Fan Rants

Looks like its time for more craptastic Saturday SYFY original movies. And of course I use the word ‘original’ loosley.

Press Release from SYFY:

NEW YORK – March 29, 2011 – John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Star Trek: Voyager) and Joe Flanigan (Stargate: Atlantis, Warehouse 13) tackle creatures from another dimension, while Stephen Rea (V is for Vendetta, The Crying Game) confronts a deadly giant bird in the April Syfy Saturday Original Movie presentations.

In Ferocious Planet, premiering Saturday, April 9, at 9PM (ET/PT), an experimental device designed to view alternate universes malfunctions on its first demonstration, transporting a group of observers into a nightmarish new dimension. The team must use ingenuity and courage to outwit the bloodthirsty creatures of this bizarre world, while trying to repair the damaged machine and return home. Ferocious Planet stars John Rhys-Davies and Joe Flanigan.

Road Kill, premiering Saturday, April 23, at 9PM (ET/PT), features a group of friends on a scenic RV road trip through Ireland, whose cross-country adventure takes an unexpected turn when they accidentally run down an old gypsy woman. Before she dies, the woman curses them, summoning a giant bird of prey called a Simuroc to exterminate the young people, one by one. Road Kill stars Stephen Rea and Roisin Murphy (Johnny English, Grey’s Anatomy).

Both Ferocious Planet and Road Kill are productions of Parallel Films in association with MNG Films and distributed by RHI Entertainment.

Related articles

• Made-for-TV-movie producer RHI Entertainment emerging from Chapter 11 proceedings (latimesblogs.latimes.com)

Good news for the fans of the American remake for the BBC show Being Human. Syfy has actually renewed a series (come on, if you like it they usually cancel it).

Press Release:

Supernatural Drama is Syfy’s Most Female-Skewing Scripted Series Ever

NEW YORK – March 17, 2011 – Syfy is ordering a second season of its new hit drama series Being Human, it was announced today by Mark Stern President of Original Content, Syfy and Co-Head of Original Content, Universal Cable Productions. Since the show’s January 17 launch, premiere episodes of Being Human have averaged 1.8 million viewers making it Syfy’s most successful winter season scripted series launch in 6 years. Also, with women comprising 53% of the total audience for premiere episodes, it is the channel’s most female-skewing scripted series ever.

Through its first nine weeks on Syfy, and including repeat broadcasts, Being Human has been seen by 19.1 million total unique viewers.

“‘Being Human’ has proven to be a winner for Syfy on all fronts,” said Stern. “Using the original format as inspiration, showrunners/writers Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke – along with a superlative team of writers, cast, and production – have created an amazing, compelling series in its own right. We can’t wait to watch Aidan, Josh and Sally continue their struggle to be human in the second season!”

Being Human stars Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington and Mark Pellegrino and is a Muse Entertainment production in association with Zodiak USA. It is based on the acclaimed series, Being Human, created by Toby Whithouse and produced by Touchpaper Television, part of Zodiak Media Group.

In Being Human, leading everyday lives is a lot harder than it looks for three supernatural roommates – vampire Aidan (Witwer), ghost Sally (Rath) and werewolf Josh (Huntington) – who share their secrets and a Boston brownstone. Together they learn that there are fates worse than death and more to life – and the afterlife – than most “normal” humans could ever imagine.

Executive Producers are Michael Prupas (The Kennedys, Pillars of the Earth), Jeremy Carver (Supernatural) and Anna Fricke (Men in Trees, Everwood) who are both writers/showrunners, and Rob Pursey and Toby Whithouse. Irene Litinsky is series Producer and Adam Kane (The Mentalist, Heroes) is Co-Executive Producer.

Related articles

• “The American Version of Being Human Renewed for Second Season” and related posts (scificool.com)

Syfy sent out a press release stating that it has acquired all 31 episodes of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” from Warner Bros.

The series will premiere on Syfy Thursday, April 7th.

NEW YORK – February 22, 2011 – Syfy has acquired both seasons (31 episodes) of the acclaimed fan-favorite Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, it was announced today by Chris Regina, Vice President, Programming, Syfy, and Tom Cerio, Executive Vice President, Cable Sales, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.

With Terminator 3 as the lead-in, the series will join the Syfy line-up on Thursday, April 7 with two episodes from 9-11PM (ET/PT). The regular time slot will be Thursdays from 7-11PM (ET/PT).

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles brought the blockbuster Terminator movie franchise to television in an action-adventure drama taking place after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The series reveals what happens when Sarah Connor (series star Lena Headey – upcoming Game of Thrones, 300, The Brothers Grimm) stops running and goes on the offensive against an ever-evolving technological enemy. At the end of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Sarah vanquished the Terminator sent from the future to kill her teenage son, John. Now Sarah and John (series star Thomas Dekker – Heroes) find themselves in a very dangerous, complicated world. Fugitives from the law, they must evade pursuers from the future and the present in today’s Los Angeles, relentlessly battling to save more than just themselves.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ran for two seasons (2007-09).

Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, Brian Austin Green, Garret Dillahunt, Shirley Manson, Leven Rambin and Richard T. Jones starred in the series, from the Bartleby Company and The Halcyon Company in association with Warner Bros. Television. Josh Friedman, John Wirth, James Middleton, Mario Kassar, Andrew Vajna and Joel Michaels served as executive producers.

Related articles

• Syfy Acquires All 31 Episodes of ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’; Premieres Thursday, April 7 (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)

Press release from SYFY:

SYFY AND THQ ORIGINAL MOVIE RED FACTION: ORIGINS BEGINS PRODUCTION WITH ALL-STAR CAST LED BY STARGATE UNIVERSE‘S BRIAN J. SMITH AND FILM ICON ROBERT PATRICK

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’S KATE VERNON, TORCHWOOD’S GARETH DAVID-LLOYD AND DANIELLE NICOLET ALSO STAR

DIRECTED BY PEABODY-AWARD WINNER MICHAEL NANKIN (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, CAPRICA) AND WRITTEN BY ANDREW KREISBERG (WAREHOUSE 13)

PRODUCED BY UNIVERSAL CABLE PRODUCTIONS AND UFO FILMS FOR MAY 2011 PREMIERE

New York, NY, and Agoura Hills, CA – January 19, 2011 – Brian J. Smith (Stargate Universe), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day), Kate Vernon (Battlestar Galactica), Danielle Nicolet (The Starter Wife), Gareth David-Lloyd (Torchwood), Tamzin Merchant (The Tudors) and Devon Graye (Dexter) will star in the THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) and Syfy Original Movie Red Faction(R): OriginsTM (working title), based on the highly successful Red Faction(R) video game franchise.

Peabody-Award winner Michael Nankin (Caprica, Battlestar Galactica, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) will direct the two-hour, live action movie.

Part of a first-of-its-kind transmedia deal, Red Faction: Origins will be produced by Universal Cable Productions (UCP) and UFO Films (Lake Placid 2 & 3). Production will begin in Bulgaria this week with its Syfy premiere scheduled for May 2011.

Red Faction: Origins follows the children of rebel hero Alec Mason, set during a period between the critically acclaimed Red Faction Guerrilla(TM) video game and the recently announced, highly anticipated Red Faction Armageddon(TM) video game, also scheduled for release in May 2011.

Twenty-five years have passed since Alec Mason (Robert Patrick) led the Martian Colonies to freedom …and 12 years since vengeful enemies killed his wife, kidnapped his daughter Lyra (Tamzin Merchant), and left a broken hero in their wake.

Jake Mason (Brian J. Smith), Alec�s last surviving son and an officer in the Red Faction Militia, has his world turned inside out when he discovers that now, 12 years after her kidnapping, his sister is still alive. As a powerful new enemy swarms across the planet, Jake goes out to find her, only to learn that his lost sister is one of them…a cold-blooded soldier sworn to destroy the Red Faction.

Jake must now battle the relentless regime and somehow reunite a family torn apart by war.

The Red Faction: Origins screenplay was written by notable writer and producer Andrew Kreisberg (Warehouse 13, Fringe, Eli Stone), based on a story developed by Paul DeMeo (The Rocketeer, The Flash, Viper), THQ Director, Fiction Development.

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 98 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, personal computers and wireless devices. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, THQ sells product through its global network of offices located throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. More information about THQ and its products may be found at www.thq.com.

Universal Cable Productions creates quality content across multiple media platforms for USA, Syfy and other networks. A leader in innovative and critically acclaimed programming, UCP is the studio behind USA’s Royal Pains, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Psych, In Plain Sight, Covert Affairs and Fairly Legal, as well as Syfy’s Eureka, Warehouse 13 and Alphas . The studio also produced the long-running series Monk and Battlestar Galactica, as well as the series Caprica. UCP is a division of NBC Universal.

THQ, Red Faction, Red Faction Guerrilla, Red Faction Armageddon, Red Faction Origins and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the business of THQ Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “THQ”), including, but not limited to, expectations and projections related to the Red Faction: Origins live action movie, and are based upon management’s current beliefs and certain assumptions made by management. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, business, competitive, economic, legal, political and technological factors affecting our industry, operations, markets, products or pricing. Readers should carefully review the risk factors and the information that could materially affect THQ’s financial results, described in other documents that THQ files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal period ended March 31, 2010, and particularly the discussion of risk factors set forth therein. Unless otherwise required by law, THQ disclaims any obligation to update its view on any such risks or uncertainties or to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

Uggg…and I am still watching it (must be the pills)! The green screen (CGI) has gotten better, but the storytelling is paper thin.

Press release from SYFY:

SYFY RENEWS “SANCTUARY” FOR SEASON FOUR

NEW YORK – January 18, 2011 – Syfy has greenlit production on a fourth season of Sanctuary, it was announced today by Mark Stern, President, Original Programming, Syfy & Co-Head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions. Sanctuary season 4 is slated to commence production on a 13-episode season in spring 2011 in Vancouver, BC with an eye towards a fall 2011 premiere on Syfy.

Sanctuary follows brilliant scientist Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) and her team, who use their unique combination of instinct, medicine and cutting-edge science to find and aid a clandestine population of beings that the world refuses to believe exists. The series also stars Robin Dunne as forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman, Agam Darshi as the quick-witted Kate Freelander, Ryan Robbins as tech wiz Henry Foss and Christopher Heyerdahl as the sinister John Druitt.

One of television’s most groundbreaking series, shooting almost entirely on green screen, Sanctuary was the first television series in North America to use the RED camera exclusively. Its stunning visual effects were nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award.

Created by Damian Kindler (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis), Sanctuary is produced in association with Syfy and is distributed by Tricon Films and Television. Season three of the series is executive produced by Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, Keith Beedie and Tricon Films.

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in 98 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)