Sneak Peek Spielberg's "Falling Skies"

Sneak Peek a new video promo supporting the Steven Spielberg-executive produced, Ontario-lensed, DreamWorks TV dramatic series "Falling Skies" , airing June 2011 on TNT, starring actor Noah Wyle ("ER") as resistance leader 'Tom Mason', who leads a ragtag group of survivors, following a destructive alien invasion of the Earth.

Cast also includes Moon Bloodgood as 'Anne Glass', Will Patton as 'Weaver', Drew Roy as 'Hal', Maxim Knight as 'Matt', Connor Jessup as 'Ben', Seychelle Gabriel as 'Lourdes', Colin Cunningham as 'John Pope' and Sarah Carter as 'Margaret'.

"...'Falling Skies' opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.

"...'Tom Mason' (Wyle) is a Boston history professor whose family has been torn apart. His wife was killed in the initial attack, and one of his three sons has been captured. Determined to get his son back and to ensure the safety of his other two sons, Tom must put his extensive knowledge of military history to the test as one of the leaders of the resistance movement known as the '2nd Mass', constantly trying to gain intelligence about the aliens in order to outsmart and overtake them..."

There are two types of aliens in the series named 'Skitters' and 'Mechs'. Combining live action and SFX, the Skitters have spider-like bodies, while the robotic Mechs stand upright and can shoot bullets from their arms.

Along with Spielberg, "Falling Skies" is executive produced by DreamWorks TV's Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. Robert Rodat ("Saving Private Ryan") wrote the pilot from an idea he co-conceived with Spielberg. Mark Verheiden ("Battlestar Galactica") and Greg Beeman ("Smallville") are co-executive producers, with the pilot directed by Carl Franklin ("Out of Time").

Dark Horse' "Falling Skies: The Web Comic", is written by Paul Tobin and illustrated by Juan Ferreyra.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Falling Skies"...

Sneak Peek "Total Recall" # 1

Following news of the upcoming $200 million "Total Recall" feature film reboot, scheduled to shoot at Pinewood Toronto Studios this Spring, comes word that Dynamite Entertainment's "Total Recall" #1, will be available May 2011, written by Vince Moore, with illustrations by Cezar Rezak and covers by Rezak and Darick Robertson:

"...Inspired by the hit 1990 science fiction movie, "Total Recall", read the story of what happens next! Having killed 'Cohaagen' and giving Mars an atmosphere, 'Douglas Quaid' (aka 'Hauser') simply wants to live happily-ever-after with 'Melina', the woman of his dreams. How can Quaid have his happily-ever-after, with Mars in chaos and new enemies coming to the red planet ?..."

Click the image to enlarge...

Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" Cast Confirmed

Robert Pattinson, Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche, Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti and Mathieu Amalric are now confirmed to star in "Cosmopolis", a thriller written by David Cronenberg who will also direct the project.

The script is based on the novella of the same name by award-winning writer Don DeLillo.

The Canadian-France co-production is being produced by Paulo Branco through his Paris-based Alfama Films Production and Martin Katz of Toronto-based Prospero Pictures.

"...'Cosmopolis' is a contemporary thriller about a hedge fund trader who is stalked while his fortune evaporates under the weight of his cynical bets against the survival of the global economy..."

Grégoire Melin's Paris-based Kinology will handle International Sales, Entertainment One will handle distribution in Canada and RAI Cinema SpA will distribute in Italy.

Click the images to enlarge...

Happy Birthday Michael Stevens !!!

"Elle" Magazine Gets Under MTV's "Skins"

The teenage cast of the controversial Toronto-lensed MTV series "Skins", including Sofia Black-D’Elia, Britne Oldford, Camille Cresencia-Mills and Eleanor Zichy have posed for an upcoming fashion editorial in "Elle" magazine.

The photo shoot was organized by "Elle" Creative Director Joe Zee and shot by photographer Thomas Whiteside.

"These kids do spend more on-screen time out of their clothes than in them," according to "Elle". "It really is so much easier to dash out the door when you’re wearing the outfit you slept in. Who better, then, to model one of spring’s sexiest trends, innerwear as outerwear?"

Debuting January 2011, the new "Skins" is the North American version of the popular UK series of the same name.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Skins"...

"Silent Hill: Revelation 3D" Casting Call

The upcoming Ontario-lensed horror feature "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D", the sequel to the 2006 feature "Silent Hill" is holding a 'go-see' for background performers to play 'malnourished-looking inhabitants', Tuesday Feb 15th in Toronto.

Written and directed by Michael J. Bassett ("Solomon Kane"), "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D" will star Alison Lohman ("Drag Me To Hell") (tentative).

"...'Heather Mason' and her father have been on the run, always one step ahead of dangerous forces that she doesn't fully understand, Now on the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by horrific nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she's not who she thinks she is. The revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her forever..."

The France/USA co-production, from Davis-Films and Sony Pictures will be released later this year.

Click the images to enlarge...

Carmody Confirms "Resident Evil 5"

Toronto-based film producer Don Carmody confirms that the fifth "Resident Evil" feature, starring Milla Jovovich, is in active script development, to shoot in Toronto, following news of "Resident Evil: Afterlife" winning the Canadian 'Golden Reel Award', given to the highest-grossing Canadian feature film of the year.

"Resident Evil: Afterlife", the $60 million, 3D Canadian-German co-production, grossed approximately $7-million in Canada last year, adding to its worldwide box office total take of $296,221,566.

The Toronto-lensed feature was written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, starring his wife Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe and Wentworth Miller.

It is the fourth installment in a series of film adaptations based loosely on Capcom's survival horror video game series "Resident Evil". It was also the first film in the series to be released in 3D.

In the film, 'Alice' (Jovovich) is a former 'Umbrella Corporation' security officer whose exposure to the 'T-Virus' granted her superhuman abilities. Since her escape from 'Raccoon City', she has been hunted by Umbrella, who intends to use her DNA in order to control the virus' mutation.

Jovovich confirmed that her husband has started writing the screenplay for the next film in the "Resident Evil" movie franchise.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Resident Evil: Afterlife"...

Toronto Re-Shoot For "The Thing"- January 21-29

Universal Pictures, Toronto-lensed horror feature "The Thing", produced by J. Miles Dale and directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. is scheduled for a reshoot January 21- 29 in Toronto.

The film is a prequel to director John Carpenter's 1982 feature, following a 4 month shoot in 2010 @ Toronto's Pinewood Studios.

"...Antarctica. An extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists.

"The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman.

"In the thriller 'The Thing', paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they’re infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet.

"Paleontologist 'Kate Lloyd' (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up.

"When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew’s pilot, 'Carter' (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish..."

Carpenter's "The Thing" originally adapted the 1938 "Astounding Magazine" 'novella' "Who Goes There", by author John W. Campbell Jr.

The short story was also the basis of the 1951 feature "The Thing From Another World" from producer Howard Hawks and director Christan Nyby.

Premise of Campbell's original story focused on a group of scientific researchers, isolated in Antarctica, that discover an alien spaceship buried in the ice. The men unwittingly recover the alien pilot that can assume the shape, memories and personality of any living creature.

Strike Entertainment's Eric Newman and Marc Abraham produced "The Thing" prequel, with David Foster executive producing, from a screenplay by Eric Heisserer.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek Carpenter's "The Thing", "The Thing" video game and Nyby's "The Thing"...

Toronto Gets Under MTV's "Skins"

"Skins" is the Toronto-lensed, US adaptation of the UK teen drama "Skins", that debuted January 17, 2011 on MTV in the US and on Movie Central and The Movie Network in Canada.

The original series was created by father-and-son television writers Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for Company Pictures, premiering on E4, a UK television channel, January 25, 2007.

As with the UK series, the US version features a cast of amateur actors and young writers.

The show started filming February 2010 in Toronto, following Sneak Peek's open casting call November 2009.

Premise of "Skins" follows a group of teenagers, going through High School. The controversial plot line explores issues including dysfunctional families, promiscuous sex, mental illness, sexual orientation identity, substance abuse and death.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Skins"...

DirectTV Votes For "The Kennedys"

Sneak Peek the cover to the February 2011 issue of "Elle" Magazine, showcasing actress Katie Holmes, for what would have been part of the campaign promoting the History Channel's, now-cancelled, 8-part TV mini-series, "The Kennedys".

Filmed in Toronto last summer, the show stars Holmes as First Lady 'Jackie Kennedy'.

After History Channel and Showtime passed on the completed project, due to 'questionable depictions' of the characters involved, "The Kennedys" may now debut @ DirecTV, who are actively in talks to acquire the show.

DirecTV previously picked up "Friday Night Lights" and "Damages", both of which were on the verge of cancellation. The direct broadcast satellite service based in El Segundo, California, transmits digital satellite television/audio to households in the US, with over 18 million subscribers.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Kennedys"...

Canadian Film & TV Production Shows Growth

According to the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), the Canadian film and television production industry showed growth from 2008/09 to 2009/10, with an overall increase in production volume from $4.8 billion to $4.9 billion.

Total numbers for independent television production had an overall one per cent rise in activity in the industry.

The report also reveals that Canadian theatrical production and foreign location & service production regained momentum in 2009-2010.

Click the images to enlarge...

Toronto Start For Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis"

Further to Sneak Peek's first report July 2009, Canadian director David Cronenberg ("A History Of Violence"), will adapt/direct author Don DeLillo's 2003 novel "Cosmopolis", for producer Paulo Branco's Paris-based Alfama Films and Cronenberg's Toronto-based Antenna Ltd.

Cronenberg is currently prepping to start the film in Toronto, May 2011, with actor Robert Pattinson ("Twilight") leading the cast.

Premise of "Cosmopolis" follows 28-year-old billionaire 'Eric Packer', a 'financial wizard', who attempts to cross Manhattan in a luxuriously equipped stretch limo.

In the process Packer encounters a presidential visit, public protest and celebrity funeral, forcing him to conduct his business and personal affairs directly from the vehicle.

Click the images to enlarge...