Upcoming TV Series/Movies: beyond the Apocalypse!

[Werthead]

Invasion on Apple+ is a mixed bag (3 eps up today). It's sort of like Sense8, with multiple far-flung storylines going on in radically different parts of the world (Afghanistan, England, New York, the Midwest, Tokyo) whilst a kind of clandestine alien attack takes place. But the aliens are weird (think more Arrival than War of the Worlds) and their tactics don't make rational sense, and people are unclear what's happening.

Several of the storylines are very promising, particularly the Tokyo storyline (about a JAXA comms expert in a clandestine lesbian relationship with an astronaut and whose comms expertise becomes key in figuring out what's happening) and the Lord of the Flies-inspired story in the UK with a bunch of kids and their injured teacher cut off after their bus crashes in the middle of nowhere. The vaguely Enemy Mine-ish story with the US Marine and an Afghan shepherd who can't understand one another but need to work together to survive is also very good (Shamier Anderson might give the best performance in the show). However, the couple with kids in New York is deeply tedious, and I'm not sure where the Midwest crop circle story is going. Also odd in that Sam Neill was set up as the main star of the show and so far has only been in one episode.

So, promising but the pace is a killer (it makes Foundation feel like it's on crack in comparison).

[AncalagonTheBlack]

Happy Valley announces return for third and final season
https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a38063773/happy-valley-ending-season-3-confirmed/

Quote

 

The BBC's Happy Valley is set to return to screens after more than half a decade off air for a third and final series.Happy Valley will return on BBC One, though an airdate for season 3 is yet to be confirmed. AMC Networks will air season 3 in the US and Canada.

We've also been given a synopsis, which reads: "When Catherine discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir it sparks a chain of events that unwittingly leads her straight back to Tommy Lee Royce.

 

 

Around the World in 80 Days is an upcoming British period adventure television drama series based on the 1873 Jules Verne novel of the same name, and is set to be released on BBC1 in the United Kingdom, and on Masterpiece for PBS in the United States

David Tennant stars as literature's greatest explorer Phileas Fogg in a thrilling new adaptation of Jules Verne's classic adventure novel coming to MASTERPIECE on PBS.  (Air date to be announced.)

In a thrilling adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel, David Tennant (Good Omens, Doctor Who) stars as literature’s greatest explorer, Phileas Fogg. He is joined on his incredible journey by French actor Ibrahim Koma (OSS 117, Wùlu) as Jean Passepartout, Fogg's irrepressible valet, and German actress Leonie Benesch (The Crown, Babylon Berlin) as Abigail "Fix" Fortescue, a determined and headstrong journalist.

[SpaceChampion]

 

[SpaceChampion]

https://deadline.com/2021/11/bradley-cooper-set-hyperion-at-warner-bros-with-graham-king-1234865881/

Dan Simmon's Hyperion Cantos series launching Bradley Cooper's new production studio.

 

[Corvinus85]

3 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

https://deadline.com/2021/11/bradley-cooper-set-hyperion-at-warner-bros-with-graham-king-1234865881/

Dan Simmon's Hyperion Cantos series launching Bradley Cooper's new production studio.

 

Talk about hard to film properties. Wow. I only read the two Hyperion books, I was bored by Endymion and quit early. 

[Wilbur]

12 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Talk about hard to film properties. Wow... 

The book Hyperion by itself would be very challenging to make into a single, coherent film, given its seven-part, six-narrator structure and lack of a definite conclusion.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

I approve of this. Just as long as neither of them are playing Oppenheimer. 

 

[Zorral]

5 hours ago, Wilbur said:

The book Hyperion by itself would be very challenging to make into a single, coherent film, given its seven-part, six-narrator structure and lack of a definite conclusion.

That was my first reaction too.  Therefore ... not a book Hyperion, but a tv Hyperion, like Foundation a tv Foundation?

[SpaceChampion]

Zack Snyder's re-purposed Star Wars script becomes Rebel Moon, a Seven Samurai riff.  Movie poster just released!

 

[Corvinus85]

2 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Zack Snyder's re-purposed Star Wars script becomes Rebel Moon, a Seven Samurai riff.  Movie poster just released!

 

You can watch it for free on Youtube already. 

[SpaceChampion]

29 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

You can watch it for free on Youtube already. 

Debating whether to watch that...  I think I saw it on tv as a kid.

Just looked up John Saxon and found out he died last year.  No matter how bad a movie he was in, he always put in a nuanced effort. 

[Mexal]

18 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

I approve of this. Just as long as neither of them are playing Oppenheimer. 

 

Cillian Murphy is playing Oppenheimer.

[SpaceChampion]

Taiki Waititi to adapt comic book The Incal from Jodorowky & Moebius.  Jermaine Clement to co-write.

[IFR]

On 11/2/2021 at 2:58 PM, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

I approve of this. Just as long as neither of them are playing Oppenheimer. 

 

I do wonder how Nolan will approach this. The Manhatten Project would obviously be very interesting in its own right, but Teller and the FBI vs Oppenheimer would itself be great material for a movie.

Robert Downey Jr is too charming to play Teller, and neither he or Damon remotely resemble Fermi or Szilard. I suspect RDJ will be Groves. Matt Damon could potentially be Heisenberg, but I don't see him pulling off a German accent. And he's too old for the role. Maybe Seaborg or Fuchs?

Oppenheimer was an extremely fascinating individual. I look forward to this movie.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

16 minutes ago, IFR said:

I do wonder how Nolan will approach this. The Manhatten Project would obviously be very interesting in its own right, but Teller and the FBI vs Oppenheimer would itself be great material for a movie.

Robert Downey Jr is too charming to play Teller, and neither he or Damon remotely resemble Fermi or Szilard. I suspect RDJ will be Groves. Matt Damon could potentially be Heisenberg, but I don't see him pulling off a German accent. And he's too old for the role. Maybe Seaborg or Fuchs?

Oppenheimer was an extremely fascinating individual. I look forward to this movie.

I was thinking the same thing. There's nothing that says this has to be a Manhattan Project movie. It could just as easily be a movie about Oppenheimer, HUAC, and the beginning of the cold war. Like an informal sequel to Fat Man and Little Boy, which is actually pretty good. There's an old interview clip where Damon mockingly comments on that film being guaranteed Oscar bait as far as the production was concerned. It never came close. I have yet to find the clip.

Heisenberg stayed in Germany during the war and never got very far with his A-bomb program. I'm not aware of him having much of a profile or any involvement with Oppenheimer after the war, so if he's in it it'll probably be a small role. 

Not only is Oppenheimer a fascinating individual, he has one of the most accurately documented adult lives in history. The FBI started spying on him years before the war even started; because of his "associations".

There was an Oppenheimer miniseries on PBS in the early '80's, with Sam Waterston playing Oppenheimer. The Bombings occur about half way through and the remainder deals with the post war stuff, which I think are the best episodes of the series. 

RDJ is going to have to eat a lot of cup cakes if he wants to play Groves. Just sayin'.

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

2 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Taiki Waititi to adapt comic book The Incal from Jodorowky & Moebius.  Jermaine Clement to co-write.

Cool.

Wasn't Waititi about to start production on Akira at WB before he took off to do the latest Thor movie? What's happening with that?

[IFR]

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Heisenberg stayed in Germany during the war and never got very far with his A-bomb program. I'm not aware of him having much of a profile or any involvement with Oppenheimer after the war, so if he's in it it'll probably be a small role. 

The German nuclear program was the primary justification for the American and British efforts in developing a nuclear bomb. Heisenberg had fairly extensive professional and personal relationships with many of the scientists of the Manhatten Project due to his incredible contributions to the modern understanding of the atom. 

As you say, he was busy in Germany failing rather badly at even creating a functioning reactor, but I am having a hard time thinking what other role Matt Damon could fill.

But I agree it's unlikely, and honestly Matt Damon as Heisenberg sounds awful.

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

There was an Oppenheimer miniseries on PBS in the early '80's, with Sam Waterston playing Oppenheimer. The Bombings occur about half way through and the remainder deals with the post war stuff, which I think are the best episodes of the series. 

I really do need to watch that!

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

RDJ is going to have to eat a lot of cup cakes if he wants to play Groves. Just sayin'

 They could put him in a fat suit, though Nolan is probably far too good a director to indulge that silliness.

Really, RDJ would make an excellent Feynman. Tony Stark kind of was Feynman. But the problem again arises that RDJ is far too old for the role, and Feynman wasn't a significant player in the Manhatten Project, or Oppenheimer's later life.

It's possible Damon and RDJ will be FBI investigators or members of the AEC tribunal.

I guess we'll see.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

1 hour ago, IFR said:

The German nuclear program was the primary justification for the American and British efforts in developing a nuclear bomb. Heisenberg had fairly extensive professional and personal relationships with many of the scientists of the Manhatten Project due to his incredible contributions to the modern understanding of the atom. 

As you say, he was busy in Germany failing rather badly at even creating a functioning reactor, but I am having a hard time thinking what other role Matt Damon could fill.

Not really the "German nuclear program"; just the potential of one was enough to convince the Roosevelt. The US army knew long before May 1945 that the Germans weren't going to do it.

Germany never had the industrial base to make a program like this happen. Arguably, they never had the intellectual base either. Heisenberg was a brilliant man but he was just one man. Most of the elite European physics community was living in England or America by the time the war started. Ultimately, they never found out how far they could get because Hitler chose to divert resources into the V2 rocket program. 

1 hour ago, IFR said:

 They could put him in a fat suit, though Nolan is probably far too good a director to indulge that silliness.

Really, RDJ would make an excellent Feynman. Tony Stark kind of was Feynman. But the problem again arises that RDJ is far too old for the role, and Feynman wasn't a significant player in the Manhatten Project, or Oppenheimer's later life.

It's possible Damon and RDJ will be FBI investigators or members of the AEC tribunal.

I guess we'll see.

Feynman was significant, just not that prestigious. He ran the computation department. And yeah, he was a young man. I don't think he had even gotten his degree before he went out there.

I could see either one of them as Klaus Fuchs.  

[IFR]

46 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Feynman was significant, just not that prestigious. He ran the computation department. And yeah, he was a young man. I don't think he had even gotten his degree before he went out there.

If I correctly recall his anecdotes from Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman, he also had to deal with Oak Ridge because their improper storage of uranium nearly led to a criticality accident.

Also, he worked with Bethe on the Bethe-Feynman formula to determine the yield of a fission bomb.

I guess I won't debate if someone calls his role significant. Neutron computation certainly sped things up, but computers didn't become essential until the H-bomb, when more precise accounting of neutrons was needed to determine the proper staging of the device. 

Feynman inarguably didn't contribute on the level of the likes of Bethe, Szilard, Fermi, von Neumann, et al. Even Bohr had a more important role, and he was an outside consultant.

But this is kind of pedantic on my part. In the end, RDJ isn't going to be Feynman.

Considering Nolan's love of telling nonlinear stories, I really think the story will involve the tribunal, with Oppenheimer's colleagues questioned about various points in Oppenheimer's life.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

22 minutes ago, IFR said:

If I correctly recall his anecdotes from Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman, he also had to deal with Oak Ridge because their improper storage of uranium nearly led to a criticality accident.

"Los Alamos from below" is good too.