Is another major Walking Dead character about to meet a grisly fate? Guillermo del Toro previews the Pacific Rim trailer, and the film's 3D footage. Lawless director John Hillcoat wants to make a science fiction film. Don't worry — 666 Park Avenue will wrap up its story properly!
Spoilers from here on out!
Top image from Pacific Rim.
Pacific Rim
Director Guillermo del Toro discusses the first trailer, which is set to premiere sometime next month:
"They bring it to me and then I do a little pass myself, I help with the sound design, then we re-cut it again, and then I'm involved in the timing of the color and the mixing of the sound, so whatever you saw in San Diego or New York, I was completely part of the process. We have a couple of finished shots, but most of the stuff is being finished for the trailer. If it goes public, it has to be [stuff that I'm happy to show]. I'm very, very happy to show off what we'll show in December."
He also discusses the movie's 3D:
"We're getting footage in 3D from two forms: one is all the footage that is CG is being composited directly by ILM. So John Knoll, who is one of the greatest minds in the business, is supervising that there's no miniaturization in those shots. And they're looking gorgeous; they're coming basically fast and furious every week. And the other sources of 3D is Stereo D, and those are looking fantastic too."
Finally, he confirms that he and writer Travis Beacham have kicked around ideas for a sequel, but said sequel is roughly on the same footing as the other fifty thousand things del Toro has theoretically committed to doing. As such, I wouldn't expend too much mental energy on it just yet. [Collider]
Oz the Great and Powerful
Rise of the Guardians screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire discusses his work on Sam Raimi and James Franco's Wizard of the Oz prequel:
It was tremendous fun to work on it. Sam Raimi is the most collaborative director I've worked with. He's incredibly generous and loves these characters, and loves the story. It's a great epic adventure. It was — and I haven't seen the final cut so it's hard to speak specifically about it because I don't know how it turned out — but it was great fun to work on.
Have you seen a rough cut of it?
Yeah, very early on, yeah, and it was — it looks stunning, but a lot of the effects hadn't been put in yet, but it was great. At that point we were still trying to focus the story a little bit. So I haven't seen it since then.Did you get to go to the set, and did you get to walk on the yellow brick road?
I walked — yes, I was on set; I walked on the yellow brick road. I got to take a yellow brick home with me.
[Collider]
Untitled John Hillcoat Sci-Fi Movie
Lawless and The Proposition director John Hillcoat says he wants to do a science fiction film, and judging by all his previous movies, Guy Pearce will probably be involved, which is never a bad thing:
"I would love to go further into the future and do a scifi film. I love 'Alien' and 'Blade Runner' and '2001.' I love the scifi movies where it's from the point of view of humans in that situation...When it becomes too clever in its ideas, the cyber-punk high-tech thing, it becomes more about something else. I still like man's relationship to all of that. Or it becomes a pure spectacle like a computer game. So I'm looking to get the right balance there."
Paranormal Activity 5
You can probably go ahead and pencil one of these things in every fall between now and the end of time — or until the franchise becomes unprofitable for Paramount, but I'm betting the heat-death of the universe comes first. Anyway, Paramount is holding off on announcing specific dates for all the millions and billions of these things still to be made, instead only saying that the fifth entry will be out on October 25, 2013, with the Latino-centric spin-off likely to come out sometime in the spring. [Deadline]
Doctor Who
Episode director Douglas MacKinnon worked on the first of Mark Gatiss's two episodes in the second half of season seven, an episode that is widely rumored to feature a submarine and the return of the Ice Warriors. While he doesn't confirm either of those, he does say the episode is an "under-siege story" with "volumes of water", and here's how he describes his experience making the episode:
I enjoyed it just about more than any other bit of directing I've ever done. Without a doubt, if ever there were a team effort that has made an episode work, it was that one. Just the safety elements alone, with water flowing around... The gaffers, and the Electrical Department, and the practical effects guys, they were all on top of that the entire time... Also, we had to remember that there was electrical circuitry on show. All that had to be shifted to 12 volts to make it safe. And there was steam, and smoke, and explosions, and guns, and everything that makes directing Doctor Who fun. I had the time of my life.
He also discusses a CGI creature that will play a large role in the episode. It sure doesn't sound like the Ice Warriors, but there could always be two monsters, I guess:
And then there's 'the creature' as well. Because of the environment that Mark put his creature in, there was all sorts of texture around that's natural to the environment - and water, of course - and I took advantage of that. I had the creature stomping through water. I shot some of it in slow-mo, to make it look even more impressive. The results are magnificent. If that's hard work, I'll have some more of it, thank you very much.
According to the CV of first assistant director David Mack, one of the episodes by Luther creator Neil Cross is called "The Rings of Akhaten." As Doctor Who TV points out, the name "Akhaten" is a decently close match for Akhenaten, better known as the husband of previous guest star Queen Nefertiti. That seems like it's probably a coincidence, but intriguing nevertheless. [Doctor Who TV]
Fringe
Here's a short synopsis for the eighth episode, "Human Kind", which airs December 7:
PETER PRESSES ON IN A PASSIONATE MISSION TO DEFEAT THE OBSERVERS ON AN ALL-NEW "FRINGE" FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, ON FOX — Jill Scott ("Steel Magnolias") Guest-Stars — Olivia encounters a very intuitive and oracle-like person named Simone (guest star Scott) as she looks to recover a key piece of equipment for Walter. Meanwhile, Peter finds himself in a perilous situation as he observes Windmark (guest star Michael Kopsa).
The Walking Dead
A quickly deleted tweet from Laurie Holden appears to say that today is her last day of filming for season three, despite the fact that there's still thought to be a couple more weeks worth of filming left. While this is definitely on the speculative side, this may well mean that Holden — and, by extension, her character Andrea — won't be in the finale all that much. Which could well mean she meets a less than pleasant end sometime in the final couple of episodes of season three. [SpoilerTV]
666 Park Avenue
Show producers David Wilcox and Matt Miller promise that the thirteenth and final episode will function as a proper series finale:
[The show] is building to a powerful and surprising series finale, where all your questions will be answered. We hope fans of the show continue watching all the way to the end of Jane and Henry's incredible journey to the dark side.
[TV Line]
American Horror Story: Asylum
Here's a promo for the next episode and seventh overall, "Dark Cousin."
Beauty and the Beast
Here are some promo photos for the eighth episode, "Trapped", which airs December 6 and flashes back to Vincent's time in Afghanistan. [KSiteTV]
Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie J. Anders.