Fantasy SF Blog

Star Trek Wins Best Makeup at 82nd Academy Awards

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST

Mindy Hall, Barney Burman, and Joel Harlow accept the Academy Award for Achievement in Makeup during the 82nd Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA, on Sunday, March 7, 2010. Stark Trek won in the makeup category beating out Il Divo and The Young Victoria. Ben Stiller dressed up as a Na'vi to present the award. You can see a full list of the 82nd Academy Award winners here.

Photos: Erik Ovanespour, Todd Wawrychuk / © A.M.P.A.S.

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Scary Alien Queen Made From Steel

Sat, 6 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST

RoboSteel artists created this frightening 8-foot Alien Queen sculpture using 4,000 pieces of steel. Dvice says 90% of the Alien Queen sculpture are from recycled from Yamaha motorcycles. The sculpture is one of several impressive sculptures at RoboSteel.

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Video: Second Trailer for Prince of Persia

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST

The second trailer for Prince of Persia is out and it looks great. Jake Gyllenhaal shows off his English accent and his fighting style. Gemma Arterton shows off a bit of attitude. And the tech team shows off some very impressive CGI. Take a look:

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Restored Metropolis Aired in Berlin

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:40:00 EST

Reuters reports that 2,000 people braved the cold in Berlin to watch a 2.5 hour director's cut version of Metropolis that was shown outdoors at the Berlin Film Festival.

The 1927 dystopian classic, including 30 minutes from the original feared lost forever, was also shown at a gala performance for 1,800 accompanied by a live orchestra and beamed simultaneously to the outdoor crowd in the heart of Berlin.

"Metropolis," which now runs for more than 2-1/2 hours, forged a template for generations of science fiction cinema and its enduring influence has been cited on films from "Blade Runner" to "Fahrenheit 451" and "Star Wars."

"It's the mother of all science fiction and I could hardly wait to see the 30 minutes they found," said Stefan Kolb, 25, a graphic designer. "It's special to watch this outdoors. But if I could have got a ticket for inside, I'd be there instead."

The Age says the version shown in Berlin was 3.5 hours long so someone is confused about the length of this restored version of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Kino International's has a website, Facebook and a Twitter account for the restored Metropolis film.

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Lionsgate to Distribute The Last Exorcism

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

Variety reports that Lionsgate has picked up the U.S. distribution rights to the horror film The Last Exorcism. The film is shot in cinema verite style and was produced by Eli Roth and Strike Entertainment.

Helmed by German director and AFI grad Daniel Stamm, pic was originally titled "Cotton" and stars Patrick Fabian as a troubled evangelical minister who allows his final exorcism to be filmed by a documentary crew.

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Project, which shot in Louisiana, has had horror fan sites salivating for months at the prospect of a scary, shaky-cam-style film shepherded by "Hostel" helmer Roth.

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"It's always great to work with our friend Eli, who has played a key role in establishing Lionsgate in the vanguard of the horror genre," said Jason Constantine, Lionsgate's prexy of acquisitions and co-productions. "'The Last Exorcism' feels as close to a real exorcism as anyone would ever want to get -- audiences are going to find this movie scary as, well, hell."

Horror movies are hot acquisitions now, especially if the budgets aren't too big.

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Trailer Snip: M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

The full trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender will air during the Superbowl. Here's a very small clip from the trailer -- it's too short to judge much of anything, but the special effects and sets look awesome. Take a look:

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Avatar, District 9 Nominated for Best Picture Oscar

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST

For the first time ever, two science fiction films have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Both Avatar and District are nominated in that category. Avatar is up for nine awards, including Best Director for James Cameron. It did not receive any nominations for acting or writing, however. District 9 also received nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing and Visual Effects. Star Trek received nominations for Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Makeup and Visual Effects.

Coraline, the film based on the bestselling book by Neil Gaiman, is nominated for Best Animated Film. Director Henry Selick said of the nomination: "It's nice to be taken seriously."

You can see the full list of Oscar nominations here.

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Avatar Now Highest Grossing Film of All Time

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

James Cameron's Avatar topped the box office again this past weekend. The film is now the highest grossing film of all time, beating out James Cameron's Titanic. Variety reports:

Fox said final figures won't be available until Tuesday, but with weekend numbers for "Avatar" totaling $1.838 billion worldwide, pic's expected $15 million domestic earnings should give the pic enough steam to sail past "Titanic" with a global cume of $1.842 billion.

This latest record comes just after "Avatar" made history over the weekend, grossing $1.29 billion at the international B.O. to tackle "Titanic's" $1.24 billion.

Cameron is now the only man in Hollywood that could get pretty much anything he wants greenlighted. He seems happy about the idea of an Avatar sequel and with these box office numbers, it's pretty much inevitable.

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Avatar Wins Best Drama Golden Globe

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

Avatar won Best Motion Picture - Drama at the 2010 Golden Globes. James Cameron also won Best Director. Zoe Saldana, producer Jon Landau, Sam Worthington, James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver posed backstage in the press room at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards. James Camerson said, "Avatar asks to see that everything is connected - all human beings to each other and us to the Earth." He also said, "If you have to go four and half light years to another made up planet to appreciate this miracle of a world that we have right here, well then that's the wonder of cinema right there, that's the magic." Take a look:

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Zachary Quinto Tweets Star Trek Sequel Release Date

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Zachary Quinto, who plays Sylar on Heroes and Spock in the new Star Trek movie franchise, tweeted that the launch date of the next Star Trek is now official.

Zach says:

the flag has been planted. june 29th, 2012. sequel. trek it out.

So there you have it: June 29, 2012. We'll be there.

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Heroes is the Most Pirated TV Show of the Decade

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Heroes is the most pirated tv show of the decade.

Here's the full list:

1. "Heroes" (NBC)

2. "Lost" (ABC)

3. "Prison Break" (Fox)

4. "Dexter" (Showtime)

5. "House" (Fox)

6. "24" (Fox)

7. "Desperate Housewives" (ABC)

8. "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," (Fox)

9. "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)

10. "True Blood" (HBO)

This is an honor no television producer wants.

Heroes returns to NBC tonight with a two hour presentation. We can't wait.

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Trailer for Iron Man 2

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:04:00 EST

The new trailer for Iron Man 2 is out and it looks great. Robert Downey, Jr. returns as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Gwyneth Paltrow is Tony's loyal assistant, Pepper Potts. Mickey Roarke is clearly having the time of his life wielding dual bullwhips in his role as the new villain, Ivan Vanko/Whiplash. We only see a bit of Scarlett Johansson is Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in the trailer. Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes/War Machine. Take a look:

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Avatar Racks Up Four Golden Globe Nominations

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:25:00 EST

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association showed some real love for James Cameron's Avatar. The Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday and Avatar raked in the nominations.

James Cameron was nominated for Best Director. The film was nominated for Best Picture - Drama. James Horner was nominated for Best Original Score. And the film got a Best Original Song nod for "I See You," music by: James Horner and Simon Franglen, lyrics By: James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell.

Interestingly, the none of Avatar's actors received nominations, nor did the screenplay get nominated. Early reviews say Avatar is visually stunning, but that the script is the weakest part of the film.

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Creature From the Black Lagoon Remake Being Considered

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

Variety reports that Universal Pictures and Carl Erik Rinsch are talking about a Creature From the Black Lagoon remake.

Strike Entertainment's Marc Abraham and Eric Newman will produce with Gary Ross.

Deal would be the second big U picture for Rinsch, who will make his feature directing debut on "47 Ronin," the epic samurai swordsmen tale that takes place in 18th century Japan, and is set to star Keanu Reeves. That picture is expected to begin production next year.

We will see if they are able to remake Creature From the Black Lagoon without it being campy. 47 Ronin with Keanu Reeves certainly sounds appealing.

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Lou Diamond Phillips Answers Fans' Questions

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST

Lou Diamond Phillips answers fans' questions for the Syfy channel. He talks about Stargate Universe a bit, as well as his musical career. Lou's SGU character Colonel Telford drives us nuts. He is unprofessional, vicious and totally nuts. Not to mention unlikeable. Then you see Lou on NUMB3RS as the FBI tracker and he's tough but very likable. Why in the world did they write such a terrible character for him on SGU? Funny, no one asks him that question. He's a great actor who deserves better. Take a look:

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Peter Jackson Talks The Hobbit

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 21:11:00 EST

Peter Jackson told Syfy that he, Fran and Philippa are working on the second revised script for The Hobbit which he hopes to have done by the end of the year. That would move the production start date back to 2010. The first of the two films should hit theaters at the end of 2011.

"We're still working on the script, and of course it's going to be directed by Guillermo [del Toro]," Jackson said in an exclusive interview with SCI FI Wire. "That's going really well, and in fact we've already delivered the first script to the studio, and they really liked it, so now we're working hard on the second script, and that's going to keep us pretty busy until the end of this year."

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Jackson is well known as being a very hands-on filmmaker. So just how involved will he be during The Hobbit's shoot next year? "Well, I'm not intending to be on the set every day looking over his shoulder," he said with a laugh. "It's Guillermo's movie, and he'll be filming it, not me. The reason he's directing it is because I'm a big fan of his movies, and I know he'll do a fantastic job. I know he's the right guy for the project, and I love his amazing sense of visual and imagery. So I won't be interfering with his approach."

Del Toro is also collaborating with Jackson and his team on writing The Hobbit. "We're all on the same page [about the project], and it all starts with a good script," Jackson said. "We're big believers in structured screenplays, and the thing with our screenwriting partnership, with Fran and Philippa, is that we don't have a traditional screenplay deal with the studio. We don't have two drafts and a bunch of revisions. We refuse to put that into our contracts, as we continually rewrite and refine the scripts as we go."

We're still nervous about Jackson not directing. We did enjoy Pan's Labyrinth, but we hope none of the look of that film makes it into The Hobbit. This project is taking so long to get off the ground that it's driving us crazy. There's always some delay: a lawsuit, a rewrite. Or maybe we're just impatient.

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Universal Soldier Returns

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Fans of the classic SF Jean Claude Van Damme film Universal Soldier will be thrilled to know that there will be a new film in the series, which will star Jean Claude and Dolph Lundren. The new film is called Universal Soldier: Regeneration which certainly explains how Dolph Lundren's character is returning. The film will go straight-to-DVD. Alas, Roland Emmerich won't be back to direct. But who cares? Take a look:

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Captain Nemo Movie Dead in the Water

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

Variety's Mike Fleming reports that the Captain Nemo movie which was to be directed by McG is dead in the water at Disney. The film has been put on hold and McG has moved onto other projects.

The studio confirmed that the studio won't proceed with the film for now, and reps for the director confirmed he has withdrawn. McG will concentrate on other projects that include Dead Spy Running, a Warner Bros. drama that Stephen Gaghan is writing. McG is also attached to Terminator 5, though that movie is on hold indefinitely as the Terminator franchise works its way through bankruptcy court. McG just teamed with Borat helmer Larry Charles on a new NBC comedy.

McG, who last directed Terminator Salvation, had been attached to Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea since last January. The Bill Marsilli-scripted pic is an origin story about how Nemo constructed his warship, the Nautilus.

No one had been cast as Captain Nemo, although Will Smith was rumored to be up for the part.

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Video Clip: The Road Starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:44:00 EST

The film version of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic tale The Road stars Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron. Viggo's character and his son set out on a journey towards a better life after the apocalypse comes. Their hellish road trip is filled with all kinds of horrors, including being chased by gangs of cannibals. It's not light reading. In this clip we see a bit of the man's life with his wife before the tragedy hit. Take a look:

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Wax Statue of Captain Kirk Unveiled at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

William Shatner's image as Captain Kirk has been immortalized in wax at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. William Shatner did a brief standup routing as he stood next to the wax version of his Star Trek character. He also said it was a "great honor" having the wax statue made. Take a look:

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Fringe Ratings Fall Because of World Series, V is a Hit

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Ratings for Fringe fell 23% last night, most likely because fans had no idea that it was back on. Many local listings showed the World Series in that time slot. FlashForward has also slipped a bit in the ratings.

While over on Fox, some viewers didn't get the message that no Game 7 meant the return of "Fringe" -- the series hit a dramatic series low. ABC won the night, with its lineup slipping about 4% across the board: "FlashForward" (8.5 million viewers, 2.6 preliminary adults 18-49 rating), "Grey's Anatomy" (13.6 million, 5.0) and "Private Practice" (9.2 million, 3.5). Both medical dramas won their hours.

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Returning after a two-week hiatus, Fox's drama lineup had "Bones" (8.5 million, 2.5) down 11%. At 9 p.m., "Fringe" (5 million, 1.7) hit a serious low, falling 23%. On the CW, "Vampire Diaries" (4.2 million, 2.0) admirably retained its recent gains. "Supernatural" (2.7 million, 1.2) continues to pretend like its not paired with a hit show, falling 14% this week.

ABC's V has been a surprise hit for the network, drawing in a whopping 14.3 million viewers for its debut, despite mixed reviews from critics. Can it keep up the pace? Week two will be crucial.

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Vigilante Entertainment Acquires Film Rights to Black Summer

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Variety reports that Vigilante Entertainment has acquired the film right to Warren Ellis's comic book series Black Summer. The comic books are about a group of scientists who have modified their bodies so they can fight crime and government and police corruption.

"Summer," published by Avatar Press in 2007, centers on superhero team the Seven Guns, a group of scientist-adventurers who modified their own bodies for street-fighting in order to take back their West Coast city from a corrupt police force, criminal local government and rapacious private security forces.

Ellis also penned the graphic novel "Red," with Summit in pre-production on an adaptation; Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman are attached.

Ryne Pearson (Knowing) has been tapped to write the screenplay adaption. Warren Ellis also had the film rights to his Gravel comic book series purchased recently by Legendary Pictures.

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DreamWorks to Adapt Ghost in the Shell

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

DreamWorks has hired Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) to write a screenplay based on Ghost in the Shell. Variety reports that plans are for a live-action 3D film. The manga series is a futuristic thriller about a covert cyborg police which specializes in fighting technology-related crimes. You can read more about the manga series here.

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Marc Guggenheim Leaving FlashForward

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST

Co-showrunner/executive producer Marc Guggenheim is leaving the freshman sf drama FlashForward. That will leave his co-creator/executive producer David Goyer as the only showrunner. The show claims that it was all planned.

The move follows a similar switch last week on CBS' freshman drama "The Good Wife." Showrunner/exec producer Dee Johnson, also brought in after the pilot, has departed, handing the reins to co-creators/exec producers Michelle and Robert King. Because of Goyer's limited hands-on TV series experience, "Eli Stone" co-creator Guggenheim was brought in after the "FlashForward" pilot to help with the launch of the mystery drama based on Robert Sawyer's novel.

After learning the ropes in a co-showrunner capacity on the original 12-episode order of "FlashForward" alongside Guggenheim, Goyer will fly solo for the series' back-nine order. Guggenheim will focus on development under his overall deal with "FlashForward" producer ABC Studios.

FlashForward is at a crucial time in the story arc. Fans are interested and like the show and the numbers are good. But some fans are already getting irritated at the slow pacing. We actually think the pacing is just fine and are looking forward to Dominic Monaghan's turn on the show as the mysterious Simon. But staff changes this early on can be problematic.

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James Cameron, Benevolent Tyrant

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

The New Yorker has a long piece about director James Cameron and his tyrannical ways on the set of his new SF film, Avatar.

The director James Cameron is six feet two and fair, with paper-white hair and turbid blue-green eyes. He is a screamer-righteous, withering, aggrieved. "Do you want Paul Verhoeven to finish this motherf*****?" he shouted, an inch from Arnold Schwarzenegger's face, after the actor went AWOL from the set of True Lies, a James Bond spoof that Cameron was shooting in Washington, D.C. (Schwarzenegger had been giving the other actors a tour of the Capitol.)

Cameron has mastered every job on set, and has even been known to grab a brush out of a makeup artist's hand. "I always do makeup touch-ups myself, especially for blood, wounds, and dirt," he says. "It saves so much time." His evaluations of others' abilities are colorful riddles. "Hiring you is like firing two good men," he says, or "Watching him light is like watching two monkeys f*** a football." A small, loyal band of cast and crew works with him repeatedly; they call the dark side of his personality Mij--Jim backward.

Mij -- he sounds kind of like Sybil, only he only has two different personalities. Avatar has had so much hype that we are really wondering if it can really live up to the colossal expectations. It is costing around $230 million to make and will hit theaters on December 18. We can't wait to see it, of course.

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Roland Emmerich Talks Asimov's Foundation

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:34:00 EST

Sci Fi Wire reports that Roland Emmerich (2010) will direct the film version of Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy. And he promises not to ruin it.

Emmerich says the challenge facing him and screenwriter Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan) is finding a throughline for the film. "There's not one character going through, so Bob Rodat came to me and said, 'I'm like a fanatic reader of ... Foundation,' and I ... talked with him. ... He said, 'We have to consolidate the characters.' And that's what we did, and that's what's worked really, really well in the context. And I think that if Asimov ... would have ... conceived this as a science fiction trilogy or series from the very beginning, he would have done that, too. But he didn't. ... I think in spirit [the movie is] totally Foundation, but it has consolidated characters which go through the three movies."

Rodat keeps promising to deliver the script to Emmerich soon, the director said. "He kind of keeps calling me and saying, 'It's fantastic, Roland! I've never written such a good script.' And I say, 'Well, maybe you should send it to me so I can, like, read [it]?' ... I love him, he's a great, great guy. But I think I get it soon. He promised me, ... he said, like, before 2012 comes out [on Nov. 13]. I said, 'Oh, that's good.'"

In an exclusive interview, Emmerich talked about what inspired him about the series. "Well, it's the same thing that Asimov was inspired by," he said. "Just the downfall of a great civilization and how you can stop it. And you cannot stop it, it's just inherent. ... As a civilization crumbles, it falls."

Emmerich said that he knows fans of Asimov hated the film version of I, Robot and that he is respectful of the material. He says he's a total sf geek and has always preferred science fiction movies to disaster movies (which he is most famous for). We'll be interested to see what Emmerich comes up with.

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Legendary Buys Film Rights to Gravel

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

Variety reports that Legendary Pictures has purchased the film rights to the Gravel comic book series created by Warren Ellis and published by Avatar Press. Variety says author Warren Ellis is slated to write the screenplay.

Project revolves around the character William Gravel, a soldier in the British S.A.S. who uses his skills in dark magic to moonlight and battle supernatural beings for clients in order to make some extra cash.

Ellis introduced the character in a 1999 limited series of graphic novels published under the title "Strange Kiss."

He will pen the initial draft of the screenplay for the pic and serve as executive producer on the project.

Legendary Pictures has several projects in the air, including Jonah Hex starring Megan Fox, which arrives in theatres on June 18th, 2010.

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Adrien Brody Will Be Hunted in Predators Reboot

Wed, 7 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST

The Hollywood Reporter writes that Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody is gong to star in a reboot of the 1987 science fiction film Predators. The new franchise is being directed by Nimrod Antal and produced by Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellan.

Other stars signed on for the film include Alice Braga, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Walt Goggings, Danny Trejo and Oleg Taktarov. The Hollywood Reporter says Topher Grace is in negotiations to join the cast.

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More Dollhouse Action Means More Stunts For Eliza Dushku

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

Dollhouse has stepped up the action this year which means more stunts for lead actress Eliza Dushku. TV Guide says she has sustained injuries including cracked toe, chipped teeth, burnt hair and broken her nose. That's seems like quite a few injuries but the action this season has been great. TV Guide also reveals some of Eliza's sexy photos from her recent Complex photo shoot. Take a look:

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V Television Series Trailer

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST

The new V television series will premiere on November 3rd of this year. It will run four episodes before going on hiatus and not returning until March 2010. The Wikipedia entry says V is on a production hiatus until mid-October. The cast includes Joel Gretsch from the 4400, Morena Baccarin from Firefly and Elizabeth Mitchell from Lost. Here's the trailer.

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Summit to Reboot Highlander Franchise

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:00:00 EST

Summit, the producer of the Twilight films, is going to reboot the Highlander films. No, really.

Summit Entertainment is going to reboot the popular Highlander film franchise by handing the reins to Justin Lin, director of Fast & Furious. He will direct from a script to be written by Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.

The reboot will reportedly deal with an immortal Scottish swordsman who must confront a murderously brutal barbarian, who lusts for a fabled prize (or Prize?). Unclear how much, if any, of the previous franchise's mythology will figure into the reboot.

We can't even imagine how this is going to sort out. But the Highlander films have a long and troubled history. The TV series became the best part of the franchise, mostly due to Adrian Paul's portrayal of Duncan McCloud.

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