Tag Archives: MGM

The Nerd & Tie Podcast

Episode 103 – Looking Backwards

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On this episode of Nerd & Tie we return from our annual semi-hiatus to discuss Wonder Woman 2 getting a release date, Stargate is getting a made-for-the-web prequel, the Robotech movie has a new director (and is apparently still happening), Kitsune Kon banned Youtuber ‘DesolatorMagic,’ Pokemon Go Fest was a bit of a mess, Louisville’s Fandom Fest was an outright disaster con, and Nick and Gen went to Anime Iowa.

It’s an audio only episode, but mostly because we’re still ironing out our kinks.

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The Mega-Blog

‘Stargate: Origins’ Announced, Will Annoyingly Air On New Streaming Platform

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So let’s start with the good news – Stargate is back, with the announcement that a new series is going into production called Stargate: Origins. In it’s ten episode season, it will tell the story of Catherine Langford, who appeared in both the original 1994 movie and Stargate SG-1 (portrayed by various actresses at various ages). Langford was present at the gate’s initial excavation, and later lost her fiance in an experiment with the alien device. Okay, so he was trapped on an alien world and couldn’t get back, being reunited many years later with Langford and immediately dying after.

“Lost” seems to still sum that up though.

They’ve also put out a brief teaser for the project, albeit completely composed of pre-existing footage. In it, we see a young Langford as the gate is raised from the earth. This is a show that could fit into the existing Stargate canon, and looks pretty cool. Each episode will only be ten minutes long, but it’s like getting a new Stargate movie’s worth of content… so… neat?

Here’s the bad news though: It’s debuting on a “new streaming platform” called Stargate Command. We don’t know much about the platform, other than the fact that it will have both free and paid elements… and will be full of Stargate stuff? I honestly don’t know. While I’m excited about a new Stargate show, I have no desire to sign up for a new service. Even with Star Trek: Discovery you’re signing up for CBS All Access, which has an entire network’s worth of programming.

But a whole service? For one, ten episode show? MGM’s executives have to be out of their damned minds.

Via Variety

The Mega-Blog

‘Buckaroo Banzai’ TV Series May Face Rights Issues

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Back in May, news spread that Kevin Smith was trying to develop a TV series based on the cult film Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension. Not a lot of news has come out since though, beyond the news that Amazon Studios may be interested in the project. Well, the show may have hit a snag — and it’s one most of us probably weren’t expecting. Although MGM owns the rights to the original film, they may not in fact own the rights to the title character.

Talking with Film Buff Online, the director of the original film W.D. Richter said that the wording of Buckaroo Banzai writer Earl Mac Rauch’s contract may put the rights of the character in Rauch’s hands and not the studio’s. Richter stated:

[The] Agreement’s simple, blunt language acknowledges the existence of two entirely separate intellectual properties – one they called ‘The Property’ and one they called ‘The Work.’ Crucially, ‘The Work’ is a technical term in the Writers Guild Basic Agreement with all the studios, is defined as only “what the writer is engaged to write,” and a screenplay is all that Mac was engaged to write in the MGM contract. David Begelman basically commissioned a screenplay based on a piece of literary material that MGM didn’t own and then David Begelman went off and made and released a movie based on it. It’s the equivalent of releasing a movie based on a Stephen King book but forgetting to buy the book from Stephen. And a highly regarded property lawyer agrees with us.

Now, I am in no way a lawyer, so I can’t speak to the legality of any of this — but regardless it sounds like some sort of legal matter will pop up here, whether the rights really lie with Rauch or MGM.

Hopefully this can get sorted out though, because halting the development of this project would just be the opposite of fun.

Via Film Buff Online

The Mega-Blog

‘Buckaroo Banzai’ TV Series Being Developed By Kevin Smith

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1984’s The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is a hard movie to describe. I mean, your protagonist is a physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, and (importantly) a rock musician. He drives a jet car, and fights inter-dimensional aliens.

You know, like you do.

While the filmmakers had always hoped for a sequel (announcing Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League in the credits), the lack of commercial success meant that this one film would be the only Buckaroo Banzai we’d probably ever get.

Well, that might not be the case anymore.

Kevin Smith has stated that he’s in early talks with MGM to develop Buckaroo Banzai into a television series. If the show goes forward, the first season would retell the plot of the movie, with any subsequent seasons continuing the character’s adventures.

This is interesting to me on a lot of levels. While the film is a cult classic to geeks of a certain age (i.e. people like me and older), most younger nerds may not have ever actually seen the film. Frankly, I’m thirty-five, and while I’ve watched it, I barely remember anything from it because I last watched it on a Sunday afternoon when I was ten.

But I remembered the name.

And maybe that’s the biggest strength for any Buckaroo Banzai adaptation. For a generation, people have not shut up about how you “have to see this film,” but a lot of people just haven’t. The name recognition is huge, but most people aren’t actually familiar with the source material. This could bring in a lot of potential viewers to a show where they still won’t see the story coming.

I legitimately hope this project moves forward.

Via Hollywood Babble-On, Screenrant