The fans – and George R. R. Martin himself – were pulling for Peter Dinklage to play Tyrion Lannister, and today The Hollywood Reporter announced him as the first actor cast in the pilot. We also get word of a director, Tom McCarthy.
Hallmark’s Star Wars ornaments for 2009
It’s May, so of course the Dream Book is out, because nothing says spring like planning out your Christmas tree. This year’s Star Wars selections are include The Phantom Menace duel (above,) Han in Stormtrooper gear, Luke’s landspeeder, and a Clone Wars twofer of Anakin and Ahsoka.
Also of interest: Indiana Jones, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Ghostbusters and my personal grinchy favorite, the Wicked Witch of the West.
(Thanks, Rach!)
The Invasion begins on Friday!
The first part of Invasion will be appearing on StarWars.com May 8. Are you ready for a return to the NJO?
StarWars.com celebrates Cinco de Mayo
The official site has memories from Mexico, collectibles (and again,) promotions in Spanish and even a Death Star piñata.
Gate Geek – Thanks, Urgo
We interrupt my real life in the H1N1 response to bring some sad news to the Stargate family. Dom DeLuise, talented comedian and the creator of the much-beloved character Urgo, has died at the age of 75.
Mr. DeLuise was also father to long-time Stargate director/writer Peter DeLuise and actors Michael (Colonel Danning from Wormhole Extreme) and David (Sam’s boyfriend Pete Shanahan).
Urgo once said, “I wanna live! I wanna experience the universe! And I wanna eat pie!” Hopefully you’re now getting to do so.
Video: Trekkies bash new Star Trek as ‘fun, watchable’
I am disappointed by the lack of comment from our favorite fanboy here. Get it together, Onion.
Drive-by movie news: Wolverine, Star Trek, Kyle Newman and more
Wolverine rules the box office. Naked Hugh Jackman and friends brought in a whooping $160M worldwide this weekend. Also interesting? 47% of the U.S. audience was female. (Hey, look: It had issues, but it was better than X3. Plus, naked Jackman.) Looks like there may be a sequel in the offing after all.
Next week’s shiny. Wolvie faces his first real competition with the release of the new Star Trek on Friday. Anticipation is high, and the reviews are almost ridiculously positive – 100% on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment. And if you must know, Geoff Boucher has the skinny on the film’s homage to ESB.
And on that note… Stephen King’s Dark Tower series may be next for J.J. Abrams.
Let’s not forget Fanboys. With the DVD out in a few weeks, Lightsabre talks to director Kyle Newman.
Only because I am obliged to post it. Pretty much nothing going on with Indy 5.
Your final comic book tidbit. The first picture from Iron Man 2.
We love our melodramatic space trash, but let’s be realistic here
No, cheesy franchise books are not generally up for awards. You know why? Because they’re cheesy franchise books, and let’s not even pretend that their burger-flipping reputation is entirely undeserved. Face it, guys: For every Traitor, there are a half-dozen Darksabers. (I’ve paid for most of them. In hardcover.) And half the time, particularly in this franchise, the subtleties of Great Book Z might not work for a reader who lacks extensive knowledge of Crappy Trilogies X and Y.
I’m not even saying that genre award winners are necessarily great literature (I’ve been bored to tears by at least as many as I’ve enjoyed; Pretty much the same as Star Wars, come to think of it) but it’s an entirely different kind of playing field.
And lest we forget, hardcore fans of the sort that inhabit TFN’s Lit forum are not exactly the most unbiased of creatures.
By the by, the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers have their own awards, and Karen Miller is currently up for one for Wild Space.
Peek at the Star Wars Weekends merch
StarWars.com has your first look at the Weekends merchandise for this summer. Highlight looks to be these tees inspired by classical Japanese artwork.
All the LEGO Star Wars minifigs ever
So Gizmodo claims, anyway. We’re not Rebelscum, so I have no idea. Nice eye candy, anyway.