J.J. Abrams playing ‘7 Minutes in Heaven’

by Jeff Labrecque
Categories: Lost, Movies, This Could Be Interesting…

J.J. Abrams and the folks at Bad Robot have conquered the art of the high-concept pitch. According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision Blog, Abrams’ company has picked up an idea from Lost director Jack Bender that goes a little something like this: Two teens at a party play 7 Minutes in Heaven, and when they emerge from the closet, everyone else in the house is dead. I don’t have any idea who’s going to be in the movie, who will direct, or even a clue beyond that 21-word plot description, but I’m already digging into my wallet.

Anyone who’s seen Abrams’ trailers for Cloverfield and Super 8 knows he’s a master of the less-is-more approach, the I’m-not-sure-what-I-just saw-but-I-want-more school of salesmanship. His projects typically have a sharp hook, and just a taste of the story is often enough to reel in an audience. No wonder he’s a green-light machine.

Does the short pitch for 7 Minutes sound interesting to you? Does Abrams’ track record give you confidence that the result will deliver the goods?

Read the story here. Nothing is confirmed, just rumors for now.

Read the back story and Jorge Garcia’s comments here.

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Read the story here.

Click to link the auction here.

Evangeline is filming a movie with Hugh Jackman (good choice!) titled Real Steel.  It’s a futuristic boxing drama with robots and humans.  Sounds relatively interesting and I can’t wait to see the chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Evangeline considering her steamy scenes with Josh Holloway.

Read about the movie here.

‘Lost’ Triumphs at 36th Annual Saturn Awards

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has announced the winners of 36th Annual Saturn Awards. In the television category, “Lost” went above “Fringe” in taking home the most prizes.

The ABC series which ended its 6 years run in May is awarded with three while “Fringe” gets two. The first award for “Lost” is dedicated to the series’ star Josh Holloway. The depicter of Sawyer wins Best Actor on Television while Anna Torv of “Fringe” wins the female counterpart.

The other two awards are for Best DVD Television Release, particularly for the fifth season’s set, and for the coveted Best Television Series.

In terms of chance, “Lost” actually misses a lot because the TV series received eight nominations while “Fringe” only got three. The same case happens to “True Blood” which took in five nominations but left with none.

The awards event took place Thursday, June 24 in Burbank, California. The organization also recognizes excellence in movie, home entertainment and theater production.

Best Television Series: Lost
Best Actor on Television: Josh Holloway – Lost

‘Lost’s’ Nestor Carbonell Finds Role on ‘Psych’

Grab your eyeliner and hang on for dear life, because ‘Lost’s’ immortal mystery man Nestor Carbonell is heading back to the small screen.

Yes, according to Fancast, the man who played the 19th Centruy’s original proto-goth Richard Alpert will be appearing on USA Network’s ‘Psych’ for a multi-episode arc during the show’s upcoming fifth season. Carbonell is slated to play Declan Rand, who despite the name is neither a ‘Battlestar Galactica’ pilot nor an extra on ‘Legend of the Seeker,’ but is rather “a criminal profiler who over the course of two episodes will shape up to be Shawn’s professional – as well as romantic – rival.”

Of course, coming off such a high-profile gig as ‘Lost’ may be a challenge for some actors, as some fans will likely have a hard time imagining Carbonell as anyone other than the iconic Others second banana. Luckily for Carbonell, he has plenty of experience off the island as well; besides recurring roles on shows like ‘The Tick’ and ‘Suddenly Susan,’ Carbonell also took a brief hiatus from ‘Lost’ in 2007 to co-star in the ill-fated Jimmy Smits vehicle ‘Cane,’ which may have flopped but at least reminded viewers that there’s life off the island of Carbonell.
Still, considering this will be among the first TV gigs to feature an ex-Lostie, chances are this arc on ‘Psych’ will have quite a few more eyeballs on it than usual. Just how many of those eyes will be framed with thick black liner remains to seen.

The newest season of ‘Psych’ kicks off on July 14.

Fox show “Terra Nova” sounds intriguing, but they really need to stop with the comparisons and let the show stand on it’s own.

Fox’s Terra Nova

Jason O’Mara, star of ABC’s 1970s-set Life on Mars, has officially been cast in the Fox midseason series Terra Nova, from executive producers Brannon Braga (FlashForward, 24, Star Trek: Enterprise), David Fury (24, Lost, Angel), and Steven Spielberg. According to Variety, the show revolves around “humans from the year 2149 who are forced to find a way to save the human race — and discover a rip in the time-space continuum that can send them back to pre-human Earth.”

“Writing the character of Jim Shannon, we’ve thought of Jason O’Mara as something of an archetype,” Braga told the trade. “He has an everyman quality to him, but there’s something dangerous underneath.”

In May, EW’s Hollywood Insider blog got a peek at the first script. (Fox has given the show, which will start shooting this summer in Australia, a 13-episode commitment.) “The scene: a large group of settlers are preparing to leave the apocalyptic world they live in to time travel back millions of years via a massive, high-tech contraption,” EW’s Lynette Rice wrote. “Their goal is to see trees, enjoy a blue sky, eat real food — basically, to start over in this so-called Eden. But what they find is unlike anything they were expecting.”

Does this sound like the next Lost to you?