May 25, 2011: More Transporter: The Series Casting Announcements! Another Dark Matter Character Design! Stargate: Extinction Secrets Revealed!

Sacre bleu!  Two more casting announcements for my new show, Transporter: The Series!

As most of you already know, actor Chris Vance (Prison Break, Mental, Dexter, and Burn Notice) will be donning the driving gloves in the role of Frank Martin, the Transporter who delivers anything, anywhere – for a price.  Andrea Osvart will play his handler, Carla, an ex-CIA agent who deals with the details so Frank can concentrate on the job.  Also joining the cast…

Who better to play the role made famous by actor Francois Berléand in the Transporter films than, well, actor Francois Berléand.  That's right. Inspector Tarconi makes the transition from the big screen, bringing his charming, world-weary self to series television.  And joining him…

Actress Delphine Chanéac (who you genre fans may remember from the movie Splice) has been cast in the role of the mysterious Olivia. What makes Olivia so mysterious?  Well, you'll have to tune in to find out.  Mysterious,no?

On the comic book side, my upcoming series for Dark Horse – Dark Matter – continues to come together.  I've been working with artist Garry Brown and editor Patrick Thorpe on the layouts or issue #1.  I am very, VERY happy.  Check out the prelim character design for the singular seventh member of the crew -

Chotto sinister, no?

Finally – by now, I had hoped to hear back on the ultimate faith of Stargate: Extinction (Novel? Comic book? Radio play? Performance art piece?) but, alas, it's been very quiet.  I will say that when Paul and I set out to write the script for the proposed Stargate: Atlantis movie, we did so in the hopes that, ultimately, it wouldn't be produced as a movie at all but as the first two episodes of SGA's sixth season. Codenamed "Project Twilight", it would have focused on the city of Atlantis, its personnel, and the journey back to home to the Pegasus Galaxy.  Ideally, that would set the stage for the thrilling 18 episodes to follow – or, at the very least, the jumping off point for future SGA movies.

The movie would have picked up not long after the events of the season 5 finale, Enemy at the Gates.  In the opening scene, two astronauts (who turn out to be a couple of familiar faces – Amelia Banks and Major Lorne) take a walk on the surface of the moon, their lunar stroll ending with a reveal of the city of Atlantis.  A shuttle carrying Sam Carter and a group of dignitaries sweeps overhead and lands.

Within the city's atmospherically shielded confines, Carter and her guests meet up with the science team headed by – who else? – Rodney McKay.  Frustrated by the interruption to his ongoing research, McKay demonstrates a certain impatience with the whole dog-and-pony show, running through standards explanations, overviews, questions, and answers until – an alarm suddenly sounds.  The bewildered dignitaries are ushered out, leaving McKay, Carter, and Zelenka to investigate.

An examination of the city's systems reveal the worst.  A self-destruct has been initiated – a safeguard, Rodney surmises, put in place by the Ancients in the event Atlantis was ever removed from the Pegasus Galaxy.  And, once triggered, it cannot be disabled.  Nothing short of a return to the Pegasus Galaxy will save the city from certain destruction.

Of course, getting it there is easier said than done…

Anyway, that was the basic premise: A seeming new beginning.  A threat to the city.  And a desperate bid to outrace a deadly countdown.

But who would join the journey?  How would they get back to Pegasus? And what challenges would they face along the way?

More on that in the coming days.

Today's blog entry is dedicated to birthday gals Chevron7 and SarahL.

Tagged: Dark Matter, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis, The Transporter, Transporter: The Series