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YouTube wants you to film your day for a Ridley Scott documentary
They're working with director Kevin Macdonald on a sequel to 2010's 'Life in a Day.'
CBS All Access has more new TV shows to join 'Star Trek'
After a few delays, the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery is on track to launch September 24th, and the streaming network has a few more shows planned to keep the momentum going. There's no word on any launch dates, but it did announce three new series at the Television Critics Association press tour, along with news that Audra McDonald will join The Good Fight for its second season in 2018.
'Blade Runner 2049' trailer teases the replicant dilemma
If you're still debating whether a Blade Runner sequel was a good idea, you might want to see it anyway. Unlike the teaser we got back in December, Blade Runner 2049's first real trailer has more than vanity footage of Rick Deckard's return. Though it's edited to suggest Ryan Gosling's android hunter is about to ask the veteran Blade Runner the series' most haunting question, we'll have to wait until the film premieres on October 6th to see whether Harrison Ford was a robot all along.
'Alien: Covenant' VR experience emerges on April 26th (updated)
Both Fox and director Ridley Scott have made bit commitments to virtual reality, and you're about to see just how those commitments are evolving... in an unsettling way. Fox has revealed that Alien: Covenant's VR experience, In Utero, will be available for Oculus Rift wearers on April 26th. As the name implies, the production shows the terror from the baby alien's (that is, neomorph's) perspective as it's born. The teaser clip doesn't show much, but it's already disconcerting -- you can hear muffled screams as the humans realize something is about to go very, very wrong.
Filmmaker Ridley Scott is committing to VR in a big way
Filmmaker Ridley Scott isn't a stranger to using emerging tech to push his creative vision. I mean, for all of Prometheus' faults, Scott's use of 3D wasn't one of them. Back in 2015 Scott said he was working on a a mystery VR project, so today's news that his RSA Films outfit is launching RSA VR as a company "dedicated" to virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed media perhaps isn't too surprising. However, it does signal that Scott has an eye to the future beyond whatever timelines the Alien and Blade Runner universes take place in. In fact, the first project for RSA VR is a previously-announced Alien: Covenant vignette.
Watch how 'Alien: Covenant's' android is born
Another Alien film, another terrifying android that could spell humanity's downfall. In Prometheus, we were introduced to Michael Fassbender's David, a robot who was a bit too curious about the nature of extraterrestrial life. Now Fassbender is back in Alien: Covenant as "Walter," a slightly tweaked android with one important difference: He has no human emotions. That should make conversation a bit tougher, but hopefully it will prevent him from using his crew as human guinea pigs.
'Alien: Covenant' preview evokes original's nostalgic last supper
While the first official trailer for Alien: Covenant showed us terrifying images of a colony ship gone horribly wrong, this new preview gives us a full, uncut scene. It's a stunning glimpse at the titular ship's crew relaxing together with a final meal before readying themselves for a long cryogenic sleep.
'The Martian' VR experience comes home
It's been a long time coming, but The Martian VR Experience is finally ready. Fox has released its virtual reality take on the stranded-on-Mars movie (plus Andy Weir novel) for the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, with Oculus Rift support coming soon. Spend $20 and you can fill the boots of astronaut Mark Watney as he struggles to survive and make it back to Earth, both in 3D sequences and 360-degree videos. As Fox explains to Variety, this isn't just a polished version of the demo we saw at CES in January -- there are many "technical and narrative improvements" that could make it feel fresh.
Pop culture's many takes on artificial intelligence
Over the years, artists, writers, filmmakers and game studios have all tackled the concept of artificial intelligence. Often their vision is of machines that are brutally hostile to humans. Philip K. Dick envisioned androids that murder their owners. The iconic HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey ... also murders his human companions. Of course, there's Skynet, which launches an all-out war on mankind. We could go on like this for a long time. But there are also those, like Spike Jonze, who envision us having a more complex relationship with computer-based personalities; one in which they could even be love interests. And in Star Trek: The Next Generation Data is not only a "good" android, but he's often the hero of the show. We've pulled together 13 of our favorite portrayals of AI over the years and put them in the gallery below. It is by no means comprehensive. So please, let us know what we missed in the comments or tweet at us (@engadget) to let us know your favorite AI character from the film, TV or books using the hashtag #EngadgetAIWeek.
It's 'Blade Runner' android Roy Batty's birthday
Back to the Future isn't the only big sci-fi movie whose memorable dates are cropping up in real life -- January 8th, 2016 marks the "birthday" of Roy Batty, the leader of the rogue Replicants in Blade Runner. He wouldn't have much to celebrate if he were real (an artificially short life of servitude is nothing to crow about), but it's big for us humans who still want to know what it was like to see attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. Moreover, it's notable that a few elements of Ridley Scott's classic (and by extension, Philip K. Dick's original story) are already surfacing in reality -- although it's very much the product of its time, it's not as outlandish a vision as you might think.
Ridley Scott is working on a VR project
For a 77-year-old guy who's been pumping out films for decades, Ridley Scott shows no signs of slowing down. The director has The Martian hitting theaters this week (his best film in some time), he's planning for three more Prometheus films, and he's producing a sequel to Blade Runner. Now, you can add VR to the mix. In an interview with Yahoo, Scott revealed that he's working on a mystery virtual reality project. "You have to go for it," Scott said when asked if he was considering VR. "You've got to, you'd be stupid not to." While he won't reveal which film the VR project is attached to (it would certainly make sense for the Blade Runner world), he envisions it being "a domestic experience, where you can sit in a room like this and [walk] through a whole universe by yourself, and then pass it on to your family." Fox is already producing a 15-minute VR experience for The Martian directed by Robert Stromberg, but the idea of Scott bringing his talent to VR is even more exciting.
'The Martian' trailer: Matt Damon gets stranded on Mars
What do you do when you're stranded on an alien planet all by yourself? Engage your engineering skills -- or die. That's the basic plot of The Martian, the latest film by Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner), based on Andy Weir's hugely successful self-published novel. The film stars Matt Damon (who, apparently can't catch a break on far-off planets these days) as an astronaut who gets left behind on Mars by his crew. Originally thought to be dead, he ends up inspiring a long-shot rescue mission. The only problem? He still has to survive on his own for several years. While the book wasn't exactly well-written, it was notable for its commitment to scientific accuracy. It basically reads like an engineer's handbook for surviving on Mars. Judging from this trailer, it looks as if Scott's lush aesthetic style could end up elevating The Martian from its source material. Then again, we also got excited for Prometheus, and look what happened there. The Martian hits theaters on November 25.
Harrison Ford will return in 'Blade Runner' sequel
Need more good news after today's net neutrality ruling? Deadline and Variety report it has been confirmed that Harrison Ford will return to the role of Rick Deckard in the Blade Runner sequel that's currently in the works. Ridley Scott is producing the film, Hampton Fancher (co-writer of the original movie) and Michael Green are writing, and Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) is in negotiations to direct.The movie is supposed to start shooting next summer, with a script that already garnered high praise from Ford and is said to take place several decades after the original. As an added bonus, that gives him plenty of time to recover from any Star Wars-related injuries and us an opportunity to check out Amazon's upcoming (and also based on a Philip K. Dick story) The Man in the High Castle series. [Image credit: Getty Images]
Tube TVs, VCRs and magnets give 'Alien: Isolation' its signature look
From Halo to Dead Space and countless titles in between, the influence of the Alien franchise can be felt just about just about everywhere in video games. But hardly any of the releases starring the titular onyx xenomorphs actually capture aspects of what made Ridley Scott's beloved 1979 sci-fi flick so special -- a feeling that somewhere in space this could all actually happen. To do that, the team behind Alien: Isolation (out today for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One) had an altogether different plan of attack: a retro lo-fi aesthetic that limited them to not having any technology in the game couldn't have existed on-set in 1979. Achieving that took some creativity on the part of developer Creative Assembly, though. "Lo-fi didn't necessarily mean crappy," creative lead Alistair Hope tells us. "It's just that it's more of a stamp in time and an approach. We're doing sci-fi set in the future, but there's no sense that the crew on the Nostromo should be looking for a massive sci-fi gun... It's a disillusioned view of the future."
Filmmaker Ridley Scott is tackling a Phillip K. Dick project for Amazon
The works of author Phillip K. Dick have proven fertile ground for classic sci-fi movies like Total Recall and A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle is up next. Except, well, it's making its debut on the small screen, by way of Amazon Studios and executive producer Ridley Scott (pictured above), according to Deadline. For the unfamiliar, Castle takes place in a 1962 where the Allied Powers were defeated in World War II, and, as a result, Germany and Japan began an occupation of the United States -- Scott's sci-fi phase apparently isn't stopping anytime soon. With the legendary filmmaker working on Halo: Nightfall, the Prometheus and Blade Runner sequels and now this, we're even tempted to call it a trend. [Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Here's the first look at Ridley Scott's live-action 'Halo' project
Back at this year's E3 we learned that Halo: Nightfall would tell the origin story for a new character in Halo's sci-fi universe, and we're finally getting to see some of the show in motion. And, well, there are a couple of instances where it looks pretty similar to the Alien not-a-prequel, Prometheus. That almost assuredly isn't a coincidence given the fact that Prometheus' director Ridley Scott is serving as executive producer for the show. It's hard to tell exactly how the episodic series is going to turn out based on a teaser trailer (embedded after the break), but we can tell you that in its 74 seconds there's a distinct lack of Master Chief and a whole lot of talk about an element that "selectively kills humans." How's that for mystery? You'll be able to check out the exploits of Agent Locke and his crew after Halo: The Master Chief Collection releases this November. Update: Video of the entire Halo: Nightfall panel from Comic-Con is also embedded after the break.
Ridley Scott's 'Halo' project is a prequel to the next major 'Halo' game
In a way, director Ridley Scott's Halo-themed project, dubbed Nightfall, brings Microsoft's tentpole shooter franchise full circle. Master Chief's galaxy-spanning exploits owe a giant debt to the filmmaker's iconic tale of deep-space horror, Alien, and now Scott is helping establish where the franchise goes on the Xbox One. As 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross said during my meeting at E3 this week, working with him "kind of upped the bar" on the series, especially compared to 343's last attempt at live-action, the Halo 4 lead-in Forward Unto Dawn. "Hopefully we get better each time," she said. Nightfall tells the origin story for Agent Locke, a character Ross said plays a "pivotal role" in Halo 5: Guardians. As far as story, that's as much as we know so far. Ross isn't sure how many episodes Nightfall will span, but said that there will be five of them leading into Halo 5's beta timeframe.
Xbox Entertainment Studios has at least 12 projects in production, committed to half
There's a lot to know about Microsoft's push into original programming with Xbox Entertainment Studios. Why now? Why carry Xbox branding? Will XES content only run in certain regions? Is it free to all Xbox Live members, or only Xbox Live Gold? Will XES content also head to other digital video services, like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant and elsewhere? What about other Microsoft platforms, like Windows Phone and Windows 8? How will interactivity with the content work? Much of that information is still up in the air, according to XES president Nancy Tellem (former president of CBS Television Studios, among other accolades) and executive producer Jordan Levin. The duo walked us through Xbox Entertainment Studios' first projects last week, and left us with more questions than answers. Here's the high level: There are at least 12 projects in the works, and Microsoft's only "committed" to half (full list below the break). That means that six are paid for and in production, while the other six are in various stages of creation and may never make it to our eyeballs. The first, a multi-camera, multi-stage, interactive version of Bonnaroo, premieres this June.
The director behind Alien and Blade Runner is producing a Halo project
That's right, folks: the man behind sci-fi classics like Alien and Blade Runner, Ridley Scott, is executive producing a Halo-based "digital feature" (read: short film) for release "later this year." The project is headed by Microsoft's in-house Halo studio, 343 Industries, and Scott Free Productions -- Sergio Mimica-Gezzan was tapped for directing duties. This is a pretty different project from the other Halo show in the works; that one's helmed by Steven Spielberg and is live action, whereas this sounds more like the digital Halo work we've seen in the past. Color us seriously surprised if this doesn't arrive alongside the release of a new Halo game; one of those is even planned for 2014! How about that!
Ridley Scott is working on a Halo project for Microsoft
Remember that Halo film that wasn't happening? Microsoft representatives have confirmed that the old rumors are true: a Halo feature is in the works, and it's being produced by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien, Prometheus, Call of Duty Elite: Friday Night Fights). Unfortunately, the confirmation is intentionally vague, offering no other information save for the project's director (Battlestar Galactica's Sergio Mimica-Gezzan) and a promise that it won't overlap with Spielberg's TV series. It's described as a "digital feature project," which implies that the production will end up skipping the box office entirely. Well, either that, or Microsoft is just really excited about the kind of cameras it's using. According to Variety, it could be something similar to the Halo: Forward Unto Dawn short-form episodes. We'll find out pretty soon, regardless -- the project is set for release sometime later this year.
