OPENS: May 21, 2009
RATING: PG-13 (Violence, Gore, Language)
GENRE: Science Fiction, Horror

Starring: Christian Bale , Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Blair Williams , Bryce Dallas Howard, Jane Alexander, Helena Bonham Carter

Director: McG

Writer:маси и столове John D. Brancato & Michael Ferris

Plot: Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

Teen heart-throb Zac Efron's latest film, the light fantasy comedy 17 Again pulled in enough teen greenbacks to finish in the top spot in this past weekend's box office. . It brought in more than $24 million in ticket sales in its debut- weekend - almost more than the next two top-grossing films combined.

The only sci fi flick to debut this weekend was the Spanish-language Sleep Dealer, whichwas shown only an a hanful of theatres in Los Angeles and New York. It debuted at No. 10 on the genre movie list and No. 37 overall with just over $30 thousand.

The sole genre film set to debut next week: The Mutant Chronicles also is set for a limited release befire going to DVD and a broadcast TV debut on the Sci Fi Channel later this summer.

Following are the Top 10 speculative fiction movies in release in North America for the weekend of April 17-19 , 2009.

RANK #. (Overall Rank) Title - Weekend Gross | Total Gross [Budget]

1. (1) 17 Again - $24 milllion | $24 million [N/A]
2. (3) Monsters vs. Aliens - $13 million | 163 million [$175 million]
3. (8) Knowing - $3.4 million | $74 million [N/A]
4. (10) The Haunting in Connecticut - $3.2 million | $52 million [N/A]
5. (11) Dragonball Evolution - $1.6 million | $7.8 million [N/A]
6. (15) Race to Witch Mountain - $0.7 million | $64 million [N/A]
7. (23) Coraline - $0.2 million | $75 million [N/A]
8. (26) Push- $0.09 million | $32 million [$38 million]
9. optical channel(30) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - $0.06 million | $127.5 million [$150 million]
10. (37) Sleep Dealer - $0.03 million | $0.03 million [N/A]

Source: Box Office Mojo - list only includes science fiction, spy fi, fantasy and dark fantasy/horror titles.

OPENS: April 24, 2009
RATING: R (Violence, Language)
GENRE: Horror, Science Fiction

Starring: Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, Devon Aoki, Sean Pertwee, Benno Fürmann, John Malkovich

Director: Simon Hunter

Writer: Philip Eisner

Plot: In the year 2707, war rages between earths four giant corporations as they battle over the planet's dwindling resources. In an era marked by warfare and social regression, the earth is on the verge of ruin, destruction is everywhere; battles explode on every ravaged continent. Amidst heavy combat, an errant shell shatters an ancient buried seal releasing a horrific mutant army from its eternal prison deep within the earth. As the mutant scourge threatens human extinction, a single squad of soldiers descends into the earth to fulfill the ages-old prophesy of the MUTANT CHRONICLES and save mankind.

After spending last week on at the top spot, animated science fantasy flick, Monsters vs. Aliens fell to the No. 2 spot behind the fourth installment fo the Fast and the Furious franchise.

The only sci fi flick to debut this weekend was Alien Trespass, the 50's-era sci-fi comedy spook starring Eric McCormick, which debuted at No. 29 on the genre movie list and No. 29 overall with just over $10 million.

Genre films set to debut next week: Dragonball Evolution is set for wide release.

Following are the Top 10 speculative fiction movies in release in North America for the weekend of April 3-5, 2009.

RANK #. (Overall Rank) Title - Weekend Gross | Total Gross [Budget]

1. (2) Monsters vs. Aliens - $33.5 million | 105.7 million [$175 million]
2. (3) The Haunting in Connecticut - $9.55 million | 37.2 million [N/A]
3. (4) Knowing - $8.1  million | $58.3 million [N/A]
4. (6) Race to Witch Mountain- $3.4 million | $58.4 million [N/A]
5. (13) Watchmen - $1.1 million | $105.4 million [$150 million]
6. (19) Coraline - $0.2 million | $74.3 million [N/A]
7. (22) Push - $0.14 million | $31.3 million [$38 million]
8. (23) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - $0.13 million | $127.2 million [$150 million]
9. (29) Alien Trespass - $0.04 million | $0.04 million [N/A]
10. (33) Fanboys - $0.02 million | $0.6 million [N/A]

Source: Box Office Mojo - list only includes science fiction, spy fi, fantasy and dark fantasy/horror titles.

While not as prevalent today as in the past, science fiction, fantasy, and horror (SF/F/H) authors continue to use pseudonyms (pen names). Reasons for this practice include the following: 1) Publishers of prolific authors want to avoid flooding the market with many books by the same author; 2) Magazine editors want to disguise the fact that two different stories in an issue are by the same author; 3) Anthology/magazine editors want to disguise the fact that one or more of the stories they include is by the editor himself/herself; 4) Authors write in different genres and want to have a particular name associated with a particular genre; 5) Authors with names similar to those of other writers use pen names to avoid confusing the reader; 6) Collaborations between (among) authors are disguised by a pen name; 7) A publisher has a series of stories and wants to be able to continue the series without interruption if the author doing the series leaves, so s/he requires the stories to be written under a “House” name; An author wants to disguise his/her sex to make the story more credible; 9) Authors want to disguise authorship because of personal revelations made, the sensitive nature of the story, the quality of the story, to conceal their writing activities from their principal employer and/or their colleagues, etc.

There are some SF/F/H authors whose genre fiction has been published almost exclusively under their pen names (e. g., William Fitzgerald Jenkins writing as Murray Leinster). When felt to be appropriate, the pseudonyms of these authors are indicated as “usual name.”

I have included some SF fans and their pseudonyms, especially those fans who write for publication and are current (or former) members of the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F, NFFF).

A few prominent SF/F/H comic book authors/artists whose work has been published in book form also are included.

Additions and/or corrections to this compilation of SF/F/H authors/fans and their writing names will be appreciated.

Format reads as follows; Author Names: Pseudonyms

Animated Weinstein film Igor was master of the sci-fi box office this past weekend. The film brought in $8 million in its first weekend, easily outdistancing No. 2 genre flick, Ghost Town, a fellow newcomer which brought in $5.2 million over the same period.

Last week's No. 1, The Dark Knight, fell to the third spot with just under $3 million in ticket sales in its 10th week in release.

Genre films set to debut next week: Blindness, a dystopian thriller starring Mark Ruffalo, Julianne More, Gael Garcia Bernal, Danny Glover and Sandra Oh opens in limited release - with a wider release expected over the next few weeks. 

Following are the Top 10 speculative fiction movies in release in North America for the weekend of September 19-21, 2008.

RANK #. (Overall Rank) Title - Weekend Gross | Total Gross [Budget]

1. (4) Igor - $8.0 million | $8.0 million [$30 million]
2. (8) Ghost Town - $5.2 million | $5.2 million [$20 million]
3. (9) The Dark Knight - $3.0 million | $522million [$185 million]
4. (13) Death Race - $1.0 million | $35.0 million [$45 million]
5. (17) Journey to the Center of the Earth - $0.8 million | $99.1 million [$60 million]
6. (18) Babylon A.D. - $0.74 million | $21.7 million [$70 million]
7. (19) Fly Me to the Moon - $0.73 million | $11.0 million [$25 million]
8. (22) Mirrors - $0.47 million | $29.9 million [budget unreported]
9. (23) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - $0.40 million | $102.2 million [$145 million]
10. (24) Star Wars: The Clone Wars - $0.36 million | $34.4 million [budget unreported]

Source: Box Office Mojo - list only includes science fiction, spy fi, fantasy and dark fantasy/horror titles.

OPENS: October 3, 2008
RATING: R (Violence, Sexual Assault, Language, Nudity)
GENRE: Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction
WEBSITE: http://www.blindness-themovie.com/

Starring: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Alice Braga, Gael García Bernal, Sandra Oh, Yusuke Iseya

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Writer: Don McKellarbased on Don McKellar's novel.

Plot: From Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago and acclaimed director Fernando Meirelles (“The Constant Gardener” and “City of God”) comes “Blindness.” It is described as “the compelling story of humanity in the grip of an epidemic of mysterious blindness. It is an unflinching exploration of human nature, both bad and good - people's selfishness, opportunism, and indifference, but also their capacity for empathy, love, and sheer perseverance.”

It begins in a flash, as one man is instantaneously struck blind while driving home from work. His whole world is suddenly turned to an eerie, milky haze. One by one, each person he encounters - his wife, his doctor, even the seemingly Good Samaritan who gives him a lift home - will in due course suffer the same unsettling fate. As the contagion spreads, and panic and paranoia set in across the city, the newly blind victims of the “White Sickness” are rounded up and quarantined within a crumbling, abandoned mental asylum, where all semblance of ordinary life begins to break down.

But inside the quarantined hospital, there is one secret eyewitness: one woman (Moore) who has not been affected but has pretended she is blind in order to stay beside her beloved husband (Mark Ruffalo). Armed with increasing courage and the will to survive, she will lead a makeshift family of seven people on a journey, through horror and love, depravity and beauty, warfare and wonder, to break out of the hospital and into the devastated city where they may be the only hope left.

In its ninth week in release, Batman flick. The Dark Knight continued its reign at the box office this past weekend ad was top film over a dwindling group of genre films at the box office.

No new science fiction, fantasy, horror or spy-fi films have opened over the past two weekends as mainstream comedies dominated at North American movie theatres.

To date, Dark Knight  has brought in more than $517 million in ticket sales in in the U.S. and Canada, with a total of its second weekend - more than $966 million worldwide. According to Warner Brothers - expect the film to be pulled from theatres in the next week wees, only to be re-released in January 2009 during the Oscar season. The studio is hoping for both Academy Awards and to break the billion-dollar mark in ticket sales.

Genre films set to debut next week: Ghost Town starring Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni and the animated family fantasy, Igor starring the voices of John Cusack, John Cleese, Steve Buscemi, Eddie Izzard, Jennifer Coolidge, Jay Leno, Molly Shannon and Christian Slater.

Following are the Top 10 speculative fiction movies in release in North America for the weekend of September 12-14, 2008.

RANK #. (Overall Rank) Title - Weekend Gross | Total Gross [Budget]

1. (7) The Dark Knight - $4.0 million | $517.7 million [$185 million]
2. (10) Death Race - $2.0 million | $33.2 million [$45 million]
3. (11) Babylon A.D. - $1.8 million | $20.3 million [$70 million]
4. (14) Fly Me to the Moon - $1.3 million | $9.9 million [$25 million]
5. (16) Journey to the Center of the Earth - $1.1 million | $98.0 million [$60 million]
6. (18) Mirrors - $0.90 million | $29.1 million [budget unknown]
7. (19) Star Wars: The Clone Wars - $0.82 million | $33.9 million [$budget unknown]
8. (20) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon King - $0.60 million | $101.5 million [$145 million]
9. (22) WALL-E - $0.5 million | $220.1 million [$180 million]
10. (33) Hellboy II: The Golden Army - $0.10 million | $75.8 million [$85 million]

Source: Box Office Mojo - list only includes science fiction, spy fi, fantasy and dark fantasy/horror titles.