SciFi Saturday is back – a day late but chock full of genre news to kick off the new year. We got business drama behind Watchmen and Narnia, updates on the Thor, Green Hornet and Iron Man 2, plus some of the first official Transformers 2 images. The biggest news of the weekend is the announcement of the new Doctor Who, we have that and more TV news, check it all out below.
MOVIE NEWS
Fox wins Watchmen Suit – will Try to Stop Release of the Film
Last week, in a surprise verdict in the ‘who owns WB v Fox -who owns Watchman case’, a Los Angeles court judge ruled that "Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the Watchmen motion picture". An attorney for Fox says that they will seek an order to delay the release of the film. A trial is scheduled for January 20th to decided some outstanding issues. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. tells the AP that "a trial is necessary and a settlement unlikely". Fox’s claim stems from the fact that they acquired the rights to the graphic novel in the 1980’s before eventually shelving a planned film. If you’re interested in reading Judge Gary A. Feess’ December 24th ruling, it’s now available to read online (via io9).
Meanwhile, check out this new Watchmen preview:
Disney Pulls Out of Narnia Sequel
Walt Disney and Walden Media have announced that due to budgetary and logistical reasons, Walt Disney will not be exercising their option to co-produce and co-finance "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Rumors surfaced some time ago that Disney was looking to remove themselves from the planned third film, so this news, or confirmation if you will, is not entirely unexpected. A report from November indicated that Disney wanted the third film’s budget to come in drastically below the other two at around $100 million, while Walden was looking for something closer to $140 million. 2005’s "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" grossed $745 million worldwide on a $180 million budget, while its 2008 sequel ‘Prince Caspian’ managed a less impressive $419.6 million worldwide on a $200 million budget. Heavy competition and a different release window (the sequel was released in the summer, not the winter) have been blamed for the weaker performance of the sequel. Walden plans to shop the film in hopes of finding a new partner and THR adds that the most likely candidate at the moment is Fox, who distributes other Walden properties under the Fox Walden banner. Principal photography remains set for spring 2009, with a planned May 7, 2010 theatrical release.
Screenwriter Justin Theroux Talks Iron Man 2
"Iron Man 2" screenwriter Justin Theroux recently spoke with MTV about the story in the upcoming film, revealing that [SPOILERS if you haven’t seen the first film] the outing of Tony Stark’s secret identity at the end of the first movie will be the major theme of the sequel:
The obvious thing to improve upon — well, it’s not even an improvement it’s just something to embrace — which is that he’s now a hero that lives in the real world. That’s unique… Yeah, it’s something that we’ve made a real decision to run towards rather than away from.
Stephen Chow May Not Be Kato Either?
About two weeks ago, news broke that Stephen Chow had dropped out as director of Columbia Pictures’ "The Green Hornet". The actor was, however, expected to remain on to play Kato. But now comes news that the actor may not be playing the Hornet’s sidekick after all, with Chow telling the Associated Press that his schedule will determine whether or not he’ll play the character.
New Character Added to Thor?
Has a new character been added to the script of director Kenneth Branagh’s "Thor"? That’s what IESB is reporting:
A reliable source tells the IESB that the character of Donald Blake has been added to the end of the script. Let me reiterate that he wasn’t there before, the script was set entirely in the land of the Norse Gods.
The introduction of the character is essential to how Marvel will tie Thor into the Avengers that is set in contemporary Tony Stark/Hulk timeframe. It explains how the actual Thor film will be set in the ancient time of the Norse Gods and how they will subsequently bring the character into a modern time with Donald Blake discovering the magical Norse hammer Mjolnir and turning into Thor.
IESB also adds that Branagh will have an acting part in the film as well.
First Official Transformers 2 Images & Info
The first images from "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" have been released courtesy Empire Magazine and USA Today. Here are some highlights from the USA Today article and photo pages:
After completing work in New Mexico, the cast and crew moved to Giza for scenes at the actual pyramids, getting first-time access to the 5,000-year-old site from the Egyptian government. “It plays a big plot point,” Bay says, noting that they were allowed to shoot on the pyramids — not just around them.
In the sequel, humanity is still trying to sort out which Transformers can be trusted and which mean to exterminate humans.
Optimus teams up with the U.S. military to take on the evil Decepticons, who have invaded Earth to capture Sam (Shia LaBeouf). He has learned some secrets about the origins of the Transformes and their ancient history–information, it turns out, that is worth war.
USA Today also has a separate set-report that you can read here. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is scheduled to hit theaters on June 26, 2009. A theatrical trailer is expected by February, and may be shown on NBC during the Super Bowl on February 1st.
Avatar
Angels & Demons
The Clone Returns Home (more here)
Cold Souls (more here)
Dragonball Evolution
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (more here and here)
Land of the Lost
Push
Terminator Salvation (more here and here)
Up
Where The Wild Things Are
Wonder Woman (more here)
9 [HD Version]
Coraline (more here)
Monsters vs. Aliens [HD Version]
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Japanese Trailer)
- There will be no Chinese release for "The Dark Knight". Warner Bros. has decided not to challenge the Chinese censors and will not be releasing the film in the market: “Based on a number of pre-release conditions that are being attached to ‘The Dark Knight’ as well as cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film, we have opted to forego a theatrical release of the film in China.” "Batman Begins" grossed $1.05 million in China, so it’s unclear if a ‘Dark Knight’ release in the market would have been enough to move the film past $1 billion in its initial release (It currently stands at $996.9 million worldwide ahead of its January 23rd re-release). [Variety]
- "Jennifer’s Body", the Jason Reitman-produced/Diablo Cody-written horror comedy starring Megan Fox, has been given a released date by Fox Atomic. The film will hit theaters on September 18, 2009. [Box Office Mojo]
- Genre classics "The Invisible Man", "The Voyage of Sinbad" and "The Terminator" were among 25 films added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. [via SCI FI Wire]
- During Saturday night’s NFL Playoff telecast on NBC, the network announced that they will be broadcasting the trailer for "Monsters vs. Aliens" in 3D. This will be the first time that a movie trailer has been broadcast in 3D. The trailer will also be shown during the 3D episode of "Chuck" scheduled to air later in the month. [via ComingSoon.net]
- Fans have expressed outrage over director M. Night Shyamalan’s casting of white actors as the main characters in his big-screen adaptation "The Last Airbender", which is based on the hit animated Nickelodeon series "Avatar: The Last Airbender". [SCI FI Wire]
- Rogue Pictures has launched a new YouTube channel and MySpace profile for David Goyer’s supernatural thriller "The Unborn", which hits theaters on January 9th.
- Dimension Films has set a August 28, 2009 release date for writer/director Rob Zombie’s "Halloween" (2007) sequel "H2". Check out a sneak peek at the mask that will be worn by actor Tyler Mane in the sequel below: [via ShockTillYouDrop]
- Bruce Boxleitner will be reprising his role as TRON for the sequel. Boxleitner joins Jeff Bridges, who was previously announced to reprise his role of Kevin Flynn, as well as Olivia Wilde and Beau Garret who were signed on to the film last month. [ComingSoon.net]
TV NEWS
Matt Smith is the 11th Doctor
BBC has announced that relative unknown TV actor Matt Smith has been cast as the 11th Doctor in the network’s 2005 revival "Doctor Who". The 26-year-old actor, the youngest ever for the role, will take over the character by the fifth season, which premieres in 2010. David Tennant, the current Doctor, will remain with the show through 2009 and star in several specials. Smith will likely make his appearance in the next Christmas special.
Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor (click to enlarge)
Watch an extended interview with Matt Smith from the Doctor Who Confidential episode that aired on Saturday.
For more Doctor Who, check out this behind the scenes video (more here, here and here)
More Details on Lost Season Five Premiere
ABC has sent out screeners for the fifth season premiere of "Lost", and reviews are starting to come out. According to the NY Post, the mystery of the show’s time travel element will be explained in the premiere:
The upcoming revelation will lay to rest years of Internet wrangling and instantly settle about a million fevered questions between dedicated fans about what the heck has been going on this whole time.
Without revealing details, the remote island so integral to the lives of the castaways is home to what a very important scientist on the show calls "virtually unlimited power." And the "power" has been harnessed, quite haphazardly, for time travel.
"You have no idea how difficult it would be for me to explain this phenomenon to a quantum physicist," well-meaning super-scientist Daniel tells Sawyer, the island’s loveable marooned scoundrel who has remained unhappily confused and shirtless since last season.
Here’s a bit more on the premiere from Entertainment Weekly:
Lost’s tradition of opening the year with a killer, capture-the-imagination sequence is honored and upheld, though the thing I loved most was how it was brazenly frank (and engagingly funny) about the heady high-concept conceit that will define the season. Almost everything that followed that opening passage was pretty cool, too. Remember the non-linear structure of Pulp Fiction, which toggled between a number of storylines whose chronological relationship to each other is practically a puzzle for the audience to solve? Well, the season premiere is kinda like that. The first two episodes will have the audience — and the show’s characters — trying to make sense of shifts in time. They demand active engagement, and I found it to be a lot of fun. Especially the first hour.
And here are the latest Lost images (more here, here, here and here)
and the latest "Lost" video preview (more here and here)
More Red Dwarf on the Way?
As reported on in past editions of SFS, brand new episodes of British cult fave "Red Dwarf" will premiere this year, but will there be more? In a new interview with Digital Spy, actor Craig Charles (Dave Lister) chats about the story, and hints at the possibility that there could be more than just specials planned for the British space-comedy:
I’m really looking forward to doing it. I can’t really give the storyline away but it’s a fantastic one. It’s really quite weird and sees me playing quite a few characters, some of them I’ve already played on television. That’s all I can say… it starts filming in January and the rest of them all look ancient! I’m the only one that doesn’t look like they’ve aged. I’m actually playing their child now!
It’s nice to be revisiting it for this special, though. Never say never. If this special goes well, you never know what could come of it.
Fox Developing Werewolf Dramedy
Screenwriter Michael Dougherty ("Superman Returns", "X2: X-Men United") is developing a werewolf dramedy for Fox. According to THR, "Bitches" is described as a "quirky fair tale" about four female friends in New York city who are also werewolves. The project has received a script plus a penalty commitment from the network and "Pushing Daisies" co-executive producers/writers Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts have also been brought on board the project.
Moore Talks BSG and Caprica + Possible Final Scene Description and New Webisodes of ‘Enemy’
In addition to discussing the final season of "Battlestar Galactica", creator Ron Moore also spoke about the upcoming prequel "Caprica" in a recently released interview:
Remi Aubuchon had come to the studio with an idea to do something unrelated to "Battlestar" about robots and artificial intelligence and the creation of life, and when we started talking together, I got interested in the idea of doing a sci-fi show that was set on a planet, did not have an action adventure component to it, is even more of a character piece than "Battlestar," where it really has to live and die on its characters and its story without the Cylons attacking every week. Could you sustain a science fiction show in that kind of context? That’s what got me excited.
Click here to read the rest of the interview, where Moore answers questions on whether or not fans will get answers to who the final Cylon is, what happened to Earth and the 13th colony, will "All this has happened before and it will happen again" be explained in some way and more. Quick answer? Yes to all. Rounding out the remaining BSG news for the week, there have been five clues added to the "Battlestar Galactica" website "You Will Know the Truth" since our last SFS. Here are the direct links: Audio Clip; Video Clip; Video Clip; Video Clip and Audio Clip. Also, are you interested in reading about how "Battlestar Galactica" may end? Then head on over to SyFyPortal for the scoop.
And check out the latest Season 4.5 previews (more here, here, here and here)
And for the final bit of BSG, we’re up to episode seven of the 10-part webisode series "The Face of the Enemy"…watch it below.
Batman: The Brave & the Bold
Dollhouse
Fringe (more here)
Heroes (more here)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Supernatural (more here)
Batman: Brave & the Bold (another here)
Dollhouse
Fringe
Heroes
Heroes: The Recruit (Episode 3 – "What We Have to Do")
Knight Rider
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Smallville
True Blood
- Neil Patrick Harris, who played Doctor Horrible in Joss Whedon’s online musical "Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog", says that he would appear in a sequel and would jump at the chance to guest star on Whedon’s upcoming Fox sci-fi series "Dollhouse". [SCI FI Wire]
- Tahmoh Penikett, who played Helo on "Battlestar Galactica", discusses his new gig on Joss Whedon’s show "Dollhouse" and how he’s not worried about the show’s long-term prospects despite its well documented production issues. [LA Times]
- "Torchwood" star John Barrownman says that the show’s third season will be lightly censored when it debuts in the United States on BBC America: "We’re not swearing or doing anything close to the bone because it’s been a huge success in the US on and the networks won’t accept it with all that stuff in it… I’ll still be getting naked and it will still be saucy – but it’s done with taste. We’ll doing everything so it doesn’t have to be heavily edited for the US." [People.co.uk via io9]
- "The Middleman" creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach posted one page from an un-filmed script on his blog.
- Warner Home Video has announced that they’ll be releasing Max Fleisher’s classic "Superman" cartoons on DVD on April 7, 2009. This is the first "authorized" fully restored release of the cartoons. The two-disc set will include all 17 shorts–170 minutes–as well as two retrospective featurettes ("The Man, The Myth Superman" and "First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series"). [DVD Active]
Batman (Battle for the Cowl Teaser–Details here)
Batman (Batman: Issue #586–Details and more images here)
Fanboys Outraged (The real story behind the movie Fanboys)
Robocop (1980’s Fried Chicken Commercial)
Thundercats (Fan-made Movie Trailer)
- "Ender’s Game" author Orson Scott Card talks about his latest novel, "Ender in Exile", which tells the story of what happens to Ender Wiggin immediately following the events of the original novel in a new interview with SCI FI Wire.
- Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber says that "Phantom: Lover Never Dies", a sequel to "Phantom of the Opera", should be ready by the end of 2009. Webber hopes that the musical will open in New York, London and possibly Shanghai or another Asian city. Hugh Jackman and Gerald Butler are rumored candidates to play the role of the Phantom in the sequel, which will be set 10 years after the original. [TimesOnline.co.uk]
- Cast has been signed for a new Bollywood film titled "Action Replay" that looks to be a remake of "Back to the Future". Production is set to begin in February. [Real Bollywood via io9]
-
Eartha Kitt, one of the actresses who played Catwomen on the 1960s TV series "Batman", passed away on Christmas day. She was 81. [AP]
SCI-FI RATINGS (12/01/2008 to 12/07/2008)
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
SCI-FI RATINGS (12/08/2008 to 12/14/2008)
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
i wonder what watchmen will be moved to, if delayed?
Did I hear part of the Back to the Future theme in the Robo Cop commercial?? And I CAN NOT wait for Transformers 2!!!
Actually , Eartha Kitt wasn’t the ORIGINAL Catwoman. She filled in for Julie Newmar in the second or third season when Newmar wasn’t available (she was filming “McKenna’s Gold”, if I recall correctly).
Oh, wow. That’s totally going to delay Watchmen.
I wonder when she’ll come out now?
“The Clone Returns Home”? Is that anything like “The Ghoul Goes West”?
That’s what you get for leaving out the squid.
The modern Doctor Who series has been terrific- I hope this new gentlemen can live up to Eccleston and Tennant.
Since Michael Myer’s mask in the original was that of William Shatner shouldn’t the mask in the new sequel be of Chris Pine?
WOW
these Airbender fans sound like us Yamato fans when tab murphy wrote his script.
More Red Dwarf… Kind of. :-))
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mQb6IRHdNCA&fmt=18
I say its time to boycott fox, greedy bastards. Seriously, if they were going to make a big deal out of the movie, they should have done it before it was even filmed, but of course they waited till it was done and could see what the word on the movie was. If it gets a bid delay or worse even, not released, I’ll make sure to check for a fox logo next time Im thinking about seeing a movie.
9. Enc –
“WOW
these Airbender fans sound like us Yamato fans when tab murphy wrote his script.”
Well, if those atrocities “Speed Racer” and Roland Emerlich’s “Godzilla” were any indication, Hollywood should just keep its hands off Japanese movies and anime.
I wasn’t expecting the annocuement of the new Time Lord so soon if I’m honest. But the news has been pretty hard to miss – its been on the front page of all the papers here.
Matt Smith has got big shoes to fill but from what I’ve seen of him so far is encouraging. Its an exciting choice and he’s pretty good actor so I’m sure he’ll do the role justice.
Its going to be a long wait until 2010 though!
#11
In all fairness, FOX filed this lawsuit a year ago. It’s just taken this long for a judge to make a ruling. I guarantee you Fox went to WB before the suit and tried to work a co-distribution deal, but WB wouldn’t bite. I’m sure that’s how it will end up being released anyway, but these studios love to go through litigation it seems.
#12 Izbot…
Couldn’t agree more with you.
Check out Mr. Spock on Etch a sketch. This guy has way too much time on his hands!
http://flickr.com/photos/etchasketchist/634270449/
Happy New Year
12
Thunderbirds ?
Top Gear
can you imagine Doctor Who ?
Dude!! To hell with Star Trek!!! That fake ThunderCats video kicks ass!!! lol
Re/ Fanboys — The Clip with William Shatner? As Jayne might say: High-larious!
Re/ The New Doctor – At first blush, he looks like he’ll take some getting used to, but that’s how I felt with David Tennant, as well. So, I have hope. The fact that Steven Moffat is at the helm is also reason to hope.
And, I’m dying for more Torchwood! However, give me the BBC One version, over the watered down BBC-US version, anyday.
Thanks for a great news update!
More Red Dwarf More Red Dwarf More Red Dwarf More Red Dwarf More Red Dwarf More Red Dwarf More Red Dwarf …
…and BSG, too, please.
“Warner Home Video has announced that they’ll be releasing Max Fleisher’s classic “Superman” cartoons on DVD on April 7, 2009. This is the first “authorized” fully restored release of the cartoons. The two-disc set will include all 17 shorts–170 minutes–as well as two retrospective featurettes (“The Man, The Myth Superman” and “First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series”). [DVD Active] ”
That’s cool news. I’ve always loved these since I first heard Gene Shallit talking about these “lost gems” in the mid ’70’s. This’ll be the 4th set of these I own. I hope they’re untouched. I bought a set a few years ago where some genius’ had the bright idea of adding additional, out of place/out of era, sound effects. The result was awful. Looking forward to this new set. I just recently asked Roy Thomas to do a feature on these.
And Rosario….missed this column last week. I know it’s been busy lately.
oh my god that thundercat trailer was cool! That had to have taken some serious work to do. Thanks for sharing that with us!
Holy Crap! my scroll finger is tired! Niice! =)
i loved the thundercats trailer
would so pay to see that
( realises the sadness of that statement)
I’m guessing that I somehow managed to miss the 2008 Dr Who Christmas Special. Bummer…
“Doctor” spelled incorrectly on the title. FYI.
22.
good point, another great entry from Russ…it was scrolleriffic
Well, there’s a site called “watchdoctorwho” where you can currently watch the special if you like. Just type that into Google for the url.
“Thor” sounds good. I can see a plot where Thor defies Odin; at the end of the movie, Odin must punish Thor’s insubordination by forcing him to live as crippled — and perhaps amnesiac — Dr. Don Blake. I’m also imagining Branagh playing Odin. That’d be sweet.
I wonder how this Watchmen debacle will play out. I was looking forward to seeing it in the local bijou. Ah, crazy Hollywood.
Scott B. out.
Man, Sci Fi Channel is really going into the tank when BSG ends.
Ehhhhhhh. Not crazy about their choice of 11th doctor. But then again I was reluctant to accept David Tennant at first after Chris Eccleston left and I just love Ten now. So I guess this Smith can be gotten used to.
FOX hasn’t won anything yet, contrary to what is reported in the article above. The judge has issued a statement, not a final ruling When that is issued, it will be in the form of a restraining order, preventing WB from doing anything until the case can actually come to trial.
What this means for the moment is that WATCHMEN will in all likelihood(sp) not be premiering in theaters in March of 2009 (as the lack of any further online ads or previews on TV would appear to bear out). Tis kind of ruling is a SOP in cases of this type.
An additional theory that is circulating out there concerning this lawsuit is that the WATCHMEN is not the real reason for the lawsuit. The rumor is that it was an moment of opportunity to get WB into court because they hold some portion of the rights to the origial BATMAN TV series from the 60s and may be using the legal leverage of this case to put FOX in a position to negotiate those rights away from WB in exchange for FOX to drop all claims to WATCHMEN. FOX stands to make more from a DVD distribution of the BATMAN series then it could hope to make from simply winning distribution rights to WATCHMEN and a percentage of the gross from the boxoffice.
Discalimer – I’m not a lawyer, but a lawyer did post on deadlinehollywood daily.com about the WATCHMEN suit and what the judge’s document actually means. I’ve paraphrased here, but essentially everyone reporting on this has missed the fact that this WAS NOT a ruling. The ruling hasn’t been issued yet. Just an OPINION was issued.
Watchmen will come out on time. With all that money invested, it has too. WB could always sue FOX.
Nice job, Rosario, as always. I wish Fox would just back off now before they screw things up not only for WB and Watchmen fans, but for themselves. They are not doing themselves any favors by trying to delay Watchmen’s release, especially since they’re in the wrong anyway. If they wanted some form of distribution rights, they should have thought about that before the film began production. I was surprised at this ruling and also very suspicious. Hopefully the decision-makers in the trial will have more sense and dismiss the case altogether.
By the way, I wonder if Fox knows that the majority of Wolverine fans out there are also big Watchmen fans, and that those same fans are threatening to boycott the Wolverine movie should Fox intervene. Normally, I would scoff at the idea of a boycott having any impact on a film’s success, but if nearly 40% of the target audience condemns a company’s decision and boycotts a movie, that company may want to rethink its decision. That’s not to say all 40% of Watchmen/Wolverine fans are considering boycotting the movie… but a good number of them seem to be, based on the hundreds of comments I’ve read at IMDb, ComingSoon, etc. My advice to Fox: let it go. You’re wrong. You had your chance, you blew it. Focus on making some good movies for a change rather than trying to steel other studios’ good movies. You’ll last longer.
Switching gears here, did anybody catch Friday’s episode of Stargate Atlantis? It was set in a parallel universe/timeline where John Sheppard was a police detective working in Las Vegas. Basically, the characters had different histories than the Atlantis characters we know. The episode reminded me a lot of what Bob Orci said about the new Trek movie being set in an alternate timeline. There was a line in the show where the parallel Dr. McKay tells Detective Sheppard his belief that he (Detective Sheppard) has the same strength of character as the Colonel Sheppard we know. This was reminiscent of what Bob said regarding Kirk and company’s personalities in his interview with Anthony, how the history is different but their “soul” is the same. I just found it all interesting and was wondering if anyone else noted the similarities between the SGA episode and Bob’s comments.
Of course, what will really suck is if, after all this hubub, Watchmen ends up stinking anyway. Hopefully not, but then again Zach Snyder doesn’t have much of a track record to fall back on.
I was really concerned about what direction they’d take with the new Doctor, but I’m already excited. Just from the interview, you can definitely see what the BBC creative team saw in Matt. He clearly has this fun, mischievous personality, and the jittery use of his hands is also strangely encouraging.
Plus, he’s extremely shaggable.
I think the series will be fine going forward. And if Matt turns out to be a disaster–which I doubt–they can always regenerate the character in the following Christmas special.
If they blame the lack of a winter release for Narnia 2’s poorer box office, why on earth are they planning to release Narnia 3 in May?
“You have no idea how difficult it would be for me to explain this phenomenon to a quantum physicist”…
yeah, right!
;))
I wonder if, by casting a very young Doctor, they can circumvent the next regeneration by casting an older actor as the same incarnation later on…
Very dubious about such a young Doctor, but with Stephen Moffatt, who has more of a grip on what makes Doctor Who good than Russell T Davies with his vacuous trash, there’s a good chance the show will improve.
I just hope that Smith’s Doctor is a little more grounded and not prone to running about and shrieking like a tart the way Tennant does!
How BSG has developed (rather: devolved) over the last two seasons is one of the biggest disappointments in TV SciFi, in my opinion. Don’t watch it anymore.
There’s a little more info on the new Red Dwarf. It’s been mostly leaked by another actor (Robert Llewellin who plays Kryten). They’re filming 4 episodes, two are specials (Behind the scenes and a new type of clip show) and two whole new episodes. It will star “all the original cast” although there is no news on which Holly, if any, that they are going to use. Robert has already has his mask fitted and such and the filming will start January 20th. Robert tells quite a lot on his youtube channel. I can find the link if required.
I’m wondering if those DW photos of Matt Smith are intended to show the finalized appearance of the Doctor. (I can’t remember the time between reading about Tennant’s appointment and his in-character photos.
2010 is so far away…
Avatar is the best US made Anime ever.
It was perfect in its original format.
To give it to a talented director for redoing it with real actors Iwould have called unnecessary.
To give it to M. Night Shyamalan I call stupid.
The new Doctor looks a little like Bowie…which is fine with me. He does seem to have the right kind of nervous energy that any candidate for The Doctor needs to have.
I can never understand people condemning things before they’ve seen anything. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover and it’s not fair to make any comments (positive or negative) without seeing him in action in the role he’s been hired for (although that never stops anyone…read some of the brutal YouTube comments…ouch!). I feel for anyone who choses to get up in front of the hyper-critical public.
I think that Stephen Moffat is going to do fine…he wrote some of my personal favorite episodes. It’s true that both he and his new Doctor have some big shoes to fill, but people said the same thing about Russell and Chris and the same thing about David after Chris left.
If you are a Doctor Who fan, change is part of the game. The more disconcerting thing is that the Doctor is running out of regenerations. I say let’s give the new creative folks and Matt Smith a chance before we take them out on our shoulders for a celebration…or for a flogging. 2010 is still a while away.
Of all the flicks above, I think that Where The Wild Things Are really nailed the look of the children’s book. I wouldn’t have believed that I am saying this before I saw those pictures, but Wow, I have got to see that in the theater!
I’m not sanguine about the trend I see with “Doctor Who” casting younger and younger actors to play the Doctor. I haven’t been disappointed yet, but it seems the older the Doctor gets, the younger his incarnations are. I’d like to see an older actor, at some point, just to shake things up.
Or is the Doctor aging backwards? Could we get a twentysomething actor so the Doctor can put in an appearance on the CW network?
And I missed SGA, but doesn’t it seem like the various spin-offs are following TREK?
Stargate – the movie would have been TOS
“Stargate SG-1” – TOS and then TNG with the introduction of Browder and Black
“Stargate Atlantis” – DS9
“Stargate Universe” – VOY
What’s up with that? Does that mean there will be a new movie that reboots the whole thing? That’s next, isn’t it?
Matt Smith’s hair has definitely done some time travelling… from 1983. I’m just guessing here, but he seems less accessable to an American audience than Tennant has been. I’m sure the Brits will love him, though.
Still reserving judgement on Caprica. I love space battles. Really. What’s wrong with blowin’ stuff up?? (It’s only cgi anyway!)
A Tron sequel? Now? Um…. Hey, I actually liked the first one. But, I don’t remember it ever coming up… except as a joke on a Simpson’s ‘Treehouse of Terror’ years ago.
Most of the kiddie fare looks fun. Good, since I gots me a kiddo in tow.
Anyway — thanks Rosario!! Good stuff!
#43 sez: “I think that Stephen Moffat is going to do fine…he wrote some of my personal favorite episodes. It’s true that both he and his new Doctor have some big shoes to fill, but people said the same thing about Russell and Chris and the same thing about David after Chris left.”
Amen to that. Given Moffat’s obviously sincere enthusiasm about Smith (and given that he went into the game planning on casting an older man but was sold by Smith’s audition) I think we have ample reason to float the new Who team a little trust; Moffat has entertained and satisfied us and has earned that, IMO, so I just intend to enjoy these last few Tennant specials and then go into the new era with hope and an open mind. Beside, I’m enjoying the irony of a Doctor _actually named Smith_ after all those years of adopting it as a fake name …
And he’s got a very expressive face. If he knows how to act with it, we’ve got a good one.
#43 also sez: “The more disconcerting thing is that the Doctor is running out of regenerations.”
They’ll just handwave that away when they need to, I figure. The Master finished his 13th incarnation in 1976, after all. :)
I’m a Brit, and I think Matt Smith is a lousy choice! For a start, I’ve seen him in other things here, and he certainly came across as just being blandly okay in his parts.
Also, I’d rather not have had quite such a young actor for the role, as he’s got one of these faces that show little ‘expression’ onscreen if you know what I mean. Like a lot of young actors have….that kind of ‘botox’-frozen, uninteresting expression-less look. And he comes across as annoyingly VERY ‘middle-class’, complete with ‘foppish’ hair look. Even his voice is bland.
I know David Tennant is a hard act to follow, but the producers could have had several better choices than this that I can think of, off the top of my head….
Always a critic eh?
Oh, and the Narnia movies had a few nice moments in them (with some great production work along the way), but overall the Director in charge made them feel very ‘flat’ and ‘uninvolving’ at the end of the day…. They were a misfire due to him at the end of the day. Give the third one to someone else! The soundtrack scores were forgettable too….as were the older kids used. The youngest girl was good though.