Live Blogging "Stargate Universe"

And after all these months of waiting to see what the new Stargate series is going to be like, we're live blogging commentary as the the Stargate Universe premiere airs! The standard warning about spoilers (lots and lots of spoilers) applies . . .

9:02PM - Kinda liking the new theme song. And did they just list Lou Diamond Phillips as a guest star?

9:04PM - Note to self: never chuck things through or jump through a stargate. You never know who you might be conking on the head on the other side. Robert Carlyle's character seems far too satisfied and calm with this outcome (ie: them ending up on the ship Destiny).

9:05PM - Another note to self: never be the commanding military officer when coming through the gate. According to what just happened to the head military guy here and what happened to the guy in the same position during the Stargate: Atlantis premiere, it's a total red shirt position.

9:08PM - Yay! Richard Dean Anderson. As sarcastic as ever, I see.

9:10PM - *sniff* They're aboard the Hammond -- the ship they named in tribute to General George Hammond and the late Don S. Davis. And I'm not sure if it's funny they beamed up David Blue's character the same way they did Jeannie (McKay's sister) in SGA or if it's cliche.

9:12PM - Michael Shanks better not only be appearing in an orientation video in this ep!

9:20PM - Epileptic colonel perhaps? Have the feeling that he's not going to last long in these circumstances. Twenty minutes into the show and I'm not hooked yet . . .

9:24PM - E.T. not phoning home just this second . . . And Dr. Nicolas Rush is creeping me out. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to like having such a morally ambiguous character as the lead.

9:30PM - And now the senator is sick too? Is anyone on this ship not broken?

9:32PM - Rush is wearing a wedding ring. They wouldn't do the "scientist who lost his wife and has gone off the deep end trying to find an alt universe version/turn back time" storyline, would they?? Oh, please tell me they wouldn't.

9:35PM - Oh, they did. Weepy, desperate Rush with a picture of his wife. Immediately followed by the "accident" that propels them all through the stargate. Not crazy about this storyline. At all.

9:40PM - Love seeing Sam Carter commanding the Hammond. And so Ronald Greer's (Jamil Walker Smith) character sounds like he's the Tom Paris character on this ship. Yes, I'm busting out with a Star Trek: Voyager reference.

9:44PM - Okay, so I guess Rush isn't responsible for a bombardment from outer space.

9:46PM - Wow. That's a new Stargate record for killing off a head doctor.

9:53PM - Matthew Scott (first guy through the gate) has bigger cojones than just about anyone. Anyone who's been part of the stargate program knows that anything could be on the other side of that wormhole. On another note, what female military officer spends time doing up her hair in a fancy coif like Tamara Johansen? Wouldn't that be a great way to not get respect from all the guys?

9:56PM - So Rush gave intel to the enemy to get them to bombard Icarus base and force them to dial the ninth chevron. Peachy.

10:04PM - "Really? Do we really?" At least one guy on this ship has watched his Star Trek and his horror movies. Good on him for knowing better!

10:10PM - Okay, I know this is a motley crew assembled on this ship, but there seems to have been a heck of quick breakdown in the chain of command and in military discipline. This just isn't feeling like the Stargate I've watched and liked. Am trying to give it the benefit of the doubt still. Maybe I'm not picking up on enough details or getting engaged enough because I'm blogging while watching?

10:15PM - Mysterious Ancient crates that can be tapped for future storylines. Got it. Seeds so they can set up a hydroponics farming system to provide them with a sustainable food source (that I'm sure will also be tapped for future storylines).

10:17PM - Does anyone else feel like someone's going to whip out a lightsaber and start training when that kino flying camera starts floating around?

10:27PM - Now the show has started to get interesting. I think everyone yelling at each other and trying to establish their relative bad-ass-ness was turning me off. Now that they're working on the ship problems, I'm more intrigued.

10;39PM - Well, I guess we jus found out which character was committing suicide in the first episode. The producers had said that would be happening. I'd guessed it was the paralyzed colonel, with the senator as the second choice.

10:44PM - I still don't believe a word Rush says when he says he wasn't responsible for creating the situation that brought them to the ship. And I found it rather satisfying when Chloe was wailng on him in anger.

10:48PM - I'm liking this scene between Chloe Armstrong and Matthew Scott right now. I think they're the characters I'm connecting with the most so far. Anyone feel differently? Scott seems like a truly good guy doing the best he can in a mindboggling situation. And Chloe . . . it seems like she has a strength and intelligence that could make her an fascinating character to watch as she grows into her own.

10:55PM - Kinos = the SGU MALPs. Saw that one coming.

10:58PM - Hmmm . . . still not sure what I think of this series. I'm going to give it one more ep next week to see if it really hooks me in. Am definitely looking forward to next week's premiere of Sanctuary though!

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For "X-Files" Fans Interested in a Good Cause

Actor Mitch Pileggi ("Walter Skinner" from The X-Files) has reached out to his fans to request for help for a family member. His sister, Judi Ward, has been diagnosed with a very rare, aggressive form of cancer called leiomyosarcoma. Since she won't accept direct financial help from her brother, Pileggi is offering up memorabilia for sale at a fundraiser in Southern California this Saturday and will be appearing in person at the event. Additional "big ticket" memorabilia items will be sold on eBay and a website has been established for direct monetary donations.

In an email to the webmistress of one of the actor's longtime fansites, Pileggi wrote: "As you’ll see in the attachment my sister has become ill and is financially in pretty dire straits. She refuses to accept money from me directly and I’m trying to figure out ways to help her. I will be at the fundraiser mentioned in the flyer and they will be raffling off some memorabilia that I am providing them. I’m also going to have my sister-in-law sell some of my more valuable “stuff” on eBay and give the proceeds to my sis."

The attachment mentioned is the flyer below, which explains that Ward's financial difficulties began when she was laid off last year and subsequently lost her health insurance. The fundraiser at which Pileggi will be appearing will be held this Saturday, October 3 at 2 PM at the following location:

PC's Bar & Grill

4250 Los Angeles Ave.

Simi Valley, CA

805-579-9079

Mitch Pileggi's acting credits encompasses a range of sci-fi and fantasy shows including The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen, Stargate: Atlantis and Supernatural. Most recently, he's been seen on the small screen in the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy reprising his role as Larry Jennings, head of the board of directors for Seattle Grace, and in the second season premiere of FX's Sons of Anarchy in the recurring role of Ernest Darby, head of a rival gang.

(I know this is an unusual post to find on Pop Wenches, but I've lost two family members to cancer in the past 18 months and another family member is currently losing her battle against the same disease, so this hits close to home. I can also say from personal experience that Mitch Pileggi has always been very kind to and appreciative of his fans, which earns him an extra gold star in the karma department.)

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In Preparation for the "Stargate Universe" Premiere

The new installment in the Stargate franchise, Stargate Universe, premieres tomorrow on SyFy. We've written plenty about it here on Pop Wenches over the past year, but if you need a fun way to while away the ime between now and the premiere, enjoy some of the video clips we shot at the SGU panel at San Diego Comic-Con. Two clips below and plenty more over at the Pop Wenches You Tube channel: www.youtube.com/popwenches.

And for a little more fun as we head into Friday, here's a clip of the first four minutes of the SGU pilot ep:

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New Vamp Added to the Twilight Cast

More Twilight casting news today with the addition of Jodelle Ferland to the third movie, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.  The 14-year-old actress will play a newly turned vampire when filming starts later this month.

Despite being a young actress, Ferland has an impressive resume with roles in Silent Hill (2006), Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital (2004) and the upcoming drama Case 39 with Renee Zellweger and Ian McShane.  Sci-fi fans will recognize Ferland from memorable guest roles as a young Adria in the Stargate SG1 episode "Flesh and Blood" and a haughty princess in the Stargate Atlantis episode "Harmony." [Variety]

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Comic-Con Update: SGU Post Updated

Just a quick note that the blog post for yesterday's Stargate Universe panel has been updated with photos, videos and more complete text. Enjoy!

Video and write ups on the panel for Legion and Peter Jackson's first-ever Comic-Con appearance coming later today.

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Comic-Con 2009 Update – Stargate Universe (Live Blogging)

Edited to add photos and videos and clean up the text.

Woot! The wifi finally let me back online! Sitting in the 9 panel right now – news to come from that later.

Secured excellent seats in Ballroom 20 at the San Diego Convention Center, which is the second largest convention hall at Comic-Con (seating 4,000+ people). The wifi is still being extremely temperamental – allowing me to log on to the ‘net and then blocking me five minutes later, and not letting some people connect at all – but overall this morning has been much, much easier than the entirety of Thursday. Enjoy the summary of the Stargate Universe panel below!

Trailer was shown – General Jack O’Neil (Richard Dean Anderson) and Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) recruit Eli Wallace (David Blue), who's SGU's computer geek/genius character. Angsty Peter Gabriel-ish tune playing during the trailer. Trailer definitely continues that darker feel for this series and has a new tagline that this series "reinvents the wheel" over a shot of SGU's new stargate. In one clip, Wallace cracks a Star Wars joke saying something they're about to do is “like we’re going to the Hoth system,” and his joke is met with dead silence. Trailer ends with a scene in which O’Neil says, “Surprise!”

Showrunners Brad Wright and Robert Cooper led the panel, which included SGU cast members Jamil Walker Smith, Alaina Huffman, David Blue, Robert Carlyle, Ming-Na, Brian J. Smith and Elyse Levesque.

One comment that was made before they started answering questions is that there is more handheld camerawork in SGU than SG1 and SGA, giving it a bit rougher, more raw feel.Two questions from Zap2It visitors had been selected and given to Brad for he and the rest of the panel to answer.

1. Can I watch SGU if I’ve never watched SG1 or SGA? Yes, you can (per Brad Wright). It’s quite a different feel, give you a difference sense of what Stargate is for those who haven’t watched, but will reward existing fans. Pointed out that Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping will apppear.

Per Robert Cooper, "We looked at what we love about Stargate and what you love." Robert specifically wanted to address some of the fan fears, saying that even if it looks darker and grittier, it’s still Stargate. The show is still helmed by Brad and Robert, who have guided the feel of the franchise all these years. They wanted to get away from everyone in the series being a good guy, in SGU they didn’t want everyone to be a “superhero” or “genius”; they wanted the characters to be identifiable while putting them in a situation where the crew is facing challenges and exploring while maintaining that sense of humor SG is known for.

2. Will SGU still have the sense of humor that the other series have had? Yes, and Robert just answered that so they didn't need to go into more detail to address this question. Instead, Robert speaks to the fans’ love of the SG teams and characters and says that it’s been weirdly great with this cast because they’re 12 eps in filming-wise and the whole cast “still likes each other.” Says the cast gets along great and has great chemistry that’s translating onto the screen.

The panel begins taking questions from the audience.

Why is SGU not airing on NBC for those who don’t have cable or don't know about the Syfy channel? Brad: we’d love to air on ALL the major networks – it works for Obama! He gets plenty of eyeballs by doing that! But SG is at home on Syfy and there’s “always DVD and your friend’s house!”

Will there be behind the scenes materials for the fans to enjoy? Ivon Bartok (special features guru for Stargate) is shooting 40 behind-the-scenes pieces that will be used for the web and DVDs features this year. There will be tons of behind the scenes stuff for fans to enjoy, especially in the run-up to the show's premiere in the fall.

Question for Robert Carlyle: why did he chose to switch from movies to a television franchise? It’s not about which medium he’s acting in, it’s about the project and the people you get to work with. And he’s really enjoying himself so far. Robert Cooper elaborates on the showrunners' decision to pursue Robert Carlyle. They wanted a more "flawed and complex lead who’s not a hero, but also not a villain."

[bxA]Are we ever going to find anything out about the Furlings and the 9th Chevron? The resounding answer from Brad: NO! Robert said yes, but he wouldn’t elaborate and sounded a bit teasing. [From what I've read online, it seems like the ninth chevron might play into how the crew gets stuck on the Destiny in the pilot.]

The first two Stargate shows featured a lot of strong, intelligent women. What was Brad and Robert's criteria for casting the women in SGU? The showrunners and cast both proudly and emphatically declared the women of SGU to be strong, intelligent women also and each female cast member took a moment to describe their characters. Brad also added that the men on the cast are strong and intelligent too!

Did any of the actors feel any trepidation about joining a long-running franchise that has a strong fan following? David Blue spoke to this – described himself as a huge scifi fan and so he was very aware of what he was getting into. But even though he was nervous, he was also "excited to contribute" to a franchise he'd followed for all these years.

How did you prepare for your SGU roles? Brian fielded this question. You have to be interested in the material and then you just prep from there. For Brian, his character being a solider was more important than the scifi aspect, so he’s spent a lot of time researching the military aspect of his character.

Stargate Atlantis ended prematurely -- which show would Brad and Robert like to work on more? Robert said that he would flip a coin. While he does feel that they still had stories left to tell with Atlantis, he countered that the show had gotten five seasons when so many shows get just one, and they're very grateful to have had SGA run for that long.

Will SGU will be more episodic like SGU & SGA or more serialized? Brad said that SGU has a “broader story,” but the serialized part is more about the character stories. A viewer should be able to tune in at any time and enjoy an episode. None of these characters are supposed to be in their situation so it let them throw together characters who wouldn’t be together in a standard Stargate situation. Robert said things – huge things – happen very quickly in this show, so if you do miss an ep you might miss some huge changes.

What drew Robert Carlyle to this project specifically? He came to LA and was struggling a bit and looking for a new challenge. SGU was “completely out of left field for him” – he didn’t really know much about Stargate originally. Brad told him they were looking for someone “who could make dislikeable things likeable” and Carlyle thought, “Well, I’m your man for that!”

Will we finally see a non-English-speaking alien? Per Robert and Brad, their goal is to make the aliens the teams run into realistic. There was an explanation/reason why the SG1 and SGU teams encountered humans and English-speaking aliens on their adventues -- that reason was part of those shows' mytharc. There are some “very alien aliens” in the first season of SGU that are completely CGI.

Question for Jamil: what’s it like to be a third generation working African-American film star? (Questioner thought Jamil was the son of actor Phillip Morris and son of Greg Morris.) Jamil fielded this with much grace, responding that one of the things that happens when you become a "film star" is that incorrect information starts circulating. He is not the son or grandson of either of those Mission: Impossible actors.

What was it like working with the SG1 actors who have guested on SGU? David Blue said it was great because he got to shoot one of his first scenes with Richard Dean Anderson -- a scene we saw in the trailer with Richard Dean Anderson and Robert Carlyle knocking on his door and recruiting him. Ming-Na said that is was great working with RDA because he's such an old hand at this that it helped make her less nervous. For her, starting on SGU was such a big deal with the move to Vancouver and everything, but for RDA "it was like peeling an orange." Brian gave a shout-out to the crew, many of whom have worked on SG1 and/or SGA; they're veterans and amazing. He hasn't worked with RDA or Amanda Tapping, but he wanted to give credit to the crew, describing them as skilled, dedicated and laid back.

Will they continue the tradition of building up likeable doctors and then killing them off? Per Robert, "Nope, we kill the doctor off right away!" and Brad said they really do.

What’s it like working with CGI explosions and stuff? David says it’s so much more mind-blowing than you expect. It’s an acting challenge and it makes you want to do a better acting job when you're on set. Ming-Na says the effects are so good that it’s made her a fan of the show. Since she's not there to see every scene that's shot, when she sees final footage it's really exciting.

Will they come back to Comic-Con next year to celebrate the anniversary of the first season of the show? They hope so!

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MGM Revamps Stargate Site, Gives Access to New Ship and Gate

MGM has relaunched its official Stargate site in anticipation of this fall's Stargate Universe premiere. There are still some hiccups to be worked out (I found that many videos were displayed off-center while playing -- it looked like a widescreen clip was playing in a fullscreen-shaped window), but the redesign generally looks good and is easy to navigate. Best of all, the site includes plenty of extra goodies, including the opportunity to virtually tour parts of the new spaceship that will be a vital part of the new show. The virtual tour provides a good payoff for fans since you're able to get a up-close look at the design of the new stargate. Screencap below:

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SCI FI Channel Announces Its Comic-Con Panels

SCI FI Channel has released the schedule of panels it will be hosting at San Diego Comic-Con later this month.  The schedule covers a wide range of their original programming and the talent from those shows, including Edward James Olmos and Esai Morales from Battlestar Galactica and Caprica; most of the cast of the newest installment in the Stargate franchise, Stargate Universe; and Sanctuary stars Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne.

Schedule from SCI FI Channel as follows:

Friday, July 24
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Stargate Universe Ballroom 20. A new chapter of the Stargate saga begins with the all-new original series Stargate Universe. Join stars Robert Carlyle, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Alaina Huffman, Jamil Walker Smith and Ming-Na alongside series co-creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper.

11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Caprica/Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Ballroom 20. The present meets the past as the makers of Battlestar Galactica deliver the highly anticipated original series Caprica and the two-hour event, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, directed by Edward James Olmos. This is your chance to get the inside scoop on these exciting projects and see two generations of Adamas on stage together for the first time. Executive Producers Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson sit down with Caprica star Esai Morales (Joseph Adama) and Olmos (Admiral William Adama) to reveal the truth about these two new chapters in the mythology of Battlestar. Moderated by Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times.

3:15 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Eureka Room 6BCF. Eureka is back this summer with all new episodes, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Allison Blake), Erica Cerra (Jo Lupo), Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo) and Jaime Paglia (executive producer/co-creator) are stopping by to let you in on the fun. Moderated by Josh Gates, Destination Truth.

8:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. SCI FI Screening Room 6DE. See Warehouse 13 and Eureka on the big screen. Join SCI FI for an exclusive screening of the next all-new episodes of the summer's two hottest series, along with best of clips from Ghost Hunters.

[bxA]Saturday, July 25
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Sanctuary Bayside Hilton Indigo Room. Before Sanctuary returns for an all-new season, don't miss your chance to go inside the action and behind the scenes. Join stars Amanda Tapping (Dr. Helen Magnus) and Robin Dunne (Dr. Will Zimmerman) as well as executive producers Martin Wood and Damian Kindler for an exclusive conversation about one of television's most innovative shows. Moderated by Michael Logan, TV Guide.

2:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Warehouse 13 Room 6A. Join stars Eddie McClintock (Pete Lattimer), Joanne Kelly (Myka Bering), Saul Rubinek (Artie Nielsen) and Allison Scagliotti (Claudia Donovan), along with Jack Kenny (executive producer/show runner) and David Simkins (executive producer) as they reveal confidential information about America's most classified secret. Moderated by Michael Logan, TV Guide.

Tickets for San Diego Comic-Con are sold out, but don't forget that Pop Wenches will be live blogging from the event! [SCIFI Wire]

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TV News: House's New Roomie, Starbuck Don't Know Jack (but will!), Heroes Adds Cast Members

- Dr. Gregory House will have a new roommate when the sixth season of House begins this fall. Tony Award-winning actor Lin-Manuel Miranda has been tapped to play the crochety doctor's roommate as he begins his stay in a psychiatric hospital. Mirada is best know for writing and starring in the Broadway musical In the Heights. [Entertainment Weekly]

- Coming on the heels of last week's slew of 24 casting news, Katee Sackhoff (aka "Starbuck" from Battlestar Galactica) has also signed on to join Kiefer Sutherland in the Fox drama. Sackhoff will be a regular cast member during the eighth season, playing "Dana Walsh, a smart, competent, expert data analyst at CTU with a secret past." Walsh is involved with CTU agent Davis Cole, played by Freddie Prinze Jr. [Hollywood Reporter]

- Lots of Heroes casting news too. Prison Break's Robert Knepper will be a new villian, Samuel, who is "the key figure in the death carnival, the primary new setting and storyline for season four."Californication's Madeline Zima will be splitting her time between the Showtime series and Heroes. Zima and former Days of Our Lives actress Rachel Melvin will play Claire Bennet's (Hayden Panettiere) college roommates. [E! Online][Hollywood Reporter]

- A new :50 video sneak peek at Stargate Universe, the upcoming new series in the Stargate franchise, has been posted at the show's official site. The clip features new footage and soundbytes from SGU stars including Robert Carlyle, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ming-Na. [Stargate Universe]

- Cable network TBS is in talks with Fox to revive cancelled comedy My Name Is Earl for a 13-episode season. TBS currently airs Earl reruns. Discussions like this often happen after broadcast shows are axed, but often don't pan out so Earl fans shouldn't get their hopes up too high just yet. [Variety]

- David Letterman and CBS are said to be close to inking a deal that would extend the late night host's contract through 2012. Letterman's show has aired on CBS since he left NBC in 1993. [Reuters via Yahoo! News]

- Kathy Bates, Tim Curry and Colm Meany are starring in SciFi Channel's reimagining of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Simply titled Alice, the four-hour movie event is written and directed by Nick Willing, who directed the Emmy-winning mini-series Tin Man that aired on SciFi in 2007. [SCI FI Wire]

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Universe of Sci-fi Stars to Guest on Warehouse 13

SciFi Channel's upcoming series Warehouse 13 doesn't debut until July, but it's already boasting an impressive line up of guest stars.

The show centers on a pair of Secret Service Agents -- Pete and Myka (Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly) -- who are transferred to Warehouse 13 and now answer to Artie, the location's caretaker and team leader. The Warehouse is a huge, top-secret storage facility for paranormal, mysterious and downright weird objects that have been collected by the US government. Think the Area 51 warehouse from the first and last Indiana Jones movies or the Cigarette Smoking Man's Pentagon storage hideway from The X-Files.

The new show's guest star roster starts with 3-time Emmy nominee CCH Pounder, who will play the boss of the Warehouse's caretaker in the pilot and a second episode later in the season.

Stargate Atlantis lead Joe Flanigan will guest as Jeff Weaver, a handsome and wealthy chamer who catches Myka's eye. He ends up under suspicion when the sculpture on which he bids vanishes in a seemingly impossible theft.

Several Battlestar Galactica veterans will guest star in different episodes. Tricia Helfer will play an FBI agent who initially clashes with the Secret Service agents when they interfere in one of her cases, until the unusual circumstances surrounding the case change her mind. Michael Hogan and his real-life wife, Susan, have been cast as Myka's father, Warren Bering, and mother in an episode that sees Bering's life threatened when he receives a dangerous object through the mail. Mark Sheppard will play Mr. Valda, one of the mysterious representatives of the Regents (the shadowy organization that controls Warehouse 13), who clashes with Artie.

Additional guest stars include Joe Morton, Erica Cerra and Niall Matter from SciFi's Eureka; James Naughton from Gossip Girl, Roger Rees from Cheers and Ivan Sergie from Crossing Jordan. [SCI FI Wire]

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Film News: Stargate Faces Extinction?, Thor Gets Ready to Rumble, Bellucci is Magical

- SGA executive producer Joseph Mallozzi leaked the working title of the first Stargate: Atlantis movie via his dogs' Twitter account (yes, you read that correctly) and his own blog. Tentatively titled Stargate: Extinction, the movie's events would follow close upon the events of the Atlantis series finale which saw the team fly the city back to Earth to help defend the planet from an alien attack. The movie is expected to have a straight-to-DVD release like the two 2008 Stargate: SG1 movies did. [Joseph Mallozzi's blog] [Joe's dogs' Twitter]

- Chris Hemsworth, best known for his current role as Captain James Kirk's doomed father in the new Star Trek movie, has been chosen to play the titular thunder god Thor in the movie of the same name.  The anticipated Marvel Studios live-action flick will be directed by Kenneth Branagh and is scheduled for a May 20, 2011 release.  Before starting work on Thor, the Aussie actor will film a remake of Red Dawn. Hemsworth is taking over the lead role of Jed Eckert, a character originally played by Patrick Swayze. Hemsworth's younger brother, Liam, has also received good casting news recently (see below). [SCI FI Wire]

- In "are you KIDDING me?" film news, Ed Westwick of Gossip Girl fame will star as Heathcliff opposite Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) as Cathy Earnshaw in a new silver screen version of Wuthering Heights. That sound you're hearing? It's the sound of this Pop Wench's head exploding with pain. [Hollywood Reporter]

- Monica Bellucci will play a sorceress and Nicolas Cage's long-lost love in Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Cage headlines the film as a sorcerer "who recuits and trains a young protege to help him fight the forces of darkness in modern-day Manhattan." [Variety]

- Actress Tilda Swinton has signed on star in the film adaptation We Need to Talk About Kevin. Based on a novel by Lionel Shriver, the movie "tells the story of a smart, educated New York mother who does her best to raise a son she never wanted in the first place." The son turns out to be a problem child and causes his mother's marriage to breakdown "before going on a killing spree at his high school with a crossbow." Clearly, this will be the feel-good movie of the year . . . [Hollywood Reporter]

-American Ferrera of Ugly Betty fame is starring in and producing The Dry Land, a movie "which follows a young man's difficulties readapting to small town life following a tour of duty." Ryan O'Nan (The Unusuals) and Melisa Leo (Homicide: Life on the Street) also star in the flick. [Associated Press via Yahoo! News]

- Australian actor Liam Hemsworth has been cast opposite Miley Cyrus in The Last Song, Disney's upcoming adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel. Cyrus will play a rebellious teenager forced to spend the summer with the father who abandoned her years ago. Hemsworth plays Cyrus' love interest, a beach vollyball player and member of the "cool crowd" with Ivy League aspirations. [Hollywood Reporter]

- And in case you'd like to meet your Velveeta quotient for the year in one shot, you can watch Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus starring '80s pop star Deborah "Debbie" Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas. [MTV]

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Movie News: MacGyver

New Line has begun development on a MacGyver feature film. Series creator Lee Zlotoff, Rafaella De Laurentiis (daughter of Dino De Laurentiis) and Martha De Laurentiis (wife of Dino De Laurentiis) will produce. The original MacGyver TV series aired from 1985-92 and starred Richard Dean Anderson as the title character, who used his science and engineering knowledge to ingeniously cobble together everyday objects to escape from dangerous situations. Anderson, who is also known for his eight-year leading role on Stargate SG-1, has revisited the MacGyver character in recent years in MasterCard commercials and the recent "MacGruber" sketches on Saturday Night Live. [The Hollywood Reporter]

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