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Hailing Frequencies #354
3.9.07

HELLO

And here's the three hundred and fifty-fourth edition of "Hailing Frequencies."

If you want to be notified when this newsletter is updated, email me to be put on my "notification" list.

I've been doing the calculations, but I still haven't decided which wastes more of my time these days, chocolate-flavored vodka or Jewel Quest.

NEW AT THE SITE THIS WEEK

Stargate Atlantis DVD Season Two - A Must-Buy

4400

SCI FI Wire reports that 4400's fourth season will have more Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell), because the actor is available all season for filming. Kyle Baldwin (Chad Faust) will also return. But the big news is: Now that Jordan Collier has handed out the promycin, the future has changed. Whatever that catastrophe is [has] been averted. So now we're going to start dealing with what does it mean to have a ... world where promycin is there for the taking? Where everyone could develop an ability. And very early in the season, Jordan will become aware of a prophecy dating back a bunch of years ... that seems to involve him and seems to give an explanation to why he needed to hand out the promycin. And that's going to have huge effects on the present situation."

The 4400 returns with new episodes in June.

AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE MOVIE POSTER - CLICK HERE TO SEE

For more, go here.

BATMAN

Maggie Gyllenhaal has all but signed on to play Christian Bale's latest love interest in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (Batman Begins II). Cameras role late spring/early summer for a summer 2008 release.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

Are you a fanfilm-maker who loves Battlestar Galactica? Then check out the Battlestar Galactica Videomaker Toolkit. With it, you're to make a four-minute fanvid, selecting from 30+ visual effects and 20 audio effects and some music. You then post your vid on SCIFI.COM for the world to enjoy. BSG exec. producer David Eick gets to pick the best one, which will air during an episode at a time TBA. Frackin' cool.

CAVEMEN

You know the Caveman commercials for Geico? Well, we're all going to find out if a 30-second bit can stretch to 30 minutes. Variety reports ABC is developing the sitcom, which features three cavemen dealing with prejudice on a daily basis while living like regular thirtysomethings in Atlanta, GA. Joe Lawson, author of ads, will script.

FANTASTIC FOUR

Director Tim Story said on his blog that Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer will have an appearance by the planet-eating Galactus: "We haven't finished the design of him/it, ... [but] one thing's for sure: You can expect to see him/it."

THE HAPPENING

Variety reports that M. Night Shyamalan, who was so great with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable and so lame with The Village and that Amex commercial, has settled on The Happening for his next project. His spec script centers on a family on the run from some huge threat to humanity. (I sure hope they're not running from the weather, and I predict there will be a plot twist.) 20th Century Fox is paying the bills, and Shyamalan will go to the cameras in Philadelphia this August for a June 2008

HARRY POTTER

AintItCool has an early review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

For some reason, people have enjoyed the rumor that the main three actors in the Harry Potter movies would be recast. (Yeah, right.) But word as come that David Radcliffe has signed on the dotted line to play Harry in all the rest of the films. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are still in negotiations, but...come on.

Rowling has again appeared on the Forbes list of billionaires, and I would congratulate her, but the bitter acid of envy has eaten through my stomach lining, rendering me incapable of anything but low growls.

grrr

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows flies to shelves July 21.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opens July 13.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has a tentative opening date of November 21, 2008.

Knitters! Check it out!

HEROES

Congrats to NBC's Heroes, which scored a 8.5/13 Monday. It was also a rockin' episode.

Saying Heroes is structured along the lines of 24, Tim Kring told SCI FI Wire that "the upcoming second season will constitute a new volume in the multi-volume series, with new characters and an entirely new storyline. 'If you remember, the opening of the pilot pronounced the episode as the beginning of Volume One,' Kring said in an interview. 'Volume One comes to a conclusion at the end of episode 23, and Volume Two starts with the opening of season two. And Volume Two is a different story.'"

LOST

This week's Lost scored a 7.6/13.

MISC...

• March 7, 1933 saw the invention of the board game Monopoly. Happy Birthday, and stop charging so damn much for your friggin' hotels.
• Filming's about to begin in Budapest on Hellboy II, directed by Guillermo del Toro.
• Jerico fans who want some mild spoilers for the end of the season, check out SCI FI Wire.
• CBS' Babylon Fields, where dead people try to keep on with their former lives, has cast Ray Stevenson as the town's sheriff and lead role. Amber Tamblyn will also star.
• Thursday's rerun of Smallville got a 1.8/3, Supernatural's rerun got a 1.5/2, and Friday's rerun of Ghost Whisperer spooked up a 5.9/10
• According to IESB.net, Eddie Murphy will be the new Mr. Rourkw in a movie version of Fantasy Island, scripted by Jay Scherick and David Ronn.
• New Line will do David Gilcreast's Cryptozoologists, about scientists who are used to tracking things like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster and are suddenly confronted with real monsters in San Francisco.

OZ

SCI FI Channel's Tin Man has added Richard Dreyfuss to the cast. He'll play a wizard, Mystic Man, who lives in the Outer Zone (OZ). We already have Alan Cummings as the title character . Look for it in December.

PIRATES

The trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will have its world debut during ABC's Dancing With the Stars premiere March 19 -- except for those who can catch it earlier by winning a contest at Disney.com to see it a day earlier.

Wow.

After it airs, the trailer will be available on Yahoo!, Disney.com and on other places (like, I'm guessing, YouTube.com).

The movie opens May 25.

SPEED RACER

Producer Joel Silver told SCI FI Wire that Wachowski live-action version of Speed Racer, which goes into production in Berlin June 5, will not follow in the R-rated tradition of V for Vendetta and The Matrix: "They have nieces and nephews that couldn't have seen [any] of their movies, and so they wanted to make one they could see. And they've always loved Speed Racer, and there's a chance to do something really incredible."

For those who had no childhood, Speed is a racer in his Mach 5 who participates in all manner of odd, international races, including (my favorite) one through a live volcano. We don't know the movie's plot yet, except that it will feature the mysterious Racer X. There has also been no casting confirmation.

It should zoom into theatres May 2008.

SPIDER-MAN

Spider-Man 3 will open first worldwide in Tokyo, Japan on May 1, three days before it opens in the US. Get in line now. In related news, Toby Maguire is making noises that this will be his last time playing Spider-Man.

STAR TREK

Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci told MTV that the 11th Star Trek movie will be entitled Star Trek.

James McAvoy says he's not being considered for the role of Scotty in J.J. Abrams' Trek XI. Now, if only the part about there being a Scotty role were also false...

STAR WARS

A London-based costume maker Angels auctioned off 350 lots, including Obi-Wan's cloak (£54,000), Tom Baker's Doctor Who costume with his first season's scarf (£24,600), Batman and Robin costumes (£10,200), and a metal knight's helmet worn by Terry Jones in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (£11,100). Who's the nerd with a checkbook now, eh?

STARGATES

We've already heard that Teal'c will be making a cameo on SGA next season. Here's some more great stuff from josephmallozzi.blogspot.com: (season four spoiler warning)

Foolishpleasure writes: “If SG1 had been renewed, what would have happened to Carter? […]Would Weir still be a reg on SGA, or would she have been dumped no matter what?”

Answer: Re: Carter - not sure. Re: Weir - we would have made the same decision.

***

NightSpring writes: “Carter's a done deal. […] On the other hand, we could possibly handle that if we weren't also losing Torri. Why is there not room for both of them to do 14 or so episodes??”

Answer: At the risk of repeating myself, it’s not an either or situation. The addition of Carter wasn’t the reason we decided to take Weir in a new direction.

Anonymous #1 writes: “Basically, we're getting Carter on Atlantis because Scifi wanted a crossover. That is what you're saying, right?”

Answer: Wrong. That isn’t what I’m saying. If you’re wondering whether the only reason we’re bringing Carter aboard because SciFi requested it, the answer is no. If you’re wondering whether SciFi and the production both support the idea of bringing Carter aboard, the answer is yes.

***

Ankhmutes writes: “According to Hewlett's blog, the team is wearing leather in S4. He may have been teasing us... but those of us in the shallow end of the pool are hoping he isn't.”

Answer: He isn’t.

***

Anonymous #6 writes: “Will there be any McKay whumping or angst in season 4?”

Answer: No season would be complete without some McKay whumping. And you can count on some McKay angst as well, compliments of Pretty Boy Gero.

***

Anonymous #9 writes: “1) Will be seeing more of Michael and 2) Will that Common Ground Wraith be returning?”

Answer: Looking good.

***

Ankhmutes writes: “I was wondering if there were any plans to continue the Ford story arc.”

Answer: No Ford stories in the works so far.

Check out Gateworld's review of the Atlantis season two DVD. (spoiler - it's positive)

From SCI FI Wire's John Joseph Adams:

Gamers will be able to go on missions with SG-1 in the new Stargate Trading Card Game, a video game being released by Sony Online Entertainment, director of development Scott Martins told SCI FI Wire. The game, based on SCI FI Channel's original series Stargate SG-1, is a mission-based game and that focuses on the series' characters, Martins said in an interview at New York Comic Con last week.

"You're taking your team out through the Stargate to worlds all over the galaxy," Martins said. "Each mission has one of four skills—combat, ingenuity, culture or science—and your team members have various combinations of those skills. Teal'c is pretty beefy in combat, while Daniel Jackson is great at culture and science, for example."

The base set, named SG-1, will have approximately 300 cards in it.

Check out much more at the game's official site.

TERMINATOR

The script for Terminator 4 has been completed by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, and the buzz is that Arnold Schwarzenegger may make a cameo appearance. (Here's a fun fact: In the original Terminator movie, Arnold had only 17 lines, none of them more than a few words.)

TOP MOVIES FROM THE NUMBERS

1 Wild Hogs.................$47,090,464
2 Zodiac.......................$16,153,855
3 Ghost Rider................$96,724,357 (sequel already in the works)
4 The Number 23............$25,800,000
5 Bridge to Terabithia.........$59,599,482
6 Music and Lyrics..........$39,646,386 (anybody know if this is good?)
7 Black Snake Moan.........$5,131,792
8 Reno 911!: Miami.........$17,471,914
9 Norbit.....................$83,739,116
10 Breach................$26,275,090

TOP BOOKS SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 3.1.07

1. 300, by Frank Miller
2. Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2), by Christopher Paolini
3. Magic Item Compendium (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement)
4. For a Few Demons More
5. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
6. Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 2), by Patricia Briggs
7. Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1), by Jim Butcher (my review)
8. Exile (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force), by Aaron Allston
9. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
10. The Harlequin: An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel, by Laurell K. Hamilton


TOP DVDs SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 3.1.07

1. Peter Pan (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)
2. Stargate Atlantis - The Complete Second Season
3. Children of Men (Widescreen Edition) (read my review)
4. Eragon (Two-Disc Special Edition)
5. The Little Mermaid (Two-Disc Special Edition)
6. Night of the Comet
7. Cinderella (Two-Disc Special Edition)
8. Alice in Wonderland (Masterpiece Edition)
9. Mary Poppins (40th Anniversary Edition)
10. Lost - The Complete Second Season

TOP SCI FI NETWORK SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 2/12/07 - 2/18/07

Heroes 8.7
Lost 7.6
Ghost Whisperer 7.6
Medium 5.7
Jericho 4.8
Smallville 2.9
Supernatural 1.9

TOP SCI FI SYNDICATED SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 2/12/07 - 2/18/07

Alias 1.9
Smallville 1.5
Stargate Atlantis 1.5
Stargate SG-1 1.4
Star Trek 1.4
Farscape 0.7
The Outer Limits 0.6

INSANE TREK TRIVIA

This Week's Question: In classic Star Trek, what's the fastest warp speed the Enterprise achieves?

Send your answer to julia.houston@gmail.com. All correctly answering trivia maniacs will have their names mentioned in the next letter. The first winner gets to make a request, anything they like -- within reason -- for the next "Hailing Frequencies" Issue. Please let me know if you don't want me to post your email address if you win.

Last Week's Question: What is the ratio for the matter/anti-matter mixture in the warp core?

Answer: 1:1.

First winner
angloo

Second winner
Patty

Third winner
evay

Fourth winner
Sue

Fifth winner
Jim

Sixth winner
Stephen

Seventh winner
Neil

Eighth winner
athena28

CAPTION CONTEST

Send in your best caption for the picture below. The best (as in, my favorite) entry will appear in next week's issue.

[Insert caption here.]

Last week's topic: If you could have ONE thing (gadget-wise) from a sci-fi/fantasy show or film, what would it be?

***

A Hoverboard from Back To The Future.

FERGUSSONFAMILY

***

If I could have ONE thing from a sci-fi/fantasy show or film, it would be the DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the Future (the flying version from Part II). I’d like to go back and correct some mistakes I’ve made over the years… maybe even kick my own butt to keep me from doing those things. We all say and do things that we later regret. I’d definitely like to fix at least some of those… maybe even change the outcome of my life so I could see alternate realities (who hasn’t thought to themselves “What if I’d done this instead” or “What if I hadn’t done that?”).

After I’d satisfied my curiosity about my own life, I’d use the time machine to correct some of the wrongs in history… maybe even stop some of the terrible things that have happened in recent years.

Then again, I guess I’d be risking unraveling the entire space-time continuum.

Maybe I should just settle for a puppy. ;-)

Neil

***

I'd really like access to a Federation sick bay and doctor for an hour. That should be enough to regenerate my thyroid.

If it has to be something fun, I'll take a holodeck.

There are plenty of SF and Fantasy series that are popular with a general audience. Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Narnia, etc. I do think both genres suffer from misconceptions. Fantasy is often seen as either for kids or as promoting paganism. Written SF is seen as being for eggheads and boring.

Anne

***

I would like to have "Box" from the 1987 British SF series Star Cops. Box was a featureless black, well, box, the size of a transistor radio, which acted as the secretary/researcher for the Commander. He would ask it to do things in the vernacular and it would--check facts, report lab results, remind him of a date and anticipate the restaurant he would book. It sounds a little like a cross between a Blackberry and a tricorder, but with A.I., fuzzy logic and voice recognition far advanced over today's PCs. Perhaps by the time we catch up with the series (2027) we'll have something close to it. My second choice would be Derek Flint's lighter: 72 uses--73 if you need a lighter!

Chris

***

[on another topic]

I've been watching the canceled episodes of Day Break (Found that clicking on the main picture, once the site finishes "configuring" leads to a second page where you may select from several shows, even if they do not show on main page) and I just don't get why it was canceled

Yes, the concept was explored in Groundhog Day... but there are very few NEW ideas in TV/Movies these days.

Maybe I'm just easily entertained... or am able to go to the "world" shown and suspend disbelief... but I find it to be interesting and look forward to finding out what each "new day" has in store

Oh well... maybe the subject was just too heavy for most.

John

***

I suppose any kind of literature is insular. But once you're spending fifty million dollars for an hour of film, it won't pay for itself unless you draw people who usually have no interest in the genre.

So you record a bunch of people who hate each other locked in a house together and call it "reality", do Camelot with car chases, or tack a Philip Dick story onto the beginning of a remake of Conan the Barbarian and call it science fiction. Sometimes it works. Star Wars worked. And Star Trek.

But science fiction is still best when it's created for people who care about science fiction, and not just another mass- appeal product.

Anthony Simmons

***

Next week's topic: Is Starbuck really dead?

Send me something if you've got something to say.  It can be about anything that's on your mind!

HAILING FREQUENCIES CLOSED

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Julia Houston