A new feature of Lost in Translation, reporting on various remakes and adapations in the works.

JK Rowling’s publisher has announced the title of her next book, The Casual Vacancy. The book will be Rowling’s first non-Potter book and will be out September 27 this year.

A Game of Thrones has been renewed for a third season. The third season will only cover a portion of the third book, A Storm of Swords. The showrunners acknowledge that A Storm of Swords couldn’t be properly covered in ten episodes, and they will be trying to fit in the action from A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons as those two novels take place during the same time frame. HBO’s co-president Richard Plepler is willing to give the series the time to develop properly, as long as George R.R. Martin is willing. (Now this is how to adapt an epic novel series properly.)

A Short Circuit remake is in the works. No production start has been announced.

Part of the Sony collapse? Sony Pictures will be remaking Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a live-action superhero movie. The biggest change seems to be changing the focus of Sabrina living as a witch among mundanes to Sabrina learning to cope with her powers.

A movie promotes physical activity! Thanks to The Hunger Games, more people are looking into archery. The movie has earned over $300 million at the box office, making it the second fastest to cross that line. Only Avatar was faster to break that mark.

Next week, back to the reviews.

Stuff that came up today, mainly.  Not really part of the main series, but relates.  Not filler, either, otherwise I’d have held on to it.

First up, Hunger Games news.  The screenwriter, Simon Beaufoy, is already working on adapting Catching Fire, the second book in the series.  He is working with Suzanne Collins, the author, on what needs to be kept and what can be dropped for time reasons.  His goal is to make sure that the fans are satisfied with the final result.  Once again, respecting the original work and the fans is showing up.  Whether the movies are successful remains to be seen, though LiT will have a report.

Next, the trailer for Battleship is out.  The movie looks decent enough, but might do better without being tied to the game.  It could go the route of Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li or it could be another G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Speaking of G.I. Joe, there’s a sequel coming.  G.I. Joe: Retaliation will star Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson.