Stephen King announces sequel to The Shining

Almost 2 years ago, author Stephen King asked his fans what they wanted to see first, another Dark Tower novel or his long-planned sequel to The Shining. We saw the DT novel The Wind Through the Keyhole released at the end of April. Now coming January 15, 2013 is Doctor Sleep, his sequel to his 1977 bestseller.

Now his official site announces its plot:

Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals. 

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the "steam" that children with the "shining" produce when they are slowly tortured to death. 

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant "shining" power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes Doctor Sleep. 

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan's own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra's soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.

NBC renews 30 Rock, Community, ABC picks up 7 shows, cancels Cougar Town -but it'll move to TBS

Ahead of next weeks Upfronts for the broadcast networks fall schedules, ABC and NBC have announced pick-ups from their current crop of TV shows. The Peacock network renewed two of its most acclaimed, but low-rated comedy series, 30 Rock and Community for only 13 episodes. Season seven will be the last for 30 Rock, while Community returns for season 4, but may face losing its show runner and creator Dan Harmon or actor Chevy Chase, who have been involved in very public spat. The other show runners, Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan,  decided to leave the series earlier this month for a two-year development deal at 20th Century Fox TV. Meanwhile, the low episode count appears to be designed to enable the network to free up some money for newer shows. 

Another low-rated show, Parenthood, also was given the green light for a fourth season. Already renewed include Grimm, SMASH, and Law & Order: SVU

ABC has renewed seven series, including comedies Modern Family and The Middle, as well as its popular dramas Grey's Anatomy and Castle. They've also renewed freshman offerings Once Upon a Time, Suburgatory and Revenge. The comedy series Cougar Town was cancelled, however, the show will move to TBS as the cable net ordered a 15 episode fourth season, with an option for another 15 episode fifth season. They also picked up the 61 episodes that comprise the series 3 season run on the Alphabet Network. While not mentioned in the initial press release, the network should also be picking up Happy Endings, Last Man Standing and Don't Trust the B_

Media Bits: del Toro on the doom of 'Mountains', another 'Tarzan' project, FOX cancels 'Alcatraz' orders new seasons of animated Sunday block

Ridley Scott’s Prometheus may have finally put the nail in the coffin of Guillermo del Toro's life-long dream project, his adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness. The basic reason, Scott’s film and Madness have too many similar themes. Del Toro explains: "Prometheus started filming a while ago - right at the time we were in preproduction on Pacific Rim. The title itself gave me pause- knowing that Alien was heavily influenced by Lovecraft and his novella.    This time, decades later with the budget and place Ridley Scott occupied, I assumed the greek metaphor alluded at the creation aspects of the HPL book. I believe I am right and if so, as a fan, I am delighted to see a new RS science fiction film, but this will probably mark a long pause -if not the demise- of At the Mountains of Madness. The sad part is- I have been pursuing At the Mountains of Madness for over a decade now - and, well, after Hellboy II two projects I dearly loved were not brought to fruition for me.   The good part is: One project did... And I am loving it and grateful for the blessings I have received."

Even though the movie shares nothing with real life Trayvon Martin shooting case, 20^th Century Fox has decided to rename their potty-mouth alien invasion movie Neighborhood Watch to just The Watch. The film will bow out on July 27.

Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment is planning a remake of the Spanish comedy Ghost Graduation. The story centers on a teacher with paranormal abilities who helps a group of ghosts confined to the high school where they died years earlier in a fire. 

An umpteenth new version of Tarzan is in the works. This will be a performance-capture 3D feature and will re-image Edgar Rice Burroughs classic jungle hero who will now have billionaire adventurer parents who are killed in an airplane crash. Meanwhile, Jane Porter is the daughter of an African guide and committed to conservation of the African jungle. She eventually works with Tarzan to defeat the mercenary army of Greystoke Energies led by the film's villain - the CEO that took over the company after the death of Tarzan's parents. Twilight hunk Kellan Lutz and Resident Evil actress Spencer Locke have been cast. 

Due to scheduling conflicts, Jessica Chastain has dropped out of Iron Man 3. The Town actress Rebecca Hall will replace her. 

FOX has renewed Touch for a second season, while they’ve put an end to Alcatraz. Meanwhile, renewal notices for Family Guy and American Dad have been given. As with the nature of animation, needing a long lead-time, both shows already has next season’s episodes in the can. These renewals effect the 2013-14 TV season. FOX is delaying notification on another season of The Cleveland Show, which will end its third season this month, which has a fourth season ready to air beginning in the fall. Meanwhile, Allen Gregory is axed, while Napoleon Dynamite remains on the “bubble.”

The Stephen King short story The Reach, (from the 1985 collection Skeleton Crew, which also contained The Mist) and which follows a 95-year-old lady who embarks on a troubled journey to the mainland from the island after the Reach freezes over for the first time in 50 years, is in development from Park Entertainment and DownEast Village Productions. The search is on for a distributor.

No, Joss Whedon, Thank You!

Joss Whedon, with his usual flair for self-deprecating humor, thanks his “peeps” for sticking with him over all these years. In a hilarious letter published on his site, Whedon talks about the success of The Avengers.
While many of us have known what he was capable of long before this movie, he reassures us that he’ll not sell out.

“People have told me that this matters, that my life is about to change. I am sure that is true,” Whedon wrote. “What doesn’t change is that I’ve had the smartest, most loyal, most passionate, most articulate group of — I’m not even gonna say fans. I’m going with ‘peeps’ — that any cult oddity such as my bad self could have dreamt of. When almost no one was watching, when people probably should have STOPPED watching, I’ve had three constants: my family and friends, my collaborators (often the same), and y’all.”

Whitney not to come back?

There was a point, early on, that I wanted to give Whitney a chance, even though you could easily see in the promo’s for the series last summer and into fall, the show (based around her comedy act) was not going to be revolutionary. In fact, it seemed, more destined to be a comedy modeled on Two and Half Men in some ways, raunchy and predictable; either loved or hated (much like 2 Broke Girls that she created with Sex and the City creator Darren Starr).

I had heard of her, but had never seen any of her comedy routines, but seeing how this format had worked before, what could go wrong? Of course, for just as many successes with this format, there had been failures. Still, early in the 2011-12 TV season, why not give it a chance? So I did, and the pilot was pretty unfunny. The only person who showed any sort of timing was her co-star Chris D’Elia. At times in the first few weeks I watched this show, I thought he was good, and deserved a better co-star (and the fact that I read they were long-time friends indicated to me that no matter what direction the series took, he would never say nothing). 

Plus, the show was shoved into NBC’s far superior Thursday night lineup, which consisted of Community, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and The Office. Whitney was a show that clearly did not belong there, because the show was boring, with bland stories and repeated jokes. Cummings, who maybe likeable when not trying to act like a man, is a little much to take after about a minute or so. Her whole shtick seems to be based on the idea men and women are different. It’s about relationships, which, in a clever comedy series can work, but in this format comes off as crass, familiar and about as novel as rock. 

The supporting characters are undefined and one, Mark, is creepy and was not funny in the 1980s when these type of stereotypes existed. And why do these supporting characters need people like Whitney to like them?

I guess for me, the racket ball episode was proof why this show deserves never to come back. Okay, I might believe she did not know certain things about Alex (though, again, another sitcom staple that makes the show safe and predictable).  But, you sort of knew from the start, that there was going to be a blue ball joke, and when it comes, it fails at being funny or raunchy or even interesting. 

The story, in the end, is pretty safe. Some will say this type of predictable show (one where you can skip over a week or two and come back knowing that nothing has evolved) is more preferred than 30 Rock because it does not require brain cells. It does, I think, insult the viewer’s intelligence, even though it’s very clear on its identity. So, like I said, some people will hate it and others will love it but no one will be confused to what it is exactly.

And in today’s multi-platform access, and if you want people to watch, you have to stand-out. Whitney could have something, but because they leeched all the creativity out of it to appeal to the lowest common denominator, it is nothing but the same-old same-old we’ve seen done for the last 70 years of TV. 

That’s why it deserves to get cancelled.

James Cameron decides Avatar and documentaries only

Despite a recent interview where James Cameron said he still had hopes to make the long-gestating Battle Angel, it seems he’s recanting that and basically saying his scripted developmental slate will be the Avatar sequels and his documentary work. No more producing other peoples films, no more looking at scripts. In some respects, it sounds like he’ll be retiring from block buster movie making.

In an interview with the New York Times, Cameron -when asked about other projects not called Avatar- he said: “I’ve divided my time over the last 16 years over deep ocean exploration and filmmaking. I’ve made two movies in 16 years, and I’ve done eight expeditions. Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm. So I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4, and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them. I’m not interested in taking scripts.”

He adds: “And that all sounds I suppose a little bit restricted, but the point is I think within the Avatar landscape I can say everything I need to say that I think needs to be said, in terms of the state of the world and what I think we need to be doing about it. And doing it in an entertaining way. And anything I can’t say in that area, I want to say through documentaries, which I’m continuing.”

And in some ways, I can understand this. The writer/director will be 58 this year. With Avatar 2 seemly set for 2016, he’ll be in his early 60′s. If he can get a third and possible four movie out in two year-intervals (or depending on if the technology exists to do what he wants a few years later than that) he could be close to 70 before finishing his saga. As he pointed out, his interests have shifted away from scripted fare into the realm of documentary production.

He may have come to realization that there is more important things to do than make films like Battle Angel. I’m sure many fans would disagree, and maybe he’ll let someone else handle it, but it appears if it ever gets done, he’ll not be associated with it. 

CW picks up some shows; Universal to reboot 'Mummy' and 'Helsing'; prequel to 'Treasure' on Starz

For those girls who were wondering, and a few boys too, The CW has picked Supernatural for an 8^th season, The Vampire Diaries for a fourth and –while not a genre so, it’s still popular- 90120 for a fifth season. Actually, like America’s Top Model, these three scripted shows are the most popular shows on the mini-network with girls, and since the network is catering to them in big-time, their renewals were not a huge surprise. Secret Circle, Ringer, Gossip Girl, Heart of Dixie and Nakita remain “on the bubble.” Their fate should be officially known when The CW announces its fall slate on May 17. 

Universal has signed a new two-year deal with writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and their K/O Paper Products production company. The first two films out the gate will be reboots of Universal properties The Mummy and Van Helsing. Their writing credits include two Transformers movies and the Star Trek reboot as well as the much maligned Cowboys & Aliens. On the TV side, they created the underrated Fringe and produce the Hawaii Five-0 reboot. 

The set-bound 4^th Doctor Who story of season 7 -a probable bottle-episode due to so much expensive location shooting for episodes 1, 2, 3 and 5- is confirmed to be a story that brings back UNIT and involves Henry VIII and his wife Catherine. Stephen Blything and Law & Order: UK’s Jemma Redgrave has been cast in those roles. The episode has a working title of Cubed.

The Starz Channel has ordered 8 episodes of Black Sails, a pirate themed series from the worst director on the planet, Michael Bay. It’s actually a prequel to Robert Louis Steven’s classic high seas adventure novel Treasure Island, set some 20 years before the novel in what Starz describes as a story about “Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver. Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day — a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.” It should bow in 2014.