More sad news today with the passing of legendary writer Arthur C. Clarke. The Somerset-born author came to fame in 1968 when short story The Sentinel was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by director Stanley Kubrick but was well known for his sci-fi novels like the Rama series, Childhood’s End and The Songs of Distant Earth.

An aide said he died at 1:30am local time in Sri Lanka after a cardio-respiratory attack.

Our sympathies go out to Mr Clarke’s family.

Posted in Books & Comics •

Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys) has joined the cast of the Fox dramatic thriller Max Payne, based on the hit Rockstar video game writes The Hollywood Reporter.

Bridges will play B.B. Hensley, a former cop and mentor figure to Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg), who helps him track down a cunning, ruthless killer. Mila Kunis will play an assassin who teams with Payne to avenge her sister’s death.

Principal photography began March 3 in Toronto on the John Moore-directed film. Beau Thorne penned the script.

Discuss Max Payne on the X-Boards

Posted in Movies •

SCI FI Channel has finally given the go-ahead to Caprica, a prequel of Battlestar Galactica in the form of a two-hour backdoor pilot writes Variety.

Battlestar Galactica is concluding its 3½-year run with 20 final episodes this year. Its Caprica prequel begins production in Vancouver in the spring. Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, the executive producers of on the show will join with Universal Media Studios to work on the spinoff. Rene Aubuchon will co-write the pilot with Moore, and Jeff Reiner will direct it.  Casting begins soon.

Discuss Battlestar Galactica and Caprica on the X-Boards

Posted in Battlestar Galactica, Television •

According to Variety,  Paramount Pictures is in negotiations with Sam Raimi to spearhead a franchise revival of Jack Ryan, the Tom Clancy-created CIA analyst character who drove four hit movies for the studio.

Raimi would develop and direct a series of films to be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Raimi’s Buckaroo Entertainment partner Josh Donen.

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Posted in Movies •

Anton Yelchin,  who was cast last year as Chekov in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek is in negotiations to star as post-apocalyptic warrior Kyle Reese in director McG’s Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins writes The Hollywood Reporter.

With production scheduled to start in early May, Paul Haggis also has been in talks about coming on board to work on the sequel’s script.

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Posted in Movies •