Historians will point to the year 2009 and Shane Acker's sack puppet apocalypse as the starting point of Stitchpunk. But before Stitchtoos and Stitchtatts become popular, before the needle-and-thread revolution, and certainly long before the horrific forthcoming Stitchtorture Sew films, let's take a moment to bear witness to the birth of an entirely new aesthetic.

It seems that everything has a "-punk" suffix these days. Steampunk, Cyberpunk, dieselpunk, biopunk, biodieselpunk. When the images for Shane Acker's film first appeared, the media lost no time in giving the director's unique visual style its appropriate "-punk" moniker. But what are the origins of this handcrafted anarchy? Here are (suitably) 8 of the influences and origins that came before 9's ragdoll revolution.

# 1 & 2: Steampunk and Dieselpunk
First and foremost, Stitchpunk owes its overall aesthetic to Steampunk, and could be construed at first glance as a subgenre. In an interview on Gone With The Twins, Acker himself admits to this being one of foundations of 9's visual style:

I'm a big fan of steampunk. I love the Jules Verneian, turn of the century design aesthetic. It celebrates mechanics but at the same time there's a kind of ornamentation. I think it's really beautiful and expressive and visual. I wanted to bring that to the world. It's as if the industrial revolution had progressed another 300 years and we hadn't gone into the digital age. There's sort of computer technology but it's all mechanical. If the Victorian era were to collapse in some post-apocalyptic event, then these creatures are made from all the bits and pieces that are left over. That's the idea behind "Stitchpunk." It's not steampunk, which fell away, but the bits and pieces of steampunk that got stitched together. I wish I could say I came up with "Stitchpunk" but I didn't. It was someone on a blog, but it really hit the nail on the head.

For the sake of accuracy, and good old-fashioned geek obsession to detail, it should be noted that 9 inhabits a world more closely related to Dieselpunk than Steampunk; Steampunk being retro-Victorian, whereas Dieselpunk is born out of WWII technology and imagery. 9 is rife with references from that period, from the tattered red fascist flags to the landscapes reminiscent of Normandy after the invasion, and Dresden after the bombing.

#3: Little Big Planet
9 is a cornucopia of apocalyptic imagery and visual references, but it was the titular character who seemed most eerily familiar to me. As 9 started out on his adventures of a strange new world, I realized where I'd seen him before. He's Little Big Planet's Sackboy.

Little Big Planet is a videogame created by Media Molecule, the makers of Rag Doll Kung Fu. The game is populated by crafty puppets on a series of adventures in a handcrafted world reminiscent of Michel Gondry's office. The puppet even share 9's zippered look. While I have no evidence to substantiate LPB as a direct influence of 9, I think it's clear that LBP should have a primary place in the origin story of the genre itself. 9 is essentially Sackboy wandering through Terminator's destroyed landscape, isn't it?


#4: Tim Burton's early work
Producer Tim Burton must have felt as though he had found a kindred spirit in Shane Acker. Burton has been stitching on screen since his directorial debut, the animated short Frankenweenie. Stitches, needles and scissors (and the darker side of handcrafting) are recurrent themes throughout Burton's work, and obviously influenced Acker's. For example, Burton's illustrations from The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy feature sackpuppet characters and sharp edges, like the Pin Cushion Queen.

#5: Burton's Catwoman
Believe it or not, we can also point to Burton's Batman Returns as a starting point of Stitchpunk. Remember Michelle's handmade Catwoman costume? Recall the needle-sharp claws? The costume perfectly blended sewing & punk, and for the first time in the character's long history, Catwoman was less sleekly assembled and more coming-apart-at-the-seams.

#6: Burton's Edward ScissorhandsFrom the opening strains of Danny Elfman's score, echoes of Burton's gothic fairytale are encountered at every turn in 9; the mad scientist who creates life, the desiccated Victorian house, the creation leaning over his fallen creator, and the dark sculpture garden. There are clear nods to Scissorhands even in the smallest character details, like 8 sitting on a statue's hand or 1's buckled leather straps. 6's hands, which he uses to express himself, are crafted from another utilitarian device; the nubs of fountain pens. Burton's work in general, and Edward Scissorhands in particular, will undoubtedly come to be seen as one of the major influences of the coming Stitchpunk movement.

#7 & #8: Coraline and The Nightmare Before Xmas
If 9's opening sequence looked and felt familiar, that's because we saw something very similar earlier this year; the opening credits of Henry Selick's Coraline. Needle hands play God while dismembering and stitching up a sackdoll, before sending it out into the world to make mischief. Coraline, with its handsewn look and button-up horror, can easily be seen as another Stitchpunk precursor.

There are also notable nods to the iconic Burton & Selick collaboration, The Nightmare Before Christmas. 8's shape and demeanor seems to come directly from Oogie Boogie, and Sally's stitched-up sex appeal and sewing skills seem obvious influences on Acker's characters of 7 and 5.

The ultimate conclusion is that Stitchpunk, like its visual aesthetic, is made up of many parts and ideas: sewing chic, dark and whimsical; stitches against machines; handmade horror; breathing life into the inanimate, and unraveling the mysteries.

By now you've had a chance to see 9 for yourself, and appreciate its lush visuals and brilliant action. Our own review is here. But for those of you who haven't gotten to it yet, there are some minor spoilers in this interview.

So here are Shane Acker's 9 unbreakable rules for great post-apocalyptic movies, culled from the interview:

1) Keep it short but sweet. Acker's own movie, 9, is only about 79 minutes long, including credits. "You can tell an enormous amount of a story in a very short time. It's very dense, and it's fast-paced... I think nowadays movies tend to be a little too long, and a little bloated in some ways," says Acker.

2) Show characters banding together to survive. In 9's "dysfunctional family drama," we discover that the ragdolls each have separate strengths and weaknesses, "and separately they're not strong, and together is when they can really do the best work and try to overcome the dangers of this world."

3) Focus on worldbuilding. We don't just want to see how people cope with the aftermath of the devastation — we want to see how it happened, and why. Acker says he uses his original Academy Award-winning short film, also called 9, as a departure point for this film, and in the process he thought a lot more about the backstory: "How this world came to be, what was the history before these creatures came to be, what is this artifact that is the artifact of contention between the monsters and the little ragdoll-like creatures. And so it was great because we were able to explore the history of the world and introduce seven more of these (ragdoll) creatures."

4) Don't forget that post-apocalyptic movies are, in part, about hope for survival. Part of why we love post-apocalyptic films is their promise that someone, or something, worth saving will survive after our world ends. So the best post-apocalyptic stories are the ones which give us hope for the resilience of humanity — in the case of the ragdolls, they carry on the legacy of humanity. "It's post-human, but humanity lives on," says Acker. "They're a manifestation of humans that can survive in this landscape where we, as organic beings, could not." The ragdolls embody "hope and potential." Where there is darkness in the movie, it's there "so we can really see how important it is for these creatures to struggle."

5) Never forget the MacGyvering. The other thing that every good post-apocalyptic movie has is the spirit of MacGyver, the action hero who can create incredible technological marvels out of whatever random junk he finds laying around. And 9 fully embodies the MacGyver spirit, showing the ragdolls approaching the wreckage as building blocks. "For some of them, becuase they're very creative creatures, this is a world full of amazing raw materials with which they can create their own inventions."

6) Let the visuals tell the story. The original short film had no dialog whatsoever, and a lot of fans were apprehensive that adding dialog to the feature-length film would ruin it. Says Acker, "We actually set out trying to make the feature without dialogue, but we found that it just became so cumbersome to the storytelling, that that kind of conceit was a disadvantage... to making as rich an experience as we wanted for the film." So instead, he struck a compromise: out of 79 minutes, there's only about 19 minutes of dialog. "A lot of it is still told through visual storytelling, and pantomime, and through a lot of the design elements of the world."

7) Don't forget the cautionary message. The best post-apocalyptic films contain a serious warning about where we're heading if we don't slow down and pay attention, and 9 is no different. Acker says his film about killer robots trying to crush the benign ragdoll creatures asks the question, "At what point do we become so technologically advanced and so embraced in technology that we start to lose our own soul?" The ragdolls represent technology with a soul, and the monster machines represent soulless, hateful technology. "What is it to find the ghost in the machine, in some way?" He asks. "That really is in the end what separates [the ragdolls from the monsters]. They realize they have to live up to the standard of humanity, and the hope and the potential. That even though they're machine-like in some ways, that their true essence is that of the human spirit."

8) Don't forget the humor. You can't just be grim and knife-edge all of the time. Acker says that of his two producers, he was much more familiar with Tim Burton's work than Timur Bekmambetov's, and he loved Burton's work for its "rich amazing characters," but also its "comedy and charm." The actual screenplay for 9 was written by Pamela Pettler, who also worked on Monster House and Corpse Bride.

9) Don't be afraid to take risks. Acker says that 9 might not have found such acceptance without the support of both Burton and Bekmambetov, who both saw something of their own sensibilities. It's a tough time in Hollywood right now, because of the economic downturn. He's hopeful that if the movie does well, it'll open the doors for more edgy animation projects and films that blend science fiction and fantasy in creative ways. "Things like that don't seem like easy sells in Hollywood."

Oh, and there are definitely spoilers in this review, although I try to avoid giving away any major twists.

As you probably know, 9 is based on a short film by writer/director Shane Acker, which garnered an Oscar nomination a few years ago. The film impressed both Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands) so much, they both agreed to serve as producers and get it made into a full-length feature. The full-length version contains the same beautiful, unsettling animation as the short film, but fleshes out the characters and the backstory of the world — and the crucial question is whether you'll find the fleshed-out, longer version as intense and fascinating as the short film.

In 9, humans have built super-intelligent war machines, which have gone on to create other machines in their own image and then risen up to destroy us. There's never any doubt that — as Flight Of The Conchords would say — the humans are dead. So instead, our protagonists are also machines, but they're cute, cuddly machines, with skins of sackcloth and cartoony eyes that are constantly refracting their shutters in a lovable fashion. But the "ragdolls" have their own internal power struggle, between the hegemonic, conservative 1 (Christopher Plummer) and the rebellious, inquisitive 9 (Elijah Wood). 1 wants to keep the ragdolls safe, cowering in hiding, while 9 wants to go out and find the truth about their existence.

As I said, this is an unusual post-apocalyptic narrative in that we see two groups of machines fighting each other over the ashes of humanity. We slowly learn more about how the human race died, and why the bad machines are so furious. The film makes a stab at explaining the difference between good and bad technology — it has to do with how we use it, but also what parts of ourselves we put into creating it — and we see how the machines rose up and destroyed us. The scenes of rubble and devastation, with the last remnants of humanity dying off as the first ragdolls flee, are among the film's most affecting and disturbing.

The contrast between the two types of machine is really at the heart of 9 — the killer bots are all dark metal and sharp edges, glowing red eyes and bestial energy. The ragdolls, meanwhile, are meant to have a lot of engaging personality. They're definitely cute, and their concern for each other and their curiosity about the world contrasts sharply with the callousness of the slaughterbots. And the film makes sure we learn each ragdoll's unique personality early on. As Timur Bekmambetov said in our exclusive interview, each ragdoll represents an archetype, including the hero, the friend, the dictator, the crazy person, and... oh yeah, the girl. (Jennifer Connelly, representin' for the ladies.)

Sadly, the ragdolls and their "personalities" are really the main area where the movie falls the flattest, and it's almost a fatal flaw. The ragdolls — including our hero, 9 — feel so one-note that they become boring as characters. Take the central conflict between the rebellious 9 and the autocratic 1 — it feels like we see variations on the same scene a few times, but nothing interesting ever happens. We hear 1 say almost exactly the same line, "This folly will lead to no good," or words to that effect, over and over again. And then 1 narrows his little lenses in a grimace, and stalks around, while 9 spouts vague phrases about wanting to understand stuff. These two are the only ragdolls who are graced with anything even remotely approaching real personalities, and they come across like they're reading off the cliffs-notes versions of cue cards.

Where the ragdolls do shine is in their occasional moments of actual playfulness, but these are few and far between, and mostly fall towards the end of the film. There's a great bit where 8, the "big lug" who follows 1's orders unquestioningly, starts putting a magnet near his head and getting high off it. His eyes flicker and he gets this goofy grin on his face, and his enjoyment is infectious — everyone in the theater started laughing at that part. There's also a weird-but-great interlude with a record player where the ragdolls celebrate their victory (wrongly, it turns out).

Eventually we do find out the ragdolls' origins, and the movie even sort of makes a stab at explaining why each ragdoll only seems to have one aspect of a complete personality — I won't give it away, but this Washington Post review gives away the secret early on.

Honestly, I went into 9 expecting to fall in love with the film — the clips and art I'd seen had wowed me, and it seemed bracingly original. But even with a running time of 79 minutes, the film felt draggy and uninvolving. There are two different sequences where ragdolls run away from an explosion and somehow outrun it. There are two different bits where you think one of the ragdolls is dead, but then his lenses suddenly jerk to life. The film's central MacGuffin felt oddly random, and the plot depends on the characters being total idiots, until they're suddenly invincible. And the ending is both a big treacly and totally unsatisfying.

On the other hand, the film is always gorgeous — the lush animation is really its strong suit, and seeing the ragdolls on the big screen, you can really appreciate the detail that goes into them. Their stitchwork actually moves in fascinating ways as they move and talk. And there's a fascination and joy to watching them lope around the ruined landscape and dodge blades and flames — given how fragile and flammable they always seem to be. 9 is really worth seeing just for the visuals and its gothic, grotesque aesthetic of machines made in the image of animals, fighting machines made in our image.

Shane Acker has an amazing imagination and a great eye — and if he can just come up with a compelling story next time, he'll be our hero.

There were only 999 copies of the art book made, and this is the last chance you will get from io9 to win one. In order to receive your copy, email us your name and address at cp@io9.com. Winners will be chosen at random and alerted via email. You have 24 hours to get your email in, or you'll have to wait for the next drawing.

Each book is encased in a uniquely numbered burlap bag, featuring a special forward by Ray Kurzweil, behind-the-scenes art, an extensive collection of stills from the film, commentary from director Shane Acker and producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, and a DVD of the original short film by Shane Acker which inspired the full-length feature.

9 hits theaters on 9/9/09.

The Dog from A Boy And His Dog

This movie, based on a story by Harlan Ellison, contains a heartwarming relationship between 18-year-old Vic (Don Johnson) and his telepathic, super-intelligent dog Blood. It's just like Peabody the time-traveling professor dog in those cartoons — except that Blood helps Vic find women to rape and food to eat. At the end of the movie, Vic has to choose between the love of a (not terribly) nice woman and keeping Blood from starving — and a shot of meat roasting while Blood talks about how the woman didn't have such great taste gives you a hint of what Vic chooses.

Wall-E

Okay sure, you expect robots to survive the death of the planet — it's what robots do. But you might not expect there to be only one robot left on an otherwise desolate world — and for it to be a cute trash-compacting bot that befriends a cockroach and is obsessed with Barbra Streisand. Admit it — you didn't see that one coming.

Pets, generally

Check out this amazing clip from Exterminators: After The Year 3000, the film with the best title ever. Scroll forward to around 1:00 in — the cute kid in the convoy fleeing from the evil punk-rockers has his pet hamster with him! It's the amazing post-apocalyptic survival hamster. A lion survives in Twelve Monkeys. There's also a lion, as well as Kevin Costner's mule, in The Postman. And the tough post-apocalyptic hunter Harry in the movie Hard Knuckle has a little rat dog in his front pocket, sort of like a post-apocalyptic purse dog. (See awesome picture at the link.) Why is there always a lovable pet after a disaster has wiped out most of humanity?

Kids, generally.

As random dissheveled guy points out in this clip from the upcoming The Road, you don't really expect to see kids surviving a disaster that kills most of the adults. And yet, lots of them do somehow. Including the kid narrator in Mad Max, the gang of children in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Newt in Aliens, and Ed in Cowboy Bebop. Thanks to Madeline Ashby and JungleMonkey on Twitter for suggesting this one!

The mall girls in Night Of The Comet

The deadly radiation from the red comet passing over the Earth wipes out everybody — except for Sam and Regina, two valley girls, who just want to have fun. And go shopping, at the mall, even if it's full of zombies. (It's a well known fact that zombies love shopping malls.) Thanks to Misty S. and S.J. Edwards for suggesting this film!

The Book Of Dave by Will Self

Dave is an obnoxious, mentally ill cab driver in London, who scribbles in his notebook about the rules for surviving London traffic and his hatred of his ex-wife, who's keeping him from having custody of his son. He buries his book, and 500 years later, it's dug up after a flood destroys everything. And it becomes the foundation of a whole new misogynistic religion based on this crazy guy's ramblings. There have been plenty of other stories about bits of cultural flotsam surviving after everything else is gone — Mickey Mouse does it quite often — but this may be the weirdest.

Dinosaurs in Yor, The Hunter From The Future

You have to admit, you didn't expect dinosaurs to survive after the human race was all but wiped out, did you? Just like Planet of the Apes, Yor features a weird primitive world that appears to be the past at first, but which turns out to be our distant future. And somehow the dinosaurs have bounced back, maybe thanks to the radiation. They were only taking a siesta! There's also an android army, which makes a bit more sense.

Amazons in Warriors Of The Apocalypse

Nobody ever expects Amazon warriors to survive a global genocide. And even if you did, you wouldn't expect them to be amazons with eye-lasers, who get into an eye-laser-battle with some other dudes. Another runner up is the 1982 movie SHE, in which a giant in a tutu, a mummy in sunglasses, a Samurai, and bondage freaks all survive the end of the world.

Bob McKenzie in The Mutants of 2051 A.D., as featured in Strange Brew

Okay, so maybe you expected dinosaurs, purse dogs and Valley Girls to survive a planetary die-off. But Bob McKenzie? The co-host of Great White North, that recurring sketch on SCTV, eh? You really really didn't expect him to be the last human still alive. Check out his amazing technique for dealing with a post-apocalyptic mutant who's really not friendly. Thanks to Jeff Sparkman for suggesting this one! Another somewhat unlikely "last man" is Yorick in Y: The Last Man, who's just sort of a slacker escape artist — but he survives the disaster that kills all other men because he eats monkey poop.

Nuns

Nuns often seem to survive the death of humanity — maybe it's their religious faith, maybe it's the fact that they're sequestered from contagion and zombie outbreaks. Most awesomely, Donald G. Jackson's fantastic movie Rollerblade features a world where rollerblading nuns (with Nazi-esque emblems on their uniforms) keep the world safe from evil mutants — while rollerblading. (And they also use a switchblade to heal all wounds, causing a glowy smiley face to appear.) There are also some nuns holding out against the evil dolls-head-loving bikers in Survival Zone. And of course, who can forget Michelle Yeoh as a lone nun after the fall of civilization in Babylon A.D.? I'm sure Yeoh still has nightmares about it.

Thanks to S.J. Edwards, Madeline Ashby, Rory aka Cthul-who, Glamtasm, Jeff Sparkman, Luis Alberto Urrea and anyone else who helped.

We got a chance to sit down with Bekmambetov, director of Night Watch, Day Watch and Wanted, about his role as producer of Shane Acker's 9, which opens tomorrow night. Bekmambetov says he fell in love with Acker's short film (with the same title) back in 2005, when his partner Gene Levy sent him a DVD while he was at the Berlin Film Festival. Says Bekmambetov, "It was like a door sliding open, and you see a little bit of the world behind the walls. You want to see much more." He decided to help make this short film into a feature-length picture, just so he could see more of that mysterious world of ragdolls and deadly machines.

Bekmambetov says 9 has his sensibility and he feels "very connected" to that whole world that Acker has created.

And 9 really is about your real life and the people around you. Wherever you go, there are people playing the same roles. In 9, the dictator is ragdoll #1, who's sort of like Morgan Freeman's character in Wanted.

In our society, in our lives, in our mind... to understand the world, we create the roles. Like dictator, friend, girl, and the crazy guy... And what Shane did, he just created these characters fulfill these archetypes. And I grew up in a small town. And I think it's important for children to grow up in a small place, because then the world is solid. You know everything about this world from the beginning. There was one mad man — one crazy guy, everybody knows him — one prostitute, one policeman, one good guy, one superman. It was exactly the same. Every role has one representative. It's the same as 9, every character represents part of your [worldview]. I think the audience will really understand who is a dictator — who is a 1 — in their lives, who is the friend — 2 — who is a 7, the girl. It's easy to identify.

And yes, there's only one female ragdoll in the movie. Although, says Bekmambetov, "We don't know about 3 and 4, they are twins, children."

You might think 9 is a very dark film, what with the killing machines and desperate ragdolls and all. But Bekmambetov says it's actually a "very bright movie" with a dramatic contrast between brightness and darkness. Think of it like a Rembrandt picture, with bright figures standing out against a dark background. Sure, there are horrible machines, but there are also love, friendship and heroic characters, and people sacrificing themselves for the sake of good.

And that's exactly what we all do in real life, says Bekmambetov: try to survive and hold on to our beliefs.

Also, Bekmambetov revealed he's already finished filming his next Russian movie — a superhero movie. "The Russian audience is very excited and waiting for it." It's the film we mentioned a while back, about the flying black car, tentatively called Black Lightning. He says "It reminds me of some American movies, like Spider-Man, but because it's in Russian it's so different... It's the same idea, but because there's a totally different environment you feel like it's totally unique."

Here's the teaser trailer, from Youtube:

Bekmambetov says superheroes remain popular because they're really new versions of the same archetypes we've been dealing with for thousands of years, dating back to Greek tragedies. "We cannot create new stories, we're just changing environment and changing consciousness and rearranging things."

X-Men Origins: Magneto:

With rumors swirling around that this prequel could start filming in the next year or so, Patrick Stewart hints that he'll be back. Stewart told an audience at Dragon*Con that he's eager to revisit the role of Professor X. He was recently in a production of Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellen, and the two actors agreed they weren't done with the Xavier/Magneto relationship and would like to do more with it. Oh, and Stewart said he's left Jean-Luc Picard behind, but would be open to a cameo in a future film. [CNN]

9:

The ragdolls in the movie aren't just moping around pathetically feeling bad that the human race has been wiped out — they're actually quite optimistic, seeing the post-apocalyptic world as full of raw materials for themselves. They're constantly building lots of weird gadgets and stuff. [L.A. Times]

The Box:

This Richard Kelly-directed mindfrak of a film released a new trailer, but it looks pretty much identical to the trailer we featured back in June. Which could be why it's labeled as "Trailer 1B".

New Moon:

Some new pics from the most eagerly anticipated film starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart of the year. Possibly. [SpoilerTV-Movies]

Doctor Who:

A poster on the GallifreyBase forums claims that David Tennant's Doctor is alone when he dies/regenerates. It's heartbreaking and you won't see it coming. [GallifreyBase]

And this won't come as much of a shock to those of you who've been paying attention, but the Daleks are fighting for Winston Churchill in World War II, in a season five episode. The new bit is that the Daleks will supposedly be painted "battle green" and have the Union Jack painted on their top helmet thingies. [Digital Spy]

And The Sun, a British tabloid which is known for its pinpoint accuracy (if you have a large enough pin, that is) claims that Blackadder creator Richard Curtis will write an episode of season five, featuring Matt Smith. And Curtis reportedly says "There will be a monster. And a famous historical figure will battle the monster." [The Sun]

Dollhouse:

A new promo (sorry for the bad quality) spells out a bit more of the first episode's plot, and how Paul Ballard fits in now.

Fringe:

While the show's producers and actors were tweeting the other night, they answered your questions. Among other things, we learned we'll find out in season two whom the Observer was talking to at the beginning of "The Arrival." The Observer does not work for William Bell. And we'll learn much more, generally, about the Observer this year.

There will be a lot more clues embedded in the show this year. Peter will definitely have some romantic interest this year. Walter may or may not get to visit the other dimension — they're still working that one out. The books in the girl's apartment (including Childhood's End) offer a clue. And Emmanuel Grayson, the Trekkie seen in "The Road Not Taken," will turn up more in season two, and will be very helpful. And that "alternate reality" reveal is crucial to all of season two. [The ODI]

And here's an extended version of the "Paranoia" trailer, with more scenes from the season's first two episodes. [Fringe Television]

Smallville:

Here are some images from the season premiere, including Clark Kent's new Superman-ish costume. [OSCK and MovieWeb]

Stargate Universe:

Robert Carlyle did a morning TV interview and talked about his character, plus they showed a new snippet from the first episode:

MediaPundit posted scans of the promo booklet that came with the screener DVDs of this series, and they include a few nice images of the cast, plus a few plot details. The crew will struggle with the most basic necessities of obtaining food, water and air on board the Ancient ship Destiny. Robert Carlyle's character, Nicholas Rush, has dedicated his life to exploring the "ninth chevron" since the death of his wife, and he's solely responsible for the situation that strands everybody on the other side of the universe. But he has no remorse.

Chloe Armstrong is the daughter of Senator Armstrong, but she's also his aide, and she's responsible for influencing the decision to continue funding to the Stargate program. She has a wild streak.

Col. Everett Young is at the end of his military career and has a hard time hanging up his wings — but when he's chosen for one last mission, it pushes his marriage to the breaking point. Camile Wray (Ming-Na) is a human resources executive, but finds herself the highest ranking member of the International Oversight Committee on the Destiny.

Alaina Huffman's character, 1st. Lt. Tamara Johnson, wanted to be a doctor but was unable to afford medical school. The strong-willed, self-taught medic was days away from leaving the program, then found herself the only one aboard the Destiny with any medical training. And 1st. Lt. Matthew Scott (Brian J. Smith) is a new member of the Stargate team with a troubled past, who's completely unprepared when he's thrust into a leadership role at a time of crisis. He struggles to maintain accord between people who have different agendas. Master Sgt. Ronald Greer has a troubled past, which has yet to be revealed. And he's got a short fuse, with no apologies. More images at the link. [Media Pundit]

Supernatural:

A new promo for the season opener from the Canadian channel Space. [Oh No They Didn't]

And it looks like our heroes will be visiting Canton in episode 5x05, judging from these awesome set pics. Way more great photos at the link. [The Scenery via SpoilerTV]

True Blood:

It's a nice day for a white wedding, in some stills from the final episode of the season, "Beyond Here Lies Nothin." [BSC Review]

Eastwick:

The evil-ish Darryl Van Horne makes his first appearance in this show stark naked, stepping out of an indoor pool in his playboy mansion. He hits on Roxie (Rebecca Romijn) who tells him he's "vain, charmless, creepy, pretentious, arrogant, your hair is from 1982. And you aren't nearly as handsome as you think you are." (And then I'm assuming they have sex.) [SpoilerTV]

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies:

Some more images from this direct to DVD movie, coming soon. [Warner Bros.]

Additional research by Alexis Brown.

September 4th
Gamer
...this one, which Annalee loved. Even if you've not seen the movie, you'll have seen the trailers enough to be familiar with the idea behind it: In the not-too-distant future, mad scientist Michael C. Hall has invented a way to remote control people, which allows gamers to live out their fantasies in reality... which makes us wonder if Bruce Willis' Surrogates should be a little worried about this coming out first. Gerard Butler makes with the explodo, and if you liked the Crank movies - made by the same people - consider this right up your inevitably aflame, full of over the top action, alley.

September 9th
9
For those who won't be spending Wednesday in a Beatles Rock Band-induced musical coma, consider Shane Acker's CG-animated post-apocalyptic movie (with voices from Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly and Jennifer Connelly, amongst others) that tries to make "stitchpunk" into a real genre. Existential angst meets the Island of Misfit Toys, as creatures made up of the remnants of a destroyed society try to discover the truth behind their origins. As you might expect, Tim Burton is executive producer on this one.

September 18th
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
AKA the film that Meredith is trying to convince me I must see as soon as possible. Adapted from the 1982 classic children's book by the writers of television's How I Met Your Mother, the CG-animated Cloudy lets the voices of Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris (of course), Andy Samberg and more explore why science can be trouble when it means that foodstuffs replace raindrops.

Jennifer's Body
You know all about this one by now: Juno's Diablo Cody writes a horror movie in which everyone's worst fears about Megan Fox come true - as long as your worst fears involve her turning into a literally-maneating she-demon dispatching various unfortunate boys in high school. Director Karyn Kusama directed the bigscreen version of Aeon Flux, so maybe this is a chance for her to earn back some movie karma.

Pandorum
Spacemen Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster wake up without their memories and adrift in space in director Christian Alvart (who also co-wrote the movie with Travis Milloy)'s mysterious space horror. What has happened to the crew, and what does it have to do with the future of the human race? And, more importantly, how excited should we be about Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson being attached as producer for the movie?

September 21st
The Age Of Stupid
A "crowd-funded" movie about the dangers of climate change? This drama-documentary-animation hybrid offers up Pete Postlethwaite as a man in the year 2055, looking back at "archival footage" (ie, documentary material) from our time and wondering why more wasn't done to stop the environmental damage that humanity was causing. Animators on the project include Gorillaz' Passion Pictures, and music comes from Radiohead, amongst others.

September 25th
The Invention of Lying
Ricky Gervais continues his attempt to break into movies (And the less said about Ghost Town, the better) with this movie set on an alternate Earth where Gervais' character invents the entire concept of lying in order to win the heart - or, at least, the body - of Jennifer Garner's character Jennifer. As long as it stays away from a sentimental ending, we've got high hopes for this... but maybe that's just because we're swayed by Tina Fey being amongst the cast.

Surrogates
Bruce Willis rues Gamer in this adaptation of the Top Shelf comic wherein humanity have retreated to better living through robotics, only for someone - or something - to abruptly put an end to that happy shared delusion. Go for Bruce's wig, stay for the fact that, if it's anything like the original, it'll end up being a taut and exciting thriller that doesn't go for the easy answers.

With September already underway, we're a little late in providing this guide, but try not to hold it too far against us. We've split everything up month-by-month, to help you fill your calendar without too much worry - Just click on the links below.

September
October
November
December

Bloody stuff no? Corpses, violence and confused ragdolls are a formula for greatness.

This is the second chance to win the special-edition collector's 9 movie books — only 999 were created.

Each book is encased in a uniquely numbered burlap bag, featuring a special forward by Ray Kurzweil, behind-the-scenes art, an extensive collection of stills from the film, commentary from director Shane Acker and producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, and a DVD of the original short film by Shane Acker which inspired the full-length feature.

We're giving away three copies so email us your name and address at cp@io9.com. Winners will be chosen at random and alerted via email, next week. You have 24 hours to get your email in, or you'll have to wait for the next and final drawing.

And if you live in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Chicago or Denver text to win a pass (good for two) to see a preview screening of 9 on 9-8-09 at 9:09 PM.

To enter to win a pass, text keyword IO9, and your zip code, to 43549!

*Entering with 43KIX is free. Standard text message rates from your
wireless provider may apply; check your plan. One entry per cell phone
#. Contest ends 9/7/09. Late and/or duplicate entries will not be
considered. Winner will be notified by text.

9 hits theaters on 9/9/09.

Pandorum:

Here are a couple of new TV spots for this space-horror epic:

Jennifer's Body:

A new behind-the-scenes featurette takes you behind the sexy horror of the horrific sexiness.

And Entertainment Tonight actually featured a clip of the Amanda Seyfried/Megan Fox kiss, plus Megan Fox talking about her character:

Surrogates:

More details on the footage that director Jonathan Mostow showed reporters: Bruce Willis and other surrogate cops are chasing a suspect in a helicopter, and the suspect is on a motorcycle. The suspect weaves in and out of Boston traffic, then abandons his motorcycle. He takes out some cops with his pulse gun, then shoots at the helicopter. Willis disconnects from his surrogate just before the blast hits, waking up in his apartment. Then he reconnects to his robotic surrogate and continues the chase, following the suspect into the surrogate-phobic reservation, showing how badass his robot body can be, jumping over shit and taking lots of damage.

And Mostow says Willis has "existential ennui" because the only crime that's left — crimes against people's robot surrogates — is a property crime rather than murder or whatever. (So why don't criminals just break into your house and stab your real body while you're controlling your robot body?) This makes Willis feel his job as a cop is meaningless, and he can't connect with his wife. Once Willis has to operate as his real self, he realizes just how hollow his robot-body-driven life was. [IGN]

9:

Star Elijah Wood was on Conan O'Brien the other night, and he talked about the numerology of this movie as well as Comic Con:


There's also this somewhat weird disturbing clip from his children's TV appearance, which has nothing to do with this movie, but it's too weird not to share:

Also, Wood and director Shane Acker talked to Sci Fi Wire, and explained a bit more about the film — we start out seeing through 9's eyes, and he knows as little about this world as we do. We follow him on his journey of discovery, and he convinces the other ragdolls to try and figure out more about who they are and what the machines are. They can't physically fight the machines because they're too fragile. So gathering knowledge is the only way they can win. Also, 7 (Jennifer Connelly) is a fiercly independent warrior who pushes everyone else away. She's a maverick. [Sci Fi Wire]

And here are a couple new featurettes, from what appears to be the film's official Youtube channel:

Gamer:

So we talked to Amber Valletta yesterday about being a sex-puppet in this sex-and-violence games movie. Apparently, the guy who controls her is sort of a disgusting slug, and he licks his lips in every single scene he's in. The two of them never appear together, though, because he's controlling her remotely. [UGO]

Dark Shadows:

One of the biggest challenges with this film is to recapture the weird tone of the original, says director Tim Burton, who certainly seems to think Johnny Depp will star in it, judging from the way he namedrops Depp. [MTV]

[Rec] 2:

Some new images from this sick-building-syndrome movie. More at the link. [Aullidos via ShockTillYouDrop]

Twilight:

The third movie, Eclipse, will feature Jasper doing a lot of fighting, says Jackson Rathbone. And there'll be some Civil War scenes giving his character's origin. [MTV]

Doctor Who:

A couple of tidbits from the forums over at Gallifrey Base. For one thing, IMDB is now claiming that Bruno Langley, who played Adam back in season one, will appear in David Tennant's final episode. Is Adam coming back to cause trouble again? Or is this another instance of the Doctor traveling back into his own past, like the thing where the tenth Doctor drops in on Rose before she's met the ninth Doctor? Oh, and there's a rumor — and I emphasize rumor — that a 1960s companion will turn up. But forum posters don't think it'll be Carole Ann Ford, because she's turning up in a Big Finish audio production, and those usually avoid using elements that are turning up on the TV show. [Gallifrey Base]

FlashForward:

Here's a new promo, featuring a confession of future infidelity:

Lost:

David H. Lawrence XVII, who played the puppetmaster guy on Heroes, Twittered that he landed a role in the final season of Lost. [The ODI]

Supernatural:

I don't think we've shown you this hilarious trailer, featuring some subliminal messages, before.

Smallville:

Here's a screencap from a new season nine sneak peek, featuring the Superman logo. Bigger version at the link. [The ODI]

Someone named LilMissX twittered a couple of promo photos of Chloe from the new season. [TwitPic via SpoilerTV]

And here's a sneak peek from the season opener, featuring Brian Austin Green making us all wish Sarah Connor was still being Chronicled.

Stargate Universe:

The season will end with an episode called "Subversion," followed by a two-parter called "Incursion." And that two-parter ends with "big-time cliffhanger," according to writer/producer Joseph Mallozzi, who calls it the "biggest HOLY #%&@! ending I have ever written." Because "Incursion" has been expanded from one hour to two, one other episode will get held over to season two — which means probably nobody much dies in that cliffhanger, or else they're able to rework the held-over episode somehow. [Gateworld]

Chuck:

Smallville's Kristin Kreuk will appear in multiple episodes as Hannah, a publishing industry veteran who meets Chuck on a flight to Paris. She loses her job and winds up working at the Buy More. And both Chuck and Morgan will have feelings for her. [EW]

Heroes:

So we already knew there would be more time travel this year, and now here are more details. Hayden Panettiere donned her old cheerleader outfit for some scenes that probably take place back during season one. And meanwhile, Hiro and Sylar filmed a confrontation in Odessa, TX that's probably set during the same era. Sylar throws Hiro up against a bus, and Hiro screams "Stoppp! I am dying!" And Sylar points his finger at Hiro's head. And here are some pics of both scenes — more at the link. [The ODI]

Also, Greg Grunberg says the thing where his Head-Sylar kidnaps his baby will all make sense. And he explains more of Matt's arc this season:

What's cool is that my powers evolve, and I start this year so regretting what I did last year that I have absolutely cut it cold turkey. I refuse to use my powers, and Sylar wants me to, so he's constantly on my shoulder going, 'Use your powers, you p-ssy.' It's great. It's really cool.

[Sci Fi Wire]

Creator Tim Kring says the upcoming "Redemption" arc could serve as the end of the show's story, but it doesn't have to.

We've never really posited an ending… [because] it's never been one long serialized story. Each volume has a beginning, middle and end. So we try to wrap things up pretty neatly each time and string a cliffhanger over the break to reward the loyal viewers.

[EW]

Eureka:

Here are some pics from episode 3x18, "What Goes Around." [SpoilerTV]

True Blood:

There's a plan in place for Evan Rachel Wood to return as Sophie the Vampire Queen next season. [EW]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Surrogates:

Director Jonathan Mostow showed off some footage from the movie. The opening credits show the evolution of Surrogate technology, mixing real-life news footage with fictionalized stuff in a montage of robotic development throughout history.

And then there's a scene where Bruce Willis in his robot body chasing a suspect — but he chases the suspect into a Reservation for non-Surrogatists. Some people refuse to use Surrogates, so they have special zones where the robot bodies are forbidden. Bruce almost catches up with the suspect, even though he loses a couple limbs in the chase, but just as he's about to get his man, one of the Reservation residents shoots his robot body with a shotgun, bringing him down. Bruce wakes up in his human body again, and has to leave the house for the first time in years.

In another scene, Willis, in his human body, comes home to find his wife hosting a party as her Surrogate self, and all the guests are also robotic Surrogates. The human-controlled robots are giving each other electric shocks — like a kind of drug use, sort of — and Willis gets pissed. He tries to get his wife to come talk to him alone, in their human bodies. She refuses, so he gets so angry, he smashes one of her guest's faces, revealing the robot parts underneath.

And later in the movie, there's a scene where the military has to go into one of the Surrogate-free Reservations to collect some crucial device — and the army has to go in in their real human bodies. The Reservation is led by a spiritual leader, The Prophet, played by Ving Rhames, and the residents grow their own food and stuff. [Coming Soon]

9:

Elijah Wood explains his character, the ragdoll known only as 9:

He comes into the world late. So 1 has already established a kind of rule over the other characters, largely due to fear, staying away from the machines, not getting any answers and living cloistered in a tower. I love the fact that 9 comes into that world sort of naively but sort of wisely, and sees that that's not necessarily the way for them to live, and they're actually putting themselves in greater harm. If they simply asked the greater questions to find out who they are and what they are, they can get at what's ultimately keeping them cloistered away.

[Sci Fi Wire via TrekMovie]

2012:

Three new posters show different famous landmarks being destroyed by boredom. I mean nature. [Yahoo! Movies]

Gamer:

So we may have mentioned that in addition to the killer video game Slayers, there's also a sexy Second Life-esque game called Society, in which living people serve as your avatars. And apparently there's a Running Man shout-out at one point, where one of the people in Society wears one of Arnie's costumes from the earlier movie. [AMC]

Dollhouse:

When we see Victor next, his face will have been repaired from Alpha's slash attack. [E! Online]

The bit where Echo marries the visiting businessman played by Jamie Bamber leads to a fight scene so intense, Eliza Dushku cried real tears. There are "beaucoup bumps and bruises" this season, she says, and generally the new season is darker and rougher, and the show has fully hit its stride. Knowing the dark places that the characters go to in the horrendous future gives people a confidence to play with their characters more, she explains. Also, Echo beats up bad guys using a private jet as a weapon. And she handles actual babies in another scene. Tahmoh Penikett says he just read the script for episode four, and it's the darkest thing Joss Whedon has ever done. [TV Guide Magazine and TV Guide Magazine]

A sneak peek at the new season shows us an awkward, horrible moment between Echo and Whiskey/Claire.

And here's a new promo photo. [SpoilerTV]

Doctor Who:

The amazing Alun.Vega uploaded some better quality versions of the audio files he got from the recent location filming. I have to say, this new thing of getting to hear snippets of dialogue is a mixed blessing — some of the acting probably sounds way more over the top than it will in context. Here's one of the audio files, and the rest are at the link. [Alun_Vega on Flickr]

Supernatural:

Not only will Ellen Harvelle be back in one episode, but so will her daughter Jo. And the appearance of 70-year-old Dean is being described as a "flash-forward," although that may just be speculation. [E! Online]

A new sneak peek from season five went up on itunes for U.S. audiences only, and here's a somewhat scrungy copy:

Lost:

A new casting call for episode 6x03:

[MELKY] Male, 30s to 40s, any ethnicity. Dangerous looking guy that can be surprisingly calm. Runs a seedy chop shop and not someone to be messed with; has handled many dicey situations and is not thrown by anything...NICE CO-STAR

[JENNY] Female, early 30s, any ethnicity. Yuppie, sweet, happy and well off. Never had any problems until she receives heart-breaking news that tears her world apart. While dealing with her personal crisis, she then has to deliver bad news to someone else knowing it will hurt them, too...CO-STAR

[RUSSELL] Male, late 20s to early 40s, any ethnicity. Tough guy who takes no gruff from anyone. Executes orders efficiently but has a nice, compassionate streak that surfaces from time to time...CO-STAR

[SpoilerTV]

Warehouse 13:

A source tells io9 that after you see tonight's episode, you won't ever expect to see Joe Morton's character appear on the show again. And also, Alison Scagliotti gives an absolutely "magnetic" performance.

Meanwhile, here's a new clip from tonight's episode:

Fringe:

Here's a new promo...

Luke Goss is playing a bad guy named Lloyd Parr, but he's not a psychopath or mindlessly evil — he has reasons for what he does. [L.A. Times via SpoilerTV]

FlashForward:

A new casting notice for 1x07 seeks an attorney who delivers bad news about a legal case over the phone, but doesn't appear in person. [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

So remember how we mentioned Ollie would be getting a new sidekick? Apparently it is Speedy — but she's based on the latest version in the comics, Mia Dearden. She's even HIV-positive like her comics counterpart. (Ah, Judd Winick.) She has a "sordid past" and encounters Ollie in some shady places, but she has great martial-arts skills, so Ollie steps up to train her. She dons the red-and-yellow comics costume in episode six. When we meet the JSA, its members will include Hawkman, Spectre, Doctor Fate and the Atom. And Perry White may finally be joining the Daily Planet. [TV Guide Magazine]

True Blood:

So Maryann is planning to marry the god Dionysus whom she's conjured up, or something silly like that, with Sookie as a bridesmaid. And Sam turns to an unlikely ally to save the day. [E! Online]

Stargate Universe:

In case it wasn't clear, Col Telford (Lou Diamond Philips) was supposed to lead the expedition to explore the ninth address, but instead he wound up stuck back on Earth while the unqualified people go off to explore. So he's desperate to get on board the Destiny as well as getting those people home. But he can only visit the Destiny by exchanging his consciousness with other people's. One of the people whose bodies he inhabits most is Everett Young, which leads to a love triangle between Telford, Young, and Young's wife. [Sci Fi Wire]

Chuck:

When the new season picks up, it's right after the end of the previous season, so Chuck is still new to his abilities. And Morgan is in Hawaii working on becoming a hibachi chef, so the Buy More is firmly in the grip of Emmett, and things aren't going that well without Morgan and Chuck. [Sci Fi Wire]

Jeffster will definitely perform again in season three. And maybe they'll do more of an 80s hair metal thing. [E! Online]

And director Jeremiah Chechik twittered some pics from the set of episode 3x03. [ChuckTV]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Leaving aside characters with alphanumeric names (like Star Wars' R2-D2 and C-3PO), characters who also have serials number imparted to them by their governments but are not generally addressed as such (as in Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Giver), and characters whose first names happen to mean a number in a different language (as with many of the characters in Stardust and Mobile Suit Gundam), there are several characters who are either designated with or often called by a number:

Number One (Star Trek "The Cage"/"The Menagerie"): More than two decades before Captain Picard started referring to William Riker as "Number One," Majel Barrett filmed the original Star Trek pilot, where her character was known only as Number One. Like Riker, Number One was the Enterprise's first officer, but the novel Vulcan's Glory suggests Number One was her actual name, given to her because she possessed the top intellect of her planet's generation.

Number 5 (Short Circuit): Although roboticists Newton Crosby and Ben Jabituya were out to create artificial intelligence, they probably didn't expect any of their prototypes to suddenly gain sentience, and so assigned them numbers in lieu of names. But after prototype Number 5 becomes self-aware (and escapes the clutched of the US military), he decides that, as a living being, he should have a name, and calls himself Johnny Five.

Fifth (Stargate SG-1): One of the few characters with an ordinal number for a name, Fifth gets his name in a fairly straightforward manner: he's the fifth human-form Replicator to be created on the planet Halla.

V (V for Vendetta): Most people who live through encounters with the mysterious anarchist V think they're addressing him by a letter, and his propensity for using V-based alliterations when introducing himself seems to confirm this. But it's much more likely that V derives his name from the source of his vendetta; when he was subjected to medical experimentation at the Larkhill Resettlement Camp, he was the man in room five — marked with the Roman numeral "V."

Number Six (The Prisoner): Residents of the mysterious Village are known by a number rather than their actual names — including at least 16 individuals known only as "Number Two" — probably to protect the secrets they all inevitably carry. Number Six, the titular prisoner, protests in the opening that he's a free man, not a number, but it's implied that Number Six may be known by yet another number: Number One.

The Cylons (Battlestar Galactica): The creators of Battlestar Galactica have said that cylon Number Six is a tribute to The Prisoner, and it follows that each humanoid cylon model would have its own number, with the notable exception of the Final Five. Most cylon models are known collectively by a human name as well (the Sharons, the Leobens, the D'Annas), but individual Sixes tend to have individual human names, like Natalie, Caprica, Shelly, and Gina, perhaps because of they are so often used as infiltration agents.

Seven of Nine (Voyager): Names designate individuality, a concept the Borg have no use for, but sometimes it is convenient for the Collective to identify individual Borg drones. So when the formerly human Annika Hansen was assimilated into the Collective, she was given the designation Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One. Even once she was unhooked from the hive mind, she preferred the shortened "Seven of Nine" to her human name, the latter of which she does not take up again until her Borg implants are completely destroyed.

Eight (The Specials): It's fairly obvious how Eight earned its superhero name. A hive mind, Eight consists of eight individual bodies who can physically act independent of one another, but share a single consciousness.

Thirteen (House): As long as we're labeling House as science fiction, we may as well mention Dr. Remy Hadley, better known as Thirteen. In one of his trademark moves to dehumanize his fellowship applicants, Dr. House assigned each applicant a number (and occasionally a humiliating nickname). Thirteen really took to the numerical naming system, refusing to divulge her actual name to her fellow applicants, and continuing to answer to Thirteen long after she'd earned a place on House's team.

Henchmen 21 and 24 (The Venture Bros): With the exception of the ill-fated Speedy, each of the Monarch's henchman is known only to their boss as a number. Henchmen 21 and 24 (the former is known to his mom as Gary) are genre-savvy enough to be content with their numerical positions in the Fluttering Horde. When they learn their new teammate is Henchman 1, they rightly assess that he's marked for death.

84 (P.S. 238): In a school filled with superheroes, Julie Finster has a pretty routine set of superpowers: flight, invulnerability, speed. In fact, her power set is so ordinary that instead of getting a cool superhero name, she's just called "84," since she's the 84th person to possess that particular grouping of powers. Needless to say, it's a tad demoralizing.

Agent 99 (Get Smart): James Bond may have been called 007 from time to time, but Agent 99 takes use of her code number to the next level, never answering to any other moniker (okay, in one episode, her fiance calls her Susan Hilton, but that isn't actually her name). In fact, she married Maxwell Smart and bears him twins without him ever learning her real name, proving once and for all that she's the better spy.

Agent 355 (Y the Last Man): In the historical spy network known as the Culper Ring, there was a female agent code named 355, whose identity has never been definitively determined. Similarly, in the fictional Culper Ring of Y the Last Man, Agent 355 is a highly competent spy whose name is never revealed (at least not to the reader). Her odd relationship with her name parallels that of Alter Tse'elon, the Israel commando whose real first name is not spoken (until the end) for fear of attracting the Angel of Death.

Experiment 626 (Lilo and Stitch): The alien mad scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba created 626 strange and dangerous lifeforms. The wanton destruction caused by the final experiment, 626, condemns them both to life in exile, but the experiment escapes to Earth, where a young Hawaiian girl names him "Stitch." Of course, once Stitch's destructive nature has been reigned in, there are still 625 other experiments to contend with.

1812 (Farscape): In terms of numbered names, the DRD robot 1812 gets his from a fairly unusual source. Instead of 1812 being a serial number or a numbered designation, it's a reference to the 1812 Overture, which Crichton teaches the little service bot to play.

Subject 781227 (Kyle XY): Zzyzx, the company funding Adam Baylin's research, saw the child-shaped being Adam Baylin developed in his lab as a biological computer rather than a person, reflected in him getting a serial number in lieu of a name. It's only after 16 years, an escape, and a bout of amnesia that Subject 781227 finally gets a name: Kyle Trager.

Only 999 of these special-edition collector's "9" movie books were produced - so here's your chance to win one of the nine copies that Focus Features has provided to us!

Each book is encased in a uniquely numbered burlap bag, featuring a special forward by Ray Kurzweil, behind-the-scenes art, an extensive collection of stills from the film, commentary from director Shane Acker and producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, and a DVD of the original short film by Shane Acker which inspired the full-length feature.

We're giving away three copies with each exclusive gallery that we're posting. So here's your first chance: email us your name and address at cp@io9.com. Winners will be chosen at random and alerted via email. You have 24 hours to get your email in, or you'll have to wait for the next drawing.

9 hits theaters on 9/9/09.

The scientist's experiment is even online and you can plunder through his things on the site with Elijah Wood.
A better look at the man in question.

The Book Of Eli:

A few new stills show Denzel stalking the shattered post-apocalyptic landscape in his dark brooding sunglasses. [SpoilerTV-Movies]

9:

Here's a new TV spot, called "The Count":

Lost:

There's a casting call for the first two episodes of the final season — they're seeking an actor to play Jeff, a polished and sympathetic public relations rep for a high-profile company. He has to deliver some bad news, and he tries to hide his nervousness behind a professional, reassuring smile. [SpoilersLost]

Also, Japanese superstar Hiroyuki Sanada, best known for appearing in the U.S. in The Last Samurai and Rush Hour 3, will play an undisclosed recurring role in season six. One theory: He's the wise teacher who helps get an amnesiac Locke back on his correct path in the new, revised timeline. [EW]

Dollhouse:

A new poster for season two debuts the slogan, "Anyone Can Happen," and new promo pics show Eliza Dushku posing in — wait for it — a dollhouse. Neat! [THR and SciFiScoop]

Also, Keith Carradine will appear in at least two episodes, playing powerful businessman Matthew Harding. [EW]

Doctor Who:

Not sure if any of these pics are new (some of them just look like trailer screencaps) but the BBC uploaded a promo gallery for the next story, "Waters Of Mars." [BBC]

Fringe:

In episode 1x06, "Earthling," we're going to meet Diane, Broyes' attractive, African-American ex-wife. [SpoilerTV]

And in episode 1x07, "Of Human Action," we'll meet FBI director McKenna, a former colleague of Broyles. Plus Tyler Carson, a 15-year-old boy who has a worried look all the time. [SpoilerTV]

Supernatural:

Here's the official description for the season opener, "Sympathy For The Devil":

Picking up where the finale left off, Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) watch as the Devil (guest star Mark Pellegrino, "Lost") emerges from Hell. The brothers and Bobby (Jim Beaver) deal with the aftermath of Lucifer rising and the stunning news from Chuck the Prophet (guest star Rob Benedict) that Castiel (Misha Collins) was blown to bits by the archangels.

[KryptonSite]

And there are two characters being cast for episode 1x06, "I Believe The Children Are Our Future," one of whom will be a recurring character:

[JESSE] 11-year-old boy (10-13 to play 11), he is a smart and sad all-American kid who is wise beyond his years and way too serious for his age - and has a real independent streak. Adopted as an infant, he has no idea of his lineage, simply perplexed by his uncanny powers. A firm believer in all things kid-like, such as the Tooth Fairy and the danger of joy buzzers. He is faced with a very grown up decision. Please denote age next to your suggestions ...RECURRING GUEST STAR

[JULIA] In her early 30s, mousy and pale, Julia looks like she hasn't had a good night's sleep in about eleven years. Sort of meek, she becomes overtaken by a dark, dark force...GUEST STAR

[SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Steph Song twittered that she's been cast as a villain named Victoria aka Roulette, in episode 9x06. " I get to kick some serious ass in this. all I can tell you is that she's a trickster, a villain, a master deceiver all in a very tight red dress. ;)" [Twitter via SpoilerTV]

And if you want to know more about Victoria/Roulette, there are some script pages circulating for casting purposes. Oliver Queen is in a casino, where he's losing tons of money and his joie de vivre — he puts his Lamborghini on black, and the ball lands on red. He decides to eat some potentially deadly blowfish because he needs to risk death to feel alive. Then Roulette turns up, looking stunning in a tight red dress, and offers to help Oliver regain his lust for life — she plays a weird shell game, and under one shell is a red pill, which she tells him to take. He takes it, and blacks out.

But he doesn't wake up realizing he's been in the Matrix — instead, he just gets annoyed at Victoria and her drug-crazy game. Turns out she works for some nasty people, and they would have killed her if Oliver hadn't taken that pill. And then they kill her anyway, and Oliver is left holding her as she bleeds to death. The cops nab Oliver as a suspect in her murder, but then an FBI guy shows up and springs Ollie. He tells Ollie Roulette's gang targets rich dudes and tries to take all their money. And he encourages Ollie to check his bank accounts on the handy nearby laptop, and Ollie's relieved to find his money's all still there. (And if there's any justice, that laptop had a key-logging software and Ollie's accounts are grass.) [SpoilerTV]

FlashForward:

There are a ton of casting calls for episode 1x07. We'll be going to school, where we'll meet Jeff, a nice former teacher of the year who's embraced his dark side and keeps his head in a crisis; Rafael, a high-school Spanish teacher who advises the school newspaper and advises a student who's uncovered an unfortunate situation. Plus Chris, an uber-competitive soccer coach who will do anything to win.

And it sounds like we'll spend some time in a hospital. There, we'll meet Komanchek, a crazy old guy who's a loose cannon; Suki, a 70-something Japanese woman who gets agitated and shouts to be heard; and James, an African American desk clerk at the hospital who tries to defuse a difficult situation that involves shouting. We'll also meet Matt, a former Marine and Iraq war veteran, who's just completed a two-year rehab program and is looking to restart his life.

We also meet Celia, the mother of two five-year-old boys who talks in a voiceover about wanting to bring as much joy as possible into her kids' lives; Squirrel, an FBI analyst with Asperger's syndrome — every show needs one of those; a friendly bartender who lubricates a tense situation by keeping the drinks flowing; a bouncer at an exclusive club; and Nadine, a sultry chick who propositions a complete stranger in the club. [SpoilerTV]

V:

Josh Hamel says he's been cast in a major role on this show — and speculation is, he'll play a character named Billy Hamel. [SpoilerTV]

Also, there's a casting call for Mary Falkner, the widow of the F-16 pilot whose plane went down when the alien motherships first showed up. She's been on a hunger strike ever since. [SpoilerTV]

Heroes:

Actual good news! Jayma Mays will come back for one episode, to reprise her role as Charlie, Hiro's doomed sweetheart. Since Hiro is dying, he's zipping around through time trying to accomplish his "bucket list" of things he wants to accomplish before the end — so probably saving Charlie is top of the list. [EW]

Some new set pics show HRG and Tracy hanging out. They're forming a street-corner doo-wop group together! More pics at the link. [SpoilerTV]

And another set pic shows Tracy hanging out with a mysterious man in black. More at the link. [HeroByDay.net via SpoilerTV]

Eastwick:

Here's a new scene from the witchy pilot, plus some interviews with the cast:

Plus a couple new promos:

There's a casting call for episode 1x04: An elderly woman walks by, stops a young man and proceeds to kiss him. (I'm guessing there's a spell at work. Just a thought.) [SpoilerTV]

And here are some promo pics. [Eastwick Fans via SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Above is the first look at the creation of 5, drawn by Shane Acker and voiced John C. Reilly. The official description of paints this rag doll as

a caring, nurturing engineer – the loyal, big-hearted "common man" who always tries to play the peacemaker. He is also an apprentice of 2, with whom he shares a special bond.

Plus two new clips have been released. As we mentioned, the first one is pretty spoilery:

9 Exclusive Clip

The second clip is over at Animation World.

9 will be released on 9/9/9.

Here's our conversation:

So what's next after 9? Are you sticking to animation?

I'm actually developing two things right now. One's live action, and one is animation... They're both world-making. They create different worlds, fantastic worlds. They have their own mythology, that runs in their own way. Which is what I love to do. So even if I do live-action films, I don't think it's going to be too far from my own inspiration, just like Tim Burton's live-action films are very pushed and stylized, and create unique worlds. I think that's my direction as well.

We can't wait to see whatever you come up with.

Let's hope they give me some money to do it.

So these films are science fiction?

They're both kind of fantasy with a little science fiction in them as well.

So will these two new projects have human characters in them?

The live-action one will have people. It's sort of an ancient. It's mythology. It's sort of an ancient tale. It's slightly pre-history, although it's early civilization type of pre-history, but rooted in an existing comic book franchise — and an actual literature franchise. But I can't really say yet [what it is]. And then the other animated film is also based on a comic book franchise.

So people are coming to you now and asking if you can take on their franchises?

Yeah, or it's properties that I find, that I'm really drawn to, attracted to. And I'll approach them and say, "Hey, I'm interested in developing this into a feature." The animated one is sort of like a blending of Dark Crystal meets Lord Of The Rings meets Secret Of Nimh, with a little touch of ancient Viking mythology and Old Testament. It's an Eden tale in some ways. It's the creatures of the forest, but in some way they represent humanity. If that makes any sense. It's fun, I have a lot of fun with it.

Wow, both of those sound great.

We'll see what happens. The climate in Hollywood is strange because of the economic downturn. Hopefully 9 does well, and it will open up the opportunities to make other films. Because if it does well, hopefully it'll let me do other, riskier properties, things that don't seem like easy sells in Hollywood. They might have a little more trust and faith that these things can find an audience, and that would be great — both for me and for other film-makers who are trying to do something different.

So I'm scratching my head, and I can't figure out what franchises he's referring to. The animated one could be Mouse Guard, actually. What do you think? We'll have the rest of our interview with Acker later this week. 9 hits theaters, not surprisingly, on 9/9/09.

People talk about Comic Con as the place you go to create the next geek-entertainment sensations — and it's definitely true to some extent. But it's by no means that simple. Nerd tastemakers do get their first look at the next summer's movies, and they do start spreading buzz — but the event is probably best at helping smaller projects get more exposure. If a movie, TV show, comic or novel goes into Comic Con with tons of buzz already, the best you can hope for is simply to keep the momentum going.

Look at last year — Comic Con 2008 had a clear winner (Watchmen) and a clear loser (The Spirit). And the bad exposure at Comic Con definitely hurt The Spirit, but it's hard to argue the event helped Watchmen all that much. Meanwhile, Star Trek stayed away from Comic Con 2008, and did better than almost any movie that actually did panels there. (Looking back, Wolverine did a panel, and it grossed less than Trek domestically.)

So the io9 brain trust got together and figured out which projects we feel came out of Comic Con with more buzz than they had going in. It's highly subjective, but these are the ones we heard more excitement about after SDCC was over.

#1: District 9

This film excited us more than any other. District 9 went into Comic Con with a ton of viral marketing, and not much else. After a full year of wacky alien segregationist signage (Comic Con 2008 was plastered with the stuff, and now it's on bus shelters) we were starting to wonder if this film was just an excuse for an ARG. Then we got to see the actual movie — and suddenly Moon wasn't the only standout indie movie of the year. It didn't hurt, too, that producer Peter Jackson put his considerable mojo to work promoting it. (We managed to corner Jackson for a few minutes of geeking out about monster movies, and he explained how D9 came out of the ashes of the failed Halo movie.) The raves about District 9 were both unanimous and ubiquitous, with everyone either gushing about having seen it or wishing they had.

#2: Zombieland

Another sleeper project, and one that features the overexposed undead, Zombieland crawled out of a buzz grave at Comic Con. This movie was just so gleeful and so outrageously gonzo with its mayhem, and the panel was full of great quotable soundbites. (As opposed to the bland boilerplate we heard on some other panels.) The former TV pilot script does a great job of reinventing the buddy comedy in a fresh way, from the characters named after towns to the pairing of the paranoid Jesse Eisenberg with the gung-ho Woody Harrelson. We were wowed, and so was a capacity crowd in Hall H. The L.A. Times says simply, "Zombieland keeps the movie genre alive."

#3: V

This was a television franchise we weren't sure we wanted to see back again, and yet another remake/reboot that we were leery of. But this show opened our bleary eyes with its moody, weird and scary pilot. The cast, including Firefly's Morena Baccarin and Alan Tudyk and Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell, were snappy and fun to watch. And the old "beware of aliens bearing gifts" trope still turns out to have a decent amount of life left in it. The 4400's Scott Peters brings the right amount of paranoia to a story where the terrorists turn out to be anti-alien freedom fighters, and the media is lying to us all along. We heard several people marveling afterwards that a V remake could be so intriguing. Hollywood Reporter says the screening and panel got a strong Comic Con response."

#4: 9

We've been excited about this film since we first saw Shane Acker's award-winning short film, and every clip has gotten us more thrilled. But the movie's presentation, in the cavernous Hall H, won an uproarious response from people who had never seen anything quite like its style. Rolling Stone's Douglas Wolk (who was on our io9 panel on Thursday) praises its "rich, run-down visual design." The L.A. Times says 9 "snagged" the audience. We felt the excitement in the room, and heard people wondering afterwards about just what kind of movie would get both Tim Burton and Wanted's Timur Bekmambetov on board as producers. (We'll have exclusive interviews with Acker and Bekmambetov, later in the week.)

#5: Felicia Day

Comic Con is pretty much Felicia Day's home town, but this year she ruled more than ever. Her panel for The Guild was one of the big hits of the Con (we heard people talking about it days afterwards) and her booth for the Guild was a major destination. Tubefilter says Day had an "entrance typically reserved for A-list movie stars" at her panel, where she announced Wil Wheaton was joining the cast. And Dark Horse announced a Guild comic. But oh yeah — she also starred in the unaired Dollhouse episode, which completely rocked our world. And Joss announced that her post-apocalyptic survivalist character would be turning up again in Dollhouse season two. All she needed was the announcement of a musical about cyborg Penny, and she'd have ruled the entire con.

#6: Tron 2

Actually, the biggest winner of Comic Con 2008? Was probably Tron Legacy, or Tron 2.0, or Tr2n. Whatever they're calling it this week, the Disney sequel generated as much excitement with one amazing surprise clip of lightcycles as any other property did with a whole panel and banners everywhere. This year, Tron built on that excitement, with a clip that showcased more of its storyline. But honestly, nothing about Tron's Comic Con panel generated a tenth as much chatter as the recreation of Flynn's arcade, complete with video games we'd only played in our dreams. And a real lightcycle. That was all people wanted to talk about for days.

#7: Richard Kadrey

His new novel Sandman Slim comes out in August (we'll be reviewing it soon) and we witnessed several awestruck conversations about the cyberpunk veteran's Comic Con prowess. People talked about his three-book deal with Eos, and Sandman Slim has gotten raves from Cory Doctorow and William Gibson. There were whispers that Hollwood was paying attention, and that's part of what Comic Con is for.

#8: Stargate Universe

The Stargate franchise is rivaling Star Trek for number of consecutive years on the air, and number of shows with things like SG-1 or DS9 after the franchise name. So there's been some doubt as to whether SGU would be true to Stargate and feel fresh and interesting. But the new trailer got people ramped up, and the producers said the right things about keeping this show true to the franchise's traditions. And then Robert Carlyle said the thing about how everybody was going to die. And we were pretty much sold. We also overheard tons of hallway conversations from people surprised they were stoked about Stargate again. The San Diego Union Tribune calls SGU "promising" and says it's one of a few shows that prove "there could be light at the end of our sci-fi TV apocalypse."

#9: Sherlock Holmes

Everybody expected Iron Man 2 to be fun and to feature Samuel L. Jackson swaggering as Nick Fury. And awesome Tony Stark banter and outbursts. We even kinda expected War Machine to turn up. Iron Man 2 lived up to our expectations. But none of us expected Robert Downey Jr.'s other movie to be so much fun, and so full of Victorian verve and rocky bromance between Downey and Jude Law as Watson. We were disappointed when producer Joel Silver told us this film wasn't steampunk, but we certainly heard lots of people suddenly talking about Sherlock. Associated Press quotes Downey as calling Sherlock Holmes an "intellectual superhero." So yeah, Iron Man didn't lose any buzz, that we could see. But Sherlock noticeably gained some.

#10: Avatar

James Cameron's space epic had the biggest hype, and thus the most to lose. So it's not surprising there's a bit of an "Avatar backlash." But like we said yesterday, even most of the detractors were saying things like, "I still think it'll be great, but..." And while the footage we saw wasn't photorealistic, it was an improvement on any CG world-building we'd ever seen before. As long as this movie avoids coming across as too preachy, it stands a great chance of capitalizing on Comic Con excitement. When you have the Kansas City Star reporting that a packed room of screaming fans gave Avatar a "resounding endorsement," that's buzz.

Flynn's Arcade image by JoelTelling on Flickr. Felicia Day image by GeekGirlDiva on Flickr.

The official title of Focus Film's new alternate reality game is the "9 Movie Talisman Challenge Clue." The image appears to be a ripped bit from something more. We are just one among 9 other sites hosting images from the site. One you find all nine pieces, it should decode a message over at www.9experiment.com. Good luck.

I've already started a personal savings fund to acquire Marty McFly's 2015 Trainers, and totally botched the limited edition Coraline ebaying back and forth, (turns out you need MONEY to purchase them) — but these Pony sneaks will not get past me. Check out the green bottoms. Who's going to bet they have glow-in-the-dark soles, just like the green little life goo the ragdolls pass around in the flick...

Nice. No idea when these hit the stores, but we'll keep you all updated. Shane Acker's animated end of the world film, however, will be released on 9/09/09.