SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2014

Peter Jackson is no stranger to epic battle scenes. This is the man who directed the massive Battle of Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the even more massive Battle of the Pelennor Fields in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. He's shown us Ents assaulting Isengard, Aragorn leading a charge at the Black Gate and a close-quarters battle with goblins in the depths of Moria. Now, with his final Middle-earth film looming, he's got one more epic battle to show us: the Battle of the Five Armies.

The battle -- in which armies of dwarves, elves, men, orcs and eagles will clash at the foot of Lonely Mountain over the lost dwarven treasure of Erebor recently reclaimed by Thorin Oakenshield and his company -- is set to take up the last 45 minutes or of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. That means a lot of post-production work for Jackson and his team as they put the finishing touches on effects shot after effects shot, but it's also meant lots of careful planning. Before setting out to film the battle, Jackson had to determine just how big it would be in relation to the landscape.

“Before we could loose the first arrow, we had to design the landscape itself and figure out, ‘Okay, if we have 10,000 orcs, how much room are they going to take up?’?” Jackson said. “?‘Are they going to fill up the valley or look like a speck?’ Then we could start drawing the arrows on the schematics.”

To help visualize the battle, Jackson drew some maps of his own that show where the forces are coming from and where they fall in the whole scheme.

Because the battle is so long, Jackson also had to be careful about how it's paced. Sure, 45 minutes of nonstop orc-slaying sounds fun in theory, but it can also drag on if you don't keep it focused on something familiar, something we actually care about. So Jackson made a little battleground rule.

“We have a rule that we’re not allowed to go more than two or three shots of anonymous people fighting without cutting back to our principal characters,” he said. “Otherwise the audience just ends up with battle fatigue.”

As you might have noticed in the drawing above, the battle will indeed feature the return of the massive eagles of Middle-earth, including the never-before-seen Lord of the Eagles. Jackson was careful to emphasize, though, that the creatures are just another part of the battle this time, and not the plot element that will save the day. And yeah, he knows you've thought about them carrying Frodo all the way to Mordor.

“Tolkien uses eagles in a way that can be kind of awkward because they tend to show up out of the blue and change things pretty quickly,” says the director. “So here they’re just part of the plan, not the saviors. I mean, I do realize that if the eagles had just been able to bring Frodo to Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings and let him drop the ring in, those movies would have been much shorter.”

In less than two months, we'll see the Battle of the Five Armies unfold on the big screen, and then Jackson's Middle-earth movie journey will (most likely) be done. For some viewers, the Hobbit trilogy has been great fun, for others it's been a slog, but however you feel about the saga ending, it's clear Jackson's ready to go out with a bang.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies arrives Dec. 17.

LEGO MOVIE SEQUEL
Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the writers and directors of The LEGO Movie have signed a deal to write the sequel for Warner Bros., according to Deadline. There's no word yet on whether they'll direct it as well again.

The first film earned an impressive $468 million at the worldwide box office earlier this year on a budget of $60 million. Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman provided the voices.

The sequel will be produced by Dan Lin and Roy Lee along with Lord and Miller, and Jill Wilfert, Matt Ashton, Chris McKay and Kara Lord Piersimoni are executive producing. Warner Bros.' Greg Silverman, Courtenay Valenti and Chris Defaria are overseeing the film for the studio.

The studio had originally scheduled The LEGO Movie sequel for May 26, 2017 before announcing that The LEGO Batman Movie was being put on the fast track first for a release that year under the direction of Chris McKay. That movie will be written by Seth Grahame-Smith and feature the return of Will Arnett as the Dark Knight.

The LEGO Movie sequel is now expected to hit theaters after 2017.

Lord and Miller also directed 22 Jump Street this year, a sequel that has brought in $327.6 million worldwide on a $50 million budget.

WALKING DEAD COMPANION SERIES
Things are starting to gear up for AMC's upcoming companion series to "The Walking Dead," as Deadline brings word that Academy Award winner Adam Davidson has been brought on to helm the pilot episode of the new series. Davidson won the Best Live Action Short Film Oscar back in 1991 for The Lunch Date and has gone on to direct countless episodes of television including "LOST," "Deadwood," "Dexter," "Rome," "True Blood," "Fringe," "Community," and even AMC's own "Hell on Wheels" and "TURN: Washington's Spies."

The pilot is scheduled for production in late 2014. No additional details are being provided about the location and/or casting for the pilot at this time though a breakdown of characters for the series did debut online a few weeks ago.

Co-created by Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson, the series will take place in the same zombie apocalypse depicted in "The Walking Dead" albeit in a different location and potentially at a different point in time. Erickson will serve as the showrunner for the new series which will be executive produced by Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert.

WORLD BREAKERS
Will Eubank's low-budget sci-fi thriller The Signal got a lot of attention at the Sundance Film Festival, even if it didn't do as well in its limited release, but that hasn't deterred Warner Bros. from buying a second project from him. World Breakers was co-written with Philip Gawthorne (the Starz sci-fi drama "Human Error") with Eubank planning to direct.

According to Variety, the story is about a "mythical Scottish warlord and his sons who withstand a massive castle siege launched by the ruthless commander of an invading army." It will be produced by Bryan Kavanaugh-Jones, Ben Pugh and Rory Aitken with Joseph Vicenti and Joshua Horsfield executive producing, along with Drew Crevello and Julia Spiro.

Although it didn't perform that well at the box office, Eubank's The Signal found many fans due to its impressive use of FX, working with a relatively small budget, and he'll be following the likes of Godzilla's Gareth Edwards and Rise of the Planet Apes' Rupert Wyatt from doing indie films to bigger budget movies.

Eubank is already working on another project for Warner Bros., reuniting with The Signal co-writers Carlyle Eubank and David Frigerio for Tautona, which will be produced by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian and Kavanaugh-Jones.

This will follow Warners' other medieval-themed project, Guy Ritchie's King Arthur epic Knights of the Round Table, which is scheduled for release on July 22, 2016.

AGENT CARTER ADDITION
Marvel's upcoming Hayley Atwell-led Marvel Cinematic Universe series, "Agent Carter" has added "Nikita" star Lyndsy Fonseca to its cast. Fonseca will play Angie Martinelli, who is an aspiring actress living in 1946 New York. Angie will befriend Peggy Carter as she herself seeks to find her place in the post-war world.

"'Marvel's Agent Carter' opens up an exciting world of new characters for us," said Jeph Loeb, Marvel's Head of Television. "Lyndsy brings a warmth and humanity to Angie, who'll be the friend Peggy needs if she's to survive the dangers that lie ahead."

It's 1946, and peace has dealt Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy must balance doing administrative work and going on secret missions for Howard Stark all while trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of her life–Steve Rogers.

Also starring Chad Michael Murray as SSR Agent Jack Thompson, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Enver Gjokaj as SSR Agent Daniel Sousa, James D’Arcy as Edwin Jarvis, and Shea Whigham as SSR Chief Roger Dooley, "Marvel’s Agent Carter" was written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Executive producers are Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Chris Dingess, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Joe Quesada, Stan Lee and Jeph Loeb.

"Agent Carter" will debut in 2015 on ABC.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014

Iconic character actor Charles Dance, likely best known to modern-day genre fans as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones, has signed on for the first major role in the project — based on Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi classic of the same name.

The basic plot: The six-hour miniseries focuses on a breed of aliens called the “Overlords,” who peacefully invade and rule Earth, then create a pseudo-utopia that comes at the price of human identity and culture. It’s an ambitious pitch, and Dance’s presence will definitely bring some legitimacy to the proceedings.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Dance plays Karellen, the ambassador for the Overlords who makes first contact with human Ricky Stormgren (currently uncast). The character is described as using “comforting words and amazing technological gifts quickly win humanity’s favor, beginning decades of apparent utopia at the cost of human identity and culture. However, his refusal to reveal his physical appearance and insistence on dealing only through Ricky have some people questioning whether his intentions are truly benevolent.”

The miniseries will be executive produced by Akiva Goldsman (Lone Survivor) and Mike DeLuca (The Social Network). The pilot (and possibly entire run) will be directed by Nick Hurran (Sherlock) and scripted by Matthew Graham (BBC’s Life on Mars).

ARROW 2.5
In the latest installment of DC Comics' Arrow 2.5, the comic set between The CW show's second and third season, our green-hooded vigilante heads to St. Walker's Church to confront Brother Blood. And we have an exclusive sneak peek at the issue, written by Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim and Keto Shimizuwhich.

Check it out now, then download the entire issue on Monday via the DC Comics App, Readdcentertainment.com, comiXology.com, Google Play, Kindle Store, Nook Store and iBooks.

Written by Marc Guggenheim and Keto Shimizu, with art by Joe Bennett, Craig Yeung, and Szymon Kudranski.

HELIX
Syfy has released a brand-new promo teaser for the upcoming second season of its sci-fi series Helix, and looks like things are about to get chilling again.

Whereas the tension-filled viral action of the first season took place in the arctic, the second is firmly moving away from the freezing cold and onto an island with warmer weather. So what does executive producer extraordinaire Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Outlander) have in store for us? Well, a new viral outbreak is heading our way, and Steven Weber's cult leader looks sinister enough ...,p> As per TV Line:

Season 2 of the sci-fi drama finds Billy Campbell’s Dr. Alan Farragut and his CDC team, still haunted by the Narvik crisis at Arctic Biosystems, investigating the outbreak of a new disease on a Windjammer. Clues lead them to an island inhabited by a cult that is dead-set on creating a utopian society.

Weber (Murder in the First, Studio 60) will heavily recur as Brother Michael, the cult’s charismatic leader… who just so happens to be a world-class geneticist.

Syfy's Helix season two will premiere on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015.

ASCENSION
When the journey on the spaceship Ascension begins this December on Syfy, viewers will find themselves on a blast from the past that takes place in an alternate retro sci-fi timeline, and one that might just recapture the network’s previous success with Battlestar Galactica.

Loosely based around the actual atomic-powered spacecraft of Project Orion, the 6-hour miniseries (and likely ongoing series) is about a covert craft that was launched by the U.S. in Kennedy-era 1963. The U.S.S. Ascension was to carry the smartest men, women and children to populate a new world, and 50 years into the journey, a mysterious murder -- the first on board -- takes place.

“It’s Mad Men meets Star Trek meets Lost,” summed up actor Al Sapienza at this week’s Syfy press tour in Orlando, where he was joined by costars Tricia Helfer, Brian Van Holt, Andrea Roth and Brandon P. Bell.

Premiering Dec. 15 at 9 p.m., and airing over three nights, Ascension is a big-idea kind of show, and the return of Helfer to the network makes it feel like this could be Syfy’s next BSG.

The world on the ship is a small microcosm of what U.S. society looked like in the early ’60s, with the intention of preserving that.

“I’m very excited about the concept of this show, and the parallel society, not influenced in any way by what’s happened on Earth in 50 years,” said Sapienza, who plays Councilman Rose. “We don’t know John Kennedy got shot, we don’t about know the civil rights movement or women’s lib; our input from Earth stopped in 1963.”

But to maintain balance, there is genetic pairing, arranged marriages and limits on how many children can be born -- which looks to be part of a major plot point.

“There’s a birthless ceremony every year, so it depends on how many people have passed away as to how many children can be born,” said Helfer. “So many couples on the ship will never have the right to have a child.”

She teased that her character, Viondra Denniger, and her husband, Capt. William Denniger (Van Holt), have opted out of having a kid.

Additionally, a self-created caste system is in place. It was not initially established when Ascension launched, and it consists of the upper decks and lower decks. But the system allows for a lower-decker like Bell’s African-American character Oren Gault to achieve second-in-command status despite the civil rights movement never happening on board.

Gender equality is also skewed in this timeline, and Helfer’s Viondra has gained behind-the-scenes power through her sexuality and position as the captain’s wife.

“She stands behind her man, but is the steel in his spine,” said Helfer. “She works hard to stay in power; she grew up in the lower decks and made her way up, and is determined to stay there.”

Meanwhile, Roth’s Juliet Bryce is the Ascension’s head doctor and has a job of importance. But Bryce’s teenage daughter is flexing her muscles and trying to push beyond the restrictive rules of their on-board life.

Speaking to this, Helfer said their world has evolved in the 50 years since they launched.

“It’s not exactly like Mad Men; it is its own society that has evolved in its own way, but a society of 600 people evolves much slower.”

Sapienza said he thinks that evolution is any human culture, but on Ascension –- and anywhere that the status quo is challenged –- “there are always those forces that are self-serving, with their own reasons to keep things unfair.”

Some of the other threads the series follows: A ground government is tracking the starship, and the craft is nearly at the point where they won’t be able to turn around and head back to Earth. In conjunction with the first murder on board, people are starting to panic.

He revealed that, aside from his character, most of his co-stars play the first generation born on the vessel. And their children mark the second generation. So the brain trust of Ascension may be deteriorating.

“President Kennedy picked the smartest people, and most qualified, to take this journey,” he said. “Well, as you know, you could get a perfect score on your SATs, but your kids may not be so bright. This is the second generation, so you don’t have (what was the phrase Kennedy used?) the best and the brightest.”

Still, some things never change, even in an alternate sci-fi timeline.

“Interestingly enough, even though we’ve had no influence from Earth, politics have evolved in the same way as on Earth,” said Sapienza about his character. “I’m self-serving, put myself ahead of the good of the ship and am having an affair with the captain’s wife -- I’m the perfect politician!”

Speaking of the captain, Van Holt introduced his character as a natural-born leader in charge of 600 passengers but “definitely not Captain Kirk,” and referred to Helfer’s Viondra as “the real captain.”

“He’s not without his moral ambiguities,” he said. “He deals with his demons, and his outlets are morally questionable.”

Wrapping up the panel, Bell said the purpose of the Ascension mission is “super righteous” because they’re leaders on a new frontier.

He added, and his co-stars agreed, that a show compared to Mad Men, Star Trek and Lost has the makings to be the focus of social media conversations.

“It’s extremely socially relevant and has the ability to be one of those shows people will want to talk about the themes,” he said. “There are so many parallels to what’s going on currently to what’s going on on the ship. Social media is the new water cooler talk, and there are so many angles and elements to Ascension that lean into that that it’s something people will want to discuss,” said Helfer. “I’m looking forward to engaging.”

“It’s a forward-thinking show ... plus, we’ve got a great-looking cast,” joked Van Holt.

EXPOSURE
Sony has picked up Exposure, a pitch from Eric Heisserer with Neal Moritz and his Original Film producing.

Heisserer, who will write the script, is also attached to direct and executive produce. Details of the plot are being kept under quarantine but it is described as a supernatural thriller with elements tonally similar to The Ring, the 2002 horror movie in which a mysterious videotape caused the death of those who watched it.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but insiders say it was a competitive situation.

Heisserer is already exposed to Sony, working on an adaptation of the Valiant comic Harbinger that Moritz is also producing.

The scribe has made a career writing smart genre material. Earlier this year he sold Understand, a spec based on a Ted Chiang short story, to Fox with 21 Laps producing. He also wrote (and is exec producing) Story of Your Life, another sci-fi drama based on a Chiang short story, that has Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) attached to direct and Amy Adams attached to star.

His produced credits include the prequel to The Thing, the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Final Destination 5. He made his directorial debut with Hours, a thriller that starred Paul Walker.

Heisserer is repped by WME, Julie Bloom at Art/Work Entertainment and Jackoway Tyerman. Moritz is coming off of the success of 22 Jump Street, which grossed $191 million domestically and over $327 million worldwide.

THE ZOCALO TODAY

Facebook as well as at ISN News: The Zocalo Today on Yahoo Groups.

Did you miss the news from yesterday -- or earlier in the week. Catch up by going to the October News Archive. I have broken up the huge file into months to make it easier to scan through. It will bring you up to date for all that has been going on in the world of science fiction. Go to:
September News.
August News.
July News.
June News.
May News.

ON THE TUBE TONIGHT

8:00pm on ABC
Once Upon a Time
Season 4, Episode 5: Breaking Glass

8:00pm on AMC
The Walking Dead
Season 5, Episode 2: Strangers
Rick leads a risky mission for a possible small reward when the supplies run low.

8:00pm on FX
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
While still a boy, Abraham Lincoln loses his mother to a vampire's bite. He vows revenge, but fails in the attempt, narrowly escaping with his life. He is rescued by Henry (Dominic Cooper), a charismatic vampire hunter who instructs Abe in the fine art of dispatching bloodsuckers. Abe (Benjamin Walker) continues his fight against the undead well into adulthood and his presidency, making a last stand against the ultimate vampire foe (Rufus Sewell) on the eve of the Civil War's defining battle.

8:30pm on BBC America
Hannibal
Seven years have passed since Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) escaped from custody. The doctor is now at large in Europe. Mason Verger (Gary Oldman) remembers Lecter too, and is obsessed with revenge. Verger was Dr. Lecter's sixth victim, and though horribly disfigured, has survived. Verger realizes that to draw the doctor into the open, he must use someone as bait: Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore).

9:00pm on ABC
Resurrection
Season 2, Episode 5: Will
Margaret tries to prevent Barbara from fixing her relationship with Fred and Maggie.

9:00pm on AMC
The Walking Dead
Season 5, Episode 3: Four Walls and a Roof
Rick and the others find themselves pitted against a group of nasty people.

9:00pm on Syfy
The Happening
An apocalyptic threat to humanity arrives out of the clear blue sky with a series of violent, inexplicable deaths spreading across the country. The cause of the terrifying phenomenon remains unknown, prompting science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) and his colleague Julian (John Leguizamo) to try to elude the invisible killer in Pennsylvania's farmland. Soon it becomes clear that no one is safe.

10:30pm on CBS
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Season 15, Episode 5: Girls Gone Wilder
A mass shooting takes place at a forensics conference that Morgan, Finlay and Sidle are attending.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

BE A SANTA
Each year, Pat Tallman works very hard to make the holiday season special for disadvantaged kids at Penny Lane. It is that time of year again and she is working to reach a goal of $15,000 so that she can provide some happiness to these children who have known very little of it for most of their lives. If you can, please go to beasanta.org and help make this holiday a very special one.
Thank you.

LANTERN CITY
Lantern City is not a television show. Not yet. But Bruce Boxleitner is planning for it to be one. As he says…

And now it will be a comic book from Archaia, a twelve issue series, and the first such title since The Secret History in 2007.

More details to come, as and when….

Here is a quote from J. Michael Straczynski about emotions.
I had this theory that the more important and intimate the emotion, the fewer words are required to express it.

First it's in dating: "Will you go out with me?" Six words.
"Honey, I care for you." Five words.
"You matter to me." Four words.
"I love you." Three words.
"Marry me." Two words.
But what's left? What's the one most important and intimate word you can ever say to somebody? It's "goodbye."

While Michael O'Hare (Sinclair), Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar), Rick Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Tim Choate (Zathras) and Jeff Conoway (Zach Allen) are no longer with us, we will not forget their wonderful personalities and talent -- as well as their significant contributions to the BABYLON 5 universe. Be sure to visit In Memory Of for more information about memorial efforts.
Until we met again, in a place where no shadows fall.

BABYLON 5 BIRTHDAYS

OCTOBER
Dylan Neal - October 8
Jeff Conaway - October 5 - Gone too soon
John Vulich - October 10
Tim Choate - October 11 - we miss you
John Copeland - October 13
Linda Huse - October 16

Have I missed anyone? If you know the birthday of someone connected with Babylon 5, pass the information along. We want to include everyone in our Happy Birthday Wishes.