Jerry Doyle, Star of ‘Babylon 5,’ Dies at 60
Jerry Doyle, best known as the star of the 90s sci-fi series “Babylon 5,” has died, according to his official Twitter account. Doyle was 60. “The family of Jerry Doyle is sad to announce Jerry’s passing,” the tweet reads. “The cause of death is unknown at this time.”
Harry Potter Fans Party in Bookstores as New ‘Cursed Child’ Book Is Released at Midnight Worldwide
Harry Potter fans around the world lined up at their local bookstores to celebrate the midnight release of the beloved series’ eighth book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, on Sunday, July 31. The new story, which is set 19 years after the events of seventh novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, follows an adult Potter and his son Albus Severus. The book is the rehearsal script of the two-part West End stage play of the same name, which premiered in London on Saturday, July 30.
Disney Working on ‘Rocketeer’ Movie Reboot
Disney is launching a rebooted version of “The Rocketeer” with the project in early development with an African-American female pilot as the lead. Tentatively titled “The Rocketeers,” the studio is calling it a “sequel reboot.” Max Winkler and Matthew Spicer are writing. Brigham Taylor (“The Jungle Book”) is producing along with Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin and Ryan Kalil of the Carolina Panthers. Griffin and Kalil are producing through their Mortal Media banner.
Ron Howard embarks on ‘Mars’ mission on Nat Geo
The Oscar-winning filmmaker is executive producing ambitious new miniseries Mars, premiering on the National Geographic Channellater this year. The six-episode hybrid show will combine scripted drama and documentary sequences: weaving a fictional story of Asian-American twins who, as young girls, dreamed of becoming astronauts, with a larger story about real-life efforts to farm and permanently inhabit the Red Planet.
Seth MacFarlane To Create & Star In Fox Sci-Fi Dramedy Series For 2017-18 Season
Seth MacFarlane is set to topline his first live-action TV series.Fox has given a 13-episode straight-to-series order to an hourlong comedic drama series created and executive produced by the Family Guy creator, who is also set to star. The series is slated for the 2017-2018 television season, with a pilot episode likely filmed in late 2016, and the rest of the episodes in spring 2017. 20th Century Fox TV, where MacFarlane has been under an overall deal for a long time, is the studio.
John Carpenter Wins Second Round of Plagiarism Case vs. Luc Besson Over ‘Lockout’
A Paris appeals court on Friday found French director-producer Luc Besson guilty of plagiarizing John Carpenter’s 1981 cult classic “Escape from New York” with the 2012 space-set movie “Lockout.” The court ordered his EuropaCorp production company to pay 450,000 Euros ($502,000) in damages to the U.S. horror helmer, according to a report on French news service BFMTV.
