Moyer, Hatch Continue Galactica Plans
ichard "Apollo" Hatch said Universal Studios has "not said no" to his proposal for bringing the big-budget 1970s TV series Battlestar Galactica to the big screen.
Hatch said he has also pitched a new Galactica TV show to Universal as well as a CD-ROM, and "we are still waiting to get some kind of decision making on all three."
Hatch spoke to SCI FI Wire during his appearance at the recent Comic-Con in San Diego, Calif., where he showed fans a three-minute trailer for his planned film, Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming. Hatch and several other Galactica alumni produced the trailer with about $20,000 of their own money in hopes of securing $60 million in financing for their project.
Meanwhile, producer Todd Moyer and former Galactica executive producer Glen Larson are hard at work on their rival Battlestar film, now scheduled to go into production early next year. Moyer told IGN Sci-Fi that their film will cost about $45-$50 million, with more than a third of the money budgeted for special effects.
Moyer also had harsh words for Hatch's project and repeated his assertion that Larson, not Universal, owns the rights to a Galactica film. "If (Hatch) wants to waste his own money, he can do whatever he wants, but he's not allowed to do anything with the franchise," Moyer said. "We own it."
Moyer also revealed that he plans to update some of Galactica's famous spaceships, including giving the Viper fighters the ability to morph into mechanized walkers when on planet surfaces. He added that he and Larson want to expand the Galactica franchise to include an Imax film, a theme ride and whole new line of merchandise.
O'Bannon Discusses Farscape Future
he SCI FI Channel show Farscape will get a new character during its four-episode season finale, a formidable alien nemesis described by series creator Rockne S. O'Bannon as "an evil Mr. Spock."
O'Bannon, making an appearance at the recent Comic-Con in San Diego, Calif., also said that the living starship Moya will give birth to an unusual child.
O'Bannon added that as Farscape's first season comes to an end, the show will venture into uncharted territory that "gets our people deeper into trouble." Executive producer David Kemper said that fans can expect a lot of "weirdness and unpredictability" in Farscape's future.
Straczynski At Work On New Series
abylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski is working on a new TV series with a well-known science fiction producer, according to Cinescape.
Straczynski didn't say much about the show other than that it won't be set in the B5 universe and that "once word gets out who this person is, it's going to be pretty cool."
Straczynski also said he is developing a science fiction action movie in addition to his ongoing work on his SF comic series Rising Stars. As to a B5 feature film, Straczynski said Warner Bros. will "probably" develop one at some point, though he is in no hurry to work on the project.
Gibson Returning For Mad Max 4?
umor has it that Mel Gibson may be willing to return for a fourth installment of the Mad Max film franchise.
Although Gibson had previously said he would not play Max another time, Cinescape is reporting that Max director and screenwriter George Miller told the BBC Gibson is "keen" for the part.
"People have been waiting for Max's return for a long time," Miller also told the BBC. "It's going to take Max in a new direction."
Cameron Working On Two Mars Projects
ames Cameron is working on a $30 million Imax 3-D film about Mars in addition to the Red Planet TV miniseries he is developing.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron told members of the Second Annual Mars Society conference that he will direct the Imax film, while he will write and produce the TV series.
The Imax film is being penned by Mars Society founder Robert Zubrin and Gary Goddard, the writer for Cameron's Terminator 2: 3-D theme ride. The two Mars projects will be developed simultaneously and will share the same design team as well as some special effects components.
The miniseries is being directed by Martha Coolidge and will take place in the near future, during the first manned mission to Mars. Cameron said it will chronicle the days leading up to the voyage as well as the mission itself and its long-range impact on society.
Cameron is also at work on a book about his Mars exploits, which he is co-writing with SF author Charles Pellegrino.
Earth Headed For Final Conflict
ans of Tribune Entertainment's Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict can expect to see some big changes to their show when it enters its third season.
Executive producer David Kirschner told The Hollywood Reporter that, along with the addition of new lead actor Jayne Heitmeyer, the series will move away from its tightly linked story arc.
"I intend each episode to be a self-contained, strong story," Kirschner said. "It's important for each episode to be more accessible to audiences."
The show will also begin building up to the "final conflict" of its title, when alien races fight it out on Earth. But even though Kirschner promised more alien action during season three, he doesn't plan to end the series anytime soon.
"We are renewed for another two years of production, and that puts us well in place to move to the full seven seasons, which will complete the arc much in the same way as they did with Babylon 5," Kirschner explained. The third season of Earth debuts in syndication the week of Oct. 4.
Buffy, Angel Won't Meet In A Movie
oss Whedon has given up plans to reunite his two most famous TV protagonists--Buffy the vampire slayer and Angel the vampire--in a cross-over telefilm.
Whedon told Entertainment Weekly that the logistics of bringing together the cast of his TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off show Angel proved to be too difficult.
"It was a production nightmare the likes of which I can't even describe," Whedon told the magazine. However, he did say various supporting cast members from each show will likely have some cross-over parts during the regular season episodes.
Angel is set to debut on Oct. 5 and stars Buffy alums David Boreanaz (Angel) and Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) in a series that promises to be a bit darker than Whedon fans are used to. The premise is that, after his big breakup with Buffy, Angel starts a mystical detective agency with Cordelia as his "gal Friday."
"We're very strict about making a dark, scary, challenging show that isn't relentless and blue," Whedon said.
Card Adapting Ender Film For Lloyd
rson Scott Card said he is rewriting the script for the film adaptation of his best-selling novel Ender's Game now that Star Wars: Episode I star Jake Lloyd is interested in the project.
Card wrote an open letter to fans saying that with Lloyd's proposed participation, "a complete transformation of the Ender's Game screenplay became both possible and necessary."
"When I met Jake Lloyd and realized that Ender might be played by a child actor who would not culkinize the character, I was able to rethink the entire project," Card explained. He said that in previous drafts of the script he had tried to move the emotional burden of the film from Ender's character onto the surrounding adults, a compromise that was "never satisfying."
With an actor of Lloyd's caliber in the starring role, Card said the story can now be told from Ender's point of view, as it was in the novel. That change will also allow Card to include material from the book that was going to be cut out, such as the "surprise" ending, the fantasy game sequence and the intense relationships among the children enrolled at the Battle School.
However, Card said the Valentine/Peter take-over-the-world subplot is gone, "not only because we needed to cut something, but also because it would be visually boring." And Ender's meeting with the Hive Queen has been moved forward in time, so that it now takes place immediately after the last battle rather than on a distant planet years later.
Card also hinted that Ender's Shadow, his new book that tells the story of Ender's Game through the eyes of a young boy named Bean, could be filmed side-by-side with Ender's Game. "Ender's Game could be released one summer, Ender's Shadow the next," he said.
Spielberg Bringing King's Talisman To TV
teven Spielberg and his company DreamWorks are planning to turn the Stephen King/Peter Straub novel The Talisman into a four-part TV miniseries for ABC.
Variety reports that Spielberg will executive produce the project along with Kathleen Kennedy of the Kennedy-Marshall Co.
King, who is undergoing a lengthy recovery after being struck by a motor vehicle in June, is not expected to be involved with the production. No airdate has been set for the project, and ABC reportedly hasn't even seen a script yet.
The Talisman tells the story of a young man who undertakes a dangerous journey in order to find a strange talisman that might be the key to saving his mother's life. His adventure leads him into a parallel universe where he must fight demonic forces.
Star Wars Setting Records In Russia
oviegoers in Russia are reportedly flocking to see Star Wars: Episode I in record numbers despite their country's poor economic times and ongoing political turmoil.
According to Variety, The Phantom Menace picked up 29.43 million rubles ($1.2 million) between July 29 and Aug. 18, more than James Cameron's box-office hit Titanic.
Episode I is also closing in on Russia's current hometown favorite, the Nikita Mikhalkov film Barber of Siberia, which has earned $1.5 million in six months of release. The Phantom Menace is playing on about 30 screens throughout the country and has so far brought in 422,687 admissions.
Brion James Dead At 54
rion James, the actor best known to SF fans for his portrayal of the replicant Leon in the landmark SF film Blade Runner, died Saturday, Aug. 7.
The 54-year-old James passed away at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif., from a reported heart attack.
During his career, James played more than 100 roles on TV and 120 on film, including a recent stint as General Munro in the big-budget SF flick The Fifth Element. The actor was buried Aug. 14 at the Mountain View Cemetary in Beaumont, Calif., the town where he grew up.
X-Men Gets Summer Release...Again
ox has changed the release date of Bryan Singer's X-Men movie once again, this time to summer 2000 despite the fact that the picture won't go into production until October.
According to Variety, the film had originally been set for a July 2000 release but was pushed back to a holiday premiere after the start of shooting was delayed.
However, since Fox has now taken the big-budget Tom Cruise/Steven Spielberg SF film Minority Report out of the summer 2000 slot, it's hoping X-Men will be ready in time to fill in the gap.
Artisan Confirms Blair Prequel
mir Malin, the president of The Blair Witch Project distributor Artisan Entertainment, has confirmed that a prequel to the blockbuster horror film will hit theaters next summer.
Malin didn't offer many details about the next movie, saying only, "I'm still not sure what happened in that house at the end of the movie. Are you?"
Minority Report Gets Later Release
he Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise big-budget SF film Minority Report has been moved back to a holiday 2000 release, according to Variety.
The film was originally supposed to shoot in October for a summer 2000 release, but Fox now says the project won't get underway until January 2000.
Fox told Variety it made the move in order to work around the "availability of the actors in the film." However, only Tom Cruise has signed on to the project so far, although Matt Damon is reportedly close to joining the cast as well.
Variety is hinting that Fox may have changed the release date of Minority Report in order to avoid a run-in with another high-profile Cruise project, Mission: Impossible 2. Mission was originally going to be released this December but is now expected to hit theaters on May 24, 2000.
Sixth Sense Finishes No. 1 Again
he Bruce Willis supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense earned $26.1 million during its sophomore weekend in theaters, finishing No. 1 at the box office for the second week in a row.
According to Variety, Sixth is the first movie to finish in the top spot during consecutive weeks since Star Wars: Episode I ended its reign as the box-office champ in June.
Meanwhile, the mega-hyped psychological thriller The Blair Witch Project brought in $15.2 million during its third weekend in wide release, finishing No. 3 at the box office. Blair has now earned $108 million in ticket sales after just 33 days in theaters.
Deep Blue Sea finished No. 6 for the weekend with $6.7 million, Inspector Gadget took the No. 7 spot with $6.2 million, Mystery Men earned the No. 8 position with $4.9 million, and The Iron Giant finished No. 10 with $3.8 million.
Briefly Noted
- The seventh season premiere of The X-Files has been pushed back to Nov. 7, according to reports.
- CBS, TNT and the BBC are reportedly working on a King Kong TV movie called The Legend of King Kong that will star Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Rachel Weisz and Ian McShane. The project is slated to air in July 2000 in the United States and during the holidays in Britain.
- The upcoming Arnold Schwarzenegger film adaptation of Doc Savage is being budgeted at $100 million, according to the Calgary Sun.
- The big-screen adaptation of the best-selling SF game Doom has met its own demise, according to the IGN Sci-Fi site. TriStar has reportedly let its option on the project drop, and no other studio appears to be interested.
- NBC is at work on a disaster picture called Y2K that will tell the story of a techie nerd who tries to save the United States from a computer disaster.
- The Haunting director Jan De Bont has reportedly abandoned the helm of the SF film Adaptive Ultimate due to creative differences.
