Harsh Realm Returning To TV?
hris Carter's aborted show Harsh Realm may return for a brief run on cable network FX in March 2000, according to the Cinescape Web site.
FX will reportedly air the eight episodes of Harsh Realm that were filmed, even though only the first three episodes ran on Fox before the series was canceled.
Twentieth Century Fox studios, which produced and owns Harsh Realm, will also offer a screen credit to James D. Hudnall and Andrew Paquette, creators of the Harsh Realm comic book series on which the television series is loosely based. The two had protested the lack of a credit when the series first premiered.
A spokesman for FX told SCI FI Wire that the cable network had no official word on Harsh Realm.
Weaver Would Play Ripley Again
igourney Weaver, who played Ripley in the four Alien films, said she'd consider doing another one, but that no one has approached her yet.
"I've always wanted to do one where we go back to the planet from which the alien originally came," Weaver told SCI FI Wire while promoting her latest movie, Galaxy Quest. "But it's never been a serious discussion."
"I don't know that there are any plans to do another one," Weaver added. "It wouldn't surprise me if some time in the next 20 years or so, you see a white-haired Ripley hobbling around out there. But I haven't heard of anything."
Alien: Resurrection, Weaver's last outing as the stalwart xenomorph hunter, grossed a disappointing $48 million at the box office and was critically savaged.
Plenty Of Action In Rings Movies
he Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's famous novels of the same name, will be jam-packed with action, according to the films' chief stunt man.
The films will have "fight sequences, falls, burns, horse stunts and battles," said Bruce Brown, the stunt coordinator for The Lord of the Rings, who spoke with Onfilm magazine from the New Zealand set.
"We're trying to capture something that's not been seen before, and adapting the body language into fighting styles in the lead-up to the shoot," said Brown, whose interview was reported on TheOneRing.net Web site. "There's some falls where the guys get shot with arrows off a cliff into rapids; there are guys scaling massive ladders up castle walls, and the ladders are being pulled back as the invaders are shot off them by arrows."
The action will be tailored to the trilogy's unique characters. "Some are creepy and cockroach-like; some are quite smooth and dainty--flowing gracefully--and some are just crash-bash-nothing-stops-them killing machines," Brown said. And there will be explosions. "The wizard Saruman creates a primitive form of gunpowder," Brown said. "There is a battle scene where castle walls get blown up."
Potter Author On 10 Best List
t's magic: J.K. Rowling, author of the popular Harry Potter series of young adult novels, was cited as one of "10 people who mattered" in 1999 by Time magazine.
Rowling was a runner-up in the magazine's annual competition for "Person of the Year."
"The idea came to the aspiring author in 1990 during a train ride from Manchester to London," Time reported. "It involved a young orphan who discovers he is a wizard, then is whisked away from his cruel aunt and uncle to be schooled in the use of his magical powers. This year that inspiration produced a publishing wonder: three novels about Harry Potter that keep crowding the top three spots on the fiction best-seller lists. ...
"J.K. Rowling, who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland,has four more Harry Potters planned," Time said. "Her readers, young and old, are clearing more bookshelf space now."
Spielberg Gets Peek At Potter Script
arner Bros. last week gave Steven Spielberg an exclusive peek at its 138-page first draft script for the feature film version of J.K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter young adult novel series.
Spielberg is still mulling whether to take on the Harry Potter movie, SF thriller Minority Report, or A.I., which Spielberg is writing based on a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick, according to Variety.
Spielberg will likely meet in early January with Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves and Warner executives to discuss the project. It's possible that Spielberg, who once argued for a computer-animated version of the Potter books, would choose to act as producer rather than direct the film.
Other directors under consideration for the Potter movie are Robert Zemeckis, Jonathan Demme, Brad Silberling, Rob Reiner, Mike Newell and Tim Robbins.
Affleck To Play Batman?
en Affleck (Dogma) could be the next young actor to don Batman's cowl and codpiece.
Syndicated columnist Liz Smith reported that Affleck is a "major contender" to star in the next installment of the Batman film franchise.
If he gets the nod, Affleck would join former batmen Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney. Despite the disappointing box-office performance of 1997's Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. is reportedly still interested in developing new batfilms.
Affleck Wants Paltrow To Play Catwoman
en Affleck has agreed to put on the cape and cowl as Batman--but only if his girlfriend, Gwyneth Paltrow, is cast as Catwoman, the New York Post reported.
Affleck reportedly hopes to seal a deal by Jan. 1, 2000, that would have him play bat to Paltrow's cat. But the Oscar-winning actress--now on view in The Talented Mr. Ripley--may not be available for a Bat sequel because of other demands on her time.
The paper also reported that Affleck wants $15 million to play the superhero.
Affleck Denies Batman Rumors
en Affleck denied rumors that he's agreed to play the title role in the next Batman film, or that he's made demands that his girlfriend, Gwyneth Paltrow, play Catwoman.
"As I'm sure most of you might infer, this story is absurd," Affleck said in a post to fans at his official Web site on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
"There is no Batman script, no movie being planned; they have not called me or my agent, and Gwyneth is much more the 'Electra' (Daredevil reference) type," Affleck said. "I really have no idea where they get this stuff. It is as if someone sits in a room and quite literally invents it."
The rumors first started last week when syndicated columnist Liz Smith reported that Affleck was in the running for the bat role.
Smith To Helm Daredevil?
ogma director and sometime comic book writer Kevin Smith is rumored to be in the running to helm the upcoming feature film version of Marvel Comics' Daredevil, the Dark Horizons Web site reported.
Smith helped revive interest in the Daredevil comic books by writing several issues about the blind lawyer who leads a double life as a superhero.
"Smith has had a very positive history with Marvel Comics and The Horned One (Daredevil)," the site reported. "He just finished up a six- (or is it seven-) issue run on the newly renewed Daredevil series, and fans ate his work up and demanded more."
Blade director Stephen Norrington is also rumored to be in talks with Marvel to direct the Daredevil film.
Battlefield Earth Doesn't Pass Muster
ow bad is Battlefield Earth, the SF feature film being developed by John Travolta based on the book of the same name by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard?
Pretty bad, according to the New York Post.
The newspaper took the script for the movie about the invasion of Earth by 12-foot-tall aliens, removed both Hubbard's and Travolta's names, and gave it to two script readers for their unbiased reactions.
A reader from Mike Ovitz's Artists Management Group said, "A thoroughly silly plotline is made all the more ludicrous by its ham-fisted dialogue and ridiculously shallow characterization. The storyline is slow-moving, predictable and obvious [and] the dialogue is laughable."
The second reader said the film was "about as entertaining as watching a fly breathe."
Actor Says Battlefield Is Awesome
ountering negative publicity of the upcoming SF action film Battlefield Earth, lead actor Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) calls the movie "awesome."
Pepper plays hero Jonnie Goodboy Tyler opposite John Travolta's villain in the Warner Bros. film based on L. Ron Hubbard's novel of the same name.
Speaking to E! Online, Pepper said he had reservations about taking on a role in a movie based on a book by the founder of Scientology and backed by church member Travolta. "But once I got started, I had the best time," Pepper said. "It has nothing to do with Scientology, which was one of my concerns, and that's the biggest question I'm going to have to answer."
Last month, the Washington Post reported that the film and novel echo themes from Church of Scientology teachings, including having aliens "implant" negative ideas in the minds of humans. The novel also casts "mental doctors" as sadists, which is in keeping with a Scientology tenet that psychiatrists are harmful.
X-Men Comments Back On Web
an McKellen's
Web site has reposted the actor's Dec. 10 journal entry from the Toronto set of Fox's X-Men feature film, in which he plays Magneto.
McKellen's original post had disappeared after the actor attacked critics who questioned the film's look and conception.
The reposted comments appear to be the same, but with new photographs from the set. McKellen also added a comment quashing rumors of on-set trouble.
"I've read rumours on the Internet that the movie's release has been postponed and that Bryan Singer has been replaced as director!" McKellen wrote. "I checked these out with Singer this morning and he said: 'Just remind folks that our original release date was to have been the upcoming holiday period [December 2000]. We are getting the movie right and making it better and better--just like Titanic did.' Then with a huge grin: 'Yes! they did try and sack me but I shouted and shouted and they gave up!'"
Burger King Recalls Pokémon Toys
urger King is recalling millions of plastic balls that hold Pokémon toys, saying that the balls pose a suffocation hazard to children under the age of three.
A 13-month-old girl suffocated when one of the halves of a ball covered her mouth and nose.
"More than 25 million of the 'Poké' balls are part of the recall," Charles Nicolas, a spokesman for the Miami-based restaurant chain, told the Associated Press. The company said parents should take the balls away from children and discard them or return them to a Burger King restaurant for a free order of french fries.
The balls were packaging for 57 different types of Pokémon toys given out with children's meals as a promotion connected with the release of Pokémon: The First Movie.
Ottman May Not Score X-Men
ohn Ottman, director Bryan Singer's longtime editor and composer, may not be able to score Singer's biggest film yet, the upcoming feature film version of Marvel Comics' X-Men.
That's because Ottman will probably be finishing up his first directing job, on Urban Legend 2--The Final Cut, Ottman told Cinescape magazine.
"My schedule is colliding with X-Men," Ottman said. "[But] they moved their release date up to June 30 [2000] now, and I'm still going to be finishing my film up probably at the end of April. So it's very crushing for both me and Bryan. We're really going through a lot of emotion about it because we're sort of joined at the hip; we work really well together, and we were both looking forward to my doing this for a year and a half. But it looks like the writing on the wall is that it may not happen now. It's going to kill me."
Blade Director To Helm Daredevil?
irector Stephen Norrington (Blade) is rumored to be in the running to helm Sony's upcoming Daredevil feature film, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, according to the Coming Attractions Web site.
Norrington has been talking with Marvel's movie division about the job, and the talks have been positive. 1998's Blade was also based on a Marvel superhero.
Back To The Future 4 In The Works?
ill Marty McFly drive that DeLorean back to the future again?
A new sequel to Universal Studios' popular Back to the Future series of films may be in the works for release in 2004, according to the BTTF.com fan Web site.
"Universal appears to be making steps toward making this project in that directors are already being rumored, Joe Johnston [Jumanji] being one of the names thrown about," the Web site reported.
Bob Gale, who co-wrote the first three movies, is rumored to be writing a script. The site also speculates that Bob Zemeckis, who co-wrote and directed the series, won't helm No. 4, but will be involved in a limited capacity.
Arnold, Bond Dominate Foreign Theaters
rnold Schwarzenegger, James Bond and Tarzan dominated a lackluster Christmas weekend in foreign movie theaters.
Tarzan brought in $12.1 million in 22 countries, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Schwarzenegger's End of Days took the No. 1 spot in Japan, earning $1.8 million in nine key cities.
The latest Bond adventure, The World Is Not Enough, became the biggest-grossing Bond film ever in the United Kingdom and Ireland after only 27 days, with $32.2 million.
New Candidates For Anakin Role?
eaquest DSV heartthrob Jonathan Brandis joins soap star Jonathon Jackson (General Hospital) as a lead contender to play grown-up Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II.
Both actors have reportedly had conversations with George Lucas' people or have read for the part, according to the Dark Horizons Web site.
Lucas has said that no decisions have been made and that casting won't begin in earnest until the new year.
SF&F Films Top 1999 Box Office
n a year with record-breaking box-office receipts, seven of the top 10 money-making movies were science fiction or fantasy films.
The No. 1 film of the year was Star Wars: Episode I, which earned a whopping $429 million in U.S. ticket sales. No. 2 The Sixth Sense took in $275 million.
Other SF&F films in the top 10 included Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me at No. 3 with $206 million, The Matrix at No. 4 with $171 million, Toy Story 2 at No. 7 with $156 million, The Mummy at No. 8 with $155 million, and The Blair Witch Project at No. 10 with $140 million.
Total ticket sales in the United States were $7.5 billion, up from $6.95 billion in 1998.
Mask 2 In The Works?
ew Line Cinema is developing a sequel to its 1994 hit comedy The Mask, but the original film's star, Jim Carrey, may have priced himself out of the lead role.
Carrey's salary for the first Mask was $450,000, according to MSNBC. But the star of Man on the Moon now commands $20 million per film, more than the entire production budget of The Mask.
Carrey also reportedly wants meatier, more complex roles and isn't interested in returning to the Mask character. But MSNBC speculates that Victoria Adams Beckman--better known as "Posh Spice"--is up for a role in the sequel.
Quest Won't Show In Regal Theaters
egal Cinemas, the country's largest theater chain, is not showing Galaxy Quest because of a dispute over financial terms with the movie's distributor, DreamWorks.
Regal is concerned about the box-office prospects of Galaxy Quest, which opened with a modest $8.1 million in ticket sales over the Christmas weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Knoxville, Tenn.,-based theater chain has 4,417 screens at 431 sites in 32 states.
SF&F Films Did Well On Christmas
tuart Little and Toy Story 2 continued to perform strongly at the box office over the Christmas weekend, tying for third place (after No. 1 Any Given Sunday and No. 2 The Talented Mr. Ripley).
Stuart Little and Toy Story 2 each took in $12.5 million, according to Variety.
The Green Mile tied for fourth place with Man on the Moon, with each movie earning about $9.0 million. In its premiere weekend, Galaxy Quest sold a moderate $8.1 million in tickets to come in fifth.
Scully To Join Hannibal?
ill FBI Agent Dana Scully sub for Agent Clarice Starling?
Gillian Anderson, who plays the no-nonsense Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files, is rumored to be in the running for the coveted role of Starling in Hannibal, Universal Studios' upcoming sequel to the 1991 hit The Silence of the Lambs.
But that's only if Jodie Foster, who created the role in Silence, passes on the sequel, according to the Dark Horizons Web site. Foster is withholding a decision on joining the cast of Hannibal until she sees a final script by Steve Zaillian.
Anthony Hopkins has already agreed to reprise the role of serial cannibal Hannibal Lecter.
Baker Ready To Play R2-D2 Again
enny Baker, the actor who has played R2-D2 in all four Star Wars films, wants to be the man in the can in the series' next installment.
"They just lift the lid, put me in, put the lid back on, and I'm ready to go," Baker told the BBC. "They might put somebody else in the next film, but if they get the right person for the job, they usually stick with them. I hope."
The 65-year-old, 3-foot-8-inch actor said playing the droid isn't much of a stretch. "With a robot you've got no eyebrows and no arms to express yourself with. I just had to wobble the thing about and move the head, and that was about all I could really do. It was all down to George Lucas' good editing and putting sounds and whistles in the right places which gave R2-D2 a character."
But Baker said he would object to playing an Ewok, the teddy-bear warriors from Return of the Jedi. "You were a round ball of rubber covered with fur. It looked good, but it was horrible to work inside. Within five minutes you were overheating and you couldn't see because the eyes steamed up."
Cthulhu Video Games Coming
series of video games based on H.P. Lovecraft's classic horror story "Call of Cthulhu"--part of the writer's Cthulhu Mythos--will be developed for the PC and PlayStation 2 platforms.
Headfirst Productions reached a licensing deal with Chaosium Inc. to create the games.
Headfirst said it will deliver an action-horror game called Dark Corners of the Earth based on the Cthulhu Mythos. Headfirst will also create a Web site dedicated to the games.
The Cthulhu Mythos combined elements of science fiction and horror in a series of stories written in the 1920s and 1930s. The Mythos has formed the basis of traditional role-playing games and card games.
The Star Trek Movie That Never Was
roducers of Star Trek: Voyager have denied rumors of a new series or film based on Starfleet Academy, but the official Star Trek: Continuum Web site now reports that one veteran producer once had just such an idea.
Harve Bennett, who produced some of the most successful feature films in the franchise, pitched a script to Paramount a decade ago that told the story of how James Kirk met Spock while the two were cadets.
Bennett had John Cusack in mind to play a youthful Spock and Ethan Hawke to play Cadet Kirk in his proposed film, Star Trek: The Academy Years. "I had a joyful script about cadets Kirk and Spock in a simpler time," Bennett told the Web site. "It's one thing I left unfinished, and when I tried to finish it, it just didn't work out."
In the script, Kirk and Spock are young cadets at Starfleet Academy, joined
by an older McCoy. Montgomery Scott is a teacher of mechanical sciences. "I had a romance between Kirk and a cadet named Cassie, who dies bravely in his
arms, which explains how he never came to love that way again," Bennett said.
But Paramount was leery of a film that didn't feature the original cast, and instead ordered a film to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the franchise, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Bennett produced the second through fifth films in the Star Trek series, including the franchise's most successful, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Xena Comes To SCI FI
eruns of Xena: Warrior Princess will begin running on the SCI FI Channel the first Tuesday of February 2000.
The series will premiere as part of the SCI FI Channel's "Four Play" programming strategy, featuring four hours of back-to-back episodes on weekday evenings.
SCI FI has scheduled "Four Play" programming Monday through Wednesday. Xena: Warrior Princess will play each Tuesday starting at 7 p.m. It joins a lineup that already includes The Outer Limits on Mondays and Tales from the Crypt on Wednesdays. Reruns of The Sentinel currently air in the "Four Play" slot on Tuesdays.
Uhura To Appear On GvsE
ichelle Nichols, best known for playing Lt. Uhura on the original Star
Trek, will appear in an upcoming episode of GvsE as Iris McNeil,
the mother of lead character Henry McNeil.
No air dates for the show's new season have been set, although nine new episodes are currently in production.
Previous reports have suggested that GvsE may migrate from its
current home on USA Network to sister cable station SCI FI Channel, but no
announcement has been made.
Doyle's Campaign Gets A Boost
erry Doyle, the actor best known for playing Security Chief Michael Garibaldi on Babylon 5, is now the only Republican candidate officially qualified to run for the U.S. Congressional seat now held by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks, Calif.).
Rival Republican Irv Rubin, the founder of the controversial Jewish Defense League, was disqualified when he failed to muster enough valid signatures on his nominating petitions, Grace Chavez, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's office, told SCI FI Wire.
Doyle told SCI FI Wire that he is serious about his campaign in the suburban Los Angeles district. The 43-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., native said he is running as a centrist to help reclaim the Republican Party from the radical right. "They put the face of right-wing extremism on the party, with guys like [former presidential candidate] Pat Buchanan," said Doyle, who has also worked as an aircraft salesman and a Wall Street broker.
Doyle added that he felt compelled to enter the race in order to mount a credible challenge to the Democratic incumbent. "My job is to get in there and get the Republicans to wake up, to get involved, to change the image of Republicans [in my district] and hopefully to take the seat."
Doyle said his decision to run for Congress came at the last minute, when the Republican Party's best hope for a candidate, former Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, bowed out. So far, Doyle said he has no formal platform, no campaign organization, no outside funding and no formal support from the state's Republican Party apparatus. He said he's willing to commit his own funds to the campaign.
Doyle recently returned to Los Angeles from Canada, where he acted in the independent movie Devious Beings. He said he's also open to future Babylon 5 projects, should they materialize. "We've heard rumblings about Warner Bros. wanting to bring the series back, or do a feature film," Doyle said. "But in this business, I'll take it when it comes, but don't plan on it if it doesn't."
Asked why anyone should take his campaign seriously, the neophyte politician answered, "I'm the only candidate with his own action figure."
Fantasy Films Take Critics' Awards
eing John Malkovich, The Green Mile and The Sixth Sense were among the 10 movies nominated for best picture by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.
The association's Critics Choice Award for best picture will be announced Jan. 24, 1999, according to Variety.
The association has already given out other awards for 1999 films, and fantasy films won several. Michael Clarke Duncan was named best supporting actor for his performance in The Green Mile. Frank Darabont won the award for best screenplay adaptation for the same film.
Spike Jonze won an award for directing Malkovich, and Haley Joel Osment was named best child performer for his role in Sixth Sense. Toy Story 2 won the award for best animated feature.
Episode I Video Coming?
tar Wars: Episode I may be released on videocassette as early as April 4, 2000, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Lucasfilm hasn't made an official announcement on a video release date for the prequel.
The trade paper speculated that the video might also come out on DVD, though no other Star Wars films have been authorized for DVD releases yet.
Impostor Begins Filming
he SF thriller Impostor began principal photography this week in Arizona under the direction of Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls), according to the Dark Horizons Web site.
The movie, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, concerns a scientist who builds the ultimate weapon against aliens only to be accused of being an alien spy himself.
The film stars Gary Sinise, Tony Shalhoub, Madeleine Stowe and Vincent D'Onofrio.
Battlefield Earth Release Date Set
attlefield Earth, based on the SF novel of the same name by L. Ron Hubbard, has been set for a May 2000 release.
The Warner Bros. movie, starring and co-produced by John Travolta, has also opened an official Web site with production videos, interviews and clips.
Battlefield Earth tells the story of a human rebellion against alien domination in the year 3000. In addition to writing SF novels, Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology, of which Travolta is a member.
Allen Looks Beyond Galaxy
im Allen, who stars in DreamWorks' upcoming Galaxy Quest, is already looking forward to doing more SF movies, including one of his own.
Doing promotion for the SF comedy Galaxy Quest, SF fan Allen told SCI FI Wire: "I've got two sci-fi movies I'm investigating. They're not really sure they want me to do them. I'm sure that I'd like to do them."
Allen didn't go into detail, but he added that he's also been developing an SF project of his own, entitled Graviton. He described it as "the next level of terror." "I think [it] is really terrifying," he said. "I really want to go the next generation. We've done space, and things bursting out of people's stomachs. We've done that. If you're a sci-fi guy, you know you can't do it better than Alien." Allen said Graviton is
"in a drawer of my house. It has a lot to do with all of my interests. And I'm not going to tell you any more about it."
Allen, who provides the voice for the animated character Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 2, is a well-known fan of science fiction. He has a collection of SF movie props that includes Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet and the robot Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still.
O'Connell Talks About Mars
erry O'Connell said his upcoming SF movie Mission to Mars is a step up from his previous SF work on TV's Sliders.
"In [Mission to Mars] they built a space station," O'Connell told Cinescape magazine. "We had a real ship. I have this NASA-sanctioned suit that must have cost about a zillion dollars. I don't even want to compare Mission to Mars--which is something like a [multi-million-dollar] film--to my TV show. The special-effects work on Sliders was like, 'O.K. guys--let's bring in the dry ice and mirrors!'"
O'Connell plays one of three astronauts sent on a rescue mission to Mars. The Disney production is directed by Brian DePalma (Mission: Impossible) and stars Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins and Don Cheadle.
"[DePalma's] such a great director, [and the movie has] such a great cast," O'Connell said. "[Here's] the plot breakdown: Don's character goes to Mars in 2020. He's there with a few others and something happens. Something B-A-D. There's a rescue mission that Gary Sinise heads up, with Tim and I as the crew. We're in space for six months and it's a little bit like 2001: A Space Odyssey. We drive each other crazy. But then we get to Mars and things really start rocking."
O'Connell also said it was exciting working with such a seasoned cast and director. "Gary is very intense. Tim is like, 'What's up?' I get in the middle of both of them and tell jokes. I was very nervous about Brian and he [turned] out to be this cool cat."
Mission to Mars opens March 10, 2000.
West May Direct Lara Croft
imon West (The General's Daughter) is near a deal to direct the feature film version of Eidos Interactive's best-selling video game Tomb Raider and its sequels.
Paramount will distribute the movie that features buxom adventurer Lara Croft, according to Variety.
Writers Michael Werb and Michael Colleary (Face/Off) are working on a rewrite of the screenplay for the film. No star or start date have been announced. The latest incarnations of the video game, Tomb Raider 3 and Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, were recently released.
West is also developing a feature film version of the cult 1960s television series The Prisoner for Universal.
Silver Talks About New Matrix Films
ovie producer Joel Silver said The Matrix creators Larry and Andy
Wachowski are at work on the two highly anticipated sequels to their
blockbuster film.
But he told the Empire Online Web site that the brothers also have a script for a Matrix prequel that may be developed using Japanese-style animation.
"They have a story that essentially gets us from our world today to the world of The Matrix," said Silver, who is well known to SF fans for his producing work on genre films like The Matrix and Predator. "We're talking about dealing with that story in animation, because it would be really impractical to shoot a war between man and machine in live action. The boys are very big fans of Japanese anime--Ghost in the Shell and Akira--and we may involve that style in some kind of animation."
Silver also said that the Web would play an important role in future Matrix projects. "We're very excited also about our Web activity," he said. "The Matrix Web site was full of content, and we're discussing involving animation and the Web site. ... The Web site that existed for the movie will be preserved forever."
Buckaroo Pilot Goes To Fox
ox executives are considering a pilot script for a proposed television series based on the 1984 cult SF film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension.
The project is being shepherded by W.D. Richter, who directed the original movie, and Earl Mac Rauch, who wrote the screenplay.
Revisions to Rauch's TV pilot script, Buckaroo Banzai: Ancient Secrets & New Mysteries, were delivered to Fox just last week, Richter said in a tongue-in-cheek memo posted to the Banzai Institute official Web site.
"Dr. Banzai wanted to tell me how much he had enjoyed reading Earl Mac Rauch's revision of the ... pilot script for the proposed Fox Television series," Richter wrote. He added: "Dr. Banzai asked me when we might expect a decision from the network on whether to 'go to pilot' with the project. ... The nature of the television industry, I explained, was that it was inherently unpredictable. Projects can languish in 'development hell' for what seems like forever, only to be 'fast-tracked' at the drop of a hat when you least expect it. ... In the meantime, I reminded him, Rauch continues his work on the Lizardo Quartet of novels," Richter wrote.
A spokeswoman at Fox told SCI FI Wire that the network has no news about the proposed series.
Golden Globe Nominees Announced
everal fantasy films received nominations for Golden Globe awards on Monday, Dec. 20.
Being John Malkovich and Toy Story 2 were both nominated as best motion picture musical or comedy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Catherine Keener and Cameron Diaz were both nominated in the best supporting actress category for their performances in Malkovich. Haley Joel Osment was nominated as best supporting actor for The Sixth Sense, as was Michael Clarke Duncan for The Green Mile. Both Malkovich and Sense were nominated for best screenplay.
The Golden Globe awards will be given out Jan. 23, 2000, by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Timeline Film May Have A Writer
creenwriter Jeff Maguire (In the Line of Fire) is near a deal to adapt Michael Crichton's latest SF bestseller, Timeline, for the movies.
Paramount Pictures will produce the movie about three archaeology students who travel back in time to 14th-century France to rescue their professor, Variety reported.
Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon) will direct the movie.
Fans To Black Out Fox
ans of television shows owned by Twentieth Century Fox are organizing a one-day "blackout" to protest what they see as the heavy hand of Fox lawyers seeking to shut down fan Web sites.
In a "Strike Back Against Fox" protest, fans are tentatively planning to shut down their Web sites on May 13, 2000, "to peacefully show Fox what the Internet would be like without fan sites," according to protest organizers.
Taking part in the protest so far are 73 sites by fans of such Fox-owned shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel--both of which are produced by Fox but air on The WB--and The X-Files.
In recent months, Fox lawyers have sent letters to Web site owners threatening litigation unless the owners remove copyrighted images, text and other show-related content.
New Mad Max Movie Coming?
irector George Miller is ready to helm a fourth Mad Max movie.
The director (Babe) told the Australian newspaper The Age that the fourth film will be a stand-alone movie.
"I don't think we can make Mad Max 4 without making a progression, but I still definitely see it, after all this time, as a stand-alone film," he said. "One of the reasons for doing the film is that there is a new dispensation in filmmaking, and that is CGI [computer graphic imagery]. Working on the Babe films and seeing what you can do now in the digital realm makes the Mad Max films a whole new ball game."
The last film in the series, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, came out in 1985. Set in a post-apocalyptic Australian outback, the films helped turn lead actor Mel Gibson into an international star. Miller didn't say if Gibson would be involved in the next sequel.
Mouse Roars At Theaters
ouse tale Stuart Little opened in the No. 1 box-office slot on the weekend of Dec. 17, earning $15.4 million and besting two other premieres.
Stuart Little also knocked Toy Story 2 into third place, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
The Green Mile took second place, with a weekend take of $12.6 million and total grosses of $36.5 million so far. Toy Story 2 took in $12.1 million for a cumulative total of $156.3 million.
Robin Williams' SF epic Bicentennial Man debuted in fifth place with a disappointing $8.3-million take. The other premiere, Jodie Foster's Anna and the King, bowed in sixth place with $5.1 million.
James Bond's Q Dies In Car Crash
eteran actor Desmond Llewelyn, who played James Bond's gadget man Q in the venerable film series, died Sunday, Dec. 19, of injuries sustained in an auto accident. He was 85.
Llewelyn's car collided head-on with another vehicle as the actor was driving home from a book signing in East Sussex in Great Britain, according to the Reuters news service.
Llewelyn appeared in 17 of the 19 James Bond films, including the most recent one, The World is Not Enough.
Briefly Noted
- Tick creator Ben Edlund may be running into money problems as he develops a live-action version of his comic and animated series. Edlund and his co-writers are reportedly "freaking out" at the high cost of recreating special effects from the comic book and animation, Cinescape reported.
- The official Web site has opened for Fox's upcoming X-Men movie, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.
- Two of the humorous "outtakes" recently attached to the end credits of Toy Story 2 are now available at the movie's official Web site.
- Monsters, Inc., the story of a boy who ventures into a parallel world through his closet, will be the next computer-animated feature from Pixar, the studio that produced Toy Story 2. Monsters, Inc. will be directed by Pete Doctor, David Silverman and Andrew Stanton, co-director of Pixar's A Bug's Life.
- Relic Hunter jumped to the No. 1 slot among first-run action and drama television series for the week ending Dec. 12, according to Nielsen Media Research. The adventure series dethroned Beastmaster, which has held the top slot since its debut eight weeks ago.
- Marvel has hired a Web firm to add animation to its Marvel Zone site, according to syndicated comics columnist Andrew Smith. DC already sponsors a moving Superman feature on Warner Bros.' Entertaindom site.
- The teaser poster for Fox's upcoming X-Men movie has been posted to the Coming Attractions Web site. The film, starring Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Anna Paquin, is shooting in Canada with a July 14, 2000, release date.
- Brian Pulido, president and publisher of Chaos! Comics, said he is forming a new comic company, Infinity. The separate imprint will offer "distinctly non super-heroic, heroic adventures in genres that span action, adventure, fantasy, sci-fi and the supernatural," Pulido told the Comics Continuum Web site.
- NBC will pay about $32 million for the exclusive first broadcast rights to six Universal feature films, including End of Days with Arnold Schwarzenegger. NBC will get at least two runs of the films over a four-year license term, Variety reported.
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Michael Dorn will narrate The Shape of Things to Come, a special about 21st-century design and technology that will air on Home & Garden Television (HGTV). The special premieres Jan. 2, 2000, and will repeat Jan. 5 and 8.
- Sean Connery, best known for playing James Bond, will be knighted, according to the traditional New Year's honors list drawn up by the British government. A British newspaper reported that Connery will receive his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth.
- TV Guide picked Farscape as the best SF show of the year. The magazine called the SCI FI Channel show "a winning, unpretentious flight of fancy."
