The Matrix Scores $4.8 Million Open
eanu Reeves' SF action flick The Matrix earned $4.8 million during its opening day on Wednesday, March 31, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
That was the biggest pre-Easter opening day for a movie ever and nearly twice the take of the previous record holder, Indecent Proposal, which sold $2.9 million worth of tickets on its opening day in 1993.
The Matrix's impressive performance was another good omen for the film, which has been earning great reviews from both SF fans and critics. With plenty of momentum and little competition at the box office, The Matrix might end up breaking the $20.2 million record for an opening weekend in April, which was set in 1998 by Lost in Space.
Wachowski Brothers Plan Matrix Sequels
ndy and Larry Wachowski, the brothers who wrote and directed the new Keanu Reeves SF action flick The Matrix, have started talking about sequels to their high-profile feature, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Reporter columnist George Christy spoke with The Matrix co-producer Dan Cracchiolo, who said "already they have two sequels in mind."
Meanwhile, a Warner Bros. executive said the film has "gone through the roof" at dozens of college campuses where the flick was previewed, with students raving about the action sequences. The movie relies heavily on a technique that the Wachowskis are calling "bullet-time photography," in which the film can be sped up or slowed down to produce "flow-mo" effects for anime-style combat sequences between live actors.
Chris Carter Talks About Harsh Realm
he X-Files creator Chris Carter is feeling a little bit nervous about his new SF TV series Harsh Realm, judging by comments he made during a recent talk with Jam! Television.
"As I always say, there are a million ways to fail," the 43-year-old hotshot television writer said.
"You put together a cast and you don't have a chance to do anything but hope they have chemistry," Carter said.
"You hope that the idea is a catchy one. You pray people will come to watch it and like it, or feel confident there is going to be something to tune back in to next week."
Carter based his new series on a small press comic book of the same name, which appeared in the early 1990s but didn't make much of a splash. The pilot for Harsh Realm, which cost a reported $6.5 million to make and stars D.B. Sweeney, Samantha Mathis and Scott Bairstow, is slated to debut on Fox this fall.
253 Earns Philip K. Dick Award
eoff Ryman's novel 253: The Print Remix, published by St. Martin's Griffin, earned the Philip K. Dick Award for distinguished science fiction book published for the first time in the United States as a paperback original in 1998.
Lost Pages, written by Paul Di Filippo and published by Four Walls Eight Windows, received a special citation honor.
The P.K.D. Award and citation, determined by a five-member panel of judges, were presented April 2 at Norwescon 22 in Seattle, Wash. The award was created in honor of legendary SF author Philip K. Dick and is jointly sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Northwest Science Fiction Society.
This year's judges were Jeff Vandermeer, James Alan Gardner, Angus McDonald, Lance Olsen and Sarah Zettel. Next year's judges were announced at the ceremony and include Di Filippo, Catherine Asaro,Charles Oberndorf, Julie Czerneda and David Porush.
Weaver May Join Galaxy Quest
lien queen Sigourney Weaver is in talks to star with Tim Allen in the comedic SF picture Galaxy Quest, according to Variety.
Alan Rickman is also in talks to join the DreamWorks film, about a group of TV SF actors who are recruited by aliens to save the human race.
Weaver, who is best known to SF fans for her role as Ripley in the Alien film franchise, recently finished shooting the comedy Company Man.
Dafoe Bites Into Vampire Flick
illem Dafoe has agreed to co-star alongside John Malkovich in Shadow of the Vampire, according to Variety's Michael Fleming.
The flick is based on the making of the horror classic Nosferatu and will feature Dafoe in the role of Max Schreck, the actor who played the vampire in that famous silent film.
Shadow is being directed by Elias Merhige and will begin shooting in Luxembourg later this month.
Dimension Options Gaiman's Stardust
s reported, Dimension Films has picked up the TV and movie rights to Neil Gaiman's new novel Stardust.
The studio has also hired Gaiman to script the picture, which has been described as a fairy tale for grown-ups,
"When (Dimension co-chairman) Bob Weinstein said he wanted to make Stardust, it blew the various other interested movie companies out of the water," Gaiman told The Hollywood Reporter. "They're as excited as I am to make a fairy tale movie for grown-ups with beautiful fallen stars, evil witches and murderous lords, and humor, magic and adventure."
The story of Stardust centers on Tristran Thorn, a young man who promises his beloved that he will find a fallen star for her. But the star he's after landed beyond the walls of their home in Victorian England, and Tristran must journey deep into the forbidden land of Faerie in order to retrieve it.
Cat People Remake Planned
ill Smith's production company Overbrook Entertainment and Universal Pictures are teaming up for a modern-day remake of the 1942 supernatural flick Cat People, according to Variety.
Cat People was first filmed by Jacques Tourneur in 1942 and was brought back to the silver screen in 1982 by Paul Schrader, whose somewhat famous feature starred Malcolm McDowell and Nastassia Kinski.
The story is based on a Serbian legend about a half-cat/half-human species created long ago when women bred with giant felines. According to the myth, when one of these cat people entered into a jealous rage, it would transform into a cat and would only become human again after making a kill.
The updated version of the story will reportedly be set in New York during the '90s.
Briefly Noted
- Matt Groening's new animated SF series Futurama scored an 11.2 household rating in the Nielsens during its March 28 debut, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Fox estimates that 19 million people tuned in for the broadcast.
- Matt Groening will chat live with fans on Tuesday, April 6, immediately following the West Coast airing of Futurama, Groening's new animated SF series. The chat will be held on the Fox.com Web site at 9 p.m PT.
- The popular kid's show Pokemon, which has been scoring big ratings for the WB Network in the U.S., will soon be airing in Mexico, Latin America and Brazil, according to published reports.
