This weekend marks not just the release of the highly anticipated Thor in theaters, but also a smaller budget version of the Norse myth called Almighty Thor, premiering May 7th, on Syfy. The Marvel version may have a much larger budget (Almighty Thor was shot for around $500,000 and in an impressive twelve days), but Syfy's version has something that Marvel's doesn't. Cody Deal, an amazing new comer, whose enthusiasm and charm are enough to make Almighty Thor, a different take on the myth, worth a watch.

Deal was born in Oklahoma. After only a few years he and his family moved to the small Midwestern town, Sedan, Kansas. He graduated in 2004 as valedictorian as well as a 1st-Team All-Star athlete.

Deal was an athlete for most of the early part of his life and had a desire to play in the NFL, and went to Butler College in El Dorado on scholarship in both basketball and football. Unfortunately, his sports career camed to an end when he fractured his hand and forearm during football and also sustained other injuries from his other hobby of free-diving.

It was then that Deal and his brothers began creating short films, a step up from their younger years of filming their own 'Pay Per View' wrestling matches. His mother suggested at this point that he should take acting seriously, but Deal did not take her advice and moved to Wichita, and later, to Las Vegas to pursue a modeling career.

While Marvel's Thor is premiering in theaters across the country, Syfy will be premiering their own version, Almighty Thor, this Saturday, May 7th, at 9/8c pm. The film follows Thor as he is forced to become a warrior and hero to retrieve the Hammer of Invincibility and save Asgard and The Tree of Life. The film, which was written by Eric Forsberg and directed by Christopher Ray, stars new comer Cody Deal as Thor, Richard Grieco as Loki, Patricia Velasquez as Jarnsaxa, and Kevin Nash as Odin.

Cody Deal and Christopher Ray recently sat down with the digital media, including Scifi Vision and Media Blvd, to talk about film.

KABOB DREK MANU, TERRANS!

ANCIENT ALIENS THREATEN THE SURVIVAL OF EARTH IN GARY MORGENSTEIN'S NEW COMEDY MAD MEL AND THE MARRADIANS, PREMIERING MONDAY, JULY 11 AT 12TH ANNUAL MIDTOWN INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL

DIRECTED BY AWARD-WINNING CARLO FIORLETTA

New York, NY – May 10, 2011 – Angry aliens. Doomed Earth. Another day in New York. In Gary Morgenstein's (Ponzi Man, A Tomato Can't Grow in the Bronx) sci-fi political romp Mad Mel and the Marradians -- premiering Monday, July 11, opening night of the 12th Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival -- the fate of the human race depends upon an egotistical author whose phony scholarship has stumbled upon a deadly plot by the ancient alien race, the Marradians.

Fandom Access: Exclusive Interview with Eric Forsberg  - 5/4/11
Interview by Jamie Ruby and Karen Moul
Written by Jamie Ruby

Almighty Thor follows the title character, played by Cody Deal, as he becomes the hero that we know him to be today. The movie will premiere tonight on Syfy. The writer of the film, Eric Forsberg, joined Fandom Access this week to discuss the movie.

The Almighty Thor is different than the marvel movie, because is based on the Norse myth as opposed to the comic books. "It's Almighty Thor; it's the Norse myth. There's a big difference between this Almighty Thor and the Thor Marvel movie that's coming out. That movie is based on the comic book, and that comic book took the character from the myth, and then created a story that imposed upon the character in order to create the identity of the human that was secretly Thor. And I didn't go that route at all; I went straight for the myth. The end of the world. One of the things about the Norse myths is that they're all about the Tree of Life supporting all the worlds on it until finally the fated and predetermined end of all time will occur in a great and final battle called Ragnarok. And when it's over, boom, the universe is gone. And so I took that theme and built on that and I have Thor being a young inexperienced god, the youngest son of Odin (Kevin Nash), and he because Ragnarok comes upon them is forced to step up to the plate and find the powerful god of the Asgard, or Valhalla, he has to find that god within him and really he fights and struggles through the whole movie to discover his inner power and he perseveres. So that's much more like the type of Thor that is in the myth than the comic book Thor."

By Jamie Ruby

For comic book and science fiction fans everywhere, this weekend will be about Thor, the Norse god of thunder. But not everyone is talking about the Marvel movie being released this weekend, for some, like myself, it's about the Syfy Saturday movie Almighty Thor.

Almighty Thor, an Asylum film, written by Eric Forsberg, directed by Chris Ray, and starring Cody Deal, will be premiering Saturday night on Syfy.

For those not familiar with the story, according to the official Marvel Universe Wiki, Thor is "one of several powerful ancient beings who dwell in a magical realm called Asgard." Thor is also the son of Odin, who gave him his famous hammer. In the original Marvel universe, to teach him a lession in humility, Odin sends his son to Earth in a crippled mortal body as well as takes away his hammer, powers, and memory of who he is. Subsequently Donald Blake uses his secret identity as Thor to fight crime.

The Syfy movie follows quite a different storyline, making it unique and enabling it to stand on its own. The movie begins in Asgard with the character of Loki, played by Richard Grieco, who with the help of the Norns, the Weavers of Fate, trying to convince Odin (Kevin Nash) to give him the hammer of invincibility, with which he will cause havok in Asgard and on Earth.

To stop Loki and to get to the hammer before him, where his father has hidden it, Thor must travel to Earth, where he is joined by his guardian Jarnsaxa played by Patricia Velasquez. Thor trades in his hammer for a uzi as he learns to fight and hopefully defeat his enemy.

This week SciFi Vision is proud to be able to bring you two live podcasts on Fandom Access for Syfy's upcoming Almighty Thor, which premieres on Saturday.

First, tonight we will be joined by writer Eric Forsberg, who also wrote the Syfy movie Mega Piranha, which he also directed, that will be airing on the 27th, as well as Snakes on a Train, which will air this Friday on Syfy. Also be sure to stop and visit his site and check out the trailer for Mega Piranha.

On Thursday we will be joined by star of the movie, Cody Deal, who has briefly appeared in both The Hangover and Get Him to the Greek, and has landed a role in the upcoming Cinemax series A Girl's Guide to Depravity, airing in October, as well as the part of Mark HardOn in the action-comedy Superseeds. Be sure to check out his sites as well, including  his personal site and Hollywood & Beyond, his site about his journeys and "making it in Hollywood." 

Both podcasts are available at Talkshoe through Fandom Access and air live at 10pm eastern time. Both guests will be taking questions, so please make sure you join the live chat to participate and call in if you would like to ask questions. To join the chat, you must either chat as a guest or register at Talkshoe.

I will also be talking with Deal and the director of Almighty Thor, Chris Ray, today, for which an article/transcript will be posted soon.

I will also be cohosting with Kenn Gold from Media Blvd. (and possibly some others) an interview with Deal on Saturday May 7th before the premiere of Almighty Thor on Syfy (exact location and more details to be announced).

Last but not least, join Deal live again at 9pm eastern during the east coast premiere of the movie during his virtual viewing party on Saturday when he will be tweeting live throughout the movie.

And my review of the movie is also forthcoming, as well as of course articles for the upcoming interviews! You can also see a trailer for Almighty Thor on the sidebar of the site and read the press release in the previous post.

SciFi Vision has quite a bit of press coverage coming up this week for Syfy's Almighty Thor, including interviews and more, starting with the official press release below, which also includes a release for Sinbad and the Minotaur.


April 27, 2011
MAY SYFY SATURDAY ORIGINAL MOVIES SHOWCASE RICHARD GRIECO (21 JUMP STREET) IN ALMIGHTY THOR AND MANU BENNETT (SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND) IN SINBAD AND THE MINOTAUR

NEW YORK – April 27, 2011 – Richard Grieco (21 Jump Street) tries to destroy Los Angeles with a big hammer, while Manu Bennett (Spartacus: Blood and Sand) battles a scary Minotaur in the May Syfy Saturday Original Movies.

Starring Richard Grieco, Cody Deal (The Castle) and Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy), Almighty Thor premieres Saturday, May 7, at 9PM (ET/PT) on Syfy, the same weekend Thor opens in movie theatres. In Almighty Thor, a volcanic fissure bursts open in the fortress of Valhalla, freeing the demon God Loki (Grieco), who steals the Hammer of Invincibility. Loki plans to obliterate Los Angeles using the Hammer -- and Thor (Deal) is the only one who can stop him. Almighty Thor is a production of The Asylum.

Manu Bennett plays the title role in Sinbad and the Minotaur, premiering Saturday, May 21, at 9PM (ET/PT) on Syfy. Sinbad and his men search tirelessly for the lost treasure of the Colossus of Rhodes, which is guarded by a terrifying Minotaur. Along the journey, Sinbad meets Princess Tara, a slave in the evil sorcerer Al-Jibar’s harem. Now Sinbad must find the treasure, rescue the Princess and conquer the Minotaur, while defeating the enraged sorcerer. Sinbad and the Minotaur is a production of American World Pictures.

Bobby Flay is well known in the food world, and for most is a household name. He not only owns multiple restaurants around the country, has appeared on many shows, and published multiple books, but he has also had quite a few of his own cooking shows, and hosted many as well. He is probably at the moment best known for his series Throwdown with Bobby Flay and as one of the Iron Chefs. He also recently hosted The Next Food Network Star, which will enter its seventh season this June. He even guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Flay now hosts America's Next Great Restaurant on NBC, which will air its season finale tonight. America's Next Great Restaurant is a reality competition where contestants compete to make their restaurant concepts become a reality. The winner will have their idea turned into three restaurants in Los Angeles, New York City, and Minneapolis, all of which will open for business tomorrow.

Flay sat down with the digital media to talk about America's Next Great Restaurant's season finale.

By Jamie Ruby

Anyone who has watched Syfy in recent years already knows who Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne are. Stars of Syfy's Sanctuary, Tapping, probably best known for her work in Stargate: SG-1 and more recently Syfy's web series Riese, and Dunne, who fans should recognize from his lead role in Syfy's Beyond Sherwood Forest, sat down with the digital media last week to talk about the series. As of Friday, Sanctuary premiered the second half of its third season. The series has already been renewed four a fourth season, for which the cast has already begun table reads.

Sanctuary was originally written as a web series before it was made into a full television series, but things have changed since then, according to Tapping. "We were I think a bit ahead of our time in terms of how to monetize on the web, in terms of utilizing - social networking even has changed since Sanctuary first came out. I mean Twitter and Facebook and all that has blown up way bigger than what it was when we started.

"So, I think the possibilities on the web are far greater now than they were. And, I think it's an amazing tool. Riese is another prime example of a web series done well - with good production value...They've got amazing production values and they were able to utilize the web as an advertising tool. And it brought them the notoriety of the networks, which is much the same as what happened with Sanctuary. And I think it's just going to happen more and more. It's an amazing tool.

"But what I think is going to happen - I think the paradigm really is starting to shift, where shows will live and breathe and stay on the web. That they don't necessary have to transition to television. That there will be a whole contingent of not just you know, the squirrel riding a skateboard on You Tube kind of shows, but real production value on the Web in ongoing series."

By Jamie Ruby

Joe Flanigan has appeared in both film and television, but he is probably best known for his work on television, most notbably for his character of Lt. Colonel John Sheppard on Syfy's Stargate: Atlantis, for which he also served as writer on for two episodes.

Flanigan's newest role is in the new Syfy creature feature, Ferocious Planet. He recently sat down with the digital media to discuss his newest indeavors.

Flanigan did not plan to be an actor growing up. "[It was] by accident. I actually ran out of money - I was in New York City and I was working at Interview Magazine and I managed to get myself fired -- don’t ask me how -- and I was pretty much out of money. And I had a neighbor who happened to be an actor, and he was always enjoying himself not working nearly as hard as me, and apparently making much more money than I was.

"And I said, "What is it that you do?" He said, "I'm an actor." I said, "Well, what does that mean?" I didn't quite understand what that meant. Now granted he was a commercial actor, but anyway he put it in my head that maybe this is something I should try out, since I was "in between jobs", and I did.

"I went to the Neighborhood Playhouse and I just thought to myself, "Well, if I'm going to try this, I might as well try it now," and I just happened to get very lucky."