Keanu Reeves - SciFi Weekly: Behind the Scenes with Cast & Crew

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THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL: KEANU REEVES, SCOTT DERRICKSON, JON HAMM

Go behind the scenes with the cast and crew as they update the 1951 classic. See who jokes about the possible sequel, Six Months After the Night Following the Day That the Earth Stood Still.



INTERVIEWS

December 10, 2008

Keanu Reeves and company stand up to build a better Earth

By Patrick Lee

Director Scott Derrickson took on a daunting challenge in remaking Robert Wise's much-lauded 1951 classic SF movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, but he was persuaded by the chance to update it for a 21st-century audience.

The remake, starring Keanu Reeves as the alien Klaatu and Jennifer Connelly as astrophysicist Dr. Helen Benson, also makes use of 21st-century visual-effects technology to bring to life Klaatu's otherworldly ship and robot guardian, Gort.

Derrickson, Reeves, Connelly and co-star Jon Hamm spoke with reporters in Beverly Hills, Calif., over the weekend about the remake, which opens Dec. 12. Following is an edited version of that news conference.


A brief excerpt:

... Was the chalkboard scene with John Cleese designed to be musical?

Reeves: That was intentional. We were thinking about it as a kind of dance and conversation.

Derrickson: It's a real math equation about a real significant high-physics theory about the universe, and we tried to be truthful to the scientific aspects. I just did an interview with Discover, and the interviewer was really surprised at little things in the movie, but that being the biggest one. We had an astrophysicist who worked with Keanu and John. I still remember watching them for quite a long time. I don't remember where we were in the production, but for quite a long time in a room working out the back-and-forth of that, and then we added material to make it longer at one point ... just to get that kind of flow and rhythm to it. I didn't have much to do with that. I'm just remembering, because it was really Keanu and the math guy, the theoretical physicist, and John Cleese. The three of them just kind of figured that out, and I saw it and thought it was fantastic ...

And there's a companion article at SciFi Wire.

Twilight - SciFi Weekly: Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson Interview

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Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson breathe life into Stephenie Meyer's best-selling vampire romance Twilight


By Ian Spelling


Twilight is nearly upon us.

After all the buzz, following months of hype, the big-screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling novel Twilight will finally arrive in theaters on Nov. 21. The film sets the stage for a potentially long-running and lucrative film franchise, not to mention a cottage industry of clothes and posters and all the requisite tie-in products.

But that's getting a little too far ahead. First, audiences must bite into Twilight, in which the human teen Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) falls for Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a century-old vampire who stopped aging at 17 and whose clan drinks the blood of animals rather than humans. Their romance must withstand all sorts of challenges, as Edward must resist the temptation to turn Bella into a vamp and contends with the threat of other vampires who wish him dead and make no apologies for feasting on human blood.

Stewart is a fast-rising star whose credits include Catch That Kid, Zathura, The Messengers and Into the Wild, while Pattinson is a British actor best known for playing the doomed Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. During separate telephone conversations with SCI FI Weekly, Stewart and Pattinson talked about Twilight, their respective familiarity (or lack thereof) with the material and the pros and cons of Twilight exploding into a phenomenon.

A brief excerpt:

Kristen Stewart, did you know about the Meyer books before the film came about?

Stewart: I didn't. I'd been working. I didn't go to high school. I did home school for high school, and I stick to the Classic Literature section in Borders and I don't really venture from there. So I don't know what sort of rock I was living under, but, no, I hadn't heard of them.

... Robert Pattinson, you'd not read the books prior to becoming involved with Twilight, and you had no way of knowing that even as you shot the film it was emerging as a phenomenon. How strange has it been to be in the eye of the storm?

Pattinson: It gets stranger and stranger every day, at the moment. I was literally completely and utterly ignorant until the last day of shooting of what it really was. Even the budget didn't reflect that kind of phenomenon that it is now. It wasn't that kind of $200 million budget movie. It was a relatively low-budget thing. So I literally had no idea it would get this kind of attention.

Eleventh Hour - Scifi Weekly: Rufus Sewell Interivew

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Rufus Sewell

INTERVIEWS

October 08, 2008

Rufus Sewell crosses the pond and brings along a remake of the Brit series Eleventh Hour

By Mike Szymanski


They call it "science fact, not science fiction," and that's how producers Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff want Eleventh Hour to be thought of by audiences. They want to explore futuristic ideas ripped right from the headlines and put them in weekly stories.

The series is based on a British SF horror thriller that ran four episodes. The American version stars Rufus Sewell (The Illusionist) and Marley Shelton (Planet Terror).

In interviews with Voris, Reiff and Sewell in the late summer at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., Sewell told SCI FI Weekly that he was a bit intimidated at first when he found out he would take over the series that once starred Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation). They talked about Sewell's American accent, some of the science that is going into future episodes and their competition with Fringe.

Look for the series, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, to debut Oct. 9 on CBS.


A brief excerpt:

... Have you felt compelled to read up on any of these subjects, like cloning? Are you satisfied—and I don't mean this as pejorative in any way—have you been satisfied the subjects are pretty well documented in the script in terms of whatever your character has to be doing with regard to them?

Sewell: Well, I'm very much in the early stage with it, so I'm only really familiar with the pilot and a couple of things that I've seen. All I can say is I'm very prepared to go deeply into those subjects, although I haven't—I'm, by nature, a truant, and I've always tried to avoid work. But yes, I completely trust, in terms of the team of writers, the background work, that it wouldn't be a matter of checking up to find that they've got their facts wrong. But whatever work I can do to back that up so I do know what I'm talking about, and I think I'm at the beginning of quite a big journey of education in many wide-ranging subjects.

Voris: Yeah, we have—I just want to say we have—again, Ethan and I coming from Sleeper Cell, we worked with tons of technical advisors and people to make sure that show was as accurate as possible. It's the same on Eleventh Hour. Two of our writers on the show—one actually used to work for NASA, actually literally was a rocket scientist. One of the writers was a science journalist for years and has written about science for Time magazine, The New Yorker—

Reiff: Scientific American.

Voris: Yeah. And plus, we have a full-time technical advisor, who actually does have a biophysics background, who is, like, literally reading all the scripts and vetting all the scripts. So we're very conscious of trying to keep everything as accurate as possible. And I think that's what separates Eleventh Hour from, I think, some other shows like this, the idea that it is firmly entrenched in the real world. And Danny Cannon, our director, mentioned that one of the things he loved is that after every episode, he hopes that people will run off and start Googling the topic of that particular episode and find out all this stuff, which I think is very cool.

Life After Mars - SciFi Weekly: Jason O'Mara Interview

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INTERVIEWS

October 06, 2008

Jason O'Mara and company travel back in time—or do they?—to import (and remake) the British hit Life on Mars

By Mike Szymanski



Detective Sam Tyler wakes up in 1973 after suffering a car accident. He's not sure how he got there, or why he is there, but he knows that he can fight crime and solve mysteries with the knowledge he carries over from the 21st century.

Life on Mars originated in the United Kingdom, but the American version is updated and set in New York. Tyler is played by Jason O'Mara (Resident Evil: Extinction), and his Manhattan counterpart is played by Michael Imperioli, with Harvey Keitel also in the cast.

O'Mara, Imperioli and executive producers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec gave interviews at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at the same time that they were working on the pilot episode of the show, which airs this fall on ABC-TV.


A brief excerpt:

Do the same characters exist from the original pilot?

O'Mara: I'm the only survivor from the original pilot. Call it Irish luck. But I think a lot of fans of the British show will be happy to see that Ray and Chris are in the script. They're back. I think we wanted Phyllis in the pilot, but there may not be time for Phyllis.

Appelbaum: She'll show up eventually.

Nemec: Annie is certainly in the pilot, and Maya's in the pilot as well. Our goal really was to the BBC series. They did a phenomenal job making that show, and we're very excited to just really be of the spirit of that show into New York in 1973.

Sanctuary - SciFi Weekly: Amanda Tapping/Damian Kindler Interview

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INTERVIEWS

Executive producers Amanda Tapping and Damian Kindler blaze a new trail with their virtual masterpiece, Sanctuary

By Kathie Huddleston


Actress Amanda Tapping has gotten herself into a pickle that no Stargate teammate can get her out of. As the mysterious Dr. Helen Magnus on Sanctuary, she's not taking orders from anyone as she and her team hunt for "abnormals," strange and often terrifying creatures hiding among the human race. But on her new series she's also tackling something every bit as scary as an Ori mothership ... she's an executive producer on the first primarily virtual series. SCI FI's Sanctuary kicks off in a two-hour premiere on Friday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

In Sanctuary, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman loses his position with the FBI and finds himself working tenuously with a homicide squad. When the things that forced him out of the bureau continue to haunt him, he is recruited by Dr. Magnus, who has a "sanctuary for all," a place where the extraordinary abnormals can be safe. In her sanctuary, they can be protected from the world, or if necessary the world can be protected from them. Now all Zimmerman has to do is "dare to believe in the unbelievable." Sanctuary was created by Damian Kindler.

Beyond starring as Air Force colonel Samantha Carter for 11 years on Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, Tapping has appeared on SCI FI's Proof Positive, The X-Files, Forever Knight, Millennium, and The Outer Limits. The actress was also a regular on Disney's Flash Forward and appeared in The Vagina Monologues.

Kindler has written or produced numerous television projects, including Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Earth: Final Conflict, BeastMaster, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal and both Stargates.

Tapping and Kindler chatted with SCI FI Weekly about moving from the web to television, English accents and virtual trailblazing.


...How is the television series different from the Web series?

Kindler: Well, it's quite different, but quite the same. It is interesting. Conceptually it is identical, and cast-wise it is identical. Basically, a lot of the creative changes were driven by a relationship with the SCI FI Channel in that they wanted a show that was a little bit broader, little bit deeper, little bit more based in reality. Less of a Frank Miller feel and more of an accessible, "this is our world" feel. We welcomed that. We have no [preconceived] artistic feelings about it. I want as many people to see and enjoy the show as possible, because that is what helps shows live long lives. We've spent a lot of time, myself, Martin Wood, Sam Egan, and Amanda, working on reshaping the show and finding different motivators for the characters and different ways into stories. So the show you'll see premiere is very familiar, but very different, deeper in tone and a little bit more mature in its sensibilities. ... But it also creates a real sense of originality and creates more of a special feel for the original eight webisodes, which were kind of their own concept.

Tapping: The characters are fleshed out a lot more than what you see on the Web. The backstories, especially Will's backstory, [are] dived into a lot more. We're repurposing some of the flashbacks and saving them for use throughout the series. In the pilot, for example, I think there is only one flashback, as opposed to the many that we had in the Web series. John Druitt is a bit different. Magnus is a little softer ... a little more approachable. Still mysterious and still sexy in a really intelligent, scary kind of way [laughs]. Her backstory is delved into a lot more. What the Web series allowed us to do is flesh it out. We took a very finite story and expanded it. So the Web series, the webisodes you saw online have now been expanded to a two-hour premiere and almost completely rewritten. We repurposed very little of it. ... We used some scenes. Will's introduction to the Sanctuary and the characters are all the same. The relationships are all the same, still got that dark edgy sort of quality to it, but we fleshed it out a lot more. I actually think it's a better story. It is a better story than it was...

Chuck - SciFi Weekly: Zachary Levi Interview

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INTERVIEWS

September 26, 2008

Zachary Levi returns to spy harder in a second season of Chuck

By Ian Spelling


Zachary Levi is atop a wave he hopes to ride for a long, long time. Levi stars as the title character on Chuck, and NBC, more on the strength of critical acclaim than ratings, renewed the show for a second season, ordering 13 episodes. Then, more recently, the network, apparently on the strength of what it had seen of the first few second-season episodes, ordered nine more hours, thereby ensuring that Chuck, even before it kicks off its sophomore year, will be assured a full 22-episode second-season run. So why the support? Well, Chuck is one of network television's most winsome shows, a quirky combination of action, comedy, romance, SF and spy intrigue.

The key figure is, of course, Chuck Bartowski (Levi), the very average Joe who saw his life completely transformed when a CIA/NSA database got downloaded into him, thus making him and his survival paramount to both agencies. To keep him safe, the CIA sent the lovely Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), while the NSA sent John Casey (Adam Baldwin). And so, surrounded at all times by Sarah and John—and let's not forget that Chuck adores Sarah and she likes him back, or that John may have to kill Chuck—Chuck basically works as a spy, all the while juggling his familiar responsibilities as a pocket-pack-sporting member of the Nerd Herd at the local Buy More electronics superstore. Season two begins on Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and SCI FI Weekly spoke with Levi in advance of the premiere.



A brief excerpt:

Chuck is loaded with pop-culture references. We've seen the Tron poster and heard references to Dune and Lost and Adam Baldwin's old show, Firefly. How big a fan are you of that kind of thing?

Levi: I love it. And we, the cast, we try to throw in even more as much as we can, especially when it comes to the video-game stuff and the nerd-related stuff, quoting sci-fi films and television shows. I think, A, it's a lot of fun for us, and B, it's all those great little easter eggs that audiences just eat up. They love them, and I know why, because I love them. I love that stuff. One of my favorites was that Lost reference that we did, "Oceanic Flight 815." That was so great, because I'm such a huge fan of Lost. It went by so fast, and those are my favorite kind. You just throw them out there and whoever gets it, gets it, and if they don't get it that's fine, too. But it's a little treasure for people to find, and it layers the show and makes it that much better, in my opinion.

Heroes - SciFi Weekly: Sendhil Ramamurthy Interview

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INTERVIEWS

September 22, 2008

Sendhil Ramamurthy flexes his genetic code in volume three of Heroes

By Ian Spelling


Mohinder Suresh spent the first two seasons of Heroes as a mere mortal among the superpowered characters who populated NBC's blockbuster hit series, but all that will change in season two, says Sendhil Ramamurthy, who's played the sensible, compassionate geneticist since the show debuted.

Among the many developments to come when season three of Heroes kicks off on Sept. 22—which it will do with a two-hour premiere consisting of the episodes "The Second Coming" and "The Butterfly Effect"—Suresh will shoot himself up with a serum that will make him as powerful, in his own unique way, as Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar), Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), Sylar (Zachary Quinto) or any of the show's assorted heroes and villains. In fact, the big question is this: Will Suresh use his newfound powers for good or evil?

SCI FI Weekly recently chatted with Ramamurthy about Suresh, the ramifications of the character gaining powers and what it's meant to the Indian-American actor to be part of a global sensation like Heroes.

Volume 3 of Heroes is called "Villains," and Suresh apparently will head down a dark path, at least for a while. How have you enjoyed exploring that side of the character?

Ramamurthy: Certainly, as an actor, to get to explore all facets of a character is great. The fact that I've got that opportunity is huge for me as an actor, but I also think that fundamentally the character is the same. You're just going to see a little bit of a darker side to him that I think any good character has. It's just that usually you don't get a chance to see it on TV, because if a character is good, a character is good, and that's it. It's usually black and white, whereas we're getting into gray territory for a lot of the characters.

The way that it's done, I think, is going to be kind of gripping for the audience. They have to deal with the consequences of their actions. It's kind of what the season is about for a lot of the characters. I think Suresh starts to question his morals a little bit because of what's happening around him, to the people around him, and what's happening to him. There are changes happening to him because of this power. He's out of control, and Suresh, if anything, has always tried to be in control of his emotions, because that's all he's got. He didn't have a power. He was the moral compass of the show, and his compass goes a little bit askew this volume.

Stargate Atlantis / Universe - SciFi Weekly: 2008 Fall Preview: Part II

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REVIEWS: SCREEN

September 22, 2008

2008 Fall Preview: Part II

By Kathie Huddleston

Take a look around the sci-fi television landscape, boys and girls. Never before has there been such variety. From Battlestar Galactica to Pushing Daisies to Lost to Ghost Hunters to Saving Grace to Heroes to Supernatural to Torchwood, on a regular basis we're treated to great drama, fantastic acting and fully realized worlds.

It wasn't that long ago when we drummed our fingers on the remote, wondering why there wasn't anything good on television despite the fact that we had 500 channels to choose from. That can't be said today. If you can't find anything good to watch, you haven't set your TiVo or turned on the Internet, and you're not trying.

Forget reruns. Year round we're treated to great television, with more new shows coming every season. ... Miss a show? Download it off the Net. ... Want to find out more about show's world? Check out the online comic book. Explore the latest Web series ... save up a bunch of your favorite show's episodes and have a marathon, zooming through those pesky commercials ... It's winter and there's nothing to do? No problem. There's a new series premiering on cable. ... Want to hear some actors' commentary about your favorite episode of a series? Pop in the DVD.

We are not bound and spoonfed television shows anymore. We, the viewers, are the ones who are in control. And, fortunately networks, cable channels and the Internet are clamoring for our attention. Despite the devastating writers' strike and the thirst for ratings gold, those 500 channels and the Internet are hungry for content, which forces the major networks to take chances if they want to keep us watching.

We're in a new Golden Age, spurred on by creative minds and an enormous landscape of possibilities. And so shows that have no right to exist on network television (Heroes, Lost) have given opportunities to a new breed of series (Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone) that push boundaries in the most delightful ways. And with a whole new pack of fresh faces bursting through, offering their own take on what sci-fi and fantasy genre television is really about (Primeval, Sanctuary, Fringe), things are only going to get more interesting.

While the showy shows have pushed the envelope of what it means to be a sci-fi and fantasy series, quieter series have expanded the possibilities of what genre television is in their own way (Medium, Chuck). Meanwhile, the old friends we've embraced (Stargate, Doctor Who, Smallville) have continued to remind us what sci-fi is all about, and they haven't done that by playing it safe.

It's a force that no writers' strike could stop. And there's more waiting in the wings as the midseason replacements (Caprica, Dollhouse, Kings, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire) ready themselves to explore their own strange new worlds.

Sci-fi and fantasy genre television now offer television writers and producers a way to push past the bounds of normal storytelling, and finally all viewers are ready to embrace it. This is a Golden Age that may never end.

Last week's 2008 Fall SF TV Preview, Part I had the scoop on all the new shows, canceled series and kid stuff.

Returning and Continuing Shows

Stargate Atlantis
SCI FI, Fridays, 10 p.m. ET/PT
Continuing

Happy birthday, Stargate Atlantis! You're hitting a hundred ... episodes, that is. "It's a milestone year for us. We're hitting a hundred episodes," said executive producer Martin Gero. "This year, more than ever, we were like, 'All right, what have the fans been dying to see?'" Presently in its fifth and final season, Teyla gave birth and became a working mom, Woolsey discovered that he can't always follow the rules, and McKay contracted an Alzheimer's-type illness called Second Childhood. As the final season continues, Daniel Jackson visits Atlantis in a midseason two-parter, a coalition of humans claim the Atlantis team has committed crimes against the people of the Pegasus galaxy, and Michael attacks Atlantis in an attempt to kidnap Teyla's child. After the series finishes its run in January, a two-hour Stargate Atlantis movie will air that will later be released on DVD by MGM. The film will be written by executive producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie.

The Outlook: It's sad to see Stargate Atlantis in its final season so soon after we lost Stargate SG-1. But the series will most likely continue on the way SG-1 has, as movies released direct to DVD. But fear not, Stargate fans. SCI FI has just announced a new series called Stargate Universe, with a different team and a brand-new mission. Check out the "Midseason and Beyond" section below for more details.

Midseason and Beyond


Stargate Universe, SCI FI, Summer 2009

It's a brand-new team and a brand-new series. After unlocking the mystery of the Stargate's ninth chevron, a team of explorers discover an unmanned starship called the Destiny, which was launched by the Ancients at the height of their civilization. However, it was a grand experiment that was set in motion, but never completed, and once the team boards the ship they aren't able to return to Earth. As the new crew of the Destiny travels to the far reaches of the universe, they won't be able to control where the ship goes as it attempts to complete it mission to connect with previously launched Stargates. Brad Wright and Robert Cooper (co-creators of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis) will executive-produce and write episodes for the new
series. Production on the new series is planned to begin early next year, with the series premiering in the summer of 2009.


Movies and Miniseries

Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon, SCI FI, 2009

Shannen Doherty and Michael Shanks end up on a quest for lost treasure, only to discover an Aztec culture.

Yeti, SCI FI, Nov. 8

Peter DeLuise stars in this film about college football team players who crash-land in the Himalayas and what happens when the local snow creature decides they look tasty.

Supernatural - SciFi Weekly; Season Four Premiere

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REVIEWS: SCREEN

(SciFi Weekly rates Supernatural with an A.)

September 17, 2008

Supernatural Season-Four Premiere

When Dean gets out of hell, he and Sam have a hell of a time ahead as a new battle looms on the horizon

Supernatural Season-Four Premiere
"Lazarus Rising"
Starring Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles and Jim Beaver
Created and written by Eric Kripke
Directed by Kim Manners
The CW
Premieres Thursday, Sept. 18, at 9 p.m. ET/PT


By Kathie Huddleston

At the end of season three, Sam, Dean and Bobby lost the battle against Lilith to save Dean's life as hell hounds ripped him apart and sent him to hell. While Sam discovered that Lilith's power against him didn't work, he'd lost his brother...

"Lazarus Rising" is a must-see for Supernatural fans. It's apparent that Kripke has a plan for where Supernatural is headed, so let's hope he gets a chance to play it out with another couple of years. —Kathie

Sanctuary - SciFi Weekly: 2008 Fall Preview: Part I

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REVIEWS: SCREEN

September 15, 2008

2008 Fall Preview: Part I

By Kathie Huddleston


While it wasn't a fun year, it was an important year for television, which kicked off with a devastating writers' strike that killed shows, affected storylines and reminded the studios that writers have the power to bring Hollywood to a grinding halt. Beyond that, the Internet continued to play an important role by offering episodes online and creating original content that has its own entertainment value, including comic books and Web series that added to the mythology of a show.

While we lost a couple important shows (The 4400, The Dead Zone), there were also some series that never really clicked with audiences (Cavemen, Bionic Woman) and those that could have used more time to reach their potential (Moonlight, New Amsterdam). Jericho proved that while fans may have the power to resurrect a series, they can't always gather the necessary viewers to keep that series on the air.

Fall still remains the prime landscape when it comes to launching new shows. And while cable prefers to launch during other seasons, some of the bigger cable outlets felt comfortable going up against the big networks this fall with series like HBO's True Blood and SCI FI's Sanctuary. The other big development had to do with the resurrection of syndication for scripted drama, thanks to Legend of the Seeker.

One of the main trends in new shows has to be the continued use of a sci-fi or fantasy element in otherwise mainstream shows (The Ex List, My Own Worst Enemy). This blurring of what is sci-fi or fantasy and what is mainstream continues to become increasingly acceptable to the mainstream audience.

However, the most notable trend this season involves where the new series ideas are coming from. Most of the new shows are based on foreign television series (Eleventh Hour, Life on Mars, The Ex List), novel series (True Blood, Legend of the Seeker) or a past television show (Knight Rider). Only four scripted series offer original material (Fringe, My Own Worst Enemy, Valentine). We'll throw Sanctuary in the original category even though it started life as a Web series, since the original creative team is still behind the series.

And, as always, irony plays a part this year. Considering it takes years to get a series on the air, how odd that we end up with two shows about cutting-edge science gone wrong (Fringe, Eleventh Hour) in the same year. Or shows about organizations that download personalities into people so they become more effective spies, only to have the personalities become aware that they are not who they think they are (My Own Worst Enemy and Joss Whedon's midseason entry, Dollhouse).

All in all, it seems like a good season with enough variety, even among the similarly themed shows, to give viewers something to sink their teeth into. And better yet, when we add these new series to the continuing shows (Stargate Atlantis, Primeval) and the returning shows (Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Terminator, Smallville), it adds up to a great fall season where our biggest issue will be "How do we find the time to watch it all?" And that's not a bad problem to have.

Check out next week's "2008 Fall TV Preview: Part II" to find out the scoop on all the returning shows, midseason replacements, movies and miniseries.

New Shows

Sanctuary

SCI FI, Fridays, 9 p.m. ET/PT
Premieres Oct. 3

Sanctuary is billed by SCI FI as the first television series to feature live actors against primarily virtual sets, along the lines of 300 and Sin City. While it began life as an eight-episode Web series, the television show features a two-hour premiere that starts at the beginning of the story. While investigating a murder case, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) begins to suspect the explanation offered at a murder scene. Will soon discovers that his suspicions are right. When a woman named Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) approaches him, she takes Will to a place she calls the Sanctuary and tells him an amazing tale. According to Magnus, the world is filled with Abnormals, fantastic creatures that are the stuff of fairy-tale books and incredible legends. The world needs to be protected from some of them, while others need to be protected from the world. Magnus has made it her mission to find and study these creatures, and to offer them sanctuary if they want it. She is joined on her mission by her fearless daughter, Ashley (Emilie Ullerup), a loyal butler who looks a lot like Bigfoot and their technical wizard, Henry. As Will learns more about Magnus' world and her nemesis, John Druitt, he must decide if he can "dare to believe in the unbelievable." Sanctuary is executive-produced by Tapping, creator Damian Kindler, Martin Wood and Sam Egan.

The Outlook: SCI FI's big new sci-fi entry, Sanctuary, offers to put Amanda Tapping back in action in a very different role than that of Stargate's Col. Samantha Carter, and that's a good thing. Beyond that, it's dripping with mythology and has loads of action and extremely cool visuals, not to mention some nicely drawn characters. Along with Fringe, Sanctuary has more of a fully realized world than any of the other fall offerings. Taking up residence on Friday nights, the series should be an excellent match for Stargate Atlantis. With 13 episodes ordered, look for Sanctuary to do very well for SCI FI.

Fringe - SciFi Weekly: Review

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REVIEWS: SCREEN

September 08, 2008

Fringe

GRADE: A

FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham is about to explore an X-Files for a new generation in J.J. Abrams' latest series

"Pilot"
Starring Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown
Written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Directed by Alex Graves
Fox
Premieres Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 8 p.m. ET/PT


By Kathie Huddleston

Flight 627, carrying 147 passengers, leaves Hamburg, Germany, and three hours later contact is lost. Carrying a new autopilot system, the plane is able to land itself at Logan Airport in Boston. FBI special agents Olivia Dunham (Torv) and John Scott rush to the scene, along with agents from several agencies. They board the plane in protective suits, only to find a horrifying scene and everyone dead...

Fringe - SciFi Weekly: J.J. Adams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci Interview

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Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv and John Noble

INTERVIEWS

September 08, 2008

J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci dig deep to discover "the pattern" in their new Fox series, Fringe

By Kathie Huddleston


They are no strangers to conspiracy television with deep, dark mythologies. Executive producers J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, in fact, cut their teeth on ABC's Alias. Not only did that series make Jennifer Garner a star, it also made mythology cool while dressing up sci-fi as a spy series. Add to that successful TV and movie writing and producing careers, and a little series by Abrams called Lost, and you have the formula for a new chapter in sci-fi conspiracy television called Fringe. Fox's two-hour pilot premieres Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Fringe tells the tale of FBI special agent Olivia Dunham, who must partner with a brilliantly insane scientist named Walter Bishop and his brilliant slacker son, Peter, to uncover a mysterious pattern of fringe science experiments that seem to be based on Walter's early work. Add to the mix a megacorporation called Massive Dynamics, which was created by a man who used to work with Walter, along with some fringe science gone bad, and the mythology begins to get interesting. Fringe stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Kirk Acevedo and Blair Brown.

Beyond Alias, Lost and Fringe, Abrams, Kurtzman and Orci have been involved with numerous television and movie projects. Abrams' projects included Felicity and the film Cloverfield. Kurtzman and Orci have written Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episodes and the film Transformers. The three producers co-wrote Mission: Impossible III and are working on the upcoming Star Trek film, which is due to be released next year.

Abrams, Kurtzman and Orci chatted with SCI FI Weekly about star Anna Torv, creating mythology and the Kurtzman/Orci band...

How are you incorporating the mythology?

Kurtzman: I think for us part of the general approach is to always know your big-picture idea, so that you are working backward from the larger story you want to tell, but at an episodic, week-to-week level. We really like to ask ourselves, "How do we surprise ourselves?" "How do we find structural ways into the story or turns and twists that we would have not predicted?" That, for us, needs to be the barometer on the week-to-week basis. Because the minute this starts to feel predictable or you can start to discern some kind of a pattern to the way we tell stories, I think the audience loses their interest.

Orci: My short answer is we're going to do it slowly, that's how. There is going to be an overarching theme that we love, but it's going to be doled out slowly, because we do have the amazing benefit of the convention of a procedural that allows you to tell stories with a beginning, middle and end, where you don't have to have a shock that changes the series every show.

Abrams: There is a mythology. There's an overarching storyline. These characters do not react exactly the same episode to episode. But, on the other hand, we know the reality of viewers and the way TV works. You can't make a show that requires you to watch every week and not, to some degree, limit the amount of viewers you're going to have. The crucial thing is finding that balance between how user-friendly is the show going to be and how hardcore niche you want to be. So a show like Alias or Lost, it's difficult tuning in for the first time at Episode 48. It's probably a conundrum. Although I believe the way Damon [Lindelof] has run the show and gotten to a place, I believe it is so dramatic and so compelling, hour to hour, that it's still great TV to watch. But you're going to understand tuning in to an episode of ER, Episode 203, where you don't need to know a thing. And you'll understand, "Oh, I get their relationship. I see it." Because you know the world. You know which way is up. You understand the rules...

Stargate Atlantis - SciFi Weekly: SGA Season 4 DVD Review

From SciFi Weekly:

(Please follow the link for the complete review.)



REVIEWS: SCREEN

(The author rated the SGA season 4 DVD set with a B.)

September 05, 2008

Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Fourth Season DVD

Amanda Tapping and Jewel Staite jump to Atlantis for a season of flux—and a growing Replicator threat


By Melissa Perenson

The cast and producers of Stargate Atlantis noted that season four represented a reset of sorts. Understandably so: By episode two, Dr. Elizabeth Weir had died in the line of duty; a new yet familiar commander, Col. Samantha Carter (Tapping), took charge; a new doctor, Dr. Keller (Jewel Staite), signed on; and other characters were in a state of flux after recent upheavals.

The dual focal points of the season were the introduction of Carter into the command structure and the challenges faced by Atlantis as it faced the growing Replicator threat. Bringing Carter aboard from SG-1 was an organic and natural maneuver given the nature of Atlantis and the challenges the expedition faced in its fourth season.

But sadly, Carter's new role was not maximized in the best ways possible, and Tapping never quite settled into the role. And few of this season's episodes jump out of the pack. While some episodes, like "Trio," were ambitious, others felt more like rehashes, doing less to advance the Atlantis narrative than one might expect, given how much was going on this season (Teyla's pregnancy, the ongoing Wraith threat, the battle against the Replicators)...

...I always enjoy the meaty, informative commentaries on Stargate sets. Given the addition of Tapping's Carter, I had high hopes for Atlantis this season, but the season fell a bit short of what I'd hoped for. — Melissa

True Blood - SciFi Weekly: Interview with Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Alan Ball

At SciFi Weekly:

(Please follow the link for the complete interview.)



INTERVIEWS

September 01, 2008

Ex X-Man Anna Paquin teams up with Stephen Moyer and Alan Ball to give Charlaine Harris' vampire books eternal life

By Mike Szymanski


Alan Ball acknowledges that vampires are in. Somehow in the psyche of the world right now, plenty of people like vampires. So he is particularly excited about bringing the Charlaine Harris books to HBO with the series True Blood.

Ball spoke at a private telephone press conference less than a week before his show debuts on Sept. 7, and he joined his two stars, Anna Paquin as psychic Sookie Stackhouse and Stephen Moyer as vampire Bill Compton, at the Television Critics Association interviews in late summer.

Anna Paquin, what do you think of doing TV after doing movies all of your career?

Paquin: I think ensemble acting is the most fun, because in this case you have extraordinary people around you that you get to play with all day. I wanted to re-create the adventure and the fun and the sort of excitement of reading those books and the feeling like I had stumbled into this world. I have to see what happens.

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer

Stephen Moyer, what do you think is different in this series?

Moyer: Something I don't think I've ever seen in a series ... is how you get to the end of each episode, and the episode begins where that episode ended, and that happens all the way through the season.

Alan Ball, it seems like vampires are in vogue again. Do you have any insights on that?

Ball: I think vampires are a timeless, powerful archetype that can tap into people's psyches. They've been around forever, even before the reinvention of vampires in the 1990s with Bram Stoker's Dracula. A lot of world mythology all over the globe has creatures like the succubus, the one that feeds on the essence of people. I don't really know why this is all happening at this time. I'm just glad it's happening.

Death Race - SciFi Weekly: Interview with Jason Statham, Joan Allen and Ian McShane

From SciFi.com's SciFi Weekly:

(Please follow the link for the complete interview. Photos at the site.)



INTERVIEWS

August 18, 2008

Jason Statham, Joan Allen and Ian McShane are driven to action in Paul W.S. Anderson's gritty remake Death Race

By Cindy White


In 1975, B-movie master Roger Corman released Death Race 2000, a satiric look at a future world where the highest form of entertainment is a deadly cross-country race. The goal of the race is not just to be the fastest, but to earn the most points by running down pedestrians. The film's point system has lingered in the public consciousness, making it somewhat of a cult classic.

Since first getting Corman's blessings in 1996 to create his own version of Death Race 2000, director Paul W.S. Anderson has been working on updating the film to make it more modern and relevant. The final result is not a straight remake, but a reimagining. Instead of the cross-country race, this Death Race is set inside the walls of a prison, and the prize is not just fame and glory but freedom.

Headlining the race this time is Jason Statham, in the role of Jensen Ames, a former race-car driver who finds himself in the prison when he's falsely accused of murdering his wife. At the urging of the prison's steely warden, played by Joan Allen, Jensen agrees to don the mask of the race's most famous driver, Frankenstein (a holdover from the Corman verson). If he can win just one more race, he'll earn a full pardon and release from prison. Helping him along is the leader of his pit crew, an old-timer named Coach (Ian McShane).

SCI FI Weekly sat down with Statham, McShane, Allen and Anderson at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, where they talked about their experiences making Death Race. The film opens Aug 22.

Jason Statham, what drew you to this film?

Statham: I like a lot of the car stuff. Basically, it's a car movie. That's what it is. It's not The Godfather. I mean, some of the deaths are just like gory and hilarious. I like the fact that death can be gruesome and funny. I think it's important not to take it too seriously. This is entertainment. Everyone who sees it seems to get their money's worth.

Ian McShane, the audience at the screening really seemed to get into the film.

McShane: Well, that's what it's meant to do. I mean, the film is a boy's wet dream. Whatever. With girl navigators and stuff. Somebody was trying to say there's a moral reason behind it. I was like, "Give me a break." You just sit there and—if it's your kind of movie—you sit there and have a good time. And that's it. It's that kind of a movie.

Joan Allen, how did you feel about the profanity?

Allen: I practiced. It was the line that my agent and my lawyer kept teasing me about. Every time we'd be on the phone it'd be like, "Have you said that line yet? We're going to make a reel and it's going to be the first thing on your reel, that line."

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - SciFi Weekly: George Lucas Interview

From the SciFi Channel's SciFi Weekly:

(Please follow the link for the complete SciFi Weekly interview.)



August 11, 2008

Mr. Star Wars himself, George Lucas (and company) pulls back the curtain on animating a sci-fi epic

By Patrick Lee

Star Wars: The Clone Wars arrives in late summer, the latest feature-film installment in George Lucas' epic space saga. But it's different: computer-animated, voiced mainly by unknown actors and directed by animator Dave Filoni (Avatar: The Last Airbender). And it appears to be aimed squarely at kids.

Clone Wars—which is an expansion of the series of 2-D animated interstitials that ran in 2003 on the Cartoon Network—actually started life as the first installment of Lucas' upcoming CG TV series of the same name. But Lucas, who acts as executive producer, liked the result so much he decided to turn it into a feature film.

The movie, set in the time period between Lucas' Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones and Episode III—Revenge of the Sith, brings back familiar characters such as Anakin Skywalker (voiced by Matt Lanter) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor). But it centers on a host of new ones, including Anakin's heretofore unknown padawan learner Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and the dark sorceress Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman), who is known to fans of the Star Wars comics and books, as well as a new member of the Hutt clan, whose voice sounds oddly familiar.

Lucas, Filoni and producer Catherine Winder spoke with reporters recently at Lucasfilm Animation's headquarters, Big Rock Ranch in Marin County, Calif. The Clone Wars opens Aug. 15.

The Star Wars saga has always been steeped in mythology and Jungian archetypes. What sort of mythological territory will the Clone Wars TV series and the proposed live-action Star Wars series deal with?

Lucas: The mythological arc of the saga doesn't really continue into these other things, because that is a story. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. It's a story of one man's struggle against evil and the redemption by his son and that sort of thing.

This is ... more episodic. It's more like Indiana Jones, actually. ... You have themes and things that still go through it, and there are things like that, but [myth is not] not what it's based on. This is bigger, and we get to more places. And the fun thing about animation, especially, and The Clone Wars in particular, is that we're allowed to go and do stories about clones, get to know them, and find out what they do for recreation, and what Jabba the Hutt's family is all about, and, you know, do all kinds of things that don't have anything to do with the main character. The [live-action Star Wars] series itself, the epic, is basically about one man, so it's very, very narrow, and you pass through a lot of things and you look at "What's that over there?" but you never got to look at it. So this allows us to go and look at all of that stuff. Which means we're not encumbered by this mythological uberstory of the psychological underpinnings of why somebody turns to be a bad person.

Primeval - SciFi Weekly: Cast and Crew Interview

From the SciFi Channel's SciFi Weekly:

(Please follow the link for the complete SciFi Weekly interview.)



PRIMEVAL: DOUG HENSHALL, TIM HAINES, ADRIAN HODGES

Go behind the scenes with the cast and crew of the imported blockbuster British series Primeval as they explain how they transformed the entire U.K. into Jurassic Park, and find out what made them say, "We don't have anyone kissing our dinosaurs."

[NOTE: Primeval premieres on BBC America Saturday August 9 '08 at 9pm. For more infomation, please visit the BBC America Primeval website.]

August 04, 2008

The star and creators of the hit British family dinosaur series talk about the show finally jumping the pond to U.S. audiences on BBC America

By Mike Szymanski

Will a creature jump out of the pool? Doug Henshall ("Dougie" to his pals) remains a safe distance out of the sun and away from the edge of the pool at the Beverly Hills Hilton during a recent interview. He notes that in his popular British show Primeval, a prehistoric monster of some sort could jump out of the pool and gobble up a few of the sunbathers, and after three seasons of filming the show in the United Kingdom, it keeps him a bit on the edge.

In an interview with SCI FI Weekly, Henshall is joined by co-creators Tim Haines and Adrian Hodges. Haines is the guy behind the factual series Walking With Dinosaurs, which scientifically re-creates how dinosaurs walked, looked and sounded. Hodges is now working on a remake of a post-apocalyptic remake of a 1970s TV series called Survivors, based on the SF novel by Terry Nation and scheduled to be broadcast this fall.

The trio said they hope that Primeval will catch on quickly with U.S. audiences when it kicks off on Aug. 9. Also starring Lucy Brown and James Murray, the series follows a ragtag team of scientists led by Henshall's evolutionary zoologist character Dr. Nick Cutter as they battle creatures that come through these unexplained anomalies that are ripping holes in the fabric of time.

One problem has been that both in the U.K. and the U.S., people are comparing the show, and Henshall's character, to a certain "Doctor."


Douglas Henshall, how have you been avoiding the Doctor Who comparisons during interviews here at the Television Critics Association press tour?

Doug Henshall: Well, of course Doctor Who is enormously popular where I'm from, and it's becoming known here, too. And, it's the one question I've been getting asked about the most—people comparing the show to that Doctor, and for that reason I've been comparing it to the American show that people would get, The A-Team, because it's an ensemble piece. I was mainly trying to avoid the comparison of the show we don't want to mention, and so I picked something very different, and our show is more of an ensemble like that show was. In our show our characters all have different skills and need to work together. That's how the shows are alike, we each come from different backgrounds to work together.

Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines, you have now included as one of the new writers Paul Cornell, who not only wrote for Doctor Who but also wrote more than a dozen novels about Doctor Who and his spinoff companion Bernice Summerfield. Is there any chance a Doctor Who character could pop in on the world of Primeval?

Tim Haines: No, absolutely not will we have a Doctor Who character pop in on Primeval. They have very different worlds and realities—

Adrian Hodges: Anything can happen on Doctor Who—

Haines: That's right, and the world of Primeval is more reality-based.

Hodges: Now, that doesn't mean there were a few times that we were tempted to sneak in a few sly references, like having someone say, "There's the doctor," and the "Doctor who?" But no, every time I was tempted to even put in a vague Who reference, I stopped myself. The worlds are very different. ... At one point we considered a sly Doctor reference when someone got angry at another character and threw a box set of Doctor Who at them, but we thought not.

**snippage**

Stargate: Continuum - SciFi Weekly: Review

From the SciFi Channel's SciFi Weekly:

(Please follow the link for the complete review. The review author rated Continuum with an A-.)



REVIEWS: SCREEN

July 30, 2008

Stargate: Continuum

The SG-1 crew comes back for an adventure in the Arctic—and enters an alternate world

By John Sullivan



Cast/crew photo at the Arctic APLIS site

...The richness of a theatrical release

Continuum is the second direct-to-DVD SG-1 movie since the series wrapped. Where the earlier Ark of Truth concerned itself largely with wrapping up loose ends from the show, Continuum presents a stand-alone story. Writer and show runner Brad Wright has made no secret of his intent to use Continuum to demonstrate to MGM that Stargate can reach audiences beyond the series' fan base and convince the studio to green-light new movies for the big screen.

...The fans, on the other hand, are going to eat Continuum up with a spoon. It really does look like a theatrical release, with remarkable production values for direct-to-DVD. The producers have made much of how they got to shoot a key sequence on the real Arctic ice pack with a real nuclear submarine. It's an impressive sequence, but it's not the only one. There are also some excellent battle scenes aboard the freighter, some good-looking aerial action and more.

...Whether Continuum will lead to more big-screen Stargate movies remains to be seen, but between Atlantis, the possibility of another two direct-to-DVD movies and ongoing rumors of a third series, the Stargate franchise appears to be on solid footing. And Continuum is an entry it can be proud of. — John

Brendan Fraser - SciFi Weekly: The Mummy 3 Interviews

From the SciFi Channel's SciFi Weekly:

(Please follow the link for the complete interview.)



Maria Bello and director Rob Cohen join Brendan Fraser for another Mummy adventure

By Cindy White

In the seven years since the second film in the revitalized Mummy franchise hit the big screen, Brendan Fraser was continually asked when he'd follow it up with a third installment. But it took a while to find a way to do it that honored the previous films and still provided audiences with a story that felt fresh and original. It wasn't until the producers hit upon the idea of moving the action from Egypt to China that everything started falling into place.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor takes place 13 years after the events of The Mummy Returns and finds married couple Rick (Fraser) and Evelyn O'Connell (Maria Bello) living a peaceful, if somewhat boring, life after retiring from the world of exploration and adventure. They eventually reconnect with their son Alex (Luke Ford)—now 21 years old and an adventurer in his own right—in China when they're sent on a mission to deliver an artifact to the Shanghai Museum. What they don't know is that Alex has become inadvertently involved in a plot to free an ancient, ruthless Chinese emperor (Jet Li) from a curse that sealed him forever in a terra cotta prison.

Besides the change in venue on screen, there were also a few off-screen personnel changes that distinguish the third film from the previous ones. Stephen Sommers, who directed the first two Mummy films, transitioned into a producing role this time, handing over the reins to director Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious). Also, Bello was brought on to replace Rachel Weisz, who chose not to return to the role of Evie in the third.

SCI FI Weekly had the opportunity to chat with Fraser, Bello and Cohen at the press junket for the new film about shooting on location in China and what's in store for the O'Connells this time around. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor opens Aug 1.


Maria, were you a fan of this franchise? Did you go back and watch the previous films?

Bello: I didn't go back and look at them, not for any reason except that I'd already seen them, because I love action movies. [I have] my whole life. I mean, I wanted to be Indiana Jones. I mean, that's one of the reasons I got into acting. And, surprisingly, I've become known as this dramatic actress, but people would ask me throughout the years, "What role do you really want to do?" And I'd say, "Indiana Jones. I want to be an action hero." And it was a month before my 40th birthday, and I finally gave up. I thought, "You know, I've gotten everything I've always wanted. I've done these great roles, worked with amazing people, but I guess I'm not going to get that one, because how many roles are there for a 40-year-old action star?" And two weeks later, Rob Cohen called me and said he really wanted me to do this role. And I was thrilled. And I read the script and I realized the character was so different from the Rachel Weisz character. He always said, "If Rachel in those films was like Audrey Hepburn, this character was Katharine Hepburn," a little older and more sophisticated.

Rob, you have said you have a love of China and Chinese culture. So what did it mean for you to get offered this film, knowing you would be filming there?

Cohen: It was such a joy. It was such a gift from the movie gods. And it came as such an unusual and surprising package for me, because I've always said, "I don't do sequels. I'm never doing sequels, even to my own movies." And then suddenly comes a sequel. It's very much like life. When you say, "No, no, no. Never, never, never," you're sure something's going to happen. ... And here came one through the back door, that was just the greatest joy I've ever had as a filmmaker.

Brendan, was it fun, chasing mummies again?

Fraser: Yes. It's what I do! Actually, they chase me. I'm like, "Leave me alone already, will you?"

The last time you did this was 2001, so a lot of time has passed between then and now. Was it weird to get back into the role?

Fraser: No! I wanted to play Rick. I was missing it. I've been waiting for the call from the studio since then. I love it. You get to do so much fun stuff, as an actor. You get to go to great places. They strap you into harnesses and throw you around. You have to look like you really know how to take care of business and beat people up, when you're actually really a wimp. They're great fun movies. There's real appeal.

The X-Files - SciFi Weekly: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson Interview

From SciFi Weekly:

(Please follow the link for the complete interview.)



THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE: DAVID DUCHOVNY, GILLIAN ANDERSON

Go behind the scenes with the stars of the second X-Files film as they discuss their reunion after six years apart and their blind trust in Chris Carter. Click through to find out ... who wasn't paying attention!

July 23, 2008

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reunite after six years apart to continue their quest for the truth


By Patrick Lee


It's been six years since audiences last saw The X-Files on television, and 10 since the last movie. But the creators of the upcoming sequel film The X-Files: I Want to Believe hope that audiences still want to believe that a story about rogue FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is worth seeing.

Series creator and the sequel's director, Chris Carter, and his producing and writing partner Frank Spotnitz won't talk much about the film's top-secret storyline.

But this much is known. The movie reunites Mulder and Scully to investigate a mystery that only they can solve. The movie does not deal with the series' convoluted alien/conspiracy mythology, as did the first movie, but rather stands alone and is designed to be really scary. Duchovny and Anderson are back, joined by co-stars Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet and Xzibit, among others.

Duchovny and Anderson spoke with reporters earlier this month about the sequel, which opens July 25.


A brief excerpt:

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, can you talk a little bit about what it's like to be back in these characters after six years?

Duchovny: OK. Well, I had two weeks before Christmas [2007] of basically running around and chasing [co-star] Callum Rennie, who plays the ... running bad guy that I chase all over the place. And that took, like, a good full two weeks of running, even though I know it's only about 10 seconds of the movie. And then Gillian and I started working after Christmas break, and the first two weeks I ... felt a little awkward. I didn't really feel like I wanted to do longer scenes. I was just fine with running around. And then, as soon as Gilly and I started working, and it was Mulder and Scully, then I kind of remembered what it was all about. And, you know, that relationship kind of anchored my performance, just as I think the relationship anchors this film.

Anderson: I had a similar experience. ... I didn't have all the running around that David had to do, but I did have my own unfortunate [experience in the] beginning, which was to start with one of the most difficult scenes for Scully in the film. ... It's later on in the script, and she goes through a range of emotions in confronting Billy Connolly's character. ... I had a really hard time with those first couple of days with that scene. ... I just had a really hard time just finding her, finding her voice. I think I must have gone through 10 other characters in the process of trying to get to her [back], when I assumed that on the first day I'd be able to show up, and it would just be there. And it wasn't, I think, until day three, when we got to work together in ... the environment of each other and the relationship ... that it kind of felt natural and ... familiar and that I felt like I'd landed for the first time.