Slice of SciFi News Briefs

“Speed Racer” starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman and Matthew Fox will be closing out this years Tribeca Film Fest on May 3. The annual event begins on April 23.

“Alvin and the Chipmunks” has become the fastest selling DVD of the year for its opening day garnering more than 2.6 million copies sold surpassing previous first-day record holders “I Am Legend” and “Enchanted.”

NBC announced this morning that it will be running online original webisodes of “Heroes” and “Chuck” from its official NBC Website beginning in July.

Not SF or genre-related but Molly Ringwald fans (and all 80’s geeks love Molly) will be happy to know that she has been tapped to return in front of the camera for the new ABC untitled sitcom from creator/exec. prod. Brenda Hampton (”7th Heaven”). The sitcom will also star “Smallville” alum John Schneider, fan favorite Ernie Hudson (”Oz,” “Ghostbusters”) and newbie Shailene Woodley who had a short stint on “The O.C.”

“Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon,” the new Chinese historical martial arts action film from Danny Lee opened in Beijing on April 1 to a huge, enthusiastic audience of diginitaries and common folk alike. Cost of the film was big for China standards coming in at over $20 million (USD). The movie is based on “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” by Luo Guangzhong, a tale of Zhao Yun, who lived during the Three Kingdoms period set in 220-265 A.D. There is currently no release dates for the film for any Western countries but that may change after the film debuts at the Tribeca Film Fest later this month.

Thousands of video clips from Paramount’s movie library — ranging from “Footloose” to “Clueless” — will be available inside the virtual 3-D online worlds of There.com, according to The Associated Press.

NBC’s “Heroes” returns on September 15 with an expanded third-season opener, however, the proposed prequel spinoff, “Heroes: Origins,” is officially in the toilet and has been flushed away.

Warner Bros. will develop Dan Simmons’ Hugo Award winning “Hyperion Cantos” book series for a major film feature franchise. The “Hyperion Cantos” series tells the tale of a space war and a planet named Hyperion, known for its electricity-spewing trees and its Time Tombs, as well as some large artifacts that are time travelers. The Time Tombs have a monsterous guardian called the Shrike. He impales all intruders on the limbs of metal trees.

Astronomers using robotic cameras dubbed “SuperWASP,” or “Wide Area Search for Planets,” have discovered ten new planets outside the Sol system, while a second team said they had found the youngest planet yet. This will add to the existing 270 extrasolar planets found thus far.

Steven Spielberg’s contract with Paramount is soon to end and every major studio on the planet is scurrying to try and woo the famed director to sign up to work on their lot. However, even though Spielberg and Paramount haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, parent company Viacom is convinced they have what it takes to secure the legendary filmmaker and keep him in their fold.

Hayden Panettiere (”Heroes”) and Justin Long (”Live Free or Die Hard,” “Galaxy Quest”) will voice the title characters in “Alpha and Omega,” an animated family feature whose lineup also includes Christina Ricci and Danny Glover. “Alpha and Omega” follows two bickering wolves — one a disciplined, Alpha-bred wolf (Panettiere) and the other a fun-loving, comical Omega wolf (Long) — who are captured and taken thousands of miles from their home.

Long has a full SF plate for the next view years as he is set to star in such big screen features as Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me To Hell,” “Planet 51″ with Dewayne Johnson and Jessica Biel, as well as non-genre films like “Patriotville,” “Serious Moonlight” with Kristen Bell and Meg Ryan, and “He’s Just Not That Into You,” a romantic comedy with a mega cast that includes Drew Barrymore, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Connelly.

Besides “Heroes,” Hayden will soon be seen, or rather heard in the animated film “Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil” voicing title character Red, and yes, another cheerleader in the big screen comedy “I Love You, Beth Cooper.”