Science Fiction Today

Star Wars The Old Republic Layoffs

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:41:58 -0700

BioWare and EA’s Star Wars The Old Republic MMORPG had a very successful launch last December, quickly growing to 1.7 million users. Subscriber numbers have dwindled sharply since then, down by an estimated 400,000 from its peak. While 1.3 million is still an exceptional subscriber result, the game is far from the “Warcraft killer” that so many predicted it could be and such a large drop off so soon after launch raises questions about its long term appeal.

Now BioWare has announced that they will be laying off an undisclosed number of the SWTOR development team:

“Sadly, we are bidding farewell to some talented, passionate and exceptionally hard-working people who helped make SWTOR a reality,” said BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk on the game’s forum. “Impacting people’s lives this way is always very hard, but we’re ensuring the affected people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect.”

The news may not be as gloomy as it sounds at first blush. The SWTOR team reportedly includes over 800 people. With a team that large some belt tightening was probably inevitable post launch regardless of subscriber numbers.

James Doohan’s Ashes Successfully Launched Into Orbit | TrekMovie.com

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:29:28 -0700

James Doohan’s Ashes Successfully Launched Into Orbit | TrekMovie.com:

“After a delay last Saturday, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was successfully launched this morning from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The Dragon capsule is now in orbit and headed to the ISS. Part of the payload includes the partial remains of Star Trek’s original Scotty, James Doohan.”

RIP Mr. Scott

The Dark Knight Rises Poster

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:18:06 -0700

The Dark Knight Rises Poster

2011 Nebula Award Winners

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:15:31 -0700

The 2011 Nebula Awards were presented on Saturday, May 19, 2012 in a ceremony at the Nebula Awards Weekend, held in Arlington, Virginia. Walter Jon Williams was Toastmaster, and Astronaut Michael Fincke was the keynote speaker.

Novel Winner: Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)

Other Nominees

Embassytown, China Miéville (Macmillan UK; Del Rey; Subterranean Press)
Firebird, Jack McDevitt (Ace Books)
God’s War, Kameron Hurley (Night Shade Books)
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, Genevieve Valentine (Prime Books)
The Kingdom of Gods, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Novella Winner: ”The Man Who Bridged the Mist,” Kij Johnson (Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2011)

Other Nominees

“Kiss Me Twice,” Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2011)
“Silently and Very Fast,” Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA Press;Clarkesworld Magazine, October 2011)
“The Ice Owl,” Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy andScience Fiction, November/December 2011)
“The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary,” Ken Liu (PanverseThree,Panverse Publishing)
“With Unclean Hands,” Adam-Troy Castro (Analog Science Fiction andFact, November 2011)

Novelette Winner: ”What We Found,” Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September/October 2011)

Other Nominees

“Fields of Gold,” Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse 4,Night Shade Books)
“Ray of Light,” Brad R. Torgersen (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2011)
“Sauerkraut Station,” Ferrett Steinmetz (Giganotosaurus, November 2011)
“Six Months, Three Days,” Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com, June 2011)
“The Migratory Pattern of Dancers,” Katherine Sparrow (Giganotosaurus, July 2011)
“The Old Equations,” Jake Kerr (Lightspeed Magazine, July 2011)

Short Story Winner: ”The Paper Menagerie,” Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March/April 2011)

Other Nominees

“Her Husband’s Hands,” Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed Magazine, October 2011)
“Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son,” Tom Crosshill (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2011)
“Movement,” Nancy Fulda (Asimov’s Science Fiction, March 2011)
“Shipbirth,” Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction, February 2011)
“The Axiom of Choice,” David W. Goldman (New Haven Review, Winter 2011)
“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees,” E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2011)

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation Winner: Doctor Who: “The Doctor’s Wife,” Neil Gaiman (writer), Richard Clark (director) (BBC Wales)

Other Nominees

Attack the Block, Joe Cornish (writer/director) (Optimum Releasing; Screen Gems)
Captain America: The First Avenger, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (writers), Joe Johnston (director) (Paramount)
Hugo, John Logan (writer), Martin Scorsese (director) (Paramount)
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen (writer/director) (Sony)
Source Code, Ben Ripley (writer), Duncan Jones (director) (Summit)
The Adjustment Bureau, George Nolfi (writer/director) (Universal)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and FantasyBook Winner: The Freedom Maze, Delia Sherman (Big Mouth House)

Other Nominees

Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor (Viking Juvenile)
Chime, Franny Billingsley (Dial Books; Bloomsbury)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Hodder & Stoughton)
Everybody Sees the Ants, A.S. King (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
The Boy at the End of the World, Greg van Eekhout (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Rae Carson (Greenwillow Books)
Ultraviolet, R.J. Anderson (Orchard Books; Carolrhoda Lab)

2011 DAMON KNIGHT GRAND MASTER AWARD: Connie Willis

SOLSTICE AWARD: Octavia Butler (posthumous) and John Clute

SERVICE TO SFWA AWARD: Bud Webster

Syfy Cancels Sanctuary

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:09:42 -0700

Syfy has canceled its first run series Sanctuary after four seasons.

From Mark Stern, Syfy President of Original Content:

“We’re honored to have been part of this incredible series. In addition to garnering unmatched devotion by fans worldwide,” Stern said in a release, “Sanctuary was a bona fide trailblazer, setting new standards with its highly innovative production techniques–including pioneering green screen and RED camera technology–and Emmy-nominated visual effects. It’s been an amazing ride and we look forward to our next project with Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood and Damian Kindler.”

Series star Amanda Tapping tweeted about the cancellation to her fans:

“We love and adore you. Thank you for the love and support. Now to the long dark tea time of my soul.”

totalfilm: The Wolverine begins filming in August The...

Tue, 22 May 2012 10:58:26 -0700

totalfilm:

The Wolverine begins filming in August

The Wolverine, Fox’s long-gestating sequel to X-Men Origins, looks to be inching ever closer to our screens with Hugh Jackman announcing that filming is set to begin on the project in August…

Avengers Sinks Battleship

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:29:05 -0700

The Friday showdown of comic juggernaut The Avengers and the Science Fiction action drenched Battleship turned out to be no contest. The Avengers raked in another $15.3 million, easily crushing Battleship which its disastrous $9 million premiere.

The Avengers is now predicted to easily win its third weekend in a row, pulling in somewhere around $55 million. That will drive its domestic total into the $457 million neighborhood. If it passes the $450 million on Sunday as expected it will become the the fastest movie to do so in only 17 days. shattering The Dark Knight’s 27 day record. The Avengers will also surpass Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest as Disney’s highest-grossing film ever.

Battleship’s poor first day puts it on track for a meager $26 million first weekend. With a budget of $209 million, Battleship looks to be an expensive domestic flop for Universal. This year’s other high profile flop John Carter managed a slightly better $30.2 million opening weekend. Both movies fared better overseas, but their high production and marketing costs doom them to financial failure without a huge domestic take. Both film’s start Taylor Kitsch, who is not getting his big screen career off to a particularly good start.

Meanwhile in other genre news Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows collapsed 61 percent to limp in at fifth place with $3.8 million. The film has so far only earned back $41.9 million domestically ($78.6 million worldwide) against its $125 million budget.

The Amazing Spider-Man 4 minute “super preview”.

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:04:55 -0700

The Amazing Spider-Man 4 minute “super preview”.

New Prometheus poster.

Sat, 19 May 2012 14:53:02 -0700

New Prometheus poster.

totalfilm: Sony to screen Total Recall footage at Kapow! Total...

Sat, 19 May 2012 14:49:00 -0700

totalfilm:

Sony to screen Total Recall footage at Kapow!

Total Recall, Len Wiseman’s update of the well-loved Arnie-starring sci-fi, will debut a host of new footage at this weekend’s Kapow! comic-book convention…

Avengers Passes $1 Billion Mark

Sun, 13 May 2012 16:07:56 -0700

The Avengers juggernaut continues, becoming the 12th film in history to earn over $1 Billion at the box office only 19 days after its release. It is the second fastest reaching that milestone after Avatar, which did it in only 17 days. Had the film not been released a week earlier in overseas markets its strong domestic showing probably could have out paced Avatar in reaching the milestone.

The Avengers set a new U.S. record for the biggest opening weekend with a $207 million debut, and set another for the the highest-grossing second weekend ever with an estimated $103 million. Other records include being the fastest movie to reach the $300 million and $350 million marks, and highest eight-day, nine-day, and ten-day grosses according to boxofficemojo.com. The Avengers is outperforming all pre-release estimates, and expectations now are that it will easily surpass the $500 million mark domestically.

There was little competition the weekend, with Dark Shadows as the highest profile release garnering poor reviews and disappointing with a $28.8 million opening.

Awake and The Secret Circle Canceled

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:52:33 -0700

More genre show casualties on TV as NBC cancels “Awake” while The CW axes “The Secret Circle.”

Both shows have struggled in the ratings. “Awake” started strong with 6 million viewers for its premiere, but tumbled quickly to a 2.5 rating/4 share average. That put it at a dismal rank of 21 out of 29 shows on NBC.

“The Secret Circle” was low rated overall, with a 1.2 rating/2 share, only good enough for 109th place overall. However, for The CW that performance wasn’t too bad and it was their second-highest-rated program behind it’s lead in “The Vampire Diaries.” Unfortunately the show regularly lost 33 percent of its “Vampire Diaries” lead in audience and The CW is hoping that a different show will fare better.

Star Wars Main Title Theme (Vocal Cover) (by nmckaig) Tell a...

Fri, 11 May 2012 02:07:00 -0700

Star Wars Main Title Theme (Vocal Cover) (by nmckaig)

Tell a friend.

ABC Renews Once Upon A Time

Fri, 11 May 2012 01:49:00 -0700

ABC has officially renewed its highest rated new show and best Sunday night performer, Once Upon A Time. The fairy tale inspired drama has averaged a 5.3 rating/8 share over the last three weeks, which is good enough for 6th place on ABC’s schedule.

totalfilm: Stephen King’s The Reach to get movie adaptation Yet...

Fri, 11 May 2012 01:37:34 -0700

totalfilm:

Stephen King’s The Reach to get movie adaptation

Yet another Stephen King adaptation looks to be in the works, with buyers set to find out more about a potential adaptation of The Reach at this year’s Cannes festival…

The Avengers Sets Opening Weekend Record

Sun, 06 May 2012 17:30:43 -0700

Marvel’s The Avengers soared to a record breaking opening weekend with $200.3 million in domestic box office. That easily sets a new record for best opening ever, crushing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 which opened to $169.2 million last summer. The Avengers was unable to edge out Deathly Hallows: Part 2 for best Friday opening day, but a slim 13% drop in Friday to Saturday receipts helped the film outpace Potter over the weekend.

The film opened in overseas markets a week earlier and continued to earn massive receipts this weekend, rising to $441.5 million through Sunday. In only three days of domestic release The Avengers worldwide total of $641.8 million has already surpassed the lifetime totals of its single hero lead in films: Captain America: The First Avenger ($364 million), Thor ($449 million), Iron Man ($585 million) and Iron Man 2 ($624 million).

The Avengers is the first film in history to cross the $200 million mark in only three days at the domestic box office. It also set a new record for the biggest Saturday gross of all time with $69.7 million. IMAX theaters reported similar record business, with over $15 million in ticket sales domestically tying Deathly Hallows Part 2 for the biggest opening weekend in the circuit’s history. The film is now projected to easily top $1 billion worldwide, a blessing for Disney after it’s disastrous John Carter forced it to take a $200 million write down.

The Avengers Assembles the 2nd Best Opening Ever

Sat, 05 May 2012 16:35:00 -0700

Marvel Comics latest hero adventure The Avengers had the second best opening day ever, earning $80.5 million in its domestic debut on Friday. Last year’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 holds the number one spot with $91.1 million on its first day on the way to a record opening weekend of $169.2 million.

The Avengers opened a week earlier overseas where it has had massive earnings including another $30.3 million internationally on Friday. That brings its overseas total to $334.3 million for a combined worldwide total of $414.8 million.

Marvel Comics strategy of first rolling out origin movies for several of the key characters in The Avengers has proven to be hugely successful. Iron Man earned $585.1 Million worldwide, with its sequel snapping up another $623.9 Million. Thor pulled in $449.3 Million, and Captain America, the weakest performer of the series, earned $368.6 Million. That brings Marvel’s total take from five films based on its heroes to a staggering $1.856 Billion in just four years, and The Avengers is just getting started on its domestic run with expectations that it will easily top the other four film’s earnings.

Reviews for The Avengers have been astonishingly strong, with critics raving about the film. The movie has earned a 93% “fresh” rating from critics and 96% “liked it” rating from users on Rotten Tomatoes, which is an unusual agreement for a comic based movie.

The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as the Incredible Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

The Dark Knight Rises - Official Trailer #3 [HD] (by...

Fri, 04 May 2012 23:53:10 -0700

The Dark Knight Rises - Official Trailer #3 [HD] (by WarnerBrosPictures)

Will Netflix Give Jericho (Another) New Life?

Fri, 04 May 2012 23:49:55 -0700

Will Netflix Give Jericho (Another) New Life?:

TV Guide Magazine confirms that Netflix has approached CBS about reviving cult fave Jericho — and the network, through its CBS TV Studios production arm, is considering it. The drama, which followed the residents of a small Kansas town in the wake of a nuclear attack, has been off the air since 2008.

The Amazing Spider-Man trailer #3.

Fri, 04 May 2012 23:47:10 -0700

The Amazing Spider-Man trailer #3.