More returnee's for 'X-Men' sequel; 'Doctor Who' docudrama cast; Scott to produce 'Mind', Cobie on 'S.H.I.E.L.D' appearance

Director Bryan Singer continues to use his mutant powers of persuasion for another cadre of actors to return to the X-Men franchise as Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde), Anna Paquin (Rogue), and Shawn Ashmore (Iceman) have all agreed to return for X-Men: Days of Future Past. This casting comes on the heels of 20^th Century Fox signing Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman to return as well. Production on the sequel to X-Men: First Class is ramping up in Montreal, where it will be filmed. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult all return as well. 

The BBC has announced the cast for the Marc Gatiss written docudrama on the creation of Doctor Who. Harry Potter’s David Bradley –Argus Filch- will play the first Doctor, William Hartnell. Bradley, of course, appeared this season as Solomon in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. Brian Cox, who played Hannibal Lecter in the original Red Dragon movie and in the X Men series, will play the BBC’s Head of Drama Sydney Newman. Verity Lambert, who was Doctor Who’s first producer/showrunner, will be played by Jessica Raine. Also, Sacha Dhawan (History of Boys) will play Waris Hussein, the director of the first serial, An Unearthly Child. An Adventure in Space and Time, which is being co-produced with BBC America, begins filming in early February and will air in November. 

 

Eva Green (Casino Royale) and Julia Garner (Perks of Being a Wallflower) has been added to the cast of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. 

20^th Century Fox has acquired the Dark Horse Comic Mind MGMT by Matt Kindt for producer Ridley Scott, which will be made through his production company, Scott Free, as well as through Dark Horse Entertainment. The story centers on a true crime writer named Meru who is searching for the truth behind a mysterious flight when he stumbles upon a secret government agency made up of psychic spies.  

Actor Charlie Rowe (Never Let Me Go) has landed the lead role in a reboot of the BBC's documentary series Walking With Dinosaurs 3D at 20th Century Fox. The story is about two young brothers who go looking for their missing father. But their adventure leads them to a showdown with dinosaurs in the Arctic. Neil Nightingale and Barry Cook co-direct from a script by John Collee and Theodore Thomas.

Cobie Smulders has confirmed that she may be visiting ABC’s S.H.I.E.L.D TV series, as her Avenger’s character of Maria Hill. Talks have begun for her to join Clark Gregg from the film, though if it happens, it will not be a full time role, due to her commitment to How I Met Your Mother. With S.H.I.E.L.D. likely to end up on ABC’s fall schedule, Smulders could slide into another series if The Avenger spin-off succeeds.  

Disney & Lucasfilm confirm J.J. Abrams for 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

“It’s very exciting to have J.J. aboard leading the charge as we set off to make a new Star Wars movie,” said Kennedy. “J.J. is the perfect director to helm this. Beyond having such great instincts as a filmmaker, he has an intuitive understanding of this franchise. He understands the essence of the Star Wars experience, and will bring that talent to create an unforgettable motion picture.”
George Lucas went on to say “I’ve consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller. He’s an ideal choice to direct the new Star Wars film and the legacy couldn’t be in better hands.”

“To be a part of the next chapter of the Star Wars saga, to collaborate with Kathy Kennedy and this remarkable group of people, is an absolute honor,” J.J. Abrams said. “I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid.”

After the news broke Thursday by The Wrap, there still some Star Wars fans who had hoped -as has happened in this day and age of social media where unconfirmed rumors go viral- that this was all it was, an unconfirmed rumor. Now with the “official” announcement, we can expect 2 years’ worth of speculation as to what Abrams will bring to this new series, and how he’ll -maybe- put some of the bad taste left by the prequel trilogy out the minds of some of us.

 

Still, haters are going to hate.

Meanwhile, Paramount commented on the status of third potential Star Trek film with Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore revealing that Abrams will still be involved in some capacity with a possible third Trek movie, at the minimum as a producer. “J.J. will continue to develop projects for us including a new Mission: Impossible, and he is committed to produce another Star Trek“ said Moore. 

'Blood & Chrome' (finally) gets an air date; no more Channing for 'Retaliation'

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, the second prequel to the Syfy Channel’s original reboot of the late 1970’s show Battlestar Galactica, will debut on the cable network on February 10. It will be released on VOD, Blu-ray and DVD on February 19. This show was originally planned as a series, set around the beginning of the Cylon war, before they vanished for a century that would eventually be depicted in Ron Moore’s reboot of Glen Larson’s original series. It was designed as a more action-packed drama than the more cerebral Caprica, the first prequel, was. But in March of 2012, Syfy decided not to move forward with the show beyond the pilot –while it was designed as a cost-effective show with virtual sets and other cost-saving factors, but they claimed the post-production lead-time and expenses actually made the series not financially viable for always cost-conscious cable net and their parent company, NBC/Universal.  Though they promised it would eventually air on the cable channel, it languished in some dark, dusty corner of the network before finally debuting online with aide from the YouTube channel Machinima Prime as a series of 10-12 minute chapters; there it garnered some 8 million views. For fans, who watched the online version, they may want to tune in, as this broadcast version will actually have scenes that not aired in the online version. 

It had been guessed that the reason Paramount pulled G.I. Joe: Retaliation from the release schedule last May –almost six weeks before its release- was because the film was in trouble. Paramount said it was just to do a 3D conversion –which do extremely well in foreign markets- and maybe a few reshoots to tighten the film up. As the weeks went on, more rumors surfaced that not only was Retaliation more than troubled, it needed to have Channing Tatum –who was in the first film and who’s character is the catalyst for the titled (thus, Paramount revealing secret plot of the movie) sequel was returning to film additional scenes.  But according to producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, he told the press at the TCA’s that more Tatum was not the reason. “No, it’s not,” Di Bonaventura says. “That is a complete rumor. I don’t know where that started. Literally, Channing shot for - if I have it wrong, I’m off by an hour - four hours, five hours? So it wasn’t really about that at all.” And he says the current cut is not that much different from the one they planned last summer. “It’s not much different,” Di Bonaventura says. “Literally, we shot for three extra days. We just added sort of explanation in what we did afterwards.” Still, historically, when a film is delayed, it usually means the films narrative is in trouble. And while these type of films are seen as more escapism than having any sort of internal logic, American audiences are beginning to see that they are, at times, being lured not for the joy of a film experience, but just to make sure they score as much money as they can before the viewer’s catch on. As for the 3D, again, the oversea market does not care how bad a film is here. They’ll see any American made film.

Abrams to helm 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

Ever since the surprise announcement that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm last October and quickly announced Star Wars: Episode VII, the internet has been abuzz on who would write and direct the next trilogy. Very soon after that, on November 10 to be exact, Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3 and Brave screenwriter Michael Arndt was confirmed as the writer.

Now months after that, Disney will confirm that J.J. Abrams will direct the first film in the new series. It had been known that producer Kathleen Kennedy was interested in Abrams, but even the director said back in November -like many other big name directors from Steven Spielberg to Zack Snyder- he was not interested in doing the film, “I have some original stuff I am working on next,” he told Entertainment Weekly. Back then, as he is today, he's still in deep post-production work on the other big franchise that the fanboys and girls love, Star Trek Into Darkness. 

Abrams is one the most popular and financially successful producers and directors currently in Hollywood today, mostly because he brings a great love of the 80s era in which he grew up in, which have influenced most of his work, and in which bring in hordes of fans. Plus, through his Bad Robot production company, he brought such TV series as Alias, Lost and Fringe, along with successful films Mission: Impossible 3 and Super 8 and, of course, the two films in the reboot of the Star Trek franchise.

The Wrap, which broke the news, also questioned if this will "complicate his relationship with Paramount, where Bad Robot is a top supplier." But one assumes that the lure was just to good to pass up. The first film in this new trilogy is slated for May 2015 release.

'Doctor Who' returns in March; Selick out but Howard in for 'Graveyard'

Back in April of 2012, Disney announced that Henry Selick would helm a stop-motion adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Newbery Award winning intermediate kids novel The Graveyard Book. Selick, who helmed an adaptation of Gaiman’s Coraline in 2009 that earned an Oscar nomination, was working on another, secret project at the time for Disney, so no timeline for production was ever given. Then in August, Disney pulled the plug on that project, freeing Selick up –it was assumed- to work on Graveyard. But now word has come that Disney is potentially giving the adaptation to Ron Howard, who’ll try it as a live-action. While Howard is known for his more adult films, he did helm the horrible version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, thus ruining not only the great American book that became a great animated TV special, but also showing why the former child actor needs to stay in the realm of directing films the Academy Awards like –though ironically both Grinch and his Da Vince Code did poorly from the Oscar point of view, but made truck-loads of money. The Graveyard Book is a riff on Kipling’s The Jungle Book, where a young boy survives an attempt on his life -his father, mother and older sister are murdered by the man Jack – and is brought up by the ghosts in the graveyard down from his home. Among the dead are teachers, workers, wealthy prigs, romantics, pragmatists and even a few children -so it takes a graveyard village to raise a child. Here Nobody Owens -Bod for short – has adventures as grows, making friends with in the cemetery -some who are not dead – and learning about his past and his future.

Meanwhile, as I’ve noted many times before, the BBC has a tendency never to announce transmission dates of anything they air until maybe 10 days to two weeks before. Well in a minor shift in policy, they have confirmed that the second half of Doctor Who’s seventh season will begin airing on Saturday, March 30 –I had guessed April 6. Shortly after that, BBC America confirmed they too will air those eight remaining stories the same day. And baring no interruptions, the season will conclude on May 18. Then the 50th Anniversary celebration will go into full swing. 

BBC America to air older 'Doctor Who' serials

 

Before the 2005 return of Doctor Who, there was 26 seasons of TOS -including the back stories of the Daleks, the Cybermen, Sarah Jane Smith, K9, The Master and the Time Lords themselves which all have made appearances in the modern series. 

Back then, the series was told in serial format, with complete stories told over 4 or more 25 minute episodes (though there was a handful of 2 part ones, as well as one story -The Dalek Masterplan- that stretched over 12{!} half hour episodes). And while most of the older generation was brought up on them, today's modern viewer is reluctant to watch a serial that can span two to three hours long (if not longer) and be in black&white. Of course, this is why TOS is hard to find in syndication, though some PBS stations still air the show.

And even though all the surviving episodes of TOS are now out on DVD (the BBC wiped many adventures of both the first and second Doctor. And while that was done for economic reasons -videotape was expensive back then- it also reflected the inability of people to predict the the future) and some can be found on services like Netflix, it appears most of the newer fans want only to watch the modern Doctor Who, starting with Christopher Eccelston's portrayal of the Ninth Doctor on through David Tennant's Tenth and Matt Smith current incarnation.

But as the show moves towards its 50th Anniversary in November, BBC America is giving the newer viewers a chance to see previous adventures of the good Time Lord. From January through November, the cable net will air one complete adventure from each of the Eleven Doctors, starting January 27th with The Aztecs, a 1964 adventure featuring the First Doctor (the late William Hartnell) and his original companions, granddaughter Susan (Carol Anne Ford), and teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (the late Jacqueline Hill).