Interview With Torchwood's Burn Gorman at Newsarama

Until a couple of years ago, you’ve probably seen Burn Gorman, but didn’t know him.

Then again, in barely a decade he appeared on sterling British TV shows and films as East Enders, Coronation Street and the film Penelope starring Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon (finally getting a true theatrical release in the U.S. this February).

Then, two years ago, he took the role of the hot-headed Owen Harper on the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood. There he co-stars with fan favorite Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and an equally talented ensemble cast protecting our planet from what’s to come in the 21st Century.

Paramount shuffle delays 'Trek'

Dramatically underscoring the need for movie-side execs to review slates following the long writers strike, Paramount on Wednesday bounced six films to new dates and moved two unslotted films to next year's calendar.

Other distributors were scrambling to complete similar reviews of their upcoming productions to determine what can or can't be delivered on scheduled dates. In some cases, films will move because of talent issues, but many film projects have been frozen in time when script rewrites weren't completed before the 100-day scribe walkout.

'Star Trek' arguably was the biggest film moved, with the intended Christmas Day release now set for the first prime date in the following summer boxoffice season: May 8, 2009. But 'Trek' appears something of an exception in the mix of itinerant pics, with its shift unrelated to script or cast considerations.

''Star Trek' is moving to summer because its has so much boxoffice potential,' Par spokesman Michael Vollman said. 'It does not need any script tweaks. They're two-thirds of the way through shooting, and we would have delivered a great movie at Christmas.'

Warren Ellis' Freakangels

Marvel MMO Cancelled by Microsoft

'I don’t think it’s necessarily a case of what went wrong,' Kim told me. 'I don’t know that that’s the right way to put it. For us we look at our priorities and all of the things we have to do. It’s a tough space. It’s a very competitive space. And it’s a space that’s changing quite a bit. …When we first entered into the development and agreement of the development of ‘Marvel Universe Online,’ we thought we would create another subscription-based MMO. And if you really look at the data there’s basically one that’s successful and everything else wouldn’t meet our level or definition of commercial success. And then you have to look [and say]: ‘Can we change the business model for that? Is that really viable given how far we are in development? And so forth. Does Marvel want to do that?’ There’s a whole bunch of factors.'

Hm....Um....Well

Probably not safe for work. Mind you, I have no idea what any of it says, but it certainly does look like fun.

Tolkien Estate Sues New Line

LOS ANGELES (AP) The estate of 'Lord of the Rings' creator J.R.R. Tolkien is suing the film studio that released the trilogy based on his books, claiming the company failed to pay a cut of gross profits for the blockbuster films.

The writer's estate, a British charity dubbed The Tolkien Trust, and original 'Lord of the Rings' publisher HarperCollins filed the lawsuit against New Line Cinema on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Fox sues over 'Watchmen'

Well, now, isn't this fun...

20th Century Fox has initiated a legal battle against Warner Bros. over the rights to develop, produce and distribute a film based on the graphic novel 'Watchmen.'

On Friday, the studio sued Warners, claiming it holds the exclusive copyrights and contract rights to 'Watchmen.'

Warners plans to release next year a big-screen version of the popular comic book written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. The cast includes Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino and Malin Akerman. It is the studio's policy to not comment on pending litigation.

Steve Gerber, 1947-2008

Steve Gerber, a leading light in 1970s American comic books, a singular writer of odd and affecting comics for mainstream publishers, an advocate for and icon of creators rights, and the creator and co-creator of several characters including Howard the Duck and Omega the Unknown, died Sunday in a Las Vegas hospital. The cause of death is believed to be pneumonia, although he had been suffering from a long-term illness, pulmonary fibrosis. He was 60 years old.

Gerber was born in St. Louis in September, 1947. A comics fan as a youth, he began to correspond with legendary fanzine figures Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails at an early age. He participated even more directly in the early fanzine movement, by creating the publication Headline as a young teen. He attended at school as the University of Missouri -- St. Louis and the University of Missouri, finishing his degree and doing some graduate work at St. Louis University. He found early employment as a copywriter for a St. Louis advertising agent and wrote short stories at night.

When Geeks Attack

George Lucas is claiming that a 'Star Wars' convention has moved over to the dark side.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in nothern California, LucasFilm says that Gen Con, a company that puts on gaming conventions, failed to uphold a contract to deliver proceeds from a 'Star Wars' memorabilia auction to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

According to this complaint, Gen Con owes almost $1 million to the charity and to LucasArts for proceeds from an auction held at last May's Gen Con convention in Los Angeles. LucasFilm says it undertook expenses to advertise the auction to increase participation.

Las Vegas Is The Second Life LARP

DSCN1110, originally uploaded by Cleveland Desolation.

I posted the pictures that I took while in Las Vegas for my birthday. All that I kept thinking was that the city was like a giant, open air, LARP version of Second Life.