HBO has become the benchmark for quality television in the USA. They make television shows that are very cinematic and just downright amazing. It was the home of The Soprano’s, Rome, The Wire and there’s a roster of greatness still on air. For those who have read George R R Martin’s door stop sized fantasy books, A Game Of Thrones, the news that HBO are turning it into a series is exciting stuff. The Hollywood Reporter have it that HBO loved the pilot episode and have green lit the rest of the series.

Scriptwriter and novelist David Benioff is behind the venture. The best way to sum up A Game Of Thrones is by describing it as “like HBO’s Rome, but set in a fantasy world”. Sean Bean will play the role of Eddard Stark and Full Monty’s Mark Addy plays a king. It would take a 1,000 pages to describe the ins and outs of the story, but there’s lots of violence and political intrigue.

A Game Of Throne’s will run for nine episodes and shooting starts in Belfast in June. Excited? Interestingly, George R R Martin’s series of books has yet to be completed.

Looks like Sean Bean was always a bit miffed his character was the first to die in Lord of the Rings and wants more fantasy and sword action. For HBO this is merely another production in a canon of work that is quite staggering. Can’t wait to see this.

Psychosis is a new British horror flick that harks back to the glorious era of Hammer and Amicus productions. We’ve got a pair of tickets up for grabs for the premiere screening at Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square on 13th July (start 9pm).

All you have to do is answer the question and you could be attending.

Released in the UK on 19th July on DVD and Blu-ray, it stars Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel alumni, Charisma Carpenter, Paul Sculfor, Ricci Harnett and Darkness singer Justin Hawkins. So if horror and the supernatural is your bag, then you’ll be interested to know this psycho-thriller-chiller was shot in a supposedly genuine haunted house in Somerset, England.

Synopsis:

Charisma Carpenter plays an American crime novelist retreating to an isolated country manor with her husband, David (Paul Sculfor). Once there, she intends to settle down and finish her latest book, but things take a turn for the sinister and she finds herself in the middle of some peculiar goings-on. Filled with frights, freaks and unfolding weirdness. Psychosis is a journey into a nightmare from which there might be no return.

Justin Hawkins was the singer of which rock band?
**** This competition is now closed, check back soon for more great giveaways!

Competition closes 11th July, 2010 and open to UK entrants only.

Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, the owners of the Terminator franchise rights and joint producers of this year’s critically panned Terminator Salvation filed for bankruptcy this past Tuesday. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy comes just one day after the pair sued their investors for allegedly forcing them to make bad business decisions and and placing what they claim is an illegal lien on their property.

Included in the list of unpaid creditors involved in the bankruptcy are a plethora of A-List Hollywood celebrities including Christian Bale (John Connor in Terminator Salvation), C2 Pictures (Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna the previous owners of the Terminator franchise rights), Paul Haggis (Oscar winning screenwriter who revised the Terminator Salvation script), Dan Lin (producer of Terminator Salvation), McG (director of Terminator Salvation), Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures and the list goes on and on.

While Terminator Salvation was universally criticised for it’s bland story and over-reliance on CGI it did make a healthy $370 million globally – plus 3/5 stars from me. The film has yet to be released on DVD where it is likely to pull in an additional $100 million globally.

According to the LA Times Blog, Anderson and Kubicek were finding it increasingly difficult to stay afloat and it’s now got to the point where the pair don’t have the assets to pay back PACIFICOR, the Santa Barbara hedge fund who financed their $30 million purchase of the “Terminator” rights.

Terminator Salvation director McG recently spoke about his eagerness to resume duties on the as-yet untitled Terminator 5, what effect this financial mess will have on the future of the franchise remains to be seen.