What's this mysterious letter from Fringe's second season?

Fringe is on its way back from that alternate reality, and we've got a few cool tidbits to share with you as we get ready for the second season of Fox's ubercool sci-fi procedural.

For starters, Fox sent along this mysterious paper with its second-season premiere screener for the sci-fi series, which returns next Thursday at 9 p.m. Check out the close-up below for the message it contains. (Possible spoiler ahead!) What could it mean??

Executive producers J.J. Abrams, Jeff Pinkner, Joel Wyman and Akiva Goldsman, meanwhile, promise that the second season will build on the tantalizing promise of the first:

"As we said last year, Fringe is a procedural, but unlike most procedurals, it's driven by character. Last season we met Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), Walter Bishop (John Noble) and Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) as well as the characters who support them while they tackle insane problems. And we discovered that at least some of the problems they face were put in motion by the work of Walter and his former lab mate, William Bell (guest star Leonard Nimoy), who in an alternate reality occupies an office in the (still standing) World Trade Center.
This year, the problems of Olivia and the Bishops face will worsen and become more personal."

You're gonna see more than one—this is an exclusive! You are going to see many Observers," Orci told the magazine about the new season's eighth episode. "[It's] going to tell you a lot about the Observers. You're going to find out their role in the world, what they're named after, and their connection to some of these characters."
Orci added: "One of the things we're doing, which we've been doing since season one, is that every four episodes or five episodes, if you've been watching the show and you're a fan, you're gonna get bigger answers than you ever got before. If you stay tuned to the fourth show, that eighth show, that 12th show, you will start to see a continuity that begins with the Observers."
Check back on SCI FI Wire for more Fringe news in the coming days, leading up to the season premiere and beyond.

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How did Amanda Tapping produce, direct and act in Sanctuary?

Amanda Tapping directed one episode of Stargate SG-1 and always told us she wanted to helm another but never got the chance. So it helps that she's the executive producer of her own show now—Syfy's Sanctuary—and can finally step behind the camera again for an upcoming episode.

Besides producing, Tapping also stars as the creature-loving immortal scientist Dr. Helen Magnus, and she'll direct the seventh episode of the new second season, called "Veritas."

"It was an appropriate episode for me to direct; I think that they must have planned it that way," Tapping said in an exclusive interview. "It was perhaps [director and executive producer] Martin's [Wood] way of torturing me."

"Veritas" was written by Alan McCullough, who scripted three of last year's 13 Sanctuary episodes and also wrote for Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG-1. In the show, Tapping's normally stable and aloof character seems to slowly slip into insanity and becomes more and more crazy.

"I guess I felt like I was going a little crazy," Tapping said with a laugh. "I kept thinking, 'Am I nuts wanting to direct this?' I didn't want to mess it up. It's about Magnus going crazy, going completely off the rail."

Tapping's first directing gig was SG-1's "Resurrection." "I learned a lot on Stargate," she said. "I had a great experience directing that show, and I've been shadowing Martin for so long."

Wood said he would let her direct every other episode if he could. "She does some incredible work, and I find that her style is very close to mine," he said.
The original plan was for Tapping to helm a Magnus-light storyline, but as the filming grew closer, the focus on her character grew. "We forced her to do perhaps one of the hardest things to do, because if she was just playing her character regularly, it would have been easy, but this time she had to lose it, and she was doing it without supervision," Wood said. "No one was telling her if it was far enough or too far, or how much she should push it."

Wood was prepping the next episode and dropped in when he could, and the show's co-creator and executive producer Damian Kindler watched when he could, too. But when they asked Tapping if she needed help, she'd say, "No, I'm good."
"She just turned in her episode after editing it herself, too, and it just blew us away. It was magnificent," Kindler said. "She did an absolutely first-class job and proved she is a skillful shot-maker, a good director and editor and a clever and intuitive person. If she every wanted to do a career shift, she would make a great director."
Like one of the creatures the Sanctuary houses, Kindler added, "If we could clone Amanda, we would need four of her."

Co-star, Robin Dunne, who plays Dr. Will Zimmerman, said, "Amanda continually surprises me. As an actor she's someone to look up to, but as a director she was equally passionate and generous."

Dunne and Tapping are known for cracking each other up during their most intimate scenes together, but for her Sanctuary directorial debut, Dunne was on his best behavior. "There was no goofing off on that one, I believe," Dunne said.
After all, she is the boss.

Sanctuary returns Oct. 9 and airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

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Greg Grunberg reveals more of Sylar's Heroes plans

When we last saw Matt Parkman on Heroes, he had used his psychic powers to help vanquish Sylar. The preview of Vol. 5 suggested that Sylar is already starting to emerge from the body of Nathan Petrelli, despite Parkman's best efforts. As season four, Vol. 5 continues, Sylar lingers on in Parkman's mind, too, said actor Greg Grunberg.

(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
"When we come back in season four, you see that this transfer of brains or whatever didn't go smoothly, and remnants of Sylar are left behind in me," Grunberg said in an exclusive interview on Aug. 5 in Pasadena, Calif., as part of the Television Critics Association fall press tour. "He's in my subconscious and I can't control him. Then he starts to control me, which is very, very cool."

Sylar's already got Nathan's body. Does he get Parkman's, too? "Well, he's in my head," Grunberg explained. "No one else can see him but me, so he's in scenes with me. It's very cool."

Zachary Quinto continues to play Sylar, in Parkman's vision of Sylar's presence. Grunberg also revealed some of Sylar's dirty deeds. "[He] kidnaps my child to get his body back. It's that kind of stuff, and it's very personal and much more relatable, I think."

That must mean Sylar uses Nathan's body to kidnap Parkman's daughter, right? No, said Grunberg. That's a separate thing while Sylar plays the brain game with Parkman. Don't worry about following the complicated storyline. Grunberg said it all makes sense.

"It's very easy to follow, actually, my storyline," Grunberg said. "It's cool how it's done. I love it because it's more character-based. The show became all about saving the world, and it's very abstract. It's kind of hard to grasp that. What does that mean? It's very spectacular, and it's fun, but then if you do it every week, it doesn't mean anything. And if everybody has powers, it doesn't mean anything. So this year it's kind of getting back to season one, where it's all about the characters just wanting to be real and normal. I don't want this power, I don't use it, and I'm forced to use it because Sylar's doing anything [he can]."

Grunberg has been enjoying the team-up with Quinto so much that he hopes Sylar never gets out of Parkman's head. "I went to the writers, I was talking to them tonight, and I was like, 'Guys, please don't end this. Don't resolve this, because we're having so much fun.' What's cool is that my powers evolve, and I start this year so regretting what I did last year that I have absolutely cut it cold turkey. I refuse to use my powers, and Sylar wants me to, so he's constantly on my shoulder going, 'Use your powers, you p-ssy.' It's great. It's really cool."

Too bad Parkman doesn't have a good angel on his shoulder telling him not to listen to Sylar. "No, that's me, but I'm not strong enough. It's pretty great."
Heroes returns Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. on NBC.

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30 Days of Night sequel has director

Ben Ketai has been named the director of 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, the sequel to the 2007 vampire thriller 30 Days of Night, according to Bloody Disgusting.

Previously, Kentai had co-written, with original 30 Days of Night graphic novel writer Steve Niles, the Web-based and on-demand prequel to the first film, 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails. The 30-minute Blood Trails had been shown on FEARnet.com and FEARnet on Demand just prior to the theatrical release of 30 Days of Night. Kentai then went on to co-write with Niles and Ed Fowler the Web-based and on-demand sequel to 30 Days of Night entitled 30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust.

The sequel will focus on the character of Stella Oleson, the wife of Sherriff Eben Oleson, who has published a book on the vampire attack on the Alaskan town of Barrow and who subsequently draws the attention of a vampire clan in Los Angeles.
Melissa George played Stella in the first film, but the part will be recast for the sequel.
Filming in Vancouver will begin this October.

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The Green Hornet actually starts shooting

After many delays and set backs, including the loss of a director, the search for a new one, an extensive search for a new Kato and a release date pushed back from the summer of 2010 to the winter of 2010, principal photography has actually begun on The Green Hornet, according to a press release from Columbia Pictures.

The Seth Rogen vehicle, which Rogen scripted with his Superbad and Pineapple Express co-writer Evan Goldberg, had originally been set to be directed by Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer helmer Stephen Chow. Chow dropped out, to be replaced by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep director Michel Gondry. The role of Kato finally went to Taiwanese pop singer and star of Curse of the Golden Flower, Jay Chou.

In addition to Rogen, The Green Hornet stars Cameron Diaz, and Edward James Olmos. War of the Worlds, The Quantum of Solace and Revolutionary Road vet David Harbour has recently joined the cast, as has Tom Wilkinson, who played Boss Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins and who has worked with Gondry before on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The Green Hornet is now scheduled to open December 17, 2010

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Underworld star heads to Antarctica in Whiteout

Whiteout uses the extreme cold of Antarctica to put a twist on the mystery thriller genre. U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) discovers a murder at the end of her last tour at a South Pole research station. If it's hard to find clues in the blizzard, imagine trying to hit your mark on the set.

"In terms of being challenging, coming out of the trailer that very first day, I really was worried I wasn't going to be able to speak at all, or say a line ever," Beckinsale said at a press conference on Aug. 28 in Beverly Hills, Calif. "My whole throat closed on that first breath. Luckily, Gabriel [Macht] told me to keep my passages open. Aside from that, the cold was really great. It was probably worse in the studio with the heat. Trying to stop [co-star] Columbus [Short] from sweating was the biggest challenge there."

Macht plays U.N. investigator Robert Pryce, joining the investigation with Stetko. He's also out in the snow in heavy winter gear, which is fine for exteriors, not so much under studio lights. "The challenges that we came up against were when we shot in the studio," Macht said during the press conference. "We were in 80-degree weather, in late spring/early summer, and we were having to wear extreme weather gear. It was probably the hottest set I've ever been on, so I was sweating bullets and probably lost 35 pounds by the end of the movie."

Manitoba, Canada, doubled for the South Pole. Don't make light of shooting in Canada. The actors had to be just as prepared for freezing temperatures when they shot outside. Beckinsale recalled the frightening safety manual.

"When we arrived, they put a thick telephone directory under our hotel room doors the night before we started shooting," she said. "That said, 'These are all the different ways it's possible to die here: of being too cold or of being too hot, if you keep your clothes on too long, when you go inside, or if you've ever had an alcoholic drink, or if you breathe in a westerly direction.' We all panicked. The most I remember was putting on and taking off 15 layers of clothes about 70 times a day. When we first went out, all the men had beards full of ice that I thought were makeup department tests, but it wasn't. It was real. And my hair froze into a point just from breathing on it. I thought, 'Well, I'm from England, I'll know how to handle the cold,' and it wasn't anything like that."

All bundled up, Macht toughed out the cold just fine. "My experience in Manitoba was that it was definitely freezing, and the environment was as close to the [Antarctic] environment as I would think is possible," he said. "But we were in extreme weather and I wasn't that cold. The stuff they got us to wear was very warm. I was fine, and I expected it to be a lot worse."

Producer Joel Silver chose Manitoba for its harsh conditions, but they weren't so harsh that he could not control it. Having learned his lesson from shooting in real snow back on Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Silver utilized modern-day visual effects to enhance location footage. Even creating the whiteouts, where fierce snow blocks visibility beyond a few feet, required digital trickery.

"Some of the way that we did the whiteouts couldn't have been done except for the CGI today," Silver said during the press conference. "You couldn't shoot in that situation. You couldn't possibly shoot in an environment like that. We were able to make it where you can actually see the people, but you sense that you really can't see anything else. With this, we did have some harsh environments, but a lot of that was created in a way that you could believe what you were seeing. There was verisimilitude. We did augment a lot of the climate and weather with visual effects, which makes it harsher than it really was. It was cold, and we were shooting on a frozen lake bed, [but] it wasn't treacherous. The ice was many, many feet deep."
Whiteout opens Sept. 11.

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Get a sneak peek at the Stargate Universe press kit

The Syfy PR department has started sending out press kits for Stargate Universe, so we thought we'd grab one and show you what it looks like

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