More News Briefs ...
Jim Carrey, in England to promote Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, had to evacuate his hotel on Dec. 16 because of a fire, wire services reported. "I think it's a good sign," the unharmed Carrey reportedly said. "The movie's all about fire and disaster, ... and suddenly, my house [away from home] is burning down."
Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, The Polar Express) has been selected by the Visual Effects Society's board of directors to be presented with the organization's highest honor, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The British satellite TV network Sky One has purchased all U.K. rights to NBC's canceled computer-animated series Father of the Pride, which will premiere next year, Variety reported. NBC is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Warner Brothers and Imax Corp. signed a deal for an Imax release of Tim Burton's upcoming fantasy film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to coincide with its regular, theatrical release on July 15, 2005, Variety reported.
Warner Home Video and DC Comics will release Justice League Unlimited: Saving the World, a DVD set featuring three episodes of the animated JLA TV series, on Feb. 15, 2005, with a suggested retail price of $14.97.
Finding Neverland received seven Critics' Choice Award nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, including best picture, Variety reported. Other best-picture nominees included Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.
Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings) has joined the cast of the SF thriller film The Island for DreamWorks and director Michael Bay, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bean will take on the part of Merick, the chief antagonist in the film, which also stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson.
Disney has posted behind-the-scenes footage from the production of its film adaptation of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is set for release in December 2005.
Lord of the Rings star Liv Tyler gave birth to a baby boy on Dec. 14 in New York, People magazine reported. The baby, weighing 8 lbs., was born at 4:11 a.m. Both Tyler's father, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, and Liv's husband, Royston Langdon, lead singer of Spacehog, were reportedly at the hospital.
A concert featuring music from the Final Fantasy video-game series will take the stage at the Rosemont Theatre in Rosemont, Ill., on Feb. 19, 2005, performed by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra and the CPO Festival Choir.
The new Sony Playstation Portable sold 171,963 units, or 85 percent of the total 200,000 units shipped, on its launch date Dec. 12 in Tokyo, the independent sales tracking company Media Create reported, according to the GameSpot Web site.
Warner Brothers has posted new trailers for its upcoming comic-book adaptation Batman Begins for Quicktime (high, medium and
low), Windows Media Player (high, medium and
low) and RealPlayer (high, medium and
low). The movie opens June 17, 2005.
Warner Brothers has posted new trailers for its upcoming fantasy film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for Quicktime (high, medium and
low), Windows Media Player (high, medium and
low) and RealPlayer (high, medium and
low). The movie opens July 15, 2005.
Sony has posted new trailers (for Windows Media Player high and
low and for RealPlayer high and low) for the upcoming sequel film XXX: State of the Union, which opens April 29, 2005.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Spider-Man 2 and The Incredibles were among the top 10 movies of 2004 as chosen by the American Film Institute.
Finding Neverland scored five nominations for the 2005 Golden Globe Awards, including
best motion picture, drama, Variety reported. On the TV side, ABC's Desperate Housewives earned five nominations, including best television comedy.
A teaser trailer has gone live for Steven Spielberg's upcoming War of the Worlds movie, based on H.G. Wells' classic SF book, which opens next summer.
ABC's Lost hit its highest Nielsen numbers to date on Dec. 8, becoming the night's most-watched program with an average of 18.9 million viewers and a 7.0 rating/19 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Screenwriter Jeff Nathanson (The Terminal) has signed on to direct Ghosts of Girlfriends Past for Disney, replacing Mark Waters, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
John Hurt, famed for the "chest-bursting" scene in 1979's Alien, was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, at Buckingham Palace in London on Dec. 9, wire services reported.
Connecticut police were alerted by makers of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds that two life-sized mannequins were lost in a local river over the weekend during location shooting, Zap2it reported.
In the wake of Disney/Pixar's decision to move its upcoming computer-animated film Cars to the summer of 2006, DreamWorks said it would move Shrek 3 to May 2007 from its original fall 2006, Variety reported. The studio will also delay its planned direct-to-DVD Shrek 2 spinoff, Puss N Boots, until 2008.
MGM has posted a teaser Web site for its upcoming remake movie The Amityville Horror, and MTV.com has posted a teaser trailer for the movie, which opens April 15, 2005.
Micott & Bazara, the Japanese creators of the upcoming Japanese animated film Appleseed, have struck a deal with Axis Entertainment to co-produce two sequels in the franchise together, Variety reported.
Makers of the film version of Douglas Adams' beloved Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are seeking fan questions to be submitted to the movie's director, Garth Jennings, and producer, Nick Goldsmith. Hitchhiker opens June 6, 2005.
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