NEWSCHUNKS for 07.29.09

NEW BUCK ROGERS WEB SERIES: In Hayden Black's Comic-Con wrap-up, he dropped some interesting news... Apparently Erin Gray's daughter Sam is set to star as Wilma Deering in an upcoming Buck Rogers web series. (Erin Gray played Deering in the camp classic '70s TV series.) This is the first I'd heard of the web series, which is apparently being put together by the Star Trek: Phase II guys and is already slated to feature a regular role for Buck himself, Gil Gerard. (The gent they've got to play the young Buck Rogers actually has more of a Flash Gordon/young David Hyde Pierce thing goin' on.)

Black has also now posted this video of relentlessly charming Torchwood star John Barrowman talking about his own childhood sci-fi faves, and commiting to appear in a Cabonauts episode as his schedule permits. Here's hoping. Black's stuff is consistently funny, and the whole premise of a musical sci-fi comedy about space cabs is pretty irresistible. Throw Captain Jack into that mix, and this thing will be almost too much fun.

WILL THE TOLKIEN FAMILY HALT THE HOBBIT?: An interesting article by Andrew O'Hehir on Salon today, in which he ponders whether the Tolkien family's lawsuit will actually put a halt to Guillermo del Toro's upcoming films based on The Hobbit. His conclusion: probably not, but this could be an ugly fight.

BAMBER VISITS THE DOLLHOUSE: Jamie Bamber, fresh from his role as Lee Adama on Battlestar Galatica, will appear in the second season opener of Joss Whedon's troubled Dollhouse series. Dollhouse already features Bamber's Battlestar co-stars Tahmoh Penikett as a regular and Mark Sheppard in a recurring role.

JACKSON AT WORK ON KONG RIDE FOR UNIVERSAL: Speaking at Comic-Con last week, Peter Jackson revealed that he's at work on a new King Kong ride at Universal Studios to replace the one that was destroyed in the fire that overtook the theme park/studio a few years ago.

"This is going to be eight cameras," Jackson says, "eight images that project four on each side so that every person on this tourist tram can see this wraparound view of Skull Island. Each images is going to be 4K [resolution], it's going to be 3-D, everyone gets those glasses, it's going to be 60 frames per second [...] It's going to be tied into this simulator base where Kong fights these T-rexes, with you being in your Universal tram in the middle of this fight. You're getting buffeted around and you're sliding down towards a chasm, and Kong is thumping the hell out of the Tyrannosauruses as they're trying to grab tourists out of the trams."

HARRY POTTER BUILDING PROGRESS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD: Yesterland.com has a gallery of photos up showing the progress on the Hogwarts Castle that's being built at Walt Disney World for a 2010 opening. Mostly it's just signs, and a very, very big box.



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