Larson Bringing Galactica To IMAX
attlestar Galactica creator Glen Larson said he is working with Universal Studios to create an IMAX version of his famous 1970s SF TV show.
In an interview with SCI FI Wire, Larson said the IMAX film would be the first step in reviving the Galactica franchise for either a future feature film or a television series.
Larson's news is the latest twist in an ongoing story about the on-again, off-again resurrection of the cult series. Larson said the Galactica movie rights reverted to him when Universal turned down an earlier Galactica film pitch, although the studio still owns the TV rights to the series.
Meanwhile, Richard Hatch, who starred as Apollo in the original series, has been trying to win Universal's support for his own feature film or television series proposal based on the original show. Hatch has been urging Internet fans to write Universal to support his idea for projects that would involve the series' original actors. Hatch, who doesn't own any rights to Galactica, has been showing a trailer for a proposed feature film at comic book and SF conventions and has won the backing of many fans.
But Larson says the next incarnation of Battlestar Galactica will most likely be an IMAX movie--one that so far does not involve Hatch. "The motion picture rights reverted to me, and [Universal's] not interested in going back to television at this point," Larson said. "I want to do something more adventurous. Universal came back to us [after turning down a feature film idea] with the IMAX proposal. It's kind of the direction we're heading right now, though the ink's not dry on this area yet."
Larson said he already has the first draft of a script for a two-hour feature film based on Battlestar Galactica. Larson said the script will need to be cut to accommodate IMAX's shorter running times, although he declined to reveal any plot points.
As for a possible partnership with Hatch, Larson said: "It's nice that he keeps talking about Galactica. There are lots of [fan] Web sites and a lot of interest. But we can't have the cast of our shows going off and trying to produce their own versions. It steps on literary rights and things. He's a good guy and he's done a good job in helping keep things alive with the public. He's got some good ideas. It's just that you can't have too many captains on the same ship."
Braga Says New Trek Coming
tar Trek: Voyager executive producer Brannon Braga said he may have news in February about the concept for the much-anticipated fifth Star Trek series.
In an interview with SCI FI Wire, Braga said he and fellow Trek executive producer Rick Berman are tossing around various ideas for the new series with Paramount, the studio that owns the franchise.
Braga denied Internet-based rumors that the new series will take place in Starfleet Academy or be completely Klingon-based. "I will say that our goal is to make sure the show is fresh and different and unlike any Star Trek you've seen, and yet the essence of it will be Star Trek. ... I hesitate to put another crew of people on a ship and rename it. ... It's got to be different," he said.
Braga also denied reports that the producers were at loggerheads with the studio over the new series. "I wouldn't describe our relationship with the studio as rocky, not at all. I would describe it as very creative and cooperative. We are all very conscientious about the state of the franchise. There's no disagreement on that."
But he agreed that Star Trek's appeal has waned. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the franchise has waned since the glory days of The Next Generation ... perhaps due in part to the fact that there's just too much Star Trek," he said. He added: "At the same time, when people talk about Voyager's ratings and the demise of Star Trek, remember, we still get many millions of viewers every week. The show is doing very well."
Fox Sets Summer Film Dates
wentieth Century Fox announced release dates for its SF films opening in summer 2000.
Titan A.E., an animated SF epic from Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, will open June 16, 2000, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore, Bill Pullman, Janeane Garofalo, Nathan Lane and John Leguizamo will provide voices.
On July 14, 2000, Fox will release The X-Men, the big-screen adaptation of the Marvel comic of the same name. Fox confirmed rumors that the film's release date was pushed back from its original June 30 date. The X-Men stars Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry and Ian McKellen.
The Fox releases join a summer lineup crowded with SF and fantasy. They include Disney's computer-animated Dinosaurs, which opens on May 19, and Warner Bros.' Battlefield Earth, which opens May 26.
Trek Producer Piller Gets WB Deal
tar Trek producer and writer Michael Piller and his son Shawn have won a two-year deal with The WB television network to develop drama series.
The deal guarantees at least one production commitment and orders for three pilot scripts, Variety reported. The writers will also supervise script development of other WB projects.
Piller is best known for co-creating Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Voyager. He also wrote and worked as a producer for the recent feature film, Star Trek: Insurrection.
Among the WB series in the works from the Pillers' production company, Piller2: a two-hour pilot for a spiritual fantasy based on a concept by SF writer Orson Scott Card; a Hitchcockian thriller; a futuristic adventure series; and a contemporary character-driven fantasy.
Disney Channel Wins Toy Story 2
he Disney Channel gets the first crack at airing Toy Story 2 once the movie leaves theaters.
Starting in spring 2001, the cable network has a six-month window to air the animated Disney film, according to Variety.
Disney-owned ABC will then get the movie for its Wonderful World of Disney show in September or November 2001. It's a turnaround for ABC, which won the first rights to air the original Toy Story before the Disney Channel.
Museum Series Looks At Film's Futures
he American Museum of the Moving Image will sponsor an SF film series that shows the future isn't what it used to be. The Future Is Now will screen Dec. 11 through Jan. 2, 2000, at the museum in Astoria, NY.
The series will look at how movies have defined mankind's vision of the future, from Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis to the Sylvester Stallone 1993 action film Demolition Man.
Other films in the series will include Things to Come (1936), Alphaville (1965), La Jetee (1962), Farenheit 451 (1966), Planet of the Apes (1968), Sleeper (1973), Death Race 2000 (1975), Mad Max (1979), Blade Runner (1982) and Brazil (1985).
New Fantastic Four Series Coming
omics writer Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon, Wolverine) said he'll helm a 12-issue Fantastic Four series for Marvel.
The working title for the books are Fantastic Four 100.01 through 100.12, according to ZENtertainment.
The series aims to imagine what creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby would have done as a grand finale for the foursome. "The goal here is to make it look and read as much like issues of the FF by Stan and Jack as possible, and now that the project has the green light, I'll be actively recruiting people who can help
do that," Larsen said.
Larsen added: "At this point, Bruce Timm and Keith Giffen are both
in, but I expect that there could be upwards of 30 different creators who'll give drawing like Jack or writing like Stan a shot."
X-Files To Parody COPS
akers of the The X-Files will continue to test the limits of TV's dramatic series form with an episode that will mimic the reality show COPS.
X-Files co-executive producer Vince Gilligan had the idea for an episode that follows a rookie cop on the streets of Los Angeles, where he bumps into Mulder and Scully, Entertainment Weekly Online reported.
It's not clear whether the parody will carry the COPS logo. No air date was announced. Both The X-Files and COPS appear on the Fox network.
Captain America Creator Sues Marvel
oe Simon, who co-created comics hero Captain America, has challenged Marvel Enterprises for the ownership rights to the character.
Simon, 86, who created the character with partner Joe Kirby, argues that new laws allow him to reclaim ownership for creations copyrighted before 1978, according to Bloomberg.
Simon created Captain America shortly before World War II. He granted the rights to publish his comic book to Timely Comics, which eventually evolved into Marvel Entertainment.
Indy's Whip Snaps Up $44,657
ndiana Jones' famous bullwhip from The Raiders of the Lost Ark snapped up 27,500 British pounds ($44,657) at Christie's Film and Entertainment auction in London yesterday.
Indy's whip was one of dozens of props and costumes bought in the annual auction, according to the Reuters news service. There was no word on the identity of the buyer.
Destination Moon Star Dies
ohn Archer, the star of the SF classic film Destination Moon, died Sunday, Dec. 5. He was 84, according to the Associated Press.
Archer played the lead astronaut in the 1950 movie based loosely on Robert A. Heinlein's 1947 novel, Rocketship Galileo. Heinlein was one of the film's screenwriters.
Archer was also a radio announcer best known for opening the mid-1940s radio drama, The Shadow, with the familar: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"
Archer also appeared in more than 50 films, including Ten Thousand Bedrooms, Rock Around the Clock, Blue Hawaii, Apache Rifles and How to Frame a Figg. Archer's voice was also heard on radio's The FBI in Peace and War and daily soap opera Amanda of Honeymoon Hill.
Archer, who was born Ralph Bowman, won his first contract (and his screen name) in a radio contest.
Shadowbane To Mix RPG With Strategy
olfpack Studios says its upcoming Internet-based fantasy game Shadowbane will combine role-playing and large-scale strategy in an unprecedented way.
The company said Shadowbane's new multi-user design will allow
players to come together to amass armies, create kingdoms and execute siege
warfare.
Shadowbane will be able to support tens of thousands of players within the same 3D universe at once. The game, based on the massively multiplayer persistent worlds model, is slated for release in late 2000.
Spielberg Says Minority Report Is Next
nding months of rumors about what his next project will be, Steven Spielberg announced that he will direct Minority Report, an SF film based on the Philip K. Dick story of the same name.
Speaking on CNN's Larry King Live, Spielberg also said he hoped eventually to make a fourth Indiana Jones movie.
"I'm making Minority, I have a lot of movies I'll be doing," Spielberg said. "Remember, I haven't worked in almost two years [since directing Saving Private Ryan], and I'm about to go into a large work spurt."
Spielberg wouldn't comment on whether he will direct A.I., another SF film that he's written based on a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick.
Fincher, Columbus Vie For Spider-Man
ony Pictures Entertainment has narrowed the directing candidates for its feature film version of Spider-Man down to two: David Fincher (Fight Club) and Chris Columbus (Bicentennial Man).
The two finalists are the latest candidates in a list of directors who have been reportedly attached to the project, including James Cameron (Titanic) and Barry Sonnenfeld (Men In Black).
Columbus met with Sony and is weighing his options, Variety reported. Fincher held a "long and extremely positive" meeting with Sony executives. A decision is expected before Christmas.
McKellen Pulls X-Men Rant
an McKellen, the veteran British actor who will play Magneto in Fox's upcoming feature film version of The X-Men, has apparently removed his tart responses to the film's Internet critics just a few days after he posted them to his Web site.
McKellen had written sharply to critics who fear the movie won't live up to the Marvel comic book on which it is based. "I have no time for those constipated purists in the arts who think that there is only one way of telling a story," McKellen wrote. "Would they really want the movie script to follow the over-explanatory monosyllabic dialogue of the comic strip?"
McKellen also disputed rumors about his costume, which has been criticized for differing considerably from the comic book's image. "The vituperation against the modernity of Louise Mingenbach's designs is misdirected," the actor wrote. "She is following the vision of the director and the producers with, of course, the enthusiastic approval of Marvel Comics. I challenge any of the fanboys to name a living actor who possesses the cartoon torso of the original comic strip character."
He added: "There is nothing, for example, about Magneto's appearance which invokes the Third Reich and I have been puzzled by my correspondents' concern that somehow I intended to interpret Erik Lenscherr (as he once was) as a Nazi-sympathiser."
Groening Blasts Fox About Futurama
att Groening pointedly criticized Fox Broadcasting for its handling of Futurama, the satirical SF animated series he created.
''They obviously don't know what they're doing,'' Groening told Entertainment Weekly Online, blasting the network for its lack of support for the show.
Fox pulled Futurama from its coveted 8:30 p.m. Sunday time slot--the slot following Groening's hit show, The Simpsons--to make way for its new sitcom, Malcolm in the Middle. Futurama returns to Sundays on Feb. 6, but in a new 7 p.m. time slot. It's the third time slot for the show in less than a year.
''It's not the move I would make if I were running the zoo,'' Groening said. He added: "They run in one direction, then run in another direction the next moment. There's no sustained support of anything.''
Kilmer, Sizemore Dueling On Red Planet?
al Kilmer and Tom Sizemore are reportedly at loggerheads on the set of Warner Bros.' upcoming SF film Red Planet, now shooting in Australia.
The actors refuse to appear in scenes together and have taken out restraining orders against each other, according to the newspaper The Australian.
Kilmer, Sizemore and Australian producer Andrew Mason have publicly denied the rumors of discord. "Reports that Tom and I have taken out restraining orders against each other are of course completely untrue," Kilmer said in a statement. "I have known and worked with Tom for many years and have the utmost respect for him as a person and as an actor."
Added Sizemore: "Val is a good friend of mine. We've worked together on several
pictures over the years, and I always enjoy working with him. We shot a major
scene together yesterday."
Kilmer and Sizemore play astronauts sent to Mars in 2050 to prepare a new colony as trouble grows back home on Earth. The two actors previously worked together on True Romance and Heat.
Vampire Slated For June Release
hadow of the Vampire, starring John Malkovich, has been given a tentative U.S. release date of June 2000 by Lions Gate Films.
The $8-million thriller chronicles the making of the 1922 German film classic Nosferatu, one of the earliest movie versions of the Dracula story, according to Cinescape.
The film completed shooting six months ago.
Kilmer Documents Red Planet In Video
hen he's not acting or denying rumors of on-set strife, Val Kilmer has been documenting his efforts on the set of Red Planet with his own video camera.
It's unclear whether Kilmer is shooting a documentary about the making of the picture, the Hollywood Reporter said. But Kilmer is paying for the video and doing the creative work himself.
Hannah Will Return For The Mummy II
ohn Hannah will reprise his role from The Mummy in The Mummy II, the sequel to Universal Studios' 1999 summer blockbuster.
Hannah will earn $1 million to play Jonathan Carnahan in the second film, Variety reported.
Universal, meanwhile, is working with the first film's director, Stephen Sommers, on a script for the sequel. The Mummy II will start shooting in 2000, with most of the cast from the first film expected to return.
USA Announces SF&F Programs
F and fantasy themes figure prominently in the original movies and series USA Network plans to add to its lineup in 2000.
Including SF and other programming, USA said it will air five new hours of original series in primetime and one new, non-primetime hour by the summer of 2000, more than doubling USA's current output.
Among USA's original telefilms for 2000 is The Darkling, which concerns the Faustian bargain struck by a stockbroker in exchange for power and wealth.
New series include an untitled project from director Sam Raimi (A Simple Plan, Evil Dead) in the tradition of Rosemary's Baby; Infantry, a half-hour military drama set five years in the future; Iceberg And Son, about a Shaft-era detective who is unfrozen in the 1990s; and Kill, Kill, Kill, in which a former CIA agent and his lifelong nemesis are resurrected week after week to do battle to the death.
Crater Kid Comic Debuts On Web
new Internet SF comic strip called The Crater Kid will make its debut on Jan. 1, 2000.
The daily strip was created by Marty Baumann and tells the story of a 10-year-old boy who is transported to the planet Meta 4.
Baumann is well known to SF fans on the Internet for his popular cult 'zine The Astounding B-Monster. He is also the creator of Jet Victor, the star pilot featured in Steve Conley's Astounding Space Thrills comic.
The Crater Kid will make its print debut in the forthcoming issue of Conley's Astounding Space Thrills, to be published by Image Comics early in 2000.
Editor's Note: Baumann has previously worked for SCIFI.COM as a freelance writer and graphics designer.
Star Wars RPG Due Next Fall
izards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, has won the exclusive license to create role-playing games, miniature table-top games and accessories based on all Star Wars films.
The first Wizards of the Coast Star Wars game will be released in fall 2000, the company announced.
Wizards of the Coast publishes the classic Dungeons & Dragons games, family card and board games and electronic media products, and also runs Wizards of the Coast and Game Keeper stores.
Millennium Man Is Next Steve Austin
PN's upcoming SF telefilm Millennium Man may be the precursor to a new TV series, producer Glen Larson told SCI FI Wire.
Larson said the movie is a thematic update to his 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man, but it takes advantage of genetic engineering technology rather than "bionics."
"It's a slightly more aggressive version of Steve Austin," Larson said. "There's more dynamics, more pyrotechnics, etc."
Millennium Man is part of the UPN "Blockbuster Video's Shockwave Cinema" series. Andrew Jackson stars as a U.S. intelligence agent whose death is averted when his brain is transferred into the $1-billion "Advanced Design Anatomical Man." The film will air at 8 p.m. on Dec. 17.
Spielberg Eyes Harry Potter
teven Spielberg is rumored to be interested in directing a feature film based on J. K. Rowling's best-selling Harry Potter books, a young adult series about a boy with magic powers.
Spielberg has met with studio executives about the film, Variety reported, while writer Steve Kloves (The Fabulous Baker Boys) is finishing the script.
Spielberg is also expected to make a decision soon on whether he will direct one of two SF projects: Minority Report, based on the Philip K. Dick story of the same name, or A.I., which Spielberg is writing based on a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick.
X-Men Trailer Postponed
wentieth Century Fox has delayed distribution of the teaser trailer for its upcoming The X-Men feature film, which was reportedly slated to run before Bicentennial Man on Dec. 17.
Studio executives weren't sure they had "the proper visuals" for the trailer and wanted to avoid an early marketing mistake, the Toronto Sun reported.
X-Men FX Companies Named
even companies will create the elaborate special effects for Twentieth Century Fox's The X-Men film.
The studio selected the effects houses after months of delays, Variety reported.
Digital Domain, Kleiser Walczak Construction, Cinesite, Hammerhead Prods., Matte World, CORE and POP will handle the hundreds of lead visuals for the $70-million film.
Digital Domain is best known for its work on James Cameron's various films, while Kleiser Walczak created effects for Stargate. Cinesite worked on The Mummy, and Hammerhead did the shark effects for Deep Blue Sea.
SCI FI Hits The 60-Million Mark
he SCI FI Channel announced that it's now available in 60 million households, a 20 percent increase from its distribution reach of just 16 months ago.
Bolstered by a recent redesign and an increased investment in original programming, the channel is also earning its best primetime ratings in history.
Separately, SCI FI announced that it had entered into a deal with the New York-based production company Good Machine (Ride With The Devil and Happiness) to develop six original movies to air on the network. In 2000 the channel will also add to its lineup with the irreverent series LEXX; a weekday talk show featuring psychic John Edward; a new Invisible Man series; a short film showcase called Exposure; the six-hour miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune; Steven Spielberg's 20-hour abduction miniseries Taken; and Stormfront, from writer Steven de Sousa.
Cyber Sci-Fi Plans Net Series
he Cyber Sci-Fi Network plans to launch a TV-quality Internet series called Mars and Beyond that will feature Star Trek veteran Majel Barrett
Roddenberry.
Roddenberry will play the head of NASA in the show, which takes place in 2014 and chronicles the first manned expedition to Mars.
The Cyber Sci-Fi Network is the brainchild of producers, writers,
directors and actors who previously worked on Star Trek: The Next
Generation, Earth: Final Conflict, Space Rangers and
War of the Worlds. The site's goal is to offer original SF episodic
series produced exclusively for the Internet.
Mars and Beyond is scheduled to debut in the next few months.
X-Men Merchandise Coming
he X-Men movie won't hit theaters for another six months or so, but the merchandising push for the film has already begun.
Collectible Concepts Group signed a license agreement with Marvel to create
a variety of merchandise connected with the film and also to establish a
collector's club to sell it, CCG announced today.
The licensed articles will include X-Men graduation rings, dog tags,
pins and belt buckles, as well as resin replicas of the Blackbird Jet motorcycle, Cyclops' visor, Magneto's helmet, Professor X's mutant locator and
Wolverine's adamantium claws and skeleton.
CCG will market the collectibles both on the Web and through direct mail next
year. The company has previously created merchandise in connection with the
Austin Powers movies and the Terminator films.
Cleese To Produce Supernatural Sitcom
onty Python veteran John Cleese plans to produce a supernatural comedy show
for ABC, which will be his first series for U.S. television.
The untitled half-hour program will take place in the law firm of Karpool,
Ruumki & Whetfish, whose partners have made deals with the devil and become
demons, Variety reported.
Cleese, currently on view in the James Bond movie The World is Not
Enough, will serve as executive producer for the show. He has no plans to star in the series.
Barker Working On New Horror Film
antasy novelist and filmmaker Clive Barker (Hellraiser) said he is writing a screenplay for a period horror film that he will direct next year for New Line Cinema.
In an interview with Dark Horizons, Barker said he is also in the talking stages for an anthology of horror films based on his short story compilation The Books of Blood. One of the films would
be directed by Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters).
Barker is currently in pre-production on a film version of his young adult
novel The Thief of Always, about a boy who is abducted by a
pumpkin-headed goblin.
Will The X-Men Be Delayed?
umor has it that the release date for Bryan Singer's The X-Men feature film may be bumped from June 30, 2000, to July 14, 2000.
The Ain't It Cool News Web site said an unnamed source at Twentieth Century Fox--which is releasing the film version of the popular Marvel comic--spilled the beans.
No reason has been given for the possible change in schedule. The X-Men is currently shooting on location in Canada.
More Pokemon Movies Coming
hile Pokemon: The First Movie is fading fast from U.S. theaters, a
third Pokemon feature film is already scheduled for release in Japan.
Pocket Monster: The Lord of the Unknown Tower will bow in Japan next summer, about the same time the second Pokemon movie is slated for release in the U.S., according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Pocket Monster: The Lord of the Unknown Tower will reportedly involve themes of friendship and the relationship between children and their parents, and it will also introduce a "mysterious" new character to the Pokemon franchise. A short film tentatively titled Pokemon 2000 will be included with the main feature.
Toys, Bond, And Arnold Score Big Overseas
oy Story 2, End of Days and The World Is Not Enough dominated the overseas box office during the weekend of Dec. 3.
World opened in the No. 1 spot in eight countries and earned $19 million
in ticket sales, Variety reported.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller End of Days premiered in the top slot in five countries and brought in $12.4 million, including $480,000 in Schwarzenegger's homeland of Austria. Toy Story 2, which topped the U.S. box office during its first two weekends, also bowed in the No. 1 position in five countries, including Australia, where it earned $1.4 million.
Gilliam Will Direct Good Omens
eil Gaiman confirmed that Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Time Bandits) will write and direct the feature film version of Good
Omens, the novel Gaiman co-authored with Terry Pratchett.
Gaiman told SCI FI Wire that Gilliam will write the screenplay with Tony Grisoni, who worked with Gilliam on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Peter Samuelson, Marc Samuelson (Arlington Road) and Chuck Roven will produce the film, and talks are ongoing with several studios to develop the project.
Gaiman said he plans to keep his distance from the film. "Terry
Pratchett and I have elected not to get involved--we both got our fingers
burned some years ago trying to write a Good Omens movie for
Sovereign Pictures, for producers who bought Good Omens and then
immediately began trying to turn it into something else. We decided that
this time around we would give the book to people who seemed to understand
it and let them make the film."
Gaiman also had high praise for Gilliam and the Samuelsons. "We turned down a lot of producers before the Samuelsons came along, and they impressed us by
understanding what the book was about (and not just understanding what
happened in it and the meaning of several of the longer words)," Gaiman
said. "I think Terry Gilliam is the perfect director for Good Omens
in every way, and I've been an enormous fan of his since Jabberwocky."
Gaiman added that he is "really looking forward to going and eating popcorn at the premiere. Or those little raisin things with chocolatey stuff on them."
Good Omens: or, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
is a tongue-in-cheek telling of the Apocalypse from the viewpoint of an
angel and a devil who realize their best interests lie in working
together to postpone the Day of Reckoning.
Fox Brings The Tick To Life
he animated superhero spoof The Tick may become a live-action series on
the Fox network next fall.
Fox has ordered a half-hour "action comedy" pilot from producers
Barry Sonnenfeld and Barry Josephson (Fantasy Island), according to
Variety.
The cartoon version of The Tick was based on Ben Edlund's comic book series of the same name, but it was canceled after three seasons on the Fox Kids' Network and Comedy Central. The Tick's title character is a 400-pound blue superhero who fights crime alongside his diminutive sidekick Arthur.
A Clockwork Orange Returns To Britain
ext spring Stanley Kubrick's uncut version of A Clockwork Orange will return to theaters in Great Britain for the first time since 1972.
The award-winning movie hasn't been seen in the United Kingdom since it was banned for allegedly glorifying violence, according to the Reuters news service.
Kubrick eventually withdrew the film from Britain because he and his family had received death threats. When A Clockwork Orange hits theaters this time around, it will be restricted to audiences over 18.
Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess, Orange tells the story of a gang of toughs led by Alex (Malcom McDowell) who terrorize a near-future London.
Angel Fans Want Doyle Back
eries regular Doyle (Glenn Quinn) may have died in the most recent episode
of The WB's Angel, but the fans won't stay quiet about it.
The WB asked fans in a recent poll how they responded to the character's
untimely death. A whopping 82.5 percent said they were "extremely
distraught" by the turn of events, the network reported.
Some fans have even mounted a campaign to get Quinn's character resurrected. But that seems unlikely given that Quinn's own publicist has said, "We don't know what happens after episode nine [in which Doyle dies], but Glenn has been aware of this development since the beginning of the season and is looking at scripts for his next film."
Fur Flies Over Buffy Spread
uffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar has apologized to Friends of Animals for wearing a real fox shrug in a recent magazine spread.
The Washington, D.C., animal rights group sent Gellar a video about the
treatment of animals on fox and mink farms, prompting a reply from the
actress, according to The WB's Buffy and Angel Newsletter.
"Thank you for raising my awareness regarding the cruelties involved
with the production of fur," Gellar wrote. "From now on, I will make a
conscious effort for this to never happen again."
The Astronaut's Wife Gets Rings Browser
he DVD release of the Johnny Depp SF thriller The Astronaut's Wife will include a custom Internet browser that will give viewers special access to the official The Lord of the Rings film trilogy Web site.
The browser will allow visitors to see exclusive video and other features from the New Zealand location of the Rings movies, which are now in production, according to Zentertainment.
Other Rings extras will appear on future DVD releases from New Line
Cinema, the studio behind the Rings trilogy. The Astronaut's Wife DVD will be available on Feb. 8, 2000.
Davis Booked For Travel Agent
he Fugitive director Andrew Davis has been booked to helm
Travel Agent, an SF film about a troubleshooting time-traveler.
According to Variety, the Sony movie follows the adventures of the "time jumper" as he journeys back in time to prevent various financial crises.
During one visit to the past, the agent discovers that his boss is part of a plot to assassinate the president.
Toy Story 2 Is Still No. 1
oody and the gang continued to round up viewers during their second week in theaters, earning $28.3 million and giving Toy Story 2 its second consecutive No. 1 finish at the box office.
That was nearly equal to the combined grosses of the second-, third- and fourth-place films, and it brought the two-week total for the Disney-Pixar picture to about $117.3 million, according to the Hollywood trades.
Toy Story 2 surpassed the $100-million mark in only 11 days, equaling the performance of 1994's The Lion King, according to Variety. Meanwhile, the James Bond flick The World Is Not Enough took second place with $10.6 million in its third weekend of release.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's End of Days slipped to third place in its second weekend with $9.7 million, and Sleepy Hollow rolled into fourth place with $9 million.
Briefly Noted
- Wendy Crewson (What Lies Beneath, Air Force One) will play Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife in the upcoming SF thriller The Sixth Day.
- Amber Benson has signed on to play a recurring role in The WB's hit TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Benson starred in the film Can't Hardly Wait with Buffy cast member Seth Green.
- Dean Cain (Lois &
Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) will host the new TBS series Ripley's Believe It or Not!, which begins Jan. 12, 2000.
- Tim Allen discusses his new movie Galaxy Quest on the Dec. 14
installment of NBC's Today show. The next day, Sigourney Weaver visits the show to talk about her role in the same film.
- The Blair Witch Project creators Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez will not pen the second Blair film, but if there is a third Witch feature they may write that, Variety reported.
- LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge on Star Trek: The Next Generation) became honorary mayor of Sherman Oaks, Calif., a Los Angeles suburb. The local homeowners association honored Burton for "15 years of dedicated service to the community."
- CBS paid about $20 million for the first rights to air The World Is Not Enough. TNT will air The Iron Giant in prime time before the picture winds up on its sister Cartoon Network. And TBS and TNT paid about $6 million for the rights to show House on Haunted Hill over a four-year period.
- Star Trek: Voyager star Tim Russ ("Tuvok") and science advisor Andre Bormanis will be two of the speakers at the Space Foundation's upcoming teachers' conference, "Mastery of Space: Preparing for Your Mission." Air Force Col. Eileen Collins, the first female pilot and commander of a space shuttle, will also address elementary school educators at the conference on Jan. 28, 2000, at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver.
- Fox has signed a deal with director/producer Kim Manners (The X-Files,
Star Trek: The Next Generation) to develop new TV series for Fox and Chris Carter's
Ten Thirteen Productions. Manners will also continue to direct episodes of The X-Files.
- Comedy Central has acquired the non-pay TV rights to Kevin Smith's religious satire Dogma and can begin airing the flick in 2002.
