The film’s release date is July 21, 2017. . . . When TV’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie-riffing program was canceled, the various talents behind it scattered to the four winds. Some created Cinematic Titanic, others created RiffTrax—two more movie-riffing programs. Now, RiffTrax celebrates its 10th anniversary with an MST3K Reunion Live Show, which will be broadcast live to more
than 700 cinemas on Tuesday, June 28, 2016. The Kickstarter-funded special will include live riffing of the SF B-flick Time Chasers, and it will star regular Rifftraxers Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, and Michael J. Nelson, as well as MST3K vets Bridget Nelson, Mary Jo Pehl, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Jonah Ray, and original series castaway Joel Hodgson. . . . Spike TV’s Red Mars series (see TV preview, Galaxis #5) will be delayed following the exit of executive producer and showrunner Peter Noah. Spike TV hopes to go forward with new leadership on the show. . . .
Netflix Gets New Genre Series from Japan, Germany
photo: Official white house photo by lawrence jackson
dehaan photo: Neil Grabowsky; delevigne photo: walterlan papetti
in may outlast many of us.“ . . . Director Luc Besson is working on his next film, the comics-based Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The $180 million space fantasy stars Dane DeHaan (photo, immediate right) as Valerian and Cara Delevigne (far right) as Laureline, two spatiotemporal agents who travel through time and space on adventures.
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etflix has gone worldwide in its search for new original programming. Two series of interest to Galaxis readers hail from Japan and Germany. The 12-episode original anime series Perfect Bones takes place in the future, when scientists are trying to create the “perfect human” to ensure peace. But a group of these new humans are kidnapped by an organization that cares less about universal peace and more about a new world order. The show is directed by Kazuto Nakazawa and produced by Production I.G., home of such anime as Attack on Titan and Psycho-Pass. Perfect Bones will be the online streaming service’s first original anime series to debut all of its episodes at the same time in 190 countries reached by the service. Netflix’s vice president of international originals, Erik Barmack, said “In an era where the Internet knows no bounds, we are proud to deliver high-quality original anime to fans all over the world, at the exact same time, no matter where they live, whether it be Japan, France, Mexico, the U.S., and beyond.” Production I.G.’s CEO Mitsuhisa Ishikawa didn’t hold back. “We’re very excited about Perfect Bones.” A release date had not been announced at press time. Meanwhile, German director Baran bo Odar is behind Dark, the story of a present-day German town in which two small children disappear. The mystery of the town deepens when, in Netflix’s words, “the story takes on a supernatural twist that ties back to the same town in 1986.” The 10-episode series will debut in 2017. Odar promises that “As Dark will be an ensemble mystery series, I especially look forward to discovering and working with new German talent. This will be a fantastic ride, and I can’t wait to get started.” Dark will be the first Netflix original series entirely created in Germany.
Obama Has a Different Kind of Star Wars
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resident Ronald Reagan reportedly did not please the powers that be at Lucasfilm when his space defense concept became known colloquially as Star Wars. But you can’t keep the White House away from space opera pop culture, and President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed good guys and bad guys alike from the Star Wars universe to the presidential mansion on December 18. Not everyone is impressed with Obama’s Star Wars love. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump issued a
video statement claiming that Obama was too busy watching Star Wars to fight ISIS. Obama is reportedly still searching for Trump’s Sith assistant. The reason for all of this was the president’s final press conference of 2015, which Obama ended by saying, “Okay, everybody, I’ve got to get to Star Wars.” The president was heading to a special screening of the new J.J. Abrams-directed blockbuster sequel with American military servicemembers and their families. Stormtroopers and R2D2 later appeared in the White
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance with a Star Wars stormtrooper and R2D2 in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in December.
House briefing room when Press Secretary Josh Earnest held a meeting. According to Washington publication The Hill, one reporter saw Earnest with the stormtroopers and yelled, “Now we know what side of the force you’re in, Josh.” The real scandal, though, might be that the UK’s Daily Mail tabloid reported in January that the president didn’t actually watch the movie after all, though he did stop by the screening. He always was a Trekkie.
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