Richard Kelly the director of the Sci Fi apocalyptic movie Southland Tales has written on his MySpace.com blog that he needs further funds to complete the film’s production.

Kelly who’s previous credits include directing the cult classic, Donnie Darko, has said that the money is needed to finish some of the film’s visual effects.

Southland Tales is set in a war torn Los Angeles of the future where the story follows the criss-crossed destinies of several key people such as a Boxer (played by Dwayne “the rock” Johnson), an actor stricken with amnesia and twin brothers.

The film still has no distributor or release date.

Reference for posting: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire

When shooting an episode of Lost costs an estimated $1.5 to $2 million to shoot you can expect that the show’s producers are more than a little annoyed that several scenes from an upcoming episode were erased by an airport X-ray machine.

The film was put into film canisters and contained labeling warning airport staff at Hawaii’s Honolulu International Airport not to X-ray the material but they went ahead a did so anyway. Apparently the film canisters were mixed up with passengers’ luggage.

The destruction of the scenes will mean that cast and crew will have to reshoot them which will waste time and money however it should not effect the viewing schedule of the show.

Airport staff eh?

Reference for posting: http://www.24dash.com

After months of speculation over who would play the title role of the Bionic Woman Michelle Ryan, a young British actress has been cast.

Michelle Ryan is best known to UK audiences for her role as Zoe Slater on the BBC soap Eastenders. After leaving Eastenders she left Britain and moved to the US.

In her big break she will play the part of Jamie Sommers, a tennis ace who is injured in a near-fatal skydiving accident and is transformed into the Bionic Woman when she has $50 million worth of bionic components implanted in her body.

If aired, the programme, which has yet to film its pilot episode, will be shown on the American TV network NBC.

The series has been described by The Hollywood Reporter as a “re-imagination of the 1970s series” which stared Lindsay Wagner, and was a spin-off of The Six Million Dollar Man.

Reference for posting: http://www.lse.co.uk

Good news for anyone who has ever watched the critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica, its going to be back for a fourth series.

The SCI FI Channel announced that it has renewed the science fiction series about the last several thousand survivors of humanity searching for Earth whilst being pursued by their cylon enemies. Production will resume this summer in Vancouver, Canada, with the series premiering in January 2008.

The series has grown in audience share in the US ever since the show was moved to a 10pm timeslot on Sundays after The Dresden Files. In particular the show has attracted a larger female audience.

The show was won a Peabody and has, for the past two years, been named one of the American Film Institute’s 10 Outstanding Television Programs.

The series is from NBC Universal Television Studio and is executive-produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick.

“While we never had any doubt that SCI FI would get behind a fourth season of Battlestar, it’s thrilling to finally make it official, and for Ron and I to continue using this great genre to investigate the darker corners of society, politics and humanity,” executive producer David Eick said in a statement.

Reference for posting: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire

american film institute, battlestar galactica, science fiction series, sci fi channel

Ian McShane who played the ruthless Al Swearengen in HBO’s Deadwood is starring in The Dark Is Rising, a fantasy film for 20th Century Fox and Walden Media.

The film will be directed by David Cunningham and produced by Marc Platt with production commencing this month in Romania.

The film is based on a series of novels by author Susan Cooper and it features a young boy that discovers that he’s the last of a group of immortals, “the old ones”, who endeavor to fight a growing presence of dark forces and save the world.

In the film Ian McShane will play the part of Merriman Lyon who is himself an Old One who serves as the boy’s mentor.

The film will also star Frances Conroy and Alexander Ludwig.

Reference for posting: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire

Its been rumored for months but it seems that a Battlestar Galactica game has finally been confirmed.

The game is being developed by Australian studio Auran Games and will be distributed by Sierra Games. In the game that will be released for Xbox 360 and PC, players will be able to take part in intense combat and relive key battles from series one and two (here’s hoping for an encounter with Scar).

The game will offer both single and multiplayer modes and you will be able to play as the humans and the cylons.

Hopefully the game will feature some of the voice talent from the TV series but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

Battlestar Galactica for PC and Xbox 360 is currently scheduled for release in the autumn. The Xbox 360 game will be released over Xbox Live Arcade.

Reference for posting: http://www.pro-g.co.uk

One of the most successful video game franchises of all time is coming to the big screen. Variety reports that Michael De Luca will produce the adaptation, with the game’s creator, Hideo Kojima, as executive producer which should be a good thing.

Even though the film had been rumored to be in production since that May’s E3, the development of the film has only just started with the end to negotiations with Konami Digital Entertainment, the games developers.

The franchise includes four sequels with the last three coming under the Metal Gear Solid name. Sony hopes that the latest incarnation for the PS3 will help spark interest in the console and improve sales.

Reference for posting: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire

Toy Story 3 should be ready to be release in 2009 which is good as the previous two films drew plaudits from almost everyone.

The first wowed movie goers with a film that was entertaining for children and adults alike, it looked good too. The second improved on its predecessor in a number of ways and at the time of writing is still the best film ever reviewed according to rottentomatoes. The third hopefully will give us more of what we like and though it won’t be as revolutionary as the first is should still deliver a compelling story.

This time though Variety reports that John Lasseter won’t be the director. The trade paper reported that Lee Unkrich will instead helm the new story. He did in fact co-direct Toy Story 2 as well as Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo. He has never before been sole helmer on a Pixar film.

It has been reported that there was a bit of conflict over the direction of the third Toy Story with Pixar not liking Disney’s plot.

Reference for posting: http://www.slashfilm.com

Sci Fi shows in Britain don’t really compare with what the US can deliver. Our Sci Fi is wholesome and “for the family” and looks as though it has the budget of a mars bar and the special effects of a GCSE IT student. But ITV’s latest Sci FI drama hopes to change that with its new drama Primeval.

The show follows a team of scientists who travel into the past via anomalies in time and space. The team of five is lead by Professor Cutter who is trying to find his wife after she disappeared when she was investigating an anomaly.

The show will probably be compared to Dr Who and yes it seems to be similar to the hit BBC show in a couple of ways (most notably the whole time travel malarkey) but its not the same, its more of an ensemble piece (a lot like the Dr Who spin off, Torchwood).

Primeval is in six parts and reportedly cost £6 million to make so expect special effects of a considerably higher calibre than other UK shows. Oh and from what I’ve seen of teaser trailers and pictures there seems to be dinosaurs in it. Dinosaurs, did they ever have those in Dr Who?

The show starts this Saturday at 7:45pm on ITV1 just after Dancing on Ice.

Well the third and last episode of The Lost Room miniseries aired yesterday evening concluding the mysterious drama.

The miniseries centred around detective Joe Miller who lost his daughter in The Lost Room and tries to track down objects from the room that held magical properties in an attempt to retreive his daughter.

The miniseries also featured various cabals that vied for the objects placing the detective in danger.

After watching the final episode i really hope that they turn this drama into a fully fledged series. The last episode did clear up some of the mysteries but also left a few unanswered questions and the possibility of a continuation.

The miniseries created a world of mystery, suspense and possibilty and the chacters were well thought out and interesting enough to keep you wanting to know more.

I really hope that we get a chance to revisit the Detective and The Lost Room.