How does having a movie impact the books? Not just the promotion of the books, but you're also writing another Surrogates book...

I don't think much has changed. I understand that right now, it's in the news and it's something that's on everyone's mind because of the marketing campaign, but I am fully prepared for the fact that, next week, the world will have moved on. I'll just keep working away on the stories, and hopefully people will keep enjoying them, whether they be Hollywood people or readers at the bookstores.

I've got two other Surrogates books I want to do, but I'm not working on either of those at the moment. Surrogates isn't the only thing I want to do, so I'd like it to be one of those things I come back to around other projects that I'm working on. Right now, I have The Homeland Directive, which is more of a modern-day political meta-thriller, and that whole book was written before I started on the prequel to The Surrogates [Flesh and Bone, which came out earlier this year], but the film went into production so fast that we put the Surrogates prequel into production to come out before the movie, and that pushed Homeland Directive back another year. It'll come out next year.

I'm also adapting Percy Jackson and the Olympians young adult series into graphic novel format, and I have an Iron Man oneshot coming out in October, as well.

You're a busy man! Was Surrogates your first book?

Yeah, that's the first book I ever wrote.

So what was the impetus behind, not just Surrogates, but also just wanting to be a comic writer?

I'll tackle the comic writer first, then come back to The Surrogates. I always wanted to be a writer. When I was very, very little, I wanted to be an animator; to animate Bugs Bunny cartoons was like the highest form of achievement for me, and that's what I wanted to do when I grew up. I had all the animation books and I kept working at it, but I could tell that I had no talent for it, I mean, it was obvious. I think I turned to writing stories to explain what I couldn't draw with my hands. I was writing short stories at a very early age, like second, third and fourth grade. So I knew I wanted to be a writer, but it was always prose. I didn't grow up reading comics, comics weren't something on my radar. So when I was in grad school, getting my MFA in creative writing, through a friend of mine who worked in Borders, he got me to read Astro City, and I just really enjoyed it. It had all the complexity, the deep characterization, the subtext and the themes that the literary fiction I was enjoying had, but it also had this very strong visual element, and it just sort of struck me that here was an opportunity, that I could write a story and someone else could render it into art and it was probably as close as I would ever get to that original ambition of being an animator.

That was in 2000, that I decided to try and write comics. I wrote The Surrogates in 2002, I spent some time - I'm not sure I'd want to call "researching," but looking into it, trying to figure out what a comic book script looked like, and also boning up on some of the classics of the medium. I didn't start writing The Surrogates until May of 2002.

As far as writing The Surrogates, again when I was in grad school, we read a book called The Cyber Gypsies, which was a non-fiction book where a guy had spent a lot of time with people addicted to online games, and these people in the book had become so identified with the personas on their computers that they'd lose their jobs or get divorced or any number of things because they were devoting so much of their time to maintaining that persona that they were neglecting the basic steps of living. It was an idea that stuck with me, this basic human desire to be someone other than who we actually are. It just clicked for me in 2002: What if there was a technology that would allow you to create a persona that, instead of being bound in a machine or have a virtual reality situation, what if the technology was reversed and the machine would go out into the world and do all the things you need to do to live for you? You could be that persona all the time and still maintain all your responsibilities.

I was explaining the concept behind The Surrogates to a friend, and she both couldn't understand what was bad about the idea of having a Surrogate, and didn't see any conflict of who you "are" using that technology.

Well, I think there's a lot of good that could come from that technology, I think there's a lot of benefit. Like any technology, it can be abused, you know.

The Surrogates - more the first book than the second, perhaps - struck me not as an anti-technology book, but definitely something that warned of the dangers of becoming too enamored and relying too much on technology that divorces you so much from the majority of your life. Was that something you were trying to get across?

I definitely wanted that to be one of the themes. And like you said, I didn't want it to be anti-technology. I didn't want someone to read it and think, that's what this guy thinks, this is what he's saying, because in many cases, I don't have the answers. I'm just sort of asking the questions and it's up to the readers to answer them individually. In this case, I had these questions: What does technology do to our interpersonal relationships? What would it mean if we could all redefine not just our physical appearance, but also deeper notions like race and gender? In what ways would it be freeing, and in what ways would it be confining? All these sort of things, and I just wanted to put it out there. Writing for me, as an exercise, is a way for me not to find an answer as much as explore a question, whatever that question may be, that's behind the story I'm telling.

That's what I wanted to do, to pose those questions to the readers, but not at any point feel like I was answering them. I think that's when, as an audience, you start feeling like you're being preached to, and I don't enjoy that when I'm reading or watching a movie. I try to not do that when I write.

I think it's left very ambiguous, especially with the prequel, which explains a lot of the concepts behind the first book. Why did you go back and do Flesh and Bone?

That was always the intention. It was always meant as a trilogy of books, but back in the day, all the other books were very dependent on how successful the first book was. It was always intention to tell that middle story, then a prequel, then a sequel to continue the story from the first book. I'm writing them in the way I always intended to; I think it makes sense to go back before you go forward again, to see the origins of Harvey and Margaret Greer, of the Prophet and how he built his church and get that background before you go forward again.

With the Prophet and his church, were you playing on the traditional science versus faith theme, or was he and his church just the most obvious counterpoint to the blind faith the rest of society has in the technology in the first book?

A little bit of both, but definitely the science versus religion debate... It becomes this question of, Where does it end? If we're going to use science and technology for reasons purely based in vanity, because there's something inherently wrong in that, then where does that end? If you're going to say that there's something wrong with someone getting a facelift, if that is a misuse of technology, how is that different from plastic surgery because they were a burn victim? I understand a difference, I understand the practicality, but if you look at it from a purely religious - versus scientific - stance, and you try to draw a line between black and white, you see that it is the grey area I was talking about earlier. There aren't any easy answers to these questions, and it's up to people to answer them for themselves.

It's not only the religion versus science argument, but also the Prophet himself, the character; I wanted him to be a grey area himself. You see this more in the prequel, but you don't really know: Is he a con man, or is he doing this because of a deep and abiding faith in Christ? All of these things that he does can be construed in either way.

Something I really like about your writing in general, especially the second book, is how much you want to leave open to the reader's prejudices. You argue both sides about whether the technology is worthwhile or a bad thing.

I wanted to populate the book with people who are using the technology for different reasons. I think the movie focuses more on just the physical aspect, and the personal beautification element of the technology, but I wanted to fill the book with people who use it for different reasons. I mean, Greer's surrogate pretty much looks the way he looks, he looks a little bit different but only because he's aged since he bought the surrogate, but you get the impression that, on the day he walked out the showroom, he looked exactly like that. For him, it's not something about changing the way he looks, it's about something he needs to do his job and be safe. I wanted to have these people, have different reasons, so the reader could see different things, whether it's law enforcement or to improve public health, and say "Wow, these are benefits that this technology could give" so that it's not just something that people use for vanity or self-servedness.

Do you think that sort of subtlety can come through in the movie?

Am I worried it's going to be lost in the translation? I don't think it will be. To me, the most important part of the book, even though it's a very small element, is the relationship between Harvey Greer and [his wife] Margaret. I think maybe it accounts for ten pages, if that, of the entire graphic novel, but it's what drives home the human toll of the entire technology. It also lays bear the dichotomy of people using it for beautification and people using it for more utilitarian reasons, because Margaret is using it because she's uncomfortable with how she looks, but Harvey's just using it because it's something he needs to do [for his job]. All of that is retained in the film, and the relationship plays out very much like it does in the book, and I think because that is in there - and in the film, I think more screentime is devoted to it than pagetime in the book - I think that stuff will still shine through.

If you had a surrogate, what would you do with it?

I'd like to think that I'd be like Greer, I'd be a guy who'd use it for utilitarian reasons, not for any kind of vanity. But I understand how seductive technology is, and if I lived in a world like Greer does where everyone is using these things, it's be very easy to get sucked into that. I don't know if I'd perform as admirably as I'd want to.

Surrogates is in theaters now. The two graphic novels, The Surrogates and The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone are both available in bookstores and comic stores now.

iVerse and Top Shelf have teamed up to offer the entire first series of The Surrogates on iTunes. The first issue is available as a free app, with a second app offering the first and second issues (and the chance to purchase the remaining three) for just 99 cents. If you're looking for something to do with your iPhone besides playing Toy Story Mania, there are much worse ways to spend your weekend. Plus, you won't be distracted by Bruce Willis' wig.

The Surrogates #1 [iTunes]

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.

Jennifer's Body:

Apparently when Megan Fox's character says she "goes both ways," she actually means it — she gets to kiss Amanda Seyfried in the movie, and Fox says it was a fun bit to film. [MTV]

And here are some pics that I think are new, including both Megan and Amanda covered with blood and stuff. [MTV]

Surrogates:

In this movie about a future where nobody leaves the house, and instead mentally connects to physically perfect cyber-avatars (who then start dying and triggering their owners' deaths) the structure of a detective story allows Bruce Willis' detective character to serve as a "surrogate" for the audience's curiosity. And the movie version of the story isn't as "luddite" as the comic — although it does comment on the dehumanizing effect of technology. [Sci Fi Wire]

New Moon:

Edi Gathegi, who plays Laurent, says he actually gets to wear shoes in the second movie, unlike the first. And he never gets to sparkle in the sun like a proper vampire. His character dies off in the second movie, just like in the books. [MTV]

Also, in the movie, the Volturi have specially crafted blood-red contact lenses to give their eyes a spooky look. They're thousands of years old, but look young and zippy. The most lethal of them maybe Jane (Dakota Fanning) who enjoys inflicting torture on her victims. And here are a couple pics I don't think we've shown you before. [People]

Doctor Who:

More details about what those Daleks are up to in World War II. Spectator Alun.Vega thinks the gist of the story so far is that a Professor (Bill Paterson) working for Winston Churchill has developed the Daleks as a weapon, but is a bit hazy on where he got the idea from. Churchill doesn't care as long as they destroy the Nazis. Leading to this bit of dialogue:

Churchill: Death to our enemies. Death to the Third Reich!
Doctor: Yes, yes, and death to everyone else too.

And as the Doctor tells the Daleks that he's the Doctor and they're the Daleks, he's partly trying to remind himself of who he is. Churchill and the Professor aren't taking the new Doctor seriously due to his extreme youth. The Professor does hit it off with new companion Amy Pond, and they bond over her Scottish background: "Are you from the islands?" he asks. But the happy relationship between Winston and the Daleks doesn't last, judging from this snatch of overheard dialogue:

CHURCHILL: "You are my ironsides!"
DALEK: "We are the Daleks."
PROFESSOR: "I created you!"
DALEK: "No, we created you."

As someone once said, "in the morning, I'll be sober. And you'll still be a mutant." [Gallifrey Base]

Lost:

So whether or not Juliet's bomb succeeded in resetting the timeline, we'll definitely see the continuation of the Faux Locke cliffhanger from the previous season. The show was filming a scene on the beach where we see a closeup of Locke's dead body. And then Faux Locke and Richard Alpert (shouldn't that be Ben?) descend from the temple. All of the Others point their guns at Faux Locke, suspicious for obvious reasons. Richard steps up to confront Faux Locke, who proceeds to beat the stuffing out of him in a really intense sequence. Then Faux Locke stands over Richard's battered body and wags his finger at the assembled Others, saying "I'm really disappointed in all of you." [Hawaii Weblog]

And here are some not-very-revealing set pics. More at the link. [The ODI]

Also, it sounds like they're setting up an airplane set at the studios. [The ODI]

Caprica:

Welsh actor Peter Wingfield (who played the immortal Methos in the Highlander TV series and the last two movies) announced on his website that he's joining this show as Gara Singh, director of the Global Defense Department — which makes him the boss of Jordan Duram, the GDD agent played by Brian Markinson. [Peter Wingfield via Battlestar_Blog]

Fringe:

Lance Reddick says we'll learn more about Broyles' background, and the reasons for his divorce, but it won't be through flashbacks. And he tells us what to expect in season two generally:

Olivia's reemergence back into this universe will be shocking. The developments with Charlie will be mind blowing. You'll find out just how deep my relationship with Nina goes.

[Hollywood the Write Way via Sci Fi Scoop]

And here's a new promo that also includes Bones:

Episode 2x08 will introduce us to Harry, who appears to be just a normal DMV employee, but has darker intentions. [SpoilerTV]

And here's a thrilling teaser:

And another one. [Fringe Television]

Supernatural:

The description for episode 5x02, "Good God, Y'All," sounds like the greatest thing ever:

Castiel (Misha Collins) tells Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) that he is going to search for God, who will be able to defeat Lucifer. Bobby's (Jim Beaver) old hunter friend, Rufus (guest star Steven Williams), is panicked about demons attacking his town, and begs Bobby for help. Sam and Dean arrive at the town and realize there is a spell over the townspeople, making them hallucinate that they are demons and causing them to kill one another. Phil Sgriccia directed the episode written by Sera Gamble

[Examiner]

And speaking of amazing-sounding episodes written by Sera Gamble, here's a casting call for "The Curious Case Of Dean Winchester," episode 5x07 (a Benjamin Button episode??):

[PATRICK] 30-40, charismatic, extremely likeable and charming, with a devil-may-care attitude and a twinkle in his eye. He is a well-dressed, expert card shark and poker player, with a wicked sense of humor and an unnerving ability to read people. A slick con man and thief who enjoys toying with everyone around him. However, he also is capable of genuine empathy for certain players, and he's deeply committed to Lia, the love of his life...GUEST STAR (15)

[OLDER DEAN WINCHESTER] Between 70-80 years old, he is Dean (JENSEN ACKLES) aged into an old man. He hasn't lost any of his verve, or edge, just his speed...GUEST STAR (20)

[LIA] 20s, she is a BEAUTIFUL, troubled woman in cahoots with her boyfriend, Patrick. Empathetic, but also eventually lonely....GUEST STAR (15)

[SpoilerTV]

And here's a promo I think we haven't featured before:

Dollhouse:

Want Dollhouse for dummies? Here it is:

Stargate Universe:

Pitch us this new spin-off, actor David Blue:

[It's about] scientists brought in to figure out this mythical ninth chevron address, ... a nine-digit phone number, and nobody knows where it goes. And through a course of events, [he] ends up having to pick up and go, and the right people who are supposed to go on this mission to explore don't necessarily end up going.

You end up with a group of people who weren't supposed to be there, ... counting on each other, who aren't necessarily the ones with the skill sets for survival ... on the far side of the universe, trying to figure out how to survive. How to not die. How to not kill each other. And genuinely having to deal and cope.

[Sci Fi Wire]

Heroes:

James Kyson Lee says Hiro and Ando start off the new season in Japan:

Ando is starting a new business with Hiro, which will thrust us into really unusual adventures. Also, Ando this season is going to be interlinked with somebody very unexpected, which is going to be a nice surprise for the audience.

[Winnipeg Sun via SpoilerTV]

And here's the description of the two-hour season opener:

"VOLUME FIVE: REDEMPTION" MAKES A SPECIAL TWO-HOUR DEBUT WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF A MYSTERIOUS CARNIVAL CLAN WHOSE INTENTIONS ARE UNKNOWN, WHILE FAMILIAR FACES ADJUST TO NEW STAGES OF THEIR LIVES THAT WILL CHALLENGE THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF THE WORLD AND THEIR ABILITIES. ROBERT KNEPPER JOINS THE CAST. RAY PARK, ZELJKO IVANEK, MADELINE ZIMA, AND DAWN OLIVIERI GUEST STAR — Claire (Hayden Panettiere) struggles with adjusting to her new life in college when a mysterious death thrusts her into the spotlight once again. Elsewhere, Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) continue their noble quest to help people by promoting their abilities. Angela (Cristine Rose) fears Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) will soon discover his true identity; while Matt (Greg Grunberg) is haunted by an unexpected visitor seeking something he has lost. Tracy Strauss (Ali Larter) and H.R.G. (Jack Coleman) join forces, looking for the key to unlock the motive behind a horrific crime. Meanwhile, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) uses his abilities for good, but he is soon called upon to aid an old friend. While the heroes adjust to their new surroundings, a mysterious carnival clan, led by ringleader Samuel (Robert Knepper), sets their sights on familiar faces.

[SpoilerTV]

So we already mentioned that Hiro's doomed love Charlie will be back. And it turns out her diner coworker Lynette (Sally Chaplin) will be in three episodes too — and there will be at least one scene which we saw back in season one, but we'll see it again from a different vantage point. [The ODI]

Chuck:

Season three, episode four, "Chuck Vs. Operation Awesome," will feature an old Thai woman who speaks both Thai and English. (And I'm betting there'll be some joke where people think she doesn't understand English, but then she does?) [SpoilerTV]

True Blood:

Sam makes the "ultimate sacrifice" in the season finale. And the bit about Eric dying is a joke — probably. [EW]

FlashForward:

Here's a promo that was blasting off a massive screen in Times Square. Not sure if there's any new footage there.

Plus a couple of other new promos:

One of the visions of the future involves a wife seeing a glimpse of her future lover — a man her husband walks past unknowing in a hospital corridor. In addition to the FBI agents played by Joseph Fiennes and John Cho, there's their boss, Stanford Wedick (Courtney B. Vance). And Fiennes' wife (Sonya Walger) is a surgeon. She saves a series regular who was injured in an attack that resulted from the FBI investigation.

We will get quick answers to some questions early on, and it's not the sort of show where you'll be lost if you don't watch every episode. But devoted fans will be rewarded with more easter eggs and stuff. All of the questions raised in the pilot will be answered by the end of the season. The show is planned for five seasons but could go longer and shorter. Not only do the producers know how it ends, they also know how the penultimate season ends. [USA Today]

Sonya Walger describes her character:

Olivia is a strong, complicated woman who's a working mother. She's a trauma surgeon and a loving wife. She's devoted to her work and trying to make time for her kid. Olivia's plate is full long before the flash forward happens I think.

[IGN]

And here are a ton of pics from the first episode, some of which we may have shown you before. [SpoilerTV]

Warehouse 13:

A couple of tiny pics showing Michael Hogan (Saul Tigh) and his wife Susan Hogan, playing Myka's parents in the upcoming episode "Nevermore." Myka's dad Warren Bering gets a mysterious object in the mail. And I guess maybe we'll find out more about why Myka's parents insisted on including "And Sons" in the name of their bookstore, despite having no sons. [Chicago Tribune via Battlestar Blog]

Eureka:

Here are descriptions of a couple upcoming episodes:

Episode 3.17 - Have an Ice Day. Tess hopes her first day in charge of Global will be uneventful; the arrival of an Arctic ice core brings a new Ice Age to Eureka.

Episode 3.18 - What Goes Around, Comes Around. Zoe prepares to leave for college; Tess receives a job offer in Australia; a magnetic disturbance hovers above Eureka.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Send your robot body to theaters to watch Surrogates on Sept. 25.

In The Surrogates, based on the acclaimed Robert Venditti graphic novels, it's the future and nobody ever leaves the house any more. Instead, people use perfect, beautiful robotic bodies to venture out in the world — until it all goes wrong, and a cop played by Willis has to go out and investigate in the flesh. We first showed you some freaktastic images of this movie's robot bodies last year, but these new stills fully confirm it: the robots will look scary and unreal, sort of like the Bionic Woman's fembots crossed with new-style Cylons.

The Surrogates comes out Sept. 25. More pics at the link. [IGN]

The Surrogates movie is released September 25th. The Surrogates: Flesh And Bone, the second graphic novel in the series, is available now.

The Science-Fact Behind 'Surrogates' [Wired]

Bleeding Cool.com pointed out the similarity between one of the new images, released this week on IGN.com, and a photo-manipulation contest entry created for Worth1000.com:

Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston then managed to implicate us in the whole thing:

The image was also used in a post on Reverse Cowgirl about Posthuman Pornography back in February.

Which itself was inspired by a post on io9 about, well, the upcoming movie Surrogates.

It's a circle of life, this internet. But who knew that we were so tightly involved in it?

The Surrogates opens September 25th.

Swipe File: Surrogates Movie Campaign [Bleeding Cool]

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the collection of Superman & Batman Vs. Vampires & Werewolves — well, other than its name and its ridiculous high concept that's just one step away from adding Abbot and Costello - that's released this week.

And I'm sure that a fair number of people are excited about the collected edition of Voltron: A Legend Forged. Or Boom! Studios' Zombie Tales 2061 (the plot synopsis is in the title, people). Even DC's Fight Club for Superpowered Teenagers Terror Titans is worth picking up, but the fact remains that only two books are downright essential reading this week.

The first is Citizen Rex #1, the beginning of a new series by Love & Rockets' Gilbert and Mario Hernandez. I could try and explain why you must read it, but the official description from publishers Dark Horse does a much better job than I ever could:

Twenty years ago, the most famous, lifelike robot in the world was engulfed in scandal, arrested, and deactivated. Since then, an anti-robot movement has developed, while body modification is in and prosthetic limbs have become hot, black-market items. Stories like these are the stock-in-trade of gossip columnist Sergio Bauntin, whose startling revelations earn him the constant scrutiny of both the mob and the city's mysterious investigators, the Truth Takers. When Sergio catches wind of sightings of the long-missing robot celebrity CTZ-RX, all of these interests will collide in violence and intrigue.

If you're still not convinced, the preview will change your opinion for the better.

And if that's not enough for you, there's always The Surrogates: Flesh And Bone, the prequel to the original series that's about to be released as what the kids used to call a "major motion picture." We read this back in April and thought it was one of the best things we'd seen in a long time, and that still holds true; easily one of the best SF comics of the year, if not the best, you owe it to yourself to pick this up tomorrow.

If the option of picking up two of the best science fiction comics to come along in years isn't enough for you people, then you should probably consult the complete shipping list from Diamond Comics to see what else will be arriving in stores this week... and then, perhaps, checking out where your local store is, just in case it's moved while you're not looking. After all, if robots can hide amongst human beings unnoticed, who knows what else could happen?!?

The writers' strike has caused incalculable damage to genre television, including helping to kill great shows like Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. But it's also inflicted maximum damage on this summer's movies. We detailed all the ways the strike impacted movies like Wolverine, Terminator Salvation, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe a while back — it's probably no coincidence that the one movie whose script was in perfect shape before the strike hit, Star Trek, was also the only really watchable genre film in months.

(I think part of the reason I'm so over-the-moon about Trek is because I'm grading on a curve. Put it next to Iron Man and The Dark Knight, and it might not score quite so well. I was also thinking the other day that if The Incredible Hulk had come out in 2009, we might have appreciated it a bit more.)

So how about the movies coming this fall and winter, and even into next year? Did the strike hurt them as well? I did some digging, and here's what I found out about the crop of upcoming Hollywood movies:

District 9. (August 14) Not really a Hollywood movie, this Peter Jackson-produced alien imprisonment saga was filmed in South Africa and produced by QED Films. And reading between the lines of this Variety story from November 2007, it sounds as though director Neill Blomkamp and his partner Terri Tatchell had already written the script before the film was greenlit.

Pandorum. (September 4) This Dennis Quaid-Ben Foster space-horror film was greenlit in May 2008, a few months after the strike ended, and written by newcomer Travis Milloy. Which means it was a spec script, and unless it required major rewrites, it should be fine. The film only started shooting in August 2008, which means there should have been time to make rewrites, if any were needed.

Gamer. (September 4) This Gerard Butler-starring epic about prisoners who are forced to become video-game avatars for rich kids was actually filmed during the writer's strike, so its script was long since done. It's been on ice for quite some time — rumor has it test screenings in October 2008 produced almost entirely negative responses. The movie's gone through several titles, including Game and Citizen Game. So it may not be great... but that won't be the writers' strike's fault.

Splice. (September 18, limited release). Vincenzo Natali's genetic manipulation film stars Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as researchers who mess with the human genome... and get burned. And there was a script in November 2007, when the writer's strike started. Or at least, producer Guillermo del Toro was able to say in a statement:

Vincenzo is taking Splice to really edgy places. The moment I cringed while reading the script, I knew I wanted to help him realize his vision.

And a still from the movie came out in February 2008, while the strike was still going on. (The movie's complex visual effects have required a long time to complete.)

The Surrogates. (September 25). This one's a bit unclear. Disney bought the rights to the robot-avatar graphic novel back in March 2007. They hired the writers of Terminators 3 and 4, Michael Ferris and John Brancato, to write the screenplay. The following November, Bruce Willis signed up to star, and T3 director Jonathan Mostow was announced as director. The film was supposed to start filming in February, but the rest of the cast wasn't announced until the following April, a few months after the strike ended. So it's entirely possible the script needed some rewrites. And got them. So it may be fine. Except that it's from the writers and director of Terminator 3.

Zombieland. (October 9) This zombie buddy comedy didn't even snag star Woody Harrelson until late August 2008, a good six months after the strike ended. And co-star Jesse Eisenberg was "in talks" to appear in the film in October 2008. So I'm guessing there was plenty of time to get a script together at some point.

The Road. (October 16) This bleak Cormac McCarthy adaptation was filmed in Western Pennsylvania early in 2008, and has been on ice for a year — it was originally supposed to open in 2008. Now all we have to worry about is that producer Harvey Weinstein forced some unwise edits on the film in the interim.

The Wolfman. (November 6) This is another one that's been sitting on ice for ages — Benicio Del Toro signed up for the lead role in March 2006 (!) and there was a script review in August 2006. (If anything, looking at this crop of movies, I'm starting to wonder why so many were delayed for so long.) Del Toro got a costar, Emily Blunt, in January 2008, and it looks like the film was filmed soon after.

2012. (Nov. 13) We covered this in our rundown of the writer's strike and summer movies — because it was originally supposed to come out this summer. (Yes, another delayed film.) But the strike didn't actually impact this film much at all, because the script was bought right after the strike ended.

Avatar. (December 18) James Cameron has been working on this film since before you were born. And yes, I don't care how old you are, it's still true. In any case, chances are he's had plenty of opportunities to tinker with the script. Here he is, talking it up in 2006.

The Book Of Eli. (January 15). The Hughes Brothers (From Hell) signed up to direct this post-apocalyptic bibliophile samurai pic back in May 2007, and they were trying to rush it into production in the fall of 2007 "before a possible strike." Obviously, this didn't work out — the film's star, Denzel Washington, wasn't even announced until September 2008, and filming didn't happen until earlier this year. So count this as another film that was delayed — maybe due to the strike.

And I think from there on out, you're looking at movies that were greenlit after the strike, so you're probably all good. Looking at the crop of movies coming up this fall and winter, the main thing that's jumping out at me is that a lot of them were delayed for various reasons — probably not all to do with the strike. There are a lot of movies coming out from August to January, which were originally supposed to come out much earlier, but they were kept in the freezer. Make of that what you will.

Iron Man 2:

Mickey Rourke says he speaks Russian half the time in this movie, where he plays Tony Stark's adversary Whiplash. He quotes something which may be an actual line of dialog from the film: "If someone kills me, don't wake me up, because I'd rather be dead than live in your world." [Guardian via Cinematical]

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

In the first movie, Sam was the keeper of the map. In the second movie, in a real sense, he's become the map, says co-writer Roberto Orci. And it's Sam's open heart that makes the Autobots feel like they can share their secrets with him. [Baltimore Sun]

And here's a new picture of Ironhide, who's got a sort of louche scowl about him. Much bigger version at the link. [Cinematical]

So remember last week when we showed you concept art of The Fallen, this movie's main villain? Well, in case you were dying to see what he looks like from the back, here's the rear view. [TFG2]

Surrogates:

Remember how Bruce Willis has a weird wig in this film when he's playing his robotic "Surrogate," out investigating robot murder? Well, he does. [SpoilerTV-Movies]

Doctor Who:

An anonymous tipster gave us some info about Timothy Dalton's supposed role in the final episodes of the David Tennant era. (So take it with a grain of salt.) Apparently, Dalton will be playing the Lord Chancellor of the High Council of Time Lords, and we'll first see him at the end of November's "Waters Of Mars." Also popping up at the end of "Waters"? Daleks and Ood. We'll be seeing more of Dalton, at least, in the final two Tennant episodes, around the end of the year. But we don't know if Dalton's appearances are current events, or flashbacks. Also, the last scene of Tennant's final episode is Matt Smith, wearing Tennant's brown suit, staring out at "the wreckage." Remember, you read it on the internet, so it must be true!

Fringe:

Another anonymous tipster gives some plot info about season two to fansite FringeTelevision.com. The first episode deals with a shapeshifter who continuously re-molds his face. And the second episode is about a mole man who lives under a town, pulling people underground and eating them. Also, Peter will play a more central and active role in solving cases this time around. [FringeTelevision]

V:

The alien-invasion remake, set to debut on ABC sometime in 2010, will have a definite pre-planned ending, just like Lost. New showrunner Jeffrey Bell says he's working out the storylines for the next few seasons, and the first season will build up to a huge conclusion that "will hopefully be awesome," and will lead into season two. And Bell says that like the original series, this new V will ask big questions:

Just as the original "V" used the story of an alien invasion as an allegory for Nazi Germany, the new "V" will tackle issues of government, devotion, race and faith.

"Especially when you look at our current times, with the economy, wars and social strife, it's the perfect time for a force like this to come along," Bell said. "In many ways this is a very American show, about the individual vs. society. It's about how America can appreciate and question things that seem to be too good to be true."

[Variety]

Heroes:

Right after NBC announced that Madeline Zima would be playing Claire Bennet's college roommate, they announced the casting of daytime soap star Rachel Melvin as Annie, a second roommate for Claire. And according to the Hollywood Reporter, Claire and Annie will "share sleeping quarters (and maybe more.)" Are they hinting at a lesbian relationship for Clair-bear, or am I totally misunderstanding? [Hollywood Reporter]

The Sorceror's Apprentice:

Some set pics show rival sorceror Horvath (Alfred Molina) and his sidekick Drake Stone (Tony Kebbell) riding in a taxi — that's surrounded by identical clone taxis, with the same taxi number and advertisement. Are they hiding out from Nic Cage's sorceror? In another scene, they ride in a silver stretch limo. More pics at the link. [StitchKingdom via Cinemablend]

Stargate Universe:

Here's a gallery of close-ups of the new show's crew. Let's start the deadpool: Which of these bright new faces won't survive the first few episodes? [Gateworld]

Eureka:

The second half of the third season picks up right after the midseason cliffhanger, with Jack Carter being removed as sheriff, and Allison expecting her recently dead husband's baby. And of course, Carter is facing some tough decisions regarding his daughter, Zoe. And he has a new love interest, played by Jamie Ray Newman. The upcoming episodes include homages to The Blob and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. [SF Universe]

Flash Forward:

A few new photos show our FBI crew at work, including Joseph Fiennes and John Cho. [SpoilerTV]

Pushing Daisies:

In the final episodes, airing Saturdays this month, Chuck gets some closure — she gets to see the Aunts, and she actually goes and knocks on their door. And we find out what happened to Olive. But if the show had continued, we would have gotten an even better ending for Chuck, says actor Anna Friel. [Sci Fi Wire]

New Moon:

Michael Sheen plays Aro, head vampire of a coven that rules the vampire world. He describes the character: "Oh, there's a bit of a Child Catcher here [from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]; bit of the Blue Meanie from The Yellow Submarine; bit of Olivier from Richard III. There was a bit of all kinds of stuff." [Empire]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

I guess the next natural question would be, what would you change... and would you be able to trust any robot you met for spur-of-the-moment alley sex? Does it matter? Will this movie be any good? All important questions, to be answered this Fall.

Terminator Salvation:

The film includes four separate sequences featuring characters out in a heavy rain, with fires burning around them, in a drama-inducing technique known as "fire and rain." When we first meet Moon Bloodgood's pilot character, she takes off her helmet to reveal three feet of flowing black hair, in a slow-mo sequence. [Film.com]

John Connor doesn't really have a defining moment in the film, and doesn't actually prove himself worthy to be leader of the Resistance. He starts the film as an angry guy who wants to lead the Resistance, and ends it the same way. [Hitfix]

McG says there's a moment that explains how Kyle Reese learns to put a strap on his shotgun so you can't take it away from him easily. And a moment where Marcus teaches Kyle that pain can be controlled. [Cinematical]

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

Michael Bay posted a new image of new Transformer Sideways... who looks sorta like a giant robot. [Michael Bay via IESB]

Surrogates:

Someone saw an early screening of this Blade Runner-esque film, and provided a review: In the future, people don't leave their homes - instead, they interact with the outside world through surrogates, better looking versions of themselves. Greer (Bruce Willis) is a detective whose surrogate looks 20 years younger than he does, and he uses it to investigate the murder of other surrogates. But then the unthinkable happens: someone kills a surrogate, and manages to liquefy the brain of the human operating it. And the victim is apparently someone close to the inventor of the surrogates (James Cromwell). Willis and his partner (Radha Mitchell) have to go investigate. The surrogates have amazing abilities and can leap and do stunts, not unlike Neo in the Matrix. During a huge chase scene, Greer's surrogate gets fried. So he has to go out in person for the first time in forever. Greer is looking for the BD gun, a weapon which fries surrogates and their operators. Clues are laid out early on as to the identity of the villain. Meanwhile, Greer is married to a woman (Rosamind Pike) who never unplugs from her surrogate and makes a living as a surrogate stylist - but their marriage is on the rocks, and he desperately tries to salvage it. And Ving Rhames plays The Prophet, leader of an anti-surrogate movement. [Latino Review]

Green Lantern:

Sol Romero, wife of director Martin Campbell, believes she'll have a role in this movie. And it sounds like Hal Jordan's daddy issues, which cause him to try and outdo his father and become a jet pilot, will loom large in the movie version. [Sci Fi Wire]

New Moon:

A few new plot details about the second Twilight movie. Apparently it'll differ quite a bit from the book version in a few particulars. Bella will take more of a "daredevil approach," tempting fate in order to force the absent Edward to appear. And instead of being a disembodied voice, when Edward does appear to Bella, he'll be a visible presence, like Obi-Wan. (Robert Pattinson says he'd rather just be a voice, so it has more impact when he shows up at the end.) And there's an action scene where Laurent fights back against the werewolves who destroy him in the book. Finally, in the book, Edward tells Bella he'll turn her into a vampire only if they get married. But in the movie, he issues a different ultimatum. [Perez Hilton]

Fringe:

So how does the shock ending of season one lead into season two? Roberto Orci explains:

You have a gigantic clue to what has been a potential organizing principle or source of the Pattern and what these weird events are. In some way, two worlds are colliding, so that sets up the potential for a wonderful exploration of how these things interact, who William Bell is, is he good or bad, and is Nina [Blair Brown] friend or foe? You are going to see the Fringe division come under more intense scrutiny and therefore have to operate more clandestinely. You are going to see Peter become more engaged as he discovers some of the things the audience has found out.

Also, we'll be dealing with what Walter did to Olivia "geologically... in the near future," says Alex Kurtzman. (No, I have no clue what that means either.) And Walter will slowly regain his memory, with setbacks. Also, the Observer's role will be explored more, without giving everything away. [Sci Fi Wire]

Also, here's a new casting call. Could this be Charlie's replacement?

KATHERINE: MID TO LATE TWENTIES. FBI AGENT SHE IS ATTRACTIVE, BRASH, OUTSPOKEN,QUICK-WITTED AND CAPABLE. CATHERINE HAS A STRONG PERSONAL CENTER THAT COMES FROM A DEEP CORE BELIEF IN THE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE. (RECURRING WITH POSSIBLE OPTION FOR SR) PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES

[SpoilerTV ]

Chuck:

So how exactly will the budget cuts affect this show's format? Some episodes, Chuck's mission may be such that we don't get to visit the Buy More at all, says producer Josh Schwartz. But Anna (Julia Ling) will definitely be back, and so hopefully will the rest of the ensemble cast. The good news is, Chuck, Sarah and Casey will still appear in every episode. Schwartz hasn't yet worked out the details of the Subway product placement (which he calls the "Subway integration") but it will be significant, and may be something like Sarah working at a Subway. The new season will definitely deal with the ramifications of the end of season two, but fear not - Chuck will still be an Everyman/accidental hero. And Chuck having the Intersect in his head will definitely complicate the Chuck/Sarah relationship. [EW]

Heroes:

We may already have mentioned this, but the show is seeking a 12-15 year old Japanese boy to play Young Hiro. (So Hiro's time travel will once again involve meeting himself as a child. Oh yay.) [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

The Easter weekend Surrogates reshoots had everybody in a tizzy. Was this another Hitch or Wolverine fiasco? Are we still tweaking the script? At the Terminator Salvation junket, I got a quick update from the screenwriters John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris on the status of Surrogates.

After joking about being type cast after putting out two robot movies in one year Michael Ferris explained the last he'd heard or seen about the shiny Avatars. "The last cut I saw, which was a while ago, it was looking really good. I know they were doing a little bit of reshoots. Yeah, they beefed up the action a little bit."

This seems to jibe with the pictures that were taken on at the reshoot site. Almost all the scenes used Bruce Willis' stunt double, so hopefully this means better car chase scenes, and not a quick alternate ending hastily tacked on at the last minute, as reshoots so often do.

We also grabbed a few stills from the recently released Surrogates clip, please do enjoy the army of no eyed bots:

In the Surrogates future, we all get to sit on La-Z-Boys while our robot servants, who look just like us except cuter, run our errands, work our jobs and even go to raves (which are apparently trendy again). Willis plays a detective, who's investigating a rash of robotic Avatar murders, and he'll appear both as himself and (wearing a wig) as his Avatar. Who is behind these murders? And can citizens survive outside on their own, if they even want to?

So what do you think? Is it a little too shiny? The comic appears to be a wee bit darker. Is anyone else getting a Fifth Element feel from this first glimpse of Mostow's movie?

Surrogates will be released in theaters on September 25.

The futuristic flick follows Bruce Willis, as a detective trying to uncover the culprit behind a mass of Avatar murders. If you haven't yet, check out the Virtual Self ARG site and pick out your own perfect outdoor robot ambassador, who can run your errands whilst you eat in bed.

Update: Ok doubt has been cast upon the poster as being a book add, sorry to get everyone all excited!

[via Spoiler TV]

Apologies to Dollhouse fans, but this 144 page graphic novel offers the kind of thinking sci-fi questions about identity, responsibility and the dehumanizing aspects of technology that Joss Whedon's latest Friday night show lingers on, and comes to less glamorous conclusions.

Robert Venditti's story reads like Philip K. Dick writing an episode of The Wire; an involving police procedural that spreads out through multiple plot strands into business and religion - that just happens to center around synthetic human beings murdering "real" people.

What makes the book work so well is its downbeat, cynical tone. Even when the story hits a big revelation (The police figure out the true identity of the murderer, for example, or another shocking moment towards the end, which I won't reveal for fear of ruining the plot), it's done in a sober, almost documentary tone that allows you to focus on the bigger picture forming behind the scenes.

The writing is wonderfully sparse, giving the reader enough credit to figure things out for themselves (with the help, admittedly, of some Watchmen-esque background material between chapters) and managing to hold back from telegraphing the satisfying conclusion that nonetheless makes you wish for a(nother) sequel as soon as possible.

Holding it all together is Brett Weldele's art, recalling Ashley Wood or Ben Templesmith (or, for those with longer memories, Bill Sienkiewicz's Big Numbers work in places) but without their tendency to overpower the story with showy panels. It's understated, sketchy work made all the more successful with color choices that give it a depth and strength that you're not even sure you'd have missed otherwise.

Overall, this is the kind of science fiction comic you wish they'd make more of - a smart, compelling and adult work asking questions with no easy answers that'll stick with you for a long time after you finish it. Here's hoping that the movie version of the first book in the series is close to this level of quality. It's got its work cut out for it.

The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone is released by Top Shelf Productions in July.

The Surrogates (Vol. 2): Flesh and Bone [Top Shelf]

Milford Daily News is reporting from the edges of the set that there was a massive helicopter and chase scene over the dirt.

Bob Britt owner of the custom body shop Atlantic Customs, in Peabody, MA, was called in to create the robot extras before they have their skin put on. He used a mix of paint and vinyl on the mannequins to give them the appearance of shiny new droids. "We painted mannequins to look like the robots before they take on human skin. We were doing most of the background robots. We took pretty high line department store mannequins and painted them with a metallic structure or with muscle tissue. They're basically the robots before they get the human flesh, hair and eyes. They're silver and gold, and we gave them a green shading to give them a realistic look. I think they are replicas of the original robot [prop]."

After working for a few days, Britt has built a complete body of one robot, minus the head and a collection of robot appendages. His robot parts will appear in the background of a scene that takes place in a laboratory where the robots are built. "They should get a lot of good screen time because they are going to do a lot of shoots in the lab mock up," he adds.

Although Britt was only privy to the bare minimum on the plot of the movie he has his own theories on how his work will be used and what's been going on in his hometown, "What I gathered from working on it, is that it's a movie based on these surrogate robots that you have built of yourself when you get old, fat, lazy and you can't do anything anymore. You get a surrogate robot made. The robot is an exact copy of the person, so other people can't tell if it's a robot or if it's a human. I think one of the robots goes haywire, or they all do. There's a lot of military stuff there, a lot of people in camouflage and a few military motorcycles. At least that's what I'm gathering because there is a big chase scene with one of the robots. So I'm guessing that, that robot went crazy. It sounds like a typical robot movie, where you shouldn't mess with human nature. But that's my take, I have very limited information."

The official synopsis for the film says that Willis' character is a cop, or FBI agent, who ventures out of his house in the flesh to investigate a murder, in a time when almost no human ever goes out any more.

As far as other on set rumors there was a casting call in April for young and sexy surrogates. Sources reveal to us the set will [and has been] populated with beautiful people, since the surrogates are supposed to be like perfect humans.

All around Massachusetts filming sets the crew has posted direction signs with "VSI" in big bold letters. If you read the books the company that creates the Surrogates is called Virtual Self Inc. Obviously these signs are a shout-out to the company and a way to throw off any unwanted attention by not using the movie's real name. Tricky, tricky Disney. The comic was also known for including Virtual Self advertisements through the pages of its books.

In hair news, Bruce Willis has been spotted on set in the town of Worcester covering his shiny noggin with a blond wig. Our sources tell us that this is one of two looks for Willis in the movie. Willis is the man who made bald cool, so I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this. But then again it is the future, and if they can make robot duplicates of people, surely they've fixed male pattern baldness as well. Or maybe his perfect robot version of himself has blond hair. If that's the case, then shame on you, Willis!