According to Vin Diesel's Facebook page, the Riddick crew is headed to New Zealand to look for locations. Which is totally different than any Riddick world we've seen thus far.

I wonder if New Zealand will be the hostile planet Riddick will be stuck on, "surrounded by hostile beasts." I hope so, because it's gorgeous. And while I'm happy to have Riddick back, I'm hoping that they attempt to explain the Necromonger world that was introduced in the Chronicles of Riddick — but so far the new Riddick sounds more space action and less space opera. Still, always good to have the Furyan back.

Star Trek:

Scriptwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtman hint that all your favorite Trek cliches will be in the movie. Like, there'll be some version of McCoy saying "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a _______." And Scotty will struggle against the laws of physics. And some kind of "insult fight" between McCoy and Spock. And as you already knew, Kirk's cheating on the Kobayashi Maru scenario is in there too. But the writers wanted to include the start of Kirk's relationship with Carol Marcus and couldn't work it in there. So that's for another movie. [Sci Fi Wire]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

Here are a few more TV spots showcasing Wolverine's quest for revenge over the supposed death of Silver Fox:

Pandorum:

A new promo photo from this spooky spaceship movie features Antje Traue, Cung Le and Ben Foster hanging out on a beam. [Cinemablend]

Chronicles Of Riddick:

The next Riddick movie will be less fantasy-oriented and more down and dirty, sources say. Here's what we know:

A bounty hunter/space pirate type of story line is expected.

The film will have a capped budget of around $35 million.

Expect an official announcement about the new film after FAST & FURIOUS opens big on April 3.

[IESB]

Green Hornet:

Star Seth Rogen says this film won't feature Michel Gondry's famous style of home-made special effects, because Gondry doesn't want to repeat himself. And the script still focuses on the relationship between the Green Hornet and his more famous sidekick Kato, but now has a greater scope. Rogen and cowriter Evan Goldberg were resisting doing an origin story, but now they've decided to embrace it and have fun with it. [Sci Fi Wire]

Dollhouse:

It's not just Echo, Victor and Sierra who "wake up" in the Dollhouse with their original memories intact, in next week's episode, "Needs." It's also November (aka Mellie) and someone named Mike. They start to question what they're doing there, and who's in control of this whole deal. They also start to remember more about their original lives, and November reveals she left behind someone very important when she entered the Dollhouse. [E! Online]

When Echo suddenly told Paul Ballard that someone "on the inside" was helping him, was that another head-fake from Adelle, or a real message? Joss Whedon says it's okay to wonder that, but "for now, I'd take it at face value." [TV Guide]

Also, here's what happens in episode 9, "Spy In The House Of Love":

When a traitor is discovered inside the Dollhouse, Echo (Eliza Dushku) is programmed as a spy hunter to uncover the culprit.

Oh, and there are some pics — including a swordfight with Victor. Dude! [Fox]

Doctor Who:

There's some speculation that the bookstore scene featuring the Doctor and "Verity Newman" was filmed on a Saturday, before the show's actors had even had a chance to read through the new scripts, because actor Jessica Hynes was only available to film on that one day before she had to fly to New York for another acting gig. In other words, Hynes may have a cameo in the final specials, not a huge role. [Doctor Who Forum]

Lost:

Fans observed the filming of some upcoming scenes. There were tons of gun-wielding extras at Papailoa Beach, aka Police Beach. And Kate, Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel and Young Charlotte were filming a scene at the Submarine Museum, which has stood in for the inside of the Others' Submarine, the Galaga. The scene involved some kind of fight in which Sawyer ended up beaten and bloody. And finally, a ton of extras were playing Others in scenes set in the jungle, possibly at the construction of the Swan station, or a return to the Temple. [SpoilersLost]

Elizabeth Mitchell says Jack and Juliet have very few scenes together, coming up, but they do have a handful of "rich and full" moments. [TV Guide]

Here are a few clips from tonight's episode, including more of Young Ben. [AceShowbiz]

Fringe:

The show's April 7 episode is about an "Observer," with a definite question-mark. The bald child is silent and empathic, and never eats or pees. But the kid's weird peccadillos may be explainable by perfectly reasonable science, and it doesn't have to be a mini-Observer. On the other hand, it probably is. [E! Online]

Dr. William Bell will be formally identified in the season finale, but that may not be the first time we see him. [TV Guide]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

The fact that Brian Austin Green has been cast in a new pilot, Body Politic, doesn't mean he's definitely leaving the Terminator show. It's just a fall-back position in case T:SCC gets canceled, say insiders. His Politic role could get re-cast. [SF Universe]

Heroes:

The show's writers answered more fan questions. In particular, we haven't seen the last of Luke or Doyle. There will be a gay/bisexual character on the show. And we'll see more of Claire and Nathan's relationship when they hang out in Mexico together, in Monday's episode. (We ran some set pics from the Mexico sequence a while back, but I'm too lazy to find them.) [Comic Book Resources via Heroes Television]

In an upcoming episode, there's a huge fight in a hotel room, including a chair covered with blood, says Greg Grunberg. [E! Online]

Writer Bryan Fuller clarified in the episode commentary on "Cold Snap" that Tracy is definitely not dead, and that scene in the garage is the catalyst for her becoming a leader of the good guys in season four. [The ODI]

Supernatural:

The "Ghostfacers" will be back in tomorrow's episode, where Dean and Sam get lost in an alternate world. Dean and Sam call on the Ghostfacers for help, because they're "the two most reliable ghost-hunters in all of ghost-hunterdom," says actor A.J. Buckley. The Ghostfacers don't help Dean and Sam get back to reality — they're more like "goofy shamans" who are well-intentioned. But Dean and Sam and Ed and Harry never see eye-to-eye. [TV Guide]

Jim Beaver, who plays Bobby, told Eyecon that both Dean and Sam will have upcoming scenes with Bobby where they cry. And Bobby's only scene in the season finale is at the start of the episode, but it's similar in feeling — if not in storyline — to "All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2." [Dean_Sam]

True Blood:

According to a new casting call, in season two we'll see a flashback to 1935, when Lorena hires a pretty but drunk chorus girl to tapdance for Bill. [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

We talked to Murray about his work, and he shared some of his ongoing projects with us. Here's a gallery of some of his work, past and present:

The amazing alien prison planet and alien warrior images come from a pitch package that Murray helped David Twohy (Chronicles Of Riddick) put together. According Murray, Twohy wrote a script

called "100 Days From Now", a remake of "The Great Escape", but with an alien occupation here on Earth. The "Alien Prison", "Alien Warrior", and "Alien Commandant" images are all part of that pitch that he sold to the studio for another director.

As far as Murray knows, that pitch has been shelved for now.

Meanwhile, Murray's no longer involved with the Green Lantern film, now that co-writer Greg Berlanti isn't on board to direct. (It's passed over to Casino Royale's Martin Campbell). Instead, Murray's working on Scott Derrickson's reimagining of Milton's Paradise Lost, with a script by Stuart Hazeltine. In case you missed them, here are those GL images again:

So what about that Star Trek poster, "To Boldly Go," featuring - of all people - Thomas Jane as Captain Kirk? That's not an actual movie pitch, it's just some art Murray created for fun, reimagining the franchise before J.J. Abrams' film even came about. He explains:

It really came about when I saw the ridiculous, but entertaining, "Deep Blue Sea" with Tom Jane and Sam Jackson (it features one of my favorite movie death scenes ever). Throughout Jane's performance in the lead role, I saw so much of William Shatner's Kirk from the TV series, short of the signature dramatic pauses, that I thought he'd be a perfect recast for Kirk, if a remake were to ever happen. So when I had some time between jobs, I thought I'd have some fun recasting the series for a new movie. I really like the thought of Ian McShane as McCoy, but I'm such a fan of his from Deadwood, I could cast him in anything.
You may have noticed the design of their tunics is a mix of DS9/Next Gen jackets with the Classic insignia as a comm badge and a classic tunic underneath. On the Enterprise, I used NCC-1701-A's body style but plated it with the more industrial texture of Archer's Enterprise.

There's also some nice Battlestar Galactica fan art.

There are also some images from Murray's pitch for a Superman Elseworlds comic, "Immortality Crisis," which he says is on DC Comics supremo Dan DiDio's desk right now.

And the images called "Sprout" and "Birth" are from a story called Cascade, which Murray has written up in pitch form. It's about a strange singing plant that sprouts up in the garden of Laura Shepard, a young woman who's just found out she's infertile. As the blossom grows, it eventually opens up to reveal a baby girl, named Cascade, or Cassy. Unfortunately, another family also receives a blossom, which gives birth to an evil child. Murray says he's just worked out a book deal with a major comics company for Cascade, but can't reveal any details yet.

Also on the horizon, besides the Paradise Lost thing, are some work for one of the CSI shows, and Monk.

You can see more of Murray's art, including some more concept art and fan art, over at his website. [Murray Studios]

Star Trek:

Sonita Henry plays the doctor who delivers baby James T. Kirk — and her character is referred to only as The Doctor, she tells Starpulse. Sounds like she's not human, since she says she doesn't know what her character will look like when the special effects are added. She adds that during the scenes where the Kelvin is being destroyed and Kirk's dad takes command, "everything is being blown up, and Winona Kirk is trying to deliver [James Kirk]." [Starpulse]

Spider-Man 4:

Director Sam Raimi says right now, he's only thinking in terms of a story for the fourth installment of the web-slinger's series, not the fourth and fifth movies as one unit. And he says any villain (or villains, god forbid) will be straight from the comics. (He makes a point of saying "or villains.") And he's hoping Kirsten Dunst will be back as Mary Jane. [MTV]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

Ryan Reynolds seems to think a Deadpool spin-off movie is still a possibility after this film, and he explains that he does play both versions of the merc with a mouth:

I've had a couple of people approach for meetings about a 'Deadpool' movie, but I think it's absurd to even think that way until this movie comes out and I don't even look at it like I play Deadpool in that movie. I really think that I'm more or less playing Wade Wilson, obviously and then I'm playing the creature that will eventually become Deadpool. But in this movie it's sort of his newly formed version.

He also explains that Deadpool was just supposed to have a cameo in the film, but then they added more scenes, which he mostly shot after the movie was supposed to have wrapped, because of scheduling conflicts. [Movies Online]

Terminator Salvation:

Here's what appears to be a new poster for the film, complete with the slogan, "We Fight Back." Bigger version at the link. [Slashfilm]

Monsters Versus Aliens:

Here's a great behind-the-scenes featurette focusing on Rainn Wilson's villain, Gallaxhar. [Sci Fi Wire]

Chronicles Of Riddick II:

Star Vin Diesel clarified that although the second Chronicles film will start with Riddick struggling to survive against carnivorous monsters, it'll get much bigger and go to the Underverse. And then the third film will take us to Furya. Think of Pitch Black as Tolkien's The Hobbit, and the Chronicles films as the more epic Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Diesel suggests. [Sci Fi Wire]

Avatar:

Michelle Rodriguez says she plays a pilot on the movie's alien planet. [Sci Fi Wire]

Moon:

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), the miner stranded on the Moon, can only communicate with his wife, Tess, via recorded messages, never through live chat. Sam starts seeing things, such as a woman standing in the one of the station's bays, or glitches in recorded conversations that he's already watched... or conversations he doesn't remember having. He starts to wonder if he's really alone up there. [IGN]

Doctor Who:

Russell T. Davies talks us through the 2009 specials, starring David Tennant for the last time:

There's the Easter one and then a big gap, and then the other three are going to go out around Christmas time/end of the year. It ends in a two parter. There's a very strong link between the last three specials. It's not a three parter, but there's a strong connection - as we head towards the ending it gets thematically bigger and bigger. Everyone knows that David's going, so you start to write that into it. It's not like a giant spider suddenly turns up and kills him out of the blue! But even in Planet Of The Spiders his death was written into it quite properly. So there's a feel of that to it. Everyone knows where the story is heading, especially with Matt Smith being everywhere. It's nice actually - we play with that.

Davies also hints the Tenth Doctor's death will have something to do with that Ood prophecy that his song will end. And he says he's known how the Tenth Doctor will die for a long time, although some of the details have changed, such as the geography and who's where. [SFX via Sci Fi Pulse]

Battlestar Galactica:

A reader points out this eBay auction for a stripper costume as worn "in the 'Daybreak' flashback. When Saul Tigh and William Adama were at a strip club, Tigh tries to buy Adama a lap dance from the stripper wearing this outfit. This outfit features a blue pleated miniskirt with matching butterfly halter top. Miniskirt made by Serious, top's maker is unknown. Comes with assorted jewelry." And that's probably the same strip-club scene you can glimpse in these wrap-video images. [Thanks Max!]

Lost:

An interview with costume designer Roland Sanchez reveals a couple of spoilers: First, he had to create robes for a scene showing Daniel Faraday's PhD graduation at Oxford. And second, a character he thought we'd never see again is coming back... but she's played by a new actress. [Honolulu Advertiser via The ODI]

A fan got this set pic showing Sawyer filming at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum... and Sawyer had traces of blood on his face. [SpoilersLost]

Actor Malcolm David Kelley hints we may see Walt in the season five finale. And he refuses to comment on rumors that he's already filmed a scene from the series finale (because he'll be too old to play present-day Walt when season six ends.) [Dutch Lost via SpoilersLost]

Here's the synopsis for the April 1 episode "Whatever Happened, Happened":

Kate goes to extreme measures to save Ben's life when Jack refuses to help. Meanwhile, Kate begins to tell the truth about the lie in order to protect Aaron.

And here are some pics. [Doc Arzt]

Fringe:

When this show finally returns from its endless hiatus, in April, we'll learn a massive revelation about the mysterious William Bell. And we'll find out more about how Walter, Olivia and Peter were all linked from the beginning. [E! Online]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Here are a couple of photos from episode 2x21, "Adam Raised A Cain." [Sarah Connor Society]

Heroes:

Here's the official synopsis for episode 3x22, "Turn To Face The Strange":

RELATIONSHIPS ARE TESTED AS DANKO TAKES THE OPERATION TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL – EMMY AWARD-WINNER ZELJKO IVANEK GUEST STARS – As Danko (guest star Zeljko Ivanek) spearheads the government operation, someone close to him is put in the line of fire. HRG's (Jack Coleman) life continues to spiral out of control and his marriage is dangerously close to the breaking point. Meanwhile, Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) continue their road trip with a special delivery for Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg). Elsewhere, Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose) unearths the demons of her past.

[SpoilerTV]

The flashback episode, "1961," will feature a young version of Dr. Zimmerman, the scientist responsible for creating an army of superpowered Ali Larters. Larter, meanwhile, will be in the season finale after all. And it looks like Peter Petrelli gets pretty messed up in his D.C. Capitol battle with Sylar, in episode 3x25, judging from these set pics. [The ODI]

Chuck:

Here's the official synopsis for episode 2x19, "Chuck Vs. The Dream Job":

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP FOR CHUCK WHEN HE FINDS HIS FATHER AND LANDS HIS DREAM JOB OR SO HE THINKS - CHEVY CHASE AND SCOTT BAKULA GUEST STAR - Chuck's (Zachary Levi) life seems to be coming together: his long-absent father Steve (guest star Scott Bakula) has returned and he's landed his dream job with his hero Ted Roark (guest star Chevy Chase). Unfortunately for Chuck, neither turns out to be quite what he expected.

[Chuck TV]

Also, in the following episode, Jordana Brewster says she returns to the show as Chuck's ex, Jill. She gets broken out of jail so she can work with Chuck and Sarah. [Sci Fi Wire]

Smallville:

Here's what happens in episode 8x18, "Eternal":

Tess (Cassidy Freeman) tries to kill Davis (Sam Witwer) by blowing up his truck. However, after he escapes, she realizes she needs help to destroy him and turns to Clark (Tom Welling). Tess reveals Davis' secret childhood with the Luthors and hints that she knows Clark's true identity. Meanwhile, Davis runs to Chloe (Allison Mack) for help.

[SpoilerTV]

Supernatural:

Here's the Canadian trailer from episode 4x16, featuring lots of blood-drinking!

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

It's easy to feel like we're awash in franchises already, until you look at all the movies and shows that have tried to become franchises and failed in the past 20 years. I'm not talking about movies that never had a sequel, or TV shows that got canceled after one season. I'm talking about wannabe franchises which had one successful movie — and then a sequel that woofed. Or a TV show that had a few good seasons, and then flamed out, or failed to make the transition to movies or spin-offs.

After all, just having one successful TV show or movie doesn't make it a franchise. It's the endless spinning out into different formats, or the perpetual motion machine of prequels, sequels and tweakels. (I made that last word up, but it'll be a real thing within a few years.)

Your Star Treks and Transformerses are grandfathered — they're not necessarily any better than newer TV shows, movies and games that have tried to become an ongoing entity, spinning out endless permutations. They're just older, and they have nostalgia on their side, on the part of Slurpee-buzzed kids aged 18-49.

This isn't just an academic question, given the number of first-time sequels on their way. Everything from The Host to Iron Man to Wanted has a sequel in the works. Some of these sequels will do a Dark Knight and be more successful than the first film. Others, though, will evaporate after their initial success.

Really, we all bemoan the plague of sequels, but so many of them are best viewed as abortive franchise attempts. Who saw Cube 2? Species 2? Remember Timecop 2, or the Timecop TV series?

I'm also leaning towards calling the 28 Days/Weeks Later movies a failed franchise. The sequel made roughly half the domestic box office of the original, and when I interviewed Danny Boyle, he made it sound like the studio suits were hesitant to pony up the money for a third movie.

So here are some random observations on the etiology and symptomology of sudden franchise crib death:

It only takes one flop to derail a fledgeling franchise. Take X-Files, which did spawn one hyper-successful movie and one spin-off series... only to get frosty box office for its snowy second film.

Actors have looser contracts nowadays. Thanks to Meredith for mentioning this one. These days, A-list actors may be less likely to be tied down for a sequel when they do one movie. So, when Marvel decided to do Iron Man II, it had to pony up a lot more money to get Robert Downey Jr. to come back. Of course, this is probably a case-by-case basis, and plenty of sequels still do get made.

Switching formats seems to be a way to create a successful genre phenomenon nowadays. A movie that becomes a TV series (Stargate), or a TV series that spawns a movie (Firefly) looks more like a franchise. Especially since Stargate II never came out, and Firefly got cancelled.

You can pander to fans with cheaper formats. If you're just trying to appeal to a small but rabid fanbase of a particular movie or TV show, it's cheaper to put out comics or DVD releases, rather than keep doing sequels or spin-offs. That way, you get an ongoing franchise — sort of — but it flies below the radar of most audiences. (Thanks to Lauren D. for this idea.)

Nowaday's pop culture is less open-ended. A show like the original Star Trek had a very simple premise that went in a different direction every week: they're on a spaceship. One week, they're on the 1920s gangster planet, the next they're having a dogfight in space with an alien vessel. These days, it's all about "arcs" and "mythology," which means that newer would-be franchises are less newbie-friendly and harder to spin out endlessly into new permutations.

Everything comes around again, of course. In thirty years, we'll all be talking about the new Riddick remake, starring someone who wasn't even born when Vin Diesel was famous. An elderly Joss Whedon will be cursing the suits who are remaking Firefly without his involvement. And X-Files: The Next Generation will be set on a spooky space station.