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.