Giant Freakin Robot

If you’re a regular GFR reader, the name Chris Hadfield probably rings a bell or two. During the Canadian astronaut’s five-month mission as the commander of the International Space Station, he’s become a social media sensation thanks to his videos, pictures, and even songs he’s shared with those of us down here on planet Earth. He’s answered questions we didn’t even know we had. What happens if you wring out a washcloth in microgravity? Been there. Can you cry in space? He doesn’t recommend it. Nachos, however, are a-okay.

Well, it’s the end of an era, because earlier this evening Hadfield boarded a Russian Soyuz capsule and began his trip back to the surface, along with American astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian Roman Romanenko. They’re set to touch down in the steppes of Kazakhstan later tonight. But Hadfield had one last treat for us, seen up above: a cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”…from space!

Although there is no American release date for the Ghost in the Shell prequel series yet, fans of the influential sci-fi anime film are eager to lay their eyes on Ghost in the Shell: Arise. The anime that was a big influence on the Wachowskis’ Matrix trilogy hasn’t gotten its due in the U.S., but in Japan, it’s one of the country’s biggest sci-fi properties. The trailer above features the film’s thrilling action, and a young Motoko Kusanagi kicking ass with the Section 9 assault team.

Ghost in the Shell: Arise will open theaters in Japan this June, but sadly the trailer above isn’t dubbed or subtitled into English. Just sit back and enjoy the action! A few months ago, I.G. Productions released an earlier version of the trailer, and even the entire opening title sequence. In true Japanese anime fashion, there’s plenty of fan service to enjoy!

This week we will finally get to watch the long-awaited Star Trek Into Darkness (assuming it isn’t already out in your neck of the woods). Before 2009′s J.J. Abrams reboot film, Star Trek was almost in a holding pattern after the tepid Star Trek: Nemesis and the lukewarm Star Trek Enterprise TV series. Now Abrams and Bad Robot have been tasked with breathing new life into another space franchise with Star Wars:Episode VII. In a new interview with Total Film, actor Simon Pegg talks about how J.J. Abrams will re-invigorate Star Wars, just like he did with Star Trek.

After the prequels, it seemed unlikely that we’d see new Star Wars movies anytime soon…or at least any that we could get excited about. Abrams’ involvement is as controversial as anything else he does, with some enjoying his work and other thinking he’s a franchise-killing antichrist. Here’s what Pegg thinks Abrams’ involvement will mean for George Lucas’ venerable film franchise:

What will he bring to the franchise? Everything that was missing from the last three. That’s what he did to Star Trek, really – invigorate it with a little bit of Star Wars magic. He switched it from science-fiction to science-fantasy.

And I think if anyone can pull [Star Wars] out of the mire, it’s J.J. He’ll bring the fun back. Lucas seemed to misread what made the first ones great, and concentrate on things that people didn’t really care about, or willfully ignore the things that people cared about. Whereas J.J. will embrace them all.

A sequel to Roland Emmerich’s summer blockbuster Independence Day has been in the works since the film’s release in 1996. Emmerich and his producing/writing partner Dean Devlin have often talked about their plans for the sequel, which has the current working title of ID: Forever. It’s always been a question of bringing the original cast back for a sequel film, including Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman.

During a screening of Independence Day at the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex Film Festival, Emmerich and Devlin were joined by Jeff Goldblum to talk about making the 1996 film, and what they’d like to see in a sequel film. Emmerich and Devlin indicated their continued interest in making ID: Forever happen. Devlin said, “Roland and I would really like to do one. We have some pretty darn good ideas on how to do one and, hopefully, that will all come together. A lot of things have to align. The planets have to piece together and if they do, it’ll happen.”

A few months ago, Roland Emmerich explained what could be in store for audiences if/when an Independence Day sequel is finally made. He said the sequel film would take place 20 years after the events of the original, when the aliens would return to Earth to seek revenge. In fact, the aliens would have traveled through a wormhole, so their voyage back to Earth only took seconds for them, but for the people of Earth, over 20 years had past.