Category Archives: TV Adaptations

“Game of Thrones” Showrunners Talk Season 2 and Plans For Season 3

The wait is ALMOST over for the return of HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones.” It returns tonight with the highly anticipated season 2.

In a recent interview, the showrunners, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, for the series revealed some information fans can expect in the new season such as which characters will get more screen time, the truth behind shooting the scenes with dragons, and some of the changes they made from the George R.R. Martin book series, “A Song of Ice and Fire”. He also revealed the preliminary plans for the third season.

Weiss and Benioff talked about some of the difficulties they encountered when creating season 2. They talked about keeping veteran characters vibrant for fans but also introducing new characters into the season.

Weiss stated,

It’s a bigger fish to fry. It needs to be real battles and dragons and direwolves. And we’ve got all these characters that you’ve hopefully have fallen in love with that we need to keep vibrant. We’ve got all these new people who hopefully will be equally compelling. The way George has dealt with that challenge is to start making the books longer. We will have that luxury if we’re lucky enough to be allowed to continue making the series. But in terms of each season, we got 10 episodes, and that’s literally all that’s conceivable to [produce] of this particular show.”

Benioff added,

You know, what was scary during the first season is you’re doing all this work and you have no idea if it’s just gonna sink into the ocean without a trace. At least knowing that there’s a fan base out there that’s waiting for these shows … that helped a lot.”

The showrunners also talked about problems they had while filming in Iceland. While filming there was a major blizzard that they had to work through, the actors remained professional.

Benioff said,

There was a blizzard. There was a shot where Samwell’s talking to Jon and he looks normal. You cut to Jon, then you cut back to Samwell and he looks like Father Time — like with the snow and the ice just frozen onto his face in just a matter of seconds. It’s really hard to do continuity. [But the actors] never complained once.”

Weiss reminiced on a conversation he had with actor, Kit Harington regarding the blizzard.

I knew it was gonna be pretty rough [on Kit Harington] and there’s no shelter out there for six, eight hours in very cold conditions. And I went up to talk to Kit on his first day of shooting and asked, “How you doing?” He said, “I’ve never ever had a day of shooting that I loved as much as this.”

Oh, and in case you were wondering, they did confirm that fans will see a character from season 1 do their first nude scene, but they aren’t saying who.

Not to ruin anything for people who haven’t read the novel, but there is a major battle scene coming up in season 2. Benioff described how tough it is for actors to film those scenes.

It was pretty much a month straight of night shoots, which is just tough for anybody unless you’re a vampire. It’s Belfast nights, which means it’s cold and it’s usually wet. There was an incredible amount of mud. It’s tough for the crew, but then when you see it on screen and see how good it looks, you see the way the weather affects people. You see the wind blowing their hair and the rain coming down. None of that’s faked.”

Wiess also talked about incorporating dragons into the realistic world they have created within the show.

Ideally you have enough of them and not too much of them. If you’re in a scene where you and I are talking and there’s a dragon sitting next to my water bottle, then you may as well be talking gibberish because no one’s going to see anything except the dragon. You have to be careful with that stuff and not use it when it’s going to be detrimental to what you’re trying to put across.”

It was also confirmed that season 2 will have more deviations from the book, but that the changes are neccessary.

Weiss said,

Definitely more, only because there are characters who are off screen in the book. A lot of the changes keep people front and center who are very important characters.”

Benioff added,

We’re adapting “A Song of Ice and Fire.” So we’re bringing in elements from [Book 3]AStorm of Swords. We don’t think of this season as being strictly an adaptation of A Clash of Kings, it’s really a continuation of our adaptation of the series as a whole. For our purposes, moving some stuff forward helps a lot and pushing some stuff back helps us a lot.”

Season 2 premieres tonight on HBO.

In March 2012, HBO ordered the production of a third and fourth season, which are to cover the third novel in the series, A Storm of Swords, and which are to be filmed concurrently in Northern Ireland from June 2012 to about February 2013.

Rosario Dawson is Bringing Occult Crimes Taskforce to Television

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“The Walking Dead” can move over. It seems that Rosario Dawson has her own horror comic to bring to the small screen. Dawson is teaming up with Gale Anne Hurd, producer for “The Walking Dead.” Instead of AMC, they’ll be working with A&E.

While women are attached as executive producers for this show, Dawson who is known for her roles in such movies as Sin City, Clerks 2 and Death Proof, just may have planned the whole thing. First, let’s look at the official comic book description of issue #1.

Rosario Dawson (star of Sin City and Clerks 2) breaks new ground as she co-creates and stars in the Occult Crimes Taskforce!

When N.Y.P.D. detective Sophia Ortiz (modeled after Rosario Dawson) stumbles upon a bizarre murder scene, she is quickly brushed aside by a covert police unit – – the Occult Crimes Taskforce. Versed in the black arts and equipped with mystical weaponry, the O.C.T. keeps the streets of Manhattan safe from the unholy creatures of the night. Can Sophia help them stop this supernatural killer? Find out when this action-horror thriller hits the stands!

Yeah, that was the official plot summary. Almost seemed like a message to “Stay Tuned for More Action!” It’s a pretty awesome move when you have the power and opportunity to create your own comic book in your own image. It’s as if Dawson really wanted this to be made into a movie starring her; which it almost was, but Dimension films dropped it for some reason.

Sure, if Dawson wanted to ensure she was to be cast as lead; if the story were ever to be adapted back in 2006; she didn’t have to get drawn into the comic. It’s also not a guarantee. The magical, chain smoking John Constantine was modelled after musician Sting, but yet they cast Keanu Reeves. What keeps her in the spotlight is her ownership of the intellectual property.

The story in itself seems like someone slammed together a lot of popular movie themes into one serial. The comic only ran for four comics, but there are derivatives of movies that did well in there.

1) Ghostbusters; they even said it in the comic; where they deal with the supernatural.

2) Then there’s the Men in Black, where they substituted aliens and science for magick. The story begins with Ortiz stumbling onto a scene of a super natural crime in progress and survives. Later she’s inducted into the super secret force, tasked with being the last line of defence against things that go bump in the night. As the new guy, she’s shown a wild and bizarre world hiding under mere mortal noses. Here come the O.C.T.

3) The magic incantations the O.C.T. uses screams Harry Potter, or maybe anything related to magic. Instead of wands, they use their badges. When the center of the badge is dialled to the correct glyphs and the spell is spoken, the officer can wield magical power. “Conjunctis virbus incursio!” is a spelled Ortiz uses in the comic to channel magical energy through a shotgun. On a side note, I always thought it would be funny to see Samuel L. Jackson shooting someone while shouting, “Avada Kadavra Mother !@#$er!”

4) The taskforce is comprised of humans and special people/creatures referred to as Ceteri. Now this reminds me a whole lot of Hell Boy and the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD).

5) Ortiz is special. For she is, “The One” who is prophesized to do something or other. It’s been played out a lot, but it still reminds me of Neo in The Matrix.

6) Magical happenings are focused in one spot, because evil enjoys living in Manhattan. This is much like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it’s Sunnydale Hellmouth. The portion I enjoyed though was the back story. The Native Americans ditched Manhattan for such a low price because they knew it was spiritually messed up. Think of it as a diseased blanket.

To top it off, at the end of each comic, there are pages from the official Occult Crimes Taskforce Officer Training Manual. It contains diagrams, procedures and spells. Had the series really taken off, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an actual training guide that would be merchandised afterwards. This should be around the time the Zombie Survival Guide began to take off.
This whole story sounds like a joke that went too far. I blame Kevin Smith as Dawson must have consulted him on this, as he’s one of the authorities on all things comic books in the Hollywood circles; plus I figured they must have stayed friends after Clerks II. The comic even depicts Ortiz’s partner, Detective Aaron Cain, as a ringer for what looks like a slightly slimmer Smith.

While cable networks are ready to jump on what they think is the next Walking Dead, or Game of Thrones, I hope they do their research on this. As the series only went four issues, there’s a lot to fill in; the story really jumped from scene to scene, so I can imagine it gives them a lot more writing wiggle room. The main thing to look at is the fan base. While I enjoyed the comic when it first came out, it also went by too quickly for me to get too attached.

Unknown artist, Tony Shasteen, the comics illustrator must have been going for the organic look that graphic novel Ex Machina had. Ex Machina, drawn by Tony Harris, was at the time very popular in comic book circles and it most likely didn’t hurt to emulate it. It gave the comic less of a cartoony feel, closing the gap to reality. It even seemed that Marvel comics was brewing their own organic variant at the time, using photos of models to draw from. It was weird looking at these images in their Ultimate series. It seemed that all the superheroines had permanently swaying hips. See, the problem was that Harris made it look good when he did it.

Aside from the cover, the artwork in O.C.T. almost looks as if it they were originally photos that were edited in Photoshop. It’s true that Harris may have used photographs of models set to scene, but again, it didn’t look like he traced over real photos. The imagery in the O.C.T. was closer to the Keanu Reeves movie, A Scanner Darkly, where they took real footage and then animated it; including special effects. So that’s what I see whenever I crack open the O.C.T. comic. The magic bits are just drawn in bits over the cartoon-yourself like photos. Dawson is beautiful, but I didn’t need detailed artistry of every single detail of her mouth; yeah, compare it to her real photo sometime.

In all honesty, I give this comic adaptation the same chance to take off like as I did Lost Girl. Not everyone’s heard of it, and not everyone likes it, but it must be doing well if it’s still on the air. Now Chew, that’s a comic I can’t wait to see come out as a television show.

“Echos of the Past” Teasers For True Blood Released

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Season 5 of the HBO hit series “True Blood” is almost here and to quench the appetites of fans, HBO has released three new teasers labeled as “Echoes of the Past.”

Each of the three videos follow a camera through an empty place from the show. Sookie’s house, then Fangtasia, and the third features Bill’s house. Overheard are echoes from everything that has happened in those locations in the past.

“True Blood” is set to return to HBO this summer.

Joining the cast for season five will be Christopher Meloni, but details on his character have yet to be released. Also joining the cast is Scott Foley as Patrick, Terry’s old war buddy, Louis Herthum as JD, Alcide’s father, Kelly Overton as Rikki, a new werewolf curious how Marcus died, and Carolyn Hennesy is expected to be Rosalyn Harris, a Texas vampire with twang.

You can see the three teasers below:

WAR IS COMING – The Ladies of Ice and Fire Anticipate The Upcoming Season of Game of Thrones

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Game of Thrones will begin its second season on April 1^st. Rachel and Elena are super-excited to be back in their respective courts of fire and ice. Below they discuss their anticipations about the upcoming season. This particular post is relatively spoiler-free (character names are used, but nothing else). Be warned – episode-by-episode discussions will not be spoiler free through the currently aired episode, and Rachel’s reactions will not be spoiler-free through A Dance with Dragons.

Elena will be watching with the fresh eyes of a summer child, while you may regard Rachel’s viewpoint as that of the grizzled veteran with missing limbs.

Elena-

So I guess Game of Thrones is about to start back up on HBO, huh? I…think I’m ready for that. I gotta be honest, last year I suffered from ATF (Acute Throne Fatigue) what with having spent over a year reading the damn first book, writing up a chapter by chapter reaction, and having my opinions of it vivisected…and then podcasting about every episode…and then jumping into the fandom mash-ups. Fun as all of that was, it was exhausting, and I really just hit a wall—The Wall, if you will—with the series.

About the time comments on the first trailer for the new season hit my Facebook wall, though, and I was reminded that April wasn’t all that far off, I thought…hey, maybe I should go finish the first book. (For the record: I have not acted on this thought. I am not sure where my copy is. Buried under mastiff direwolf hair on the back floorboard of my car, perhaps? But I thought it, and as we all know it is the thought that counts, right? RIGHT?!?)

And I also thought…I’m kind of excited about new episodes of this series. I’ve actually re-watched a few episodes of Season 1 since then, if I happened to turn on the TV and one of my favorite episodes—or just scenes, in some cases—was on.

I have not watched any trailers for the new season. I don’t know if I want to. I have managed pretty well to avoid spoilers so far, and while I’m sure HBO is careful not to spoil any real plot points, I’m afraid of seeing something that I might be able to pair with some other not-on-its-own-a-spoiler information I have and put two and two together. And the thing is, I don’t need to see the trailers to know I’m going to keep watching the show. I’m excited about it based on the fact that I loved the first season. The production was quality, and the story and characters hooked me, so really I’m just ready to keep rolling down the midnight highway that is ASOIF without any LED-billboards up ahead breaking up the darkness.

Also, I heart Bronn and Lancel. The scenes I re-watched made me realize they are my favorite minor (?) characters from Season 1. TEAM BADASS FTW! And also yay whatever team Lancel plays on. Team More Wine, Sir?, perhaps? YES. As a resident of New Orleans, I can get behind that team!

Rachel:

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I am READY for Season 2. I’M SO READY, YOU GUYS! Every time a cab passes me with a “War is Coming” ad on it I think to myself, “Self, you should get in that cab because that cab is as excited about Game of Thrones as you are.” I know this isn’t true, but I’m particularly vulnerable to fandom-based marketing.

Despite the fact that there hasn’t been a lot of physical marketing for Season 2 (no food trucks! A constant source of depression for my friends and I), I think HBO has firmly cast its lot with the Game of Thrones fans (seriously, I am not calling myself a “Thronie,” wtf is that?) The “fan” t-shirts and posters are great (the new design for the Stark t-shirt, THANK YOU!) and the “The King can do as he likes” poster and booth that they debuted at Wondercon…that right there is proof that if you market to fans in a non douchebag corporate way – you win!

The character featurettes that have been posting all on HBO.com are wonderful! They introduce lots of new characters without spoiling any of the incredible storyline that is coming at us come April 1^st.Plus I get to enjoy all the manips and gifs hitting Tumblr, and that just makes me even MORE excited (warning, the Game of Thrones tag on Tumblr is probably not safe for those wishing to remain unspoiled). I’m not sure if the digital media only advertising track is going to bring in new viewers, but at this point word of mouth might just be HBO’s greatest hope on that front. Even if the “War is Coming” fist poster looks more like “Angry Jesus is Coming” than “Baratheon Boys gonna FIGHT”. It does. Don’t even bother getting grumpy about it. It could easily be mistaken for an evangelical billboard of doom.

Also, judging from those character featurettes, not only will we be enjoying some awesome new characters (Lobsterking! Delicious Knight! Weirdly evangelical sexy lady! Lady Knight! The Brother Taunter! The Girl Who Knows Everything!) We’ll be getting expanded content of some already established characters. (I’m looking at you, people of Highgarden!)

Whose storyline are you most excited to pick up again?

Elena-

Hm. Tough one here. Probably Arya’s, just because hers has the most likely chance of immediate resolution. I mean, she is currently on her way to The Wall to be reunited with her bestest brother evah, Jon Snow, Who Knows Where To Put It (that is officially his name now. Does it make an easy acronym the way ASOIF does? JSWKWTPI. No. FAIL. Oh well, I’ll just type it out every time then). So, either she gets there and goes on ice as a character the way Jon has (heh, on ice…at The Wall made of…ice. Yeesssssssssss), or she doesn’t get there. Either way I think it will wrap up quickly? Or she’ll spend the entirety of Season 2 traveling, in which case her story will be almost as boring as Dany’s was last season!

This is not to say I am a Dany-hater—the horse-heart-chomping convinced me on her—but her story? Way too drawn-out, at least in the books…it might have played better on screen, but after 8 months I am conflating my multi-media experience of Season 1. Also I am getting off topic. So, yeah, Arya’s whom I want to pick up with the most.

I am also excited to see more of Rob King In The North Stark but that’s really more because he makes my eyeballs steam. More of that please!

Rachel-

In an attempt to keep at this anticipatory post as spoiler-free as possible I will say that I am excited to see Jon Snow’s story-line for obvious reasons if you have read A Clash of Kings and if you haven’t well…stuff. Reasons.

I’m also excited for the Blackwater and for Baratheon against Baratheon shenanigans. Also Robb Stark and King in the North stuff!

Character you are most excited about in Season 2?

Elena-

For me I’m actually going to go Dany. She ended last season in a literal conflagration of all that her life had been. And she walked out of the ashes with dragons. DRAGONS, you guys! That’s a pretty blank canvas for her to repaint herself and her life with. Rachel has laughed wickedly at me for intimating I thought her book/season 1 arc was slow-paced, so I am not sure I have huge expectations for her…but I am really excited to see where she, in particular goes, because I think right now she is the most dynamic character—the one who is in a state of change.

If I knew nothing of the books I would say Sansa as well, but the Sansa I know from the first book is functionally retarded, and so I have no hope of her ever doing anything except sucking more than she did before. So instead I’m going to say TYWIN LANNISTER as my #2. This guy has three extremely interesting (and possibly FUBAR) kids; he is obviously a politicker par excellence, and kind of a badass. I want to see more of him.

Rachel-

Probably Jon. But I’m also excited to rejoin the Lannisters and Renly and all that. It’s hard to say, “I am most excited about this character” without telling you why and spoiling everything. I’ll spoil everything in the episode recaps under giant SPOILER WARNINGS. Promise.

Character you most want to see die in Season 2?

Elena-

JOFFREY. Oh my god, Joffrey’s sanctimonious little tyrant ass would be such a sweet assassination. I do not expect this to happen—mostly because Martin killed of Viserys in the first book, and you can only kill off the single most obnoxious character in the book once before it becomes a pattern—but I would LOVE to see it!

And I would be hella impressed, if he does die, if it’s in such a way that I feel sympathy for the little shit.

Rachel-

Everybody wants Joffrey to die, Elena! Jack Gleeson has done such an amazing job of providing us with a truly evil character to hate in a cast of characters neither good nor evil. It’s Joffrey who is our shining white knight of douchebaggery! HUZZAH! Long live the king, and stuff!

And boy is going to be even more douchey! Get ready!

This question relates to my ongoing attempts to create a Game of Thrones drinking game with my friends. We’ve pretty much settled on shots every time someone dies, but perhaps certain characters should get different drinks. Suggestions?

Elena-

If a major character dies drain your whole glass/bottle/can? If Joffrey dies drain two?

Is there a new character you are particularly excited about?

Elena-

Not exactly…I mean, for one thing I don’t KNOW any characters to come other than those mentioned off-screen last season, like Stannis Baratheon. But I have seen from casting announcements and Rachel’s FB/Twitter that we’re getting some new females who at least some in the fandom love, so I’m excited about that. I don’t know who any of them are except Asha-Not-Yarra Greyjoy. I’ve seen other names but couldn’t place them in a context. Let’s just call it as “New Women of Westeros.”

Rachel-

Hmmm, I don’t know if it is a good idea to skip all of the featurettes. There are a whole lot of new characters coming at us in the new seasons. The story lines will be effectively doubled, and sometimes the connections between characters gets muddled. I think it was smart of HBO to release these little featurettes to help fans who have not read the books keep everyone straight. Not that I don’t have complete faith that all the new people will be effectively introduced to the audience. I just know that I watched the show with people who had not read the books last season and I often had to answer “who is that again?” questions.

Saying that:

Melisandra, Jaqen H’ghar, Asha-not-Yarra, Margaery Tyrell, Ygritte, Brienne, Stannis and Davos, Roose Bolton. So many crafty people coming at us you guys! SO MANY CRAFTY BITCHES! (I’m looking at you, Stannis.)

Any fandom you’re particularly excited for?

Elena-

Well, of the GOT Tumblrs my favorite is probably Arrested Westeros, simply because I love Arrested Development so much. But in this case, the fandom I’m most excited about is my work family! I have changed jobs since Season 1 was on air. At my old job, no one watched the show, and if I brought it up they gave me the skank eye for being so weird and nerdy. At my new job, EVERYBODY watches GOT! Fuck yeah Monday morning dissections! Also this will obviously force me to watch it every Sunday regardless of what else is going on in my life, else risk having the episode completely spoilered for me at work. The good news is, none of the coworkers read the books, so I can have my fellow newbie/TV-only reactions and speculation with them, and then my evil laughter/cryptic remark-dropping dissections here with Rachel. Win-win!

Also, if you did not catch the “here” part of that, Rachel and I will be discussing every episode here at Optionated!

Rachel-

I feel like the fandom is super healthy. It’s always nice when you’ve got new things to anticipate, but Game of Thrones fans have been keeping a hilarity-driven fandom going through the long waits between books for years now. (For example, there is an 8-second video on YouTube that has been around for a long time that shows a wine glass and a golden hand knocking over the wine glass that pretty much puts me into hysterics.) The show has just given us pretty pictures to manipulate. Which I’m going to say, does have its advantages. I have even done my share of stupid mspaintery.

Behold:

I thought that Roose needed a little help. So I helped him.

But I think my favorite little fandom nugget is the following, which I am using because I actually know the person who made this but I only found this out recently. That’s how the Internet works sometimes:

BECAUSE ONIONS! LoL This never fails to make me laugh hysterically.

This person that I know is known as SwordintheDarkness on Tumblr. But be warned – she is super spoilery, and her GoT knowledge is incredible. She can remember the PAGES that shit happens on. So if you have read through A Dance with Dragons I recommend her Tumblr.

I also can’t promise that my own twitter (@DarthRachel) will be spoiler free. Sorry. There’s nothing I can do about that. In fact, as I am the spoilery side of these Episode discussions you should just beware me all together.

I’m the Shaggydog of Optionated.

No, I’m not. I’m not that cool.

Elena-

Well, if you’re Shaggydog then I’m Rickon. Always in the background, never in the know. I am the sweet summer child slowly losing my innocence under the shadow of war.

WAR IS COMING, Y’ALL!

Fuck yeah.

Showrunner Glen Mazzara Teases Season 3 of “The Walking Dead”

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Most fans are probably already counting the days till season 3 begins for AMC’s mega-hit series, “The Walking Dead”. After the amazing season finale last week, we are all ready to see Michonne kick some ass next season.

Showrunner Glen Mazzara has already begun teasing the new season that kicks off next October. He recently did a conference call interview with a handful of journalists and explained what we can expect out of Season 3.

When asked about what we can expect from the band of survivors in new season, Mazzara spoke about the new character of Michonne.

Michonne is one of the lead characters in the graphic novel so we’re excited to finally introduce her. She is a loner, she’s a kick ass character and she’s very dynamic so we really see her as a very, very important addition to the cast. She’s a significant character and she’ll be carrying a lot of story so we’re excited about her.

We’re also excited about (Danai Gurira) who is the young actress who is going to play this role, so we’re lucky to have her and look forward to seeing what she does with it.

As we have discussed here at the site before, T-Dog’s lack of character development, well actually a lack of anything remotely resembling a storyline, and Mazzara has admitted to having the character left to the side. But he promises to develop the character more fully in Season 3.

You know what? The T-Dog question, I’m glad you’re asking that. I’ve been surprised at this because I’ve worked on shows before that have had characters in the background and have been on a slow burn. If you look at Dave Rees Snell’s character Ronnie from the Shield, that was a character that we brought along throughout that series and he had a very significant role at the end.

With T-Dog, I’ll admit, T-Dog has been off to the side and has been forgotten and part of my goal as showrunner was to really address developing Rick’s character and some other stuff. So poor T-Dog was left by the side and that’s something that now that he has survived the finale we’re going to correct. I think (IronE Singleton) has done a fantastic job of establishing a character and making people interested in him with just very, very little to say.

But you know, that’s the strength of the show. I think moving forward hopefully we’ll make it a strength and that’s a character we’re looking to develop in a significant way. So that’s a fair question and you know, we haven’t done our work yet with T-Dog but we’re going to roll up our sleeves and get to it.

Do you hate Lori? If so, you are not alone. Many find her irritating, incapable, and frustrating. She can’t seem to keep tabs on her own child, and causes many of the problems within the group. Mazzara addresses her character but says he doesn’t find her as irritating as the fans do.

I think Lori is a compelling and interesting character. I think she is realistic in a lot of ways and she’s certainly a character that people are talking about so I don’t find her irritating.

But I think it’s interesting that people are so focused on her and, you know, I think the work ahead of that is to see where in Season 3 we have to look at the Rick and Lori relationship a little more closely. She’s the one who put Rick and Shane in motion to try to kill each other and so that’s an interesting place for us to start and we’ll certainly examine that character. I just don’t know if we really need to start creating false speeds to make her more likeable. That’s not part of the plan for us.

AMC and the producers have announced several major storyline for the new season such as the casting of David Morrissey as the much-anticipated character of The Governor, as well as the prison as a location in the much of the upcoming season, and Danai Gurira as Michonne. Many are wondering if the prison will be only in season 3 or if it will be something we can expect to see for a while. Mazzara has confirmed that he sees the prison going longer than just the third season.

That’s a great question. Right now I do see that prison as a significant storyline for Season 3 and into Season 4. I do think that’s a major storyline. But as you know, we were on the farm for longer than perhaps people wanted even though there were reasons for that.

But I think what we want to do is make sure that that prison does not become claustrophobic. I think the farm played a little claustrophobic for people. The farm — now that the entire landscape has fallen to the zombie apocalypse and zombies are literally at the gate of the prison — if you see the graphic novel, that prison is really a very, very small safe corner and there’s a lot of danger around. So it won’t feel like we are bottled up in the same way that we were on the farm in Season 2.

So I do think that prison is a significant storyline but we’re interested also in opening up the world too. There are other factors out there in the world, other groups so I think that Rick’s group is really stumbling into a much larger world.

Tensions within our band of survivors have been growing throughout the series almost to the point that we wonder whether they will be destroyed by themselves or the zombies. Mazzara assures us that the zombies will not take a backseat and their threat will always be there.

Zombies will never take a back seat, okay. We will always have the human drama and we would like to introduce a significant human threat. We love writing the zombie material and I think those zombies are now fully integrated into the world. We’re not waiting for the zombies anymore to reach us. They are there; they are within our eyesight all the time and part of the landscape. So we expect there to still be a balance of zombie and human threat but the zombies will never take a back seat on this show.

For fans of the comic book series, the introduction of Michonne was about time. Mazzara talked about whether the show will start reflecting the fantastical nature of the graphic novel.

That’s a great question and let’s be honest- the reason that the character is cloaked at the end was because we had not cast the actress yet so that was a cheat there. But it’s interesting because we were thinking about that character during the casting process and we were just wondering how theatrical IS Michonne? That’s quite a theatrical entrance and that was something that we didn’t realize at the time.

But then yesterday we were in the writer’s room talking about her and her back story and a lot of the writers had very heightened pitches and my own sensibility is to keep the show grounded, to keep it gritty. That’s where I’m comfortable as a writer and as a storyteller.

So I do think that that’s an interesting character and that she feels like she stepped off those pages right into the show. I think that’s exciting. That’s a challenge for us but I think we know how to keep it real and keep it grounded because if it doesn’t feel real, I think the audience will not be able to put themselves in the immediate circumstances of the story.

Season 3 is set to begin in October and has been given an extended episode order of 16 full episodes.

The Hunger Games Was Almost a Television Series?

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Can you imagine The Hunger Games television series? No, I don’t mean they are thinking of creating one (although they might I don’t know) but rather, fans almost got a television series INSTEAD of the mega blockbuster hit film hitting theaters tonight at midnight (of which I will be in attendance).

According the NYDailyNews, Producer Joe Drake supposedly revealed at the Cinema Society’s post-premiere party for the picture on Monday night, that the project was almost adapted into a series for the small screen. Apparently this was a big reason on why the 2008 novel took so long to become a major motion film.

Although there was no reason given for why the switch was made from television to film, I’m pretty sure most people are probably happy with the decision.

The film hasn’t even premiered yet and it has already begun breaking records at the box office. It seems it will be one of the biggest pictures of the year.

The Hunger Games is the movie adaptation of the bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins. It is followed by the sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

The plot for the film is as follows:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the governing body, the Capitol, of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Katniss Everdeen volunteers as a tribute to save her sister from going in to the ghastly arena. She is joined by Peeta Mellark, a boy she knew who once saved her life.

You can see the official cast below:

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy
Willow Shields as Primrose “Prim” Everdeen
Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne
Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket
Lenny Kravitz as Cinna
Paula Malcomson as Mrs. Everdeen
Amandla Stenberg as Rue
Alexander Ludwig as Cato
Dayo Okeniyi as Thresh
Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove
Jacqueline Emerson as Foxface
Leven Rambin as Glimmer
Jack Quaid as Marvel
Donald Sutherland as President Snow
Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman
Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane
Latarsha Rose as Portia

The Walking Dead Season 2 Finale Swarms the Cable Ratings!

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AMC’s “The Walking Dead”, continues to garner high ratings. First it was broken in October 2011 with the season 2 premiere of the show. Clocking in 7.3 million viewers. In February, the show did it again, raising the bar to 8.1 million viewers for the mid-season premiere, the highest in cable history. Well, it was up until the season finale last Bloody Sunday. Again it has shattered its own basic-cable ratings for a second time this season. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show brought in 9 million viewers. A zombie show that draws in mindless zombies that infect and create more mindless zombies. Go figure.

As I take out my leather journal that contains the secrets of the future; dyed the color of police telephone box blue; I would like to issue a warning to any who have not watched AMC’s “The Walking Dead”, especially the season two finale.

Spoilers: You have been warned.

A herd is formed by the appearance of a helicopter. One moved towards it with purpose. others followed. Then they kept walking a straight line, not knowing who was following whom. It was like watching so many hipsters going towards the Apple store for their new iPad 3.

Now that Shane is dead, the invisible force field that protected the farm and all that dwell on it has weakened. I think it was powered by the undiscovered fission produced by high school drama. Nature of course abhors a vacuum, so an zombie herd immediately appears to fill the void that Shane’s homicidal tendencies has left behind. Could the season finale actually be about surviving a real zombie threat? Sweet Jeebus! This is one episode of “The Walking Dead” I did not see coming for once.

In true zombie genre fashion, everyone flips out and makes moves that are questionable to survival. It’s as if this is everyone’s first exposure to real zombies and has put them into shock.

Rick somehow gets flanked by zombies that were originally far behind him. Rick and Carl then run into a barn, thus getting Carl and himself boxed inside. Rick then lets zombies into the barn. Instead of running, casually walks to the ladder almost within arm’s reach of being killed. Carl then sets zombies on fire with kerosene, while he and Carl wait in the protective comfort of wood and hay shelter. They set the fire on the ground, so how could it possibly spread further?

Then there’s the rest of the group, who are unable to form coherent strategies without their genius leader Rick; or the sound of someone flipping out.

Team Humans first plan: Waste ammo and gas, driving around the farm in circles and shooting the walkers. The idea is to get the attention of the dead and lead them off the farm. Instead, let’s everyone drive, sow chaos and do donuts in the grass.

Team Humans second plan: Attempt to evacuate fifteen minutes after the walkers are first spotted.

Hershel does his best to stay as long as possible. He needs to have the farm. It’s his legacy, plus it’s always good to own land.

Lori can’t seem to keep a track of her child. So she holds up the evacuation to look for him some more. In fact, no one keeps an eye on Carl. It’s not as if they’re engaged in work all the time. Why can’t anyone keep an eye on the kid? Here’s an idea. How about give the kid a mentor, who passes on skills that he can later use to survive? When the kid learns all that he can, he’s released from that mentor and on to the next babysitter. If you want off babysitting duty, make the kid demonstrate a new skill with competence. Sorted!

Team Humans third plan: Drive away and hope for the best. There is no set meeting place or technology to help them communicate. The plague you see has somehow taken out all walkie-talkies and CB radios.

Team Zombies plan: Find live flesh and eat them. It’s worked out rather well. I hope they win.

Oh, and some supporting cast get eaten. Really, let’s stop the RV and park right outside a burning barn surrounded by zombies. Oh mister red shirt. I hardly knew your name.

Once the immediate threat are over, it’s time to sink back into drama. To save time, let’s just list them off.

Lori is mad at Rick for killing Shane in self defence.

– Yet Lori was also the one to tell Rick that Shane was a threat.

– She also went out of her way to explain to Shane that she is thankful for all the things he’s done to protect her and Carl thus far.

– Lori also goes out of her way to tell Shane that she doesn’t know who the father is of the unborn child within her, again giving Shane false hope.

Carol wants to be feel safe. To do this, she needles Rick with her nagging, while attempting to get Daryl to turn on Rick. You know, because he’s the leader they deserve, not the one that they need. In the awesome Batman sort of way.

Carl begins to cry knowing that his dad has killed Shane, even though he’s responsible for indirectly killing Dale. Stupid kid.

Rick lays out how their new situation will work, which is:

1. Everyone shuts up.

2. Everyone does as he says.

Everyone appears upset at this outburst and are shocked, as if they were oblivious to their own idiocy which causes it. It’s almost as if you can hear the gears of mutiny turning.

Instantly the force field is back up and no more real zombie threats are to be had.

While other plots may have appeared within the season finale; such as the television series first introduction to the sword-wielding heroine, Michonne, played by Danai Gurira. The best part of the finale is the finale shot. A backdrop of the prison, which in the gloom of the pale moon light, looks like Castle Hogwarts. If we’re lucky, maybe Snape will replace Shane.

First Image From CW’s Arrow Released

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The news regarding the CW’s upcoming television series, “Arrow” has been sparse. But today the CW released the first image from the show, featuring Stephen Amell and Oliver Queen/Green Arrow.

The series will be based on the comic books originally published by DC Comics. It was created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. Since the revival of comics of late, he has been popular among comic book fans and most writers have taken an urban, gritty approach to the character.

As the general story goes, Oliver Queen gets shipwrecked on an island and learns to survive using a bow. Over the course of years, Queen eventually makes it back to civilization and back to his life as a billionaire; who owns a mansion and a very unreliable yacht. You can see some of the character profiles that CW has released for the show here. There is no word yet on who is set to play the rest of the cast though.

Having problems reintegrating with his former life, Queen snaps and decides to renounce his playboy/celebutard ways by helping the weak and downtrodden. Instead of giving to charities or using his money and influence to help society, Queen instead takes on a mission to personally handle crime as a masked vigilante.

Armed only with his billions of dollars, access to the latest crime fighting technology, supporting cast of quirky yet over talented allies, and a crippling dependency on bows and arrows, Oliver Queen dons a mask and calls himself the Green Arrow.

The suit that Arrow will wear in his newest incarnation on television was designed by three time Oscar winning costume designer, Colleen Atwood.

“Arrow” pilot director/executive producer David Nutter said:

“When I directed the pilot for ‘Smallville,’ I knew that making Clark Kent relatable would be the key to audiences believing in him as a hero. ‘Arrow’ is a different show — darker and harder-edged — but it’s the same core idea. We’re creating a real, believable world in which Oliver Queen can do incredible things. Colleen Atwood’s great work on the Arrow costume reflects that effort.”

I will have to give them props. “Arrow” doesn’t look nearly as lame (at least in this image) as I expected the CW to make him. He kind of looks bad-ass but I think it is safe to assume that the show will have a ton of love interest drama and backstabbing that the CW is infamous for having in every one of their shows.

You can see the new image below:

The Walking Dead Season 3 Casting Revelation

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::::Spoilers Ahead if you haven’t seen the finale of Season 2::::

In the finale of the season 2 of AMC’s mega hit show, “The Walking Dead” a new character was introduced (if only briefly) that will be a major part of season 3. However, if you haven’t watched the finale yet, it would be wise to not continue on.

As promised by the show runner Glen Mazzara, the season 2 finale did indeed have several surprises that fans of both the show and the comic book series were sure to enjoy.

In the climatic season finale, Andrea (played by Laurie Holden) was about to be eaten by some very angry (or hungry) walkers when she is saved by the slice of a mysterious sword, which belongs to a character that fans of the comic book have been patiently waiting for since the beginning of the series. The scene pulls back to only reveal a cloaked female figure. The female is also oddly walking two walkers chained behind her like pets.

If you have read the books, you know this character is set to be Michonne, an incredibly bad-ass chick with a samurai sword. And yeah she could probably kick your ass.

Up until recently, the producers were keeping quiet on when this character would be revealed along with the identity of the actress that was set to play her. but following the season finale, in AMC “Talking Dead” show, the creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman revealed the identity of Michonne to be Danai Gurira.

You might know her from HBO’s drama set in New Orleans called, “Treme” since she has appeared in six episodes of the series. But she is a veteran actress of several television shows and movies.

Since the series is now over, we have to patiently wait for season 3 which has been set to have 16 episodes.

Along with Gurira, David Morrissey has been cast as the major antagonist for the show, The Governor and Michael Rooker will reprise his role as Merle Dixon, Daryl’s older brother.

You can read the official AMC press release about the casting of Michonne below:

AMC has cast actress Danai Gurira (Treme/The Visitor) in the coveted role of Michonne in its original series, “The Walking Dead.” Tonight’s season two finale first featured the iconic character who will reappear in season three of the AMC series. Michonne, a fan favorite from Robert Kirkman’s comic book series, is a mysterious woman armed with a sword.

“The Walking Dead” tells the story of the months and years after a zombie apocalypse, following a group of survivors who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The series goes on to explore the challenges of life in a world overrun by walkers, where the interpersonal conflicts often present a greater danger than anything else and over time, the characters grow willing to do almost anything to survive.

“The Walking Dead” received rave reviews from countless critics, both domestically and internationally. “Above all else, “The Walking Dead” hasn’t lost the most important ingredient in its strangely successful recipe: it’s thrilling” (The Hollywood Reporter). “…with Dead’s riveting cast of characters, the personal dynamics are almost as potent as the gory thrills” (US Weekly). “The Walking Dead is a feast. Dig in.”(The Guardian- UK). “It doesn’t even take three minutes to realize that this series is setting standards” (Der Tagesspiegel-Germany).

“The Walking Dead” secured a 2010 Golden Globe nomination for best television series and won the 2011 Emmy award for outstanding prosthetic make-up. It is executive produced by Glen Mazzara, Gale Anne Hurd, Robert Kirkman and Dave Alpert.

Filming for season 3 will begin in May and is set to begin the new season in October 2012.

Who Will Be The Next Death on The Walking Dead?

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::::Warning Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen season 2::::

AMC’s mega-hit show “The Walking Dead” is heading to its season finale (but thankfully it has been renewed!) and the body count of cast members is mounting. But just because major characters have already bit the dust, doesn’t mean fans can relax. Showrunner, Glen Mazzara, has promised even more losses for our group of survivors.

In the last two episodes of season 2 have seen the Rick’s group lose two of its pivotal members. Fans saw the shocking loss of Dale and then the not-so shocking, kind of had it coming, death of Shane the groups #2.

Mazzara said Thursday during a conference call with reporters,

“If you count up all the deaths, we’re on a big killing spree here. There’s more bloodshed coming. These characters have felt that they are safe on this farm and they’ve been wrong. I guarantee there will be bloodshed.”

With 13 remaining members of the group, it is pretty much a wildcard on who could be the next to join Sophia, Dale and Shane as casualties this season.

Starting with Rick, who is played by Andrew Lincoln, we can safely assume he is going to survive. Even in the original comic book, he is going 94 issues strong sans one limb. Mazzara has said that the deaths have helped develop Lincoln’s character the most. He went on to say, “[Shane’s death] is a statement about our main character, that he’s evolving as a person and as a leader and what he’s willing to do.” Basically, fans can reasonably rest assured that Rick won’t be killed off anytime soon.

It seems there aren’t any fans who still like Lori, played by Sarah Wayne Callies. There is still major backlash floating through the internet. “Can you watch Carl” has been used as her slogan in meme after meme questions her characters morality and worth to the group. Mazzara has stated that “nothing is over the line” for the writers (especially when the characters death is warranted or will propel the story forward.) When reporters asked the showrunner about mounting wishes for her death, he said, “no character is safe” and that writers “have examined at different times killing every character.” If even Dale wasn’t even safe this early in the show despite lasting much longer in the comic, we can expect that Lori might be right behind her ex-lover Shane in the death tole.

The last, but not so innocent child of the group Carl, played by Chandler Riggs, is one that the writers love writing for. “If he survives, Carl will grow up in a world where the pre-apocalyptic world will be a distant memory,” Mazzara says. Carl can easily put a shot through the head of zombie as proven with zombie Shane. “We do want to see Carl grow into that badass [in the comics],” Mazzara told reporters. Basically, it seems cruel to kill the last child off, so they will probably keep him.

One character that has made great strides in the series is Andrea played by Laurie Holden. Mazzara recently revealed a bit of a teaser regarding her character when he said, “If she makes it out of Episode 13, it will be interesting to see what she does.” Andrea has changed a lot over the last season from a cowering young woman who wanted to die, to a confident survivor who had a sexy romp with Shane. She has taken over Dale’s position in both the series and comics. It seems resonable to say she will continue on for a while in the band of survivors.

With Shane dead, the group for reals needs a new #2, and since Dwight isnt in this show, who better to take over than Daryl, played by Norman Reedus. Mazzara said regarding Daryl, “”If he survives the finale, I would certainly lean on that character heavily,” Mazzara says of Daryl’s Season 3 potential. “He’s a viable leader and a viable No. 2. … Daryl is the character, in a sense, that’s preadapted to the world and most qualified to survive.” Since Rick is going to need an assistant TO THE leader, Daryl seems to be safe as well.

Who doesn’t feel bad for Carol, played by Melissa McBride? Season 2 saw the unfortunate search for her daughter Sophia that ended with her being a walker in Hershel’s barn the entire time. Plus you kind of wanted to see her get it on with Daryl. However, promos for the final invasion in the finale see her literally pinned against the wall. She deserves to live!

T-Dog, played by Robert Singleton has been made fun of countless times by the internet as he seemingly does, well, nothing in every episode. But Mazzara has said that while fans may see him as a prop, his lack of a storyline is intentional. “In our minds, he’s very smart in that he keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t draw anyone’s attention … his agenda has been to survive,” the showrunner told The Hollywood Reporter. “There was an intention here of why this guy was quiet; in our mind, he is playing everything close to the vest. There’s a method to our madness.” For those of you willing to put up with the quite character, Mazzara promises that they will give fans a reason to love T-Dog. He could possibly bite the dust in an epically awesome way, or save the group in an equally epic way.

Which brings us to Glenn, played by Steven Yeun. Poor Glenn is the best at navigating through dangerous zombie filled situations. Because of his worth to the group in that way (I mean they do have to survive the farm and I can bet Glenn will be pivotal for that) it is reasonable to assume he is going to survive.

Hershel, played by Scott Wilson, probably had it right when he said he would die at his farm. Even though Hershel dies by the hands of the Governor in the comics, it doesn’t seem he will be making it off of his land in the series. And besides his daughter will probably get it on with Glenn and the two will be happy together anyway.

Glenn’s lady love, Maggie played by Lauren Cohan, could go either way. She could die along with Hershel or be saved with the help (and love) of Glenn.

Another one of Hershel’s daughters, Beth played by Emily Kinney, has already come INCREDIBLY close to suicide but she now appears to be taking inspiration from Andrea to heart. However, she doesn’t quite have a role in the group yet. Without a plausible function within the group it is easy to see her killed off without affecting the group to devastatingly.

Beth’s boyfriend at the time of the apocalypse, Jimmy, played by James Allen McCune, is pretty useful to the group, unfortunately for Beth who is increasingly uninvested in life with him. But he at least has a purpose to the group not to mention he can actually WATCH Carl. He would be a definite asset to the survivors so it would be easy to see him staying with or without Beth by his side.

Otis’ wife, Patricia, played by Jane McNeil, is incredibly handy when it comes to medical emergencies but unlike the rest of the group she has no weapons training therefore can’t defend herself. It is even questionable that she would leave Hershel’s side in an emergency. She could likely perish on her own when she can’t defend herself or an instance with Hershel while in peril.

Either way, we know that someone else is going to follow Sophia, Dale, and Shane out of the apocalyptic world the question is who. I think the biggest shocker would be Lori despite the ire her character causes for fans.

Be sure to watch the season finale this sunday entitled, “Beside the Dying Fire.”

You can watch the promo for the finale below: