When I first heard Hawaii Five-O was getting the remake treatment I wasn’t that interested. I only vaguely remembered the original series and it was one step closer to rebooting Magnum P.I. (how sacrilegious would will that be?) in my opinion. However, I’ve begun to shift in the other direction regarding this series as more casting news comes out.

The most recent addition is James Marsters. Probably best known as Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Marsters also played Brianic on Smallville and Barnabas on Caprica.  As exciting as it may be to have him on the new Hawaii Five-O it doesn’t sound like he’ll have a continuing role, at least not yet. Marsters will be in the pilot and appear, “as the nemesis of lead character Jack McGarrett.”

At this point it seems producers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Transformers, Fringe) are trying to capture the geek community for the new show.  Marsters joins a cast that encapsulates geek programming; Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), Jean Smart (24), and Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight) are already on deck.  With Scott Caan on board as well suddenly Hawaii Five-O is a show I can start to get behind.

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment have finally released an official synopsis of the plot for their upcoming big screen adaptation of Thor, starring Star Trek’s Chris Hemsworth and Star Wars‘ Natalie Portman. Along with the sysnposis, they’ve also included preliminary credits which carry the favored disclaimer “Credits Not Final.”

This is amusing considering the film is already in production and you would have to expect that those pesky contracts had already been finalized before any actors stepped in front of a camera. Anyway, no big surprises in the synopsis but we do get a few good confirmations.

Check it out after the jump, courtesy of the fine folks at Paramount and Marvel Entertainment:

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We at The Flickcast are pretty diligent about serving up all the news that comes out each week. However, try as we may to cover it all, some things occassionally slip by. Well, no longer.

Welcome to On The Radar! This weekly post will be your premiere destination for a comprehensive roundup of items that may be developing stories we’re watching, Twitter commentary, or other relevant news that wasn’t quite ready for prime time just yet.  In short, a grab bag of geek items which are sure to please.

Let’s see what blips are on the radar this week.

‘Zombieland’ devours video rentals

Zombieland dominated the video lists this week, “…on the Nielsen VideoScan Blu-ray Disc chart, “Zombieland” went three for three, bowing at No. 1 and …racked up 31% of its total first-week sales from the Blu-ray Disc.” Way to go Zombieland, we can’t wait for the sequeal.

‘Avatar’ 3D boosts Cineplex ticket sales in Canada

3D showings of Avatar did wonders for Cineplex’s bottom line in Canada, “Despite running for only 13 days during its latest financial frame, “Avatar 3D” was Cineplex’s biggest boxoffice performer during the fourth quarter to Dec. 31, and has done around $74 million in Canadian ticket receipts to date.” No surprise really given the popularity of this film and the fact 3D showings are still being sold, out or causing line-ups.

Geek flicks drive Viacom profits

DVD and Blu-Ray disc sales from Star Trek, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe stimulated Viacom’s fourth quarter earnings to the tune of $694 million.  Not bad considering the $173 million it made in the same quarter in 2008.  Also helping was the indie hit Paranormal Activity which increased operating expenses by 24%.

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Much like other classic battles including Mac versus Windows, New Coke versus Old Coke, Nikon versus Canon, Edward versus Jacob and Democrats versus Republicans, the debate between fans of Star Wars and Star Trek rages on and never seems to be fully resolved. Fans on both sides of the isle vehemently defend their position that their choice of sci-fi entertainment is vastly superior to that other crap losers believe in.

Some fans intimately entrenched in this debate got together and decided to make a video and post it on YouTube. Of course, in this modern world of ours if you have such a debate, that’s what you do these days and this video is the result.

In the video the debate rages on between Star Wars and Star Trek. Which is superior, and why? Is Luke Skywalker a better hero than Captain Kirk? These questions, and many more, get discussed, debated and dissected in this video. Ok, actually none of that happens, but the video is still really inventive and well done.

Be sure to stay until the end. Check it out after the jump.

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This week on The Flickcast, Matt and Chris fly solo as they take on Sunday’s Golden Globes. Some surprises, some reliefs, and Matt talks Christina Hendricks while Chris talks Mo’Nique. They also discuss some other stories making waves including Apple’s announcement next week, and what that could mean for users of the iPhone, as well as Marc Webb getting to take on the reboot of Spider-Man.

Since it was just the two of them this week, Chris and Matt both got cocky and opted for two picks. Matt went with The Adventures of Power, an indie comedy starring Ari Gold (not Jeremy Piven) and the silver screen adaptation of Tucker Max’s I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, which hits DVD on January 26th. Chris also had two picks, as he went with Paul Thoman Anderson’s Magnolia on Blu-ray, which we’ll have a review of next week, and Whiteout starring Kate Beckinsale.

Sorry for the tardiness of the episode, but due to how much Matt and Chris gushed about the Golden Globes, we think it’s well worth the wait. As usual, if you have any comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

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While folks over in the J.J. Abrams camp are revving up for the final season of LOST, there’s still something to look forward to on the horizon. News has just hit that a release date for the sequel to last May’s Star Trek has been announced…and that date is June 29th, 2012.

So before we start joining in the debate on whether the next villain should be Kahn, Klingons, The Borg, or Tribbles, realize that we still have over two years before we’ll get to “boldly go…” once more in theaters.

No word has been stated on what the plot will be, but last we heard from the cast and crew, just about everyone will be returning for the sequel (with the exception of Nimoy as Spock Prime). The film will at least be getting a prime box office slot, as it’s the weekend before Independence Day, which is primarily a hot ticket weekend for theaters.

Just think, between now and the time the film hits theaters, we’ll have already seen two Iron Man films, a Thor movie, and another six films starring Miley Cyrus. Isn’t the anticipation overwhelming??

Dvice has found these awesome wet suits, available for the steep price of $470. Or is it normal for wet suits? I don’t know. Anyhow, these suits are available in red, blue and yellow and will add some flare when you’re . . . doing stuff you do in wet suits.

I don’t know what it says about the company that they are offering a “red shirt” version. Who would be crazy enough to buy one? We all know what happens to red shirts. But they do look stylish, and I’m sure might be popular among the scuba-diving/surfing, Star Trek loving crowd. You know who you are.

They’re available for purchase at Roddenberry.com. Get yours today.

Now, before Zachary Quinto supporters get all bent out of shape, allow me to first explain. The following is a fan-edit of the audiobook for Alan Dean Foster’s novelization of this year’s Star Trek. The audiobook was narrated by the film’s co-star Zachary Quinto, who played Spock.

From there, an overzealous fan decided that the narration would make a much better romance novel than a story about intergalactic heroism. With that, “Spork! An Erotic Love Story” was born. Dean Foster is quite descriptive in his narrative, and sadly this is only used against him in this slashfic (fan fiction which ends in romance).

Check out the video after the jump, but be warned, if you’re sure dialogue and descriptions from a novelization of Star Trek can’t be considered NSFW, you might be proven wrong. Also, be aware, it can get pretty intense towards the end, but overall it’s quite hilarious. Enjoy.

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While James Bond gets a lot of attention on the big screen there’s another pseudo-spy that’s just as good in my opinion.  I’m talking about Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. Clancy’s novels have been the basis for four films to date with various actors taking on the Ryan role.

Way back in 1990 The Hunt for Red October started it all with Alec Baldwin as the first Jack Ryan. When Baldwin left, Harrison Ford took over for two films, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. The series faltered somewhat thereafter until Ben Affleck arrived in The Sum of all Fears.

As diverse as the actors have been the series overall has held together pretty well in my opinion. While Ford was probably the closest to what Ryan was like in the novels bringing Affleck in was necessary to reboot the franchise with a younger star. Sadly, that never seemed to work out.

Fortunately, producer Mace Neufeld, who has been with the series since the very beginning, is still planning a fresh start.  Chris Pine (Star Trek) will take Affleck’s place as Jack Ryan and word is the fifth film may not be based on a Clancy novel as the other films have been:

“We ran out of books,” says Nuefeld. “Red Rabbit was the last one, and we just couldn’t seem to get a script out of it.” Red Rabbit is one of only two novels, alongside The Cardinal of the Kremlin, in which Ryan is young enough for Pine’s portrayal to be book-faithful.”

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Oh, how time flies. It feels like J.J. Abrams’  Star Trek was still hovering out in the distance, a big question mark of a concept. Now the DVD is in the hot little hands of fans, and no one can stop talking about the sequel. Oh heck, they were talking about the sequel two minutes after it premiered. Over at Sci Fi Wire, they pinned down Abrams, Damon Lindelof, and Roberto Orci to talk about Star Trek 2. While it’s being touted as being very spoiler filled, it’s really just the creators thinking out loud and seeing what’ll stick.

Abrams confirms that he will direct the sequel, despite all rumors to the contrary, and that we shouldn’t look for it to hit theaters before 2012. While they’re predictably tight-lipped, Lindelof dropped one intriguing hint as to the new film’s place in the timeline. Citing the timeline of the Bourne films as an inspiration, Lindelof suggested that a squishy LOST continuum might come into play.

“One of the things we like to do as storytellers is drop you in the middle of something. And the question that you’re asking yourself is: Where am I in relation to the last time I left these guys? Could this be something that predated even, perhaps, some of the adventures that they had in the first movie? Does it happen five years later? Is it happening two seconds later? Who knows? So we’re not going to tell you.”

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