Archive | 3:40 pm

Matthew Vaughn Back to Direct X-Men : First Class Sequel

31 Jan

If you’re a fan of the X-Men franchise and X-Men: First Class in particular, Deadline’s stealthy mention that Matthew Vaughn and some of the rest of the First Class team has signed back on to make a sequel stands as one of the biggest examples of burying the lead out there.

But it’s true: in the site’s report about 20th Century Fox production president Emma Watts signing a new multi-year deal to keep her at the company, there’s a line about the studio closing a contract with Vaughn to return and direct the sequel.

It’s not exactly a shock. First Class might not have knocked down any franchise box office records, but it won plenty of acclaim and did well enough that the studio began putting a sequel in motion. But it wasn’t definite that Vaughn would come back and make it. Now? He’s committed.

Simon Kinberg, Fox’s in-house superhero veteran who produced the first movie, is already on board to write the script. But we wouldn’t be surprised to see Vaughn (and possibly co-writer Jane Goldman, provided she’s not too busy) taking a pass before the film (which we’re going to have to start calling X-Men: Second Class, even if that sounds bad) hits screens. And as to when that will be? No one can say for sure. The cast’s schedules, particularly a certain Mr Fassbender, have exploded since the first movie, though the Heat Vision blog is reporting that everyone will be back for the new pic. But there’s stilll a chance it’ll wait for the director; Vaughn himself has lots of projects in the development hopper. Let’s just hope he has a bit more scheduled time to make it this go-around…

No New ‘Torchwood’ In 2012

31 Jan

If you’re looking to see when “Torchwood” will be available on your television dial in 2012, you might want to look for something else.

As expected, there is no movement behind producing more “Torchwood,” either by BBC or its new American home Starz, which aired “Miracle Day” last year.

And now the actress who plays Welsh cop Gwen Cooper is making it official.

“Nothing’s going to happen in 2012, I know that much for sure,” Eve Myles recently told Cult Box. “But who knows what will happen in 2013. Maybe a movie, to kind of draw a line under it.”

Despite the hype going into “Miracle Day,” the most recent season of “Torchwood” under-performed when it came to actual audience. But because Starz is a premium cable channel that does not depend on viewer totals for specific shows, it becomes more about how many new subscribers signed on to Starz because of “Torchwood.”

The fact that more “Torchwood” was not ordered may have more to do with its showrunner Russell T. Davies than anything else. Davies is currently back in England, caring for his partner who was diagnosed with cancer. Before that, however, Davies announced he was working on a new project for Showtime, the premium cable channel that aired an American version of his British hit “Queer as Folk,” and that seemed to anger the leadership at Starz, who implied that Davies was too distracted to continue “Torchwood.”

“Torchwood” is a spinoff of the popular genre series “Doctor Who.” It features John Barrowman as Capt. Jack Harkness and a band of alien hunters protecting the Earth.

Over the course of four seasons, characters have come and gone, the main base in Cardiff, Wales, was destroyed, and although there was a slight relocation to the United States for “Miracle Day,” what’s happening next is up in the air.

The show has built popularity over its short life. It premiered on BBC Three in 2006, but moved to BBC Two in 2008. The main BBC channel aired the five-episode third season, “Children of Earth,” which one vast critical acclaim. Starz and BBC Worldwide ordered a 10-episode season of “Torchwood” that aired in 2011. Starz stepped in after the Fox network passed on the idea.

So yes, there may be some time before “Torchwood” is on again, but there is a good chance it will be on again.

“That’s the thing about ‘Torchwood,’ every [season] we’ve changed our format,” Myles said. “We’ve always had a gap in between, so fingers crossed, because we’ve got such an outstanding loyal fan base. They deserve ‘Torchwood’ to go ahead with something else to draw a line under it, for the fans to have a bit of closure.”

Source:AirlockAlpha
by KEVIN BAYER

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