SFFWorld News – 10/28/08

 
SFFWorld News – 10/28/08

1) The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) have formed a liaison agreement to work more closely together, with James Van Pelt and Ed Carmien serving as liaison agents for the two organizations. The arrangement allows SFRA members to more easily contact SFWA author members for research, and SFWA authors the chance to use SFRA scholars as a resource. The SFRA was founded in 1970 as a global organization to improve classroom teaching; to encourage and assist scholarship; and to evaluate and publicize new books and magazines dealing with fantastic literature and film, teaching methods and materials, and allied media performances. The SFWA was founded in 1965 by the late author and editor Damon Knight as a professional writers organization, with approximately 1,500 science fiction and fantasy writers presently as members. The SFWA awards the prestigious Nebula Awards for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction.

2) Ridley Scott changes his mind: Film director Scott, best known to SF fans for directing the iconic films Alien and Blade Runner, after ranting repeatedly in the press recently that SF was no longer relevant, that sci-fi films are as dead as westerns and have nothing new to say, was then supposedly to direct a new adaptation of satirical dystopia SF novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Now he’s also going to direct a version of Joe Haldeman’s 1974 SF novel The Forever War for Fox 2000, and do so before Brave New World. Apparently, Scott has been hoping to make a film from Forever War for over twenty years. The Forever War concerns a soldier who battles an enemy in deep space, a war that lasts 10 years for him, but 700 years pass back home. Scott is also still scheduled to direct Nottingham, starring Russell Crowe as the Sheriff of Nottingham in a version of Robin Hood that proposes the Sheriff as a good guy who gets a bad rap. So welcome back, Mr. Scott. We forgive you.

3) A surprise occurred in the preparations for Iron Man 2, the sequel to the big hit Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the Marvel Comics’ superhero Tony Stark. Actor Don Cheadle will be replacing Terrence Howard as Stark’s military buddy and ally Jim Rhodes, who in the comics also becomes a superhero named War Machine. Both Cheadle and Howard are Oscar-nominated actors who starred together in the movie Crash and are greatly respected. Iron Man and its sequel are directed by Jon Favreau.

4) Writer Barrington J. Bayley (Barry Bayley) died on October 14 from complications from bowel cancer. He was 71 and a veteran of the Royal Air Force. One of the British New Wave writers in SF in the 1960’s, he published frequently in Michael Moorcock’s New Worlds magazine and wrote many novels and shorter works. He was best known for his novels The Soul of the Robot and The Garmets of Caen, as well as his two collections, The Knights of the Limits and The Seed of Evil. His last novel was The Rod of Light in 1987. His dark, stark style has been considered an influence on such writers as Bruce Sterling, Brian Stableford and M. John Harrison. 

5) Apple iPhone and iPod Touch are now importing shows from the Anime Network, available as 3-5 minute clips for mobile devices. Shows include Azumanga Daioh, Saiyuki and Mythical Detective Loki. Anime fans can download the videos through the anime channel of the vSNAX Videos application for Apple, at phobos.apple.com. Also available at Apple are clips from the anime version of Witchblade, based on the comics series.

6) The Fox network in the U.S. is putting out a comedy scifi pilot show called Boldly Going Nowhere, which will star Ben Koldyke and Tony Hale. The comedy depicts life on a spaceship helmed by a roguish captain, and is produced by Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton, the stars and creators of the FX comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

7) The British DVD and Blu-Ray editions of the mini-series The Colour of Magic, adapted from Terry Pratchett’s legendary fantasy novel, will be released on November 3rd in the UK. There are one-disc and deluxe two-disc sets. The mini-series stars David Jason, Tim Curry, Jeremy Irons, and Sean Astin, heading up a terrific cast. Pratchett will be conducting an in-store signing at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in Shaftesbury Avenue, London on Monday 3rd November 2008, between 5.30 and 6.30pm. North Americans will have to wait for a U.S. release or overseas shipping.

8) In more British sci-fi, BBC 1 is developing a superhero t.v. series called Superpower. The show will be written by former Doctor Who director Joe Ahearne and Impossible Pictures, the company behind ITV’s Primeval series, will produce. Ahearne is being tight-lipped about the series, except to say that episodes will be mostly stand-alone instead of a serial format and it won’t be a send-up comedy version of comics. 

9) U.S. network CBS has canceled supernatural show, The Ex List, starring Elizabeth Reaser as a woman told by a psychic that she’s already been involved with her Mr. Right and needs to revisit her ex’s to find him. The Ex List debuted to modest ratings that have declined during the fall, not holding up the Friday night schedule that includes the stronger series Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs. It’s not clear whether the seven remaining episodes of the show that have been shot will be shown or not. The series early on lost its show runner Diane Ruggiero, who quit over creative differences and was replaced by Rick Eid.

10) Columbia Pictures will adapt Katherine Kurtz’s fantasy novel Deryni Rising for the big screen from a script by Alex Sabeti. Published in 1970 as the first of Kurtz’s Deryni Kingdom series, Deryni Rising is set in a medieval kingdom people by both humans and the Deryni, a race with psychic and magical abilities. The story concerns a young prince, Kelson, who must defend his throne from a dangerous usurper.

11) Samuel L. Jackson will be returning to the screen soon in several SFF roles. First, he’ll be the villainous Octopus in the noir superhero flick The Spirit, adapted from the Frank Miller comic series, due out around Christmas. He is also playing Nick Fury in the Marvel comics adaptations of Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America. Lastly, Jackson has been shepherding his animated t.v. series Afro Samurai to the big screen as a live-action film.

12) Rising acting star Elizabeth Banks is forging a new career as a producer with the SF film The Surrogates for Disney through her company Brownstone Productions with her husband, Max Handelman. Handelman found Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele's graphic novel, on which they based the movie. The film is directed by Jonathan Mostow and stars Bruce Willis. The story is a social allegory about an imaginary future in which the environment has deteriorated and terrorists abound, so people have android surrogates to take care of their business and errands, and never have to leave the house. The Surrogates is scheduled for release in fall 2009.