Tarantino and Rodriguez’s Grindhouse has opened in the US in a disappointing fourth place with only $11.6 million. The faux double feature which includes “Death Proof” and “Planet Terror” as well as faux trailers for upcoming attractions fell well short of expectations with forecasters expecting the film to open with ticket sales close to Tarantino and Rodriguez’s last films.

The film now seems unlikely to recoup its estimated $53 million production cost at least in the US this is despite positive buzz and hype.

Some believe that it suffered from its three-hour-plus running which cut down on the amount of viewings cinemas could squeeze in.

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

David Duchovny, star of the extremely successful Sci Fi series, The X-Files has revealed that he will not allow his young son to watch the show that he is so well known for until he is older.

The actor believes that his son, Kyd Miller, is far too young to watch the hit sci-fi series, but he allows him to play a special X-Files pinball game regularly.

“My son and I play The X-Files pinball game machine,” David told WENN. “I brought it out of storage recently because I thought my kids are old enough to play it.

“I guess it’s Hollywood to have your own pinball machine. He’s never seen the show though and he won’t until he’s a good deal older.”

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

Serenity has somehow beaten Star Wars to the title of best sci-fi movie in an SFX magazine poll of 3,000 fans. Surprising, eh? It also beat Blade Runner, Planet of the Apes, the Matrix and Alien. Alien for god’s sake! Don’t get me wrong I loved Serenity. I loved how it looked, I loved the characters and pretty much everything about it but I’m amazed that 3000 Sci Fi fans believed that it was “the best sci-fi movie”.

The creator of Serenity, Joss Whedon, managed to get the go ahead for a feature film after the series of which the movie was based on, Firefly, was cancelled which probably deserves some accolade.

The film follows the crew of a space ship of the same name as they take two mysterious passengers that are sought after by a powerful government and Wheldon declared it was a way of showcasing the “gritty” side of the genre.

Dave Bradley, editor of SFX said it was a “massive surprise” to see Serenity beating Star Wars and you can imagine anyone viewing the result thinking exactly the same thing.

Reference for posting: http://news.bbc.co.uk

In good news for Stargate fans MGM have announced that Richard Dean Anderson will be reprising his role as General Jack O’Neill for the Studio’s upcoming Stargate: Continuum.

Anderson will join regular cast members such as Ben Browder and Amanda Tapping in shooting on location in the sub-zero climate of the Arctic where the production is working in collaboration with the U.S. Navy’s Applied Physics Laboratory Ice Station (APLIS) for the week of March 23 through 29.

Two films will be released to wrap up the Stargate series that finished recently after 10 series, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum the later revolving around time travel technology and the problems that can arise when it used by goa’uld system lords.

Stargate: Continuum will be directed by Martin Wood, Director of over 70 Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis episodes.

Reference for posting: http://www.scifinews.net

Joss Whedon the man behind Buffy and Firefly has unveiled a previously unknown chapter in the lives of his favorite band of space brigands in a comic book prequel to the Serenity feature film which was based on the cancelled Sci-Fi television series, Firefly.

The comic series is written by Whedon and Brett Matthews, who wrote several episodes of Firefly as well as Dark Horse’s final Angel comics.

The story will follow the ragtag crew of Serenity as they take on a scavenger mission with the hopes of earning enough cash to disappear for a while. Only too late do they realize the whole gig is orchestrated by an old enemy eager to remake their acquaintance with the help of some covert operatives known only as the Blue Gloves.

Reference for posting: http://www.scifinews.net

It looks like more ordinary people with ordinary abilities have been discovered. Here’s a clip from the open auditions for the American Sci-Fi series Heroes on NBC.

The clip features some guy pulling a chain out of his nose (burn out), a woman playing the flute with her nose (don’t laugh, that’s someones mom), a guy who can pop beans out of his eye (that’s sexy), an Indian woman who can talk with a perfect Indian dialect (amazing!), a psycho who can stab a potato with a straw (very scary), and more…

I’m pretty sure no one from these open auditions will be saving the world with their “special” talents.

BeSocial: vmix | digg story | methodshop | flickr

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SF author Steven Harper’s latest book in the Battlestar Galatica universe and is set in the period between “Flight of the Phoenix” and before “Pegasus.” The book, titled Battlestar Galatica: Unity looks to explore some of the Colony’s pop culture and involves the discovery of a rock star from Caprica in a colonial rescue pod drifting in space after the Galatica and its crew destroy a Cylon BaseStar.

Add in a Cylon-engineered disease influenced by Mad Cow disease and a religious cult who seize the rock star as their savior and you’ve got a very interesting book which should hopefully tie you over until season 4 when it comes back in January 08.

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