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Here we go with another Thursday news roundup, bringing you yesterday’s news tomorrow! It’s like Early Edition, except Gary’s always too late to save the little girl from getting hit by that freight train, or what have you. I don’t know, I never watched it.

First of all, if you have even the slightest enthusiasm for Babylon 5, feast your eyes on the trailer for the new Babylon 5 Lost Tales DVD. It features an ominous voice-over, some spectacular space battle footage, techno-mage Galen looking mysterious (and, as usual, slightly smug), and Tracy Scoggins bearing a more than passing resemblance to Brian Dennehy. Hopefully the writers have chosen to refrain from cramming her into neon pink Frederick’s of Hollywood lingerie (as they did in the deeply unfortunate River of Souls), lest our very souls be blasted into oblivion and forfeit to Yibb-Tstll. Well, anyway. The DVD comes out July 31.

As most all of sci-fi fandom now knows, the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica will be its last. Rather than spend another season on hilarious door-slamming farces and endlessly drawn-out legal farragoes, Moore and company have decided to go for the throat … after a half a year’s hiatus or so.

Moore said that he’s proud that the show has been unafraid to take risks. “And it’s been unafraid to move strongly forward instead of trying to sort of tread water,” he said. “And it just feels like the momentum of the series is moving towards a conclusion.”

Well, speaking as a humble fan, it sure hasn’t felt that way to me, but I’ll take their word for it. Frankly, I think this is good news. I’ve really enjoyed Battlestar, but I think it’s the kind of story that needs a strong dramatic thrust and a definite end. The third season was far too aimless and pokey, as I’ve whinged about before — I’m choosing to have faith that Moore and co. know what they’re doing, or at least have come close to figuring out what they’re doing.

Neil Gaiman is apparently going to direct his first feature film, based on his graphic novel Death: The High Cost of Living. Now,I enjoy Gaiman’s work in the comics medium tremendously, but his novels often leave me cold, and I’m the only person I know who found Mirrormask to be a pretty, but incomprehensible, bore. I’d be dubious enough without the presence of Shia LeBoeuf, of whom I’ve already had way more than enough. I don’t know how it’s possible, but between the critical fawning over Rear Window Disturbia and his upcoming appearances in Indy IV and Transformers, I’m somehow thoroughly sick of LeBeouf without having seen him in anything. But yeah, Death and stuff. With any luck, it should be the most volatile Goth masturbation fodder since The Crow: City of Angels. Speaking of wearing lots of pancake makeup and sitting at the back of the bus cutting yourself for attention…

Hey, here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write… from the makers of American Pie… Elric of Melnibone! According to Empire, Paul and Chris Weitz are planning to take on what may be be one of the most unfilmable fantasy series of all time.

“Of the great classic fantasy series it’s the one that hasn’t been done yet,” Weitz tells Empire online. “My brother Paul and I liked those books growing up and we’ve met Michael Moorcock and he trusts us to take those books forward.” The Weitz’s Depth Of Field production company will be behind the adaptation, although no director is yet attached. Weitz does have one in mind, though: “I’d really like it if my brother directed them,” he says.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I think the fantasy movie market has really been crying out for a fantasy movie starring a sickly Gothic albino! I kid, of course. I’m a big fan of Moorcock’s books, but I have serious doubts about their adaptability. It seems to me their choices are either to make a straight-up adaptation and end up with a movie that’s only moderately watchable, or just do what most adaptations do and flush everything about Elric down the toilet, thus pissing off up to dozens of hardcore Moorcock fans. But committing Elric to film is an idea so crazy it just might work — we can then look forward to John Malkovich as Von Bek and Hawkmoon starring Shia LeBeouf.

Meanwhile, hot on the heels of Celebration IV (yeah, I know, it was weeks ago, shut up), Lucasfilm has unveiled the trailer for the new Clone Wars animated series. Stylistically, it looks all but indistinguishable from the live-action prequels, which speaks volumes for the gorgeous state of modern animation, the massive budget of the series, and the relative cartooniness of the prequels themselves.

There was a time when I would have been giddy as a schoolgirl at the very thought of a weekly animated series based on the Clone Wars — but when I was a kid, all we had was that dreadful Ewoks and Droids garbage. That’s the way it was, and we didn’t like it! Judging by the trailer alone, though, this doesn’t look like anything Genndy Tartakovsky hasn’t already done before (and better), so I’m not exactly creaming my jeans just yet. Still, it looks like maybe we’ll finally get some decent space battles, hopefully sans goofy droids that ruthlessly steal aboard your ship and ruin all your bodywork.

Penultimately, here’s a neat little tidbit from Superhero Hype: the full cast list of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army:

John Hurt is back for a cameo.
Myers is not back (see Rupie in KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN in the London stage!!).
Universal has NOT authorized a brief Kroenen cameo/ epilogue- yet.
Johann will be played by John Alexander (body) and Thomas Kretschmann (voice).
Dougie [Doug Jones] will play 4 characters.
Brian Steele will play 4 characters.
Anna Walton is the actress playing Princess Nuala.
Luke Goss plays Prince Nuada. Silverlance.
Roy Dotrice plays King Balor

They join Ron Perlman and Selma Blair in the sequel which starts filming this Friday, June 8 in Budapest.

I’ll admit it, not immediately seeing Selma Blair on this list made me panic for a moment. And, once again, I have to hyperventilate in keen anticipation for seeing Luke Goss in another Del Toro feature. That should be awesome.

Well, that about wraps it up for Thursday. One final thing — last but also least, you might say — they’re remaking Westworld! Why would anyone do this?