science fiction news stories on Newser

Disney's $250M John Carter Set to Lose ... $200M

Rob Quinn — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:01:05 CDT

Science-fiction epic John Carter looks set to go down in history as one of Hollywood's biggest-ever money losers. Disney says it expects the movie—which cost more than $250 million to make, and another $100 million to market—to lose some $200 million, putting its movie studio up to $120...

Homeland Security Tests 'Pre-Crime' Detectors

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:45:32 CDT

Homeland Security is trying to make Hollywood's science-fiction fantasies come true, CNET reports. While the Tom Cruise film Minority Report portrayed psychics who predict crimes, DHS officials are using a "prototype screening facility" to "detect cues indicative of mal-intent" in people, according to a DHS document. The so-called Future Attribute...

Ridley Scott to Direct New Blade Runner

Neal Colgrass — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:52:05 CDT

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe..." But would the infamous replicant leader in Blade Runner believe that director Ridley Scott is making a new version of the 1982 sci-fi classic? Sequel or prequel, nobody seems to know—and Harrison Ford's participation is a question mark (he reportedly hated Scott)—...

US Dreams of Interstellar Spaceship in 100 Years

Luke Kelly-Clyne — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 14:07:06 CDT

Is it possible that Star Trek and a sci-fi story written by Jules Verne more than 100 years ago will inspire the next generation of space technologies? DARPA, the research and development division of the US military, sure hopes so. In fact, the agency has promised to award $500,000...

Super 8 Almost Super

Matt Cantor — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:05:05 CDT

Super 8 is a fun summer blockbuster about kids, monsters, and filmmaking—but don’t expect a classic. Director JJ Abrams is “clever and sincere,” notes AO Scott in the New York Times , “but still, at least on the big screen, more student than master. Like his previous features, Super 8...

Source Code an Action Flick With Brains

Matt Cantor — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:35:05 CDT

Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a military pilot placed into another man’s life using a secret program called Source Code—where he's forced to repeat the same eight minutes perpetually in order to catch a bomber. It’s pulse-pounding but deeply human: It’s “the first film in a while to...

Blade Runner Sequel Planned

Rob Quinn — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 04:51:20 CST

Other Blade Runner movies could be here in time for 2019, the year when the 1982 sci-fi classic takes place. Production company Alcon Entertainment says it's in the final stages of talks to acquire the rights to make prequels and sequels based on the settings and characters of the original,...

Tron Trounces Box Office With $43.6M

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 17:23:25 CST

The much-hyped sci-fi sequel Tron : Legacy trounced its closest competition at the box office this weekend, notching $43.6 million in an opening weekend some 28 years after the original cult hit debuted. Its $200 million budget let filmmakers "do some incredible things," says the director of the original. Rounding...

5 Reasons We Need New Star Wars Trilogy

John Johnson — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:34:53 CDT

Rumors are flying that George Lucas has another Star Wars trilogy up his sleeve. Lucas says it ain't so, but Scott Thill offers five reasons at Wired why he should reconsider: Purists are annoying: The first movie came out in 1977, and those who whine about Lucas ruining things "need...