Check out the Trailer for The Last Resort

Ok, this one isn't really post-apocalyptic, but the story centers around a nuclear-armed submarine, and it looks awesome, so that's good enough for me.

500 feet beneath the ocean's surface, the U.S. ballistic missile submarine Colorado receives their orders. Over a radio channel, designed only to be used if their homeland has been wiped out, they're told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan. Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) demands confirmation of the orders only to be unceremoniously relieved of duty by the White House.

XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) finds himself suddenly in charge of the submarine and facing the same difficult decision. When he also refuses to fire without confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is targeted, fired upon, and hit. The submarine and its crew find themselves crippled on the ocean floor, declared rogue enemies of their own country.

Now, with nowhere left to turn, Chaplin and Kendal take the sub on the run and bring the men and women of the Colorado to an exotic island. Here they will find refuge, romance, and a chance at a new life, even as they try to clear their names and get home.

And here's the trailer.

WOOL Heading to UK Bookshelves and Possibly the Big Screen

It's been a very exciting few days for Woolites.  Hugh Howey confirmed not one, but two huge deals for the WOOL series.

First to be announced was that the movie rights are going to 20th Century Fox, with talk that production will be a partnership between Riddley Scott's Scott Free and Steve Zaillian's Film Rites.  Those are names connected to great films like Alien, Gladiator, Shindler's List, Black Hawk Down, and Moneyball, among many others.  Hugh is quick to point out that movie rights don't mean that a movie is guaranteed, but it's certainly great news.

The other big announcement was that book publishing rights for the UK have been picked up by Century, a division of Random House.  Hugh has so far resisted a publishing deal in the US, and he seems to be doing fairly well without one, but he's taking a more traditional route overseas.  Century plans to have a hardback relase in January, 2013, and then a paperback the following August.

Not too shabby for an independant book series that first hit the 'net not even a year ago, but if you've read the books, then I'm sure you're not surprised; happy and excited for Hugh maybe, but not surprised.

But if you haven't read the books, and want to see what all the fuss is about, head on over to Amazon and pick up the Omnibus.  The more popular the books are, the better the chances that we'll get to see it on the big screen.

Revolution is Looking Pretty Awesome

"Governments fell, and militias, and generals, and warlords rose up..."

I know it's hard to tell how good a show is going to be from a four-minute clip, but my stokage level with Revolution is rising steadily.  It was just a few months ago that we first heard about J.J. Abrams' new project for NBC, but they've been working steadily, shooting for a fall priemere, and they've just released a trailer and several other clips to get potential viewers excited. And I have to say that it's working for me.

If you missed the earlier news, here's the synopsis:

Our entire way of life depends on electricity. So what would happen if it just stopped working? Well, one day, like a switch turned off, the world is suddenly thrust back into the dark ages. Planes fall from the sky, hospitals shut down, and communication is impossible. And without any modern technology, who can tell us why?

Now, 15 years later, life is back to what it once was long before the industrial revolution: families living in quiet cul-de-sacs, and when the sun goes down, the lanterns and candles are lit. Life is slower and sweeter. Or is it?

On the fringes of small farming communities, danger lurks. And a young woman's life is dramatically changed when a local militia arrives and kills her father, who mysteriously - and unbeknownst to her - had something to do with the blackout. This brutal encounter sets her and two unlikely companions off on a daring coming-of-age journey to find answers about the past in the hopes of reclaiming the future.

From director Jon Favreau ("Iron Man," "Iron Man 2") and the fertile imaginations of J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke ("Supernatural"), comes a surprising "what if" action-adventure series, where an unlikely hero will lead the world out of the dark. Literally.

If it lasts at least a full season, and they don't leave us hanging at the end, it could turn out to be one of the best post-apocalyptic TV shows ever, if for no other reason than the visuals.  But I am a bit leery of the "how did it happen and can we change it back" storyline they introduce in the trailer.  I can't imagine that they'd be able to come up with a satisfying scientific answer for the blackout, so I wish they'd just leave it ambiguous and concentrate on the state of society in the post-apocalypse.

But in any case, I'm totally looking forward to it.  Check out the trailer below, and if you agree, head over to the official NBC page for even more.

Hat tip to QuietEarth.us for turning me on to the trailer.

Could Jericho Come Back Again on Netflix?

The blogs are abuzz with news that first appeared on TVGuide.com that confirms that Netflix and CBS are in talks to possibly revive Jericho as a Netflix-original program.

Of course the chances of it actually happening are slim, but fans of Arrested Development probably thought the same thing before Netflix came to their rescue by bringing that series back to life.

If the show does start up again, one interesting question would be if it would overwrite or negate the storyline continued in comics and billed as Season 3 and Season 4 of the show.

I've now read the first three issues of Season 3, and it's pretty interesting, but it definitely moves the action out of Jericho itself, and opens the story to much broader issues than just a small town in Kansas trying to survive after a disaster.

I'd watch it either way of course, and while my first thought would be that I'd like to see it revert back to small scale survival, it would also be cool to see more areas of the country and how they're coping, and to find out more about the conspiracy behind the bombings that started it all to begin with.

But in any case, keep your fingers crossed that Netflix and CBS can come to an agreement.  And I'm only half-joking when I wonder if it would help if we sent Netflix some peanuts...? 

Defiance - A TV/Game Project to Keep An Eye On

Syfy recently announced a slate of 28 projects that are in development for upcoming seasons, and one of them in particular seems like one to keep an eye on, not only because it sounds like a cool TV show, but because it's supposed to be a lot more than just that.

Defiance is described as "a revolution in transmedia entertainment that unites a groundbreaking scripted television series and a massively multiplayer online shooter for the very first time.

Set in the near future, Defiance introduces players and viewers to a completely transformed planet Earth, inhabited by the disparate survivors of a universal war who endeavor to build a new society among the devastation. The game combines the intense action of a AAA console shooter, with the persistence, scale, and customization of an MMO, while its TV counterpart weaves the rich tapestry of the world into a series with the scope, characters, and drama of a classic sci-fi epic. Because they exist in a single universe, the show and the game will influence each other and evolve together over time, with actions in both mediums driving the overall story of Defiance."

Production on the TV pilot started this week, with a premier set for some time in 2013.  The release mentions that a lot of the Battlestar Galactica production team has reunited for this project, so I'm really excited to see how it goes. 

I've read elsewhere the game will take place on the West Coast and the show will be set on the East Coast, so it will be interesting to see how much they interact, other than being set in the same universe.

Here's a pre-alpha trailer for the game, and you can read more about the entire project at the official site, Defiance.com.