Harrison Ford in 'Enders's Game'

Harrison Ford has joined the cast of Ender’s Game as Colonel Hyram Graff, who runs the training of boys at a military academy, according to Variety. Also added to the cast were Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), along with Aramis Knight, Moises Arias, Jimmy Pinchak, Suraj Parthasarathy, Conor Carroll and Khylin Rhambo. Breslin will play Ender’s sister; Steinfeld will Ender’s ally.

Asa Butterfield of Hugo fame was cast in the title role. Production will begin in New Orleans in early 2012, for a March 15, 2013 release. Marvel Comics has released five graphic novels based on the Orson Scott Card novel.

Peter Weller in "Star Trek" Sequel

A couple bits of casting news for the Star Trek sequel came out on Monday. Actor/director Peter Weller of Robocop fame has been signed to join the cast of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek sequel, according to Deadline. Alice Eve and Benicia del Toro have also been cast to join the actors playing the permanent cast from the first film in the reboot series.

And the rumor that came out last weekend that del Toro would be playing the iconic character Khan has been denied by both the studio and Abrams.

RIP Anne McCaffrey

'Pern' Creator Dead at 85

Groundbreaking fantasy author Anne McCaffrey has passed away of a stroke on Monday, November 21, 2011 at her home in Ireland. McCaffrey is best known for the Dragonriders of Pern universe. She authored or co-authored nearly 100 books, with a lot of firsts as a writer:

First woman to win a Hugo Award (1968, for “Weyr Search”)

First woman to win a Nebula Award (1969, for “Dragonrider”)

First with a science fiction title on the New York Times Bestseller List (1978, The White Dragon)

McCaffrey was recognized as one of the best ever for her impressive career:

Named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America (2005)

Joined Science Fiction Hall of Fame (June 2006)

The Pern universe was introduced in the award winning short story, “Weyr Search” in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, in 1967. “Weyr Search, the novella “Dragonrider,” and a third story were published as the first Pern novel, Dragonflight, in 1968. The initial Dragonrider trilogy was not completed until 1976. McCaffrey began collaborating with her son Todd McCaffrey since 2003.
Fantasy artist Michael Whelan was strongly associated with McCaffrey due to the numerous covers he did for her books. Eclipse published three graphic novels based on Dragonflight in 1991. Mayfair Games produced a Dragonriders of Pern boardgame in 1983.

Doctor Who Movie Gets Director

David Yates, who directed the last four Harry Potter films, is attached to direct a Doctor Who feature film, according to Variety. The film is being produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. Yates is currently looking for a writer, and says the process may take a while. He told Variety, “We’re going to spend two to three years to get it right.”

The plan for the story is to take off in a new direction that’s not tied too directly to the TV show; Yates said the property will need a “radical transformation” for the big screen treatment.
TV showrunner Stephen Moffat gave his blessing for a feature over three years ago ,giving some indication of the lengthy timeline this project may take.

Among licensees, IDW Publishing has the comics, Titan Publishing Group has the magazines and Cubicle 7 the roleplaying game.

Justice League : Doom -- New OAV

Warner Home Video will release Justice League: Doom, a new animated feature starring DC’s most popular superteam, in early 2012. The script was the last work by the late Dwayne McDuffie. It was inspired by Mark Waid’s “JLA: Tower of Babel” storyline, and finds the Justice League in peril when supervillains discover Batman’s contingency plans for stopping a rogue member.

Justice League: Doom will feature the voice talents of Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern and Tim Daly as Superman, along with the actors that starred in the Justice League animated series: Kevin Conroy as Batman, Michael Rosenbaum as Flash, Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, and Carl Lumbly as J’onn J’onzz/martian Manhunter. Bumper Robinson will voice Cyborg; David Kaufman will voice Jimmy Olsen.

The Royal Flush Gang and six notable villains will appear in the film. Villainous voices will include Phil Morris as Vandal Savage, Olivia d’Abo as Star Sapphire, Alexis Denisof as Mirror Master, Carlos Alazraqui as Bane, Paul Blackthorne as Metallo, and Claudia Black as Cheetah.

The trailer for the film (along with the Catwoman short attached to Batman: Year One, will be shown during the Warner Home Video presentation at New York Comic Con.

SyFy Cancels 'Eureka'

After first announcing a 6-episode season six, SyFy abruptly pulled an about face and cancelled the sixth season of Eureka, the science fiction comedy/drama created by Andrew Cosby and Jaime Paglia. The series, which debuted in July of 2006, is not going to disappear immediately. It will end with the 12-episode season 5 that is set to air on SyFy in 2012, so diehard fans will have some time to attempt to convince SyFy to keep the property going in some form.

One of the most original American science fiction TV series in years, Eureka takes place in a fictional high tech community in Oregon where nearly everyone is a scientist working on major technological breakthroughs at a corporation known as Global Dynamics. The key dynamic in the series is the tension between Sheriff Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson), a man endowed with considerable practical intelligence and the numerous resident Eureka double-domes, who either on purpose or inadvertently create problems for the community that Sheriff Carter has to deal with.

BOOM! Studios, which was co-founded by Eureka co-creator Andrew Cosby, has published several issues of a Eureka comic book, which are based on storylines provided by Cosby.

"Uncanny X-Men" Ending in October 2011

Marvel has announced that Uncanny X-Men #544, out this October, will be the last issue of the longest-running X-Men title. The ending flows out of the X-Men Schism storyline, which Marvel has compared to Civil War in its far-reaching effects.The title will wrap up at the same time as Fear Itself, which Marvel says is no coincidence. The final issue will be written by Kieron Gillen with pencils and covers by Greg Land.

X-Men Schism launches in July.

ThunderCats Original Series on DVD

Warner Home Video has announced the July 12th release of ThunderCats Season 1, Part 1 (MSRP $19.97), which includes the first 12 episodes of the original Rankin/Bass ThunderCats series that aired in 1985. The original series, which chronicled the adventures of the feline exiles from the planet Thundera who bravely fight the vicious mutants intent on destroying them, was a huge hit in the 1980s inspiring a Marvel comic book series as well as numerous toys and action figures.

A new ThunderCats series produced by Studio 4C (Tekkon Kinkreet, Batman: Gotham Knight, Transformers Animated), is due to debut on the Cartoon Network this year. The new series has a more conscious anime look than the original ThunderCats, though the original series was also animated in Japan.

So far the Cartoon Network has not released a date for the debut of the new ThunderCats series, but in its press release announcing Season 1 Part 1 of the Original Series, Warner Bros. said it would be available “just ahead of the premiere of the all-new ThunderCats on the Cartoon Network," and Mezco Toys is releasing the first of its new series ThunderCats action figures, a new Lion-O figure in July as well.

"Powers" Casting Begins

Charles S. Dutton has been cast as Captain Cross in the FX pilot based on Powers, according to Deadline. Dutton is the first actor cast for the pilot, which was greenlit in February.

The Powers comics are by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming.

Leonard Nimoy to Voice Sentinel Prime

It must be “add some illustrious vocal credits to your summer blockbuster" week. Just a day after Warner Bros. announced that Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush would be providing the voice of Tomar-Re in Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern movie, Paramount let it be known that the iconic Leonard Nimoy would handle the vocal chores for the robot Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Sentinel Prime is the “ancestor” of Transformers “good guy” autobot Optimus Prime. In Dark of the Moon the wreckage of Sentinel Prime is found on the moon by the Apollo 11 Astronauts and brought to Earth where he adopts the vehicle disguise of a Rosenbauer fire truck. Nimoy, who is most famous for his role as Mr. Spock in Star Trek, is no stranger to the Transformers universe. In 1986 he provided the voice of Galvatron in Transformers: the Movie.

Paramount Ends "Dune" Efforts

Paramount’s option to make a movie based on Frank Herbert’s Dune has expired, and the studio’s four year efforts with the property have come to an end, according to Deadline. Efforts to reach a new agreement between the rights holder and Paramount were unsuccessful.

There’s a script by Chase Palmer that may survive in some new incarnation, according to the report, and Paramount’s last director for the project, Pierre Morel (Taken), could also end up working on the film for another studio if the project goes into turnaround.

Alcon Acquires "Bladerunner" Rights for Prequels & Sequels

The Warner Bros.-based production company Alcon Entertainment is in final negotiations to acquire film, television, and ancillary rights to produce prequels and sequels to the iconic 1982 iconic science fiction thriller Blade Runner.

Although it will be able to produce films based on situations introduced in the original film, Alcon will not have the right to remake Bladerunner, which was based on Phillip K. Dick’s classic novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Bladerunner, which was directed by Ridley Scott, was not a box office success, but the film, which has a wonderfully dense and rich mise-en-scene, has grown in stature over the years and is now an accepted science fiction classic.

Diane Lane Will Be Supes' Mom

Warner Bros. has announced that the Oscar-nominated actress Diane Lane (A Walk on the Moon, Unfaithful, Secretariat) will play Martha Kent, Clark Kent's adoptive mother in the new Superman film directed by Zack Snyder. Deadline reports that Lane will star opposite Henry Cavill, the 27-year-old English actor, who will play Superman/Clark Kent.

Rumors continue swirl around other casting decisions for the film, which is slated to debut in December of 2012. Diane Lane’s co-star in A Walk on the Moon, Viggo Mortensen has been mentioned in several reports as being at the top of the list to play the villain General Zod, who was portrayed memorably in the 1980s by Terrance Stamp in Superman II. And a number of actresses are supposedly vying for the role of Lois Lane .

Snyder needs to get his Superman film underway by this summer, which means there will be more Superman casting announcements in the near future.

Elizabeth Hurley Is Wonder Woman Villain

English actress Elizabeth Hurley, who is perhaps best known for her role as Vanessa in the Austin Powers movies, will play Wonder Woman’s antagonist in the pilot for the new David E. Kelley-created Wonder Woman TV series. Hurley posted on Twitter today, “Thrilled to be doing the NBC pilot Wonder Woman. I’ll be playing the evil villain. Can’t wait.”

In the Wonder Woman pilot Hurley will most likely be playing Veronica Cale, a founding partner of Cale-Anderson Pharmaceuticals and a major rival of Wonder Woman. Greg Rucka created Veronica Cale, who made her first appearance in Wonder Woman #196 in 2003, as a “Lex Luthor for Diana.” Cale is jealous of Wonder Woman’s powers and rejects her quest for peace as simplistic and unattainable.

The Red Skull Revealed

Although Johann Schmidt, the Nazi weapons developer also known as “The Red Skull,” was glimpsed in the Captain America: The First Avenger trailer , no close-up full frontal shots of the Nazi villain have been released until today.

But

Entertainment Weekly has now posted a shot of Hugo Weaving in full Red Skull drag along with a short interview with Captain America: The First Avenger director Joe Johnston. Johnston talks about what he likes about Captain America—“he’s not a superhero in the true sense of the word. He becomes a superhero, but doesn’t really have any super powers.

He’s just the best possible human specimen. Imagine the fastest, strongest Olympian athlete. Add 30 percent. That’s Steve Rogers…I’ve had other offers for movies like this and usually turned them down. To me there’s something less interesting about a guy who can fly, and throw tanks around and stuff like that. The reason I wanted to do this one is he (Steve Rogers) is so relatable. I can relate to him”

R.I.P. Dwayne McDuffie

Writer/producer Dwayne McDuffie passed away Monday. He was 49. McDuffie was the writer of the just released direct-to-DVD All Star Superman feature, along with Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. He was a producer of 66 episodes of various Ben 10 series, and 65 episodes of Justice League. He wrote numerous episodes of the Ben 10 series, Justice League, and was story editor on Static Shock.

In the comic world, McDuffie was co-founder of Milestone Media in the early 90s, where he was Editor-in-Chief. His comic creations or co-creations include Static, Damage Control, Deathlok II, Icon, Xombi, Road to Hell, Hardware, and more.

McDuffie has also written numerous other comic series, including Spider-Man, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Back to the Future, Hellraiser, and more.

Michelle Pfeiffer Heading for "Dark Shadows"

Michelle Pfeiffer, who played Catwoman in Tim Burton’s 1992 Batman Returns, is in talks to team up with the director again in Burton’s feature film adaptation of the vintage TV soap opera Dark Shadows, which also stars Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Pfeiffer is up for the role of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the reclusive matriarch of the Collins clan and owner of Collinwood (a part that was played by Joan Collins in the TV series), while Helena Bonham Carter, who has become a recurring fixture in Burton’s films (and in his life), will likely portray Dr. Julia Hoffman, a specialist in psychology and rare blood disorders.

Paramount Narrows Search for G.I. Helmer

G.I. Joe producer Lorenzo diBonaventura is meeting with directors and attempting to find the right helmer for a sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the special effects heavy live action movie that earned $302 million worldwide in 2009. Since it sold distribution rights to the Avengers movie back to Disney, Paramount has a dearth of live-action tentpole movies for the summer of 2012, with only Star Trek 2 on the slate—and it’s still not clear that a final script for the Trek sequel is anywhere close to fruition.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the leading candidates to replace Stephen Sommers and direct the G.I. Joe sequel are F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job, Law Abiding Citizen) and Jon M. Chu (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D). Expect a decision soon, Paramount is looking to have production underway this June, which would make a late summer 2012 release possible.

The G.I. Joe franchise is, in Hollywood parlance, “extremely toyetic,” and it also tends to stimulate sales of comics and graphic novel collections as well as action figures and vehicles.

Guy Ritchie Offered "Xerxes"

In what, if true, has to be one of the major studio reversals in years, Warner Bros. has supposedly offered Guy Ritchie the chance to direct an adaptation of Frank Miller’s Xerxes, the prequel/sequel to Miller’s 300, which was one the most successful (in ratio of revenue generated versus expense of production) comic book movies of all time. Zack Snyder, who directed 300, had been preparing to helm Xerxes , so the fact that the studio has offered the project to Ritchie is quite shocking.

The source of the Ritchie/Xerxes rumor is New York Magazine’s usually reliable Vulture Blog, which provides several explanations for the move, the most convincing of which is Warner Bros.’ need to get Snyder’s Superman movie made in a hurry or face losing rights to the property. Clearly getting the Superman movie made is a major priority at Warners. And since it’s been 4 years since the 300 movie stormed theaters, the studio may have thought it was also important to get going on the Xerxes project while there were still a few people out there who remembered how popular the 300 movie was. Miller’s Xerxes, which will be published first as a six-issue mini-series and then collected as a graphic novel, is due to launch this year.

Vulture also speculated that Warner Bros. is very disappointed in Snyder’s genre mash-up Sucker Punch, which debuts on March 25th and reportedly has had some less than triumphant preview screenings. Snyder’s Watchmen and Legend of the Guardians were underwhelming at the box office, but then the studio was pretty much aware of that when they gave him the reins to The Man of Steel project.

HBO Promoting 'True Blood' Hardcover

IDW’s first hardcover collection of its adaptation of HBO’s hit True Blood TV series is due out tomorrow, and HBO is attempting to spark additional interest in the book by emailing 400,000 fans of the show with news about the 160-page hardcover True Blood, Vol.1 ($24.99). The cast of HBO’s most watched series since The Sopranos is also going to be out and about over the next few months promoting the show’s fourth season, which launches on June 12th, and they will also be mentioning and promoting the IDW hardcover.

The IDW comic book has close ties to the show. It is co-plotted by True Blood series creator Alan Ball, and written by David Tischman (Bite Club) and Mariah Huehner with art by David Messina (Star Trek: Countdown).

Given the popularity of the True Blood TV series, IDW’s comic collection, which features Sookie on the cover, is likely to be a strong seller in both the direct and bookstore markets.

New "Thundercats" Series Reveals Its Anime Roots

The new Thundercats animated series, which is being produced in Japan by Studio 4*C (The Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, Tekkon Kinkreet, Halo Legends) and is set to debut on the Cartoon Network later this year, definitely has more of an “anime” look to it than the original 1980s Thundercats cartoon, even though that series was also animated in Japan.

While the Thundercats live-action movie appears to be stuck in Hollywood’s expansive “development hell,” the TV series, which was announced last summer, is on track for its 2011 debut and the new more anime-influenced character designs are on display in a recently released poster image and in the new series of licensed Thundercats toys based on the Cartoon Network series.


The new Lion-O has the faceted hairdo of a DBZ or Yu-Gi-Oh! character, while Cheetara is more waiflike in her new incarnation, and the bruising Panthro looks like he could have stepped right out of Heat Guy J. It turns out that the team’s pet/mascot Snarf, who does not appear in the poster illustration has a younger, somewhat less rotund appearance than the original character. The image of the new Snarf comes from the packaging of a new Thundercats Thunder Tank.

The sleek and powerful new Thunder Tank itself makes an interesting contrast to the original toy design. The packaging of the new Tank gives it a more massive appearance, but it also clearly pays homage to the original Thunder Tank concept.