Terminating Batman at the Salvation Army Store

So the other day I decided to walk around town a little bit more than usual and anyone who knows me is fully aware that I walk around town a LOT. However yesterday was a little bit different in that I ended up at the local Salvation Army Store- the one in Redlands California is more like a Antiques repository but on the right it still has DVD’s, Video/PC Games, Comic Books and Collectables…and Music CD’s. I actually went in to look at the DVD’s as they are priced to move and often have a good selection of films that I’ve wanted to see and have never been able to.

Aeon Flux caught my eye right away, it had a strong chance of being picked because it ticked all the right boxes for the kind of film I wanted to experience. However in the end I found myself kneeling in front of the CD rack and looking very carefully at the titles for anything I might like. It turns out there ended being two items that grabbed my attention…well to be honest 3, but when I opened the first one I found the dreaded stolen/missing disc staring at me. So I handed it to one of the workers to get it out of circulation.

Has Justin Lin Put Himself Back Into the Running for Terminator 5 Director?

Justin Lin has directed every movie in the Fast and Furious series since he came on board for Tokyo Drift and arguably with each film he has crafted a greater and more powerful and robust piece of entertainment. Fast 5 was the first in the series I took the time to see in theaters since Rob Cohen’s The Fast and the Furious. And as a film it blended high octane car racing with the heist film for absolutely nutty amounts of fun, the ending chase is action heaven.

Now Justin is putting the finishing touches on Fast 6 which will be by all indications even more fun and spectacular than Fast 5. Universal wants to get going right now on Fast 7 and that’s forced Justin Lin to drop out of the directing gig ostensibly because he doesn’t want to be in Post Production on one film while being in Pre-Production on the next simultaneously. I can’t fault him for that, and though it’s a shame that we won’t get to see him complete his planned Fast and Furious arc we will get to see Fast 7 coming down the pipe very very soon as Universal Pictures is apparently talking to Director James Wan to fill the directors chair.

This leads to my question: this move once again opens up the possibility of Lin signing on as director of the long gestating Terminator 5. Will rights owner Megan Ellison seek him out? The script is currently being written and Justin Lin has shown interest in directing the 5th film in the past.

Terminator 5: Dawn of The New Screenwriters!

The Terminator (soundtrack) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s with a somewhat heavy heart that I write this official Terminator 5 news update as it means that I’ll no longer have to defend Ferris and Brancato on another Terminator script. Seriously though this news both excites me and bums me out since I spent a good deal of last year working on securing this very project.

However I’m also happy since that means Laeta Kalogridis  (Avatar/Shutter Island/Alexander) and Patrick Lussier (Wes Craven’s Dracula/My Bloody Valentine/Drive Angry (Writer and Director) are going to be the ones to receive any blow back from the fans if the film under performs.

It’s and interesting duo that’s for certain however I know that Terminator rights holder Megan Ellison isn’t into making stupid decisions. She is after all behind such awesome films as Zero Dark Thirty and The Master and is very serious about making great use of the Terminator name.

This is someone I fully trust to know what they’re doing.

Apparently the Laeta/Lussier was combo writing a SF original for David Ellisons’ Skydance Productions and was so impressed with it that he landed them the Terminator job.

More news as it breaks.

Ross Out.

Related articles

• Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier to Pen New TERMINATOR Movie (collider.com)
• Laeta Kalogridis And Patrick Lussier Set To Script New ‘Terminator’ (deadline.com)
• Laeta Kalogridis And Patrick Lussier Set To Script New ‘Terminator’ (m.deadline.com)
• New ‘Terminator’ Film Gets A Pair Of Screenwriters (screencrave.com)
• ‘Shutter Island’ and ‘Drive Angry’ Writers Tapped For ‘Terminator 5′ (slashfilm.com)
• ‘Terminator 5′ Gains New Screenwriters (screenrant.com)

Rewriting Made Easier- Terminator Connor Chronicles

There are a total of 7 people on the writing staff of Terminator: The Connor Chronicles (T:TCC) I think that’s a grand number, it’s also the number of perfection so I suggest we leave well enough alone on that point. However how does writing work with a seven person team, or to be more specific how does re-writing work?

Screenplay (Photo credit: Matt-Richards)

Let me share with you a few things that I took into my first re-write so that you can understand how the process works.

First of all while the latest update at the main page Terminator: The Connor Chronicles says that I’m the 2nd writer on the series, (and I do truly feel humbled by that), I am in fact the most recent hire. I’m coming into a project where we have first drafts written for 90 percent of the episodes, in other words other writers have poured their time, energy, effort, and writing skills into these scripts. Which leads to my first rule of rewriting especially of other peoples work.

Treat the draft with respect.

I’m Now a Writer for Terminator: The Connor Chronicles!

This site now generally is a place for posting whatever movie/television/music news not to mention gaming videos that I

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1 (Photo credit: halilgokdal)

find interesting or make myself. However one look at the title in the address bar reveals that the primary reason I made this blog was to talk and discuss Terminator related items and articles. I’m so very happy to be doing that again, as I’m pleased to announce that I was approached by a friend, and welcomed by a new friend to be part of Terminator: The Connor Chronicles (T:TCC)!

Some of you may be asking yourselves what is T:TCC. I will lightly touch upon a few things here but you can follow this link to find out much much more. Terminator: The Connor Chronicles!

1. It’s a unofficial, non profit, CGI continuation of  Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles.
2. Over 4o big time fans are hard at work to bring the universe back to life. 
3. I am part of the writing team working hard to bring an excellent story line to tip top shape.

I’m currently hard at work writing a new draft of Episode 3 and it’s coming along very nicely indeed.

To say this was unexpected is an understatement, I knew very little about T:TCC through the first friend listed above before hand- as she mentioned in passing months ago that she was doing voice acting for a Terminator related project. I never once thought I would end up writing on said project, but I’ve very glad I am.

This year has been full of Terminator surprises and to be honest it’s a great way to cap off the year….though having a killer interview with Verizon this Thursday would make it even better.

So keep watching this space…within the next few days I’ll be writing a post about how I have approached re-writing on the project and there will be other articles in the future about Terminator: The Connor Chronicles.

Catch you on the flipside!

Ross

Pilot order for Bob From Corporate

This just in and hot of the presses SyFy is in the process of developing a pilot for a new sci-fi series currently titled Bob from Corporate.

James Middleton, who worked on the axed way too soon Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Jamie Paglia are on as Executive Producers. Currently not much is know about the show other than the following:

Corporate is a secret government organization that investigates strange scientific incidents and goings on. The groups leader is a strong personality whose stance on morality could be considered to be detrimental. And he likes to blow stuff up (so we’d get along swimmingly).

Sounds like fun they’ll be more news as it’s available.

Ross Out.

Zack Stentz Writes NoFateCon into His Calendar!

My writers sense is tingling!

Image via Wikipedia

Man I am so damned excited now if all things work out I’ll finally get to meet ZACK STENTZ!

Heck maybe…nah…well maybe…there I go thinking out loud again.

Zack wrote imho some of the very best episodes of T:SCC and he’s still writing for television and movies with writing partner ASHLEY MILLER.

Perhaps you saw a tiny movie called THOR or another little flick called X-Men First Class?

Yeah…that’s my dudes right there.

Don’t forget to check out The NoFateCon Website where you can find out more about this excellent event!

Go team SCC!

Ross Out

New MEG Trailer for MEG ORIGINS!

Image via Wikipedia

This is breaking as i only got to my e-mail today and foun a new news update from the awesome Steve Alten author of many books in his case focusing on the MEG series.

It seems he’s released a new E-Book called MEG: ORIGINS.

That’s kickass!

Here’s the trailer for the book…I can’t wait for the MEG movie to emerge from the Abyssal Plain that is Hollywood!

Congrats Steve thanks for keeping us up to date!

Ross Out!

Looking Back to: Face/Off

Ah 1997.

I had two jobs.

A certainty of a roof over my head, and Judgment day was right around the corner. However before the bombs fell we were about to be treated to Director John Woo’s domestic masterpiece Face/Off!

I’ve been a follower of John Woo for a very long time, I at one time or another have owned copies on VHS or DVD all of his better known Hong Kong films. A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow 2, Once A Thief, The Killer, and his magnum opus Hard Boiled which I still own on Dragon Dynasty’s 2-Disc Set. I’m also a huge defender of the sometimes maligned Windtalkers and Broken Arrow and Mission Impossible 2 I’d throw on the dvd player at any time.

However Face/Off is the closest the John Woo ever came to his Hong Kong brand of film making one that even garnered its own term for the balletic blood soaked battles that for the life of me isn’t coming to mind at the moment. However, the story itself has a few similarities to his previous works, and the trailer certainly grabbed my attention on first viewing. Let’s check it out…then after the break we’ll discuss some of the more awesome aspects about the film.

Tomorrow: Something is Going to Surface

And it’s going to be fun!

Ross Out.