Giant Freakin Robot

Microsoft debuted its next-gen console, the Xbox One, during an event earlier today. While there was plenty of time spent on the console’s features and stats, one announcement in particular will be of interest to some of our loyal GFR readers. Microsoft will be following in the footsteps of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon to produce original Xbox TV content, beginning with a live-action Halo series under the guidance of Steven Spielberg. You can watch the announcement above, which includes brief comments from Spielberg himself.

There’s no official release date for the Halo series, but the Xbox One is expected to hit stores sometime in the fall, almost certainly in time for the holiday shopping season. It would make sense to have the Halo series in the can and ready to premiere immediately, since that would allow Microsoft showcase their efforts to make the Xbox an all-in-one media hub.

The science fiction film After Earth is one of the biggest question marks of the summer movie season, because there really no telling whether this movie will be good or bad. It stars Will Smith and his son Jaden, it takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, and there seem to be some good visual effects in the film. On the other hand, it was co-written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. This new clip probably won’t sway you either way, but it’s still worth a look. Check the clip out above, featuring Jaden Smith’s Kitai Raige trapped in a bird’s nest.

The one-minute clip is pretty thrilling and perhaps, and is the second focusing on future Earth’s dangerous wildlife. Maybe this movie is nothing but 90 minutes of the Smiths tussling with human-hating critters. That would still make it better than The Happening.

Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters! But they’re probably still waiting for a call on a rotary dial phone, since it feels like that long since rumors about Ghostbusters 3 started hitting the Internet. Dan Aykroyd believes in a bunch of weird shit, and the future existence of this long-awaited sequel is not the least of it.

He recently appeared on Larry King Live to promote other things, but Larry King — poor, beyond all realms of pop culture Larry King — posited the requisite question about the sequel, and Aykroyd gave his prepared speech, which covered the points below:

It’s based upon new research that’s being done in particle physics by the young people – the young men and women at Columbia University…Basically, there’s research being done that I can say that the world or the dimension that we live in – our four planes of existence: length, height, width and time – become threatened by some of the research that’s being done. And Ghostbusters – new Ghostbusters – have to come and solve the problem.

This is astounding…ly like everything we already know about the film. Not necessarily all the planes of existence involved, but at least we know now that new Ghostbusters are getting the job. Aykroyd also promised King a job, saying he can “comment on what’s happening in Manhattan up there at Morningside Heights. It’s going to be quite a spectacular scene once the stuff starts to break.” That sounds delightfully vague, but still gets a little bit of excitement brewing.

Welcome to the Giant Freakin’ Convention Calendar! We’ll be your one-stop source for the science fiction/comic/etc. conventions happening during any given week. Let’s dive in!

• Alabama Phoenix Festival — Birmingham, Alabama (5/24 – 5/26)
  Guests include Eureka’s Colin Ferguson, True Blood’s Janina Gavankar, and Ghostbusters’ Ernie Hudson.
• Balticon 47 — Baltimore, MD (5/24 – 5/27)
  Guests include author Joe Haldeman.
• Baycon — Santa Clara, CA (5/24 – 5/27)
  Guests include author Lois McMaster Bujold, artist Cliff Nielsen, and Veronica Belmont.
• Brit Con — St. Louis Park, MN (5/24 – 5/26)
  A convention focused on celebrating British pop culture.
• Comicpalooza — Houston, TX (5/24 – 5/26)
  Guests include Patrick Stewart, Armin Shimerman, Rene Auberjonois, Avery Brooks, Alan Dean Foster, and Chris Claremont.
• Conduit 23 — Salt Lake City, UT (5/24 – 5/26)
• ConQuest 44 — Kansas City, MO (5/24 – 5/26)
  Guests include George R.R. Martin.
• Galacticon 3 — Houston, TX (5/23 – 5/26)
  Celebrating the 35th anniversary of the original Battlestar Galactica series, and the 10th anniversary of the Ron Moore Syfy reboot. Guests include Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Michael Hogan, Dirk Benedict, Richard Hatch, and more.
• London MCM Expo — London (5/24 – 5/26)
  Guests include director Edgar Wright, Camilla Luddington (new voice of Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft), Falling Skies’ Sarah Carter and Drew Roy, Jane Espenson (Torchwood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Mark Meer (male voice of Mass Effect’s Commander Shepard).
• Media West*Con — Lansing, MI (5/24 – 5/27)
• MisCon 27 — Missoula, MT (5/24 – 5/27)
  Guests include Jim Butcher.
• Phoenix Comicon — Phoenix, AZ (5/23 – 5/26)
  This one has a huge celebration of Babylon 5’s 20th anniversary. Guests include creator J. Michael Straczynski, Mira Furlan, Bill Mumy, Tracy Scoggins, Pat Tallman, Jason Carter, Peter Jurasik, Jerry Doyle, Claudia Christian, Walter Koenig, Stephen Furst, Andrea Thompson, Robin Atkin Downes, and Julie Caitlin Brown.
• Puerto Rico Comic Con — San Juan, Puerto Rico (5/25 – 5/26)
  Guests include Kevin Sorbo, David Finch, and Sara Jean Underwood.
• Timegate — Atlanta, GA (5/24 – 5/26)
  Focused on Doctor Who. Guests include Sixth Doctor Colin Baker and author Jody Lynn Nye.
• WisCon 37 — Madison, WI (5/24 – 5/27)
  A self-described “feminist science fiction convention.”
• Wonder Northwest — Portland, OR (5/25 – 5/26)