‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ Success May Expand the Universe

Pacific Rim was successful enough to spawn a sequel. If Pacific Rim: Uprising is successful, it could spawn an entire universe.

Not only would fans get a third installment of the movie and more comic books, fans might get to see the Jaegers take on some iconic monsters from different universes (Think: “King of the Monsters”)

When Uprising director Steven S. DeKnight visited New York Comic Con in October, he said that not only will the new action film set up a potential third installment, he hinted that the next PR movie could be the key to expanding into other worlds.

Matt Smith Loved Series 5 as Much as We Did

The outgoing 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, talked to Wizard World Comic Con, according to DoctorWhoTV, and talked about his favorite time on DOCTOR WHO.

“For me, the best storytelling was in series five. It had great adventure and great clarity and I loved that whole idea about the Pandorica and the Big Bang. It was the one I connected with most. Looking back I think some of my best work was in my first series because I was actually taking real risks and that was a real moment.”

Matt was also partial to the speeches his Doctor got to make in series five, citing his favorite: “I think it has to be when I talking to the spaceships in ‘The Pandorica Opens.’”

When asked about series six, Matt said:

“I think in terms of revelations, River being Amy’s daughter was a bit ‘What the hell?!’”

I have to agree with him there; the River reveal was a bit out there — no matter how much groundwork was laid. I think my biggest problem with River’s parentage was/is that I don’t believe that’s what Steven Moffat had in mind when he came up with the character. I cannot believe that he said to himself, “This River gal will some day turn out to be not only the Doctor’s wife, but the daughter of a couple of his future companions!”

The Grand Moff may be a master planner — see Amy’s arc — but I doubt he’s that good!

Moffat Dismisses DOCTOR WHO Ratings ‘Decline’

It was Oscar Wilde who said, “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

DOCTOR WHO show-runner Steven Moffat seems willing to take a page from the Irish wit when it comes to dealing with all those stories in the British tabloid press about DW’s supposed ratings problems.

A reader of Doctor Who Magazine asked Moffat about the negative headlines, and the executive producer wrote:

“‘Doctor Who continues to be a massive hit’ is not a headline. ‘Doctor Who in ratings crisis’ is. Perversely, so long as Doctor Who is huge, those newspaper stories will continue. I’ll start worrying that there’s a problem when people stop trying to pretend that there’s a problem. So long as we’re click-bait for the papers and bloggers, we’re just fine. Highest-rated drama of the year – highest-rated drama on Christmas Day. Only the insane would quote that as evidence for decline.”

(via kasterborous.com)

DOCTOR WHO: Escape From Trenzalore

As wonderful as the last stand of the 11^th Doctor was, there are still some DOCTOR WHO fans who insist on being confused by the details of “The Time of the Doctor,” including that whole “the Doctor’s tomb is on Trenzalore” business, rather than simply accepting the message of virtually Matt Smith’s entire run: “Time can be rewritten.” So that’s what he did.

No, these folks insist on some explicit timey-wimey explanation for the Doctor visiting his own grave/not grave. Fortunately, executive producer Steven Moffat has devoted a column in the current issue of Doctor Who Magazine to addressing the issue of whether “The Time of the Doctor” contradicts “The Name of the Doctor.”

Famous Last (and First!) Words — DOCTOR WHO Edition

The clever folks over at ComicBookMovie.com have put together a splendid infographic that depicts the first and last lines of every incarnation of the Doctor, from William Hartnell to Peter Capaldi — and yes, even the War Doctor.

While I do have a soft spot for David Tennant’s “I don’t want to go,” I have to say my favorite farewell is Matt Smith’s, because I feel the same way he does: I don’t want to forget a moment of the time when he was the Doctor.

Which are your favorites? Have you seen every regeneration?

Nobody Likes to Regenerate, But…

With Matt Smith’s Doctor about to regenerate in a matter of days in the Christmas special “The Time of the Doctor,” DOCTOR WHO honcho Steven Moffat describes how he approached the important sequence for the Time Lord he created — no matter which number he is/was.

Moffat told SFX magazine:

“I was trying to think about it from the point of view of what it would be like if someone told you, ‘When you wake up tomorrow morning, you’ll still be alive, but you won’t be the same. You will like different things, you will sound different, you will look different, and have a different temperament.’ That would be utterly terrifying… I think that’s what contemplating regeneration must be like for the Doctor. So there’s an element of that, but because it was played that way the last time [with David Tennant] we wouldn’t play it the same way this time — that would just be wrong.

“There’s a lot of humor in this one, because Matt’s Doctor has been a funny Doctor, and if you’re going to make people miss him then just remind them how funny he is… He should be as he was, and what you will miss is not him crying — I think the danger is if you cry the audience don’t. It’s about ‘This is the last hurrah. These days will not come again.’”

Sounds like this is going to be a very Matt Smith-like changeover — part sad, part funny — and all together fantastic!

Matt Smith IS… the 13th Doctor???

Despite what he’s said in the very recent past, DOCTOR WHO show-runner Steven Moffat now insists that Matt Smith is not the 11^th Doctor, but rather the 13^th and final incarnation of the Time Lord.

Moffat told the Radio Times:

“We’ll find out that Matt Smith is actually the 13th Doctor. Although everyone knows that the Doctor can only regenerate 12 times. The 12-regenerations limit is a central part of Doctor Who mythology – science fiction is all about rules, you can’t just casually break them. So if the Doctor can never change again, what’s Peter Capaldi doing in the Christmas Special?”

Huh?

Moffat Warns the Doctor Is Out of Regenerations

War Doctor

Run, you clever boy! Show-runner Steven Moffat has found a new way to delight torture DOCTOR WHO fandom: by playing with the Doctor’s regenerations. He knows there’s enough wiggle room to fuel all sides of an argument until the end of the world, so he’s taking the hot potato and running with it!

In the wake of the events of the 50^th anniversary story, “The Day of the Doctor,” the question of exactly how many regenerations the Doctor has left is wide open — meaning Moffat doesn’t have to work very hard to send Whovians into paroxysms of despair and joy.

Steven Moffat on DOCTOR WHO: the Wilderness Years

When Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred marched the Seventh Doctor and Ace off into the proverbial Perivale sunset at the end of “Survival” back in 1989, fans had no way of knowing that DOCTOR WHO would be off the air for the next seven years before popping up again in America as, of all things, a TV-movie on the Fox channel. And then it went away again. And then it came back again in 2005.

The series’ current showrunner, Steven Moffat reflected on the long hiatus and its effect on the legacy of DOCTOR WHO with Radio Times.

“That gap is important. It confers something very special on this most special of all shows: immortality. Doctor Who, for once and for all, is the show that comes back. Axe it at your peril, someone like me is going to call you a fool, and lots of people like you are going to read along and nod.

“Moffat also remarked that the audience “just said no” in way that had never happened in British television before, meaning that the programme “just kept on going.”

“While the BBC folded its arms and shook its head, there were books by the likes of Russell T Davies, Mark Gatiss and Paul Cornell. There were audio adventures, starring all the old Doctors. There was an action-packed American telefilm, and endless rumours of Hollywood movies. Doctor Who Magazine, whose purpose was to document the making of the TV show, carried on perfectly happily without the TV show being made.”

I would hardly say we fans were “perfectly happy” with no show being produced during the wilderness years, but we did get by during the production hiatus.

Moffat’s point, however — and I agree with him — is that fandom did not need a steady flow of new stories in order to continue loving what we already had. In fact, it probably deepened our nostalgia for what we once had. I also believe the fallow years were responsible for the reassessment and rehabilitation of the maligned McCoy and Colin Baker years.

It’s like that old song lyric: “You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.”

Why Does Snowpiercer Repel Me?

Can someone set me straight on Snowpiercer? The upcoming Bong Joon-ho-directed movie about the dregs of humanity living on a single train that endlessly circles an Ice Age-ravaged world is getting rapturous early buzz, especially in places overseas where people have actually seen it. So why am I planning to avoid it?

Snowpiercer sounds to me like a flat-out stupid premise, and the trailers — like this one, from France —  look as dull as the film’s muted color palette. What’s wrong with me? Why don’t I want to see Chris “Captain America” Evans lead a band of filthy rebels in an all-out attempt to capture the… er, engine of a train?

 What’s so wonderful about this damn movie? What am I not seeing?