FOX has decided not to pursue an American version of the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood. “BBC Worldwide Productions and the FOX Broadcasting Company have mutually agreed not to progress together with a 13-episode serialized ‘Torchwood’ format. We are currently in discussion with several interested networks,” said BBC Worldwide executive vp of programming and production Jane Tranter. “It’s very much ongoing and very much alive.”

I think we can expect an announcement from SyFy very soon.

Also, that American Doctor Who conclusion that most people jumped to when an American Torchwood was first announced? According to Tranter, that is definitely not the case.

“It may well be confusing to have a British Doctor and an American Doctor at the same time,” she said. “There is only one Doctor, so I don’t see that happening.”

Apparently, Fox has made the move to secure the rights to re-make Torchwood for American audiences. In addition to to picking up the rights to the show, Fox has also hired the original Torchwood’s writer/producer Russell T. Davies to write the script for the pilot. It’s also possible that some of the original series’ actors may make the trek over to the US version of the show. The most likely star to make the conversion would be John Barrowman, who plays the lead character, Captain Jack Harkness. While other actors are possible, few of them would work out on American television.

The plot of the new show is supposed to take a more global approach to the same story. Perhaps we will see an American wing of the Torchwood institute. This begs the question of whether or not the series will exist in the same continuity as the other Torchwood. If so, perhaps it would be best if the show got a rename along with it’s new story.

As much trouble as Fox has had with genre shows, I can’t see the show lasting long on their network, assuming it makes it past the pilot phase. Perhaps it will take a slightly more X-Files approach, and that is the potential that Fox likes in it. Either way, I wouldn’t bother getting too attached to the series.

“Born to Run” was an episode that showed what this show was meant to be: a story about the future leader of the resistance, his mother and his protector. I don’t think many will disagree when I say that so many episodes of T:SCC fell short this season. Most of them revolved around Sarah Connor. This show excelled when it dealt with the dynamic of John and his mother and protector, and of the mystery that surrounds the beautiful but deadly Catherine Weaver. This final episode encompassed all of that, as well as answered so many questions. Yet just enough were left unanswered to keep the audience from feeling spoon fed the finale. And on the incredible long shot that the series is picked up for a third season, there is possibly more story to tell.

Erroneous characters like Jesse and Riley added story that in the end didn’t do much to further the overall arc. If nothing else, they were tools used to make John stand up and start becoming the leader he is destined to be. But even in that vein, it went on longer than was necessary.

Extraneous characters started dropping like flies over the last few episodes, and it was done absolutely perfectly. Riley’s death was necessary, Jesse’s disappearance added intrigue (is she dead or not?), Charley’s death added to character growth,and Derek’s death was sudden and painful (hello, Wash all over again!). And each did more to further the story than a single episode that revolved around Sarah’s three stupid dots ever did.

This finale was utterly brilliant with spots of comedy (”I’m sure you’ve considered he can roll any number he wants.”), action, and superb homages to the original films. Jeffrey Pierce’s (Charlie Jade) T-888 going into a gun store and Summer Glau’s Cameron taking out a police station were done in such a way that they nodded to the films, yet still made each scene their own.

Also, characters from previous episodes were brought in and used to add authenticity to the series. Father Bonilla returns as an intermediary between mother and son. Just as he sheltered them in the season two opener, he helped them again. Chola returns as the strong and finally not-so-silent aide to the Conners,  giving some advice to John and Cameron from Sarah.

We can’t talk about the finale without mentioning Catherine Weaver and John Henry. Catherine (Shirley Manson) became a favorite character of mine simply for the fact she always seemed to be learning, yet was always one step ahead of everyone else. She was ambiguous at best, deadly at worst. And the moment we realize that she is in charge of helping to stop SkyNet and that John Henry is a vital tool to that end, the series achieved its potential. That reveal made everything click into place.

Speaking of John Henry, I do want to take a moment to applaud Garret Dillahunt. These are the performances that are overlooked because they “just sci-fi shows.” His transformation from cheesy out-of-work actor, to deadly terminator, to child-like fascination were so subtle they were flawless. He brought a heart to John Henry that didn’t belong. His brutal honesty matched Catherine’s coolness and the scenes between the two were always charged with intensity.

But to return to the episode itself, the ending was much more along the lines I like. Answers with a side of equivocation. John Henry scraps Cameron for parts. Catherine takes John to the future to take his role among the resistance, then disappears. John sees his father face-to-face and meets the human version of Cameron who we can be sure now is the love of his life.  And with a final spark we hear Sarah’s final words to him, “I love you, too.”

Though Fox is still calling this T:SCC’s season finale, this was undoubtedly the series finale. Wwitching nights did nothing to improve the series continued ratings drops. As a matter of fact, it’s been released that the only reason we saw a season two in the first place was because Warner Brothers reduced its fees to keep the show on to help promote its upcoming Terminator: Salvation. WB isn’t likely to reduce their fees again for a show that barely stayed alive all season long.

And I am good with that. It seems clearly evident that Josh Friedman and company knew their fate and left the series in such a way that the ending stands as a solid explanation for how things came to be as we know them. Considering this was a series that several months ago I was ready to walk away from, I couldn’t be more pleased with the ending and would almost be disappointed if it tried to go any further. This ending was a thing of beauty and I am glad to have been along for the ride. This, my friends, is some of television at its best.

Ratings for both shows saw an increase in ratings for their most recent episodes. T:SCC saw a 20 percent increase, while Dollhouse (who already had more viewers) saw growth of 7 percent.

Let’s hope the trend continues with what Joss Whedon has been calling the ground-breaking episode of Dollhouse this Friday.

Source: Slice of Sci Fi

I have to admit, Fringe is the first J.J. Abrams series I have watched. As many of you may know by now, I’ve never watched Lost, and while Alias did seem like a show I’d like at the time, I never got around to catching up on it.

That’s not to say that I wasn’t a little nervous jumping into one of Abrams’ series. I know people who watch Lost and are simultaneously entranced and frustrated by it. But I’d read Fringe would be different: the viewer would not have to follow it religiously to be able to stay involved with the story. And while I’ve no doubt that is the case with Fringe compared to Lost, I see a show that can be watched carefully to truly enjoy its nuances and overall arc.

If you haven’t watched it, Fringe is the story of a division of Homeland Security that focuses on cases that revolve around the areas of “fringe” science: teleportation, regeneration, suspended animation, etc. The division is aware of an international “Pattern” that seems to be in effect, making the world at large someone’s lab.  There is also a morally ambiguous corporation, Massive Dynamic, which tends to be connected to each case, and the “Pattern.”

The story itself revolves around an agent of this division, Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv). This character by far has been the most controversial of the show. Very cold and apathetic from the beginning, Agent Dunham has been a hard character to root for. Over the season she has slowly melted and become much more personable and at times, even jovial. She’s finally a character the viewer can like.

There could be two reasons for this. Either originally the writers tried to write her as a tough woman and missed the mark by a country mile, or, as I hope the case is, to show character growth. In the first episode, Olivia goes from euphoric love, to seeing the man she is getting engaged to (her partner) nearly blown apart, to later discovering this same man may be a traitor not only to her, but his country as well. That sure is a lot for one character to go through in the matter of one episode. We learn she can be single-mindedly determined, but this determination ends up shutting her down.

As the series progresses, we see pieces of the old Olivia shine through. However, it is not until the introduction of her sister and niece that she finally comes out of her shell. At this time, also, she is finally able to let go of her former lover and partner and gain some closure to that part of her life.

So was that supposed to be the character arc all along, or did the show runner hear the complaints of fans who had trouble getting behind his main character?  Maybe a little of both – we’ll probably never know. Regardless, she’s now a character the viewer can get behind and actually like.

You can’t talk about Fringe without discussing the Bishops. Walter Bishop (John Noble) is the brilliant scientist whose original work seems to be the origin of many of the “Pattern’s” experiments, and who has been locked away in a mental institution after a lab accident killed his assistant. Walter is a big focus for the show, not only because of his inane ramblings which tend to mean more than they seem (or nothing at all), but because his past is still so mysterious, the viewer is unsure of how it all relates back to him. He is undoubtedly, however, the comic relief of the series.

His son is Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), who is needed to get his father out of the institution to help Olivia in the premiere episode. Peter’s past seems to be a legally ambiguous one. He has various shady contacts that he uses throughout the series to help the increasingly strange and unique cases faced by the Fringe Division.

Fringe is a unique series in that you get out of it however much you put in. If you just occasionally watch, you get a good creepy show in the vein of X-Files stand-alone episodes. If you watch each week casually, you get a pretty decent story with some good twists and turns that make continued watching enjoyable. Or, you can pick apart each episode for hidden clues, play the ARG, and follow the “Where’s Waldo” version of the show by watching for The Observer, a pale man in black fedora and trench that appears in every episode. For that, I give Abrams credit for making a show so user-friendly.

Personally, I fall into the middle viewer category. I watch weekly to follow the overall arc, but that’s about it. And the beauty of it? I don’t feel I’m missing anything by not following the ARG or watching for clues (though I do admit it’s fun to watch for The Observer!). I feel like this show is kind of like those Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books from my childhood – you pick your favorite way to watch the show and follow along.

If you’re a Whedonite, you’ve been anticipating Friday the 13th, 2009 for some time now. And now it has finally come: Dollhouse and Joss Whedon’s return to television.

Let me preface by saying I have done everything I could to remain spoiler-free for the premiere. I refused to read reviews, stopped visiting Whedonesque.com, and did my best to skim over Tweets from those who got an advanced look at the episode. I wanted to go in with a clean slate. And as Echo says in the first few minutes of the episode, “You ever actually try to clean a slate? You always see what was on it before.”

That being said, I am not going to compare Dollhouse’s first episode, “Ghost” to any of Joss’ other works. It’s too early to do that, and I honestly don’t think it is fair. Echo is not Faith, The Dollhouse is not Wolfram & Hart, and Topher is definitely no Wash, regardless to their outward traits.

“Ghost” gives the viewer a lot of information in one hour of television (which is helped immensely by Fox’s “More Tv. Less Commercials.” push – Thank you Fox!). On the surface we see The Dollhouse, an illegal private organization that imprints personalities on their “actives” to suit their wealthy client’s needs. The actives are volunteers who have signed on to get a new start at life. They have a 5 year contract, which after they fulfill, they are supposedly free to go, we can assume, wiped clean of all memories of the Dollhouse. Which on the surface, is a relatively simple premise that could give the show a decent season or two of television. But of course, this is Joss Whedon: nothing is ever simple.

In the beginning we see Caroline (Eliza Dushku), who hardly seems  a volunteer. Rather, she seems coerced into signing her 5 year contract. She is transformed into Echo, an almost innocent and child-like soul. When she happens to witness a new active, Sierra (Dichen Lachman), being wiped clean of her former “self,” she almost confusingly looks to Topher (Fran Kranz), the chief mind-wiping tech of the Dollhouse, and says, “She hurts.” The way Topher responds to her is almost as he would a child.

We learn through Agent Paul Ballard (Tamoh Penikett), who has been assigned to the mysterious Dollhouse case for 14 months, that the clientele of the organization include princes and senators, and that the Dollhouse has ties to a Russian human trafficking ring.  His supervisors try to get him under control on a case they think is a “fairytale.” But we also learn that he doesn’t back down very easily.

There is also a rogue active, Alpha, who is threatening to bring down the Dollhouse and its incredibly questionable activities which include not only imprinting people with personalities from real people right for the mission, but the physical limitations that can inevitably come with “real people” (near-sightedness, asthma, etc.).

So there is definitely a great set up for much intrigue and drama amidst the weekly assignments Echo will be sent on.

My biggest concern going into the show was Eliza Dushku. I was never a huge fan of Faith, and the other movies I’ve seen her in, her characters have never seemed to have much depth. So I wondered, can she really pull off being that many different people?

After the first episode: I am hopeful. Dushku transitions from desperate Caroline, to a fun-loving party girl, to the kidnap expert with a troubled past Eleanor Penn, and to innocent Echo very believably. The most haunting scene of the episode is as Miss Penn carries the kidnapped child, Devina, away from her hostages telling her over and over, “You’re free.” The scene changes and fades to Echo peacefully walking away from the mind-wiping chair, once again innocent and free from the burdens she had just faced.

I have heard overall mixed reviews of the show so far and of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. My biggest hope is that viewers will stay tuned to see where the show will lead, because one thing is for certain: Joss will never leave things on the surface. He’ll dig deep into the emotions of the characters and of the themes of the show and leave the viewers with more questions than answers – as good television should do. So long as we start getting answers before too long, this show has the potential for greatness. And that is what I always look for in the shows that I watch: not only what the episode itself said, but what the potential for the upcoming episodes could offer. Like Battlestar Galactica, the fun in watching is the speculation. This show could very well fill that looming gap.

Because in the Dollhouse, as its owner says in the very first line of the series, “Nothing is what it appears to be.”

Fox Studios isn’t exactly known for being  great cultivator of quality film franchises, but there’s no word on whether or not the franchise will go through any major stylistic, cast, or crew changes now that’s being made by a new studio. Although, according the same article in Variety, it has been confirmed that Son of Rambow’s Michael Apted will be playing Eustice, the nephew of Lucy and Edmond who accompany them on their third journey to Narnia.

]]> http://www.geekshow.us/content/movies-content/movie-news/dawn-treader-now-being-helmed-by-fox/feed/ 19 http://www.geekshow.us/content/movies-content/movie-news/wolverine-reshoots-said-to-be-extensive/ http://www.geekshow.us/content/movies-content/movie-news/wolverine-reshoots-said-to-be-extensive/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:24:28 +0000 TotallyNotNick http://www.geekshow.us/?p=2800 Fox Studios have announced that director Gavin Hood and the cast and crew of X Men Origins: Wolverine are returning to Toronto for massive reshoots.Some people may not remember this, but back when Wolverine was still filming, reports of on set scuffling between Gavin Hood and the Fox peons were frequent. Everything from plot, tone, even the color of sets were brought into question by Fox and Hood even admitted that at times it felt like he wasn’t making the movie he wanted to make.

Now it looks like Fox is letting him.

I consider this to be a good thing, and no Randy its not my blind hatred towards Fox. I think that after a weak 2008, Fox needs a badass, hardcore Wolverine movie that will not only open big, but stay in theaters for more than a couple of weeks, like Iron Man. The fact that they’re letting Hood go back and reshoot scenes of the film the way he envisioned is great in my opinion, though I can’t help but wonder how much of the awesome trailer we saw was of Hood’s creation or Fox’s commission? Maybe Hood’s vision was a deep, multi-layered, action-lite character study? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see…

One of the big titles in anime, “Bebop” is set in a time where “astral gates” make interstellar travel possible. Humanity, decimated by a lunar explosion resulting from a gate accident, spread out across the solar system, as did crime, which gave rise to the use of bounty hunters.

Reeves’ association with the project leaked in the summer when Fox and 3 Arts Entertainment began the process of acquiring the rights from Sunrise Studios.

(THR)

Reportedly both sides have spent a lot of time over the weekend and Monday working on a settlement, so the question on everyone’s mind is whether the cancellation means that a settlement has been reached. A settlement could end up costing Warners tens of millions of dollars, as its being reported that FOX is asking for upfront fees as well as a percentage of the back end.

(THR)

Even though a trial is scheduled for late January, Judge Gary A. Frees has already decided that Fox has a claim on the movie. Fox has been seeking to prevent Warner Brothers from releasing the film, citing that they still owned the rights to the graphic novel after acquiring them in the late 1980’s. Directed by Zak Snyder, the movie is scheduled to be released in March.

“Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the ‘Watchmen’ motion picture,” the ruling said.

In ruling on Wednesday, Judge Feess advised both Fox and Warner to look toward a settlement or an appeal. “The parties may wish to turn their efforts from preparing for trial to negotiating a resolution of this dispute or positioning the case for review,” he said.

(The New York Times)

Originally sceduled to debut midseason on Monday Nights with hit show 24, Dollhouse has now been given a Friday night slot, which is notoriously bad for television shows. In fact, the last sci-fi series FOX has launched successfully in that time slot was 1993’s The X-Files.

Also moving to Fridays is FOX’s Terminator: The Sarah Conor Chronicles, whose ratings have plummeted since last season.

Terminator: The Sarah Conor Chronicles gets the 8pm slot, followed by Dollhouse at 9pm. Dollhouse premieres Friday, February 13th at 9pm.

Here’s what he had to say:

I thought it was time to check in with you once again, gentle viewers. Or readers. Or pictures-looker-ats (that might be viewers). Also listeners, sniffers, haberdashers, Olympic hopefuls, the elderly, the youngerdly, and the mighty state of Oregon (go Oregon-based sports franchise!) Welcome all. Welcome… to me.

What’s me up to? I’m glad me asked. Me’ve (I’m not doing that any more) been working on a little show called Dollhouse. Yes, perhaps you’ve read about how it’s blazing an untrammeled path to surefire success, with nary a hitch or a hiccup, just pure blazing blazery, comet-like and meteoresque. What’s that, you say? You’ve read other things? Dark, Yog-Sothothy rumors about shutdowns and delays? Poppycock! They’re true. But I never pass up a chance to say “poppycock”. (”Balderdash” is so ‘07. Let it go.) I know there’s been a lot of concern, various fabulous hues of panic alert readiness. So here’s the skinny. Some of the names have been changed.

The show was ruined by Flim Flinear. Okay, that’s another lie, and you’re probably close to giving up on this blog, so here we go. Yes, we’ve had to make adjustments. Yes, it’s been hard and I’ve been depressing to be around for awhile. Basically, the Network and I had different ideas about what the tone of the show would be. They bought something somewhat different than what I was selling them, which is not that uncommon in this business. Their desires were not surprising: up the stakes, make the episodes more stand-alone, stop talking about relationships and cut to the chase. Oh, and add a chase. That you can cut to. Nothing I hadn’t heard before on my other shows (apparently my learning curve has no bendy part) but frustrating as hell given our circumstances – a pilot shot, scripts written, everybody marching together/gainfully employed… and then a shutdown. Glad I was for the breathing room, but it’s hardly auspicious. So back into the writer cave I went, wondering why I put up with this when I can make literally dozens of dollars making internet movies. Why I do put up with this is divided into three parts.

One: They’re not wrong. Oh, we don’t see eye-to-eye on everything, but wanting the first episodes to be exciting and accessible is not exactly Satanic. Being Satan is, but that’s in their free time and hey, there’s no judging in the Dollhouse. This kind of back and forth has happened on every show I’ve done, so if you liked those, chances are that was a part of why. And the need to focus on the essentials of what makes this universe tick – and which wire to cut to make it stop – really does bring up our game. So we as a staff have gone from blinking like unhoused moles to delving in with the same relish we had when we started. The show is really coming together now, in a way that I believe excites us and satisfies the Network. Of course, I have no idea if anybody else will like it, but I have the same faith in the staff, the crew and the remarkable cast that I always did. More, in fact. And what’s more crucial:

Two: Nothing essential has changed about the universe. The ideas and relationships that intrigued me from the start are all there (though some have shifted, more on that), and the progression of the first thirteen eps has me massively excited. The episode we’re shooting now I wrote as fast as anything I have before, not because I had to (although, funny side-note: I had to) but because I couldn’t stop the words from coming. Because I can feel the show talking to me; delighting, scaring and occasionally even offending me. It’s alive. Alive! Which is a far cry from how I felt a month ago. It’s been hilarious trying to keep up with what’s in, what’s out, who’s met whom and when – we’ve shot all of the first seven episodes out of airing order – but it’s come together in a pretty thrilling way. My huge gratitude to our cast for their precision and patience. Which also includes…

Three: Eliza. Watching her on the monitors at two o’clock this morning I was reminded forcibly how much I wished I were in bed – but also how strong, radiant and unmistakable her presence is. She’s someone who could coast on talent and never ever does. I love to watch her work. In fact, I think I got myself into this mess for that very reason, and though I have this fall occasionally sworn never to eat lunch with an actor I like again, I’m pretty pleased and crazy proud.

So here’s me, slogging away on a show like days of old and not hating life. Again, you guys will be the judge, jury and execu… lawyer, but we do have something to show you. Something, I’m chuffed to say, still pretty damn strange.

As for what’s been changed, well, some things I obviously can’t tell you. Some I can, for the record: The original pilot was in fact thrown out. Again, at my behest. Once it became clear what paradigm the Network was shooting for, it just didn’t fit at all, even after I’d reshot more than half of it (see above re: despair). To get a sense of how completely turned around I was during this process, you should know there was a scene with Eliza and the astonishing Ashley Johnson that I wrote and shot completely differently three different times, with different characters in different places (actually I wrote it closer to eight times), and none of it will ever see air. Which is as it should be (though I’m determined to get Ms. Johnson back in the future). The scene just didn’t belong anymore. Similarly, the character of November has fallen out of the mix, because the show simply moves too fast now for me to do what I wanted with her. Season three, anyone…? Happily, Miracle Laurie is still with us in a new role, playing against (and pining for) Tahmoh’s character, Paul Ballard. Their chemistry is deeply nifty. The only other major cast shift is that the Dollhouse head of security, Laurence Dominic (played by Reed Diamond), who was written just for the now-defunct first ep, has stuck like fly-paper, and Reed is very much in the family for the present. (Most of my problems seem to involve my actors making themselves indispensable. This is the good problem kind.)

Apart from that, it’s all hush-hush: some things I’d intended to hold back are laid out much sooner, and some are rolling out more slowly. We’re still heading toward Tim’s intense two-part mind-blower – right before a thirteenth ep that may actually just be insane.

And finally, young Steve DeKnight, after writing and shooting an ep so cool it helped not only define the show but save its ass, is ending his consulting duties, the f#%&er. I will be crying on the shoulder of Jane Espenson come Monday, so congratudolences are in order. Excited for the Jane Flava.

And there you have it. I’ll be writing more bulletins about “Cabin” and a certain DVD in the very near future, but I wanted to get you all some actual information for a change. I can count on you guys not to tell anyone, right? What’s a blog?

Faithfully, -joss.

Dollhouse premieres January 5, 2009 on FOX

However, apparently someone at Fox has seen fit to smile on the fans of the show, giving it a full season pickup for the remainder of the year. We can only hope that executives will have enough foresight to give the show a try in a different slot. If it continues to go against Chuck, I unfortunately see one or both suffering for it in the end.

However, the article which can be found over at IGN, also offers up some possible bad news. Apparently, the original schedule release showed 24 returning to be paired with Dollhouse on Monday nights. Terminator being suddenly renewed may indicate that Dollhouse has been delayed to the point that it won’t be ready to go when it is supposed to. This is a bit of a good news bad news scenario. Hopefully, we will get to see both Summer and Joss shine on Fox this year. Is that too much to ask?

Whedon was granted the extra time because the show is a mid-season replacement and there are a few months before it will be airing.  It makes you wonder, however, if maybe this has something to do with the executives at Fox wanting a different direction or if it’s really his will to re-work the scripts.  Could this be some consipracy like what we saw with Firefly?

We can only hope Whedon is polishing an already wonderful, witty script.  This is the view I plan on keeping.  When January comes around, we will see if the extra time was worth it.

Rather than go the route of a direct sequel to the mega-successful X-Men franchise, Fox has opted to focus on the many spin-off opportunities for the series. This includes Deadpool, a would-be film featuring the character played by Ryan Reynolds in next year’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, an odd choice for sure considering both the C-list status of the character as well as the simple fact that his popularity with audiences has yet to be gauged.

Also in the pipeline is X-Men: First Class, a rumored prequel being written by Chuck and The OC mastermind Josh Schwartz. This would follow the early years of the team, including teenaged versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Beast (sans the blue fur). The only real question here is how this film would fit into the current X-Men movie continuity started by director Bryan Singer.

A second X-Men Origins film, focusing on a young Magneto and his relationship with an equally young Charles Xavier, was to be written and directed by Blade and Batman Begins scribe David S. Goyer, but was recently bumped from it’s summer 2009 release date by Goyer in favor of his Invisible Man remake.

Most interesting of all, Fox seems to be discussing a possible Daredevil revival. The original film, while a flop with most critics, was anything but a financial let-down, earning a world-wide total of $179 million for the $78 million budgeted film. Rather than a direct sequel to the 2003 film, Fox seemed content on doing a spin-off in the form of 2005’s Elektra, which has become a running joke amongst comic-fans, usually competing with only Catwoman as the worst comic-based film ever made. It’s with this spin-off that I believe Fox was originally judging the merit of another Daredevil film on, a mistake that they apparently plan on rectifying in the near future with some sort of relaunch of the series.

Another long discussed spin-off has been a film focusing on The Silver Surfer, who originally appeared in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Originally announced to be scripted by Babylon 5’s J. Michael Straczynski and helmed by The Crow and Dark City director Alex Proyas, the project has apparently been shelved. Whether that was because of the lackluster performance of the Fantastic Four sequel, or the allegedly over-budgeted first draft of Straczynski’s screenplay, we may never know.

20th Century Fox and The Multiverse Network announced today that they are working on a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Massively Multiplayer Online game.

The game will be unique to the growing number of MMOs in the market by having two modes- a 2D flash, web-based version, and a fully 3D world with a dedicated client. The game will be hosted inside Multiverse’s “Multiverse Places”.

Very little was said about the gameplay or story,  the only tidbit of info came from the Executive Producer of Multiverse, Corey Bridges, who said “when the Buffy team finished the television series, they created the perfect launching point for an MMO, where everyone will feel like they’re an important character in the ongoing story.” This seems to imply a connection to the current Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 comic book series, featuring hundreds of activated Slayers acting as a paramilitary unit.

This announcement also lead to the very unfortunate news that Fox is delaying further development and release of the announced-in-2006 MMO, Firefly. Originally set to be released in 2008, the game has yet to have any major presence; no screenshots, trailers, or betas have hit the scene, and now it seems none will until the Buffy game is completed.

The Buffy MMOs push into development includes a beta later this year.