A judge has ruled in favor of Fox over Warner Brothers in the studios’ litigation claiming conflicting rights to produce and distribute the long-awaited Watchmen film, based on the classic DC Comics’ graphic novel.

The rival studios had been preparing for a January 20 trial to settle the issue of which one had the copyright stake required to lawfully distribute the movie about a band of aging superheroes solving a final mystery in a cynical and dystopic America.

Judge Gary Feess issued a preliminary ruling that Fox owns a copyright interest extending at least to distribution rights. Watchmen was originally developed at Fox, which ultimately passed on the project, sending it into turnaround at other studios before WB greenlit it, apparently while Fox retained some interest in the project.

The court’s decision throws Watchmen’s future into limbo. The estimated $100 million Zack Snyder (300) action film had been planned for a March 2009 release. Sticking to that schedule will require a settlement between the two studios, likely a financial payoff by WB to Fox.

Watchmen, based on a graphic novel series written by Alan Moore, had been considered unfilmable, but its trailers have generated a lot of buzz.

— Carlos Pedraza

Singer and actress Eartha Kitt, who portrayed Catwoman in one season of the Batman series in the 1960s, died today in New York at 81 while under treatment for colon cancer.

A consummate performer, she worked in film, theater, cabaret, music and television over the course of seven decades. Along the way she garnered three Tony nominations, a Grammy nomination and two Emmy nominations.

She performed right up to the end of her life. She taped a PBS special six weeks ago in Chicago; that show is scheduled to air in February.

— Carlos Pedraza

Related Web Site

• Eartha Kitt’s Official Web Site

The unfortunate result of the Star Wars Holiday Special in the 1970s appears to have been insufficient as a cautionary tale to prevent George Lucas from approving the franchise’s move to the stage.

Lucas has signed off on production of “Star Wars: A Musical Journey,” a two-hour musical show set to John Williams’ Oscar-winning scores, reported E! Online.

The musical extravaganza is scheduled to premiere April 10 in London, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, synced to clips from all six Star Wars films, played in chronological order from Phantom Menace to Return of the Jedi.

After the United Kingdom, the musical will journey across Europe, including an exhibition of Star Wars collectibles, props, models, costumes and production art.

So far, no American performances have been scheduled. Thank God. Europeans may be more tolerant of tacky American entertainment (David Hasselhoff, anyone?) But the ill-fated Holiday Special — so bad Lucas has locked it away, never to be broadcast again — was as far as this franchise should’ve gone in making Star Wars more than a fun film.

— Carlos Pedraza

Disney’s number-crunchers have concluded the children’s fantasy genre may have petered out at the box office, so the studio has pulled out of the third planned installment in the Chronicles of Narnia series.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney and Walden Media cite budget and logistical reasons for the studio failing to exercise its option to co-produce and co-finance The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The third Narnia film, based on the novels by C.S. Lewis, was in preproduction and had been set for a May 2010 release. British director Michael Apted was signed to direct and returning cast members Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell had committed as well.

All that may now be in peril as Walden will have to attract another studio for the large investment to shoot the sequel. The last film, Prince Caspian, cost $200 million; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe cost $180 million.

Lion performed admirably at the box office, grossing $292 million in the United States and $453 million overseas. Caspian didn’t match that, bringing in a healthy but disappointing $141 million in North America and $278 million more overseas.

That downward trend, combined with increased costs, proved decisive for Disney, especially when considered with other recent disappointing grosses for other films in the genre.

The Golden Compass failed to light up the domestic box office, grossing only $70 million. While the film hoped to establish a new franchise, and did more than $300 million in business internationally, Warner Brothers and New Line Films decided to stop with the one film.

Hollywood had snapped up several fantasy properties after the success of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films, but few have lived up to those films’ promise.

Myself, I find audiences continue to be inspired by good stories that are well made. However, I don’t believe that Caspian and Golden Compass met that standard. Both suffered from shaky pacing. Caspian told its story very by-the-numbers with little of the awe and wonder of its predecessor.

Golden Compass fell prey to the difficulty in translating a complicated story within the confines of a feature-length film, as well as to religious objections to its anti-Church undertones.

— Carlos Pedraza

DoorQ.com has a Twitter feed you can use to stay on top of the latest scifi/horror/fantasy news that appears daily on the Web site. It’s easy to sign up if you’re already on Twitter:

1. Go to DoorQ’s Twitter page.
2. Click on the button at the top that says, “Follow.”
3. You’re done.

Not signed up for Twitter? That’s easy, too. When you first visit the DoorQ Twitter page, you’ll see a signup link there.

Sure the holidays are hectic but with most of the country buried under snow, what better way to pass the time than watching Battlestar Galactica’s Web series, “The Face of the Enemy,” online?

SciFi also offers an “enhanced” version of each webisode. The “enhancement” is a voice-over commentary from the series’ writer, Jane Espenson.

As of today, webisodes 1-4 have been released. The remaining six are scheduled to appear on the SciFi Web site on the following days:

• Episode 5: Wed., Dec. 24
• Episode 6: Mon., Dec. 29
• Episode 7: Wed., Dec. 31
• Episode 8: Mon., Jan. 5
• Episode 9: Wed., Jan. 7
• Episode 10: Mon., Jan. 12

SciFi releases each webisode at Noon EST/9 a.m. PST.

I’m planning to review the series halfway through, unless the pickings are too spare, and then again at the end. I know many of you prefer for the whole thing to be released before viewing, so I hope the review ends up being timely for you.

The final episodes of Battlestar Galactica begin again on January 16.

— Carlos Pedraza

Related Stories

• REVIEW: Premiere of ‘Galactica’ Web Series Features Gay Kiss
• PREVIEW: BSG Webisode Schedule and Reviews
• NEWS: About That BSG Man-Kiss

Two writer-producers from the lost, lamented Pushing Daisies are heralding a pop culture move from vampires to werewolves in a series under development for Fox called Bitches.

Five’ll get you 10 that if a dramedy about four women who also turn into wolves actually goes to series, it won’t be with that title.

Even so, the series’ parentage gives hope for the series, as it inherits the writing duo of Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, who were also co-executive producers of the recently canceled Pushing Daisies on ABC.

The idea for Bitches comes from writer Michael Dougherty (Superman Returns, X2: X-Men United).

Though 2008 has been all about the vampires (Twilight, True Blood), blood-suckers seem to go hand-in-hand with shape-changing canines in the new year. Twilight’s sequel, New Moon, will feature werewolves; True Blood features a character who changes into a dog (pretty close), and Benicio del Toro is set to appear in the remake of The Wolfman.

The Great Recession appears to be making horror fans out of all of us.

— Carlos Pedraza

The next wave of comics-to-film adaptations comes from Arcana Studios, led by Paradox, a scifi thriller starring Kevin Sorbo (Hercules, Andromeda) as a homicide detective working to solve murders committed with a mysterious M.O. — science.

The world of Paradox is a parallel Earth where magic is the dominant paradigm, and is based on a three-issue limited series published by Arcana. As reported in The Hollywood Reporter, it is the first of five films set to be produced by Arcana and Legacy Filmworks, based on the comic company’s titles.

Paradox is set to be directed by Brenton Spencer (Stargate Atlantis). The other projects include Chopper and Sundown, a Western vampire thriller.

Arcana also recently produced the animated Web series Red Lotus for Spike TV.

— Carlos Pedraza

Kate O’Hare’s Hot Cuppa TV blog features a two-part interview with Battlestar Galactica’s executive producer, Ronald D. Moore. He says the Star Trek franchise was ripe for reinvention as the original series had receded in the collective memory.

Moore, who worked on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, also said the producers of Enterprise misunderstood the original Trek. “I don’t think they were shooting at the right target.”

Moore also talks up the series pickup by the SciFi Channel of the Galactica prequel series Caprica.

You can read the whole interview here.

— Carlos Pedraza 

In 1988, David Gerrold’s “Blood and Fire” met an untimely death before weak-kneed producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Today, 20 years later, “Blood and Fire” rises like a phoenix in Star Trek: Phase II. And I got to help give it birth.

Download Now!

“Blood and Fire, Part 1” can be viewed and downloaded at the Web site for Star Trek: Phase II, starting today, December 20.

Like the original TNG script, Phase II’s episode pits the Enterprise against a mysterious contagion feared throughout the galaxy. As a writer and producer for the Phase II series (formerly Star Trek: New Voyages), I re-wrote the script by David Gerrold (“The Trouble with Tribbles,” The Martian Child) by setting it on Captain Kirk’s Enterprise rather than Captain Picard’s.

Most significantly, the original script’s almost casual reference to two minor gay crewmembers being together “since the Academy” became a full-fledged subplot featuring Kirk’s own nephew, Peter (introduced in the TOS episode, “Operation Annhilate”).

David Gerrold gave me free rein in the rewrite, though I strove to stay as true to his original concept as possible. However, I found the original’s blood transfusion metaphor for the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s too dated, so the story’s villains — and heroes, for that matter — got a major update. By the way, the episode guest stars Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar from TNG).

David was so intrigued by the possibilities in my rewritten script that he added more material, turning “Blood and Fire” into a two-part episode. Today’s release will be followed by Part 2 in 2009.

Some Shout-Outs

While Phase II is getting well-deserved praise for bringing this story back from the grave, I think it’s important to draw a direct line from “Blood and Fire” to another fan series that began regularly featuring gay characters in Star Trek way back in 2001, Star Trek: Hidden Frontier.

The gay storyline in Rob Caves’ groundbreaking and unprecedented series (now having spawned three spin-offs in his near-decade of production) unflinchingly tackled a number of social issues. I co-produced that series for two seasons, and wrote many of its episodes.

I joined New Voyages after my departure from Hidden Frontier, but many HF alumni followed me to help bring “Blood and Fire” to the screen at long last. Among them:

• Dave Berry, director of photography. Dave started out on Hidden Frontier as an assistant CGI artist.
• Jeff Hayes, graphic designer, set photographer, prop-maker and miracle-worker. He started his gorgeous design work on Hidden Frontier.
• Bobby Rice, who portrays Peter Kirk, the captain’s gay nephew. I first cast Bobby as Ensign Ro Nevin, also a gay character, on Hidden Frontier. The character proved so popular that he was spun off onto his own series, Star Trek: Odyssey.
• J.T. Tepnapa, who helped me cast the role of Peter’s partner, Alex Freeman, with a phenomenal talent, Los Angeles-based actor Evan Fowler. J.T. continues to play the role he originated on Hidden Frontier, Corey Aster, in the spinoff series, Star Trek: The Helena Chronicles. Aster and Ro were married in Hidden Frontier’s series finale in 2006. This summer, J.T. made his debut as Mister Sulu in Phase II’s upcoming episode, “Enemy Starfleet,” though he also appears briefly in a scene I wrote that was shot this summer and inserted into “Blood and Fire, Part 2.”
• Joel Bellucci never actually worked on HF but he was such a big fan that he helped publicize the show, garnering big attention at Dragon*Con, one of scifi’s biggest annual events. Joel is now visual effects supervisor for Phase II, and you’ll salivate at what he’s pulled off in “Blood and Fire”’s effects. Joel, a DoorQ contributor, as well, also has a small part in “Blood and Fire.”

So a final salute to the cast and crew of Star Trek’s two leading fan series. Today’s little bit of history couldn’t have happened without all of you.

Now, sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

— Carlos Pedraza

Frank Miller (300, Sin City) and Odd Lot Entertainment, who are bringing The Spirit to theaters this winter, may be in line to re-imagine the classic Buck Rogers scifi franchise for the big screen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter,  Miller is friends with John Flint Dille, who operates the family trust that holds the rights to Buck Rogers, considered the first big science fiction hero, based on a novel and comic strip developed in the 1920s.

Should the Dille Family Trust and Odd Lot come to terms, Miller would write and direct the Buck Rogers movie. Expect a darker interpretation of the once-campy franchise.

Buck Rogers has seen many different treatments over the course of nine decades, including comic strips, books, comic books, film serials, an ABC TV series in the 1950s, a feature film in the 1970s and an NBC series in the 1980s.

Odd Lot is negotiating for the movie rights with Nu Image/Millennium, which obtained the rights earlier this year from the Dille Family Trust.

— Carlos Pedraza

With its new director officially signed, Summit Entertainment announced a November 20, 2009, release for New Moon, the sequel to the teen vampire saga, Twilight.

As reported by E! Online today, stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are expected to reprise their roles as human Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen. Director Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) signed on yesterday and was endorsed by Twilight author Stephanie Meyers.

Still no confirmation of earlier reports that New Moon and the following sequel, Eclipse, would be shot back to back to save money.

Also scheduled to open that day are Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes and the Farrelly brothers’ Three Stooges remake.

— Carlos Pedraza

Acclaimed British actor-director Kenneth Branagh has confirmed he’ll be directing a film version of the popular Marvel Comics character, the Norse thunder god Thor.

After two months of speculation, Branagh told MTV.com he welcomes the opportunity “to work on a story about one of the immortals, gods, extraordinary beings, inter-dimensional creatures.” Marvel’s take on the character weaves together “science fiction, science fact and fantasy ... in a brilliant way,” he added.

So far there’s nothing but speculation about who would take on the role of the thunder god, Branagh said. “Someone sensational is going to play the part but it is early days.”

Thor would follow Marvel's successful Spider-Man franchise, last summer's Iron Man blockbuster and the upcoming Avengers movie. Oh yeah, and the recent mediocre second try at The Incredible Hulk and ho-hum Punisher sequel.

— Carlos Pedraza

Stargate Universe, SciFi Channel’s younger-skewing, Voyager-like third installment in the Stargate franchise, has a new commander, Dr. David Rush, to be played by Scottish actor Robert Carlyle.

Carlyle is perhaps best known for his role in the comedy, The Full Monty, which went on to become a success on Broadway as well, and for Trainspotting. He appeared most recently in 24: Redemption on Fox.

As noted today in The Hollywood Reporter, SciFi is expected to order a 20-episode season of SGU from MGM TV. The new series — reportedly edgier and darker than its SG-1 and Atlantis predecessors — is slated for production starting in February in Vancouver, B.C. Its two-hour premiere is expected next summer.

SGU centers on a group of soldiers, scientists and civilians who must fend for themselves after escaping from an attack through a Stargate. They end up on a mysterious Ancient ship in an far-off, unexplored region of space. Carlyle’s character, Dr. Rush, works to unravel the mysteries and return his people home; he may also have some ulterior motives.

SciFi’s original programming chief, Mark Stern, praised Carlyle’s “depth, intelligence and complexity [he brings] to his roles, which will fit perfectly with the fresh, new reinvention of this franchise.”

With a well-known, international actor in the lead, SciFi plans for the rest of the series’ roles to go to younger, unknown actors.

Like SG-1 and Atlantis, SGU will be written and executive-produced by Brad Wright and Robert Cooper. Atlantis was recently canceled after five seasons.

One hopes SGU doesn’t make the same mistakes as Star Trek: Voyager, based on a similar premise.

— Carlos Pedraza

Turns out the story of the Kentucky high school junior arrested on terrorism charges for a story he allegedly wrote about zombies taking over his school wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

As you might’ve noticed from my absence these past couple months, I haven’t been around DoorQ. I’m trying to catch up on articles filed while I was away. Among them was this old news item, posted back in October by our own doorQ Staff of Might and Power (I think he and Tannhauser are frightfully co-dependent or something. Not that there’s anything wrong with that), as well as by the scifi Web site, io9:

[William] Poole, a junior at George Rogers Clark Highschool in Winchester, Ky, wrote a short story about a zombie invasion. His grandparents discovered the story, turned it over to police, who arrested Poole for making second-degree felony terrorist threats.

Hold Off on the Outrage, Though!

Such a story naturally engenders free-speech outrage amongst we Commie-Liberal-Homo-types, as reflected in the 10 comments that followed the DoorQ post. As a recovering journalist myself, I’m always ready to puff up with righteous indignation, but a few things set off my bullshit meter, namely:

1. The source of the story, LEX-TV, an NBC affiliate in Lexington, Ky., was undated on its Web site. Bad form. Time/date stamps are de rigueur.
2. One of the comments noted, correctly, that the arrest happened nearly 3 1/2 years ago, not two months ago.
3. The same comment noted, incorrectly, that the boy’s $5,000 bond was paid for by CNN. News organizations don’t typically do that sort of thing.
4. The same comment noted, also incorrectly, that the boy’s trial had just begun and that’s why the story was back in the news. It also chided the justice system for being so slow. That much time rarely unfolds between arraignment and trial, unless you’re R. Kelly, and there are extraordinary circumstances.

The truth, and young William Poole’s fate, turn out to be a bit more complicated, as a Google search swiftly revealed.

No Zombie Story

Despite Poole’s quote at the time of his arrest, the writing that got him into trouble wasn’t anything he submitted to school, or even planned to. And it wasn’t about zombies. They were stories chronicled in his personal journal, which had been discovered by Poole’s grandparents. The grandparents alerted authorities. 

While it’s easy to pile onto the “fascist” sheriff who went on to arrest Poole, be real for a second. If you were a law enforcement official approached by a boy’s grandparents concerned he might be planning to shoot a bunch of people, wouldn’t you check it out?

Did Kentucky officials take it too far? Possibly. Did they try to criminalize what should be free speech? Definitely. Should they be held accountable for that? Sure.

Performance of the Judicial System

It hasn’t taken more than three years to dispose of this case. Poole was released on bail, as reported, on a bond for $5,000, in March 2005. The bond was paid, not by CNN, but by a donor interested in the civil rights implications of the case.

Poole, however, didn’t turn out to be the First Amendment poster boy we may have wanted. Days after being freed on bail, he violated one of the terms of his release by going onto school property — he was spotted accompanying a friend to pick up the friend’s sibling at an elementary school. Back to the hoosegow for contempt of court, not for the original terrorism charge.

A grand jury reduced the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor on July 14, 2005, after which Poole pled not guilty. However, Judge Brandy Oliver Brown found the grand jury indictment failed to state an actual criminal offense; Poole had committed no overt act.

See, folks? The system works. Even in the supposed “stronghold of religious zealotry and ignorance” that is Kentucky. It would’ve worked even faster than five months if Poole hadn’t been so dumb as to violate his bail terms.

Poole was released August 7, 2005, with all charges dropped. He remained on probation only because of the bail violation.

What We’ve Learned

For as much as eight years under an administration hostile to civil rights should make us ready to stand up for our tattered freedoms, I think it’s important to realize the foundation remains strong enough to help us resist such attacks.

We don’t need to leap to the conclusion that all authorities are fascistic. After tragedies like Columbine and Virginia Tech, they shouldn’t casually shrug off possible threats. In this case, even the assistant county attorney, John Keeton, admitted:

It is not at all clear that the legislature contemplated such a crime as ‘Attempted Terroristic Threatening.’... [W]hile the alleged conduct of Mr. Poole is very disturbing, it does no justice to our system, or to Mr. Poole, to try him on a charge that strains statutory interpretation.

Certainly, Poole’s treatment was outrageous from a free-speech standpoint, but it still serves us well to be skeptical about how we identify and portray our villains, and then about how quickly we should pile onto them. Outrage should be tempered with a desire to seek the truth — something more complicated than our venting spleens would want.

— Carlos Pedraza

Other Links

• “Kentucky Court Drops Charges Against Teen for Writing in Journal,” PEN Center USA.
• “NEWS: Teen Arrested for Writing Zombie Story,” DoorQ.com

Fifteen films are on the short list for the Visual Effects Oscar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced.

The semifinalists are, alphabetically: 

• Australia
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
• Cloverfield
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Hancock
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army
• The Incredible Hulk
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Iron Man
• Journey to the Center of the Earth
• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
• Quantum of Solace
• The Spiderwick Chronicles

The Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, which selected the semifinalists, is due to narrow the list to seven early next month. On January 15, the full Visual Effects Branch start viewing 15-minute excerpts of the seven finalists; then members will nominate three films for final Oscar consideration. All the Oscar nominations will be announced Thursday, January 22, with the awards ceremony scheduled for February 22.

Carlos’ Picks

For finalists: Australia, Narnia, Cloverfield, Benjamin Button, Dark Knight, Iron Man, Indiana Jones.

For the final nominations:Benjamin Button, Iron Man, Dark Knight.

Hey, what do I know?

— Carlos Pedraza

Director Chris Weitz has officially accepted Summit Entertainment’s offer to direct New Moon, the sequel to this fall's blockbuster film, Twilight.

Deadline Hollywood Daily reports Weitz’s ascendance follows rumblings at Summit against Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, whose opening weekend box office made her the best-performing female director in history. She was fired, officially, because there wasn’t enough preproduction time to realize her creative vision. Summit wants the sequel to go before the cameras in the spring.

Twilight author Stephanie Meyers herself released a statement endorsing Weitz’s selection as director and throwing Hardwicke a bone for her work on the first film.

Weitz, director of About a Boy and The Golden Compass, promptly penned a letter to reassure fans that he would take care of their favorite franchise. He wrote, “For fans of the books ... this may come as an unexpected twist. So I want to write ... to give you reason to hope for and expect the best.”

Weitz goes on to cite his experience over the past decade of adapting “complex and involved works of literature” that respected and responded to the feelings of the fans of those works. Other comments by Weitz:

• On Catherine Hardwicke: He says he’s a fan of her work but had nothing to do with the decisions that resulted in her firing.
• About whether a male director can capture the perspective of the teenage girl main character: “Emotion is universal and ... my work has often involved working with some of the most talented actresses in the world.”
• Full text: You can read the full text of Weitz’s open letter to fans here.

The letter was published on Meyers’ Web site yesterday, along with her own endorsement. She, too, credited Hardwicke’s “distinct, authentic voice” in Twlight but got straight to the point praising Weitz. She especially talked up his screenplay/adaptation and direction of the Nick Hornby novel, About a Boy, which she called “one of my favorite movies of all time.”

Neither Summit, Weitz nor Meyers commented on the reported possibility that two sequels, New Moon and Eclipse, would be shot back-to-back.

— Carlos Pedraza

Related Stories

• NEWS: Chris Weitz Reportedly Mulling Offer to Direct ‘Twilight’ Sequels
• NEWS: Twilight Sequel: “No Twinks, Please...”
• NEWS: ‘Twilight’ Director Hardwicke Won’t Return for Sequel

Vermont filmmaker Matt Bucy spent two weeks on the set last October of Star Trek: Phase II’s newest episode, “The Child,” shooting footage he’s assembled into a first-draft documentary.

“Behind the Scenes: The Child” is a 5 1/2-minute video featuring the filming of the award-winning fan series and interviews with some of the crew, including Phase II creator James Cawley.

“The Child” is a teleplay written by Jon Povill for the aborted 1970s TV relaunch of Star Trek. Povill served as story editor for that show and went on to work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

During the TV writers’ strike in 1988, producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation changed the characters in Povill’s script and produced it for that TV series. Povill wanted to see his teleplay produced as he wrote it, and Cawley offered him the chance to direct it for Phase II.

Full disclosure: I worked as story editor for Phase II’s production of “The Child,” as well as 1st assistant director. That’s me you’ll hear yelling a lot throughout the mini-documentary. Sorry for that. Filmmaking, I’ve come to learn, involves many raised voices.

Bucy says this first effort is only a sampling of a longer documentary he’s planning about production of “The Child.”

— Carlos Pedraza

Don’t Forget

Star Trek: Phase II is releasing Part 1 of the episode I co-wrote with David Gerrold, “Blood and Fire,” on Dec. 20. More information at the Phase II Web site.

Related Stories

• FIRST LOOK: Digging STAR TREK: PHASE II’s ‘Blood and Fire’
• DRAGON*CON: Star Trek ‘Blood and Fire’ Teaser Online Now

The first of 10 new webisodes of Battlestar Galactica premiered on SciFi.com today, featuring a long-awaited revelation of male gay characters on the popular TV series, and raising some new questions following the show’s depiction of Earth in the recent mid-season finale.

In a quick character moment on the Web series, “The Face of the Enemy,” Lt. Gaeta (Alessandro Jiuliani) exchanges a peck on the lips with his ostensible boyfriend, Lt. Hoshi (Brad Dryborough), before departing on R&R aboard a raptor with two Sharon-model Cylons and other personnel.

On their way to relax on the Zephyr, “Cylon hostiles” appear and the fleet — including Gaeta’s Raptor — jump away. But when the ship reappears in normal space, the rest of the fleet is nowhere to be found. End of webisode.

Apart from his previously asexual behavior (a big clue, I suppose, but the musical numbers in Sickbay last season were the real giveaway), Juliani and Dryborough acquit themselves well in a scene clearly calculated to “not be a big deal about teh gayz.”

In other story developments, the Web series raises some more interesting questions:

• Set just a few days after discovering Earth, what’s the fleet doing just hanging out?
• Cylons appear to be integrated to some extent aboard the Galactica?
• Why would Cylons need R&R on a human ship?
• In answer to one of my questions last season (see “Quibbles and Tidbits” in my review of “The Hub”), how many “Cylon hostiles” are left after the big battle in which the main Resurrection Ship was destroyed?
• How did they find Earth?

— Carlos Pedraza

 Related Stories

• PREVIEWS: BSG Webisode Schedule and Reviews for the release schedule of more webisodes; SciFi promises to webcast new episodes every couple of days through January 12.
• NEWS: About That BSG Man-Kiss

Fresh from firing Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, Summit Entertainment has reportedly offered the helm of the blockbuster film's sequel, New Moon, to Chris Weitz.

According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Weitz, director of About a Boy and The Golden Compass, is mulling over Summit’s offer to make the next two films in the Twilight series, New Moon and Eclipse, back to back. Golden Compass, while not a box office success domestically, had the kind of look Summit wants for the Twilight films.

While Summit hasn’t publicly confirmed its offer to Weitz, the Web site notes that the studio’s president of production, Eric Feig, and Weitz are “longtime pals.”

Twilight’s box-office success — and Summit’s first real franchise — hasn’t been without casualties. First to go was director Hardwicke, supposedly because of creative differences that didn’t give her enough time to do adequate preproduction to realize her vision. As I reported earlier this week, the scuttlebutt at Summit was that she was too difficult on set.

Next to go was actor Taylor Lautner, who played werewolf-to-be Jacob. In New Moon, Jacob’s transformation turns him into a physically bigger human and Lautner is apparently too small.

Deadline Hollywood Daily points to a potential double standard in an offer to Weitz (who also produced American Pie), who walked off the set of Golden Compass, citing the epic’s technical challenges and his worry about being attacked by the books’ fans.

Weitz faces the same challenges in the Twilight sequels. Apparently, having a difficult director is OK if he’s a man but not so much if you’re Catherine Hardwicke.

— Carlos Pedraza

Related Stories

• NEWS: ‘Twilight’ Director Hardwicke Won’t Return for Sequel
• NEWS: TWILIGHT Sequel: "No Twinks, Please..."

Classic Star Trek comics from the 1980s and 1990s are coming to the iPhone thanks to an app from IDW Publishing.

The first batch of comics are a collection of comics written by popular author Peter David. The $0.99 app, available from Apple’s App Store, allows viewing by sliding a finger across the screen, or selecting transitions like slide, fade and curl.

The first release is from Star Trek #13, “The Return of the Worthy: Part One,” by Peter David, and is viewable on both the iPhone and iPod Touch running at least version 2.0 of the operating system.

— Carlos Pedraza

IDW offers a variety of comics for the iPhone/iPod Touch, including adaptations of Flash Gordon and Manga versions of Oz stories.

Catherine Hardwicke’s super-success hasn’t won her any points with Twilight’s studio, Summit Entertainment.

Amid talk that she was “difficult and irrational” during production of teen phenom Twilight,” Catherine Hardwicke won’t be directing the sequel of the new franchise, according to Deadline Hollywood Daily.

The film, made for a paltry $35 million by independent Summit Entertainment, has already earned more than $160 $138.6 million, leading to a quick green light for its sequel, New Moon, based on the next book in the teen vampire series by Mormon author Stephanie Meyer.

UPDATE Variety’s version of the story describes a tidier disagreement between Hardwicke and Summit. My take: Summit couldn’t have been happy with Hardwicke if they ejected her so easily after such a successful launch of a new franchise. Michael Bay is an ass, too, but you don’t see studios firing him so much. YMMV. 

The official word from Summit is that its aggressive timeline for release of the sequel “does not work with Ms. Hardwicke’s required prep time to bring her vision of the film to the big screen.” Hardwicke’s filmography includes the acclaimed feature Thirteen.

Summit is reportedly considering producing New Moon and the next book in the series, Eclipse, back to back in order to hold down costs.

Ugly talk inside Summit has branded Hardwicke — the female director with the most successful opening weekend in history — as “difficult” and “irrational,” and pinning the success of Twilight, and its rich visuals, instead on cinematographer Elliot Davis during principal photography and editor Nancy Richardson in post-production.

I’m amazed they’re not blaming Hardwicke for the lame stripper glitter effect when Edward exposes his bare chest to direct sunlight.

Deadline Hollywood Daily notes this announcement comes in the middle of Hardwicke’s European press tour with the cast where she’s sure to face intense questioning about why she’s being dumped. Awkward much?

One source says Hardwicke will stick with the tour nonetheless: “Catherine is the consummate professional.”

— Carlos Pedraza