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Sigourney Weaver's character in James Cameron's new movie Avatar is based on the most unlikely source possible. And that's not the only movie that has some surprises in store: the Greatest American Hero remake will take some weird liberties with the source material. And Dragonball may commit the ultimate sacrilege. Meanwhile, there are rumors of some developments on Lost and Battlestar Galactica that are guaranteed to upset the fans. All this, plus some hints for Doctor Who, Love Story 2050, Smallville and Star Trek. Your spoiler space begins and ends right here.
Avatar:
Sigourney Weaver dropped a few more hints about Avatar, the 2009 James Cameron movie she's starring in. Her character, Dr. Grace Augustine, isn't too much like Ripley, her character from the Alien movies. Grace would have wanted a normal life, but chose to devote herself to science. She "has an avatar," and is "very involved" in the movie's plot, including action sequences. In fact, says Weaver, "I would say her real life is as an avatar." (It's not clear what Weaver means, but in an earlier treatments of the movie that's been circulating for years and is believed to be genuine, humans use "avatars," alien-human hybrid bodies, to move around on the surface of the planet Pandora.) Weaver also says Grace is a leader. "Someone who gets the job done. Someone very very driven and smart and yet funny." She modeled the character after Cameron himself. [MTV Movies]
Greatest American Hero:
An informed source spilled details on the Greatest American Hero remake now in development. This version of Ralph Hinkley is the most popular teacher at his school, who connects really well with his students. And he doesn't just fly, he also bursts into flames like the Human Torch — which first happens at the worst possible moment, during a school Open Night in the first half of the film. Also, one of Hinkley's students is Josh, the son of his love-interest Pam. And during one scene, Ralph is talking to Pam, and suddenly has uncontrollable itching on the back of his neck, and has to make a mad dash for the boys' room, where he freaks out about the changes he's going through. The movie also includes a bumbling-but-pompous teacher, Harve Lundy, who has his desk on a pedestal overlooking all his students. [Moviehole]
Star Trek:
At a Star Trek convention this past weekend, Zachary "Spock" Quinto hinted that he does have some scenes with the older Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and with Spock's parents (Winona Ryder and Ben Cross), as we'd pretty much expected. [Trek Movie]
Faran Tahir (who plays the terrorist Raza in Iron Man) also plays Captain Rabu in the new Star Trek movie. He's a new character to Trek, and all Tahir can tell us is his character is the captain of a ship that we've never seen before, and is "one of the good guys." [The Deadbolt]
Iron Man:
That cameo by Samuel L. Jackson as one-eyed, cigar-chomping superspy Nick Fury? Definitely not in the movie. We think. [Starpulse]
Dragonball:
Dragonball producer Tim Van Rellim says our hero Goku dies at the end of the first movie, or the beginning of the second. And Goku's death sets up the storyline of the second film, which they're hoping to start shooting by early next year. [Dragon Ball Movie Blog]
Battlestar Galactica:
Here are some higher res versions of those promo photos we already showed you, from next week's episode. It certainly looks as though some of these pictures take place at Cally's funeral. And President Roslin has a wig: Someone claims to have seen the next four Battlestar Galactica episodes, and offers a ton of spoilers. Grain of salt required, as always. Tyrol "doesn't suspect" Tory of involvement in Cally's death. (Does that mean Tory is involved, and it's not just suicide?) Tyrol feels guilty, but also decides he never really loved Cally because she was too whiny. It also sounds as though Cally, before she dies, admits to Doc Cottle that it's weird that she "basically proposed" to Tyrol after he beat her up.
Baltar's one-god cult grows, and he has a "Jesus overthrowing the money lenders" moment. Tigh gets Six and his dead wife Ellen mixed up. In a mutiny, Sam shoots Felix Gaeta in the leg, and it may have to be amputated. Also, a Six and an Eight die. And so does Seelix. (Noooo!)
Also, Kara keeps getting lost on the way back to Earth, which annoys her crew more and more. And then she picks up a "hitchhiker" — Leoben, who's in a tough scrape after a battle with the other faction of Cylons. Leoben's ship's hybrid tells Starbuck that Three will lead the humans to the Five, who came from the Thirteen (i.e. the thirteenth colony, Earth?). And the Hybrid says Starbuck will lead everyone to their death. [Television Without Pity]
Love Story 2050:
Love Story 2050, the Bollywood time-travel romance that we're all dying to see, takes place in the present for the first half. It's only in the second half that we visit the future, says director Harry Bajewa. [DNA India]
Lost:
The twelfth episode of the current Lost season, "There's No Place Like Home," is rumored to revolve around Claire. And the show is currently filming a funeral which takes place in the future, probably from that episode. At the funeral, Hurley, Sayid and (probably) Jack are there. The funeral appears to be for a "staid older gentleman" — probably Christian Shephard, Jack's dad/boss. Hurley is with a young woman (maybe his old crush Starla) and she's carrying a baby (Aaron?). It looks as though Sayid is with his old flame Nadia, who's not dead yet in this timeframe. (Sayid attends Nadia's funeral in episode nine.) Here are a couple of photos. [Spoilers Lost]
The next episode, April 24, features an "amazing death sequence," which may be related to the return of the smoke monster. Also, the upcoming Claire storyline may be related to actress Emilie de Ravin's new contract. [Ausiello Report]
Stargate: Atlantis:
In the eighth episode of Stargate: Atlantis season five, "Tracker," Ronon, McKay and Keller visit a world where the Wraith have recently arrived. The Wraith turn out to be pursuing a "Runner," a warrior tagged with a homing device so the Wraith can hunt him/her for sport. The Runner, named Kiryk, takes Keller prisoner and leads her to a 10-year-old girl who needs medical attention. Kiryk is surprised to hear that Ronon used to be a Runner, but isn't one any more. Meanwhile, Ronon and McKay have to evacuate a village into nearby caves, with the help of a man named Erran. [Gateworld]
Smallville:
In the 150th episode of Smallville, airing May 1, Kara sends Clark a message from Krypton in the past, warning that Brainiac wants to kill Clark as a baby, so the grown-up (sort of) Clark won't foil his plans in the present. Clark is torn, because he thinks maybe the world would be a better place if he hadn't been there. So his dad, Jor-El, arranges for him to see what life would be like without him: Lex is President of the U.S., Kara was raised by the Luthors, Jonathan Kent is alive, Lana is happily married, and Chloe and Lois are reporters. [KryptonSite]
Doctor Who:
Next year's Doctor Who specials may include a story featuring Winston Churchill and the Daleks. [Doctor Who Forum]
The following quotes appear in this Saturday's Doctor Who episode "Planet of the Ood," except that instead of annoying asterisks, they have actual words:
"Do you like milk and sugar?"
"The ****** must be broken, so that we can ****."
"Very observant, ginger."
"I think your **** must *** soon. Every **** must ***."
"We don't just ***** the Ood, we make them ******."
"That thing about the bees is odd." [Planet Gallifrey]
Comments
Oh, see: Greatest American Hero. It's like a metaphor for going through puberty. Get it? He's a teacher, and now he's going through puberty!
GET IT?
Avatar sounds so good. It would really be great if J. Cameron went high-brow and actually provided a story that provides everything that great SF can, especially with a big fx budget. One can hope.
So.. what am i supposed to be upset about for Lost?
Answers about what the hell happened to Jack's Dad/Dad's corpse?
So GHA is Teen Wolf III?
Speilberg is remaking Ghost in a Shell. Hulk sequels. Even more Star Wars cartoons.
I'm sad that no one has any original ideas anymore.
"And the Hybrid says Starbuck will lead everyone to their death."
Yup, I'm pissed off. Stupid Roslin and not shooting her in the face when she had the chance.
Why would Sayid and Hurley be at Christian Shepard's funeral? That doesn't make much sense to me. They never knew him.
I dread that it may be Locke, but I really just can't see that happening. Although I also can't see him surviving the show. Anybody that thinks Locke will simply live on at the end in the jungle making trippy-paste and hunting boar with a bowie knife is kidding themselves.
An amazing death sequence involving the smoke monster is definitely something to be excited about, not pissed off about.
@braak: In a word: no.
Seelix dying is definitely something to be excited about, not pissed off about.
@NefariousNewt: Ten bucks says that that was a major part of the pitch.
"Tigh gets Six and his dead wife Ellen mixed up."
The old bastard lost another eye?
Plenty of fanboys will be pissed off about losing Seelix!
@xv43: no way. I'd gladly follow Starbuck, even if it would be to my doom.
I hate to say it, but as stupid as Cally was for marrying the guy who nearly beat her to death, she doesn't really deserve such a shitty ending. And then Tyrol "decid[ing] he never really loved Cally because she was too whiny"....that's just cheap and disrespectful for any character.
Tigh gets Six and his dead wife Ellen mixed up.
Yeah, so did I....when Ellen first appeared on the show. She looked very much like an older version of Six, and I was wondering how intentional it was.
Leoben: So we can expect more freaky mindfucking and creepy fanservice. Will Starbuck finally succumb to her Stockholm Syndrome, and that part of the episode turn into a really bad fanfic, complete with rape AND healing sex tropes?
Goku dies in the movie? This is not so bad, didn't he die in the cartoons? At least once I think he was "dead."
Remakes grrrr. What is the point of remaking "The Greatest American Hero"?
I guess Hollywierd thinks that we are all a bunch of sappy, wet-brained nostalgics who will buy anything as long as they can link it to something from our childhood.
@btgoss: I feel like he died, like, six times in the cartoons.
With Spock visiting the past, he'll most likely take the psudo-name from Yesteryear from TAS. It will be a nice tie in for the fans. Hell, they even used the Guardian of Forever in that one too.
@[Dextr]: I think if they kill off Claire, a lot of people will be upset. And that seems to be what people are hinting at. Could be a dodge though.
Kara and Leoben make way more sense together (as a pair, not necessarily as a couple) than Kara and Lee...I think that whatever her destiny, it's tied to Leoben.
Also...wasn't the hybrid's prophecy worded differently than stated above?
There isnt much happening with Claire's character. It seems quite obvious that they will eventually kill her character which is why it could be a foiler.
OR Claire develops the sickness and hands over Aaron to Kate. Maybe they have planned better things in store for her in the future episodes.
@DeepFriar:
And so say we all.
@btgoss: He died so many times its not even funny. In fact they ALL died like 3-4 times. That was the whole point of the dragonballs at one point, they where using them to resurrect people who where killed, going out getting them all, using the wish, then tracking them down again.
As for the Cally ending... i said it before here and was mocked but Ill say it again....
Moore should have let her be raped and killed in the first season, as they had planned because as horrible as that is to say, at least she would have died with some dignity fighting off her attacker.
Her committing suicide, even if Tory helps her somehow is the biggest fucking cop out loser of a ending for a girl whos constantly fought back. Shes emotionally driven (hell they all are) but NEVER has her personality shown her to be emotionally destructive like the rest of the fuckups on the series.
Moore can blow me for how badly he's writing her death. Killed by one of the "cylons" yeah I can see that, to keep her "quiet" But assisted suicide because "on no my husband is a stinky Cylon who didnt know he was and despite the fact that SHE WORKS WITH A CYLON ON THE FLIGHT DECK AND HAS NO ISSUES WITH IT?" Come on Moore that is the stupidest fucking thing I have ever seen. You cant have her kill herself over her husband being a cylon but have her being happy go lucky with a cylon of the SAME MODEL she shot in the stomach 2 seasons ago. Obviously she understands they are TWO different personalities and not all of them are evil...
Wouldn't any Dragonball movie be required to spend the first 1/3 of the movie recapping what happened before then spend the last 1/3 of the movie teasing you with what's in the next movie?
@Charlie Jane Anders: I forget in which season they did her flashbacks about the car accident, her mom dying, etc.; but that was the last time anything significant happened involving her that wasn't about the baby. They haven't done anything interesting with her in a long time.
Strange to think that she's totally oblivious to the fact that she was on a plane with her father's dead body and her half-brother, and that she'll likely die before knowing.
Cally kills herself because her baby is half-Cylon. Nothing to do with Tyrol. the kid is half Cylon, and that breaks her mind.
@btgoss: Cally kills herself because there can only be one relevant Cylon-human hybrid baby and Moore has to write himself out of a corner, you mean?
@Tim Faulkner: no, the second child is definitely suppose to be just a relevant. The episode probably puts emphasis on there is a second cylon-human hybrid.
@Falconfire: I've mentioned this before under a different post, but... From the promo, it looks like Callie eves-dropped on one of the meetings of the four (and was possibly considering telling someone?). Then Tory beat the crap out of her (bloodied nose, cowering in a corner in one shot) before throwing her out of the airlock (Tory hitting a switch on a control panel).
it warms my heart to see adama reading to roslin on her (death?)bed. after last week's episode i was afraid they would hate each other forever.
@Charlie Jane Anders: But hasn't everyone been presuming that Claire was going to die ever since we saw the ep with Kate on trial that ended with her having Aaron?
So, any pissing off has already happened.
Dragon Ball better last three hours, during which time only around 11 minutes of plot movement should have happened.
I can't tell, mind, because the link to the Dragon Ball movie blog leads to some forum thread about BSG...
@vanthuenu: Oh, I'm sure, I just wanted to emphasize Lizfu's point about sloppy writing and weak rationalizations by mocking btgoss's (why not just kill the baby?).
Some of the Who "quotes" are really fun to mess with, even though they're really quite easy to figure out. It's like MadLibs, only... FANTASTIC!
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