AMC ‘Thunderstruck’ by new UFO drama

Silver Screen Saucers

Deadline reports that AMC – the TV network behind the critically acclaimed horror series The Walking Dead – is to branch out into the sci-fi genre with Thunderstruck, “an hour-long UFO project” from executive producers Paul Boardman, Scott Derrickson and David Eick.

Boardman and Derrickson will write the drama, which, according to Deadline, is “about powerful and enigmatic entities that begin appearing all over the world.” Of special note is the story’s geographical setting, which no doubt will ring a bell with students of UFO history... Deadline continues:

“After one shows up in the town of Great Falls, Montana, the local citizens must grapple with the dramatic effects and growing mystery of repeated visitations.”

Thunderstruck will be directed by Derrickson, whose 2005 horror The Exorcism of Emily Rose was considerably better than his dead-on-arrival remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). Production will likely commence sometime in 2012.

'Darkest' aliens to arrive this Christmas

By Robbie Graham Silver Screen Saucers

Summit Entertainment has just released the North American Poster for The Darkest Hour - a Moscow-set, post-apocalyptic 3-D alien invasion thriller due for release in the U.S. on Christmas Day...

Image credit: Yahoo! Movies

View the trailer here...

See also:

'The Darkest Hour': story details, artwork revealed

Ridley Scott's 'Prometheus': news update

Silver Screen Saucers

The hotly anticipated Alien prequel Prometheus edges ever closer to the big screen as its shoot is now complete and its director, Ridley Scott (left), has just dropped a few more hints about its Ancient Astronaut-themed narrative.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) quotes Scott as saying: “The central metaphor of Prometheus is about a ‘higher being’ who challenges the gods, and the gods don’t want to give him fire."

WSJ continues...

“’Fire is our first form of technology,’ Scott says, and so by taking fire, the higher being is punished ‘in perpetuity in a horrible fashion.’ Much like the story of the mythological god, Prometheus, who stole fire from Zeus and, for his actions, was bound to a rock with an eagle eternally devouring his liver.”

WSJ notes that “Scott is especially excited about the story of Prometheus — you can hear the enthusiasm in his voice when he discusses the film. The screenplay was written by Damon Lindelof and Jon Spaihts. “I think the reason why I haven’t attempted science fiction in a number of years is because I haven’t really come across a script that I really liked,” Scott says. “This developed and came out extremely well.”

WSJ has also confirmed with 20th Century Fox that Sigourney Weaver – star of the first four Alien films – does not make a cameo in Prometheus, but notes that, according to Scott, “the last eight minutes of the Prometheus story evolve into “a pretty good DNA of the Alien one.”

Regarding the use of 3-D and CGI in his film, Scott told WSJ that he has “completely taken off into this cyberworld,” referring to the Prometheus shoot as “the best time I’ve had in a number of years making a movie.”

It is also reassuring that, although the veteran director has “embraced ‘all the tricks, [and] the toys’ of computer-generated imagery and 3-D,” his movie’s fantastical effects will remain refreshingly old-school: “I’m a great believer in filming the real thing if you can and so I did a lot of building the real thing.”

Prometheus stars Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron. It is scheduled for a June 2012 release.

Related articles:

'Alien' prequel to explore 'Ancient Astronaut' theory

Ridley Scott talks 'Prometheus'; first official image released

Red-tailed Tropicbird Visitor

We had an interesting visitor on the plane this week.  A red-tailed tropicbird was sent to us from Los Angeles.  It got picked up on a Korean cargo ship and was brought to an International Bird Rescue center, and after disease testing and USFWS approval, it was flown to Midway to be released.  Here's a short news story about it.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Tropical-Bird-Flies-Commercial-to-Midway-Atoll-133174903.html

A lot of our lead paint remediation workers went home yesterday.  They do most of their work when the albatrosses are off island, so since the birds are coming back, it's time to go.  Here's the photos for the rest of the goings on this week.

 John Klavitter prepares to release the tropicbird from the cargo ship.  It was released in the water and flew right away.

 The male short-tailed albatross came back to its nesting site, and is patiently waiting for the female.  Our remote camera is working so we can monitor for the female from this island.

                           
John is leading a group through the verbesina on Eastern Island.  We received a large five-year grant from NFWF (National Fish and Wildlife Foundation) to get rid of the verbesena on that island. This group was here to evaluate the problem and make recommendations.

 Here's a green sea turtle resting on the beach.

 Eamon, Dani, Anthony, and Greg are installing the roof over the guzzler (duck pool) on Eastern Island.

The sooty terns are harassing a Northern harrier.  At the moment, I think we have about 4 birds of prey at Midway.  2 Northern harriers, a short-eared owl, and a peregrine falcon.

Hollywood and UFOlogy

By Robbie Graham Silver Screen Saucers

Image credit: After Disclosure

Over at his excellent After Disclosure site, Bryce Zabel has just re-posted an article I wrote back in April of this year titled: Hollywood and the Discourse on Disclosure. The piece draws considerably from my ongoing doctoral research and examines the extent to which Hollywood’s UFO movies are reliant upon UFOlogical discourse.

If you’ve not yet read the article then pay a visit now to After Disclosure where you’re encouraged to share your thoughts on all material presented.

UFO movie news round-up (02 Nov. 2011)

By Robbie Graham Silver Screen Saucers

Oscar-nominated short film maker Ruairi Robinson is set to direct his first feature film, the thriller The Last Days On Mars, which will feature special effects created by Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital.

According to ComingSoon.net, “The Last Days On Mars is currently in pre-production and is expected to start shooting early 2012 on location in Jordan and at Shepperton Studios in the UK.”

The film is described as follows:

“As their last day on Mars draws to a close, the astronaut crew is on the verge of a major breakthrough – collected rock specimens reveal microscopic evidence of life. Meanwhile, communication is underway with AURORA, the approaching spacecraft that will relieve the crew of their operations. In their last hours on the planet, two astronauts go back to SITE 9, a cavernous valley on the surface of Mars, to collect further evidence of their discovery. But a routine excavation turns deadly when one of them falls to his death and his body taken host and re-animated by the very life form they sought to discover.”

Meanwhile in Tinseltown, Paramount has hired screenwriter John Glenn (Eagle Eye (2008)) to re-write the forthcoming sci-fi thriller Abducted, the story for which, according to Deadline, “centers around an alien abduction of a group of average Americans who decide to take on the aliens and battle their way off the extraterrestrial craft.” The movie was originally described as "'Die Hard' on a spaceship."

Image credit: Movie Hole

Finally, and still on the subject of interstellar kidnappings, Eddie Murphy is writing an as yet untitled all-black alien abduction comedy. The actor told the print version of Rolling Stone: “I have this idea called ‘Tyrell and Omar and Brick and Michael’s Wack-Ass Weekend‘ about this group of guys who get abducted by aliens on the way to the fights. I’m writing that now.”

More details on all of these movies as they emerge here at Silver Screen Saucers.

Opinion poll: UFOs & Hollywood

Do Hollywood's UFO movies fictionalize the UFO phenomenon in the public mind, actualize it, or both? Let your opinion be known in the latest Silver Screen Saucers poll!