MovieFone Offers Early Star Wars Tix
ovieFone said that it will begin selling tickets to Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 12.
That's a reversal of LucasFilm's earlier policy prohibiting advance ticket sales for Star Wars during the film's first three week's of release.
In an effort to curb scalping--which has been LucasFilm's chief concern about advance sales--MovieFone said that individual moviegoers can buy a maximum of 12 tickets. Fans can place their orders by calling 777-FILM or by visiting MovieFone's Web site.
SCI FI Sneaks A Peek At Star Wars
he SCI FI Channel plans to air a one-hour Star Wars special on May 17 at 9 p.m. ET that's so secret the channel can barely talk about it.
SCI FI said the "uncensored investigation" will delve into the mystery and uber-fandom surrounding George Lucas' epic saga, but that it couldn't release any further details due to the iron control LucasFilm maintains over Star Wars.
"We cannot comment at this time about the program," said Bonnie Hammer, the senior vice president of SCI FI programming and USA Networks original production. "Fans will have to remain on the dark side until the May 17 premiere of our SCI FI special--but we'll definitely have the inside scoop!"
Nebula Awards Announced
oe Haldeman, Sheila Finch, Jane Yolen and Bruce Holland Rogers won the 1998 Nebula Awards, which were announced Saturday, May 1, at a ceremony in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The awards are voted on annually by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, who honor their peers in the categories of Best Novel, Best Novelette, Best Novella and Best Short Story.
This year SFWA also gave out three special awards, naming Hal Clement a Grand Master, honoring William Tenn (a.k.a. Philip Klass) with the Author Emeritus Award, and presenting Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski with the Ray Bradbury Award for Dramatic Screenwriting. This year's winners and categories are:
- Best Novel
- Forever Peace, by Joe Haldeman
- Best Novella
- "Reading the Bones," by Sheila Finch
- Best Novelette
- "Lost Girls," by Jane Yolen
- Best Short Story
- "Thirteen Ways to Water," by Bruce Holland Rogers
- Grand Master
- Hal Clement
- Author Emeritus
- William Tenn
- Ray Bradbury Award
- J. Michael Straczynski
Astronomers Think Straczynski Rocks
abylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski reports that the Kitt Peak Observatory in Tuscon, Ariz., has named an asteroid after him.
The space rock was discovered by the observatory in 1992 and has officially been designated 8379 STRACZYNSKI.
"Suffice to say it's a tremendous honor," Straczynski wrote in an online posting. "Finally, I'm a rock star..."
Bantam Spices Up Dune Prequel
ant to see what the new Dune novel is going to look like?
Co-author Kevin J. Anderson reports that the preliminary cover design for the U.S. edition of the book--titled House Atreides--is now available online at www.dunenovels.com.
The novel was written by Anderson and Brian Herbert, the son of Dune author Frank Herbert, and is due to be published by Bantam in October. House Atreides is the first book in the Prelude to Dune trilogy, which chronicles the events leading up to Frank Herbert's 1965 best-selling novel Dune.
Meanwhile, Anderson and Brian Herbert have finished the first draft of House Harkonnen, the second book in the series, which is a whopping 866 pages long. The two plan to start work on the final Prelude volume, The Spice War, early next year.
For those readers who can't wait until October for their Dune fix, the SF magazine Amazing Stories will publish the Anderson/Herbert short story "A Whisper of Caladan Seas" in its July issue. "Whisper" will be the first new Dune fiction to appear in more than 15 years.
Outer Limits Hits 100
howtime is planning to air a four-hour Outer Limits marathon starting at 8 p.m. ET on May 14 to celebrate the 100th episode of the series.
No. 100 is titled "Tribunal" and tells the story of Aaron Zgierski (Saul Rubinek), the son of a concentration camp survivor who makes it his life's work to bring a war criminal to justice.
With the help of a mysterious time traveler named Nicholas Prentice (Alex Diakun), Zgierski thinks he may finally have tracked down his man. The episode was written by Outer Limits writer/executive producer Sam Egan and directed by Mario Azzopardi.
The Outer Limits special will begin with the show's 1995 premiere episode, "Sandkings," followed by "Human Operators," "Tribunal" and "Valerie 23." The current incarnation of The Outer Limits is based on the famous 1960s TV series of the same name and is produced by MGM. The show is now in its fifth season.
Sable Wrestles With First Wave
WF Women's Champion Sable will make a guest appearance in the second season
premiere of the SCI FI series First Wave.
The formidable female wrestler is set to play Lucas, an equally formidable alien assassin sent from the home world to eliminate Cade Foster in the episode "Target 117."
Because Lucas has been placed into a human husk infused with alien DNA, she has
recuperative powers far greater than the usual extraterrestrial. The female
terminator also has a history with the disgruntled alien Joshua, who left his
planet because of feelings for her character.
A SCI FI spokesperson noted that Sable--who is well known not only for her
patented Sablebomb but also for a sell-out appearance in Playboy--was a
hit during her recent visit to the First Wave set. "Everyone on the crew loved
her, and we expect it to be a really good episode," the spokesperson said.
No air date has been set for the episode.
The Matrix Is No. 1 Again
fter losing the No. 1 position at the box office to the Eddie Murphy comedy Life, The Matrix is once again in the top spot.
Variety reported that The Matrix led ticket sales for the weekend of April 23 with a $12.9 million take.
That brings the Warner Bros. film's total earnings up to a healthy $117.4 million through its first four weeks of release. Warner is predicting the flick will finish its domestic run with more than $160 million in sales.
Regent Acquires Free Enterprise
egent Entertainment bought the worldwide rights to Free Enterprise, an independent film starring William Shatner.
The movie is a spoof that follows two would-be filmmakers and science fiction fans who get to meet Shatner, their TV idol, only to learn that he's a hard-drinking woman chaser.
Free Enterprise earned awards for best picture and best screenplay at the 1998 AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival. It is scheduled to play at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15 before opening in Los Angeles on June 4.
Asimov's, Analog Announce Reader Awards
he sister publications Asimov's Science Fiction and Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact announced the winners of their annual reader awards for work that appeared in 1998.
The awards include a certificate and a cash prize of $100 and are chosen annually by readers of the two publications. This year's winners are:
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analytical Laboratory (AnLab) Winners
- Best Novella
- "Aurora in Four Voices," by Catherine Asara (Dec. 1998)
- Best Novelette
- "Zwarte Piet's Tale," by Allen Steele (Dec. 1998)
- Best Short Story
- "Moon-Calf," by Stephen Baxter (July/Aug. 1998)
- Best Fact Article
- "The World's Simplest Fusion Reactor," by Tom Ligon (Dec. 1998)
- Best Cover Art
- "The Ice Dragon's Song," by Bob Eggelton (July/Aug. 1998)
Asimov's Science Fiction
13th Annual Readers' Award Winners
- Best Novella
- "Oceanic," by Greg Egan (Aug. 1998)
- Best Novelette
- "Echea," by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (July 1998)
- Best Short Story
- "Radiant Doors," by Michael Swanwick (Sept. 1998)
- Best Poem
- "egg horror poem," by Laurel Winter (July 1998)
- Best Cover Art
- John Foster
- Best Interior Art
- Alan Giana
Briefly Noted
- Deep Impact star Tea Leoni, 33, the wife of X-Files headliner David Duchovny, 38, gave birth to a baby girl on April 24. The baby weighed 7 pounds, five ounces.
- Precedence Entertainment said it will release the "Severed Dreams" expansion pack for its Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game in September.
- Star Wars: Episode I headliner Natalie Portman is in talks to play a pregnant teenager in the film adaptation of Billie Letts' best-selling novel Where The Heart Is.
- Actors Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin and Mindy Sterling have joined the cast of the Jim Carrey film Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
