Disney closes LucasArts | Joystiq

 

Disney, which acquired Lucasfilm and LucasArts last year in a $4.05 billion deal, has shut down the legendary LucasArts division.

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games,” Disney informed Game Informerin a statement. “As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

Although a Star Wars game factory in recent years, the publisher will be remembered for its work defining the adventure genre from the ’80s to the ’90s, on such titles as Maniac Mansion, The Secret of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and Day of the Tentacle. The soul of those games and that era moved on from the company after the departure of Ron Gilbertand Double Fine’s Tim Schafer.

 

Disney closes LucasArts | Joystiq.

 

Doctor Who Online – News & Reviews – Eccleston Pulls Out Of 50th Anniversary Special?

Some conflicting reports have appeared online and in printed newspapers that Christopher Eccleston (The 9th Doctor) agreed to appear in the 50th Anniversary Special, and then pulled out.

The rumours, which were unsurprisingly started by The Daily Star newspaper, claimed Eccleston was all set to star in the special but as filming started, he apparently pulled out.

An official BBC source (speaking to Digital Spy) has reportedly claimed that: ”Eccleston was never attached to the 50th and the decision has had no impact on production.” The source was further quoted as saying the following:

“Chris met with Steven Moffat a couple of times to talk about Steven’s plans for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary episode. After careful thought, Chris decided not to be in the episode. He wishes the team all the best.”

Further rumours claim that Paul McGann has stepped in and the storyline originally intended for The 9th Doctor has simply been swapped for The 8th Doctor.

via Doctor Who Online – News & Reviews – Eccleston Pulls Out Of 50th Anniversary Special?.

 

J.J. Abrams to Possibly Direct Star Wars: Episode VII | TrekNews.net

Following last week’s surprising merger of Lucasfilm and Disney, it has already been announced that three new Star Wars films are already planned.

With Star Wars: Episode VII scheduled to begin filming sometime in 2014 and release the following year, the search for a director has become a top priority for the Disney team. The official Star Wars website has already reported that award-winning writer Michael Arndt has been tapped to write the screenplay.

As pre-production of Star Wars: Episode VII begins, Lucasfilm has confirmed that award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay for the new Star Wars film. As revealed in the ongoing video series posted here on StarWars.com, Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas have begun story conferences with Arndt.

According to Vulture, some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Star Trek‘s J.J. Abrams, The Incredibles‘ Brad Bird and Raiders Of The Lost Ark‘s Steven Spielberg will (or possibly have already) receive a 40-something page treatment of the film to gauge their interest in taking on the directing duties for the film.

UPDATE:

Hollywood Life recently discussed the possibility of directing the next Star Wars film with J.J. Abrams during an interview. While Abrams plays down the possibility, he doesn’t entirely rule it out.

Look, Star Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time. I frankly feel that – I almost feel that, in a weird way, the opportunity for whomever it is to direct that movie, it comes with the burden of being that kind of iconic movie and series. I was never a big Star Trek fan growing up, so for me, working on Star Trek didn’t have any of that, you know, almost fatal sacrilege, and so, I am looking forward more then anyone to the next iterations of Star Wars, but I believe I will be going as a paying moviegoer!

We’ll have more on this story as it develops.

J.J. Abrams to Possibly Direct Star Wars: Episode VII | Star Trek News | TrekNews.net.

 

Star Trek 2 “Into Darkness” to be released in Dolby Atmos – Cosmic Book News

Paramount announced that Star Trek Into Darkness will be released featuring Dolby Atmos with the theaters that are Dolby Atmos capable to be announced soon.

J.J. Abrams had the following to say with more found below:

“We are in the incredible and lucky position to have access to the latest technology, the best possible tools, and the most talented artists in the business. We are therefore thrilled to announce that we will be

employing the amazingly immersive Dolby Atmos audio system to bring the Star Trek into Darkness soundtrack to life.”

Star Trek Into Darkness has a May 17th, 2013 release date in 3D, is directed by J.J. Abrams and stars Chris Pine as Capt. James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Leonard “Bones” McCoy, Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov, John Cho as Hikaru Sulu and Benedict Cumberbatch as an unnamed villain.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla.– ShowEast 2012 — Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) and Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom Inc., today announced at ShowEast 2012 that J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production of Star Trek into Darkness will use the latest technical achievements in cinematic storytelling to deliver a new experience to audiences. Star Trek into Darkness is scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures on May 17, 2013.

Star Trek into Darkness will be released in Dolby^® Atmos™ to deliver a more natural and realistic soundtrack that moves sound around and above audiences, transporting them into the outer regions of the universe. The Bad Robot Productions team will also integrate the Dolby Professional Reference Monitor PRM-4200 into its pre- and postproduction workflows.

“We are in the incredible and lucky position to have access to the latest technology, the best possible tools, and the most talented artists in the business,” said Abrams, the producer and director of Star Trek into Darkness. “We are therefore thrilled to announce that we will be employing the amazingly immersive Dolby Atmos audio system to bring the Star Trek into Darkness soundtrack to life.”

Academy Award^® winner Andy Nelson and multiple Academy Award nominee Anna Behlmer are the re-recording mixers at the helm of the Dolby Atmos mix; Academy Award winner Ben Burtt and multiple Academy Award nominee Matt Wood are the supervising sound editors. Dolby Atmos is a new audio platform that revolutionizes the experience of sound in entertainment. It allows sound designers and mixers a new level of creative control and ensures that audiences will experience the full impact of the sound mix, regardless of theatre configuration. Said Mark Christiansen, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Operations,Paramount Pictures, “Dolby Atmos brings a new sonic dimension to the amazing visuals Star Trek into Darkness will deliver audiences.”

The list of theatres selected to show Star Trek into Darkness in Dolby Atmos will be made available closer to the release date.

The Dolby PRM-4200 has been at the center of the visual effects (VFX) production, having been used for color-critical VFX reviews and previsualization work. VFX producer Ron Ames reports, “The Dolby monitor allows us to see more color-accurate and higher-quality images than ever before right in our workspace. We’ve been able to dramatically streamline our shot-review process, as we have confidence that the images we’re seeing on the Dolby monitor will precisely match what we see on the big screen.” The Dolby Professional Reference Monitor also ensures that all the incredible detail and rich colors captured by cinematographer Daniel Mindel are accurately represented onscreen.

“J.J. Abrams embraces new innovations and technologies that improve storytelling. Dolby is helping the cinema industry to deliver on this vision as it has done for over four decades,” said Doug Darrow, Senior Vice President, Cinema, Dolby Laboratories. “We are excited to have J.J. Abrams use these new technologies to deliver the best picture and sound to the big screen.”

Star Trek into Darkness is written by Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci. It is directed by J.J. Abrams. Abrams will also produce the feature with Bryan Burk through Bad Robot Productions, along with Lindelof, Kurtzman, and Orci.

About Dolby Atmos

Dolby Atmos brings a powerful new listening experience to the cinema with more natural, realistic sound that truly envelops the audience. It is an end-to-end solution that helps mixers, studios, and distributors dramatically improve the audio experience. The Dolby Atmos platform makes it easy for content creators to create immersive soundscapes, and it ensures the best possible audience experience, regardless of theatre configuration or the number of speakers.

Hollywood studios including Disney/Pixar (Brave), Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Animation (Rise of the Guardians), Twentieth Century Fox (Taken 2, Chasing Mavericks, Life of Pi), and Warner Bros. (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) have adopted the Dolby Atmos format, increasing the count of 2012 Dolby Atmos titles to six.

In 2013, three titles, including Gravity and Pacific Rim from Warner Bros. and Star Trek into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, are already scheduled to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment, with additional studio titles to follow.

International movie productions are currently in the works or will be started in 2013 by movie studios in China, France, Germany, India, Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Acclaimed Singapore director Jack Neo’s upcoming movie Ah Boys to Men premieres in Dolby Atmos on November 6, 2012.

To learn more about Dolby Atmos, visit dolby.com/Atmos.

Warp on over to the Cosmic Book News Star Trek Movie Hub for more news.

via Star Trek 2 (2013) “Into Darkness” will be released in Dolby Atmos – Cosmic Book News.

 

ELFQUEST Headed to the Big Screen! – GeekTyrant

The producers of the the fan film Elfquest: A Fan Imagining, Stephanie Thorpe and Paula Rhodes, have acquired the rights to the comic series ElfQuest from Wendy and Richard Pini. The plan is to bring the story to life on the big screen.

Warner Bros. most recently held the rights to ElfQuest, but did nothing with it, and they let the rights lapse earlier this year. So it was snatched up by someone who cares. Wendy Pini had this to say in a statement about Thorpe and Rhodes developing the series,

With their deep love and understanding of the property, they represent a new direction for ElfQuest…new creative energy and new connections in the larger media.

The comic was launched in 1978 and the story follows a tribe of elves on the distant World of Two Moons who find themselves driven from their forest by humans and then discover other elves, who they didn’t know existed. Hopefully they can bring together a solid team of talent and bring together a solid budget so they can fully realize their vision.

Here’s the fan film for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, or if you just need a reminder.

Thanks to Geek Tyrant for this great story! Check them out!

via ELFQUEST Headed to the Big Screen! – News – GeekTyrant.

 

After Lucasfilm, is Hasbro next for Disney? | GMA News Online

After absorbing the Star Wars universe with its $4-billion acquisition of Lucasfilm, Disney’s big-time acquisition spree does not appear to be over yet.

Disney may soon be putting mouse ears over Optimus Prime, Cobra Commander and other characters in the Hasbro universe, if rumors cited by MTV prove accurate.

 ”(W)e have it on good authority that serious discussions are happening at the highest levels of both Disney and Hasbro to fold the largest toy and game company on the planet into the Mouse,” MTV said.

But it said that while the talks are still “just discussions” at this time, they are serious enough to potentially rock the entertainment industry.

 ”The Lucasfilm acquisition has been reported as taking as few as six months to complete. On the other hand, Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has until 2015 on his current contract, and he waited about three years in between the acquisitions of Marvel and Lucasfilm, so we may be without firm news on this for some time,” it added.

Should Disney’s acquisition of Hasbro push through, it would gain the rights to Hasbro properties including Transformers, G.I. Joe, Dungeons and Dragons, Beyblade, Battleship, Nerf, and Magic: The Gathering.

Even before Hasbro and Lucasfilm, Disney had already gobbled up Marvel Entertainment, though Sony still owns the film rights to Spider-Man.

Film rights to other Marvel properties, X-Men and Fantastic Four, are with Twentieth Century Fox, ScreenRant.com said.

Still, having Hasbro, Marvel and Star Wars would be a “pretty comprehensive lock on boy’s entertainment,” MTV said.

 ”(It would be) a far cry from a few years back when Disney was heavily criticized for losing its grip on boys,”

MTV also noted Hasbro has toy and tabletop game licenses to Star Wars and Marvel, and has been successful with them. It cited as well the “cross-pollination” with Star Wars Transformers and Monopoly.

Hasbro’s future:

MTV noted that while the Transformers and G.I. Joe films are with Paramount, that could easily change, since the animated series are with The Hub, along with Beyblade, Kaijudo, and others.

But it said it is not clear how that channel would fit into Disney’s plans.

 ”They could be folded into Disney XD, and the girls brands folded into Disney Channel. On the comics’ side this would be bad news for IDW, just as the Marvel acquisition was for BOOM! and the Lucasfilm acquisition is likely to be for Dark Horse,” it said.

A separate article on Examiner.com also suggested the possibility of a “Magic: The Gathering” theme park at Disney World “where players can meet Jace, the Architect and Vraska the Unseen.”

It added rides could include “Multiverse Racing” go-carts and guests could stay at the luxurious Ivory Tower. — TJD, GMA News

Thanks to GMANews.com for this interesting news article, go check them out today!

via After Lucasfilm, is Hasbro next for Disney? | SciTech | GMA News Online | The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere.

 

Castle Pays Homage To Firefly At A Sci-Fi Convention

Nathan Fillion is keeping the “Firefly” torch burning even in his newer role — this weeks “Castle” paid homage to the short-lived Joss Whedon series in a number of geeky ways.The episode, directed by “Star Trek: The Next Generation” legend Jonathan Frakes, was set at a sci-fi convention, and featured a “Firefly”-style show called “Nebula-9.”“They were canceled over a decade ago. After 12 episodes, which was 12 episodes too many,” Castle explained to Beckett.“I thought you would be a fan,” she admitted.“I’m a fan of good sci-fi. ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Battlestar,’ that Joss Whedon show, but ‘Nebula-9?’ No, it’s all phony melodrama and lifeless acting,” our hero proclaimed, much to the joy of the Browncoats in the audience.”Castle” airs every Monday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

Thanks to the fine folks at Huffington Post for this lil’ jewel of the ‘Verse!

via Castle Pays Homage To Firefly With Murder Case At A Sci-Fi Convention VIDEO.