More 'Doctor Who' spoilers, BBC axes 'The Fades,' Summit delays 'Ender'

More information is coming out of Cardiff on Doctor Who’s seventh season. While most series, including Doctor Who, are filmed out of order, this season seems more so than others. Production has begun on episode 2, 3 and 5, with some elements of episodes 1 already underway -as suspected, while in Spain, the crew took opportunity to film a few sequences in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada.  Meanwhile, episode 4 has yet to start, though considering all the location work going on for the other four episodes, I’m guessing this will be a studio bound “bottle show.” The season will open with the return of the Daleks, and it appears we’ll be seeing a whole cadre of Daleks from the more recent, very colorful, ones seen in Victory of the Daleks (the iDaleks as they’re called sometimes. I think of them more as the Mighty Morphing Power Daleks), to ones that hail way back to the original ones from 1963. Meanwhile, episode 4 is being written by Chris Chibnall (who also penned the second episode of the season) and will be directed by Douglas Mackinnon. Outside location work on episode 5, Amy and Rory’s final story, are taking place with scenes that show the Weeping Angels at the Queens Building at Cardiff University.  The cast and crew will fly to New York towards the end of April to film other sequences that will be a part of Amy and Rory’s departure. Also, it’s now more or less that all 14 episodes of season 7 will air in one uninterrupted run, barring any changes in the world or the BBC. 

The British supernatural show The Fades has been officially canceled after a single six-episode season on BBC Three. While no explanation was given for the cancellation, you can probably put it down to the fact that BBC is running short of money. 

In an unusual move, Summit –now a division of Lionsgate- will delay the release date of their adaptation of Ender’s Game, moving it from March 15, 2013 to November 1, 2013. This means this high profile film, based on the perennial best-seller by Orson Scott Card will have just three weeks to gain momentum before Summit’s sister studio puts of Catching Fire, the continuation of The Hunger Games. As Michael Hinman over at Airlock Alpha notes this is not typical of studios, that they like to keep “‘competing’ films in similar genres are kept well apart.” He adds: “One outcome typically is that a lesser-known film opening earlier, like Ender's Game, will be overlooked as fans anticipate the larger film coming up soon after, like Catching Fire. Even if the added promotion does give Ender's Game a bigger box office grab, having a competing film open so quickly could destroy longer-range ticket sales, meaning Ender's Game will have to capture as much cash as it can in its first three weeks. Of course, studios will make it clear that most of the money for a film is made in the first three weeks anyway, and then it peters out. That's true, but it's not exactly the kind of thing theaters want to hear. Typical contracts between theaters and studios give theater owners the smallest cut of ticket sales in the first two-to-three weeks. After that, the ticket sales cut gradually falls more and more in favor with the theater. If Lionsgate cannibalizes Ender's Game, that could mean far fewer tickets being sold when theaters get the biggest returns. For a film that is expected to have a solid box office impact like Ender's Game, it's certainly not good news for theater owners.”