sci-fi
Latest
'The OA Part II' trailer promises its plot can still get weirder
The last time we heard from The OA, it was the end of 2016 and there was still some novelty attached to the idea of a "Netflix Original" show. More than two years later, we get a new truckload of content delivered every week and it may take more than a weird social media campaign for The OA Part II to stand out. So what's in store from series co-creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij when it debuts on March 22nd? An alternate universe.
New 'Dune' games are on their way after almost 20 years
It's a good time to be a Dune fan. Not only is the classic sci-fi novel getting a movie remake in 2020 courtesy of Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve, but it looks like there's a series of new games on the way, too.
Syfy cancels George R.R. Martin’s ‘Nightflyers’
Nightflyers, the space drama based on George R.R. Martin's 1980 novella, could be grounded for good. Just a few months after Syfy released all 10 episodes simultaneously in an attempt to appeal to binge viewers, the network has chosen to forgo a second season. Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter both say that the show has been cancelled.
Netflix sets international release for George R. R. Martin's 'Nightflyers'
Netflix is looking to give SyFy's Nightflyers show a new lease of life on February 1st, when it lands on the streaming platform for viewers outside the US. Based on George R. R. Martin's 1980s novella, the thriller follows a group of scientists aboard the Nightflyer starship in search of alien life in the year 2093. Martin described it as "Psycho in space," so we can assume things don't go according to plan.
Humans abandon a toxic Earth in Netflix’s film ‘IO’
Netflix has released a trailer for its next sci-fi film, IO, which takes place in a future where Earth has become uninhabitable to humans. While most of humanity has abandoned Earth for Jupiter's moon Io, scientist Sam Walden, played by Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers), has stayed back, attempting to find a way for humans to survive on the now toxic planet. But her plans change when Micah (Anthony Mackie) shows up, and the two have to figure out how to safely get to the last shuttle off of Earth before it leaves without them.
'Star Trek: Discovery' season two trailer shows plenty of Spock
Now that Star Trek: Discovery's second season is almost here, CBS All Access has released a full trailer to drum up hype -- and to no one's surprise, the stakes are high this time around. The season will see the Discovery crew partnering with Captain Pike to investigate seven unusual signals and the arrival of the mysterious Red Angel, who apparently brought warnings that "someone or something" is going to wipe out sentient life in the galaxy. And naturally, Spock gets ample screen time. He's a vital ally to the crew, but clearly at odds with Commander Burnham's tendency to shoulder everything herself. We wouldn't be surprised if there's more friction to come.
Recommended Reading: The reality of sci-fi's AI immortality obsession
Are Hosts, Replicants, and robot clones closer than we think? Jayson Greene, The Ringer Black Mirror already uncomfortably aligns with the real world, but we might be even closer to more advanced concepts from that show and others, like Westworld and Altered Carbon, becoming reality. The Ringer offers a look at just how far away we could be from Hosts, Replicants and robotic clones following a new trailer release for Keanu Reeves' long lost Replicas movie.
Philip K. Dick’s ‘The Great C’ is coming to VR
A VR adaptation of Philip K. Dick's short story "The Great C" is headed to the Venice Film Festival, Variety reports. First published in 1953, the story centers on a human tribe living in a post-apocalyptic world set in the future. Each year, the tribe must send a human sacrifice to a computer called the Great C that rules the world. In the VR adaptation, created by Secret Location, a woman named Clare grapples with whether to accept the tradition and let her fiancé be sacrificed or take a stand against the cruelty.
MTV is making a live-action ‘Aeon Flux’ reboot
Aeon Flux is coming back as MTV has moved forward with a plan to air a new live-action reboot of the series. The show premiered in 1991 with a series of animated shorts that aired on MTV's Liquid Television. The network then expanded the series with five short-form episodes in 1992 and 10 half-hour episodes in 1995. The show then went on to be adapted in a graphic novel, a video game and an unsuccessful film starring Charlize Theron.
Twitch is hosting a seven-week 'Doctor Who' viewing event
If you're a die-hard Doctor Who fan, Twitch is about to make your summer. The livestreaming service is teaming with BBC Studios on a seven-week Doctor Who viewing event on May 29th that will show more than 500 classic episodes of the Time Lord's adventures, dating all the way back to the first black-and-white season in 1963. It's not the usual marathon -- the company will air a batch of episodes every day on its TwitchPresents channel starting at 2PM Eastern. The Yogscast team will produce shows to introduce each Doctor, so you'll hopefully know the differences between Tom Baker and Sylvester McCoy (hint: there are many) by the time all is said and done.
'Sense8' finale trailer is full of bonding and bullets
Netflix has posted the trailer for Sense8's long-in-the-making series finale, and it's clear the mysterious sci-fi show isn't going to go gently into that good night when it wraps up on June 8th. The promo emphasizes the bond between the Sensates ("we are more human than any other human will be,") and makes clear that the stakes are extra-high -- our heroes are not only in a race to save Wolfgang, but are edging ever closer to tracking down BPO's Chairman. And this being a Wachowski production, you can be sure that will involve plenty of martial arts and gunplay.
Netflix orders sci-fi series with 'Battlestar Galactica' actor
Battlestar Galactica's Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is embarking on another mission. Netflix has ordered a 10-episode season for a sci-fi drama original entitled Another Life, and yes, it stars Katee Sackhoff. The story revolves around Sackhoff's character, astronaut Niko Breckinridge, as she leads her crew on a journey to investigate the origins of an alien artifact and to search for intelligent life outside our planet.
Amazon may spend $1 billion to adapt hit Chinese sci-fi novels
Amazon's bid to create worldwide blockbuster shows may extend well beyond very familiar Western stories like Lord of the Rings. Investors speaking to the Financial Times claimed that Amazon is in talks that would let it spend up to $1 billion for the rights to Liu Cixin's massively successful sci-fi novel trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past, also known as The Three-Body Problem. The internet giant is reportedly hoping to acquire rights from Chinese game developer Youzu Interactive's Lin Qi and turn it into a three-season Prime Video series.
Netflix's 'Lost in Space' doesn't look like the show you remember
Netflix has released the first full trailer for its Lost in Space remake, and it definitely isn't a retread of the 1960s TV show... or the 1998 movie, for that matter. While the core premise remains intact (the Robinsons have been stranded following a colonization mission gone wrong), much has changed in the past few decades. It's not just the modern special effects or the grittier (if still family friendly) tone -- the show is tinkering with important characters.
Netflix renews 'Black Mirror' for fifth season
Would it surprise you to hear that Netflix's Black Mirror series is popular enough to justify more episodes? No? Well, we're going to let you know regardless: Netflix has confirmed that Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones' technology-gone-wrong anthology show has been renewed for a fifth season. It's not offering a release window or further details, but it's safe to presume that Black Mirror will continue to explore new concepts and formats. Brooker has been adamant about wanting to avoid rehashing familiar ideas.
Netflix lands sci-fi movie from 'Planet of the Apes' director
Netflix's sci-fi adaptations are about to expand beyond the likes of Altered Carbon and Lost in Space. Deadline has learned that Netflix has secured the rights to Life Sentence, a movie take on a Matthew Baker short story about a future where authorities wipe the memories of criminals instead of sending them to prison. Matt Reeves, the director of the two most recent Planet of the Apes movies, is producing the title. It's not known when the movie would premiere, but apparently that's not the big story -- there was reportedly a fierce bidding war.
Netflix's 'Lost in Space' reboot premieres April 13th
Netflix's Lost in Space remake has been a long, long time in coming (word broke of it back in 2015), but it's finally here... almost. The streaming service has revealed that the sci-fi show will debut on April 13th, 2018, and has offered a teaser trailer to whet your appetite. Not surprisingly, this promises to be a thoroughly modern retelling of the Robinsons' wayward mission. It appears to take a more serious tone, and reflects much of what we've learned about space in the roughly 50 years since the original TV series. The family is out to colonize Alpha Centauri, for starters.
Netflix rescues sci-fi movie 'Extinction' from oblivion
The Cloverfield Paradox isn't the only sci-fi movie Netflix has saved from Hollywood purgatory. Variety has discovered that Netflix bought the worldwide rights to Extinction, a sci-fi thriller from Universal starring Lizzy Caplan and Michael Pena. The studio was originally slated to have released the alien invasion flick on January 26th, but took it off its release schedule just two months prior -- not exactly a resounding vote of confidence. The title is expected to premiere on Netflix sometime later in 2018.
How Elon Musk plays on our science fiction dreams
Elon Musk has said that he wants to die on Mars -- after it's been colonized by his company SpaceX. He may not have the precise details yet, but Musk will figure out the mission in style: The SpaceX space suits are sleek and form-fitting, while his cherry red Tesla sports car will be aboard the maiden flight of the interplanetary Falcon Heavy rocket. Meanwhile, on Earth, he'll work on connecting our brains to computers through tiny electrodes, building underground networks of car sleds that function like a personal subway system, firing passenger trains through a vacuum tube at the speed of sound and replacing air travel with his Big Fucking Rocket (BFR) spaceship that gets passengers anywhere on the planet in under an hour. That's without mentioning his efforts to advance electric cars and solar energy. Or the fact that this week, he made $10 million in four days by selling promotional flamethrowers.
Duncan Jones' sci-fi movie 'Mute' debuts on Netflix February 23rd
Duncan Jones' next movie won't be coming to theaters -- it's going straight to streaming. The Moon and Warcraft director has revealed that his long-in-the-making sci-fi film noire, Mute, will premiere on Netflix February 23rd. The movie is set in a future Berlin where a mute bartender (played by Alexander Skarsgård) has to trust a pair of American surgeons (led by Paul Rudd) as he tracks down a disappeared woman. Justin Theroux also stars. There's no trailer yet, but in many ways the effort taken to release the movie is the hook -- Netflix is giving Jones a chance that might not have come up through conventional formats.
