Catching Fire casts a former champion, and starts looking for extras. Director Rich Moore explains how real video game characters made their way into Wreck-It Ralph. New Alphas cast member Erin Way explains her super abilities. Plus more Paranorman clips!
Spoilers from here on out!
Top image from Doctor Who.
The Wolverine
Wreck-It Ralph
Director Rich Moore, whose previous experience includes directing a ton of classic episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama, explains how he incorporated real video game characters into this upcoming Disney movie:
When we started, it seemed like if we were going to make a movie about video games that I really, really wanted it to be authentic," he said. "It had to have real characters from real games in it. That was very, very important to me as the filmmaker. So we just kind just of went for it. We didn't begin from a legal standpoint as we were writing the story. It was more like, 'Well, this seems like a great place for Pac-Man to make an appearance. Let's put him in.' Early on, we put up a board in the building and told people, 'Tell us your favorite video games you played with and who your favorite characters are.' So that gave us a big bed of characters to look at for building the movie and putting them into it."
He also explains how the creative team got various video game makers to sign off on the use of their characters:
"From the very beginning we said, 'We want to be authentic to your character. What we would like to do is put in an approval process where you look at our animation and you say that we're being true to the character.' We did have kind of a check-in process, where we would show them the footage and say, 'What do you think? Is it good?' At one point, [Nintendo] said, 'Bowser's much bigger than that. He's way bigger than Zangief.' We were like, 'Okay, we'll make him bigger. How's that?' They'd say, 'Yes, that's good — but he wouldn't drink his coffee like that. He wouldn't make that mouth.' [Laughs] Of course, then people from Sega said, 'Well, Doctor Robotnik is bigger.' [Laughs] They wanted their characters bigger and bigger. We were going to end up with these giants in a room, with Ralph as this little guy... But I think that stuff really helped. I looked back on our original animation before the Nintendo notes, and it was like, 'You know, he does look more like Bowser now.'"
There's more at the link, including Moore explaining how they spent time developing the emotional, character-based side of the movie independent of the video game component. [IGN]
The X-Files 3
Writer and producer Frank Spotnitz is convinced a third movie should happen, despite the fact that nobody seemed terribly interested in the first two:
I absolutely do! I think everybody should write to 20th Century Fox. I've been saying for years now that I feel it's a cultural crime that they have not finished the series. The second movie did not perform the way anybody wanted it to at the box office. I'm proud of that movie, but it makes sense to me that it didn't. It was released at the height of summer, and it was a story-of-the-week. That's not what the movie-going audience wanted. The movie-going audience wanted the aliens. That's what they know The X-Files for. And that story is not done, and it should be finished. I don't think it's too late, but I think it's gonna be, pretty soon. I'm still agitating with everyone I can grab to say, "Let's make this movie while we still can!"
[Collider]
Doctor Who
Jack Lothian, whose previous writing credits include a couple episodes of the underrated Ashes to Ashes and the fourth episode of the ill-fated Outcasts, is writing an episode for season seven, according to his online CV. The episodes that don't have attached writers yet are episodes six and seven (not counting the Christmas special in that tally) and episodes twelve and thirteen. Of course, you'd expect Steven Moffat to write the final episode, and he's also rumored to be writing the first episode after the Christmas Special, so that leaves seven and twelve as the most likely contenders. Still, it's best to take these CV credits with a grain of salt, as a lot can happen between the commissioning of a script and its actual production — Torchwood writer John Fay had Doctor Who down on his CV some months back, but that credit has since disappeared and it's likely that Fay isn't writing an episode this season. That said, the fact that relatively little time is left in the show's production schedule probably improves the odds that Lothian is indeed involved. [Life, Doctor Who, and Combom]
True Blood
Here are descriptions for the final two episodes of the season:
Episode #59: "Sunset"
Debut: SUNDAY, AUG. 19 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Slipping further into religious fervor, Bill (Stephen Moyer) gives Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) an order she's loath to carry out. Armed with a damning video of Russell (Denis O'Hare) and Steve (Michael McMillian), the military delivers an ultimatum to the Authority. Claude (Giles Matthey) and Maurella (Kristina Anapau) take Sookie (Anna Paquin) to meet the faerie elder, who may know something about an ancient family secret. Alcide (Joe Manganiello) reconnects with his father; Sam (Sam Trammell) and Luna (Janina Gavankar) hitch a ride into the Authority.Episode #60: "Save Yourself" (season finale)
Debut: SUNDAY, AUG. 26 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) embarks on a final, desperate mission to overthrow the Authority – and save Bill from losing his humanity. Andy (Chris Bauer) faces the consequences of a light pact he made; Alcide readies for a second showdown with J.D. (Louis Herthum); Sam and Luna test their limits in trying to escape the Authority.
Grimm
Here's a first look video at the show's second season, which kicks off on August 13.
And here's a sneak peek at the season premiere, "Bad Teeth."
666 Park Avenue
Here's an extended promo for ABC's new supernatural series, starring Lost's Terry O'Quinn.
ER actor Erik Palladino, who guest starred as the apartment building's doorman Tony DeMeo in the show's pilot, has reportedly been promoted to a regular on the show. [Deadline]
Falling Skies
Here are some promo photos for the tenth episode and second season finale, "A More Perfect Union." [SpoilerTV]
Alphas
New regular cast member Erin Way explains how her character Kat will fit in with the rest of Dr. Rosen's team:
"Her special ability is that she can basically learn any skill instantly. That includes knowledge and muscle memory. The only downside is that she has a bit of a memory problem. So after about a month or so, she's losing memories of the past. So while she retains the [abilities], she can't remember how she learned them... or where she came from. Because of the downside of her ability, the way she's chosen to survive with it is to live in the moment, not get too heavy about stuff. She's not burdened by anything in the past. So essentially she just comes in and really kind of mixes it up. She doesn't really care about the rules, the protocol, how you're supposed to behave, kind of makes fun of them for being so serious and because of that, she ruffles everybody's feathers a bit."
She also reveals the particular challenges Kat and Gary have in forging a working relationship:
"I think [Kat] has rubbed [Gary] the wrong way the most out of anybody. That should be expected; Gary is somebody that relies upon routine and protocol…and doesn't enjoy people breaking his routine. She is constantly touching Gary, trying to hug Gary, basically doing everything that you will tell her not to do... it's very upsetting, he doesn't like it at all. It's not a smooth road by the end, [Kat] still manage[s] to upset him on occasion. But there are a few occasions where, because of [Kat's] irreverence for his condition and who he is... she kind of trusts Gary with facts that other people would not, and he kind of grows to like her a little bit because she's willing to let him do things that other people won't let him do because she doesn't care about the rules. I see a good future for Kat and Gary. I think we're going to be fine."
For whatever reason, Syfy has decided to release promo photos for the next four episodes, rather than releasing them one week at a time as is the usual operating procedure. So then, let's take a look at each, starting with next week's episode four, "When Push Comes To Shove." [SpoilerTV]
Next up we have episode five, "Gaslight." [SpoilerTV]
Now the sixth episode, "Alphaville." [SpoilerTV]
And finally episode seven, "Falling." [SpoilerTV]
Being Human (US)
The Final Destination actor Bobby Campo has reportedly landed the recurring role of Max, described as "a young-looking mortician running his own business who has to work extra hard to establish his credibility." [Deadline]
Beauty and the Beast
Here are some promo photos for the first episode of the CW series. They really seem to hammer home the fact that, as far as The CW is concerned, "Beast" apparently means "just as ruggedly handsome as every other male lead on our network." [SpoilerTV]
Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.