SCI FI Renews Farscape
he SCI FI Channel has renewed its hit series Farscape for a second season of 22 episodes that will begin airing in March 2000.
Farscape, the brainchild of Alien Nation and Seaquest DSV creator Rockne S. O'Bannon, has the largest audience of any SCI FI show, delivering an average of 576,000 households per episode.
"We are proud to renew our commitment to Farscape, the most ambitious original series on basic cable, and the top-rated series on SCI FI," said Stephen Chao, the president of programming and marketing for USA Networks, Inc. "SCI FI continues to attract new audiences with popular new originals and an innovative new on-air look. We're hitting our stride, and Farscape is an important part of that forward momentum."
Farscape tells the story of astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder), who has been catapulted across a thousand galaxies into an alien battlefield. His companions include an estranged military Peacekeeper named Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black), a brutish warrior called D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe), the mystical high priestess Zhaan (Virginia Hey), the alien Rygel XVI (John Eccleston), and a living starship called Moya.
In the second season, this motley band of renegades will be joined by a new ally, an impetuous young thief with a talent for trouble. Together they will confront a "venomous new alien enemy" who is stalking them through space, forcing them to travel deeper into the Uncharted Territories.
Disney Developing Tron Series?
hile digging around for information on the rumored Tron movie remake/sequel, Ain't It Cool News intrepid reporter Harry Knowles found out that Disney is at work on a Tron TV series.
The animated show is reportedly called Warriors of Tron and tells the story of four high school kids who learn about a plot to destroy the world's computer systems on Jan. 2, 2002.
Since no one in authority believes their story, the kids turn to aging Tron creator Flynn for help. Flynn eventually agrees to send the students into the computer, where they must compete in a variety of games that were set up to destroy the system.
According to Knowles, Disney already has a script for the project and is currently designing storyboards and conducting animatic tests.
Pixar At Work On Tron Film?
ixar Animation Studios, the company behind such computer-animated wonders as Toy Story and A Bug's Life, may be working on a new version of Disney's classic SF film Tron.
According to ZDNN, an unidentified source at Pixar said the studio is currently trying to decide whether to remake the original film or create a sequel.
Toy Story director John Lassiter is reportedly heading the project, which would make sense because he credits Tron as one of his early inspirations. Although Pixar would not confirm the story, ZDNN's source said production on the new Tron film will start once the company completes work on Toy Story 2.
Anderson Confirmed For Dr. Who
he British magazine SFX reports it has confirmed that Event Horizon and Soldier helmer Paul Anderson will direct a new Dr. Who film.
The BBC verified that it is indeed working on a Who film and that it expects to make casting announcements, etc., in August.
One report has Gary Oldman taking on the coveted role of the Doctor, a job he has said he would take if it were offered. SFX also heard from a "reliable source" that the starring role "has been offered to a black American actor of some significance, but with a British actor as back-up."
Travolta May Make Battlefield Sequel
uring a recent meeting with the press in Montreal, Canada, John Travolta revealed that there may be a sequel to his upcoming film adaptation of the famous L. Ron Hubbard SF book Battlefield Earth.
"It's been a big undertaking because it's a 1,000 page book," Travolta explained.
So Travolta said he decided to shoot only the first half of the book for the initial movie and save the rest of the novel for a possible sequel. He also said that the film has nothing to do with Scientology, the religion founded by Hubbard which Travolta is a member of.
Battlefield Earth is currently shooting in Quebec, with Travolta playing the villain role as well as co-producing the picture. Travolta revealed his character is "nine feet tall. He's got talons for hands, long hair, an extended head. But you'll still recognize me."
The story of Battlefield takes place 800 years in the future, when a race of vicious aliens is trying to subjugate the last surviving humans on Earth. Travolta is playing the alien chief of security.
Darth Maul Joins The X-Men
ay Park, who has become famous to SF fans for his portrayal of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I, has joined the cast of Bryan Singer's X-Men movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Park will play the role of the evil henchman Toad in the Fox project.
Oscar nominee Bruce Davison (Longtime Companion) has also signed on to the film and will
take on the all-important character of Sen. Kelly. Kelly is a powerful political opponent to the X-Men, a group of outcast mutant superheroes.
Damon May Join Cruise In Minority Report
teven Spielberg is hoping to get Saving Private Ryan star Matt Damon to join the cast of his upcoming SF flick Minority Report, according to Variety.
Damon is being wooed to play the villain role opposite Tom Cruise, who will star as a futuristic cop in a society where killers are arrested for murders they plan to commit.
The movie is based on the Philip K. Dick short story of the same name and was adapted by Jon Cohen, although it's now being revised by Out of Sight writer Scott Frank. Minority Report is a joint production by DreamWorks and Fox, with filming set to begin in October for a summer 2000 release.
GvsE Leads USA To Ratings Win
he strong debut of GvsE helped USA Network finish as the No. 1 basic cable network in prime time for the month of July, according to a USA press release.
GvsE premiered on July 18 with a 2.7 rating, which was a 42 percent increase above the same time period average from the previous quarter.
Together the two July telecasts of GvsE averaged a 2.5 rating for July, a 56 percent gain from the same time period a year ago. The offbeat series has even been given credit by Variety for helping to lure more viewers to cable TV and away from the various broadcast networks.
The creators of GvsE are hoping to build on the show's momentum by featuring a variety of guest stars in coming episodes. Fans can look forward to an appearance by Webster star Emmanuel Lewis, film actress Theresa Russell, WWF superstar Mankind, former incredible hulk Lou Ferrigno and four of "TV's most famous women," including The Love Boat's Jill Whelan, Dallas' Charlene Tilton, Happy Days' Erin Moran and Dawn Wells from Gilligan's Island.
USA Network is owned by USA Networks Inc., the parent company of the SCI FI Channel.
The Haunting Is A Frightening Success
an de Bont's special-effects scarefest The Haunting took home $33 million during its debut weekend in spite of harsh reviews from critics.
Variety reported that the film's impressive opening handily outstripped industry expectations, and that the movie attracted an audience comprised mostly of the 25-and-under crowd.
Disney's Inspector Gadget grabbed $22 million in its first three days of release, although it too faced bad press from reviewers. Meanwhile, the limited-release, low-budget horror flick The Blair Witch Project picked up another $2 million in ticket sales during its second week, a 30 percent increase over its opening numbers.
In just 10 days Blair has earned about $5 million even though it's only playing in 31 theaters. The film will expand to another 1,000 screens in the United States and Canada come July 30.
Sommers Signs On For Mummy Sequel
niversal Pictures has hired Stephen Sommers to write and direct a sequel to the recent box-office hit The Mummy, which has grossed more than $150 million during its U.S. domestic run.
Sommers served as the screenwriter and director for The Mummy, and Universal credits him for that film's surprising popularity among moviegoers.
"It was Stephen's unique vision for The Mummy that was the driving force behind its success, and we're both very pleased that he will be bringing his talent, imagination and enthusiasm on board for a sequel," Universal's co-chairmen Stacey Snider and Brian Mulligan told The Hollywood Reporter.
In addition to hiring Sommers, Universal is reportedly hoping to bring back virtually the entire cast of The Mummy for the sequel, including Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Oded Fehr, Arnold Vosloo and Kevin J. O'Connor. The rumor was that the second film would take place primarily in London, but now reports say the film will be centered in Egypt with only a few scenes in England.
The Mummy is a remake of the 1932 Boris Karloff film of the same name.
Hellhole Scribe Inks Dimension Deal
imension Films has signed The X-Men and Spider-Man comic book writer Scott Lobdell to a two-year, five-picture development deal.
According to Variety, the pact also gives Lobdell a first-look option to develop TV shows and comics for Dimension.
The first picture Lobdell will work on is a big screen adaption of his comic book Hellhole, which he created with Adam Pollina. Hellhole is published by Image and tells the story of a secret police force that keeps the world safe from supernatural forces.
Final Conflict Exec Nabs Frailty
arth: Final Conflict executive producer David Kirschner and Imposter producer Marty Katz have teamed up to develop Brent Hanley's screenplay Frailty.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the psychological thriller has been described as Seven meets The Shining.
The picture centers around a single father and his two young boys, who may or may not be able to identify demons. This puts the children in conflict with their evil-eradicating dad since one son sees the father as a hero while the other thinks the father is a demon.
Kirschner and Katz are currently searching for a director to helm the picture, which will begin shooting in 2000.
Trek Sets Course For PlayStation
ctivision announced it will release the first Star Trek title for the Sony PlayStation gaming system in summer 2000.
The game will be based on the Star Trek: The Next Generation series and will put players in control of the Federation's newest single-pilot fighters.
Activision described the untitled game as a "stunning, fast-paced space shooter" that features 30 missions in which players fly a variety of Trek vessels, including several ships never seen before. Players will attempt to defend the Federation against a mysterious alien race, but they will also run into classic Trek species like the Klingons and Borg.
Briefly Noted
- Star Wars: Episode I recently passed the $400 million mark at the U.S. box office, making it the third highest-grossing domestic film of all time.
- Unknown actor Stuart Townsend will play Aragorn in the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, according to TheOneRing.Net.
- FX bought the cable rights to the horror mockumentary The Blair Witch Project for a deal that could be worth $10 million or more, depending on how successful the film is at the box office.
- Deep Blue Sea picked up a respectable $3 million during its early opening on Wednesday, July 28, according to Variety.
- Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar will reportedly make her next movie appearance in the film adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel Hannibal. Hannibal is a sequel to the hit movie The Silence of the Lambs.
- Rena Mero, the female wrestler formerly called Sable, is reportedly in talks to play the starring role in a Red Sonja TV series that is in development.
- Armageddon director Michael Bay makes his acting debut in the upcoming superhero comedy Mystery Men. He reportedly has a cameo appearance as the leader of an evil frat-boy gang.
- Blue Tulip, the production company owned by The Haunting director Jan de Bont, may make an SF thriller film called Librium, which was written by Kurt Wimmer. Wimmer is also set to direct the picture.
