Heroes: Origins
‘Heroes: Origins’ canceled indefinitly halted!
This is horrible. TVGuide is reporting that those in charge have canceled Heroes: Origins, possibly due to the eminant writes strike that begins tonight.
NBC has pulled the plug on Heroes: Origins, the Heroes spin-off that was slated to run next April. The network declined comment, but sources said the possible strike by the Writers Guild of America — which could happen after the guild’s contract expires midnight Thursday — played a role in the decision.
“Looking at everything in context of the strike, we’re evaluating all of our production commitments,” said one insider. “Scripts haven’t been written yet.”
Origins was designed to provide fans with six episodes of a fresh Heroes-related show in place of repeats in the spring. If the labor situation changes quickly, the network could revisit the decision to scrap the show.
More as we find it.
Update: EOnline is also reporting. Calling it an “indefinite halt”.
According to the trades, production on Heroes: Origins had not yet begun, and the network was loath to set a premiere date without having to rely solely on, say, fan fiction as the main source of plots. Per Variety, NBC Universal cochairs Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, in particular, pushed for the postponement in light of the looming work stoppage.
While it’s unclear what stage of production the eagerly awaited series was in, the Hollywood Reporter says no scripts had yet been finalized.
The network has so far refrained from uttering the dreaded “c” word, sticking with the purposely vague “indefinitely postponed” until the scribe situation comes into focus.
Update: AICN is reporting on Tim Kring not doing the rewrite that would make the December 3rd episode the season finale. If someone doesn’t fix it, they can’t film it. Crap.
Tim Kring wouldn’t comply with a weekend rewrite that would tack a season ending onto the last script written and is now off HEROES.
“Heroes: Origins” gets a new name
Well, so far it’s just lost the “Origins” name. It appears that it will no longer be called Heroes: Origins, and this is the only link I can find about it.
There’s quite a bit of news about “Heroes” – isn’t there always? One of the biggest developments is that NBC has ditched the name of the show’s spinoff, which will debut in April.
It was titled “Heroes: Origins,†but it will no longer be called that. A representative for the network said that a title for the new series had not been chosen yet.
Finally, the creative roster for the project formerly known as “Heroes: Origins†is shaping up (and let’s just call it “the spinoff†for now).
The spinoff tells the tales of six new heroes, who are not connected to the characters from the main show. Each of the newbies are depicted discovering their new superpowers, and fans will get to choose which character joins the main show in Season 3. NBC’s plan is to start airing the new show in April, after “Heroes†finishes its Season 2 run.
Kring and “Superman Returns†writer Michael Dougherty will pen episodes of the 6-part spinoff, and director Eli Roth (“Hostelâ€) and fanboy icon Kevin Smith will write and direct one episode each.
Though NBC would not confirm it, John August (“The Nines,†“Big Fishâ€) said on his blog that he will also write and direct one spinoff episode.
Any thoughts or ideas on what the new name will be? Click here to read the lengthy article. It talks a little about about the future of the show, and the new “Hero”, Elle, played by Kritsin Bell. The author also grades each of the present storylines, and I have to say, I agree with them all.
Other Heroes: Origins Directors
At the Heroes Live Blog, Tim Kring tells us in addition to Kevin Smith, there will be other directors for other episodes:
Besides Kevin Smith, who’s been hired for Origins
Tim: We’ve now hired Eli Roth who is behind the Hostel movies. Also Michael Dougherty, who wrote Superman Returns, and one of the X Men movies. And also John August, who is one of the preeminent screenwriters in Hollywood. He wrote Tim Burton’s “Big Fish,” “Go,” and others. So there’s some really good writers and I’ll be writing the first episode. Look for some very well known directors to also be attached.
Greg Beeman’s Blog - 9/19
Greg Beeman, one of Heroes’ Director-Producers, did a blog entry yesterday which mentioned about Heroes: Origins.
The last episode of season 1 (Episode 23 “HOW TO STOP AN EXPLODING MANâ€) wrapped shooting on last April 25, and aired on May 21st. Before that one was even finished shooting, our executive producers, Tim Kring and Dennis Hammer and Allan Arkush, were clear that we needed to come back strong in the second season – that we needed to give the fans more episodes, more episodes in a row without breaks, and shorter time between breaks.
As a group, we all set upon the daunting task of producing 24 original episodes in season 2. We will come back on September 24 – run 11 episodes in a row, take only 4 weeks off, run 7 in a row, take only 3 weeks off and then finish the season with a final run of 6 episodes.
And, on top of all that, when HEROES ends, Tim is going to give the fans 6 episodes of a new original series HEROES ORIGINS.
The rest of his blog entry can be found here.
Update: Forgot to mention one more thing. Underneath a photo of David Anders on the set, Beeman wrote the following:
NEW CHARACTER #2 – TAKEZO KENSEI PLAYED BY DAVID ANDERS… WHY IS A WHITE GUY FORMALLY FROM “ALIAS†THE HERO OF JAPANESE LEGEND??? ALL WILL BE REVEALED (OR YOU COULD GO TO http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/ FOR SOME CLUES)
Comic Con Updates and Heroes: Origins
As anyone who went to the Heroes panel at Comic Con knows, the first episode of the Heroes spin-off Heroes: Origins will be directed by everyone’s favorite, Kevin Smith! I’m really psyched about this, as i’m a pretty big fan of his. I’ve been waiting for him to get to direct something other than his own movies [which I love], like Halo or anything else he’s been rumored to take the helm.
Image via TVsquad
Zap2It reports:
“Heroes” creator Tim Kring shocked and gratified not only Comic-Con fans but his own cast when he announced who would be writing and directing an episode of the offshoot anthology series “Origins.”
“Clerks” filmmaker Kevin Smith brought the crowd to its feet and caused one of the “Heroes” actors to exclaim, “No way. Are you serious?”
So.. that’s pretty much the big news coming from the Heroes panel. HeroesRevealed has pretty good coverage of the whole Q&A session, and images of the Heroes booth. I’ll add more images as they come in.
Heroes Revealed also has posted a video of the Kevin Smith announcement. Pretty sweet! Check it out here.
And as they say, Heroes: Origins will run from April to May, with 6 episodes.
Heroes World Tour
ETOnline is reporting of the Heroes World Tour, which I post due to the Origins annoucement at the bottom, and the DVD info.
“Heroes” threw a press conference today to announce a worldwide tour that will encompass Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Munich, Paris, London and New York City — and the majority of the cast from season one was on hand, including MILO VENTIMIGLIA (Peter Petrelli) and ADRIAN PASDAR (Nathan Petrelli), who it is assumed were blown apart in the season one finale.
As of now, the plan is for “Heroes” to run all 24 of its episodes, and then the six “Heroes: Origins” episodes will follow in a six-episode block, which is also a change from how the concept was first introduced at NBC’s Upfront back in May.
The “Heroes” DVD and HD DVD drops on August 28. It will include several special featurettes, including the 70-minute version of the pilot.
I guess we won’t be getting anything to watch on Monday nights until September 24th, when season 2 picks up.
