Slice of SciFi News Briefs

The “Blade Runner Briefcase Set” is now available for around $54.99. It includes a limited edition numbered briefcase, digi-package 5-disc, collectible spinner car replica, unicorn figurine and film photos.

According to Middle East VarietyTurner Intl. will launch a cluster of local TV channels in India. The nets will be owned and operated through a joint venture with local entertainment firm Alva Bros. whose assets include Miditech a TV production company. Operation will start with the launch of a Hindi-language general entertainment channel at an unspecified time and be followed by other specialized nets, some potentially in other Indian languages., the trade paper said.

“Ratatouille” Showtime’s “Dexter” and the new ABC TV hit SF show “Pushing Daisies” are acknowledged by the American Film Institute (AFI) as part of the Best Of list for 2007.

“The Golden Compass” still making impressive inroads on the international market, while it had a dismal showing in the United States.

The Motion Picture Academy has selected the following films for Oscar consideration in the category of Best Visual Effects — “Beowulf,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Evan Almighty,” “The Golden Compass,” “Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix,” “I Am Legend,” “Live Free Or Die Hard” “National Treasure: Book Of Secrets,” “Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Ratatouille,” “Spider-Man 3,” “Sunshine,” “300,” “Transformers,” and “The Water Horse.”

Missing from the list are “Shrek 3,” “Enchanted” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”

Roberto Orci, co-writer of director J.J. Abram’s highly anticipated Star Trek movie, told SCI FI Wire, the SCI FI Channel’s official news site, that the tightly guarded story for the upcoming franchise reboot depends heavily on the appearance of original series star Leonard Nimoy.

“There were many, many elements of the story that we had talked about just theoretically if ever Star Trek were to come back,” Orci said in an interview in November. “There was lots of stuff we wanted to do, and that was a blessing. Normally you don’t have that much investment and research for a project you get hired to do. If you are a fan of [classic] Star Trek, there is a lot of unexplored history. With the original series, there was so much that could have come before it. It felt like it has been The Next Generation and The Next, Next Generation for so long, it seemed like a fresh thing to go back to the source and to go back to what happened before it.”

Read the full and enlightening article HERE.

After David Letterman’s surprise announcement that his production company, Worldwide Pants, would negotiate separately with the writers in the WGA and then Jon Stewart following the King of Late Night’s example — as well as the efforts of the WGA to try and develope deals on a network to network and studio to studio bases, the heads of Hollywood’s film and TV studios signed a statement of unity yesterday indicating they will stand firm against the WGA’s “divide and conquer” strategy.

Andy Serkis, who starred as Golum in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the “King Kong” remake, will reteam with the New Zealand director for a comic-to-film adaptation of “Tintin,” the story of a young reporter and world traveler who is aided in his adventures by his faithful dog Snowy and later accompanied by characters like Haddock, Professor Cuthbert Calculus and bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson. Like “Rings,” “Tinin” will come out as a trilogy with a different director for each. Jackson will direct the first movie, Steven Spielberg will helm the second and the third by a director yet to be named.

Each movie will utilize the 3-D performance-capture technology becoming so prevalent in film making these days.