The BBC reports that Michael Clarke Duncan, best known for his role as convicted murderer John Coffey in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Green Mile, has died at the age of 54 after suffering a heart attack.

Duncan, a former bodyguard, only began acting in his thirties. While he had a variety of roles, The Green Mile was the film which brought him instant fame and much acclaim as an actor. He was Oscar nominated as Best Supporting Actor for the role.

He had other genre roles in films such as Armageddon, alongside Bruce Willis, Daredevil, with Ben Affleck, and Sin City. The Guardian‘s obituary contains a number of film clips from Duncan’s short-lived, but highly memorable, film career.

The latest teaser clip from upcoming horror/thriller Dragon Wasps is online now: Wasp Attack!

Hailed as a cross between Predator and Eight-Legged Freaks, Dragon Wasps is written by genre connoisseur Mark Atkins (Sand Sharks) and stars Corin Nemec (Stargate SG-1; Smallville; Supernatural), Dominika Juillet (Dark Angel), Benjamin Easterday (Stargate SG1; Fast & Furious 5) and Nikolette Noel who’s set to star in the 2012 Summer Blockbuster The Expendables 2.

Dragon Wasps is set for release on September 17th.

AudioGO, the home of BBC Audiobooks, which manages all the Doctor Who audio releases among its 10,000 catalogue items, has acquired world rights to an audio edition of Sam Stone‘s first collection, Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings. The book was published by Telos Publishing in 2011, and went on to win great acclaim from readers.

AudioGO have also signed up to create audio versions of titles from two of Osprey Group’s fiction division imprints: YA specialist Strange Chemistry and next year’s upcoming crime imprint, Exhibit A. The audiobooks will be produced in AudioGO’s specialist UK studios and will have worldwide digital distribution. The first Osprey Group titles will be the debuts from the Strange Chemistry line: Blackwood and Shift, which will launch in the first week in September 2012. Further titles will appear simultaneously with the release of physical editions from Strange Chemistry and, starting May 2013, Exhibit A.

Along with Doctor Who, AudioGO’s catalogue includes books by P.D. James, J.K. Rowling, Ruth Rendell and Bernard Cornwall. Their horror catalogue includes work by Bram Stoker, Rachel Caine, M.R. James, Stephanie Meyer, James Herbert and Fangoria’s Dreadtime Stories. For more information see the AudioGO website HERE

StarShipSofa‘s latest podcast (#252) is available now with fiction from Adam Roberts along with a look at the anthology Solaris Rising: The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction.

Download the podcast HERE

Meanwhile, Tales To Terrify have a new podcast ready for download (#32) containing works by Steven Savile and Laurel Winter.

British-born Hollywood film / TV director Tony Scott, brother of Alien director Ridley Scott, has died in an apparent suicide. It is reported that he jumped from a bridge in Los Angeles.

The director was mostly known for his fast-paced action adventures such as Top Gun, but had involvement in several genre blockbusters which included directing The Hunger (1983) and producing Prometheus (2012), directed by his brother Ridley.

Read the full BBC report HERE

The BBC reports that award-winning Italian special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi, who created ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, has died at the age of 86.

Rambaldi was a “monster-maker” who created special effects for many films besides ET, including Alien, King Kong, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Dune. He received Oscars for his work on ET, Alien and King Kong.

Read the full BBC report HERE

Grayson Pictures is to give a UK DVD release to the rarely seen Singaporean military chiller Curse on 10 September 2012.

Set in on the Island of Pulau Hantu in the south of Singapore. Curse tells the terrifying tale of a military squad sent to an island to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a group of soldiers. Accidentally disturbing a burial site, they unleash a terrifying supernatural curse…

Curse is directed by Esan Sivalinhgam who said of the shoot: “We expected it to be one hell of an adventure but it turned out to be the adventure from hell”. Facing torrential downpours, extreme temperatures, venomous reptiles plus censorship issues and stumbling across a real burial site, it was a miracle the film was completed in its fifteen-day schedule.

Curse will be the first release by newly-created Grayson Pictures and more details of release, including artwork, more stills and special extras will be announced soon.

New audio podcasts are available from both StarShipSofa (science fiction) and Tales to Terrify (horror).

StarShipSofa #250 includes fiction by Bruce Sterling, and Tales to Terrify #30 has fiction from Lawrence Santoro.

To download StarShipSofa go HERE and for Tales To Terrify go HERE

The BBC reports that a special one-off drama is planned about the early days of cult TV series Doctor Who to mark its 50th anniversary in 2013.

The film will show how the series was brought to life, looking at the key figures in its development. The story, called An Adventure in Space and Time, is being written by Doctor Who scriptwriter Mark Gatiss.

Details about casting – including who will play the actor who first starred as the Doctor, William Hartnell – will be announced next year.

Writer Mark Gatiss explains “This is the story of how an unlikely set of brilliant people created a true television original.”

Mark Gatiss will be Special Media Guest of Honour at the upcoming FantasyCon in September.

Grimm Up North have a very limited allocation of Early Bird Festival Passes available at the incredible reduced price of £45.00 (+£2 booking fee). They are available at this price, exclusively from the Grimmfest website, for a short time only. To secure your ticket click HERE.

The festival pass allows full access to every screening and event from Friday 5 – Sunday 7 October 2012 at the Dancehouse Theatre, Oxford Road, Manchester (excluding the opening night gala on 4 October).

Also, the first three films have been announced. They premiere a new HD version of Frank Henenlotter’s 1982 low budget cult classic Basket Case, due for  release in late October 2012. Recently released nationwide in its home country to rave reviews, new Spanish horror comedy Attack of the Werewolves will get its English premiere at Grimm Up North. Last but by no means least they have the recently announced Cabal Cut of Clive Barker’s Nightbreed. Full details HERE.

Plus, there will be special guests to be announced later, Q&As, signings and much more. Keep an eye on the GrimmFest website for more information as it’s announced.