As part of Entertainment Weekly’s ongoing CapeTown Film Fest last night, some lucky fans got to see a special screening of the Falling Skies season 3 premiere.  From the first hour, it looks like the series is kicking off what some could see as a whole new direction.  Once the episode was over, cast members Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Drew Roy and Maxim Knight joined showrunner Remi Aubuchon for a special Q&A. In the Q&A the cast and showrunner gave teasers about what fans can expect from the show in season 3.  Hit the jump to find out what we learned.

Before I dive headfirst into what could be considered overselling to the “nth degree”, I have a disclaimer: I’m a total sucker for nostalgia-inducing, high school-centric, coming of age films. With that out of the way, I cannot recommend enough that you watch author/writer/director Stephen Chboksy‘s adaptation of his own novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, as soon as possible. The pic hit Blu-ray/DVD this past week and over the course of 24 hours I rented it, watched it, loved it, returned it (yes, somehow late fees are still a thing…), and purchased it for my own collection. I could go on and on about the emotional note the movie hit for me at every turn but I’ll spare you the fanboy torment. Suffice to say that I’ll be looking back fondly on this one for quite a while.

My “Blu-ray/DVD pick of the week” aside, this week’s installment features a week of Die Hard that includes Matt revisiting the entire franchise and A Good Day to Die Hard interviews with Bruce Willis and more, coverage from Steve’s visit to the set of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, a slew of video interviews from this year’s VES Awards including talks with Ang Lee and Wally Pfister just to name a few, Beautiful Creatures interviews with Emmy Rossum and more, and a healthy amount of images from the floor of Toy Fair 2013. Yep, you guessed it, a brief recap and link to each of the above can be found on the other side.

Falling Skies struggled to find its voice early on, but has gotten better over time.  While season one got decent ratings on TNT, I found most of the action and dialogue from the human survivors unrealistic considering their situation; the limited budget didn’t help.  Every episode seemed to take place on the same sets and I often wondered whether the show could live up to its potential.  Thankfully, the second season was a huge improvement and most of my issues were dealt with.  Characters acted like it was the end of the world, they didn’t spend every episode on the same set, and as the season went on, it felt like it was driving towards an interesting conclusion.  Hopefully season 3 will be the best yet.

At the VES Awards last week, I was able to talk to Drew Roy, who plays Hal on the show.  We talked about his excitement for season three, what was it like to work with Doug Jones and the character he’ll play, how much he knows about the season before filming begins, his thoughts on each season, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

TNT’s hit sci-fi drama, Falling Skies, landed at Comic-Con and the stars were kind enough to sit down for a round table interview.  Drew Roy (Hal), Sarah Carter (Margaret) and Connor Jessup (Ben) talked about the second and upcoming third seasons of the show, gave some insights into their characters and commented on why they think audiences have latched on.  Make sure to take a look at all of our previous Comic-Con coverage here, especially the interviews with other Falling Skies cast members.  Hit the jump to see what Roy, Carter and Jessup had to say.

TNT has decided to renew the sci-fi drama Falling Skies for another season.  The network has settled on ordering 10 episodes for the show’s third season, set to air in 2013.  The show premiered last summer and stars Noah Wyle as a former history professor who becomes one of Massachusetts’ military leaders following a worldwide alien invasion.  The post-apocalyptic setting has apparently provided enough fodder for the series to prosper, as it averages 5.9 million viewers when DVR playback is taken into account.  I haven’t seen the show but I know a few people who are fans, so this should comes as welcome news to those who tune in every week.  The show is currently in the middle of its second season on TNT.  Hit the jump to read the press release.

The epic drama Falling Skies has returned to TNT, to continue its extraordinary story about life and survival in the wake of an alien invasion. As the second season opens, three months have passed since Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) went willingly with the aliens onto one of their ships, and now the survivors are forced to have a nomadic existence as they march toward Charleston, S.C., hoping to meet up with other remaining existence groups and begin rebuilding society. The show also stars Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Drew Roy, Maxim Knight, Connor Jessup, Colin Cunningham and Sarah Carter.

At the show’s press day, co-stars Noah Wyle and Drew Roy (who plays Tom Mason’s oldest son, Hal) talked about where things pick up in Season 2, how grueling it can be to shoot this show, the evolution of the alien battles, the electronics that would be the hardest for them to give up in an alien invasion, the input that they get from executive producer Steven Spielberg, and the dedication of sci-fi fans. Check out what they had to say after the jump.

In the new alien invasion series Falling Skies, actor Drew Roy plays Hal Mason, the oldest son of Tom (Noah Wyle), who is the second in command of a regiment assigned to protect several hundred survivors. In the six months since the invasion, Hal has had to quickly grow into a man, fighting alongside his father, and proving that he is both brave and confident in the field. With his younger brother Ben (Connor Jessup) captured by the aliens and his littlest brother Matt (Maxim Knight) struggling to cope with the situation, he has come to appreciate how much his family truly means, and steps up to help in any way that he can.

At a press day for the TV drama, Collider sat down with Drew Roy for this exclusive interview, in which he talked about how excited he is to be part of a Steven Spielberg project, what he enjoys about getting to play such a grown-up teenager, how much he loves the physicality and stunt work, how creepy he thought the aliens were, and how they end Season 1 with two different directions they could go for Season 2. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

TNT presented some new footage from their upcoming sci-fi series Falling Skies today to fans at WonderCon, and we were there to cover it. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the series stars Noah Wyle as a former university professor and father who has taken up the leadership role in a resistance faction made up of soldiers and civilians alike. In addition to Wyle, Falling Skies also stars Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, and Drew Roy. Hit the jump to check out a recap on the footage and panel, as well as my reaction to what we were shown.

We’ve already seen a trailer and TV spot for TNT’s new sci-fi drama series Falling Skies which has a two-hour premiere Sunday, June 19, at 9/8c. Now the cable network has unveiled another extended look at the series with a cool trailer/featurettes which gives us a much better idea of the story and the characters we’ll be introduced to this summer. This is the most impressive look at the series yet, and I’m definitely eager to check it out in a few months.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer/featurette.

While Jennifer Lawrence is now set in the lead role of Katniss in Gary Ross’ adaptation of The Hunger Games, producers are currently looking to fill out the other lead roles in the cast. Apparently Lionsgate is testing a number of actors today for the two male lead roles in the film: Peeta, a boy from Katniss’ town who reveals his love for her as the Hunger Games (life-or-death games played out in the post-apocalyptic future) begin, and Gale, a character who teaches Katniss the “way of the hunter” while she’s in the games herself.

Actors testing for Peeta include the previously mentioned Hunter Parrish (Weeds), Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) and Evan Peters (Kick-Ass). Testing for Gale are Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song), David Henrie (The Wizards of Waverly Place) among others. Hit the jump to see the full list of actors testing for each part.

TNT has debuted the first trailer for Falling Skies, an alien invasion drama executive produced by Steven Spielberg.  Noah Wyle (ER) stars as “a former college professor who becomes the leader of a group of soldiers and civilians struggling against an occupying alien force.”  Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation), Drew Roy (Secretariat), Maxim Knight (Brothers & Sisters), and Seychelle Gabriel (The Last Airbender) also star.

My hope is that the Spielberg influence acts as a counterbalance to the potential limitations of a basic cable budget.  The trailer is encouraging in this respect, in that I see nothing hokey about what is presented.  Certainly nothing that my man Noah Wyle can’t overcome.  Judge for yourself after the jump.