Science Fiction (and Fantasy) on Television

Monday 30th June 2003

Movies starting filming today - the "seprequel" Star Wars III got under way this morning in Australia. Much more interesting to me is that Terry Gilliam's new film Brothers Grimm also started shooting today. According to ScreenDaily, filming will mostly take place in Prague for the rest of Summer, but starts with a couple of weeks filming in various other Czech towns with lovely castles and cathedrals, (portraying Old Germany). Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are the brothers famous for their fairy tales (though they didn't write Star Wars) who are being portrayed in this story as con artists who encounter a real curse. Their adventures have them meet up with Lena Heady, Peter Stormare and Jonathan Pryce (remember his excellent performance in the lead role in Gilliam's superlative Brazil). The report goes on to say that Robin Williams who was thought to be joining will not be and Nicole Kidman will also not be taking up the small part that was suggested. But I don't see either as any great loss for this film. Gilliam wrote the screenplay with Ehren Kruger and Tony Grisoni.

Random other filming news: The third and last part of Lord of the Rings has been undergoing its final extra shoots with a number of the actors recalled to add a few extra shots. The third Harry Potter continues its filming. Spider-Man 2 is well under way with Tobey Maguire fit enough to do the active stuff required. And The Chronicles of Riddick (the sequel to Pitch Black) is about to get going, with Vin Diesel taking the role to a whole new place.

Saturday 28th June 2003

If I were a girlie (just like my dear papa) I'd probably be wetting myself right now with a look at the first poster for the third Lord of the Rings film, Return of the King. As I'm not, I will simply admire that wonderful sword Aragorn is holding...

Friday 27th June 2003

The IQ 83 film has a director. David Frankel will be revisiting the script before directing this adaptation of the novel by Arthur Herzog. The story is about an experimental virus that gets loose that starts rapidly reducing the intelligence of the population. The inventor gets infected as well, so can he create an antivirus before becoming more stupid than a Dumb and Dumberest film? Apparently Frankel is getting this big break due to the strong work he did on the Band of Brothers miniseries.

Friday 27th June 2003

With a rumour printed on Dark Horizons (originally mentioned on MTV) that Natalie Portman might be in the next Conan movie, I'm wondering what is with Arnie these days. He has of course been doing the rounds talking up his latest sequel of the Terminator and then there is this sequel to Conan and the remake of Westworld and also talk of a True Lies sequel. Taking old successes and making more of them is a Hollywood given, but come on Arnie, lets not get carried away!

Monday 23rd June 2003

Clive Owen, who I long ago proposed as my choice for the next James Bond apparently isn't interested. According to The Daily Express (crappy newspaper), he told a pal, "I think it's too formulaic, too tried and tested and a little past it's sell by date. I would not consider it to be a challenge. I've just come back from Los Angeles where I had a meeting with Francis Ford Coppola who wants to cast me in an exciting new project, which will be Bond-like but more challenging and relevant today. I'm really excited about it." Well, it is sad in one way, but given the last very formulaic and tired James Bond film, I guess he has a point. So lets look forward to this exciting new project after King Arthur!

Sunday 22nd June 2003

Jolene Blalock is going to guest in Stargate SG-1. She will play a Jaffa leader called Ishta in the episode "Birthright" which was filming last week. Ishta is a temple priestess who has been saving female Jaffa babies from the Goa'uld Moloc's orders to kill the females and only raise the males. If Teal'c falls for her, then no doubt she'll be back occasionally to do more episodes. The actress returns to her regular job as T'Pol (with some change of image) as filming starts on the third series of Enterprise next week. She has also got a role in a new thriller called Slow Burn with LL Cool J and Ray Liotta. And I usually avoid celeb gossip, but may as well say here that she got married last month to Mike Rapino. Her busy life this year also includes presenting on MTV and more model shoots for lads mags. Yay!

Saturday 21st June 2003

Have you got your copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yet? Well I have (although I didn't feel it necessary to go shopping at midnight last night!). Do you want to know who dies? Well read the damn book, I'm not going to tell you. Of course there is lots of hype although J K Rowling seems to be keeping level-headed about it all. In the fifth book, Harry is 15 and much more interested in girls. But there is also the angst that comes with the fact that every year he goes through terrifying adventures at Hogwarts. The third book is currently being filmed, and don't believe the negative rumour that it's the last for star Daniel Radcliffe. His own mother says he already signed up for the fourth film and he is doing very well at his schoolwork thank you very much.

Thursday 19th June 2003

Could it be? Is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie actually finally happening? Well so it seems. Galactic hitchhikers everywhere can grab their towels because Spyglass and Disney (who bought the the rights five years ago) have now signed Hammer & Tongs to direct the film. H&T are Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith and they'll be joined by Karey Kirkpatrick (Chicken Run), who is reworking the script. The radio series/books/television series and original movie screenplay were created by Douglas Adams who sadly died far too young 2 years ago in California while trying to get the film made. Hammer & Tongs are very successful at music videos and commercials and have for some time been pursued by Hollywood to make movies. With HHGG, they are finally interested in making the leap.

Monday 16th June 2003

It is actually happening - Alien vs Predator really is being made and it will be Paul Anderson writing and directing (known for Resident Evil). Some fans have been wanting this to happen for many years. Other fans were clinging to Ridley Scott's and James Cameron's expressed interest in collaborating on an Alien 5 movie. Unfortunately, this was only if AvP didn't happen, so bang goes that idea then. Yet another movie that is no doubt going to end up being just big action and SFX and completely devoid of depth or intelligence.

Monday 9th June 2003

Ever wondered what has happened to the characters in old SF TV shows? If you were one of the many fans of the 1983 V miniseries telling the story of human resistance against alien invaders, or still watch the reruns, or ran out to buy the DVD this week, then prepare for V: The Second Generation. NBC has given the go-ahead to original miniseries writer/director/producer Kenneth Johnson to write a script for a three hour movie that moves the story forward. It is actually going to be set 20 years later, so some of the original cast could very well realistically reprise their roles. In a statement, Johnson says, "The alien force is deeply entrenched, has turned many earth people into followers, and is sweeping them toward a dangerous new conquest. The Resistance seems to be fighting a losing battle when suddenly Earth gains a powerful and mysterious new ally." Where the original was a metaphor for the Nazi threat of WWII, the new script will be a "metaphor for the new millennium." Lets hope the script is actioned! The original miniseries was 4 hours long and very popular, but the subsequent weekly series that followed it ran into a number of problems.

Friday 6th June 2003

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Sci fi Channel has picked a big name producer for a six hour miniseries: Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. Gale Ann Hurd is producer on The Hulk and Exec Producer on T3, the latest in a long involvement with big SF films such as Aliens, The Abyss and Armageddon. Not to mention being co-writer on the first Terminator film. Gregory Widen, (who wrote Highlander) is doing the screenplay, although Robinson himself is attached as consultant. The Nebula Award winning novel is about first Mars colonists who have to terraform the planet, but start falling out with each other. And yes, the title it seems will include the author's full name. And if it does well? Cue the other two books in the trilogy Blue Mars and Green Mars.

Thursday 5th June 2003

It is very sad that when there is such a wealth of excellent SF books and short stories in the world, that studios have to look at remaking classic SF films, (when they're not sucking the superhero comics dry or making endless sequels). They are so devoid of originality. So, Warners is going to remake Westworld. Yep, that captured moment in time that was part of the good SF films of the early 70's before Star Wars came along and took much of the intelligence out of SciFi cinema. Yul Brynner's android gone wrong spoke so much of a wariness of new technology at the time that cannot be reproduced in the 21st century. All we will get with a remake is big SFX and action, but little to engage the brain. Arnold Schwarzenegger produces and will play one of the guests - probably the one who defeats the robots - so nothing at all like his role in T3... Writing this revision are Michael Ferris and John Brancato who wrote T3 and also the forthcoming Cat Woman. Truth is, the Terminator movies are descended from Westworld in the first place. Sequels, comic book heroes and remakes. Fine in their place, but so much of it is just squashing original SF.

Monday 2nd June 2003

It isn't long since I reported that Milla Jovovich had signed to do Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Now I hear that Screen Gems is keeping her on as they've signed her up for Kurt Wimmer's new film Ultraviolet. Apparently, although the title is the same, the premise seems similar and the nature of the vampires and their civil war with humans seems the same, the claim is that this is not inspired by the TV series of a few years ago. Really? Well, whatever. Wimmer's last film Equilibrium was excellent, so I'm expecting some big, cool action, but with some substance behind it.

Sunday 1st June 2003

Gollum wins! A while back I mentioned the new category in the MTV awards for Best Virtual Performance. Yoda and Dobby had to look on... as Andy Serkis thanked everyone for Gollum's award - before Gollum came and grabbed it... Yoda did not go home empty handed though as he picked up the award for best fight scene. To win, I did not expect," he said.

Archive Index

Archive Index

Odyssey 5, Firefly, Star Trek, X-Files, Babylon 5, Crusade, Dr Who, Andromeda, Lexx, Dark Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Invisible Man, Stargate SG-1, Blake's 7, Farscape, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Lone Gunmen, The Avengers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Red Dwarf, Roswell, Total Recall 2070, Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess, Earth: Final Conflict, Charmed, Alien Nation, Futurama, Outer Limits and so many more. Essential information, background, links, etc. on all Science Fiction and Fantasy shows are here!