X-Files Leads SF Emmy Nominees
he Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has announced nominations for the 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, and once again The X-Files headed the list of speculative fiction TV shows.
Chris Carter's hit series earned eight nominations this year, highlighted by Gillian Anderson's nod for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Veronica Cartwright's nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
NBC's SF comedy 3rd Rock from the Sun came next with seven nominations, topped by Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for William Shatner's appearance as The Big Giant Head, and two nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. NBC also scored big with its miniseries Alice in Wonderland, which earned six nods in technical categories such as Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie and Outstanding Main Title Design.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine garnered four nominations this year, including Outstanding Art Direction for a Series, Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series, Outstanding Makeup for a Series, and Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series. Star Trek: Voyager was honored with three nominations, all in the Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series category.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the miniseries Stephen King's Storm of the Century each earned two nominations, while Futurama, First Wave, Fantasy Island, The Pretender, The Profiler, Total Recall 2070, Invasion America, Xena: Warrior Princess, Tom Clancy's Netforce, Todd McFarlane's Spawn and Touched by An Angel each picked up a single nomination.
The Emmy Awards winners will be announced during a gala presentation ceremony that will be broadcast by Fox on Sunday, Sept. 12. For more information on the Emmys and a complete list of nominees, visit http://www.emmys.org.
Duchovny, Carter May Leave X-Files
t looks like the seventh season may be the last one for X-Files star David Duchovny and executive producer Chris Carter.
Both X-Files veterans are only under contract for one more year, and Duchovny recently told the Toronto Sun that he has "other things to do."
Meanwhile, Carter said that an eighth season of his hit show was unlikely, though it could conceivably continue without Duchovny. "I'd consider anything, but I would have to feel good about the kind of stories we were telling," he explained.
Although Duchovny seems to be out of the picture, his costar Gillian Anderson is under contract for an eighth year. This has led both fans and industry analysts to speculate that Fox might simply replace Duchovny when his time is up in order to keep the show going another season.
SCI FI Cancels Sliders
uring a chat with TV Guide Online, Sliders stars Tembi Locke and Robert Floyd told fans that Sliders will not be renewed for a sixth season.
SCI FI, which picked up Sliders after the show was canceled by Fox, confirmed that the series will be coming to an end.
According to a SCI FI spokesperson, the channel thinks highly of Sliders but feels the show has simply run its course. During its five-year run Sliders was canceled and resurrected twice, and the show also suffered the loss of four major cast members.
Most recently Locke and Floyd replaced Sliders mainstay actor Jerry O'Connell and his real-life brother Charlie, who played Quinn and Colin Mallory in the series. Many fans felt that move signalled an end to the show, since Jerry O'Connell has long been considered the heart of Sliders.
Invisible Man Heads To SCI FI
he SCI FI Channel has set an August start date for production of a new action/comedy TV series called The Invisible Man.
The show will be helmed by commercials director Breck Eisner, the son of Disney's powerhouse CEO Michael Eisner.
In this version of the invisible man concept, a small-time thief named Darian avoids a prison sentence by undergoing an experiment that allows him to become temporarily--and often accidentally--invisible. While an evil scientist tries to hunt down Darian to learn his secret, the misguided thief is forcibly enlisted into a ramshackle, underfunded intelligence agency.
The Invisible Man is scheduled to join the SCI FI Prime lineup during the first quarter of 2000.
Blair Witch Scares Up $1.5 Million
he Blair Witch Project made its theatrical debut during the July 17 weekend, earning slightly more than $1.5 million despite opening on just 27 screens.
According to Variety, the film averaged $57,700 per screen, which was more than double the opening average of Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List.
Schindler's List bowed on 25 screens in 1993 and took in $657,000 during its first weekend, for an average of $26,264 per screen. Artisan Entertainment purchased Blair outright for a reported $1 million and hopes the independent film will end up grossing more than $30 million.
Blair will get a widespread release on July 30, when it opens in an additional 700-800 theaters.
Blair Frightens Mystery Men, Deep Blue Sea
wo movie studios are so frightened of the widespread theatrical release of The Blair Witch Project that they're shuffling the debut dates of their own films.
To avoid Blair's expanded release on July 30, Universal pushed back the opening of its offbeat superhero flick Mystery Men from July 30 to Aug. 6, according to Variety.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is moving the opening of its cybernetic shark thriller Deep Blue Sea up two days, from July 30 to July 28. Although both studios cited several reasons for making the changes, the success of Blair is said to have heavily influenced their decisions.
Blair earned a stunning $1.5 million during its limited theatrical release last week, despite opening in just 27 theaters. On July 30 the film will debut on an additional 800 screens.
McKellen, Holm May Join Rings Cast
an McKellen and Ian Holm have reportedly joined the cast of Peter Jackson's upcoming film trilogy The Lord of the Rings.
Ain't It Cool News says it has confirmed that McKellen will play the role of Gandalf, while Holm will star as Bilbo Baggins.
McKellen will reportedly join the New Zealand Rings shoot in January 2000, immediately after he finishes his role as Magneto in Bryan Singer's X-Men film. McKellen supposedly read all three scripts for the Rings movies and fell in love with the trilogy, which he will spend 11 months working on.
Boyd Confirmed As Pippin
umors that British actor Billy Boyd will play the role of Pippin in the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie trilogy appear to have been confirmed.
The London Sunday Times reported that Boyd auditioned twice for the role before his agent called up and asked him, "Guess who is playing Pippin in The Lord of the Rings?"
Boyd said he thought both of his tryouts for Pippin went well, although it took an agonizing six weeks of waiting before his agent told him he'd landed the part. The actor described Pippin as "a character whose naivete and inquisitive nature almost add up to bravery."
Dr. Who Joining Dungeons Adventure?
he British Web site SFX Online is reporting that former Dr. Who star Tom Baker has joined the cast of the Dungeons & Dragons movie.
Baker will reportedly play the role of an elderly elf called Hallvarth in the film version of TSR's popular role-playing game.
Dungeons is currently shooting in Prague under the direction of first-time helmer Courtney Solomon, who also scripted the film. The movie stars Justin Whalin, Thora Birch and Jeremy Irons, while Joel Silver is producing.
Gordon Hired For Men in Black 2
olumbia has hired Galaxy Quest writer Robert Gordon to script a sequel to the 1997 blockbuster SF film Men in Black.
According to Variety, Columbia is moving ahead with the picture even though it has no commitments from MIB director Barry Sonnenfeld or stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
The script is being developed in conjunction with Steven Spielberg's production company Amblin Entertainment, which has a strong gross participation in the film. The original MIB was Sony's highest-grossing film of all time, with worldwide earnings of $587.7 million.
Star Wars Shatters U.K. Record
tar Wars: Episode I passed the $100 million mark in overseas ticket sales thanks in part to a record-setting debut in the United Kingdom.
According to Variety, The Phantom Menace picked up $15.1 million during its first four days of release in Britain, about $5 million better than former box-office champ Men in Black.
Episode I also set a new industry record in Peru when it earned $224,000, a whopping 66 percent better than the previous box-office top dog, Titanic. The Phantom Menace has now earned $116.4 million overseas and $395 million in North America.
SCI FI Plans Short Film Series
he SCI FI Channel is planning a new short-film TV series that aims to become "the breeding ground for the next generation of sci-fi cinema superstars."
The new show carries the working title SCI FI Short Film Series and will premiere in the first quarter of 2000.
The series will showcase visually and artistically provocative film work by unknown movie producers, with the goal of providing first-time filmmakers an entree into Hollywood. SCI FI noted that "emerging sci-fi cinema auteurs whose short works dazzle SCI FI talent scouts can also look forward to possible production deals with the network."
Interested film producers can download a submission form on the SCI FI Web site. Submissions and inquiries should be sent to: Dave Brody, Supervising Producer; SCI FI Channel/USA Networks; 1230 Ave. of the Americas; New York, NY 10020; dbrody@usanetworks.com.
Briefly Noted
- Star Trek: The Next Generation headliner Patrick Stewart will star in an updated TV version of William Shakespeare's play "King Lear" for TNT.
- The Jim Henson SF comedy film Muppets from Space earned a disappointing $5.1 million at the box office during its debut weekend.
- Paramount has pushed back the release date of Mission: Impossible 2 from Dec. 17 to May 24, 2000.
- The SCI FI Channel will air a six-hour First Wave marathon on Aug. 15 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. The marathon will be repeated on Aug. 16 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET.
- TNT has reportedly signed Eric Roberts to star in the original movie Gabriel's Run, an SF thriller about a man being chased by a company that wants to harvest his organs.
- Mystery Men star Hank Azaria, 35, wed Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt, 36, during the July 17 weekend.
