Just as Oscar buzz for Natalie Portman’s Black Swan performance is heating up, the young actress has been offered the lead in Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi thriller Gravity.

If Portman accepts the offer, she’ll play Ryan Stone, a technician on her first space walk who braves the emptiness to find a way back to Earth, alongside the long attached Robert Downey Jr.  But, make no mistake, Stone is the lead and alone on screen for much of the challenging concept.

Angelina Jolie was originally on board for the role, but later passed.  Then Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively tested for the part before Warner Bros went back to Jolie, who declined again.  Portman’s possible involvement means shooting could start this winter after a tumultuous casting process.

The script, co-written by Cuarón and his son Jonas, is extremely ambitious and requires the actors to endure simulated weightlessness.  The filmmaker, whose Children of Men is a visually-arresting masterwork, may also be planning a 20-minute opening shot in 3D and a 60% CG production.

Original article: http://www.newsinfilm.com/2010/09/09/natalie-portman-offered-lead-in-alfonso-cuaron-movie-gravity/

Power up your TARDIS, turn on your lightsaber, and set your phasers to stun because we are about to geek out kids.

Not content with making over $2 billion worldwide, James Cameron is re-releasing “Avatar” in theaters. Supposedly, a lot of people couldn’t see it in 3D because there were other films in theaters at that time hogging up half the screens. How dare they? Who do those people think they are?

In the same L.A. Times interview where Mr. Cameron explains his re-release rationale, he opines that he is making a franchise with “Avatar” that will compete with the works of Tolkien. He thinks the story of the Cat Smurfs will have the same staying power as “Star Wars.”

This die-hard film geek and sci-fi fan begs to differ.

Great franchises need amazing worlds, rich characters, and far reaching themes. They also need to have a first episode that strikes a deep chord in the fan community. You know, the complete opposite of “Avatar.”

Part of what makes a franchise successful is that the audience doesn’t merely want to watch the world of the film, they want to live in the world of the film. Who wouldn’t want to go to Hogwarts and learn to cast spells? Who hasn’t picked up a flashlight and spun it around, humming, like it was a lightsaber? Who wouldn’t want to serve aboard a starship commanded by James T. Kirk, traveling to the far corners of the galaxy? Well, as long as you’re not wearing a red shirt that is…

But the neon, glowing world of Pandora with its freaky dog things, flying dragons, and feline hippies doesn’t constitute an entire world that any one would really want to inhabit. Sure, it may be cool to visit, like San Francisco, but could you really see yourself living there? It’s like visiting the Amazon. Great fun while you’re on vacation, but living in a hut and fighting off giant spiders every day would get old. “Avatar” also lacks the detailed “rule system” and history that outlines every great franchise. The world of “Avatar,” despite the eye candy, functions like our world. Where are the Jedi’s with their powers, history and rules? Where is the “sorting hat” that dictates a future wizard’s destiny?

UK cable operator Virgin Media has inked a number of content deals that will see it launch a raft of sci-fi series on its video-on-demand service.

The cabler, which operates a number of thematic channels including Living, Bravo and free-to-air Virgin1, has inked programming deals with US studio Warner Bros. to airs series including Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Supernatural, Pushing Daisies, Moonlight and Babylon 5 and distributor ContentFilm to air season one of vampire drama Blood Ties and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.

Time Warner Cable San Antonio added four new channels to its line-up of High Definition stations. Viewers will be able to access programming on CNBC HD, SCI FI HD, Bravo HD and USA HD through the cable company’s partnership with NBC Universal.

The company also added the network Chiller to its digital programming options, offering horror-movie buffs a broad spectrum of films and television shows in this genre.

“We have made significant investments in our technology and are committed to bringing our customers highly rated news and entertainment content,” says Gavino Ramos, vice president of communications for Time Warner Cable San Antonio.

With the latest additions, Time Warner Cable offers 76 HD channels. The San Antonio division of Time Warner Cable is one of the leaders in HD content and subscribers in the nation. The local cable operator is owned by Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) in New York.