Science Fiction Ratatouille

Guillermo del Toro’s not missing any opportunities to flack his new vampire novel series The Strain, which he co-wrote with Chuck Hogan. First came news that Buffy alumna Marti Noxon and her partner, Dawn Parouse Olmstead (Prison Break), are working on a TV adaptation.

Now del Toro (with Hogan) chimes in himself with a thoughtful rumination on the sources and enduring popularity of the bloodsucker genre in an op-ed piece in The New York Times. Some excerpts:

[Updated: The Hollywood Reporter says the deals for Katey Sagal, Maurice LaMarche, Tress MacNeille, John DiMaggio and Billy West all closed with 20th TV on Friday. "We are thrilled to have our incredible cast back," Futurama creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen said in a statement. "The call has already gone out to the animators to put the mouths back on the characters."]

Good news, everyone!

Remember that report that Fox had sent out a casting call to replace the voice actors in the newly resurrected Futurama episodes that will air soon on Comedy Central?

Seems it was a bargaining ploy after all.

Endeavour astronauts deployed a set of satellites as NASA cleared them for a Friday landing.

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata is craving the hometown taste of fresh sushi after months in space.

An internationally popular writer-director wants to tell a story about a priest’s fall from moral grace. How best to put across such a story?

Well, if you’re Park Chan-wook—the South Korean filmmaker behind Old Boy and the Vengeance thrillers—you very loosely adapt Emile Zola’s Therese Raquin, have the priest become a blood-drinking, wife-coveting vampire and call the resulting film Thirst.

Eureka: It’s Not Easy Being Green
Air Date: July 31, 2009 @ 9 PM on Syfy

Tempers and tensions run high as Eureka hosts long-term rival Area 51 in their bi-annual Eureka-fied bowling tournament. When a series of escalating pranks turns deadly, Carter (Colin Ferguson) finds himself chasing down a creation of blob-lical proportions.
Guest Stars: [...]

Post from: SF Universe

The shuttle mission that didn’t get off the ground until its sixth scheduled launch attempt earlier this month made it home much more smoothly, landing this morning during its first opportunity to do so. Endeavour returned to Earth at 10:48 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), touching down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida under blue skies. [More]

The shuttle mission that didn’t get off the ground until its sixth scheduled launch attempt earlier this month made it home much more smoothly, landing this morning during its first opportunity to do so. Endeavour returned to Earth at 10:48 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), touching down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida under blue skies. [More]

Remember that awesome re-creation of Flynn’s Arcade from 1982’s Tron at Comic-Con we told you about last week? A fan has posted a terrific YouTube video of the entire experience, which you can view after the jump.