Thompson on Hollywood

Immersed in Movies: 'Oblivion' Director Kosinski Talks Creating Original Sci-Fi Landscape Starring Cruise

Features

With a looming summer season packed with post-apocalyptic sci-fi--from "After Earth" (June 7) and "World War Z" (June 21) to "Elysium" (August. 9)--it's a good thing that director Joseph Kosinski's "Oblivion" is first out of the gate. This Tom Cruise-starrer about a blue collar drone repairman haunted by dreams of a woman he's never met stands apart from the competition, mainly because architect and video game designer Kosinski's follow-up to "Tron: Legacy" is a passion project he's been developing for eight years that allows him to strut his visual stuff.

By Bill Desowitz
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April 19, 2013 2:25 PM
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'Ender's Game' Teaser Poster Strikes Wrong Note

News

I've been excited about new sci-fi epic "Ender's Game" (November 1) not because I'm a fan of the original Nebula and Hugo-winning 1985 novel by Orson Scott Card, but because Roberto Orci, who wrote the two recent "Star Trek" movies with partner Alex Kurtzman, is producing.

By Anne Thompson
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March 26, 2013 3:06 PM
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Now and Then: 'Looper' and the Future of Sci Fi

Reviews

Deep into "Looper" we meet Sara (Emily Blunt), a young mother and cane farmer in the year 2044. The moment, for science fiction, is riskily quiet — in the first blush of dusk she mimes lighting a cigarette, taking a slow drag on imagined bliss. It's also, for all the film's nodding at the genre's past, a glimpse of where sci fi is going.

By Matt Brennan
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October 2, 2012 11:59 AM
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'Time and Again' Resurfaces with Lionsgate, Liman After Decades in Development Hell

News

Have you ever read Jack Finney's "Time and Again?" It's a classic time travel book from 1970 about an ad exec who enters an apartment in New York's Dakota (where John Lennon lived, also the setting for Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby") and goes back in time to 1882, when the landmark building was surrounded by fields.

By Anne Thompson
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July 25, 2012 9:24 PM
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Tom Hanks Goes Digital with Yahoo! Animated Web Series 'Electric City,' Voices Lead: "No one gets rich" (VIDEO)

News

At Comic-Con last weekend, web series were part of the story, as Bryan Singer and Tom Hanks both unveiled new onlie ventures. Tuesday Yahoo! launches the first ten 4-7-minute episodes of Hanks’ animated dystopian sci-fi adventure “Electric City." The next ten installments will be released on July 18 and 19.

By Anne Thompson
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July 17, 2012 1:34 PM
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New Images & Synopses for Del Toro's 'Pacific Rim' and Blomkamp's 'Elysium' at Comic-Con

News

In EW's sneak peak of Comic-Con's offerings, they share new images from two of next year's biggest sci-fi films: Guillermo Del Toro's "Pacific Rim" and Neill Blomkamp's "Elysium." We'll report back from Comic-Con on what we learn from their Hall H presentations...

By Sophia Savage
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July 6, 2012 12:06 PM
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Now and Then: Wes Anderson and Ridley Scott, Two Master Stylists Whose Best Work Is Past

Reviews

Let me begin by clarifying my headline. I am not saying that Wes Anderson and Ridley Scott, two master stylists with new movies in theaters, will not someday surpass their best films; that kind of prediction is impossible and counterproductive. But it must be admitted that they set the bar high, and neither has yet leaped over it.

By Matt Brennan
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June 5, 2012 6:01 AM
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Roadside Acquires Sci-Fi Thriller 'Branded' for September Release

News

Forget SKYNET or The Matrix. The real villain in our world is marketing, says Ignition Creative's Jamie Bradshaw, who co-wrote, directed and produced Roadside Attraction's upcoming sci-fi dystopian thriller "Branded" with Alexander Doulerain of Russia's Networks TNT.

By Anne Thompson
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April 23, 2012 6:10 AM
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'Prometheus': Blow by Blow on London's Footage Screening and Q & A with Scott, Theron, Fassbender, Rapace

News

This morning in London, Twentieth Century Fox held the world’s first screening of 3-D footage from “Prometheus,” treating an early-morning crowd to three scenes and thirteen minutes followed by a Q&A session with director Ridley Scott (“Please stop calling me Sir Ridley”) and stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron.

By Matt Mueller
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April 10, 2012 12:46 PM
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Robert Orci Launches "Ender's Game" Production Blog

News

Prolific Roberto Orci, when he is not sweating over "Star Trek" rewrites with producing and writing partner Alex Kurtzman, is now running a weekly production blog for the upcoming sci-fi film "Ender's Game." He's also producing and adapting the epic adventure from the Orson Scott Card sci-fi classic...