Stephen Hopkins, director of The Ghost in the Darkness, Predator 2, and the reboot of Lost in Space, and TV series House of Lies and 24, is bringing to the big screen the momentous race of Jesse Owens, the black track and field gold medalist who showed-up Adolf Hitler’s racist regime by winning in the 1936 Olympics. The cleverly titled Race stars Stephan James (Selma) as Owens, the role previously given to John Boyega, who instead left the production to take on the role of Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Race co-stars Saturday Night Live alumnus Jason Sudeikis as Coach Larry Snyder, as well as Academy Award winners William Hurt and Jeremy Irons. Race is the kind of serious topic biopic the Academy traditionally looks for at Oscar time. If the film is the great drama that the story deserves, this could be a breakout role for both James and Sudeikis.
But can Sudeikis overcome his comedy acting past to drive this drama home? Many ex-SNL regulars have tried to break the SNL curse and jump into drama, including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Steve Martin, Albert Brooks, and Eddie Murphy, along with other comedy talents like Michael Keaton, Eddie Izzard, Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, Robin Williams, and Jonah Hill. Will the Academy recognize Race a year from now? Murray, Aykroyd, Martin, Brooks, Hill, Smith, Williams, and Keaton have all been nominated for acting Oscars, but no ex-SNL actor has won an acting Oscar, and only comedic actors Foxx and Williams were able to make the switch from comedy to drama and take home the big prize.
What we thought was going to be another ad for the DVD release of Gravity actually was a teaser for the return of Heroes to NBC. NBC released a few details to the press before the Olympics Saturday night teaser premiere, revealing a new Heroes TV series will be returning in 2015. NBC and creator Tim Kring will be holding the details close to their vests until Heroes Reborn draws closer, but we’re thinking there is no way to move the series forward and call it Heroes without at least Hayden Panettiere as invincible ex-cheerleader Claire Bennet, Milo Ventimiglia as power-borrower Peter Petrelli, Masi Oka as time traveler Hiro Nakamura, or the always awesome Jack Coleman as Claire’s dad, the horned-rimmed glasses guy.
NBC has ordered 13 episodes for the new mini-series, an entire season for any other property. Could this be a try-on that could be continued if the first year is successful?
“The enormous impact Heroes had on the television landscape when it first launched in 2006 was eye-opening,” said NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke. “Shows with that kind of resonance don’t come around often and we thought it was time for another installment. We’re thrilled that visionary creator Tim Kring was as excited about jumping back into this show as we were and we look forward to all the new textures and layers Tim plans to add to his original concept,” Salke continued. “Until we get closer to air in 2015, the show will be appropriately shrouded in secrecy, but we won’t rule out the possibility of some of the show’s original cast members popping back in.”
Masi Oka is currently on Hawaii Five-O on CBS, Hayden Penettiere is on Nashville on ABC, and Milo Ventimiglia is filming a series on the Crackle online network coming off of his Mob City mini-series in TNT. Ali Larter, who played Tracy Strauss and her mirror twin on Heroes, last filmed a mini-series on TNT and continues her string of big screen movie projects, and ex-cop Greg Grunberg is making a string of movies. Although he’s been seen on ABC’s Scandal, Jack Coleman also had a key role in the last season of USA Network’s Burn Notice last year. USA Network is an NBC sister network. Could that mean a possible connection to have Coleman’s character lead the new mini-series? Something like Agent Colson on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Coleman is our top pick, and we think HRG is the most likely driver of a new series. But why stop there?
Sporting his classic Robin Hood goatee, Sir Patrick Stewart helped launch the Olympic games this week as one of several torch bearers along the route leading to the opening ceremonies at 9 p.m. local London time today. The opening ceremonies will be re-broadcast in the States tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern or viewable live on the Internet via streaming video.
Not only did good Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise make an appearance, but Matt Smith did as well. If the creators of Doctor Who haven’t thought about working some images of the Eleventh Doctor into a coming episode, they better get on it.
How can you pass this up for the decades old, distinctively British, science fiction franchise?
But the Brits have not only tapped into fans of the Star Trek and Doctor Who franchises to get the world chuffed for the Olympics, they also tapped into their own Harry Potter franchise, with Ron Weasley actor Rupert Grint as torchbearer.
Finally, one other sci-fi/fantasy actor worked the torch relay this week. James McAvoy, who played Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series, but also played young Xavier/Professor X in X-Men: First Class, seemed to be getting into the spirit of the Olympic Games, too.
As with the Superbowl, All Star Game, and the Oscars, the ceremony for the Olympics is always fun and always a great big show. As we get closer to the opening ceremonies today, the big question is what other celebrities will pass the torch, and who will be the final person to light up the games in Olympic stadium. British sports legends aside, you can imagine the likes of Paul McCartney, Dame Judi Dench, Mick Jagger, Daniel Radcliffe, Hugh Laurie, Daniel Craig, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sir Kenneth Branagh, J.K. Rowling, Alan Rickman, Kate Beckinsale, Sir Christopher Lee, Emma Thompson, Tony Blair, Sir Elton John, Keira Knightley, David Tennant, Simon Pegg, Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton, Sir Roger Moore, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Robert Pattinson, Michael Palin, Clive Owen, Sir Richard Branson, Bono, Sir Ian McKellen, Gerard Butler, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and Sir Sean Connery as possible people to carry the torch for at least a few steps of the remaining leg of the Olympic flame’s journey.
And if you’re not keeping up on the finals for this year’s games and need someone to cheer for, how about these keeping an eye out for these promising Olympians?
Gabby Douglas in gymnastics (who has been working under coach Liang Chow, the coach that helped propel Shawn Johnson to a silver medal in the 2008 Olympics)
Lolo Jones in the 100-meter hurdles (winner of three NCAA titles and 11 All-American honors, indoor national titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 in the 60 m hurdles, with gold medals at the World Indoor Championship in 2008 and 2010; favored to win the 100 m hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but finished seventh; she’s the American record holder in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.72)
Miranda Leek in archery (2011 National Champion, 2011 World Cup gold medalist, 2012 US Nationals silver medalist)
Lisa Koll Uhl in the women’s 10,000 meter race (four-time NCAA Division One champion, current NCAA record holder in the 10,000 meters) and the sixth fastest American woman to ever cover that distance)
And of course, everyone will be watching to see if Michael Phelps can repeat his gold medal performance from 2008.
Since we just passed our 200,000th visit yesterday, I wanted to send a out a quick thank you to all of our readers, on behalf of the writing staff of borg.com. Thanks for helping borg.com get to this benchmark so quickly!
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If you’ve ever been to Comic-Con in San Diego, you know what can happen when more than 100,000 like-minded people get together to do something positive–have a great time! It may sound a bit hokey, but it ties into part of our mission that we stated here last June… to pull together all science fiction, fantasy, entertainment–all pop culture–and certainly all fans of these things, in one place. Here’s all of you on a map:
A special shout-out goes to our dozens of subscribers who read our updates each day (and if you don’t yet and want to join in and get daily updates check out the right column of the home page any time). And a personal thanks to Elizabeth, Art and Jason for all the great ideas, input, and all-out work.
Thanks again!
And… because we know you didn’t come here to read about us, we’re sharing the trailer for the highly anticipated time travel cop flick Looper, starring the great Bruce Willis, Joe Gordon-Levitt (a fan favorite actor who not only ushered us all into New Years’ this year, but is likely to be the busiest working actor of 2012, with key roles this year in The Dark Knight Rises and the biopic Lincoln) and Emily Blunt (who we loved in The Adjustment Bureau and The Muppets). And did I say it has time travel?
