WB Schedules Buffy Finale
he WB Network plans to air the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season finale "Graduation Day, Part 2" on July 13, according to Variety.
The episode had originally been scheduled to run in May but was pulled from the network's lineup because it was deemed too similar to the shootings that occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
In the Littleton incident, two teens went on a killing spree that left 15 people dead. In the Buffy episode, students at Sunnydale High School arm themselves in preparation for the "ascension" of Sunnydale's mayor, who turns into a giant, rampaging demon.
The WB also plans to air both parts of "Graduation Day" as a two-hour movie in September that will lead into the next season of Buffy.
Episode I Passes $300 Million
tar Wars: Episode I took just 28 days to accumulate $300 million in ticket sales, setting another new box-office record.
That eclipsed the previous high-water mark reached by the 1997 film Titanic, which steamed by the $300 million buoy in what now seems like a ponderous 44 days.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, since passing $100 million in domestic ticket sales, Episode I has reached each subsequent $50 million plateau faster than any movie in history. If it keeps up this pace, Episode I will soon join an elite group of films--Titanic, E.T. and Jurassic Park--that have grossed more than $350 million during their first run in theaters.
Will DiCaprio Join The Dark Side?
lthough George Lucas has barely begun work on the script for Star Wars: Episode II and casting for the film won't get underway until the end of the year, word on the street has it that Leonardo DiCaprio is being wooed for the role of the grown-up Anakin Skywalker.
While this particular rumor has surfaced before, the Coming Attractions Web site
recently received what's purported to be a production sketch of Leo as Anakin,
lending more credence to idea.
The source claims the sketch was photocopied by a disgruntled LucasFilm employee
who was let go from the company after Episode I was completed, but several
knowledgeable Attractions readers have labeled the drawing a fake. Since the
informant says LucasFilm will be making an announcement about DiCaprio within
the next two weeks, this is one mystery that shouldn't go unsolved for long.
Austin Powers Topples Star Wars
ustin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me took in $54.7 million during its opening weekend, enough to knock Star Wars: Episode I out of the top box-office spot.
Episode I had been the No. 1 film in theaters since it opened on May 19, but its $25.4 million haul during the June 11 weekend was only good enough for second place.
Austin Powers set three new records on its way to becoming king of the box-office hill, including the biggest opening ever for a June film and the biggest opening ever for a comedy film. The third record was a bit more unusual: The Spy Who Shagged Me is the first sequel ever to earn more during its opening weekend than its predecessor earned over its entire theatrical run.
The first Austin Powers movie, International Man of Mystery, finished its U.S. domestic release with $53.9 million.
Goyer Finishes Blade 2
lade screenwriter David Goyer recently completed the script for Blade 2 and handed it in to New Line Cinemas.
According to the Marvel Web site, Goyer said the studio expects to choose a director for the picture by the end of the month.
"In all likelihood, the film will probably shoot in October or January (2000) with pre-production starting in the next few months," Goyer told Marvel.
King Kong Captured On New CD
new CD featuring the soundtrack to the 1933 classic film King Kong is scheduled to arrive in stores on August 31.
The two-part CD is being released under the Turner Classic Movies/Rhino Movie Music label and will include the movie score by famed composer Max Steiner, as well as numerous extras.
The first part will feature a condensed version of the film itself, complete with dialogue, sound effects and Steiner's soundtrack. The second part will present all of the music from Kong as a symphonic suite, including 28 minutes of previously unreleased material.
The part-two selections were taken from a variety of unusual sources, including promotional 78-rpm records that were pressed at the time of the movie's production, and cues that existed only on nitrate film. According to Rhino, the Kong soundtrack is considered by many to be the first legitimate film score ever created.
Masterson To Direct Burning Sea
ctress Mary Stuart Masterson will make her directorial debut with Lifeboat on a Burning Sea, a film adaptation of Bruce Holland Rogers' SF short story of the same name.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is part of Showtime's ongoing series Directed By, which gives actors the chance to sit in the director's chair for the first time.
Masterson will also write the screen adaptation of the story, which is about two scientists who place a human personality into a computer. The film is part of a Directed By SF trilogy that will also feature actresses Anne Heche and Helen Mirren behind the camera.
Shue Injured On The Hollow Man
hooting on Paul Verhoeven's upcoming SF film The Hollow Man may have to be delayed after star Elisabeth Shue injured herself while working out.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Shue tore her Achilles tendon during a session at the gym and will be sidelined indefinitely because of the injury.
There's an outside chance Shue might have to be replaced by another actress if her recovery goes slowly, although Columbia Pictures says any such decision would be premature at this point. For now Verhoeven is trying to shoot around Shue's character, and he may delay production if she can't return to the set in the next few weeks.
In The Hollow Man, Shue plays a scientist who helps develop an invisibility serum. When a fellow scientist takes the serum and becomes invisible, Shue and her colleagues must find a way to return him to normal.
Celebs Stump For SCI FI
he SCI FI Channel is planning to kick off a new star-studded promotional campaign called I AM SCI FI on June 18.
The promo spots are designed "to obliterate the traditional definitions of who and what represents science fiction" by featuring well-known personalities in "special effects driven scenarios that embody their innate 'sci-fi'-ness and the channel's whole new direction."
Some of the more inventive promos include Traci Lords playing a runway model who's been cloned in order to show off a new line of DNA, and British billionaire Richard Branson in a spoof of 2001. One spot will even showcase Lara Croft, the star of Eidos Interactive's famous Tomb Raider videogame series, playing the granddaddy of all videogames, Pong.
SCI FI Investigates Blair Witch
he SCI FI Channel plans to air Curse of the Blair Witch on July 12, a one-hour special that examines the myth behind the upcoming feature film The Blair Witch Project.
The Blair Witch Project is the fictional account of three students who disappear after travelling to Burkittsville, Md., in 1994 to shoot a documentary about the local legend of the Blair Witch.
The independent film, which earned the Youth Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, was picked up by Artisan Entertainment and will make its theatrical debut on July 16. The Curse special will investigate the back story behind the Blair Witch myth, with archived news footage, passages from the Blair Witch Cult book, and other material.
Briefly Noted
- CBS paid an estimated $6 million for the network TV rights to Will Smith's upcoming film Wild Wild West. TNT and TBS picked up the cable rights to the movie.
- DIC Entertainment and RAI Television plan to produce an animated feature film based on the classic hit song "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, which was first released in 1962.
- Connie Nielsen (Soldier) has replaced Monica Potter as the female lead in the Brian DePalma SF movie Mission to Mars. The film stars Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle and Jerry O'Connell.
- The Profiler star Ally Walker is leaving the show to pursue her film career, according to Variety. There is no word yet on how she will be replaced, or if she will appear in any episodes of the show's fourth season, which begins in the fall.
- Dougray Scott (Deep Impact) will play the role of Wolverine in the upcoming X-Men film, according to numerous sources.
- Fox Interactive said it's working on a patch for the Aliens versus Predator PC game that will allow players to save their progress. Gamers have been complaining that the lack of a save feature makes AvP overly difficult.
