it!).
I’ll go to see it and I want to believe it’ll be fine. Plus, on such a low budget, Fox will easily make its $30 million back on the film, in terms of worldwide sales, DVDs and Blu-rays, which means I wouldn’t consider the franchise stone cold dead yet.
As for Moffatt with Doctor Who, it sounds like he wants drag the show away from the gormless, lazy, ill-written, lowest-common-denominator, chavvy garbage that Russell T Davies has been churning out. Although he has always been very polite about Davies’ work, the more he’s interviewed, the clearer it becomes that he wants to make proper Doctor Who, rather than a poor, bargain-basement Buffy-Doctor Who-Hollyoaks hybrid aimed at chumps! No more Rose: thank God!!
Couldn’t be arsed to see Indiana Jones at the cinema after hearing the word of mouth. Will wait for the Blu-ray. The more home cinema becomes the ‘in’ thing, the less I can be bothered to sit in smelly, dirty cinemas filled with scumbags who are too busy talking to each other, picking fights, playing with their cellphones or endlessly getting up to go to pee!
Wow! Lotta angst here. I could comment on many things in the article and in the posts. Indiana Jones, Fantastic Four, Batman, Venom(?), Robocop…but what’s the point though?
22…Very funny. Dark, but funny. I feel your pain. I am going to say something I’ve said before though….where is Lawrence Kasdan? Maybe a lot of these issues could be fixed if he was working. And if no one’s seen his son Jake Kasden’s movie, “The TV Set”, check it out. Funny stuff.
And by the way, Anthony or whoever, that’s my favorite line from Robocop. My second on is “Can you fly Bobby?”
Then of course there’s one I think of all the time. When people lose their cool…on these forums, in faculty meetings…whenever…
“Guns, guns, guns.”
Hi Rosario, great work! If I may point out one minor typo, its Gatchaman, not Gotchaman, unless the hollywood studios decided to change the name. ;)
#22 SwaC:
You’ve made me curious. I’m as diehard an X-phile as they come, and I really liked the new movie. For me, it was like watching one of the better early episodes on the big screen. Was there anything in particular you didn’t like?
@ Doctor Who – Wow, I just don’t get that at all… Not only did they ditch Rose Tyler (again) but they also ditched Donna as well! Altho it was done in a very marvelous and spectacular fashion, I might add! Leaving Rose in the parallel universe never seemed like satisfying end for her character, and ached for a decent closure, which this seemed to be, and I was happy to see! This was much better! But honestly, the attraction and chemistry between Rose and The Doctor was undeniable, and wonderful to watch! I’ve missed Rose a lot this past year.
I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of Donna yet. I’ll bet she shows back up at some point.
I’m thinking there must be more to the story, since it seems like Billie Piper (who played Rose) seems to have a much better gig now over at Showtime.
#28
I’m with you. I thought it was an excellent stand-alone story for X-Files fans, plus it gave us a story that – gasp! – actually acknowledged the passage of time by having characters that had moved on in their lives. Plus, they still managed to sneak in a weird scifi/horror premise.
I’ll tell you one thing (probably more) I didn’t like about the X-Files movie:
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If you stayed through the credits you would see Mulder and Scully sitting in a boat WAVING to the camera as it passed over head. That was a tremerndous way to completely take me out of the movie. Granted, technically it was over, but for me it ended long before that. I wasn’t too keen on a pedophile priest being played as a sympathetic character for Mulder. That was icky. And the antagonists were what? Russian doctors who were replacing body parts for their friends or something? Could we be more vague. The tag line for the movie was “I want to believe” but I also wanted to be scared. The fake spy photos of Chris Carter holding a werewolf mask would have been a better movie than what we got. They spent 30 million dollars on that movie. On what? Catering? It was dull. Xzibit was the most one dimensional character I’ve ever seen. Honestly, why have Amanda Peet in the movie to almost immediately kill her off. You couldn’t even get emotionally attached to her character as she was as cold as the exteriors that the movie was shot in. Speaking of which, who even bought for a second that this was taking place in Virginia or Maryland or wherever it was supposed to be? Everything you saw absolutely screamed Vancouver, even to those who have never been there. There were so many better stand alone episodes than this. This wasn’t even a good regular series episode.
I have all of the X-Files on DVD and am a tremendous fan of at least the first five seasons. This was the death knell for the X-Files.
TomZarek – the final cyclon anyone?
i went to see the new X-Files movie, and i was the only person in the room.
:(
“For me, it was like watching one of the better early episodes on the big screen. ”
That’s exactly what I said when I walked out of the theater. Whether it was the return to Vancouver locations or the flying snow or the mood or the pacing or something else, it felt like watching something out of the first or second season of the show, only 15 years on. It felt like “The X-Files” again, for the first time in about 8 years. There are things in the film and the storyline that I am still thinking about a week later. So while it may have been a complete flop at the box office, it worked very well for me.
*sigh* and still no word about the “When Worlds Collide” remake.
As a -m a j o r – X-Files fan, now I’m thinking on waiting until it’s DVD release.. :-/
I can hardly wait for more frakking BSG!
Also… is it just me, or is Hollywood just regurgitating a *few* too many old ideas lately?
Speaking of “regurgitating,” I sure won’t be paying theater prices to see a Star Wars cartoon, considering the last few movies were all pretty much just that anyway…
Dr. Horribel = GENIUS
“As a -m a j o r – X-Files fan, now I’m thinking on waiting until it’s DVD release.. :-/”
If you’re a *major* fan, I’d recommend going and seeing it now, maybe at a matinee, especially since its probably the last time you’ll ever see Mulder and Scully on the big screen.
I am a big fan of Doctor Who, although I am not terribly familiar with the previous run of the show i.e. pre-Ninth Doctor. I love the show, but at times, I felt it was more than a little preachy. I liked Rose even more than I like the Doctor because she was the more relatable character. That said, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of her, the Clone Doctor, or Donna. The irony of Doctor Who is as convoluted as this show can be, the explanations for why certain things happen can be awfully convenient.
31. THX-1138 The Fandom Menace,
That whole rowboat scene was set up during the movie. Mulder and Scully talked about wanting to get away from “the darkness’, and Mulder remarks that “the darkness” knows how to find them. During the ending credits, you can clearly see in one shot over the ocean, the shadow of a military helicopter (though I personally thought it was the outline of a whale at first), until the camera passes over Mulder and Scully in the rowboat, and I assumed that they were waving at said military copter, and by extension, the audience.
Say what you will about Davies and Doctor Who, the man pretty much single-handedly pulled that show out of oblivion. Does anyone remember the 1996 movie? Eric Roberts as the Master? The Doctor being half-human? Ugh. Just mentioning it makes me vomit in my mouth a little.
Gah :( Guess the launch didn’t go well after all. Condolences to all involved.
Evil Dead 4 is great news! Transformers villain is “The Fallen”? That’s the name? I may have to block out all news on it, because every time I read something I get more upset. Tron 2, while I love Jeff Bridges, will bomb. Unless they do it in 3D or something.