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Return of the Verdict: Lucas Loses 'Star Wars' Costume Copyright Appeal

By Zachary Herrmann (Subscribe to Zachary Herrmann's posts), Posted Dec 16th 2009 8:02PM
Filed under: Movie News, News/Reactions, Sci-Fi
Some three years ago, in a court room far, far away (California, actually), George Lucas successfully sued Brit Andrew Ainsworth for $20 million copyright infringement. Ainsworth had been making and selling replicas of the iconic Storm Trooper helmet and armor from Star Wars, which at least sounds pretty illegal, but what holds true in this country isn't necessarily so in another.

The British court system would not enforce the ruling, thus prompting Lucas (via Lucasfilm) to appeal the British decision. On December 14, Lord Justices Rix, Jacob and Patten agreed to dismiss the appeal, citing that the helmets and armor were, according to The Times UK, "'utilitarian' rather than artistic purpose, so 'neither the armour nor the helmet are sculpture'." The ruling also stated that Lucasfilm could not exercise its US copyright in the UK. At least they made it clear that Ainsworth did not actually own copyrights to the helmet or armor (well duh...).

I can't pretend to understand the finer points of US copyright law, let alone those laws as they translate to the UK, but doesn't something about this just seem fundamentally...wrong? Would the ruling have been any different had Ainsworth been making Darth Vader helmets or Boba Fett suits?

(via The Times UK and The Hollywood Reporter's THR, Esq. blog)

Another Day, Another Vampire Project: 'Thor' Writers Getting in on 'Damn Nation'

By Zachary Herrmann (Subscribe to Zachary Herrmann's posts), Posted Dec 16th 2009 10:02AM
Filed under: Movie News, News/Reactions, Sci-Fi

Just in case you were worried that this little vampire-Hollywood love affair might suddenly disappear, never fear, because we have yet another fanged feature coming our way.

Thor screenwriters Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz will handle writing duties on Damn Nation, a vampire-survival flick set in the future. The project is based on Andrew Cosby and Jason Alexander's (no, not that Jason Alexander) Dark Horse Comics three-issue mini-series of the same name.

In Damn Nation, humans are plagued by carnivorous night-dwelling creatures that only come out at night (the plot descriptions I've read seem to carefully avoid "vampire"). The remnants of organized government have holed up in London while the survivors, well, survive until scientists can figure out a solution to the vampire problem.

There's probably one recent film in particular that comes to mind based on that brief synopsis (I Am thinking of a Will Smith movie...), so let's just leave it at this: Hopefully the Dark Horse Entertainment/ Damn Nation production team knows well enough to avoid going the CGI route for these post-apocalyptic night-dwellers. Because as we now know, CGI vampires (or blood-sucking night creatures, whatever you want to call or avoid calling them) may not look as silly as sparkling vampires, but it's still pretty awful.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

'Inception' Poster Revealed in 'Mind Crime' Mini-Game

By Zachary Herrmann (Subscribe to Zachary Herrmann's posts), Posted Dec 16th 2009 9:02AM
Filed under: Movie News, News/Reactions, Sci-Fi
From the first teaser to the generally hush-hush attitude, Warner Bros. and all the players have taken, mums been the word on the details of Christopher Nolan's Inception. This might seem hypocritical coming from a movie blogger, but it's actually kind of refreshing how WB and Nolan have managed to keep loose lips from sinking the secrecy around any significant details.

Keeping those appetites wet, WB released the first Inception poster, which Quint over at Ain't It Cool News pointed out, is cut almost precisely from the mold as posters like this one. Nothing wrong with a little pilfering, and technically, it isn't really stealing if you're taking from your own cookie jar. The more interesting bit is where the poster came from -- a nifty little game on the Inception website called "Mind Crime". Essentially, you plot out a maze with a start and end point, and then the rudimentary map becomes a city maze. Avoid contact with all other little people on the map (in true paranoid form, everyone is the enemy) and when you finish, the big reveal is...the poster that you've already seen.

Besides being an addicting office diversion, though, "Mind Crime" seems like a pretty good place to keep your eyes peeled for future trinkets, like say a full trailer or something of that nature. The WB marketing team really knocked it out of the park with The Dark Knight viral stuff, so it'll be great to see how they continue to sell Nolan's original sci-fi project.

Thomas Haden Church for FEARnet's 'Zombie Roadkill'

By Zachary Herrmann (Subscribe to Zachary Herrmann's posts), Posted Dec 15th 2009 9:40AM
Filed under: Movie News, News/Reactions, Sci-Fi
The Sandman is returning to television...sort of. Thomas Haden Church -- who made his name over 123 episodes of Wings, and later in Sideways and Spider-Man 3 -- will star in FEARnet's Zombie Roadkill series. The on-demand channel will produce six-episodes, each installment clocking in around four or five minutes apiece.

In the series, Haden Church will play a park ranger who must help a teenager (David Dorfman) survive a stretch of highway terrorized by, you guessed it, zombie roadkill. A fellow by the name of David Green is set to direct from a script by Henry Gayden.

Perhaps the most interesting bit on the production side of this team is the people behind the creature effects. Frank Langley and Tom Bacho of Quantum FX (Where the Wild Things Are, Star Trek, Watchmen) are on roadkill and splatter duties, so let's see how these guys can stretch a budget.

The full press release courtesy of FEARnet is regurgitated below for your convenience after the jump.
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Newsweek Plots Alternate History of America?

By Zachary Herrmann (Subscribe to Zachary Herrmann's posts), Posted Dec 14th 2009 5:12PM
Filed under: Movie News, News/Reactions, Sci-Fi
Everyone is quick to jump on Fox News Channel's case for blatantly inciting morons everywhere with speculation and non-news. But even if Fox tends to be the most irresponsible and repeated offender, they aren't the only news outlet in the fake news racket. Take for example, this fun little Newsweek exercise in plotting "an alternate oral history of the last decade" had Al Gore won the presidency in 2000.

Forget idiotic, this is just bug-nuts f--cking crazy. Had The Onion done this, at least it would have been funny, not to mention appropriate. The article comes complete with fake quotes from journalists and people like Jon Stewart (don't know if they actually contributed the fictional quotes or not). I've never thought much of Newsweek's work in the news business, but I like their efforts in science-fiction writing even less. When I want compelling alternate history, I'll refer to Philip K. Dick and not Newsweek, thanks.

Gore passes comprehensive energy bill and builds cross-country high speed lines...OK. But Gore preemptively attacks Afghanistan, thus preventing Sept. 11? Introduces the public option? Saves New Orleans from Katrina? Article commenter Dc Jeff says it all: "2009: As Newsweek's ship continues to sink, the publication strives to insult as many people as possible on it's way down..."

So is this someone's idea of fair-and-balanced, or just another case of a frustrated journalist who would rather be a lousy creative writer? Creating alternate histories never came up in my journalism ethics class as an undergraduate, so maybe I just wasn't properly prepared for this.

Rant over. Feel free to share my rage in the comments section below.

Black List 2009: The Sci-Fi Highlights

By Zachary Herrmann (Subscribe to Zachary Herrmann's posts), Posted Dec 14th 2009 11:02AM
Filed under: Movie News, News/Reactions, Sci-Fi
Since 2004, Hollywood's annual Black List has given us the "most liked" unproduced screenplays of those given years, as judged by a couple hundred studio executives. Probably not the most unbiased system, but it's interesting at least to see what the industry deems to be the better (possibly) upcoming prospects. This year's list hit on Friday, and out of 97 screenplays, there are about four that veer toward the science fiction side of things.

I say "about four" because frankly, I didn't know what to consider something like Adam Penn's The Blind Rage of Peacoat Miller, a script about a porn film that causes viewers to become homicidal maniacs. Straight from the list, here are the most identifiably sci-fi entries with descriptions included:

THE DAYS BEFORE by Chad St. John
"A man who possesses a time travel device uses it to go back in time to prevent an alien invasion."

Z FOR ZACHARIAN by Nissar Modi
"A sixteen-year-old girl named Ann Burden survives a nuclear war in a small American town.."

RENKO VEGA & THE JENNIFER NINE by John Raffo
"Renko Vega, once a hero and now a rogue thief wandering the galaxy with his hyperintelligent spaceship the Jennifer 9, is forced to become a hero once again when the young daughter of the President of Earth is kidnapped."

YEAR 12 by Edward Ricourt
"Twelve years after an alien invasion leaves humankind decimated and brutally subjugated a former soldier must smuggle deadly uranium in his bloodstream and, with help from a pair of rebels, fight his way to an air force base where the uranium can be extracted and used to fuel a nuclear missile for a counterstrike that will reverse the direction of the war."


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Duncan Jones Ready for 'Source Code' in January?

By Zachary Herrmann (Subscribe to Zachary Herrmann's posts), Posted Dec 14th 2009 9:02AM
Filed under: Movie News, News/Reactions, Sci-Fi
There will be a day, sometime in the next few years, when all stories concerning Duncan Jones -- the director of 2009's glorious sci-fi throwback Moon -- will get over the fact the guy's name used to be Zowie Bowie. According to a Tweet from Production Weekly, Jones should be getting back in the saddle for pre-production on his next project, Source Code, in early January, with shooting to start in Montreal in March. And if Ben Ripley's script (with revisions by Billy Ray) is any indication, this could very well be the one that really puts Jones into a spotlight that doesn't require references to dear old dad.

With slight nods to 12 Monkeys and Run Lola Run, Source Code centers on a soldier (Jake Gyllenhaal, upgraded from the previously-attached Topher Grace) who awakes on a train to New York. He's sent to stop a terrorist attack as part of a military time-travel program. And really, what more do you need to know? There's a lot to work with in the concept and Jones seems like an excellent choice to helm. It'll definitely be interesting to see how he specifically handles the time-travel aspects, because it'd be great to see something we haven't already seen 1,000 times over. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled as more casting notes get out, so stay tuned.
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