Sci Fi TV Top 5: Covering the top sci fi and fantasy TV stories of interest from the past week. You can keep up with the sci fi and fantasy TV news headlines throughout the week at r/SciFiTV on Twitter and on Reddit.
1. Amazon’s The Boys Will Stick Around for a Third Season
Though there has not been an official confirmation, The Cinema Spot is reporting that Amazon has renewed its superhero series The Boys for a third season ahead of its second-year debut. The news would not come as a huge surprise because the show has proven quite popular and the streamer gave it an early second season renewal prior to its series premiere. The Cinema Spot has also uncovered episode titles for the upcoming season:
1. The Big Ride
2. Proper Preparation and Planning
3. Nothing Like It In The World
4. Over The Hill With The Swords Of A Thousand Men
5. We Gotta Go Now
6. The Bloody Doors Off
7. Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker
8. What I Know
Based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the show follows a group that hunts down superheroes who they believe threaten society. The premiere date for the second season has not been announced yet, though it will probably bow at some point in Summer because filming was completed prior to the Coronavirus-related shutdowns.
2. Discworld Television Adaptation On the Way
Terry Pratchett’s Narrativia is teaming with Motive Pictures and Endeavor Content for a series of television adaptations of the late author’s Discworld fantasy books. Set on the titular world, a flat planet balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle, the first book in the series came out in 1983 with forty-one total written by the author. The specifics on which books will be adapted have not been revealed yet, but managing director of Narrativia Rob Wilkins has said that “we are committed to bringing Terry’s world to the screen with the respect and care it deserves.” The BBC currently has The Watch in development which is also based on the Discworld books, but it will likely not be linked to the new series coming from Narrativia et al.
3. HBO Is Developing a Hellraiser Series
The premium cable channel HBO is working on a television series based on the Hellraiser film franchise which in turn is based on Clive Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description of what to expect from the series:
Expect a revisit from Pinhead, the merciless leader of the Cenobites, the formerly humans-turned-demons that live in an extra-dimensional realm and are activated through a puzzle box called the Lament Configuration. The Cenobites come from hell to harvest human souls and keep balance between good and evil.
It will draw from the mythology of the films and will be written by Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica, Daredevil), and Michael Dougherty (X-Men United, Godzilla: King of the Monsters). David Gordon Green (Halloween 2018) will direct the pilot and several more episodes. The network will likely be targeting a 2021 debut for the series.
4. More Info Emerges on the Upcoming Obi-Wan Series
A live-action Obi-Wan Kenobi series is in the works at Disney+ with Ewan McGregor reprising his role as the Jedi knight, and the logline for the series has now been released:
Tatooine, a desert planet where farmers work hard under the heat of two suns. Meanwhile, they try to defend themselves and their loved ones from the marauders Tusken. A planet behind the edge of civilization. And a place where it would be unlikely to find a Jedi master, or an orphan child on whom the future of the entire galaxy weighs on its small shoulders.
The series has gone through some bumps in the development process and there were even rumors at one point that it had been cancelled. But it appears to be going forward and will likely join Disney+’s lineup of originals at some point in 2021.
5. Filming on The Expanse Season 5 Was Completed Before the Shutdowns
Good news for fans of The Expanse as filming on the show was apparently completed prior to the Coronavirus-related shutdowns. Series star Shohreh Aghdashloo, who plays Chrisjen Avasarala, put a post up on Twitter indicating that the filming of the fifth season had wrapped:
Although we were able to finish shooting season 5 on time, we are all scattered all over the world in quarantine now.
Thank you @zoom_us for bringing us together from the family of #TheExpanse. ?#ScreamingFirehawks pic.twitter.com/yX5uUPhquI
— Shohreh Aghdashloo (@SAghdashloo) April 20, 2020
The special effects still need to be completed, which is a long process for that sfx-heavy show even in the best of circumstances. The effects team can work remotely, though, which means that progress can continue on getting the fifth season ready to air. Season 4 premiered in December 2019 and it is not impossible that Season 5 could bow later this year. But early 2021 seems like a more likely arrival date.
THE SCHED: Solar Opposites Arrives on Hulu This Week
Hulu’s new animated series Solar Opposites, from Rick & Morty co-creator Justin Roiland as well as Mike McMahan, has its premiere on Friday with all eight episodes available for viewing that day. Also this week, the horror-anthology series Creepshow gets its broadcast debut on AMC where it will run on Mondays at 10 PM EST. The first season ran on the AMC-owned Shudder streaming service last Fall and a second season is on the way. In addition, the series finale for Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be available for streaming on Disney+ on Monday, May 4th (Star Wars Day). There are more shows on the way in May, and you can see the full schedule of sci fi and fantasy shows at this link and you can keep up with the weekly listings at this link.
More from CancelledSciFi.com
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Check out our Sci Fi TV Schedule for debut and season finale dates and follow our Weekly Listings for a rundown of the shows airing in the current week.
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