Don't panic: Zachary Quinto has already shot down an alarming Star Trek rumor. An all-important actor says he might return for Star Wars: Episode VII. Steven Moffat and Matt Smith talk Doctor Who's latest Christmas special. Plus a reassuring Robocop set photo, a new look at Blomkamp's Elysium, and a pair of Walking Dead sneak peeks!
Spoilers from here on out!
Top image from Doctor Who.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
A bunch more names are now being bandied about for the crucial role of Harry Osborn. The biggest name is probably that of Sam Claflin, who has already played vaguely memorable second male leads in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Snow White and the Huntsman, and who is next playing Finnick Odair in Catching Fire, so casting him as Harry Osborn would pretty much confirm Claflin-mania is now somehow a thing. The other options reportedly include My Week With Marilyn's Eddie Redmayne, Noah costar Douglas Booth, and Milk actor Boyd Holbrook. All these choices are supposedly a reaction against last week's decision to go with a darker, edgier version of Harry, which pushed actors like Chronicle's Dane DeHaan to the forefront. But now the studio has reportedly gone back to looking for actors with "athleticism and good looks", which seems like kind of an insult to actors like Chronicle's Dane DeHaan. [Heat Vision]
Star Trek Into Darkness
In case you were worried about recent comments from Zachary Quinto that suggested he might soon be ready to quit playing Mr. Spock — possibly precluding his involvement in a third movie — he took to Twitter to calm things down:
[Trek Web]
Star Wars: Episode VII
The current rumors suggest that Little Miss Sunshine and Catching Fire writer Michael Arndt's script treatment for the new Star Wars movie includes parts for Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. Now we can reportedly add one Lando Calrissian to the mix, at least according to the latest insider report on which classic characters will have a role in the new movie. Although whether that role is anything more than a glorified cameo remains entirely unknown.
For his part, Billy Dee Williams has offered the wonderfully noncommittal "I suppose so" when asked about returning to the role of Lando, so I think we can treat this as an entirely done deal, and perhaps should start speculating wildly that this new Star Wars movie is actually really a Lando spin-off movie. This deal just keeps getting better all the time! (Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and apologize for that last one.) [Moviehole]
Oh, and for the record, it turns out Safety Not Guaranteed director Colin Trevorrow was talking about some other beloved sci-fi property that he promises to not make suck if he gets to take it over, and not Star Wars. Sorry for yesterday's false alarm. [Collider]
Robocop
Here are some new set images, giving us another look at the new Robocop suit. More at the link. [Nova Celestica]
Elysium
Here's a new image of Matt Damon's cyborg freedom fighter in District 9 director Neil Blomkamp's upcoming hard science fiction epic. [First Showing]
Kick-Ass 2
Here's the latest behind-the-scenes photo. [Coming Soon]
Riddick
Here's another update on the film's status, courtesy of director David Twohy:
Feels like I'm back in production!
Been pulling 14-hour days trying to finish RIDDICK. My typical day starts at 9am with intensive visual effects meetings, sweating out the details of our 900 VFX shots. Then I jet across town to the mix stage, Soundelux, where I supervise the sound, balancing out the often-competing elements of music, sound fx, sound design, and dialog. At night I hit the lab, Technicolor in Hollywood, staying until midnight to do "DI work" - color-correction of the movie. This is where David Eggby and I have one last chance to get the images right, dropping in grads and power windows to finesse what we shot on set. It's a great tool, the Digital Intermediate. Kind of like Photoshop for movies. Gotta love it. Gotta love the challenge of bringing it all home.
Hmm... there's not as much warrior poetry as there would be from a Vin Diesel update, but I suppose it will have to do. [Shock Till You Drop]
Doctor Who
Now that we know this year's Christmas special is called "The Snowmen" and we've seen both a full trailer and a prequel mini-episode for it, let's go to Steven Moffat and Matt Smith for their thoughts. First up, Steven Moffat:
"The Doctor at Christmas is one of my favourite things - but this year it's different. He's lost Amy and Rory to the Weeping Angels, and he's not in a good place: in fact, he's Scrooge. He's withdrawn from the world and no longer cares what happens to it. So when all of humanity hangs in the balance, can anyone persuade a tired and heartbroken Doctor that it's time to return to the good fight? Enter Jenna-Louise Coleman..."
And now one Mr. Matt Smith:
"For this year's Christmas special we have the wonderfully villainous Richard E Grant as Doctor Simeon - as well as lizards, Victorian assassins and deranged warriors from the future, who all return to convince the Doctor that he should board the TARDIS again and save the world. Add to that Jenna-Louise Coleman, and so begins the Christmas Special 2012. I hope everyone enjoys it!"
The Walking Dead
Here's a pair of sneak peeks for the seventh episode and second-to-last of the first half of the season, "When The Dead Come Knocking."
Person of Interest
Here's the description for the ninth episode, "C.O.D.", which airs December 6:
WHEN A NEW YORK CAB DRIVER'S NUMBER COMES UP, ANY ONE OF HIS PASSENGERS COULD BE INVOLVED IN THE IMPENDING CRIME, ON "PERSON OF INTEREST," THURSDAY, DEC. 6 – Finch and Reese's surveillance skills are pushed to the limit when a New York City cab driver's number comes up and any one of his passengers could be involved in the impending crime.
Once Upon A Time
Here's a promo for the eighth episode, "Into the Deep."
Here's the description for the new character Helena, who will be introduced in episode thirteen:
"Female, late 20s to early - mid 30s, brunette. A confident, well-bred lady, Helena knows her way around kings and courts. She can sweet-talk with the best of them and can wrap any man around her finger. But Helena is also a fierce warrior, and takes immense pride in the deadly creatures she has fought and slain. A sophisticated lady who loves adventure — this highborn hunter will stop at nothing to get her quarry, even if she has to get her hands dirty."
[Zap2It]
666 Park Avenue
Now that the show is officially canceled, the ninth episode now doubles as the fifth-to-last episode of the show. With that glum — or cheery, depending on your opinion of the show, I guess — thought in mind, here's the description for episode nine, "Hypnos", which airs December 2:
Jane is hurled back in time to October 1927 by the mysterious Maris Elder, who hypnotizes her in an effort to find out where she disappeared down the spiral staircase. Her time travel adventures unlock secrets long hidden in Peter Kramer's apartment, where his wife was murdered, and shows Jane that her family has a dark legacy that's tangled with The Drake's history. Meanwhile, Gavin talks to Henry about the possibility of becoming a city councilman, but his chances may be destroyed by the leak of some sensitive personal information. And in a shocking revelation, Sasha's identity is exposed.
American Horror Story: Asylum
Zachary Quinto discusses what's ahead for Dr. Thredson, now that his identity as Bloody Face has been revealed:
Yes, next week's show is called "The Origins of Monstrosity" and so it really dives into a lot of the roots of the characters in this world in Asylum. So yes, a lot of things will become clearer and probably even more disturbing in the next couple of weeks.
Was everything that we've seen so far about Dr. Thredson a ruse? Or is there a side of him that deeply believes in the psychiatry part?
I think he definitely believes in it. I think part of being a psychopath is an ability to dissociate from one reality and create another one completely. I think he does that expertly. I think his level of training, medical training and intuition instinct—I think he's very skilled. I mean, that's what allows him to get away with it as long as he does. So yes, I think he does believe in it, which is kind of another layer of tragedy of the character is that he could have been something else. He could have made a more significantly positive contribution had he only rechanneled his traumas, his energy.
There's a ton more at the link. [BuddyTV]
Supernatural
Here's a bunch of promo images from the ninth episode, "Citizen Fang", which airs December 5. [KSiteTV]
Arrow
Here's the description for episode nine, "Year's End", which really sounds as though it ought to just be called "A Very Arrow Christmas":
IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME AT THE QUEEN HOUSEHOLD - Oliver (Stephen Amell) discovers that after he and his father went missing, Moira (Susanna Thompson) and Thea (Willa Holland) stopped celebrating Christmas. Determined to make up for lost time and restore a sense of normalcy to the Queen household, Oliver decides to throw the family a Christmas party. Meanwhile, Tommy (Colin Donnell) asks Laurel (Katie Cassidy) to spend Christmas with him but she points out that Christmas was also her sister Sara's birthday and she needs to be with her father (Paul Blackthorne). Tommy suggests changing things up might be the best way for everyone to heal but Laurel isn't sure her father is ready for that. Meanwhile, Diggle (David Ramsey) tells Oliver someone is murdering the people on his father's list with arrows, which sends Oliver off to face his toughest adversary yet.
The Vampire Diaries
Although the show's scrambled timeline precludes an actual Christmas episode, one of the final episodes of 2012 will reportedly feature a "winter wonderland themed episode." Here's costar Candice Accola's description, which might not be entirely truthful:
"It's really, really beautiful. The set was absolutely gorgeous, and it's a crazy, crazy episode. It's huge and there are tons of things going on. And everything goes right, and perfect, and wonderful, and there are no problems, and everyone just happily drinks cocoa at the end of the episode."
[Zap2It]
Beauty and the Beast
Here's the official description for the ninth episode, "Bridesmaid Up!":
WEDDING BELLS RING - When Catherine's (Kristin Kreuk) dad (guest-star Rob Stewart) gets remarried, the bride-to-be and her bridesmaids try to find the daughter-of-the-groom a date for the wedding. Uncomfortable with being set up, Cat reluctantly admits that she's seeing somebody and confides to Vincent (Jay Ryan) that she wishes he could be her date. At the wedding reception, Cat learns about a research grant that Evan (Max Brown) received to study the mutant DNA cells found at local crime scenes. When she tells Vincent about Evan's theory of how the cells are changing to become more animal-like and less human, she encounters an unexpected detour that could change the course of their relationship. Meanwhile, Tess (Nina Lisandrello) and Joe (Brian White) cross the line romantically despite the fact that Joe is a married man.
Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.