With a new movie… comes new product!
Looking to get your hands on the latest Thor: The Dark World toys, check out these from Diamond Select Toys. They have a new line of Marvel Minimates (Designed by Art Asylum), and some nice looking 7-inch scale figures (Designed by Gentle Giant Studios).
Grab these toys online, or at a comic book shop! Enjoy!
Images via Art Asylum
Last night DisneyXD broadcast a quick teaser for the new Star Wars animated series. Star Wars Rebels comes to DisneyXD in 2014. The short teaser shows an IMPERIAL Star Destroyer mimicking the opening shot of A New Hope with some hokey dialog about the forming of the rebel alliance and the rising of the Jedi. Rising of the Jedi? How? What? Why? Anyway, the Star Destroyer tows the Star Wars Rebels logo on screen, and then after the fade out we see a T.I.E Fighter wing. Maybe this teaser is trying to play up the oppressive nature of the Empire, but hasn’t that card been played a hundred times. The “cool” evil dark side. Every little kid wants to dress like Vader of Boba Fett. This is a show about the Rebels. Shouldn’t we have seen something more…. hopeful (besides the super cheesy announcer).
If you had any doubt that Disney owns Star Wars it is put to rest with this super surgery teaser. At least Cartoon Network had some cache to it. Some edge.
This is one of those videos I saw a while ago and kept forgetting to post. From VFX Artist Xander David-Hugh. Xander gives a taste of what an intro might be like with the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi. Check it out!
Now you can watch, (or re-watch) fan favorite British Sci-Fi series’, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures! 
Doctor Who and its’ two spins off are not the only BBC shows to hit Hulu today. The new batch of content comes from a non-exclusive, multi-year agreement to offer BBC Worldwide content to Hulu Plus. If you are a Hulu Plus subscriber here is some of the other BBC Worldwide content coming you way,
This fall, internationally beloved series Top Gear, Sherlock, MI-5 and Luther will launch on Hulu Plus, as well as comedies such as Fawlty Towers, Twenty Twelve, and Blackadder; sci-fi favorites Bedlam, Red Dwarf, and Primeval; and natural history shows, including selections from David Attenborough’s Life in the…series, Life of Mammals and The Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth. In addition, other titles like Upstairs, Downstairs, Wallander, and Bleak House will also be available.
Hulu / BBC Worldwide North America press release via BUSINESS WIRE
Check it out! The full New York Comic Con panel has gone live!
The Walking Dead Escape was first run at Comic-Con in San Diego in 2012 and again in 2013. Now The Walking Dead Escape is coming to New York City at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum! The Walking Dead Escape will take place on Saturday, October 13th, which will be during the weekend that New York Comic Con will be underway, and one day before the fourth season premiere of The Walking Dead on AMC (October 13th at 9PM ET/PT).
The course is open Sat., Oct.12 from 6:45 pm – Midnight. Survivors climb, crawl and slide in an effort to avoid confrontation by hordes of Walkers, while achieving the ultimate adventure on The Walking Dead-themed obstacle course. The Walking Dead Escape is not a race and Survivors are not timed, but the end is near and they must move swiftly. If they’re lucky, Survivors will reach the decontamination zone where their level of infection – if any – will be determined by a confidential military scan. Walkers will be transformed into the undead by professional makeup teams and released on the course to haunt the living.
To participate go to www.thewalkingdeadescape.com and register.
This year The Walking Dead Escape is elevated with new props, scenes and full The Walking Dead experiences. Fans can participate in this epic adventure; as a “Survivor” racing through the zombie-infested evacuation zone with familiar scenes and props from the show and comic book series; or as a “Walker” in the undead horde.
Source: AMC/Skybound/Ruckus Sports Press release
With New York Comic Con now less than a month away, some of the programming is being released. Today we learned about some of the exciting Star Wars related programing.
STAR WARS REBELS: THE MIGHT OF THE EMPIRE
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Time: 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM
Location: Empire Stage 1-E Presented By: Arizona Beverages
Pablo Hidalgo will be there to tell us about the new Star Wars cartoon series Star Wars Rebels. The new series will be airing on Disney XD. The following is from the NYCC site:
Details on the show are closely guarded, but fans at NYCC will get a first look at new art from the series, and learn new information about the formidable forces of the Galactic Empire. Star Wars Rebels is set between Episodes III and IV, and it is a dark time in the galaxy. In the spirit of the original trilogy, the Empire is once again the preeminent villain of the saga, and Star Wars Rebels puts the awesome might of Imperial forces inthe spotlight.
With the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi this year, comes a new making of book from Lucasfilm executive editor J.W. Rinzler and author Jason Fry.
THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Time: 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM
Location: 1A23
These panels are always great because J.W. Rinzler will usually show off some photos and video that aren’t in the book and you will only see during the panel!
Check out the full list of Star Wars activities at NYCC here!
Fan based fundraising for projects has become very popular these days. One said project is entering its final hours on indiegogo, Star Trek: 
Renegades. Star Trek: Renegades is an unofficial Trek project. It is also from the same studio that put out 2008’s Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. Both of these super-sized fan films are just not by fans for fans, there are a ton of Star Trek actors appearing in them. Tim Russ, Star Trek Voyager’s Tuvok, directs and stars in both films.
They are fun films to watch for die hard fans of Trek who can’t get enough past cast members and simply crave Trek adventures. This time around in addition to Tim Russ returning as Tuvok, Garrett Wang returns as Harry Kim, Robert Picardo as Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, and Walter Koening as Admiral Chekov.
And that’s not all…
Mythbuster Grant Imahara is in the flick as well as Edward Furlong. Yes, you read that right. Edward Furlong will be playing a character named “Fixer”. [check out the full cast here]
To take a look at the pre production of Star Trek: Renegades click here, to check out their indiegogo page and maybe donate click here, and to see their past project Star Trek: Of Gods and Men click here. It should also be noted that Gods and Men was made with the help of the folks who did Star Trek: New Voyages another series of fan made Trek content. New Voyages sought to pick up where the original 1960’s Star Trek series left off when they were canceled. Episodes of New Voyages show Kirk, Spock, and the crew finishing their 5 year mission, so check that out too!
IMAGE startrekrenegades.com
I caught a rumor last weekend that J.K. Rowling was going to be writing another Harry Potter book. After doing some research I could find nothing that supported Rowling writing or publishing a new Potter novel anytime soon. BUT…
Yesterday word came that J.K. Rowling would be making her screen-writing debut adapting her 2001 work (written under the pseudonym Newt Scamander), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a fictional textbook that was used by Harry Potter at Hogwarts.
Warner Brothers intends producing a series of new films based on the fictional textbook that follows the adventures of Newt Scamander. When Warner Brothers approached Rowling about the idea of new films, Rowling says she felt so protective of the fantastic world she has created she was unable to shake the idea of another writer handling one of her favorite characters. So she asked to take on the task of writing the script herself.
Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world. The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.
A piece of the Harry Potter universe in the U.S! In New York no less! I wonder if they will be bringing production here to shoot? Deadline.com is reporting that,
No timeline or director has been identified yet. If the films follow the Harry Potter process, they’ll make use of Warner Bros’ Leavesden studios outside London which Warner acquired and revamped after the last Potter film was shot.
Warner Brothers seems to be following Disney’s example with Star Wars by creating new series of film of minor characters. Other Hogwarts text books include, Quidditch Through the Ages, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Could these other titles be fodder for future movie series if Creatures does well? Is this Warners Brothers answer to years of Star Wars and Marvel movies to come? In the meantime can we make this April Fools joke from a few years ago a reality?
Star Trek Into Darkness comes to Blu-Ray and DVD today (in an annoying number of exclusive editions). Meanwhile After Effects guru Andrew Kramer has been doing title work for JJ Abrams for sometime. In this video Andrew gives us an idea as to how he put together the Main and End Titles for Star Trek Into Darkness. Check it it out it is pretty cool, there is Kero, and LEGO too! (Even lens flare too)
It is remarkable what Andrew and his Video Co-Pilot team were able to accomplish using After Effects and his own Element 3D! software.
And since the film was presented in 2D and 3D, we had to come up with a workflow that was fast & flexible without sacrificing creativity.
Being able to stay inside of After Effects while working directly with 3D objects gave us incredible freedom to build complex scenes with thousands of objects and hundreds of layers in a single comp. Plus everything was created for stereo so all the layers and objects had to be in true 3D space.
Also keep in mind this was all rendered for 3D IMAX resolution too!
