Latest news with #BlackMirror
Leader Live
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Alien: Earth TV series captures aesthetic of original film, says producer
The sci-fi drama, from Emmy-winning producer Noah Hawley, is based on the acclaimed franchise, which began with Sir Ridley's 1979 film starring Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley who takes on an extra-terrestrial lifeform called the Xenomorph. The new eight-episode series sees Wendy, played by US actress Sydney Chandler, and a group of tactical soldiers make a discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat. Speaking to the PA news agency at the European premiere of the series, executive producer David W Zucker said: 'Above and beyond what I think is just a rip-roaring great yarn, is that Noah was able to really capture the aesthetic of the original, the analogue nature of the original, if not some of the literal sets of the original film, but then take us on a journey that's very evocative of what the films have explored. 'But, in a way that one can only do in series television, expanded vertically and horizontally, that feels like a boundless type of story that can explore a lot of the themes and these, even present day challenges of transhumanism, in a way that really compels and fascinates.' Chandler, 29, told PA: 'I learned so much about myself and people while being able to play this character, and how she can hold her own. 'And so I was really gifted a lot from Noah's writing in that way, that surprised me, and that I could actually be scared on set from a full grown Xenomorph chasing you. I mean, it really scared me, which was awesome.' The series is set in the year 2120, when the earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this corporate era, cyborgs and synthetics, which are humanoid robots with artificial intelligence, exist alongside humans, but the world is changed when the founder of the Prodigy corporation unlocks a technological advance: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). 'Wendy', the first hybrid prototype, marks a new advance in the race for immortality and after Weyland-Yutani's spaceship collides into Prodigy City, Wendy and the other hybrids encounter new and terrifying life forms. The cast includes Deadwood actor Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh, Black Mirror star Alex Lawther as Hermit, Mary And George's Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier, Guerrilla actor Babou Ceesay as Morrow and Bottom star Adrian Edmondson as Atom Eins. Alien: Earth will launch on Disney+ on August 13.
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Alien: Earth TV series captures aesthetic of original film, says producer
The sci-fi drama, from Emmy-winning producer Noah Hawley, is based on the acclaimed franchise, which began with Sir Ridley's 1979 film starring Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley who takes on an extra-terrestrial lifeform called the Xenomorph. The new eight-episode series sees Wendy, played by US actress Sydney Chandler, and a group of tactical soldiers make a discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat. Speaking to the PA news agency at the European premiere of the series, executive producer David W Zucker said: 'Above and beyond what I think is just a rip-roaring great yarn, is that Noah was able to really capture the aesthetic of the original, the analogue nature of the original, if not some of the literal sets of the original film, but then take us on a journey that's very evocative of what the films have explored. 'But, in a way that one can only do in series television, expanded vertically and horizontally, that feels like a boundless type of story that can explore a lot of the themes and these, even present day challenges of transhumanism, in a way that really compels and fascinates.' Chandler, 29, told PA: 'I learned so much about myself and people while being able to play this character, and how she can hold her own. 'And so I was really gifted a lot from Noah's writing in that way, that surprised me, and that I could actually be scared on set from a full grown Xenomorph chasing you. I mean, it really scared me, which was awesome.' The series is set in the year 2120, when the earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this corporate era, cyborgs and synthetics, which are humanoid robots with artificial intelligence, exist alongside humans, but the world is changed when the founder of the Prodigy corporation unlocks a technological advance: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). 'Wendy', the first hybrid prototype, marks a new advance in the race for immortality and after Weyland-Yutani's spaceship collides into Prodigy City, Wendy and the other hybrids encounter new and terrifying life forms. The cast includes Deadwood actor Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh, Black Mirror star Alex Lawther as Hermit, Mary And George's Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier, Guerrilla actor Babou Ceesay as Morrow and Bottom star Adrian Edmondson as Atom Eins. Alien: Earth will launch on Disney+ on August 13.
Rhyl Journal
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
Alien: Earth TV series captures aesthetic of original film, says producer
The sci-fi drama, from Emmy-winning producer Noah Hawley, is based on the acclaimed franchise, which began with Sir Ridley's 1979 film starring Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley who takes on an extra-terrestrial lifeform called the Xenomorph. The new eight-episode series sees Wendy, played by US actress Sydney Chandler, and a group of tactical soldiers make a discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat. Speaking to the PA news agency at the European premiere of the series, executive producer David W Zucker said: 'Above and beyond what I think is just a rip-roaring great yarn, is that Noah was able to really capture the aesthetic of the original, the analogue nature of the original, if not some of the literal sets of the original film, but then take us on a journey that's very evocative of what the films have explored. 'But, in a way that one can only do in series television, expanded vertically and horizontally, that feels like a boundless type of story that can explore a lot of the themes and these, even present day challenges of transhumanism, in a way that really compels and fascinates.' Chandler, 29, told PA: 'I learned so much about myself and people while being able to play this character, and how she can hold her own. 'And so I was really gifted a lot from Noah's writing in that way, that surprised me, and that I could actually be scared on set from a full grown Xenomorph chasing you. I mean, it really scared me, which was awesome.' The series is set in the year 2120, when the earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this corporate era, cyborgs and synthetics, which are humanoid robots with artificial intelligence, exist alongside humans, but the world is changed when the founder of the Prodigy corporation unlocks a technological advance: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). 'Wendy', the first hybrid prototype, marks a new advance in the race for immortality and after Weyland-Yutani's spaceship collides into Prodigy City, Wendy and the other hybrids encounter new and terrifying life forms. The cast includes Deadwood actor Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh, Black Mirror star Alex Lawther as Hermit, Mary And George's Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier, Guerrilla actor Babou Ceesay as Morrow and Bottom star Adrian Edmondson as Atom Eins. Alien: Earth will launch on Disney+ on August 13.
NZ Herald
a day ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Netflix's Pride and Prejudice remake features diverse cast
The show 'really emphasised black', according to Verna Myers, the company's diversity lead. It was criticised by some for its inaccurate depiction of Regency England as a diverse and post-racial society, and also for glossing over the social struggles of black people at the time. Irish actor Daryl McCormack will play Charles Bingley. Photo / Daily Telegraph UK Austen herself did not spend much time on describing what her characters looked like, and Mr Bingley is said to be 'wonderfully handsome', while the snobbish Caroline is 'one of the handsomest women' known to the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet. Mr Bingley will be played by Irish actor Daryl McCormack, who has spoken in the past about his own experience of racism in Ireland, while Caroline will be played by Black Mirror star Siena Kelly. The newly announced casting choices will appear alongside Rufus Sewell, who has been unveiled as the genial Mr Bennet, and the previously announced Olivia Colman as Mrs Bennet and The Crown star Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet. Jack Lowden, best-known for Slow Horses, will play Mr Darcy. Siena Kelly will play Caroline Bingley. Photo / Daily Telegraph UK Dolly Alderton, writer and executive producer on the series, said earlier in the year that the Pride and Prejudice adaptation would offer an opportunity to 'find both familiar and fresh ways of bringing this beloved book to life'. Myers said in 2021 that Netflix's emphasis on diversity while 'exciting' can lead to 'some controversy'. In 2023, a Netflix series portrayed Cleopatra as black, after producer Jada Pinkett Smith – the wife of actor Will Smith – cited the importance of telling 'stories about black queens'. Dr Zahi Hawass, a leading Egyptian archaeologist, reacted by saying, 'Cleopatra was not black'. It was pointed out that Cleopatra was descended from Ptolemy, a general of Alexander the Great, making the queen of 'light-skinned' Macedonian Greek heritage. The BBC has also sought to increase diversity in casting for its period dramas, including Wolf Hall, which returned for a second series with a diverse cast of Tudor courtiers, including real historical figures known to be white. This diversity was evident within families, and the mother and sister of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, were portrayed as being of different ethnic backgrounds from Jane herself. This approach has also been with the forthcoming drama King and Conqueror about the Norman invasion of 1066, with historical Anglo-Saxon noblemen as being from diverse backgrounds. King and Conqueror is a CBS Studios co-production series acquired by the BBC.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Cornell Tech Professor Warns AI Agents And Crypto Spell Trouble
Picture this: an autonomous AI agent launches a memecoin, raises millions, and uses the funds to destabilize a government, says Olga Kharif. Or offers a bounty — paid in crypto — for hacking an S&P 500 company. Or worse: deploys a smart contract to hire a killer. This isn't a Black Mirror episode. It's a scenario painted by Bill Marino (University of Cambridge) and Ari Juels (Cornell Tech) in their new paper: 'Giving AI Agents Access to Cryptocurrency and Smart Contracts Creates New Vectors of AI Harm.'
