As a rule of thumb, the more massive a black hole is, the bigger its surrounding galaxy will be. That's why there's something so fundamentally wrong about NGC 1277, a tiny galaxy home to possibly the biggest black hole yet.

Galaxy NGC 1277 is only about a tenth the size of our Milky Way. That isn't ridiculously tiny for a galaxy — our galactic neighbor the Large Magellanic Cloud is only a hundredth our size, for instance — but it does mean that its black hole should be significantly smaller than Sagittarius-A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. And that emphatically isn't the case. The black hole at the center of NGC 1277 is thought to be about 17 billion times as massive as our Sun, compared to just about 4.3 million solar masses for Sagittarius-A*.

What's more, the NGC 1277 black hole takes up a volume whose diameter is 4 light-days across, meaning it spans a distance over 338 times that of the diameter of Earth's orbit around the Sun. Even Neptune's outermost orbit, with a diameter of 8.3 light-hours, is still less than a tenth of the black hole's diameter. And what about Sagittarius-A*? Estimates of its diameter vary, but it's at most about 36 light-hours, perhaps closer to just 12. That's impressive compared to the orbits of planets in our solar system, but it's nothing compared to what's going on in NGC 1277.

But let's return to the seriously impressive thing about any black hole, which is its mass. The average supermassive black hole only makes up about 0.1% of its galaxy's overall mass — not an unimpressive figure, but a good reminder that there's still plenty of galaxy out there that isn't black hole. Not so much the case in NGC 1277, as its black hole makes up a whopping 14 percent of the galaxy's total mass.

The question now is just how this remarkable discovery fits into our overall understanding of black holes and galaxy formation. This is so outside what we've encountered before that our current models can't really account for it, but that may simply mean our models are incomplete. The mass of this particular black hole was calculated as part of research at the University of Texas's McDonald Observatory.

The researchers hope improved data on the mass of black holes and their galaxies — we currently only have confirmed figures for about 100 black holes, which is barely anything in cosmic terms — might help us figure out just why some supermassive black holes are surrounded by equally gargantuan galaxies, whereas something completely different has happened in NGC 1277. Team member Karl Gebhard explains in a statement:

"This is a really oddball galaxy. It's almost all black hole. This could be the first object in a new class of galaxy-black hole systems. When trying to understand anything, you always look at the extremes: the most massive and the least massive. We chose a very large sample of the most massive galaxies in the nearby universe... This study is only possible with [the Hobby-Eberly Telescope]. The telescope works best when the galaxies are spread all across the sky. This is exactly what HET was designed for. The mass of this black hole is much higher than expected. It leads us to think that very massive galaxies have a different physical process in how their black holes grow."

For more, check out the University of Texas website and the original paper in Nature.

Top image by NASA/ESA/Andrew C. Fabian. Side image by D. Benningfield/K. Gebhardt/StarDate.

J.H. Wyman reveals the title of Fringe's final episode. Peter Jackson discusses Gollum's technological evolution. Get your first look at John Malkovich as a zombie-hunter, in a new Warm Bodies trailer. There are two brand new Monsters University posters. New companion Jenna-Louise Coleman talks Doctor Who. Michael Bay's production company is turning a subplot from Back to the Future into the next Chronicle, because why not!?

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Fringe.

Star Wars: Episode VII

We're entering a slightly more serious stage of the Star Wars director search, at least inasmuch as we're past the point where we're just naming random famous directors and saying, "Yeah... they'd be good." The favorite is reportedly X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn, whose recent exit from the director's chair from the follow-up X-Men: Days of Future Past would seemingly leave him open to direct the thing. The two other names supposedly in contention are Iron Man's Jon Favreau — who according to rumor is actively campaigning for the job — as well as Fight Club and The Social Network director David Fincher, who actually got his start in the movie-making business with a small ILM gig on Return of the Jedi. For Fincher, the exact rumor is that he "might be game for one of these new films", which perhaps means he could handle a later movie if he doesn't get the Episode VII job.

None of these should be considered anything close to confirmed, but they at least broadly make sense — Vaughn and Favreau both have directed successful films that we can kind of broadly put in the same "action sci-fi/fantasy blockbuster" space that Star Wars occupies, with their respective early efforts Stardust and Zathura showing some flair for the kind of imaginative landscapes you'd expect from a Star Wars movie. Fincher is a bit more of a leap, since he hasn't done anything really remotely like this since Alien³ (unless you count The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which I don't particularly), but he's been trying to get a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movie going for a while now, and he's previous spoken about his fondness and reverence for the Star Wars trilogy. Basically, they're all solid choices, without any overriding connections to other franchises that would preclude their involvement in this (like, say, J.J. Abrams). That's not the same thing as saying any of them are actually going to do it, but at least they make sense as candidates, which is an achievement in and of itself. [Deadline]

The Hobbit

Director Peter Jackson discusses how advances in technology have created a better Gollum — but not too much better, lest it conflict with The Lord of the Rings movies:

"Gollum certainly benefits from a much more intricate muscle system. "Obviously with a CGI character you're building a character in much the same way as a real creature is built. You build the bones, the skeletons, the muscles. You put layers of fat on. You put a layer of skin on which has to have a translucency depending on what the character is. Gollum is a much more sophisticated performer now than he was 10 years ago. We've deliberately made him look the same. I really wanted ‘The Hobbit' to very much have a consistency with the first three movies.

[Hero Complex]

Composer Neil Finn discusses how he approached the writing of "Song of the Lonely Mountain", which plays over the closing credits for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:

"They talked a lot about how the movie really, in many ways, is a tale of the dwarves, as much as it's called The Hobbit. I'd get a little melody and I'd think, ‘Would a dwarf sing that?' And you go, 'No, it's too floral. It's not earthy enough.' Even though there's aspects of brotherhood and kinship in the song, I had a line about love and Peter and Fran [Walsh, co-writer and co-producer] sort of looked at me and said, ‘No, not love. There's something not quite right about that.' It's not a love song."

You can also listen to the soundtrack at the link. [Rolling Stone]

Warm Bodies

Here's the latest trailer for the zombie romance movie starring X-Men: First Class's Nicholas Hoult, featuring supporting turns from John Malkovich — of Being John Malkovich fame, naturally — and Children's Hospital star Rob Corddry. [Coming Soon]

Monsters University

Fringe

Showrunner J.H. Wyman reveals the show's hundredth and final episode will be called "An Enemy of Fate", and he dropped these big if cryptic teases about what to expect:

"It's definitely the biggest season finale we've ever had. It's the most expensive…. It's massive, really big. I wanted to go out like, ‘Wow, how did they do that?' I wanted to make sure I handled [the action element] and the emotions with equal import."

[TV Line]

S.H.I.E.L.D.

In case you're worried Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. show won't be as Joss Whedon as his previous shows — and all right, fine, nothing could possibly be as Joss Whedon as Dollhouse, for better or worse — here's ABC president Paul Lee to put your worries to rest:

"It's very Joss Whedon. We're optimistic, because Joss is a genius and we love the idea and we love what we've seen. But it's early days, and it's a long way to go between now and a successful series. But we are very excited about it."

[TV Line]

True Blood

The sixth season premiere is reportedly entitled "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." Some of the guest roles in the episode reportedly include "two Caddo Parish sheriff deputies, for a scene in which they politely pay Sam a visit at his house; and a male Authority guard, who sees something he can't believe in the AHO Control Room." [SpoilerTV]

Once Upon a Time

Lana Parilla discusses what's ahead for the Evil Queen, starting with the seemingly remote possibility of a reconciliation with her son Henry:

It's going to be very difficult to get her son back, if ever. We don't know if that will ever happen. That's a sad reality and a really scary one for her. But before she gives up, I think she's going to do everything she can in staying on the sober path, of not using magic and really confronting these demons and taking responsibility for things and owning up to things and truly doing the right thing. I don't think it's a phase, I don't think it's something she's just trying out. I think she's been woken up a bit. That woman that she once was, before she became the Evil Queen, still is in her somewhere. I think she's getting in touch with that part of herself again. It's that part of her that Henry really wants as a mother; although, it may be too late.

How will Regina and Mr. Gold continue to butt heads?
They have a very interesting relationship. [Robert Carlyle] and I always talk about it. They're really two peas in a pod. They really don't have anyone but each other at the end of the day. As much as they hate each other, as much as they're enemies, it's almost like there's this love too that's probably unspoken and never really expressed. They never really seem to hurt each other, even though they've tried. They try so many different ways. In Storybrooke, something has shifted for Regina. She is really lost. She just continues to keep losing everything from Daniel to Henry to her parents to everything. What's left? With Mr. Gold, he teases her a lot. I mean he really just rubs her face in all of this.

There's a bunch more at the link. [TV Guide]

Episode fifteen will reportedly feature a character called Tamara, who is described as "African American, late 20s to mid 30s, beautiful, artistic, relaxed, friendly, charming and smart. She's also ambitious, fearless and a born leader, and she won't stop until she gets what she wants." [SpoilerTV]

Touch

Here's a poster for the second season, which is still happening next year despite all the times I've explained to Fox that it really, really doesn't have to go through with this. [SpoilerTV]

Oh, and here's an official update on the cast and plot for next season:

Lukas Haas ("Inception," "24," "Witness") and newcomer Saxon Sharbino have joined the cast of TOUCH as series regulars and Greg Ellis ("Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "24") will appear in a recurring role when the critically acclaimed series returns for its second season Friday, Feb 8th (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

In Season Two, the story setting shifts from New York to Los Angeles, where single father MARTIN BOHM (Kiefer Sutherland) and his gifted son JAKE (David Mazouz) are on the run from the mysterious and possibly sinister research facility Aster Corps, which had shown tremendous interest in exploiting Jake's ability to perceive the hidden patterns that connect people around the world. After arriving on the West Coast, the father-son team met distraught mother LUCY ROBBINS (Maria Bello) and now are determined to help find her missing – and equally gifted – daughter AMELIA (Sharbino). During their search, their paths will cross with Aster Corps genius CALVIN NORBURG (Haas), as well as TREVOR WILCOX (Ellis), a journalist and old friend of Martin's.

[SpoilerTV]

Arrow

New Zealander actor Manu Bennett has reportedly been cast as Slade Wilson, better known as the fearsome assassin and warrior Deathstroke. Bennett, who has played Crixus in the various Spartacus series on Starz and is set to play the Orc chieftain Azog in The Hobbit movies, will take over the part from stunt actor Jeffrey Robinson, who played Deathstroke in a masked, non-speaking capacity a few episodes back. The multi-episode arc will reportedly find Deathstroke in flashbacks forging a loose alliance with Oliver Queen during their time stuck on that island. [EW]

The Vampire Diaries

Here's a sneak peek from this Thursday's episode, "We'll Always Have Bourbon Street." [TV Line]

And here's an extended promo for the episode.

American Horror Story: Asylum

Dylan McDermott continues his American Horror Story transition from season one's Naked Ass to season two's Bloody Face by releasing this photo from the set. [EW]

Haven

Here's a promo for this Friday's episode, "Last Goodbyes."

JT (Austin Basis) suspects that Catherine (Kristin Kreuk) is the trigger of Vincent's (Jay Ryan) blackouts, so to disprove this theory, Vincent allows JT to inject him with endorphins and sedatives that force him into a fugue state. In flashback, Vincent recalls his time in Afghanistan when he received his first super soldier shot, and remembers who injected him with the DNA altering substance. He also recollects how the other soldiers experienced unpredictable side effects, including fugue states, and is relieved to know that Cat isn't causing his blackouts. Vincent shares his memory about Murifield with Cat, who experiences some recollections of her own. Then, as Cat and Tess (Nina Lisandrello) investigate the attempted murder of a teen pop star (guest-star Max Schneider), Evan suspects that Cat is deliberately protecting the vigilante who saved him in the subway.

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 officially adds an Oscar winner. Doctor Who's Sylvester McCoy drops some Hobbit knowledge. Star Wars legends Rick Baker and George Lucas discuss their potential roles in Episode VII. Plus some intriguing Legend of Conan details!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Star Trek Into Darkness.

Star Wars: Episode VII

George Lucas offers a fairly straightforward encapsulation of his "consultant" role in Disney's future Star Wars films:

"[If the filmmakers ask],‘Who's this guy?' I can tell them. I mean, they have a hundred encyclopedias and things, but I actually know a lot. I can say, ‘This is this and this is that.' Basically I'm not - I don't really have much to do."

[Coming Soon]

Meanwhile, legendary makeup designer Rick Baker says he wants back in on the Star Wars franchise, and he offers a rather cogent argument as to why the series needs to get back to at least a little bit of its practical effects roots:

"I think the problem that people have with the digital stuff is the problem I have: Just because you can do anything doesn't mean that you should. Instead of having a spaceship battle with three spaceships, they have 3,000 spaceships. Everything is so big and there's so much going on, you lose reality. It takes you out of it."

[Heat Vision]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Somewhat lost in the shuffle of the big announcement that Chronicle's Dane DeHaan is playing Harry Osborn was the other, possibly even bigger news that Collateral and Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx is indeed playing the villain Electro in the sequel. Here's what Foxx has to say about it all:

"Electro is a great character. I met with the director, Mark Webb, I met with Andrew Garfield, and we talked... I think Electro will be an exciting character to play because he's a... genius electrician-type person, and he gets the short end of the stick from the whole world, and the next thing you know he turns it on."

[ET Online]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman has confirmed that he has "been talking to [director] Bryan [Singer] about doing something in this." His wording and intonation suggests it's for more than this three-word cameo in X-Men: First Class, but perhaps less than the apparently significant supporting roles that Patrick Stewart and Ian MacKellen will have as the older Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto. Anyway, nothing is definite, but the fact that Jackman is talking about it all indicates there's a pretty decent chance that Wolverine will indeed show up in some capacity. [Coming Soon]

The Hobbit

Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy discusses his upcoming role as the wizard Radagast the Brown:

He's a wizard, for starts. He lives in the forest. He's more of a hermit, really, and he communicates with animals, and he kind of cares for the forest and the flora and the fauna, and he discovers something - that the forest is in danger, and he has to act quickly and come out of his quiet, lonely yet happy existence and try and do something about it. His closeness to the animals is very helpful to himself and others. It was exciting, really. At first, Peter was doing these logs from the studio and putting them out on YouTube, and they kept keeping me a secret. He said, "You're our little secret." So that was quite fun to be the little secret, the little surprise, maybe.

So what is the relationship like between the two wizards - Gandalf and Radagast?
Well, Saruman the White dislikes Radagast and thinks him a fool, but Gandalf the Grey, he has an admiration for Radagast. He knows that although he's a bit of a bumbling, sweet little old fool, that he has steel inside of him when push comes to shove. I think they're cousins, if I remember rightly. So we've got kind of blood connection.

He also hints at a larger mystery around Radagast's character, because what would a Sylvester McCoy character be without hints of larger mysteries:

If you know your "Lord of the Rings," you might recognize [Radagast's staff]. You'll have to wait and see what happens in the next three years. You'll find out about that staff. It's quite important eventually. It's a mystery. I don't want to give it all away.

I'm calling it right now — that staff is really the Hand of Omega. Look, if you can come up with a way of padding The Hobbit out into three movies that doesn't involve a random Dalek invasion, I'd like to hear it. Anyway, there's a bunch more at the link. [Hero Complex]

Star Trek Into Darkness

After J.J. Abrams used his appearance on Conan to preview an entire three frames from the movie, Spock actor Zachary Quinto decided to use his appearance to show a more substantial clip. Except, of course, this is Conan we're talking about, so it's all an elaborate windup to an intentionally giant letdown — at least if you actually expected to see a clip from the movie. So, no news here, but you can check out the fairly amusing clip at the link. [Team Coco]

The Legend of Conan

Longtime Fast and the Furious series screenwriter Chris Morgan discusses Arnold Schwarzenegger's return to his first iconic role as an aging Conan confronting his warrior mortality:

"[It's] not a reboot, not a remake. Just an update. Where has the character been all this time? A catch-up with Conan. He's not going out and fighting battles, but he ends up getting drawn into something," Morgan explained. "And he has to access the barbarian he was in his youth. I love that Conan has been many things in his life, notably a pirate, a major tactician and a commander of men. In this movie, we're going to tap into some of those things – things you haven't seen on screen yet."

Morgan also makes it clear that the movie won't try to cheat around the fact that Schwarzenegger isn't the peak physical specimen he once was — which isn't to say that Schwarzenegger couldn't still kick my ass, because I have no doubt that he totally could — and it's essential to the premise that Schwarzenegger play the part as he looks now, without CGI enhancement:

"I want the warrior whose joints have started to fuse together, who has to crack the cartilage so he can pick up a sword again. I want the guy who's not necessarily lost a step, but there's some rust he has to shake off. I want to embrace that. It makes it a greater hero story. Conan needs to be faced with challenges. The greatest challenge to him isn't the armies that are set before him. It's, on some level, self-doubt, a little bit of slowing down and forcing yourself to be heroic beyond what people expect of you. What I don't want is for him to step back in and look the same. That would defeat the purpose of our story"

Morgan is just producing the project for the time being, though he says he hopes to write it if his schedule allows for it, or else work closely with whoever he picks to write the screenplay. [Hero Complex]

Warm Bodies

Once Upon a Time

Here's a promo for the next episode, "The Cricket Game."

The Vampire Diaries

Executive producer Julie Plec explains why Matt and Jeremy won't be spending a whole lot of time together, despite now being roommates:

"Unfortunately, we don't actually get to see them in action for a while. In [Episode 9], Jeremy gets shipped off to the lake house for treatment. They're in a predicament, which is that he loves his sister and she's the one person he'd love to kill more than anybody, so ... when we get to Episode 9 we'll see that Elena has enlisted Bonnie to help. She's seeking out unconventional methods to find a fix."

[Zap2It]

Haven

Here are the titles and short synopses for the final three episodes of the third season:

Episode 3.11 - Last Goodbyes
Haven falls into a deep sleep; Audrey must work with the only other person awake in town; more questions arise about the Bolt Gun Killer.

Episode 3.12 - Reunion
Nathan and Duke try to help Audrey search for a troubled killer after a string of murders take place at the Haven High school.

Episode 3.13 - Thanks for the Memories
Audrey, Nathan and Duke face off against the Bolt Gun Killer.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.

Patrick Stewart discusses returning to the role of Professor X in X-Men: Days of Future Past. There is a ton of behind-the-scenes footage from The Hobbit. Joss Whedon turns in his outline for The Avengers 2. J.J. Abrams explains how IMAX takes Star Trek Into Darkness to the next level. Supernatural adds another Winchester. Plus Doctor Who, Pacific Rim, Walking Dead, and more!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Man of Steel

Producer Christopher Nolan, who also helped develop the story with screenwriter David Goyer, discusses whether Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill's Superman movie will follow the lead of his own consciously grounded and gritty Dark Knight trilogy:

"Well, somewhat. But I wouldn't want people to think we're doing for Superman what we did for Batman. It's very much Zack's film and I think people are going to love what he's done. I think it's really remarkable to take on that character. Superman is a completely different character than Batman. So you can't in any way use the same template. But David Goyer had this, I thought, brilliant way to make Superman relatable and relevant for his audience. Zack has built on that and I think it's incredible what he's putting together. He's got a lot of finishing to do on that. Superman is the biggest comic book character of them all and he needs the biggest possible movie version which is what Zack's doing. It's really something."

[The Playlist]

Here's Jor-El actor Russell Crowe on why he took on the project — I think he's trying to convey how Jor-El's sacrifices are the ultimate, heartbreaking illustration of a father's love for a son he can never know, but man does this quote sound weird out of context:

"It afforded me a wonderful opportunity to put a specific thing in the minds of 14 year-old boys. And that is that the bravest thing you can do, the most important thing you can ever do, is love."

[MTV Splash Page]

Justice League

While Christopher Nolan seems to be pretty definitely done directing superhero movies, there's still the question of whether he could help Warner Bros. develop their putative Justice League franchise in much the same way he did with Man of Steel and in much the same way Joss Whedon is overseeing the Marvel universe and Mark Millar is supervising Fox's superhero films. Regarding the possibility, Nolan gave this kind of negative, kind of ambiguous non-answer:

"Well, as I've said, and I'll say definitively again, I am done with the Batman films, the trilogy is completed. It ended in the manner we had envisioned. Well, I'm producing Superman now and I'm enjoying time off and taking a break."

[The Playlist]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Patrick Stewart took some time out from his vital ongoing task of just sort of generally being the awesomeness that is Patrick Stewart to discuss what's going on with the X-Men: First Class followup:

We are, you know, under contractual oath with 20th Century Fox to say nothing about any prospective X-Men movie including the old team. I use "old" advisedly. So it's a kind of awkward position, because lovely Bryan Singer just blurted it all out there. For me the big thrill is knowing that Bryan Singer is attached to this movie, because not only is he a brilliant director, but also I adore him and hope that it might be true and that we do work together at some point in the future. But I'm not being coy. I know nothing about this project. And I'm hoping that might change in the future.

Other than the fact that you're doing it?
I don't know that we're doing it. I have not signed a contract yet. I know there is a project in development, but we have no dates. No detailed casting. Thrilled to hear that my dear friend and colleague Ian McKellen is on board, but I'm sorry, you know, you need to understand, I'm not being cute. I know nothing.

Tons more, including Stewart's thoughts on Star Trek: TNG season two, at the link. [EW]

The Avengers 2

It's a minor but still not unimportant milestone — according to a new EW interview, Joss Whedon turned in an outline of the sequel to Marvel a little while ago. [EW]

Star Trek Into Darkness

Director J.J. Abrams describes his experience shooting the Star Trek sequel in IMAX:

It was amazing. Part of it was challenging because of the technical aspects of it, the machinery of it. The cameras themselves are a little unwieldy and a little loud and unpredictable. But then you go to dailies and you watch on this massive screen these images that you've shot having been filmed on a negative that's eight times bigger than what you normally use, and you cannot believe how good it looks. So that's exciting! But unlike [Mission Impossible:] Ghost Protocol, a lot of what we shot is integrated into special effects and visual effects in a way that I cannot wait for people to see. I think it really is mind-blowing, how it looks. The IMAX frame, I think, is really the best way to see a movie.

[IGN]

Pacific Rim

Legendary Pictures clearly is feeling really good about Guillermo del Toro's blockbuster giant robots vs. giant monsters movie, as they have hired original screenwriter Travis Beacham to start working on a sequel script. Of course, much with that Green Lantern 2 script, this sequel project could very quickly turn to nothing if the movie isn't the mega-hit that its $200 million budget requires. But hey, no reason to not be optimistic about this, really. [Heat Vision]

The Hobbit

Director Peter Jackson offers this encapsulation of how The Hobbit differs from Lord of the Rings:

Tolkien's novel gave us that. It's returning to Middle-earth with a brand new story, and largely new principal characters - certainly apart from Gandalf, who does return. It is a different tone. I mean, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit 20 years before The Lord of the Rings. It's the origin of a lot of the events that culminate in The Lord of the Rings. But it's much more of a children's, whimsical fairy tale.

This movie has a whole mob of crazy, wild, temperamental dwarf warriors, but they're still far better behaved than the Feebles.
Right. [Laughs.] Yes they are, indeed! The comedy was one of the joys of this movie. It allowed us to let our hair down a little bit. The Lord of the Rings was very apocalyptic, end-of-world heavy, which was appropriate to the book Tolkien wrote. But we wanted this to be appropriate too. The Hobbit is almost written like as though a chapter would be the nice size for a parent to read to children at night before bed. It's very episodic, by chapter. We wanted the movie to reflect a little of that.

[EW]

To accompany the six recently released sneak peek clips, here's over twenty minutes of behind-the-scenes B-roll footage from the filming of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Mission: Impossible 5

Executive producer J.J. Abrams reveals a potential candidate to replace Brad Bird as director for the next Mission: Impossible film:

Yeah, we're talking to Chris McQuarrie now. I would just say that he's somebody who — he did some work on the last one we did [Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol]. I've been a fan of his since The Usual Suspects. He's just a terrific guy, an incredible writer and a really wonderful director, so we'd be lucky to get him.

[IGN]

The Purge

Here's the synopsis for Gattaca star Ethan Hawke and Game of Thrones actress Lena Headey's upcoming "speculative thriller", which imagines a world in which all laws are suspended for 12 hours once a year:

If on one night every year, you could commit any crime without facing consequences, what would you do? In The Purge, a speculative thriller that follows one family over the course of a single night, four people will be tested to see how far they will go to protect themselves when the vicious outside world breaks into their home. In an America wracked by crime and overcrowded prisons, the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity-including murder-becomes legal. The police can't be called. Hospitals suspend help. It's one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of punishment.

On this night plagued by violence and an epidemic of crime, one family wrestles with the decision of who they will become when a stranger comes knocking. When an intruder breaks into James Sandin's (Ethan Hawke) gated community during the yearly lockdown, he begins a sequence of events that threatens to tear a family apart. Now, it is up to James, his wife, Mary (Lena Headey), and their kids to make it through the night without turning into the monsters from whom they hide. Directed by James DeMonaco (writer of Assault on Precinct 13 and The Negotiator).

[Collider]

Doctor Who

Here's Matt Smith weighing in on the most important aspect of the Doctor heading into tonight's Christmas special "The Snowmen" — his costume:

I've got a whole new Christmassy outfit and the best hat! A bit Artful Dodger meets the Doctor. There's a lot of purple this year, which is nice. I've always wanted something purple but they were always reluctant. It's taken three years to get a jaunty hat and a purple coat!

And guest star Tom Ward drops some hints about his character Captain Latimer:

My character is an archetypal Victorian gentleman, a repressed, Establishment-type chap who is distant from his children and can't communicate with women. I couldn't resist him as he's so well written - besides a part in a Doctor Who Christmas Special was just too good an opportunity to pass up!

Finally, new companion Jenna-Louise Coleman explains what connection there is between her Christmas special character Clara and her earlier role as Oswin in "Asylum of the Daleks":

The connection is that it's me playing both. I'm not Oswin: I'm a different person who looks and sounds like Oswin.

Well, that settles that... except I'm still guessing there's going to be more to this eventually, if not actually in the Christmas special. [Doctor Who News]

And here's a ton of promo photos for "The Snowmen." [Blogtor Who]

The Walking Dead

Comics creator Robert Kirkman says that the twelfth episode — and the fourth of the 2013 episodes — "is going to be something special", and "all [eight episodes] are pretty great, but be on the lookout for that one." [TV Line]

Once Upon a Time

Star Jennifer Morrison offered this cryptic description of Brotherhood star Ethan Embry's upcoming guest role:

"[All we] know is he's an outsider, he is a stranger and he is not a fairytale character, at least he's not someone anyone recognizes from fairytale land."

Also, either Aurora or Mulan will be seen fairly soon after the show returns from hiatus. [TV Line]

Supernatural

An upcoming episode will guest star Friday Night Lights actor Gil McKinney as Henry Winchester, Sam and Dean's grandfather who is flung forward in time from 1958. The character is described as "'Robert Downey Jr. meets Cary Grant' — dapper, smart, and a little arrogant", and he's accompanied by "28-year-old Josie Sands, a sexy, strong Katharine Hepburn type... with a secret." The pair team up with the modern-day Winchester brothers to hunt down a demon. [Zap2It]

Executive producer Jeremy Carver discusses what Henry Winchester brings to the show:

"The episode really allows them not just to delve into a piece of family lore that they really will carry with them moving forward in this season and seasons beyond, it also, frankly, forces them to deal again with some issues related to their grandfather and their father, John. For me, that's one of the most fun things about the show - all of these little patches of history and mythology that we can fill in."

Elsewhere, Carver expands on that idea:

"In other words, what did their father's father have to do with the way their father turned out? A lot of that is explored head-on. There's a tremendous amount of emotional ground that's covered. When we get a chance to do one of these episodes, we try to do it with great care because we're essentially [etching] a part of the mythology into stone."

[TV Line]

Beauty and the Beast

Here's a teaser about an upcoming love triangle, courtesy of TV Line:

The show is getting ready to introduce a charismatic and slightly shady A.D.A. in his late 20s who will work closely with Kristin Kreuk's Cat on a special task force. Business will turn to pleasure and, if all goes according to plan, the not-yet-cast New Guy could become a series regular.

[TV Line]

Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.

Dan Aykroyd gives his latest insane update on Ghostbusters 3. Benedict Cumberbatch reveals why his Star Trek Into Darkness character is more than just a villain. Find out just who's going to be in charge of Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show. Andy Serkis discusses Caesar's future in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Plus Arrow hints galore!

Nothing but spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Star Trek Into Darkness

We still don't know exactly who Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is playing in this — even after last night's new teaser trailer — but here's what he and director J.J. Abrams had to say about the character at a recent press conference in Tokyo. We're dealing with doubly-translated quotes, so these may not be entirely accurate, but hopefully the gist is there:

Cumberbatch: He is very ruthless…He is not a clearly good or evil character. He is a villain but the actions he takes has intent and reason... He is a complicated character not to be judged by white-or-black, or good-or-evil. But this is the appeal of J.J.'s works and I felt challenge as an actor.
Abrams: The character is a villain and scary, but I was looking for an actor with humanity who audiences can sympathies with. When I saw Benedict in Sherlock, I wanted to convince him whatever it took. I expected a lot from him, but Benedict responded by acting beyond my expectations.

And here are some thoughts from Chris Pine on what's ahead for Captain Kirk:

I am proud that the movie is scaled up from the previous one. At the same time, the characters filled with humanity. This is sci-fi, but you'll enjoy down-to-earth drama…Kirk was selfish before, but he matures humanly. Confronting with anger and conflict, he became a leader with mind of self-sacrifice... In the previous movie, Kirk was a selfish young man. This time, as a leader, he grows up to be a man leading everyone despite getting out of his mind. I my acting is influenced by growing as an adult in the last four years.

There's more at the link. [Trek Movie]

Iron Man 3

Director Shane Black discusses the particular challenge of creating a fairly grounded Iron Man film immediately following The Avengers:

"We had kind of a conundrum in that The Avengers opens up this huge skyhole full of inter-dimensional aliens, and you kind of look back and [think], 'Well, what do you do after that?' Except go back to a sort of more gritty, intense kind of techno-thriller root. I owe sort of a debt to [Jon] Favreau I have to carry on what he started without violating it - at the same time bringing sort of my own enhancement if I can."

You can check out the full video interview with Black and War Machine actor Don Cheadle over at Wired. [IGN]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

With the early reviews decidedly mixed on how well the movie's 48 frames-per-second presentation works, here's director Peter Jackson with a spirited rebuttal:

"I'm fascinated by reactions. I'm tending to see that anyone under the age of 20 or so doesn't really care and thinks it looks cool, not that they understand it but they often just say that 3D looks really cool. I think 3D at 24 frames is interesting, but it's the 48 that actually allows 3D to almost achieve the potential that it can achieve because it's less eye strain and you have a sharper picture which creates more of the 3-dimensional world... Warner Bros. were very supportive. They just wanted us to prove that the 24 frame version would look normal, which it does, but once they were happy with that, on first day, when we had to press that button that said '48 frames' even though on that first day we started shooting at 48 FPS, you could probably say there wasn't a single cinema in the world that would project the movie in that format. It was a big leap of faith.

"The big thing to realize is that it's not an attempt to change the film industry. It's another choice. The projectors that can run at 48 frames can run at 24 frames - it doesn't have to be one thing or another. You can shoot a movie at 24 frames and have sequences at 48 or 60 frames within the body of the film. You can still do all the shutter-angle and strobing effects. It doesn't necessarily change how films are going to be made. It's just another choice that filmmakers have got and for me, it gives that sense of reality that I love in cinema."

[Coming Soon]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Caesar actor Andy Serkis discusses what's next for the chimp revolutionary in Matt Reeves's followup to Rise of the Planet of the Apes:

"The interesting thing now will be how Caesar operates in this world—because of the virus that hits at the end of the first movie — and how Caesar brings an accord between the apes and the surviving humans and that's going to be interesting where we take that."

[Coming Soon]

Ghostbusters 3

Dan Aykroyd gives his latest update on where things currently stand. As ever, everything is looking good, except for the part where it's actually happening — and yeah, that last bit is true in a couple of senses:

I'm as deeply inside Ghostbusters 3 as anyone involved in the project - that includes the executives at Sony, who have to go to sleep at night and have to decide to do it. Ivan Reitman, the director, who travels from Santa Barbara to L.A., and has for the last three years, working with writers to put it together. [The Office writers] Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who worked on one of the drafts.

But that draft isn't being used anymore, right?
I've worked on every draft in the last three years, as Ivan has, and now we have a story and a draft that everybody seems to agree would make the third movie. At this point, I think we're closer than we ever have been. And because of the ever-shifting sands and nature of the motion-picture business, I will just say that hopefully, at some point, it will be morphing into what is known in the business as a [Aykroyd mimes air quotes] "production number XP39789." Then I will begin to rent cars, get hotel rooms, and bill for writing. But that point hasn't come. All my work has been gratis to this point, as Ivan's has, and I'm hoping that I can get that production number set up in L.A. and help everyone bring the movie to fruition, as the originator and creator of the concept. If it does not happen, the life of Dan Aykroyd and his family and friends will be quite full without Ghostbusters 3.

Aykroyd was also asked about the originally mooted Ghostbusters in Hell concept for Ghostbusters II, but he says that making that movie won't be possible until at least Ghostbusters 5. No, seriously, we're talking a complete new trilogy now:

Listen, I tell ya, after this movie gets made, and maybe the next one: Man-hell-ttan.

Man-hell-ttan.
Man-hell-ttan, and the Ghostbusters in hell, would be so solid, but we gotta get maybe one or two made before that. But, oh, wow... I wrote that with Tom Davis, my writing partner, recently deceased, who wrote Coneheads with me and stuff on Saturday Night Live. There's classic Tom Davis lines and funny stuff in there, really it's probably the most humorous of all the Ghostbusters scripts that have generated in that last little while. But we'll put the humor into this next one. It's gotta be funny, or it's not worth doing. It can be scary, it can be Ghostbusters, it can be the new franchise, the new people, but if it's not funny … Wait a minute, it started as a comedy. Let's make sure there's laughs and no laugh unturned and that we really make that our priority, to make it funny and exciting, but mainly funny.

There's a lot more at the link, including his take on how if Bill Murray had just agreed to do that one Ghostbusters 3 script a couple years ago, the movie would have already come out this summer, been a huge hit, and everyone would have loved it, especially Bill Murray. You know, the insanity of this whole story is almost starting to loop back around to being kind of awesome. [Esquire]

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Here's a new poster for the delayed G.I. Joe sequel. I'm guessing that the poster, much like the film itself, now features Channing Tatum way more prominently than it would have if this thing had been released as originally planned. [Yahoo!]

The Croods

Here's a trailer for Dreamworks's upcoming caveman adventure movie, starring the voices of Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone.

Fringe

Here are some promo photos for the eighth episode, "The Human Kind", which airs this Friday. [SpoilerTV]

The twelfth and penultimate episode is reportedly called "Liberty." [SpoilerTV]

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Assuming ABC goes ahead with Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. series, which is currently at the pilot stage, the showrunners will be husband-and-wife team and Dollhouse writers Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, which had already been rumored, as well as Jeffrey Bell, who was the Angel showrunner for its final two seasons. [EW]

The Walking Dead

Showrunner Glen Mazzara discusses what's next for Andrea:

"Where does she belong? She doesn't really belong at Woodbury; she doesn't really even belong at the prison. It'll be very interesting to see Andrea try to straddle both worlds."

[TV Guide]

Arrow

Diggle actor David Ramsey discusses the huge plot twist that's coming up in next Wednesday's midseason finale:

"[After the midseason finale] you're going to be left thinking, ‘No, they didn't!' It's that big. [On] Dexter, they had this huge cliffhanger at the end of one of the seasons where they killed off [Dexter's wife] Rita…It's going to be bigger than that. Huge."

He also discusses Diggle's evolving relationship with Oliver and what's ahead for his character:

"I think [Diggle] sees himself as offering something Oliver really can't do by himself. And I think that's why Oliver selected him; this was not an arbitrary selection. So you will see him standing up to Oliver. I think it's delivered in a way where you see that Oliver needs this... Right now, lots of what we see is Diggle facilitating Oliver's growth - and I think all the characters do to some degree. But [viewers will see] more of Diggle's backstory and you're going to see more of what his relationship with Oliver means to his own family."

[EW]

Here's a teaser for the ninth episode and midseason premiere, courtesy of E! Online:

How about that there's a copycat Arrow running around shooting bad guys?! Yes, Oliver will be on the hunt for his impersonator in episode 9, and by episode's end we'll learn that it's actually someone we know. Dun-dun-dun!

[E! Online]

The show is currently casting another DC Comics import, this time the dragon-tattooed archer and martial artist Shado. The comic book version was an adversary-turned-ally for Green Arrow, and the TV version will make her debut in episode fourteen, reportedly titled "The Odyssey." [Zap2It]

The show is also reportedly adding a new character called Dodger for the fifteenth episode. I would assume this character will be based on the Cockney-accented, high-tech thief who has faced off against Green Arrow in the comics, though that is just speculation on my part. [SpoilerTV]

The Vampire Diaries

According to TV Guide, the first half of season four is headed for a brutal finish, as "there will be mass casualties in the midseason finale, including someone you've known since Season 1." [TV Guide]

Teen Wolf

The Final Destination actress Haley Webb has reportedly been cast as a new love interest for Tyler Hoechlin's Derek Hale. [Deadline]

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

Check out the first photo of Legolas in The Hobbit. Shane Black brings the grittiness back to Iron Man 3. Do we know what Guillermo del Toro's next project after Pacific Rim really is? Learn more about the visual effects of Man of Steel. Suburgatory's Jane Levy talks Evil Dead. Plus Anne Hathaway wants to be Catwoman again!

It's spoilers all the way down!

Top image from The Dark Knight Rises.

Man of Steel

Here's an interview with Joe Letteri, visual effects supervisor for Zack Snyder's Superman movie.

Iron Man 3

Here's a little more from director Shane Black's recent interview with Wired:

"We had kind of a conundrum in that The Avengers opens up this huge skyhole full of inter-dimensional aliens, and you kind of look back and [think], 'Well, what do you do after that?' Except go back to a sort of more gritty, intense kind of techno-thriller root. You just go in and you sort of wrestle...you gotta of jerk things around a bit, and mix it up so that there's still more story to tell. And the way you do that is treat it like the first two [movies] were part of an ongoing story that hasn't finished yet. The journeys are all mythic in a way we recognize from a lot of years...mythic superhero stories. Today's world is so complicated that the simplicity of myth has come back around the desire, or need for people to feel and see that that's unprecedented; given how just confusing the world is right now."

Again, you can watch the whole video here. [Comic Book Movie]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, and Hugh Jackman have all confirmed that they have been approached to reprise their X-Men roles as Professor X, Magneto, and Wolverine, and now the rumors have moved on to the next tier of original X-Men stars. Halle Berry and James Marsden have both been mentioned as candidates to reprise their roles as Storm and Cyclops. Their participation is reportedly fairly straightforward, as these actors would reportedly "appear mostly in scenes depicting an alternate dystopic future, so pay and time commitments are not substantial", and they are likely to do this now that their original director Bryan Singer is back on board after the departure of X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn. Reading between the lines, it seems like this is the sort of role Hugh Jackman referred to when he talked about "doing something" in this movie, whereas it's possible that Stewart and McKellan — playing two of the only characters present in both timelines — might make more substantial appearances. That, however, is just speculation, and indeed it's probably best to take this whole thing with a degree of skepticism until we hear something more official. [Hollywood Reporter]

Catwoman

There's no particular reason to think Warner Bros. is actually going to go ahead with this — and you'd think Christopher Nolan would be particularly against it, since Selina Kyle's apparent retirement seems like a crucial part of the ending to The Dark Knight Rises — but it sure sounds like Anne Hathaway wants to do a Catwoman spin-off movie:

"No one's talked to me about it. I would love it. I actually, it's so embarrassing, I was at a press Q & A thing the other night for a screening of 'The Dark Knight,' and the moderator asked me, 'So what was it like to say goodbye to the character?' And I burst into tears, because I miss her. It just makes me cry. I miss her. I love Selena so much and I love her presence in my life and getting to... I'm crying again. So assuming there was enough Kleenex in the world, I would love to do a spin-off."

And even if Anne Hathaway is just saying all that to pander to Catwoman fans... well, I'll say this, she commits to her pandering. [Access Hollywood]

Ender's Game

Director Gavin Hood — who would very much appreciate it if you gave him a mulligan on X-Men Origins: Wolverine — explains why Ender and company are all around 12, rather than starting out as 6-year-olds as they do in Orson Scott Card's novel. He also promises that there are some crucial things he very much is not changing:

"I discussed this at length with Orson. The decision was made very early on to compress the time period into about a year, so that we could have the same actor from beginning to end... We were trying to hit that sweet spot right around 12, which [Ender actor] Asa [Butterfield] fits in very nicely. When you sit down for two hours, you're just beginning to bond with an actor, and then he changes and suddenly you're bonding with someone who's meant to be the same person, but you know he's a different actor... I am a fan, and I have had a desire to do this and have been working on this now for nearly four years. That ending - and the complex moral questions that it raises - is one of the reasons why I love the book. I promise you that it is very much there."

There's some more at the link. [EW]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Here's the latest epic-length behind-the-scenes featurette on Peter Jackson's first Hobbit movie. There's a ton of footage on display in this thirteen-minute video. [First Showing]

Arrow

Here's a pair of promos for next Wednesday's midseason finale, "Year's End." [Superhero Hype]

American Horror Story: Asylum

Here's a promo for the next episode, "The Coat Hanger."

Being Human (US)

Here's Syfy's official announcement for the show's third season, which kicks off on January 14, 2013:

Syfy's original series Being Human stars Sam Witwer as Aidan, Meaghan Rath as Sally and Sam Huntington as Josh with Kristen Hager as Nora, joining this year as a series regular. The season will consist of 13 episodes. In the Season 2 cliffhanger Aidan found himself six feet under after being banished and buried as punishment from vampire leader Mother. Sally became lost in a state of limbo and for Josh, events went horribly wrong when his plot to break the werewolf curse by killing his Maker Ray backfired, endangering Nora. Now, as the new season begins… be careful what you wish for! Season 3 also features a stellar lineup of new and returning guest stars including: Mark Pellegrino (Lost) as Aidan's vampire mentor Bishop; Amy Aquino (Big Love, Harry's Law, ER) as Donna, a witch whose supernatural spells are sought to help Sally; Xander Berkeley (24, Nikita) as Liam, the father of purebred werewolf twins who is intent on locating his missing children; Bobby Campo (Final Destination) as Max, a young mortician who develops a connection with Sally; and Kyle Schmid (Copper) returning as Aidan's vampire protégé/"son" Henry.

[SpoilerTV]

Continuum & Lost Girl

These descriptions aren't nearly as revealing, if only because both shows have already aired their most recent seasons in Canada. Still, here's what Syfy has to say about Continuum's first season and Lost Girl's third, both of which make their American debut alongside the new Being Human on January 14:

Continuum
The time-traveling police drama Continuum stars Rachel Nichols (Star Trek, Criminal Minds) as Kiera Cameron, a cop from the future who finds herself trapped in the present day. When a group of fanatical terrorists escapes their planned execution in 2077 by vaulting back in time to 2012, they inadvertently sweep along Kiera, a dedicated City Protective Services officer. With unexpected assistance from teen tech genius Alec Sadler, played by Erik Knudsen (Jericho, Scream 4), Kiera infiltrates the local police department and forms an uneasy alliance with her new partner, detective Carlos Fonnegra, portrayed by Victor Webster (Castle, Melrose Place). Though desperate to get back to her husband and son, Kiera concentrates on bringing down the terrorists before they change the course of history.

Lost Girl
The victory in the final battle of Season Two has created new alliances for Bo along with reinvigorating old enemies, like "The Morrigan," played by Emmanuelle Vaugier (Two and a Half Men, Human Target), whom Bo crossed in an attempt to bring peace to the Faedom. Now Bo, who until now has refused to pick a side, will be forced to make a deadly decision. Among the guest stars will be Linda Hamilton ("Terminator"). Joining the Lost Girl cast this season is Rachel Skarsten (The Vow; Flashpoint) in a recurring role as "Tamsin," a thrill-seeking, sexy new Fae who ruffles many feathers. Returning for season three are Kris Holden-Ried (The Tudors, Underworld 4) as "Dyson"; Ksenia Solo (Life Unexpected; Black Swan) as "Kenzi"; Zoie Palmer (The Guard, Instant Star) as "Lauren"; Rick Howland (Billable Hours, Murdoch Mysteries) as "Trick" and K.C. Collins (Owning Mahowny, Doomstown) as "Hale."

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders.

Specifically, that bright dot in the center of this image is Hercules A, a galaxy located over two billion light-years from Earth. But what really dominates the scene are the two gargantuan jets of plasma shooting out of Hercules A.

The plasma jets themselves are each over a million light-years long, meaning you could lay ten copies of the entire Milky Way end-to-end inside each one of the jets. The jets themselves aren't visible in the wavelengths we're used to — they only show up when this area of space is imaged in radio waves. The image above is a mix of a visible light image taken by the Hubble Telescope, which shows Hercules A in the center, and a radio image taken by the Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico, which reveals the plasma jets.

We don't know exactly what creates these remarkable plasma bursts, but it's probably related to just how gigantic Hercules A's central supermassive black hole is. Both galaxy and black hole are proportionally larger than their Milky Way equivalents — Hercules A is estimated to be a thousand times more massive than our galaxy, while the supermassive black hole is also thought to be about a thousand times more massive than our own Sagittarius A*. The constant inflow of mass into the black hole of Hercules A likely provides the unimaginable amount of energy needed to power these jets.

Via NASA. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Baum & C. O'Dea (RIT), R. Perley and W. Cotton (NRAO/AUI/NSF), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).

Our planet's magnetic field is constantly changing and evolving, making it impossible to know how the field behaved at any given point in the past. The only real way to study ancient magnetism is through our ancestors' love of fire.

Paleomagnetism has had an incredibly important role in the history of geology, as it was research into Earth's past magnetic fields that helped establish the existence and movement of the tectonic plates in the sixties and seventies. Paleomagnetic data continues to be crucial as a dating tool for human settlement sites and all sorts of fossil remains.

To establish an accurate paleomagnetic chronology, researchers rely on human pottery-making. Such activities involve firing minerals to temperatures exceeding the Curie Temperature, which is the point above which objects become demagnetized. When the objects cool, the finished pot remagnetizes, locking in a record of the direction and strength of the magnetic field in the region at that point in time and space.

This line of research has yielded fantastically accurate data for much of the Northern Hemisphere, but the Southern Hemisphere is trickier — partially because so much of it is covered by oceans, but also some Pacific cultures didn't make pottery. The Maori, who first settled New Zealand around 1200 CE, are one such example of a culture that left behind no pottery and, seemingly, no paleomagnetic data.

But the Maori are famous for hāngi, large steam pit ovens using heated rocks. As Dr. Gillian Turner of Wellington's Victoria University explains to the BBC, ancient Maori folklore suggests the hāngi stones might well have been hot enough to go past the Curie temperature:

"The Maori legend is that the stones achieve white hot heat. Well, red hot is about 700 degrees and so white hot would be a good deal more than that. But by putting some thermocouples in the stones we were able to show they got as high as 1,100 C, which of itself is quite surprising. At that temperature, rock-forming minerals start to become plastic if not melt. The Maori prefer these volcanic boulders because they don't crack and shatter in the fire, and from our point of view they're the best because magnetically they behave better - they're formed with a high concentration of magnetite."

Dr. Turner and her fellow researchers experimented with modern hāngi to confirm that the rocks did indeed exceed the Curie temperature, which means that all rocks from ancient hāngi sites potentially hold a wealth of information on Earth's magnetic fields. By radiocarbon dating charcoal recovered at the hāngi sites, Dr. Turner can identify exactly when the rocks were first fired. For more, check out the full story over at BBC News.

Image by matteo.laghetto on Flickr.

Iron Man 3 is filming in China after all — and they've added a Chinese star. Martin Sheen is returning for more in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Peter Jackson discusses Middle-Earth's cinematic future. Felicia Day returns to Supernatural. Plus a great look at Superman's new costume!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Star Trek Into Darkness.

Star Trek Into Darkness

A new and longer trailer premiered at Austin's Butt-Numb-A-Thon event, and here are some descriptive tweets from Devin Faraci and Jordan Hoffman:

Faraci: Full STAR TREK trailer indicates hands against glass scene is actually Spock and Cumberbatch. If he's Sybock… Well, kudos.

That said, Cumberbatch does NOT have Vulcan ears. Hands against glass scene seems to be Cumby in the brig.

Trailer opens with Pike VO, telling Kirk he has courage but no humility, and someday that will get him and his crew killed.

Oh yeah: there's space stuff in the full TREK trailer. Space combat. Guy in a space suit zooming around.

Hoffman:Cumberbatch was definitely shown in some sort of brig

Chekov appears in a red tunic (instead of his regular gold tunic)

Someone wears a EVA space suit with similar design to the one used in Star Trek: The Motion Picture

[Comic Book Movie]

Iron Man 3

Chinese actor Wang Xuequi has reportedly been cast in the part of Dr. Wu. He's a last-minute addition to the film, which begins its Beijing filming this week. Earlier rumors would seem to suggest his character was going to be Chen Lu, alias Radioactive Man, who was potentially being introduced to set up a more major role in a subsequent film. Whether this Dr. Wu is the same character renamed or someone else entirely — and the latest rumors are that this is indeed a new character — all indications are that this is not a major part in the film.[Deadline via Coming Soon]

Guardians of the Galaxy

Pushing Daisies star Lee Pace confirms he's one of several actors currently auditioning for the part of team leader Star Lord, otherwise known as Peter Quill:

"I go in on Monday to meet them all and audition for it, so wish me luck. I'm very excited about it. The script is great. The character is a lot of fun. I have been [reading up on Star-Lord]. You want to know what you're doing. The character is a lot of fun. I hope it works out... We'll see. We'll see. I've got to audition. I've got to go get it. I actually love auditioning, so I'm happy to go meet them all and do it."

[MTV Splash Page]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Martin Sheen confirms he will be back as Uncle Ben in some capacity for the sequel:

"They've called me back, I don't know what the part is going to be, but I'm going to be ‘Uncle Ben' once again in Spider-Man next year. We shoot it in February."

[Comic Book]

Man of Steel

Here's a French magazine cover, offering one of our best close-up views yet of Henry Cavill as Superman, complete with the redesigned costume. [Superhero Hype]

Fantastic Four

20th Century Fox has reportedly set a release date of March 6, 2015 for Chronicle director Josh Trank's reboot. [/Film]

The Hobbit

Here's the latest TV spot from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, this one spotlighting Andy Serkis as Gollum. [Coming Soon]

When asked about making more Middle-Earth-set movies after the complete of his Hobbit trilogy — possibly spawning a continuing franchise much as George Lucas has now done for Star Wars with the sale to Disney — director Peter Jackson said he's open to it, but the Tolkien estate probably isn't:

"I think [more Middle-earth movies] as an idea is fine, but legally it won't happen at the moment, because the Tolkien estate doesn't like that sort of thing. They have an attitude against it. The other Tolkien material, that's very much in the hands of the estate, and they don't like the idea of films at all. So unless something changes there, this will be the end of Middle-earth on film... The one thing that Tolkien said is that the wonderful thing with mythology - and George Lucas has created a mythology of his own - is that it keeps getting handed from one person to the next, and each person embellishes it and expands it. It actually keeps mythology alive, because it should be a living, breathing organic thing where it expands over time. It doesn't just stay stagnant. So I think what George is doing with 'Star Wars' is terrific."

[MTV]

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

X-Men actress Famke Janssen discusses her work under heavy facial prosthetics as the evil witch in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, starring The Avengers's Jeremy Renner and Quantum of Solace's Gemma Arterton as badass adult versions of the famous fairy tale characters:

...what I found to be the most challenging part about it is that I didn't have the freedom I normally felt as an actor. You have a team, literally, of people trailing your every move, because every time you open your mouth, something unglues and they need to be in there with a stick of glue to put it back together. So there's that restriction and limitation, which I found difficult to work with. And then, also, you know your own face in a way that certain things, when you act, work and don't work, and with that ugly makeup on your face, it's a challenge. Like, how much or how little do you do, because the makeup does so much for you already? There were different challenges that came with it. But being that ugly, wow, that was a little new.

[The A.V. Club]

Here's an international poster. [Coming Soon]

Doctor Who

After Michael Sheen in "The Doctor's Wife" and David Mitchell and Robert Webb in "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", the show is once again bringing in a major actor to voice a guest character, and this one is probably the biggest of the bunch. Ian McKellen of X-Men and Lord of the Rings fame will reportedly be voicing the evil Snowmen in the Christmas special, which is appropriately named "The Snowmen." It could even more appropriately be named "The Snowmen as voiced by Ian frigging McKellen", but I suppose that would be gilding the lily. [Den of Geek]

Person of Interest

Here's a promo for the next episode and tenth overall, "Shadow Box."

Here's a short description for episode eleven, "2 Pi R":

Finch goes under cover to protect a youth who reminds him of himself; Carter goes on a dangerous mission for the FBI.

666 Park Avenue

Here are some tidbits for the tenth episode, "The Comfort of Death":

Jane and Detective Cooper arrive at a run down house, where they meet up with the great-granddaughter of one of the members of the Order of the Dragon. Jane goes looking elsewhere in the house for some answers and is surprised by what she finds: a 117 year old man named Harlan who has answers for her.

[SpoilerTV]

Supernatural

Showrunner Jeremy Carver discusses the return of Felicia Day's character Charlie Bradbury in an upcoming episode entitled "LARP and the Real Girl":

"That is our live-action role-playing episode. We will discover that young Charlie Bradbury, in running from her past life, has found herself a new life in a new community. Basically, [she] has fallen into the welcoming arms of a community of LARPers."

[TV Line]

Arrow

Here's a promo for this Wednesday's midseason finale, "Year's End."

The Vampire Diaries

Here's a promo for this Thursday's episode, "O Come, All Ye Faithful."

American Horror Story: Asylum

Here's a preview for the episode from executive producers Sherri Cooper and Jennifer Levin.

And here are some promo photos. [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

We may not know who Benedict Cumberbatch is playing — but we may at least know one important character who'll be appearing in Star Trek Into Darkness. Michael Bay may have found his latest crop of pretty young humans to distract from the punching robots in Transformers 4. Bryan Singer might borrow The Hobbit's technical innovations for X-Men: Days of Future Past. Plus a Walking Dead preview!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from The Hobbit.

Star Trek Into Darkness

It's now confirmed from director J.J. Abrams himself that a Wrath of Khan character will indeed appear in Star Trek Into Darkness — just not necessarily that character. Abrams reportedly confirmed at a recent press event that new cast member Alice Eve is playing Dr. Carol Marcus, who in Wrath of the Khan was the mother of David, Kirk's illegitimate son (well, one of them, anyway — I think we all know Kirk Prime left behind a small armada of bastards), and the inventor of the Genesis Device. It's hard to tell how much overlap between Star Trek Into Darkness and Wrath of Khan we can infer from this news — indeed, the events in this film would presumably line up more with the original Kirk and Marcus's unseen first meeting, namely the one that produced David. So make of all that what you will. [IGN]

Meanwhile, this officially released image shows Benedict Cumberbatch's character in what certainly appears to be the brig. More intriguingly, the official caption says his character is named John Harrison. And while there's something rather wonderfully appropriate about naming a Star Trek character after the man who invented the chronometer that allowed ships to calculated longitude, it seems reasonably likely that that's some sort of decoy name. Whether it's for Gary Mitchell, Khan, or someone else — hell, maybe this is the John Harrison, returned from the 18th century and righteously pissed off about Starfleet's substandard calculation of space longitude, or something — well, that remains as always anybody's guess. [Coming Soon]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Ian McKellen reaffirms that he and Patrick Stewart should indeed be back as Magneto and Professor Charles Xavier — though he says he still hasn't seen the script, so he can't speak in definite terms just yet — but he also drops an interesting hint about how director Bryan Singer might shoot the film:

"I know [Singer is] a big fan of The Hobbit... he went to the opening with James Cameron in New Zealand. And he was very enthusiastic about the new technology, so whether we'll be filming X-Men in 3D and 48 frames per second, we'll find out..."

Here's the full interview with McKellen. [First Showing]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Motion-capture star Andy Serkis drops another hint about what's next for Caesar in the Rise of the Planet of the Apes followup:

The interesting thing will be now how Caesar operates in a world which is, now because of the virus that hits at the end of the first movie, how Caesar kind of brings an accord between apes and the surviving humans. That's going to be kind of, it'll just be interesting where we take that.

[Coming Soon]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Here's the latest TV spot.

Andy Serkis discusses his return to the iconic role of Gollum:

For me, playing the part, I suppose one of the difficulties I faced was that Gollum had been sort of absorbed into public consciousness in such a big way and I had heard lots of impersonations of him in the meantime, loads. So regaining him, re-owning him was quite a challenge, rather than me feeling like I was doing an impersonation of lots of other people's impersonations of a character I played 12 years ago.

It's amazing how people embraced Gollum. I don't know if he's like that dog you find by the side of the street who might bite you or something. Everyone literally loves Gollum.
He's so flawed. He's so human in so many ways. His emotional range is very wide and he can flash and turn and you can feel sympathy for him and then hate him the next second. I think that's the appeal of the character. There is a sense of a pity for this lonely creature that has no friends and is addicted to this thing that tortures him. In the film, we meet him and all throughout the scene, he doesn't know that he's lost the ring. The Smeagol part of his personality is really excited about finally having some company after being in the Misty Mountains by himself for 540 years. In the book, it's not so defined, the Gollum-Smeagol split personality thing, but because we'd established that in "The Rings," we thought it was important to do that as a signature part of his character, that we kept that. It's also a little more interesting to have Bilbo confront not one, but two crazy sort of personalities in that cave.

There's a ton more at the link. [Coming Soon]

Transformers 4

Michael Bay's latest Transformers opus — which somehow still hasn't been renamed Trans4mers, though that's surely just a matter of time — has reportedly found the two young leads to share the screen with already confirmed star Mark Wahlberg. Nicola Peltz, who I'm sure would be perfectly happy if you all just forgot she played Katara in M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, will reportedly play the daughter of Wahlberg's character, while Brenton Thwaites, who for those somehow unfamiliar with the Australian soap opera Home and Away will next be seen in Angelina Jolie's Maleficent, will play Peltz's boyfriend. This character was described as a race car driver initially, but the latest report suggests he's a biker, which sounds slightly more sane, so I wouldn't believe a word of it. Anyway, assuming these reports are accurate, these are likely going to be the real stars of the next stage of the Transformers franchise, as all indications are that Mark Wahlberg is just here for Michael Bay's swansong as a bankable star who can get the series restarted on the right foot before making his own hasty departure. [Twitch Film]

Oz the Great and Powerful

Here's an international poster for Sam Raimi and James Franco's Wizard of Oz prequel.

Storage 24

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming sci-fi horror film about one seriously crazy storage facility.

Fringe

Here are two promos for this Friday's episode, "Black Blotter."

The Walking Dead

Here's a preview from the cast and production team about what to expect from the second half of season three.

True Blood

Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The X-Files actor Robert Patrick, who played Alcide's werewolf father Jackson Herveaux in a bunch of season five episodes, has reportedly been promoted to a regular for the upcoming sixth season. [Deadline]

Person of Interest

Here's a promo for the upcoming tenth episode, "Shadow Box", which airs this Thursday.

And here are some promo photos for the episode. [SpoilerTV]

American Horror Story: Asylum

Here's a short description for the tenth episode, "The Name Game", which airs January 2:

The Monsignor confronts the Devil. Dr. Arden's experiments reach a shocking conclusion. Dr. Thredson facilitates a surprising reunion for Kit. Written by Jessica Sharzer; directed by Michael Lehmann.

[SpoilerTV]

Being Human (UK)

The Mighty Boosh star Julian Barratt will reportedly guest star in one fifth series episode, playing a heavily armed character named Larry. [Den of Geek]

Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.

Another onetime mutant wants in on the time travel fun of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Chuck's Zachary Levi talks his Thor: The Dark World role. Arrow casts one of Oliver Queen's most trusted friends. Plus a singing Hobbit promo!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Doctor Who.

Thor: The Dark World

Erstwhile Chuck star Zachary Levi discusses stepping in for Once Upon a Time's Josh Dallas as Warriors Three member Fandral, which apparently includes dying his hair blonde:

"People always ask me now if blondes have more fun. No, it's really cool. Josh Dallas played the role I'm playing, Fandral the Dashing, in the first film. I was a little trepidatious about stepping into that because someone had already done it. But everyone's embraced me wholeheartedly and been very cool, We shoot in London. I've spent more time there in the last five months than anywhere else. It's been an incredible adventure."

[Enstars]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Alan Cumming says he wants to reprise his role as Nightcrawler and be one of the returning mutants alongside the already confirmed Patrick Stewart's Professor X and Ian McKellan's Magneto:

"I haven't gotten the call. Someone told me that Nightcrawler doesn't appear in the story but I don't know, I think they would have called by now. It was funny that film because I really like it and everyone really responded to Nightcrawler and enough time has elapsed that I would like to go back to it. Although then when I did that film it was sort of the start of this spate of superhero and comic books made into films so it felt a little more special then it does now. X2 was a really great film, not just as a comic book film. I think it's one of the films I'd been in that I think of as really good."

When he says Nightcrawler doesn't appear in the story, he's likely referring to the fact that the character isn't in the original Days of Future Past comics storyline — but then, neither is Magneto, so the movie is already rather playing by its own set of rules. Since the rumors about James Marsden returning as Cyclops and Halle Berry coming back as Storm suggest they will have fairly minor parts — Stewart and McKellan will likely be the only heavily featured future mutants, plus maybe Hugh Jackman because he's Wolverine — then a bit part from Cumming as Nightcrawler certainly doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility. [Superhero Hype]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Here's the latest TV spot, highlighting the real reason people are going to watch this thing — singing dwarves! [The One Ring]

Noah

Director Darren Aronofsky has confirmed that his frequent composer Clint Mansell is back to score his big-budget Bible reimagining, and he's hoping that he and Mansell continue their creatively combative relationship:

"That's another bad marriage. We're about to start [on ‘Noah'] and I'm actually getting texts right now and I know it's from [Mansell], complaining about something. But he's a genius too and he cares, he puts his heart and soul and his love into everything. And he's unique - different from everyone else out there working. He's able to boil down the thematic of a film into a melody, into two or three notes. He captures the whole essence of a film in two or three notes. It's amazing what music can do, I can't tell you how many times music has saved my ass. There's a famous story that Spielberg says the music in 'Jaws' created the entire suspense of the film — without it, it just didn't work. And I think that's true, music can do so much for a movie. But then there's ‘The Wrestler' which has maybe three minutes of score, outside of some heavy metal, in the whole film. As soon as we put music on it, it became very cheesy, so I think every film has its own balance."

[The Playlist]

Transcendence

Christopher Nolan's longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister is moving ahead with his directorial debut, in which Johnny Depp will reportedly play one of a trio of brilliant computer scientists in a futuristic setting. Here's a new synopsis for what we can reportedly expect from the film, according to The Wrap:

In it, three scientists — Max and the husband and wife team, Will and Evelyn — have been developing a programming code for the world's first fully self-aware computer. According to the summary, a group of anti-technology terrorists assassinate Will, Evelyn uploads his brain into a prototype supercomputer. Although she at first finds the experiment seems to have gone wrong, before too long Evelyn finds Will responding in computer form. She goes on to connect Will to the Internet so he can help make further scientific breakthroughs. Will asks Evelyn to connect a microphone and a camera up to the computer so he can see and speak to her as well. Will creates a backup of himself to every computer in the world, and furthers his work through accessing online indexes. ([Producer Andrew] Kosove told TheWrap this plot point is no longer in the script.) When the anti-technology organization finds out, they try to steal the supercomputer and destroy it, but Will no longer needs the computer to survive.

Depp is slated to play Will. Ewan McGregor and Tom Hardy have been connected to the part of Max, while Noomi Rapace and Kate Winslet have been rumored for Evelyn, although all are reportedly now out of the running for various reasons. [The Wrap]

Jack the Giant Slayer

Here's a new poster for Bryan Singer's gritty version of the classic fairy tale, starring Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past costar Nicholas Hoult. [Coming Soon]

Doctor Who

Here's a new clip from this year's Christmas special, "The Snowmen."

And here's a bunch of cast interviews with new companion Jenna-Louise Coleman, villainous guest star Richard E. Grant, and Dan Starkey, who reprises his role as the Doctor's Sontaran ally Strax.

Once Upon a Time

Here's a spoiler-y tidbit, courtesy of Zap2It:

Did you catch Creepy Hot Professor Shane's little comment to Hayley about possibly seeing her (very dead) parents again? That may have sounded like the sort of thing people say to assuage grief, but Shane meant it a little more literally. Turns out, someone important to him has passed away, too... and he's pretty dead-set on reversing that, uh, condition.

[Zap2It]

American Horror Story

EW's Inside TV has five teasers for the end of the season:

— Two characters previously missing from the series return in the final moments for a jaw-dropping twist.
— Previously a victim, Sarah Paulson's Lana turns into a badass heroine.
— Two characters also find themselves impregnated.
— Dylan McDermott returns to the series and, in the opening scene, pays homage to both his role last year, as therapist Ben Harmon, and the horror classic, The Silence of the Lambs.
— One major character is visited by the angel of death at the end of the episode

[EW]

Beauty and the Beast

In what really must be the most Beauty and the Beast casting update imaginable, the show is apparently introducing a new Assistant District Attorney named Gabriel Lowen in the thirteenth episode, and for reasons that I have no doubt will make no sense whatsoever Cat will first meet him when he's completely naked in the women's locker room. Also, he's handsome (I know, I know, I'm shocked too) and determined to find out what's going on with this alleged Beast, no matter how many women's locker rooms he's got to hang around in naked. [Zap2It]

Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.

Probably not, but a very important person isn't quite denying it. J.J. Abrams keeps talking up Benedict Cumberbatch's Star Trek villain, whoever he might be. John Barrowman discusses his Arrow villainy. Plus go deep inside The Hobbit's visual effects!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from The Dark Knight Rises.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Our eloquent protestations notwithstanding, director J.J. Abrams still isn't saying a damn thing about who Benedict Cumberbatch is playing. But he's happy to talk about how the Sherlock star is playing whoever his character is:

"Rather than answer anything that would give away the fun of the movie, I would say that the character that Benedict plays, he brings such an incredible power to it. His voice alone, I actually as a joke should have had him read the lunch menu. He makes anything sound great and brings such a force to it that hopefully when you see the movie, this character, all speculation aside, will be really compelling, not because of any connection to anything past, but because of who he is and what he brings to it. The whole thing, not just his backstory, but his agenda, his plan, his secret, all that is what, for me at least, makes him such a frightening and cool villain. Also, the real villains - when they're not just two-dimensional, angry vengeful types - don't see themselves as the bad guy. They are the good guy and have complete rationale and motivation. So true to form, the character that Benedict plays has an absolute sense of right and wrong, and he's on the right side."

There's more at the link, including Abrams's thoughts on how Star Trek Into Darkness will sidestep common sequel pitfalls. [MTV]

/Film has a good rundown of spoiler-y tidbits gleaned from a recent visit to Bad Robot, the most important of which is that if John Harrison really is a decoy name for Benedict Cumberbatch's character, then it's one hell of a decoy — multiple people during the visitor called the character that, so it wasn't just invented for that one random image caption. Anyway, here are some more highlights, although do check out the link for full descriptions for each of these and more:

3. The Klingon home planet of Qo'noS will be visited and Klingons will kick ass.
7. The StarFleet Council won't play a big part in the film.
8. Michael Giacchino has only recorded music for the first 9 minutes but hopes to include the ORIGINAL original theme.
10. The first nine minutes of the movie could change.
14. Spock wears a heat resistant Volcano suit, and it took four months to create.

[/Film]

Man of Steel

All the rumors about Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Batman just won't die — even though Gordon-Levitt's people have already denied it — and the specific notion that Gordon-Levitt could cameo as the Caped Crusader in Zack Snyder's Superman movie just got one hell of a non-denial denial from no less than Christopher Nolan. The Dark Knight Rises director, who is one of the producers of Man of Steel, was asked about the rumors of a Gordon-Levitt cameo, and he replied, "I can't talk about that. You know that." Reportedly, he did so while smiling, which probably just means he's really enjoying messing with our heads — and I'd expect nothing less from the director of Memento, The Prestige, and Inception — but if you want to take all this as his coy admission that Gordon-Levitt will indeed make a brief appearance as the new Batman in Man of Steel... well, I guess I'd say that's now just mostly ridiculous, as opposed to completely and utterly ridiculous. [Movieline]

Avatar 2 and 3

Visual effects maestro Joe Letteri suggests that, pending the success of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey's 48 frames per second format, director James Cameron might go even further for his next Avatar movies:

Jim's still thinking 60, because it's a persistence of vision artifacts and to quote Doug Trumbull and the studies he's done, he says it tends to go away at around 64. I tend to agree with him from the tests we've done. We've gone to pretty high frame rates and after about 64, the returns are pretty minimal and to tell you the truth, the difference between 48 and 60 is not as noticeable as the difference between 24 and 48 so for practical reasons, we decided to go with 48 because asking the theaters to have projectors and servers that could handle 60 was not really practical in the time frame we had for "Hobbit" plus it would have meant even more work, double the amount of work, that we were already committed to at 48 frames.

[Coming Soon]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Here's the latest promo clip.

Visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri discusses how he and his team were able to do things that wouldn't have been possible when Lord of the Rings was made, particularly with the portrayal of the goblins:

We had a lot of techniques going that we always keep progressing forward, new advancements in how you do eyes, how you make skin look like skin, hair, cloth, how you build a mountain, how you build a tree, all those things that have now just become part of the toolkit that we need because we obviously could be asked to create anything. Having said that, there's still a lot of work that goes into making this. You take a scene like the goblin cavern and you have to build this big three-dimensional landscape and anchor it with places people can walk around in and do all this action it's not that much different than building a live action set. Even if you have the tools to do it, it's still not the push of a button. There's still a lot that has to be crafted by hand and all put into position and lit and choreographed to make it all work. It's a bit of both, but we knew going into it that we wanted it to be big. We wanted it to be like we were returning to Middle-earth in the best possible way.

I spoke to Andy Serkis earlier and I asked him about the goblin cavern scene specifically because I thought that might be hundreds of extras running around, but a lot of it was constructed based on what they did on set.
Yeah, we did some small pieces of the set that the guys could run around on and do some of the action especially that bit where they're brought before the Goblin King because a bit of the action happens on that well-lit platform in front of the throne but most of what you see in there is digital. In fact, a lot of what was shot, we wound up replacing, just because of the complexity of the camera moves and the stereo. We shot goblins with partial suits on, but we were going to be adding their heads. A lot of what we were really doing that for was for a couple shots where it was practical. Most of the time it was easier to just replace them with completely digital characters then to try to match heads onto partial bodies. Sometimes we ended up just replacing everything that shot including the actors, because it was just easier to construct the big shots that way. Yeah, we've gotten to the point where we can make characters and digital doubles. As long as you're not talking about nuanced emotional dialogue performances, you're talking about action scenes, sometimes it's just easier to go all digital with it.

Letteri also explains the benefits of 48 frames per second:

Well, it solves one problem in 3D, which is motion blur. If you tend to be prone towards motion sickness when you see something really blurry in 3D, this really alleviates that problem, but it does change the look of the film because everything looks hyper-real. Yeah, as Peter mentioned, and I'm hearing the same thing too from the few screenings I've been to, when you talk to people, the more familiar you are with film and the more nostalgic you are for film, the harder it is to let go, and after a while, you can't let go, and you take it for what it is. Anyone who I talked to who is younger who is used to seeing film in any number of different ways says it's like really not even noticeable, not really a big deal.

There's still a ton more fascinating technical discussion at the link. [Coming Soon]

Warm Bodies

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine has confirmed that the second half of season seven will begin airing in April 2013, featuring a bunch of episodes that are heavy on visual effects. April 2013 is also when the big 50th anniversary special starts filming, and producer Marcus Wilson calls it "a love letter to fans." For his part, Matt Smith won't confirm he's in anything beyond the anniversary special, saying he simply "hopes" to be in the 2013 Christmas special. I don't think it's yet been made clear — or really even discussed at all — whether any of season 8 would air before the anniversary special in November, but I'm willing to just enjoy the ride on this one. [Blogtor Who]

Fringe

Here are some promo photos from this Friday's episode, "Black Blotter." [SpoilerTV

Person of Interest

The sixteenth episode will reportedly see the introduction of a potentially recurring character known as Shaw, described as "a cross between Jason Bourne and Catwoman [who] works for a secret organization that murders terrorists." In case it wasn't immediately clear, yes, "she will be a force to be reckoned with." [SpoilerTV]

Once Upon a Time

Here's a short synopsis for the tenth episode, "The Cricket Game":

When Regina is accused of murdering a beloved fairytale character, Emma thinks she is innocent; Prince Charming and Snow White plan the evil queen's execution.

[SpoilerTV]

666 Park Avenue

Here's a short description for the eleventh episode, "Sins of the Father":

Sasha offers Father Douglas a disturbing arrangement; a mysterious new tenant moves into the Drake; Alexis makes a discovery about Louise.

[SpoilerTV]

Arrow

Torchwood's John Barrowman discusses his big new genre role, the villainous Malcolm Merlyn:

Well, I'd like to be a square-jawed villain! [Laughter] The way I look at Malcolm Merlyn is that he is a hero to himself. He's a hero who's ruthless. He is trying to protect his company, his world, his investment. And how he goes about it is that he looks at Oliver and the Arrow as someone who's being a bit ruthless himself – he's snapping necks and shooting people. Why is that any different than what I do in the business world? So there is a bit of a rivalry going on there. But it is nice for me to play a bad guy, because, as you say, when I was younger I always played the ingenue or the romantic male lead, and then I played the troubled hero in "Torchwood." But this is a thrill. I'm having a blast. And I've said to them, rather than always being a recurring role I would love this part to build and build until I become somebody who is a series regular. That's my goal as John Barrowman, the person whose business is being an actor and an entertainer.

I was going to ask, how long are you planning on sticking around as it stands?
I am signed for the rest of the series. That's all I'll say.

[Comic Book Resources]

Beauty and the Beast

The thirteenth episode will reportedly introduce Miranda, Joe Bishop's wife, in what may become a recurring role. [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

Director Guillermo del Toro takes us inside the Pacific Rim trailer. Peter Jackson reveals his plans for the Adventures of Tintin sequel. Johnny Depp's Transcendence is close to finding its second computer genius. Plus Tron 3 is really, definitely happening!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Pacific Rim.

Star Trek Into Darkness

For what it's worth, Benedict Cumberbatch just revealed the identity of his villain — and he's saying it's John Harrison, the name revealed in a recent official caption and one that quite decidedly isn't Khan, Gary Mitchell, or anyone else who has previously appeared in the Star Trek universe... which, now that I think about it, should be exactly what we all want, but somehow all the uber-secrecy has flipped my brain. Anyway, here's what Cumberbatch has to say about the good Mr. Harrison:

"I play John Harrison who's a terrorist and an extraordinary character in his own right. He's somebody who is not your two-dimensional cookie cutter villain. He's got an extraordinary purpose, and I hope that at one point or other in the film you might even sympathize with the reasons he's doing what he's doing — not necessarily the means and the destruction he causes. But it was a great ride, not just because he's the bad guy and the antagonist but also because he has a purpose and it's hard not to see his point of view at certain points."

[Access Hollywood]

The Wolverine

Here's a new poster for Hugh Jackman's latest foray as Wolverine. Check out the link for an animated version of the poster. [Coming Soon]

Pacific Rim

Director Guillermo del Toro has offered some commentary and explanation for the recently released trailer, including just why two pilots are required for the Jaeger robots:

"The pilots wear suits that are neurally linking them. They have a spinal clamp that links their spines. They have relay gel in their helmets that transmit their impulses to one another. They move in synchronicity. One is handling the neural network of the left side of the Jaeger, and the other is handling the neural network of the right side of the Jaeger. They are connected between them."

He also reveals that the attack on San Francisco glimpsed in the trailer is the initial Kaiju strike in the movie's universe:

"It's the very first attack, ever. I wanted very much to show the scale. The whole movie is about scale. Literally, there are set pieces that are impossibly big. I wanted very much to have this image to show you what the tip of a nail of a Kaiju looks like."

Check out the link for more. [MTV]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Here's one last sneak peek clip.

The Adventures of Tintin 2

It's Peter Jackson's turn to handle directing duties for a Tintin movie, and he reportedly told the Belgian media that his plan is to shoot the performance capture aspects of the film sometime in 2013 with an eye towards a 2015 release. This would mean Jackson would need to take a break from post-production work on the final two Hobbit movies, but fellow Tintin director Steven Spielberg has previously intimated that Jackson shouldn't need more than a month to complete filming for the sequel, so that should be surprisingly doable. [Bleeding Cool]

Tron 3

Star Garrett Hedlund confirms he will be back as Sam Flynn for Joseph Kosinski's Tron Legacy followup, for which Eragon screenwriter Jesse Wigutow is currently working on the script:

"Yeah. Are we gonna break this now? Disney's very excited. That's about that. You know, yeah, I'm very excited, Disney's very excited."

[Next Movie]

Transcendence

Johnny Depp is already reportedly set to be one of three computer geniuses in this upcoming sci-fi film from Christopher Nolan's longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister. Depp's mind is uploaded into a computer after his death, and the scientist behind this particular upload is named Evelyn, with three leading candidates to play her: Looper star Emily Blunt, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's Rooney Mara, and The Town's Rebecca Hall. The decision will reportedly be made sometime later today. [Deadline]

Fringe

Here's a trio of sneak peeks for tonight's episode, "Black Blotter."

The Walking Dead

Here are the (possibly unofficial) titles and synopses for the first three episodes of the second half of the season, which kicks off in 2013:

Episode 9 - The Suicide King
Rick tries to rescue one of his group members. Woodbury is in disarray after a recent attack. New guests staying in the prison are a cause for concern.

Episode 10 - Home
The group is preparing their next step. Rick goes in search of his lost friend and meanwhile, Daryl and Merle are wondering if they themselves made the right decisions. The governor of Woodbury tries to restore order in the town and is planning to punish the people responsible for the chaos.

Episode 11 - I Ain't A Judas
Rick and the group are forced to make a decision now that their safety is no longer guaranteed. Andrea feels uncomfortable now that Woodbury has become a police state.

[SpoilerTV]

Person of Interest

The fifteenth episode is reportedly called "Turndown Service." [SpoilerTV]

Once Upon a Time

Here's a promo for the tenth episode, "The Cricket Game", which kicks off the second half of the season on January 6.

Arrow

Here's a promo for the show's January premiere, "Burned."

The Vampire Diaries

Costar Joseph Morgan discusses what's ahead for Klaus and Rebekah:

"Obviously, she is not going to be happy with Klaus! To a certain extent, part of Klaus wishes she could be the bloodthirsty, fabulous vampire that he wants her to be, but she's so desperate for love that she comes across as weak to him. And she's been used against him as one of his weaknesses. We'll see that dynamic become more and more complicated - as sibling relationships are."

[TV Line]

American Horror Story: Asylum

Here's a promo for the next episode and tenth overall, "The Name Game", which airs January 2.

Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.

That's the intriguing new hypothesis put forward to explain the Permian mass extinction, which wiped out more than 90% of all Earth's species 251 million years ago. And we even know which microbe is responsible for this omnicidal annihilation.

MIT researcher Daniel Rothman has proposed this idea based on his analysis of sediment samples dating back to the very end of the Permian. The samples seem to suggest that carbon levels rose very quickly, and no known geological process — including a volcanic eruption or a meteorite impact, two common explanations proposed for the Permian extinction — could account for it. However, a microbe could account for that kind of spike in carbon levels. Writing for New Scientist, Sara Reardon explains how Rothman identified the likely culprit:

When Rothman's group analysed the genome of Methanosarcina - a methanogen responsible for most of Earth's biogenic methane today - they discovered that the microbe gained this ability about 231 million years ago. The date was close to that of the mass extinction, but not close enough to suggest a link. But Methanosarcina needs large amounts of nickel to produce methane quickly. When the team went back to their sediment cores, they discovered that nickel levels spiked almost exactly 251 million years ago - probably because the Siberian lavas were rich in the metal.

Of course, this hypothesis is far from confirmed, and the dates in the geological will probably need to line up better than that before this really starts gaining credence. Either way, Methanosarcina wouldn't have been able to devastate Earth's biosphere if not for the availability of that nickel-rich lava, so the volcanoes aren't off the hook here just yet. But, if this is true, then I think Methanosarcina has taken a very strong step towards being the biggest assholes in the history of our planet. Then again, biologists are pretty much certain that we humans are driving the current loss of biodiversity that might well become the next mass extinction... so we're not exactly off the hook either.

Via New Scientist. Image of lava by mografik on Flickr.

This is NGC 604, a colossal star-forming region located millions of light-years away in the neighboring galaxy M33. It's a rollicking, roiling cauldron of star creation and (occasionally) destruction, and it's only going to get more impressive as eons pass.

NGC 604 measures a whopping 1,500 light-years across at its greatest diameter, whereas most nebulae in the Milky Way don't even come close to 100 light-years across. The Orion Nebula, which is the closest star-forming region to Earth, is about 24 light-years across. If you somehow swapped the Orion Nebula and NGC 604's places in the night sky, the mega-giant nebula would appear brighter than Venus in Earth's night sky. Let's go to NASA for more:

About 3 million years ago in the nearby galaxy M33, a large cloud of gas spawned dense internal knots which gravitationally collapsed to form stars. NGC 604 was so large, however, it could form enough stars to make a globular cluster. Many young stars from this cloud are visible in the above image from the Hubble Space Telescope, along with what is left of the initial gas cloud. Some stars were so massive they have already evolved and exploded in a supernova. The brightest stars that are left emit light so energetic that they create one of the largest clouds of ionized hydrogen gas known, comparable to the Tarantula Nebula in our Milky Way's close neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Via NASA APOD. Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; Processing - Donald Waid.

Matt Damon praises Neil Blomkamp's sci-fi epic Elysium. Does a casting call give away a huge Amazing Spider-Man 2 plot point? Len Wiseman's new Mummy movie is going full-on horror. Plus check out new trailers for Doctor Who's Christmas special!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Star Trek Into Darkness.

Star Trek Into Darkness

When asked about the possibility of a major character dying, Spock actor Zachary Quinto wouldn't rule it out:

"There's reason to worry, let's say that much. The enemy we face in this movie, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, is entirely different than the enemies we've seen this crew face in the past. There's insidiousness and ruthlessness and a fierce intelligence to his character that almost infiltrates and undermines the connectivity of the crew to the degree that the stakes are much higher. It's much more urgent and there's a lot more at risk, so who knows?"

Of course, the last time they made a Star Trek II, a major character died, and it's not as though that lasted long. [MTV]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Some new casting call notices for extras have surfaced, and while it's mildly interesting that the movie is looking for "Men & Women, 20s-60s age range, all ethnicities to portray a Core Group of Scientists, Technicians, Engineers, etc.", the big takeaway is this particular casting call:

Background / Male or Female / All Ethnicities /18 – 70
Grant Wilfley Casting is seeking: SAG-AFTRA Men & Women, 18-70 age range, to portray Friends & Family Mourning at a Funeral/ Wake. The scene is scheduled to film February 14th, 2013. This is very featured & I will be submitting photos to the Director.

So then, there's going to be another funeral scene. The smart money here really has to be that this is Gwen Stacy's funeral we're talking about here, especially since Emma Stone has come this close to confirming that she's leaving in the second film. Still, that's totally unconfirmed, but we're definitely headed for more death in the sequel — and at least this particular death will be big enough that the movie will spend some time memorializing the character. [On Location Vacations]

The Wolverine

20th Century Fox has now confirmed the American release date for the new Wolverine movie will be July 26, 2013. [Coming Soon]

Elysium

Star Matt Damon talks a little about one scene for his upcoming hard sci-fi film by District 9 director Neil Blomkamp:

The concept of the movie is that Earth has been ravaged and Elysium is an orbital habitat, 120 kilometers up, where all the rich people have gone.

Leaving the poor slobs of the 99 percent to struggle pretty much on their own?
Right. We shot in that human-waste dump for two weeks. What you see on-screen is supposed to look futuristic, but it was actually just helicopters flying over us, kicking up dust that coats you and that you know is fecal matter. We were very careful, but it was unbelievably toxic. It's the worst location I've ever heard of and could have been worse only if we'd filmed in the world's largest waste dump, in South Korea. What was unbelievable and really sad was the ­giant community of people who are born, raised, live and die in that dump. They just pick through the trash.

What convinces anyone, let alone a movie star, to agree to shoot in such nasty conditions?
Shooting a big action set piece in a third-world dump was a great idea, visually and dramatically. We did it toward the end of the schedule, and everybody bought in knowing it would be tough but also knowing we would be happy we did it... Between the concept and the script, it's going to be really good. I genuinely believe the director, Neill Blomkamp, is the next guy — our generation's James Cameron. I hope I can work with him a lot more.

[Playboy — and yes, kinda NSFW, what with it being Playboy and all]

Oblivion

Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski gives the most detailed explanation yet for his new futuristic epic, which stars Tom Cruise as the last human living on a desiccated Earth:

"I started writing this small character-driven science fiction story that was in the vein of those science fiction films of the 1970s that involved this lone survivor among the ruins of civilization, like 'Omega Man' or 'Silent Running' - it was kind of in that vein. I thought if it was going to be my first movie it would have to be something very small and contained in order to even get a chance at pulling it off. So it's the story of a drill repair man, Jack Harper, who is one of the last human beings left on earth after a massive war, which was the result of an alien invasion. Even though humankind won the war, Earth was left in such a state that we had to look for another place to settle, and Jack is left behind to monitor and secure the resource gathering operation that's happening where we're gathering the last bit of energy out of the earth's seawater in order to move onto the next step."

He also discusses the look of the film:

"Visually, I always knew exactly what I wanted the film to look like. 'Alien' is one of my favorite movies of all time, but I feel like after 'Alien,' science fiction kind of went into the dark for a long time. It became about deep space and dark ship holds and it just went into darkness. I liked the idea of bringing science fiction out into the daylight again. So it is a daytime science fiction film where the world is kind of divided into two zones: the world above the clouds and the world below the clouds. The world above the clouds is where Jack lives with Victoria, his partner, in this operation, in the skytower which is 3,500 ft. above the ground, away from the dangers that live below, which is a very different world from the ground where Jack actually has to do his job every day. And that juxtaposition to me in concept lends itself into a visual juxtaposition as well, where you're gonna see technology set against a landscape that I feel is something we haven't really seen before."

There's more at the link. [MTV]

Tron 3

After months of inactivity, plans for the Tron Legacy followup have suddenly flared back to life, and returning director Joseph Kosinski is making the rounds talking up the new movie:

"We've got an idea for the next movie that's really exciting to me. I mean, obviously, the only reason to go back would be if we could do something spectacular and really push the ideas forward that we had established in 'Legacy.' We have an idea and an approach and a way into it that I'm really excited about, and now it's about execution on the level of the script. So working hard on that in the background, and hopefully that'll all come together. It's still the same plan in that 'Tron 3' would deliver on the promises set up at the end of 'Legacy' in different ways. You look at what happened in the closing scenes of 'Legacy'; I think it sets a clear direction for what could happen in the next chapter."

[MTV]

Elsewhere, Kosinski decides to wisely minimize expectations by comparing Tron 3 with the most beloved sci-fi sequel of all-time, then gives a sense of the in-universe time lapse between Tron Legacy and the new film:

"I've said it would have to be our Empire Strikes Back for me to come back and for me to pull the whole team back together. I think we do have that idea. We do have the idea that feels big and really blows the doors off this franchise. It's hinted at promises of something for two movies now, for thirty years, so it's time to deliver on that. But the script's got to be at a level that makes it worth going back for, because it's a lot of work to make a movie like this and it's a multi-year project. So we've got our writer Jesse Wigutow on it right now writing, and fingers crossed if it all comes together, as we hope it will, there could be another Tron in the next few years, and it's going to be awesome....I think time has passed. It feels like we're kind of real-time in step. So however much time has passed since Legacy came out would also have transpired in the real world. So it will still be contemporary. So let's say if the Tron sequel comes out in 2015, then four or five years have passed since the last movie."

There's more at the link. [Collider]

Transformers 4

New star Mark Wahlberg explains how he got involved in Michael Bay's (allegedly) final Transformers movie, as well as when it should start filming:

That's why Transformers came about, because we had such a great time working together [on Pain and Gain]. We kind of complemented each other throughout the entire process, what he does and what I do and what we were able to do together, and then after that I was like 'Dude we gotta work together again,' and he was like, ‘Well I got a project, you interested?' (laughs) We're shooting Transformers in May, and then I believe we're gonna do Ted 2 right after."

[Collider]

The Mummy Reboot

New Total Recall director Len Wiseman says his next reboot, a reinvention of the sorta well-liked Brendan Fraser franchise, will shift the property's focus from action to horror:

"There was skepticism. The difference between the two, if The Mummy is to be the next movie for me, is that The Mummy is a completely different film. It is a modern day take. It doesn't have anything to do with the Brendan Fraser films, and it is not a remake of any kind.

The Mummy is one of Universal's long standing, iconic characters, well before the Brendan Fraser movies... This is such a different thing. What was attractive to me...There is still a script to be written, and all of that....But the pitch was to go with a much different tone. It was a Mummy like I'd never heard of before. Its nothing like what you would expect, at all, oddly. I was picturing Egypt, and the sand swept settings. The mummy wrappings. When I heard what they were wanting to actually do with it, it was shocking... It's horror. Its epic. It's more of a modern day version of what would happen if we came across a mummy in our world today. It is pretty fascinating."

[MovieWeb]

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

24's Dennis Haysbert discusses the process of taking over for the late Michael Clarke Duncan as Manute in Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's Sin City followup:

"I haven't finished working out to the capacity that I need to, but he's going to be different. This is playing as a prequel, so it should work out. It's going to be my character, but I've spoken extensively with Frank Miller and Robert (Rodriguez) about what they want with the character and yes, it has to have some feel of what Michael did but I have to make it my own."

[Coming Soon]

Doctor Who

Here are two trailers from BBC America for Doctor Who's imminent Christmas special, "The Snowmen." [Doctor Who News]

Fringe

Here's a promo for the next episode and tenth overall, "Anomaly XB-6783746", which airs December 21. [Fringe Television]

And here's a promo photo. [SpoilerTV]

Judging by some new set photos from Vancouver, Seth Gabel is in fact making a surprise return appearance as Lincoln Lee, quite possibly in the two-part series finale. Check out the photos at the link. [VanCity Filming]

The Vampire Diaries

Here's a promo for the midseason premiere, "After School Special", which kicks things off again on January 17.

American Horror Story: Asylum

Dylan McDermott discusses his role as Bloody Face the Younger:

Well, ‘Johnny Thredson,' obviously he's a troubled man; so where I hope he goes and where he goes are two different places, but I think he's got a sole purpose in life and really that is, he feels so scorned by his mother. Everything is about his mother. The reason he's doing all these horrible things is because he was rejected so harshly by his mother, obviously aborted. His father was a serial killer. His mother aborted him and he still lives. So his whole trajectory in life is really about her.

Is there anything you can tell us about what's coming up in the next three episodes that you're in?
I mean, I think we're going to look into what-he really is after some sort of closure with his mother. I think he can't understand, he can't wrap his head around why someone would want to throw him out, throw him in the trash. So I think we're going to peek into his psychological world in the next three episodes and then we're going to have closure with his character in the finale. But it's really-it goes into the psychology and the pathology of who he is. He's not just like a serial killer and out there on the run with no reason. I think we really get into the reason of "Johnny Thredson."

He also confirmed that he would be interested in returning for the third season. There's plenty more at the link. [Shock Till You Drop]

Teen Wolf

The fourth episode of the upcoming third season will reportedly be called "Unleashed." [SpoilerTV]

Beauty and the Beast

Here's a promo for the next episode and tenth overall, "Seeing Red", which begins the second half of the season on January 24.

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

Robert Downey, Jr. drops some Iron Man 3 hints. Samuel L. Jackson talks about the future of Nick Fury. Check out a new video interview with Star Trek Into Darkness stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Alice Eve. Mad Max: Fury Road finishes filming at long last. Plus another possible Guardian of the Galaxy star!

Nothing but spoilers from here on out!

Top image from The Amazing Spider-Man.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Here's a lengthy interview from IGN with new cast members Alice Eve, who plays Kirk's presumed love interest Carol Marcus, and Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays a villain who theoretically might be called John Harrison, but nobody really believes it. [Via Coming Soon]

Iron Man 3

Star Robert Downey, Jr. lavishes some praise on two of his co-stars, legendary thespian Ben Kingsley... and former Iron Man director Jon Favreau, who is back again as Happy Hogan:

Jon Favreau reprises his role as Happy Hogan. Happy has an amazing arc in this movie. In fact, probably the best two bits of acting in the movie, so far from what I can tell...which sucks because I'm in every frame, are Favreau as Happy Hogan...I can't give away much, but it's ridiculous. And also Sir Ben Kingsley [as the Mandarin]. Kingsley is amazing. And a lot of that had to do with the way that [director] Shane [Black] crafted the role for Sir Ben. I think that people are gonna be not [totally] surprised, but they're gonna be just reinvested in what a brilliant actor Kingsley is."

Speaking of Shane Black, Downey explains just what the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang writer-director brings to this latest Iron Man film:

"Shane Black really knows the superhero genre, but I think the main thing [that's great about him] is that he's always looking at complexities within complexities [and so on]. And he always likes it when a film kinda stops for a reason you can't understand and then kinda picks up and goes in a direction you've never imagined. Usually when you have a straight-forward narrative, if at act 1, 2 or 3, 'There's Tony, Tony's in trouble, where's Pepper, Tony wins.' By the time we were doing the 2nd one, I was like ‘where's Pepper.' Shane is just a genius!"

There's more at the link, including how Black was instrumental to the success of a crucial scene in the first Iron Man. [Comic Book Movie]

Erstwhile Rubicon star James Badge Dale also discusses the movie, in which he plays the villainous Eric Savin, otherwise known as Coldblood:

"[Iron Man 3] is really a dark comedy with a little bit of farce. The trick is to be able to have the audience relate to you. Director Shane Black gave me a long leash. We had a great time. Robert Downey Jr. loves the process of acting and loves to be creative with a director and his fellow actors."

[Just Jared]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Samuel L. Jackson confirms his role as Nick Fury in the Captain America sequel will be more substantial than a cameo, likely along the lines of his role in Iron Man 2. He also said he still enjoys playing the character, and he's not ruling out a spin-off movie that sheds some light on his backstory:

"I think a lot of people know that. "I know him as something else because I've been alive longer than most of the fans that watch the movies so I know Nick Fury as the World War II veteran and all that stuff. It might be interesting to do one day but we find out little bits and pieces about Nick and we're going into 'Captain America 2' in late March."

[Superhero Hype]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Collateral and Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx discusses just what to expect from his villainous turn in Marc Webb's Spidey sequel, in which Foxx plays Max Dillon, alias Electro:

"You'll see that in his whole life, no one is talking to him. People have stolen his ideas at the big company. He's a nobody. At a certain point, Spider-Man bumps into him and says, 'You're my guy. You're my eyes and ears on the street. And he says his name - no one has ever said [Max] Dillon's name. He sort of starts thinking that somehow, he's Spider-Man's partner. He's cutting out Spider-Man's face and pasting it on all his boards... Everything goes bad with his mom. She doesn't remember his birthday. He has something tragic happen and, when it turns on, he lights it up."

Foxx's costume, however, will be rather different from the bright greens and yellows of his comic book garb:

"It won't be like that. Marc Webb and all of those guys, they're smart. They know that it has to make sense in 2013, so the suit is really slick. It's actually black. It's a new age."

[MTV via Coming Soon]

Guardians of the Galaxy

Jack Huston, who as Boardwalk Empire's Richard Harrow must surely have the highest ratio of awesomeness to amount of face in television history, confirms he has screen-tested for the lead role of Star Lord in Slither director James Gunn's cosmic superhero movie, despite having recently suffered a broken rib doing some of his own stunt work:

"There was a screen test. Like I said, brittle bones. Maybe they'll call me Glass Man. 'Here he comes. Oh, he fell over.' I would love to do it. I tell you, these bones are strong. If you need a guardian to look after this galaxy, look no further."

[MTV Splash Page]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Now that Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt has exited the sequel in favor of Cloverfield's Matt Reeves, star James Franco is fairly sure he won't be back:

"I was going to be a small part of the next one. There was a moment when Rupert Wyatt was going to direct the second one. A lot of the human characters that were in the first movie were dead in the sequel that Rupert was going to direct. But there was one scene, between Caesar and my character, maybe even just like on a video that was left behind, but then a lot of things happened, like [former Fox co-chairman] Tom Rothman who was a big part of the first movie, left. Now Rupert's not a part of it so I don't know. My guess is I won't be in it. Nobody's talked to me since Rupert left."

[IGN]

Mad Max: Fury Road

Much like the endless delays and misfortunes that beset The Hobbit made the whole thing appear to be the universe's cruel joke at Peter Jackson's expense until he actually managed to finish the damn thing (and then tack on another three hours to it, but that's another matter), George Miller's long-delayed, eternally troubled fourth Mad Max film sure seemed like it wouldn't survive the natural devastation in Australia that forced production to shift to Namibia and then all the reports of budget and schedule overruns once production finally began. But lo, Miller has seemingly emerged triumphant, as he has reportedly completed the six months of principal photography. Of course, there's still "substantial post-production and visual effects work" left to do, so there's still time for this to fall apart completely. Not that I'm rooting for that, you understand — after all, this is the film with by far the greatest plot summary of all time:

"Mad Max is caught up with a group of people fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by the Imperator Furiosa. This movie is an account of the Road War which follows. It is based on the Word Burgers of the History Men and eyewitness accounts of those who survived."

I look forward to eating all my pessimistic Word Burgers once the film actually comes out. Or whatever the hell else I'm supposed to do with Word Burgers. [If.com]

Doctor Who

There's an announcement on the official Doctor Who site promising some more changes to the show's standard opening title sequence, and it sounds like the changes might be a little bigger than the minor logo changes in the previous five episodes:

We can't give too much away about the new-look titles except to say they are wonderfully dramatic and striking, with a couple of unexpected touches. In short, they're a perfect way to welcome back the Doctor!

And fans of the famous Doctor Who theme tune needn't worry… This new arrangement remains true to the original, written by Ron Grainer back in 1963, but on Christmas Day you'll hear it as it's never sounded before. This latest version is more thrilling and powerful but retains that slightly scary quality that remains stirring no matter how many times you catch it.

[BBC]

Once Upon a Time

Here's the official description for the midseason premiere, "The Cricket Game", which airs January 6:

EMMA THINKS REGINA MAY BE INNOCENT OF MURDERING ONE OF THE TOWN'S MOST BELOVED FAIRYTALE CHARACTERS, AND SNOW WHITE AND PRINCE CHARMING SET ABOUT PLANNING THE EVIL QUEEN'S PUBLIC EXECUTION, ON ABC'S "ONCE UPON A TIME"

"The Cricket Game" - Regina is accused of murdering one of the town's most beloved fairytale characters — but only Emma senses that she may be innocent. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale land that was, after capturing the Evil Queen, Snow White and Prince Charming set about planning her public execution in order to rid the land of her murderous tyranny.

[SpoilerTV]

666 Park Avenue

Here's a complete synopsis for episode ten, "The Comfort of Death", which airs January 6:

SASHA'S RETURN FORCES OLIVIA TO MOVE BEYOND HER HURT AND ANGER, HENRY QUESTIONS HIS FUTURE IN POLITICS, AND ALEXIS DISCOVERS SHE HAS A SHOCKING PAST CONNECTION WITH LOUISE, ON ABC'S "666 PARK AVENUE"

"The Comfort of Death" - Jane's disturbing dreams keep fusing with reality, but many Drake residents have reason to celebrate. Gavin and Olivia are thrilled and grateful that Sasha (a.k.a., Laurel Harris) has returned; Olivia connects Louise with a great opportunity to work for a top magazine, and Brian is close to making a deal with a producer for his play. Meanwhile, Alexis' overwhelming guilt over her indiscretion with Brian drives her to find an escape clause in her deal with Gavin. Finally, the Dorans plan a big kick-off fund raiser to introduce Henry into the political world, and Jane, propelled by her dreams, visits an ancient Harlan Moore to learn more about Peter Kramer's journal and The Drake's history.

[SpoilerTV]

American Horror Story: Asylum

Here are short descriptions for the next two episodes:

Episode 2.10 – The Name Game
(Airs January 2, 10:00 pm e/p)
The Monsignor confronts the Devil. Dr. Arden's experiments reach a shocking conclusion. Dr. Thredson facilitates a surprising reunion for Kit.

Episode 2.11 – Spilt Milk
(Airs January 9, 10:00 pm e/p)
Grace brings Kit devastating news about the aliens' experiments on Alma. Dr. Thredson receives an unexpected visitor. The Monsignor goes to extreme lengths to silence Jude.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson.

Jamie Foxx talks more about Amazing Spider-Man 2, and James Badge Dale explains the villain hierarchy of Iron Man 3. Vin Diesel's Riddick has a release date. There's the motherlode of Fringe finale hints. Matt Smith drops some hints about an upcoming Doctor Who adventure. Plus Samuel L. Jackson wants in on ABC's S.H.I.E.L.D. show... but not in the way you'd expect.

It's all spoilers from this point forward!

Top image from Fringe.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Composer Michael Giacchino discusses the movie's rather offbeat nine-minute opening, which was recently released as a prologue before IMAX screenings of The Hobbit:

"The opening of the film is quite different from what you would expect from the opening, I think, of a Star Trek film. It starts off in the hospital and you're kind of like-wait, am I in the right theater? What is this? Where the heck am I? And that's intentional. We really wanted to give the audience a distance from the characters. Not speak too plainly about what it is that they're doing, what's going on, the music isn't commenting too much about what's happening. But the idea was to get across that - what you see in front of you, is what you see in front of you, but there's something much bigger going on behind the scenes. And what is that? I don't know yet. We don't know. But it's growing, and it's evolving, in a way in which Star Trek music really traditionally doesn't really do. It's a slightly different way to approach it."

There's some more at the link. [First Showing]

Iron Man 3

Former Rubicon star James Badge Dale offers this concise explanation of how his character Eric Savin, alias Coldblood, fits into the movie's villainous hierarchy:

"Ben Kingsley (The Mandarin) is the mouthpiece. Guy Pearce (Aldrich Killian) is the brain. I'm the muscle."

[Movie Moron]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx talks some more about his costume as the villainous Electro:

It won't be green and yellow. It will be a different color. They (the producers) want something for the future. They want to have it more grounded and not as comic book-y, so it won't be green and yellow. They want to try new things, like a liquid rubber and things like that, and there are all these bolts and stuff in my arms when they are hanging me upside down and trying to figure out what happen. How did he become this way? So, it will be some new stuff. In the script, this villain is the first time it's been written really, really well. Andrew Garfield and Marc Webb both commented on how great the script is, so it should be an exciting time.

[Blackfilm.com]

Riddick

Vin Diesel's third Riddick movie officially has a release date: September 6, 2013. The film will be released in both IMAX and standard formats on that date. Here's a new photo of Diesel as Riddick alongside director David Twohy to commemorate the news, as verily all Riddick announcements do require some form of official commemoration. [Shock Till You Drop]

Jupiter Ascending

We know that the Wachowskis' insane-sounding sci-fi epic stars Magic Mike's Channing Tatum and Forgetting Sarah Marshall's Mila Kunis, and that it is "set in a time where humans are at the bottom of the evolutionary ladder and follows a woman who has been targeted for assassination by the queen of the universe." We might also now know the identity of another cast member, as My Week with Marilyn and Les Miserables actor Eddie Redmayne is reportedly up for an unknown supporting role. [Variety]

Oz the Great and Powerful

Here's an international character poster showing off Rachel Weisz as the witch Evanora, presumably following some sort of evil transformation. [Coming Soon]

Monsters University

Game of Thrones

Here's a behind-the-scenes video for the third season, focusing on the show's art direction.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Samuel L. Jackson says he hasn't spoken to Joss Whedon about the possibility of playing Nick Fury on ABC's upcoming TV show, but he does say he is open to quite literally phoning in some cameos:

"I don't know. I keep hearing about it, and I haven't talked to Joss about it. But in my mind, I would tend to think that he would, if nothing else, be like Charlie in Charlie's Angels. At least be the voice!"

[MTV via IGN]

Jeph Loeb, one of Marvel's flagship comic book writers, mostly recaps what we already know about the show, but he does suggest that we could be seeing S.H.I.E.L.D. real soon:

Well...we have a "little" pilot for television that you might have heard about called Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. co-written, directed, and Executive Produced by none other than Joss Whedon! Working with Joss, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell on the show is a blast! And bringing in Clark Gregg to play Agent Phil Coulson — the best! Hopefully we will be on in the Fall of 2013 on ABC!

[Previews World]

Arrow

Here's a promo for the midseason premiere, "Burned." With a title like that, you really have to have Firefly as the guest villain, and the show does not disappoint. [Comic Book Resources]

In its continuing and entirely laudable quest to cast every genre-friendly actor on the planet — a process that has already brought in Torchwood's John Barrowman, Fringe's Seth Gabel, and Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse's Tahmoh Penikett — the series has reportedly cast Penikett's BSG castmate James Callis as The Dodger. Here's a description for the character, courtesy of TV Guide:

[He's] an elusive international jewel thief who imposes his plans on the innocent, forcing them to carry out his crimes under duress. When the Sherwood Ruby goes missing in Starling City, the ensuing investigation leads Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Diggle (David Ramsey) straight to The Dodger, but apprehending him won't be as easy as they may have thought. No word yet if Callis' Dodger is the same villain-turned-Arrow ally as in the DC Comics.

The fact that The Dodger is described as "international" probably means that Callis will be allowed to use his normal British accent, as opposed to that gloriously insane American-ish thing he used on Eureka. I'm not actually sure how I feel about that. [TV Guide]

The fifteenth episode will reportedly be called "Team-Ups." [SpoilerTV]

The Vampire Diaries

Executive producer Julie Plec previews an upcoming episode:

"We're just now writing a script which, in a perfect world, will take us back to the '70s in New York City. Everything could change, but it's an era we haven't explored yet. It could be a lot of fun. It'll definitely involve our brothers in some form or another."

She also offers this cryptic update on Katherine's status:

"That elusive vixen is still somehow lurking in the shadows. "but keeping herself well hidden… Given Klaus' continued presence in Mystic Falls, we shall see if we'll be able to get her back into town."

[TV Line]

Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.

Bryan Singer confirms a major returning mutant in X-Men: Days of Future Past. A Godzilla producer hints at Gareth Edwards' vision for the iconic monster. Iron Man gets messed up in a brand new promo image. And Samuel L. Jackson explains how Mace Windu could be back in Star Wars: Episode VII!

It's all spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Doctor Who.

Iron Man 3

Here's a new promo image showing Tony Stark looking rather the worse for wear. [Coming Soon]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Director Bryan Singer had already heavily hinted this would happen, but he has now officially confirmed that Hugh Jackman will indeed be back once again as Wolverine for the X-Men: First Class followup:

Matt Smith has a crazy casting suggestion for the upcoming Doctor Who episodes. A new Star Trek Into Darkness synopsis reveals key details. Damon Lindelof explains why he won't return for Prometheus 2. Meet a brand new Iron Man 3 character. Plus Tom Hiddleston considers his Avengers future.

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Prometheus.

Star Trek Into Darkness

There's a new plot synopsis out that's different from the previous one in a few crucial respects. Here's the original:

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

And now compare that with the new one:

In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

The two main changes are that it's now explicit that Kirk is operating without Starfleet approval in taking on Benedict Cumberbatch's villain, and that Cumberbatch would appear to be working as one member of a larger group. [The Global Dispatch]

Avengers 2

Thanos is all but confirmed as the main villain for Joss Whedon's Avengers sequel, but Tom Hiddleston isn't sure whether Loki will again be there stirring up trouble as well:

"I don't know, and that really is the honest answer. I know I've been known for obfuscation in other quarters, but I have no idea, I haven't spoken to Joss. He's definitely doing it. So I suspect not, only because I think that probably the audiences are tired of Loki being the bad guy. Maybe the Avengers need somebody else to fight. But I'd love to be part of it again."

[MSN]

Iron Man 3

Here's a promo image featuring newly confirmed cast member Wang Xuequi. Plus a set photo showing Wang with Iron Man himself. [Marvel and Hollywood Reporter]

Star Wars: Episode VII

New Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy suggests there will be a reasonably substantial update about the new Star Wars movie sometime early in the new year:

"I have no immediate update, but hopefully in January I'll have something that I can say."

Since it's already known that Little Miss Sunshine and Catching Fire writer Michael Ardnt is handling the screenplay, most people seem to be guessing that this update will reveal who is directing the new film, as that's the next logical bit of news to reveal. That, however, is just speculation at this stage. [TheForce.net]

Meanwhile, that Reuters report that had everybody thinking Episode VII would return to Yavin and show us a new Jedi Academy has been debunked already. Reporter Michael McDonald tells TheForce.net:

This was a mistake. I misunderstood what fan clubs had told me and shown me in book plots and that storyline has not been announced by Disney. Perhaps I should have written something along the lines of 'Yavin 4 appears in several Star Wars book plots and while Guatemala fans said they hope film crews return to Tikal, the company has not announced plans for the new episode.'

[TheForce.net]

Prometheus 2

Damon Lindelof, who did an extensive enough rewrite on Jon Spaihts' Prometheus script to share the screenwriting credit, says he will not be involved in writing the sequel:

I am not. Ridley [Scott] and I talked at great length during the story process of the first movie about what subsequent movies would be if Prometheus were to be successful. And I think that the movie ended in a very specific way that hinted at, or strongly implied that there were going to be continuing adventures worthy of writing stories. What those stories would be would not necessarily usurp or transcend the Alien franchise as we saw it because we know that the Nostromo hasn't come along yet. So the idea was to set up a universe that… Is it a prequel? Okay. If that's what we want to call it, sure. But the sequel to this movie is not Alien. The sequel to this movie is this other thing.

He then explains that he just wouldn't be able to multi-task effectively enough to get the script written:

The thing about Prometheus was it was a rewrite. Jon Spaihts wrote a script and I rewrote it. And still it was a year of my life that I spent on Prometheus, kind of all in. The idea of building a sequel to it — from the ground up this time — with Ridley is tremendously exciting. But at the same time, I was like, "Well that's probably going to be two years of my life." I can't do what J.J. [Abrams] does. I don't have the capability. I'm usually very single-minded creatively. I can only be working on one thing at a time. So I said to him, "I really don't think I could start working on this movie until I do this other stuff. And I don't know when the other stuff is going to be done." And he was like, "Well, okay, it's not like I asked you anyways." He and I are on excellent terms and it was a dream come true to work with him. But much to the delight of all the fanboys, I don't see myself being involved in Prometheus-er.

Check out the link for his full explanation. [Collider]

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Here's a new international poster. [Coming Soon]

Doctor Who

The BBC has released their press pack for next week's Christmas special, "The Snowmen", and here are some key hints from Steven Moffat:

The Christmas episode is Doctor Who, only more so, and this year we're going for more epic. The Doctor, when we meet him, isn't in a good place. A bit like when we first encountered William Hartnell as the Doctor in 1963 - or indeed Christopher Eccleston in 2005 - this a cold and withdrawn Time Lord, wanting no part of the world around him. It's going to take a lot of Christmas spirit to get him back out those TARDIS doors.

This episode welcomes Jenna-Louise Coleman. What can you tell us about her character?
It's going to quite a journey of discovery with Jenna and her character - and it doesn't start here, it starts on Christmas day. For now, enough to say, that the Doctor in his darkest hour, long ago in a Victorian winter meets the exactly the right person. Or does he?

And new companion Jenna-Louise Coleman discusses her character Clara, who according to this first meets the Doctor while working as a barmaid at the possibly significantly named Rose and Crown pub, then starts following him:

"She is from the Victorian era and a mysterious one. Very down to earth, but feisty and curious too with numerous jobs. He has the answers to her questions. She isn't intimidated by the Doctor. Instead, she finds him amazing and ridiculous. But she is on her own mission and lives by her own means. She is very resourceful."

And finally here's a hint from guest star Tom Ward about his character, Captain Latimer:

"He hasn't been used to dealing with his children. He wants to love them, but he is an old naval captain that has struggled to build a relationship."

There's some more at the link. [Dr. Who Online]

Life, Doctor Who, and Combom has compiled all the various spoiler-y hints and out-of-context quotes released by other sites. We'll share a selection, but do check out the original sites or the Combom page for all of them. Here are some from Doctor Who TV:

The "First Question" is asked twice more!
A friend of the Doctor brought Strax back to life after the battle of Demons Run
"I never know why. I only know who"
"Do you have a goldfish named Colin?"
"That's Strax and as you can see, he is easily confused!"
Bow ties are still very cool. Although it takes someone to remind the Doctor of this.

Now onto some quotes from Cult Box:

"Psychotic potato dwarf."
"It could be a terrible weapon in the wrong hands."
"Why would I run? I know what's going to happen next."
"Do you think I'm gonna start investigating just because some bird smiles at me?"
"You invented fish."
"I suggest a full frontal assault with automated laser monkeys, scalpel mines and acid."

And finally some from Digital Spy:

Long-time Who fans will love the new title sequence - guaranteed.
"I don't need anyone else."
The snowmen and Richard E Grant's Dr Simeon may not be the only lurking threat...
"Do you want to see where she died?"
"The Great Swarm is approaching!"
The final sequence sets up 2013's Who episodes wonderfully.

Again, check out the links for more. [Doctor Who TV, Cult Box, and Digital Spy via Life, Doctor Who, and Combom]

When asked about the possibility of the Master returning to the show, Matt Smith threw out quite possibly the most awesomely awful, utterly bonkers casting suggestion ever:

"Is The Master coming back? Who knows? We'd love to have William Shatner on Doctor Who I'm sure. He's a sci-fi God! He'd be great. John Simm is pretty damn good in the role though."

For his part, Steven Moffat responded to this possibility by suggesting John Simm still very much considers himself the Master and would fight an octogenarian to keep the role, which I imagine can't be a bad sign for his eventual return:

"I love William Shatner but John Simm is The Master... John Simm would beat [Shatner] up if he thought he was going to take that part. William Shatner being The Master would be too confusing wouldn't it? He's Captain Kirk! It's already confusing that there are now two Captain Kirks. But if I was considering it I wouldn't tell you."

[Den of Geek]

I think we've pretty much put that whole weird story about Harry Potter director David Yates making an all-new Doctor Who movie to bed, but Steven Moffat keeps returning to the story every few months and doing the verbal equivalent of nuking it from orbit, just to be sure it's well and truly dead:

The thing that I would find intolerable is that you get a film instead of the TV series because the TV series is more important. And I don't think any showrunner or future showrunner of Doctor Who would tolerate the idea that David Yates was talking about, of rebooting it and having a second continuity. That's just nonsense. Absolutely insane and a straightforward insult to the audience. We'd never, ever do that. The question would be how could we do it without delaying or harming the TV show? I think it could be incredibly exciting to see that TARDIS fly on the big screen. It would just be how do we arrange it? And how do we make sure we have … no offense, but you suddenly take American money and they expect to tell you what to do and all that. I wouldn't be happy with that. But it will happen someday, I'm reasonably confident.

[Doctor Who News]

American Horror Story: Asylum

Returning star Dylan McDermott discusses his new role as Bloody Face II:

Ryan [Murphy] is the one who designed the character. Then, we talked at length on how he would look and what we wanted. We came up with this mullet idea and the tattoos, and how I'm really a blue collar guy, as opposed to the psychiatrist that Ben Harmon was. I think we were both looking to do something radically different than we had last season, but it was Ryan's invention.

Did you work directly with Zachary Quinto on your characterization of the son of Bloody Face, or was there anything you watched him do that informed the choices that you made for your character?
I just watched him and picked up a few of his mannerisms. There is one scene coming up where we're in the same room. In the writers' room, they put up a picture of me and Zach and Sarah, to see if I could be their son, when they were casting it, and I guess I passed the test. I think that we do have some similar qualities, in our darker features, so I don't think it's much of a leap. But, I did try to listen to his voice and look at his mannerisms, a little bit.

How many more episodes will you be appearing in?
I believe I will be in the next three out of four.

There's more good stuff at the link. [Collider]

Misfits

Costar Matt Stokoe discusses where he would like to see his character Alex head in the future:

I'd like to be a super-villain, but I really don't know where he's going. In this series it was mainly to do with Alex's immediate problem, we didn't really learn that much about him, so there's still a lot to be discovered. I've always wanted to play a super-villain so hopefully I'll come back with a cape and a big twirly moustache.

I think a super-villain is something that Misfits hasn't really seen yet. They have these guest villains but if there was some over-riding, evil, character that they were all trying to kill throughout the season – or he was trying to kill them throughout the season – that could be brilliant. The good thing about Misfits is that you get to dabble in everything. No one is a really good person and no one is a really bad person – they've got these real human flaws. It's essentially a really, really, really dark comedy so you get to flex those muscles as well. But everyone remembers the villain, so that's always been a dream of mine.

[Den of Geek]

Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders.