Movie & TV News: Flash Gordon, Preacher, Painkiller Jane, Stargate Movies, End of Lost, Golden Globes, Mike Fright, Comic Previews

Flash Gordon
Sci Fi Channel has given a go to production of a "Flash Gordon" series. Production of the 22 one-hour episodes starts early this year, with a July premiere slated. Produced by Reunion Pictures in Canada, the eye is to a broadcast syndication window following the run on Sci-Fi Channel. The King Features Syndicate comic strip will be produced by Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr., and "made comtemorary" for modern audiences. Just hope this is not a complete hash like so many "updatings" of classics.

Preacher
Kevin Smith (as reported in Coming Soon) was asked to direct an episode of the TV adaptation of the Vertigo comic. His reaction was this: "Yeah, [writer Mark Steven Johnson] asked me if I wanted to direct an episode of 'Preacher'; which I thought was pretty kind of him; but, I don't know if I'm up to that. I love that book so much, and being able to translate one of those books to the screen, I don't think that's me. 'Cause you don't want to be the guy who f**ks it up, and so I was like, 'Well, I don't know, we'll see.' But I'm certainly not committed to do it, only as much of I don't want to drop the ball 'cause I like it so much. But if it was some show I didn't like; I mean, I've never really directed TV anyway, so it's kind of difficult getting my head around it, but since it's an hour-long drama, presumably, I'd be more keen to directing a movie rather than TV - - I don't know, maybe, maybe. The thing that would keep me from doing that would be I'd be afraid of ruining what I like so much about 'Preacher' - - so we'll see if that happens." To read the rest of the interview click here.

Painkiller Jane
Kristanna Loken is quoted in Sci Fi Wire talking about playing the title characther. She said: "I read the comic and fell in love with the depth of the comic-book character. It just had so many different levels: the pain and the healing and the kind of eternal question of 'why is this happening to me?' is a very human statement. So then I read [executive producer] Gil's [Grant] wonderful first episode and wanted to come up and work also as a co-exec."

Stargate Movies

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS! SKIP IF THAT SORT OF THING UPSETS YOU!!!!
MGM has announced the two titles for the Stargate franchise films. They are: "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" and "Stargate: Continuum." Charles Cohen, MGM Serior Executive, said: "Stargate SG-1 is to MGM Television what the James Bond, Pink Panther and the Rocky franchises are to our feature film unit. We are committed to continuing to release new SG-1 content and its Stargate Atlantis spin-off, and we're also steadfast in our dedication to extending the franchise. Stargate is an indelible brand for MGM and we will support it well into the future." Word is that "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" will be the vessel to bring a conclusion to the storyline of the past two seasons of the television show, as SG-1 searches for an Ancient artifact to defeat the armies of the Ori, who are about to launch a final assault on Earth. In "Stargate: Continuum," SG-1 the last of the goa'uld system lords (Ba'al), is about to be executed and Teal'c and Vala suddenly disappear. When SG-1 returns to Earth the Stargate program has been erased from the timeline and a fleet of goa'uld motherships arrives in orbit.

End of Lost
E! Online is posting a lot of ideas about the end of the series "Lost," the article is here. Other sources are saying the ABC show will be gone after another season or two. ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson said that executives are currently in discussions with producers about ways to end the show. After 53 aired episodes Damon Lindelof, one of the executive producers of the series, said that the show's creators had always planned on no more than 100 installments. McPherson also said that the network is not going break up the series as it did in 2006 when it aired six episodes and then put it on hiatus for three months, it will start in the fall or the spring of 2008 and run for 22 consecutive weeks.