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New Robocop director Jose Padilha explains how his reboot will set itself apart from Paul Verhoeven's cult classic. Some key casting details are revealed for the Doctor Who finale. Plus lots of hints for Supernatural!


Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from The Avengers.

The Dark Knight Rises

Take this with a super-duty grain of salt, but Freddie Z. Roche, a London location sound recordist and boom operator who previously tweeted that a Bat-copter will be featured in the movie, has a new tweet:

technical info: The ending sequence is soo secret that only 5 (Includ Nolan) know it and will be done completely in vfx.


While a Bat-copter is the sort of thing a lot of people involved in the production might be privy to (not to mention it's a fairly easy thing to guess, and people have been predicting it for ages), this claim is a lot harder to believe. For one thing, I'm having trouble buying that Christopher Nolan's love of secrecy would so completely trump his love of realism and distaste for CGI - for all that visual effects can do, I doubt Nolan would trust them for the big climactic sequence of the entire trilogy. Plus, it just generally sounds kind of insane. So...not absolutely impossible, I guess, but like I said - massive grains of salt for this one. [@Frederick_Z_Roche]

Robocop Reboot

Elite Squad director Jose Padilha explains what approach he'll be taking with the new movie, and why it won't be the same as Paul Verhoeven's original:

I love the sharpness and political tone of RoboCop , and I think that such a film is now urgently needed. But I will not repeat what Verhoeven has done so clearly and strongly. Instead I try to make a film that will address topics that Verhoeven [left] untreated. If you are a man [who] changes into a robot, how do you do that? What is the difference between humans and robots developed? What is free will? What does it mean to lose your free will? Those are the issues that I think.

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[Film1 via /Film]

Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse

Seth Rogen reveals the cast is shaping up for his long-simmering apocalypse movie with Jay Baruchel (that'd be the titular Jay and Seth). Rogen says the rest of the cast will potentially include frequent collaborators Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, and James Franco. However, the previously rumored Daniel Radcliffe likely will not be involved, as Rogen explains, "It doesn't look like he's willing to push things as far as we [are]." [MTV Movies Blog]


Immortals

Here's a TV spot.



Doctor Who


The space Viking character that Mark Gatiss plays in the finale "The Wedding of River Song" is reportedly called Gantok, and he "will play The Doctor in a tournament of 'Live Chess' on Vegas 12." An IMDB credit listed Gatiss's character as Fenric, the title villain of the classic Sylvester McCoy story "The Curse of Fenric." However, that probably was just put there by some enterprising fan who connected the climax of last week's "The God Complex" with the similar faith-breaking scene in "The Curse of Fenric." So, Gantok the intergalactic chess playing Viking it is.

Also, previously announced guest star Simon Callow is reportedly reprising his "The Unquiet Dead" role as Charles Dickens, as opposed to playing a new character. Considering Dickens first appeared in the third episode of series one, I believe this would set the record for the longest gap between the first and second appearance of an actor playing the same character in Doctor Who history - ten years separated Omega's debut in "The Three Doctors" and his return in "Arc of Infinity", but Stephen Thorne was replaced by Ian Collier. Of course, I'd be thrilled to be proven wrong by someone even more ridiculously obsessed with the show than myself. [Blogtor Who]


The BBC has released a press release officially confirming most of what we already know about the Christmas special. However, there are a couple minor tidbits about the story that didn't show up in the initial reporting, so here are the highlights:

Production has started on the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas Special in which the Doctor (Matt Smith) finds himself in war-torn England embarking on a magical and mysterious adventure with a young widow and her two children. Steven Moffat, Lead Writer and Executive Producer, commented: "The Doctor at Christmas – nothing is more fun to write. Maybe because it's so his kind of day – everything's bright and shiny, everybody's having a laugh, and nobody minds if you wear a really stupid hat. Of all the Doctors, Matt Smith's is the one that was born for this time of year – so it's the best news possible that he's heading back down the chimney." The special, set during the Second World War, sees Madge Arwell and her two children, Lily and Cyril, evacuated to a draughty old house in Dorset, where the caretaker is a mysterious young man in a bow tie, and a big blue parcel is waiting for them under the tree. They are about to enter a magical new world and learn that a Time Lord never forgets his debts.


Not too much extra to go on, but the part about Madge being a widow, a big blue parcel (presumably the TARDIS) under the tree, and the Doctor never forgetting his debts are new. [SpoilerTV]

Here are some set photos from Uskmouth Power Station, where both Matt Smith and a stunt double have been spotted on-set. This location was previously used for "A Good Man Goes to War", but I'm going to assume it's not being used for the same setting. [Doctor Who Spoilers]


Fringe

Showrunners Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman offer some teases for the upcoming season. First, some general words on how the show looks with Peter (temporarily) gone:

Pinkner: I think we can say the FRINGE world absent Peter Bishop looks very different.

Wyman: We're going to set up the season arc from numerous characters' perspectives. You're going to get a full understanding on where the season will be going.


Next, Jeff Pinkner explains in general terms when we can expect to see Peter back, and why they don't want to frustrate fans with an overly prolonged absence:

What you just said was a lot of our conversation with the network and the studio as we pitched them our season-long arc. And they, coming from a fan perspective - and also a marketing perspective - [said], "We need Peter back right away because people miss Peter and we need him back." And our counterargument was, "To really establish his absence will take a little while." And truly a little while, not a long while, because we know there is good audience frustration and really bad audience frustration. So the balancing act is specifically the one you pointed to. We need to establish the condition of these characters' lives in order to set the story, and we also need to feel a sense of loss, because otherwise his return, when it happens, would have no meaning without feeling his absence. And hopefully we're striking the right balance. I guess we'll see. We think we are.


And J.H. Wyman talks generally about when we can expect the alternate universe Nina to put in an appearance:

We can't say that. Suffice to say that… [Long pause] FRINGE is a show that we can do things that you would not expect. And I think that's the best way to say that. Like, for instance, we're the only show that could probably do a love triangle with two of the same people. We're the only show that could do the quintessential kidnapping, but it's across universes. I don't think it's giving too much away to say we're going to treat the much-anticipated understanding of Nina Sharp "over there" - we're going to try and treat it with the same sort of, "Oh my gosh!" as we have with the other aspects [of our story].


They also reveal that the fourth episode is called "Subject 9." There's more at the link. [Give Me My Remote]

Elsewhere, Wyman and Pinkner promise that Peter's erasure doesn't invalidate the first three seasons:

Wyman:"Just because he doesn't exist doesn't mean that those three years we've invested all didn't happen. It did happen. And it will all unfold itself for you to understand what context I'm speaking."

Pinkner: "The show constantly tries to recontectualize your perception of this story…. The idea that Peter is gone - and, ultimately, he's not permanently gone - is an opportunity to recontextualize the story and what we've seen again. It's something we love to play with."


Wyman also explains why Seth Gabel's Lincoln Lee was brought in for this season:

"He brings us a certain thematic element that we really needed to tell this year. A lot of the things his character will be going through will help us tell our story. One of the themes we're really interested in getting into this year is the impact we have on each other's lives. We're defined by the connections we make, and who we know, and who knows us, and how we define other people."


When asked to tease cases, the showrunners offered up "time travel, out-of-control biology, and humans who mess with the rules of nature", and there will also be another experimental episode like "L.S.D." and "Brown Betty." There are more details at the link. [EW]

TV Guide suggests a key question for this season will be, "Why is Walter working on a serum to bring dead things back to life?" [TV Guide]


Here's a fourth season promo.



Here's video of the cast photo shoot for season four.



Here's a bunch of photos for the premiere, "Genesis." [Daemon's TV]

Supernatural

Executive producer Sera Gamble teases the return of Mark Sheppard as Crowley:

"Crowley's sort of the ultimate self-interested character. He always finds a way to bend whatever is happening to his own best uses. And as the weather changes, he figures out how to insert himself in a situation. There's a reason he's lived this long. There's a reason he always finds the parachute under his seat. So as things evolve this season, we'll see him try and adapt. He's always fun, so we keep throwing stuff at him."


Fellow executive producer Robert Singer discusses an episode where Dean is put on trial by the Egyptian god Osiris, featuring the return of Alona Tal as Jo:

"He weighs your heavy heart against a feather, and if your heart is heavier than the feather, then he does you in. It's all about carrying guilt, and that sort of thing; not just 'Do I feel bad' but 'do I feel guilty?' And that's a turning point episode for Jensen's arc this year. [Alona Tal] is great in the episode. We put in some flashbacks, back to episodes she was in years ago and she has matured and incredibly grown as an actress. She's just wonderful. I hadn't really worked with her for quite some time, and I was just blown away by what she did. She was great."


There's a ton more at the link. [KSiteTV]

American Horror Story

Here's a trailer for FX's upcoming horror show, featuring some of our first actual look at footage from the show.



Warehouse 13

Here's a preview for the two-part finale, "Emily Lake" and "Stand."



Alphas

Here's a promo for the season finale, "Original Sin."



Eureka

Here's a pair of promos for the upcoming Christmas special and next year's season.



The Secret Circle

Here's a promo for tonight's episode, "Bound."



Here are some promo photos for episode three, "Loner." [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Gordon Jackson and Charlie Jane Anders.