Majel Barret-Roddenberry, the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry has passed at the age of 76.
While she had a recurring role as nurse Christine Chapel in the original series, as well as Ambassador Lwaxana Troi on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, perhaps her most vital contribution to the series was off camera. For nearly 700 episodes and 10 movies, she provided the voice of the computer on Federation ships.
Her final professional work was recording voice work for the next chapter in Star Trek, the highly anticipated new movie (Star Trek Trailer here). Her work was completed just a few weeks ago, thus bringing closure to an era and bridging the gap toward a new one.
I certainly hope there is a dedication in this new film, though it can scarcely match the dedication Majel had shown Star Trek for most of her life.

Majel Barrett on Wikipedia
Majel Barrett on IMDB

San Diego Comic-Con was this weekend, for those of you living in a hole in the ground, and the comics news came fast and furious. There’s a lot of chaff to sort through, so hit the jump for a rundown of the major headlines, including a million things Watchmen-related. Oh, and some other comic stuff too.
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A Witchblade movie was recently announced and we now have a teaser poster. I think it pretty much speaks for itself, but for those that want more, here is a snippet from FirstShowing.Net:

The comic followed Sara Pezzini, a NYPD detective who comes into possession of the Witchblade, a supernatural, sentient artifact with immense destructive and protective powers. The artifact is actually an ornate jewel-encrusted gauntlet that gives extraordinary powers to the wearer, a specially chosen female from each generation. We can expect that the film will follow a story based on that mythology with a central female character coming in possession of the gauntlet. IMDb lists Michael Rymer, of “Battlestar Galactica”, as the director, although his involvement is entirely unconfirmed at the moment. The film is expected to go into production this September for a 2009 release.

Director Michael Bay has been hard at work on the sequel to 2007’s mega hit Transformers for some time. He’d scouted locations in Philadelphia and Washington DC and even Egypt. He got the ball rolling on preproduction while the writer’s strike was on so they could be ready to go as soon as the script was done.

Now the pieces are falling into place, and the stars of the show are being spotted in Culver City, California. Not Shia LaBeouf, John Turturro or Megan Fox, but the Transformers! Last week a motorist snapped photos of 3 Saleen Mustangs with the Barricade deco. Just this week SuperheroHype spotted Optimus Prime as well as Ironhide and Ratchet. Its a safe bet more cars are on the way, as we’re sure to see more Autobots and Decepticons join the battle for the sequel.

Also of note is filming is confirmed to be taking place in Sedona, Arizona and actress Natassia Malthe has been cast in an unspecified role.

UPDATE: Video Embedded.

Cyber Group Animation, the animation company doing the new Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon, has posted this trailer on their website.

A lot can be seen about the story and the animation of this show from this short trailer. Wolverine, is charged with rounded up a fractured team of X-Men in Professor Xavier’s absence.

The character designs are close to those seen in X-Men Evolution, and this new show shares both a director and writer with it as well. It’s not totally clear whether or not this series is intended to remain canon with X-Men Evolution though we’re seeing many of the same characters appearing.

For more on this show check out the official site or it’s imdb page.

Shooting begins next month and so now we have some of the final pieces in the puzzle of who will play the leads in GIJOE.
Irish actor David Murray has been cast as James McCullen Destro XXIV, primary villain. He’s largely known for stage work, but he’s been in a few movies too. The character Destro infamously wears a silver mask over his face, so its not known how much of Murray we’ll really see.Read more about Murray, and Destro.
Duke, the leader of GIJOE on the ground, will be played by Channing Tatum, an actor/model/dancer. I sure hope he’s tough on screen, because that photo I plucked for this story makes him look like a real sissy. Read up on Tatum and Duke.
Finally, Zartan, the master of disguise in COBRA, will be Arnold Vosloo, Vosloo is a South African best known as The Mummy from the film of the same name, also directed by GIJOE director Stephen Sommers. Read more about the actor here, and Zartan here.

Just to recap the cast so far: Dennis Quaid (Hawk), Sienna Miller (The Baroness), Ray Park (Snake Eyes), Rachel Nichols (Scarlett), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Heavy Duty), Said Taghmaoui (Breaker), Marlon Wayans (Ripcord), and Byung-hun Lee (Storm Shadow).

This isn’t the only casting I’m aware of right now. I know who is playing Cobra Commander, but its a major plot spoiler to even say who it is, so I’m putting it after the jump so only those who are serious about wanting to know see it. You’ve been warned.
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First I’ve heard of it!
Slashfilm reports

Next up is a teaser poster for Screen Gems’ big screen adaptation of the popular Namco video game Tekken. The story follows two childhood friends who enter a worldwide martial arts tournament and uncover a secret that lies within the mysterious Tekken Corp. Charles Stone will direct. Film is set to hit theaters in 2009.

No Boll, no Paul WS Anderson, it can’t be that bad, right? But Who is Charles Stone? He’s the man behind THIS.

King Of Iron Fist. True. True.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has been cast to play Mandrake the Magician in the Chuck Russell directed Mandrake.

Whats that? Who’s Mandrake the Magician?

I’m glad you asked. Mandrake was a comic strip from the 30’s featuring a magician that fought the good fight. It generated plenty of spin-offs in other media formats including serials and books. In the 80’s the heroic magician starred in a cartoon alongside other classic comic strip heroes including The Phantom and Flash Gordon. You may remember this cartoon as Defenders of the Earth.

The new film, featuring Meyers, is set to shoot next year, both in the USA, and in China.

Source: Blogs@Newsarama