Episode I Is Now No. 2
tar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace has officially passed Jurassic Park to become the No. 2 movie of all time at the worldwide box office.
Episode I has now reached global theater ticket sales of $922 million, surpassing Jurassic Park's take of $920 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Phantom Menace still lags well behind James Cameron's epic 1997 movie Titanic, which earned $1.8 billion in theaters. However, it has a sizable lead over No. 3 holder Independence Day, which picked up $811.4 million, and the original Star Wars, which sits at No. 4 with $775.8 million.
Episode I proved to be a particularly big hit with international moviegoers, who paid $491.4. million to see the film, compared to the $431.1 million spent by North Americans. That's not unusual considering that among the top 10 grossing films of all time, only the original Star Wars and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial have earned more domestically than they have abroad.
In addition to its newly achieved No. 2 status, The Phantom Menace holds numerous box-office speed records. It earned the largest opening-day gross of any film ($28.5 million), and it was the fastest movie to hit not only the $100 million mark, but also every subsequent $50 million milestone up to and including $350 million.
Lucasfilm Denies Episode II Rumors
ucasfilm has posted a letter on the Starwars.com Web site denying recent casting rumors surrounding Star Wars: Episode II.
Responding to a report in Variety that Episode II will feature an ethnically diverse cast, Lucasfilm director of communications Lynn Hale said that character descriptions for the movie haven't even been written yet.
"The Variety article was completely false in reporting that we have roles for 'a Native American character with a forceful, spiritual nature and an Asian character, possibly trained in the martial arts,'" she said. "In addition to the fact that we won't have character descriptions until the script is finished, the descriptions reported would never be appropriate for a Star Wars film."
Hale also said that Lucasfilm isn't close to deciding who will play the part of grown-up Anakin Skywalker, even though "there have been many reports of actors saying that they have met with George Lucas and have done readings for him, or are the number one choice for Anakin." Hale said that so far the casting director has seen 700 tapes and met with 300 candidates hoping to win the coveted role, but that Lucasfilm was still "exploring many possibilities."
New Contenders For Anakin Role
tar Wars: Episode II is still a gleam in George Lucas' word processor, but rumors as to who will play grown-up Anakin Skywalker are again burning up the Internet.
The Ain't It Cool News Web site has placed its bets on Indiana stockbroker Jeff Garner, a martial arts devotee who apparently ran into Ray Park (Darth Maul) once.
The IGN Sci-Fi Web site, meanwhile, reported that TV actor Eric Christian Olsen (Get Real) said he will be traveling to Lucas' Skywalker Ranch soon to audition. TheForce.net reported that feature film actor Paul Walker (Varsity Blues) has already made the trip to the ranch and read for Anakin's role.
And the Coming Attractions Web site adds new grist to the rumor mill: Ryan Phillippe (Cruel Intentions), who is supposedly the favorite among programmers at Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic FX shop.
The new contenders join a posse of young actors already touted as potential Anakins, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonathan Brandis and Joshua Jackson.
Spotnitz Says X-Files Fate Unclear
s this the last season of The X-Files? Executive producer Frank Spotnitz says it's still up in the air whether there will be an eighth year of the hit Fox television series.
"I wish I knew!" Spotnitz said in a chat on Talkcity.com Monday, Feb. 7. "No one is asking me. It's entirely a question of negotiating new contracts with [series creator] Chris Carter and [star] David Duchovny."
If this is the last season, though, Spotnitz said to expect many questions to be answered, starting with the fate of Mulder's sister, Samantha. "This Sunday [Feb. 13] is the conclusion of the two-part episode in which we really, truly, honest-to-God find out what happened to Samantha," he promised.
As for a series finale, he said, "One thing I have noticed is that everybody who follows the show closely has a completely different set of burning questions that we must answer before it's too late. I know we're going to piss off someone! We're probably going to piss off a lot of people. But I think when the end comes, we will have answered all of the most important questions and probably raised some new ones."
And will there be another X-Files movie? That's also unclear. "If there is another movie, it will in some way be connected to the end of the television series," Spotnitz said. "But I think both Chris and I would love to do a stand-alone movie not connected to the show's mythology."
Farscape Special To Air On USA
special two-hour installment of The SCI FI Channel series Farscape will air on SCI FI's sister cable network USA on March 14 at 9 p.m. ET.
The special will combine two episodes, "Nerve" and "The Hidden Memory."
In "Nerve," Aeryn Sun is dying after being stabbed by Larraq/Virus. With Chiana in tow, Earth astronaut John Crichton dons a Peacekeeper uniform, and the pair head to the secret base, hoping to obtain a graft to save Aeryn's life. But Crichton's exit is thwarted by Scorpius, the half-alien and half-Sebacean leader. Crichton is condemned to suffer in the Aurora Chair--a high-tech device that visually reveals Crichton's thoughts. The evil Peacekeeper Crais arrives and fights a tug-of-war with Scorpius to take Crichton for his own purposes.
In "The Hidden Memory," Aeryn is recovering from her near-death experience when she decides to save Crichton. D'Argo and Zhaan join her, while Rygel and Chiana stay behind to deal with the living starship Moya's condition. Crichton fakes a memory to incriminate Crais as his co-conspirator. Scorpius takes pleasure in torturing Crais. Aeryn arrives in time to save Crichton, but they become trapped during their escape. With the Peacekeepers in pursuit, Peacekeeper Tech Gilina risks everything to save her friends.
Campbell Voices Tachyon
ctor Bruce Campbell (the Evil Dead movies) provides the voice for Jake Logan, the hero of NovaLogic's space video game Tachyon: The Fringe, due out this spring.
"I'm being Mr. Voice Actor of the lead fighter pilot in this wacky space world that they've created," Campbell told the IGN For Men Web site.
For Campbell, who also stars in the syndicated half-hour TV action comedy Jack of All Trades, acting in a game is a nice change of pace. "As an actor it gets old being covered in slime and goo and being cold and freezing and working nights. It's nice to be in a studio and just make believe, just pretend. You don't have to actually do it. It's a good experience."
Tachyon: The Fringe will put gamers in the middle of a violent confilict on the fringe of the galaxy in the character of Logan, a mercenary space fighter.
Keyes Named SFWA Author Emeritus
evered SF author Daniel Keyes will become the 2000 Author Emeritus of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Keyes will speak at the SFWA's Nebula Awards in New York on May 20, the organization announced.
Keyes is best known for his short story Flowers for Algernon, about a retarded man whose IQ is temporarily raised to genius levels. It was adapted into a feature film, Charly, in 1968 and will be seen as a television movie, Flowers for Algernon, starring Matthew Modine, on CBS on Feb. 20.
The SFWA created the Author Emeritus program in 1995 as a way of honoring science fiction and fantasy writers of highly distinctive achievement and influence who were no longer active. Previous recipients are Emil Petaja, Wilson "Bob" Tucker, Judith Merril, Nelson Bond and William Tenn (Phil Klass).
Excelsior Campaign Moved Back
rganizers of The Excelsior Campaign, an effort aimed at persuading Paramount to accept a fan-based idea for the next Star Trek TV series, have pushed back the date for a "worldwide" public demonstration to April 22 from March 18.
That will give the campaign time to generate support at Star Trek conventions in the next couple of months.
In advance of the public demonstration in front of Paramount Studios in Los Angeles and elsewhere, the campaign is handing out flyers and recruiting supporters at Trek conventions. That includes ones in Northern California, Arizona and Oregon this month.
Campaign organizers also plan a major push at The Grand Slam convention, the biggest Trek con in the country, in Pasadena, Calif., March 31 through April 2. The campaign wants the next Star Trek series to feature the crew of the starship U.S.S. Excelsior, under the command of Capt. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), as seen in the feature film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Cleo And Jack Score Big
he Back 2 Back Action hour, a programming block that features Cleopatra 2525 and Jack of All Trades, was the top-rated new weekly hour in syndication for the week ending Jan. 30.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Back 2 Back Action earned a 3.2 rating in the Nielsens, which equaled the performance of V.I.P. and Baywatch Hawaii.
Back 2 Back Action replaced the syndicated series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, which wrapped up its final season in 1999. Cleopatra and Jack are produced by Studios USA, a sister company of the SCI FI Channel.
Barbarella Director Dies
rench film director Roger Vadim, who is best known to SF fans for the classic 1968 movie Barbarella, died from cancer on Friday, Feb. 11, at the age of 72.
Vadim, born Roger Vladimir Plemiannikov, was previously married to Barbarella star Jane Fonda and was well known for casting beautiful women in his films, including actresses Catherine Deneuve, Angie Dickinson and Susan Sarandon.
Vadim's most important work was the landmark 1956 film And God Created Women, which launched the career of Brigitte Bardot. The movie was notable not only for Bardot's debut but because it portrayed a woman who was not afraid to explore sexual freedom.
In addition to Fonda, Vadim was married to Bardot, Annette Stroyberg and Catherine Schneider. He is survived by his most recent wife, Marie-Christine Barrault, and four children.
God, The Devil And Bob Comes To NBC
od, the Devil and Bob, an animated NBC comedy set to premiere in mid-season, will have a preview on Thursday, March 9, at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The series features the voices of James Garner as God, Alan Cumming as the Devil and French Stewart (3rd Rock From the Sun) as Bob.
God, the Devil and Bob tells the story of a 32-year-old Detroit auto worker, Bob Alman, who has been hand-picked by the Devil to prove to God that mankind is not worth saving. Bob must balance the demands of daily life with the epic struggle between good and evil.
Matthew Carlson and Harvey Myman (Men Behaving Badly) are executive producers with Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner and Caryn Mandabach (3rd
Rock From the Sun and That '70s Show).
Klein To Star In Rollerball
hris Klein (American Pie) is in final talks to star in a feature film remake of the 1975 SF classic Rollerball for MGM.
Klein would take on the lead role of Jonathan E., originally played by James Caan, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The remake, to be directed by John McTiernan, would begin shooting this summer for a 2001 release. John Pogue (The Skulls) will write the screenplay. The original movie was directed by Norman Jewison (The Hurricane) and told the story of an ultraviolent spectator sport used to pacify a futuristic society.
Vonnegut Condition Upgraded
urt Vonnegut has been taken off a respirator nine days after being hospitalized for smoke inhalation following a fire in his New York City apartment.
The SF author's condition was upgraded to stable from critical but stable, according to CNN.
The 77-year-old writer remains in the Weill Cornell Medical Center. Vonnegut's injury was described as being like a burn to the lung. It's unclear how long the writer will have to remain hospitalized.
Vonnegut, who also suffers from emphysema, was injured when a fire broke out in his apartment on Jan. 30. Vonnegut is best known for his SF novels, including Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle.
Sonnenfeld To Direct The Tick
arry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black) will direct the half-hour pilot of Fox's upcoming live-action series The Tick, based on Ben Edlund's satirical animated series and comic book of the same name.
Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld) will assume the lead role in the show, about a big, blue superhero, according to Variety.
Shooting of the pilot is set to begin in April. Sonnenfeld and Barry Josephson will executive produce the series with Edlund. Men in Black's Bo Welsh will be the production designer.
Lambda Nominees Announced
he Lambda Literary Foundation, a non-profit group supporting gay and lesbian literature, named five nominees for the best lesbian and gay science fiction and fantasy books of 1999.
The winner will receive a "Lammy," honoring excellence and vision.
The nominees are Minions of the Moon by Richard Bowes (Tor Books); Night Shade by Victoria Brownworth and Judith Redding (Seal Press); The Annunciate by Severna Park (Avon-Eos); The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse by Keith Hartman (Meisha Merlin); and Through a Brazen Mirror by Delia Sherman, Cortney Skinner and Ellen Kushner (Circlet). The awards will be presented June 1 in Chicago.
Will Spielberg's Surgery Affect Movies?
teven Spielberg's unexpected kidney surgery this week puts into question the status of his many potential movie projects, including Minority Report and the film version of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.
Tom Cruise, who was reportedly set to star in the SF thriller Minority Report, will meet soon with Peter and Bobby Farrelly about appearing in their comedy Shallow Hal, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
That throws into doubt whether Cruise and Spielberg will team up for Minority Report as their next project, as had been previously reported. Minority Report is based on a Philip K. Dick short story of the same name.
Spielberg, meanwhile, was to meet soon with Rowling, author of the popular children's book series, to discuss adapting the books into a feature film, the trade paper reported. Spielberg is expected to announce in a few weeks which film he would direct next.
Spielberg underwent surgery to have a kidney removed after his doctor found an "irregularity" on the organ, Spielberg's spokesman said on Monday, Feb. 7. The director was at home recuperating, and was expected to return to work as early as Monday, Feb. 14, according to Variety.
LucasBooks Plans Fantasy Series
he Seventh Tower, a new children's fantasy book series, will debut in June from the newly created LucasBooks division of Lucasfilm, in cooperation with Scholastic, publishers of Harry Potter books.
The first title in the Seventh Tower series, The Fall, will be written by children's author Garth Nix and will be aimed at children ages 8 to 12, the companies announced. A second book will follow in September, and additional titles will come out every three months.
"I'm pleased that LucasBooks, in collaboration with Scholastic, is expanding into an exciting new realm of fantasy with The Seventh Tower," said George Lucas, owner of Lucasfilm, in a statement. "I've always believed that reading encourages children of all ages to use their imagination, and I hope that the adventure that unfolds in The Seventh Tower series will take readers on a new journey of the mind."
The Seventh Tower will tell the story of a mountaintop fortress where light is the
ultimate commodity and isolation from the outside world is complete. The main character is Tal, who fails while trying to steal a precious sunstone and falls from the castle into the unknown.
Batman Beyond Ceases Production
roduction on the Batman Beyond animated television series has ended, one of the show's animators told the Comics Continuum Web site.
"Batman Beyond is indeed ending, a decision [that] has most of the crew baffled," said Shane Glines, a character designer at Warner Bros. Animation.
Batman Beyond will end after 52 episodes. A straight-to-video movie, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, is scheduled for a Nov. 7 release.
Sixth Day Films By The Books
he Vancouver filming of The Sixth Day, Arnold Schwarzenegger's new thriller movie about cloning, is benefiting an unlikely group: the city's library system.
The movie, which has been shooting since December, has paid so much to use the system's massive central branch that the money will cover an annual budget shortfall, according to the Canadian newspaper the National Post.
An annual shortfall of about $150,000 usually forces a one-week closure in August for the system's 21 branch libraries. The central library, which includes a seven-story atrium promenade, is being used as the backdrop for several of the film's futuristic scenes; part of one floor has been turned into a "cloning room."
Studio Plans Stuart Little 2
olumbia is planning a sequel to last year's hit fantasy film Stuart Little.
Stuart Little 2 could begin filming as early as this summer, with an eye to a Christmas 2001 release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Like the original, the sequel will be based on the Stuart Little series of children's books by E.B. White. But the first movie's writers, Gregory Brooker and M. Night Shyamalan, won't take part in the sequel.
The original film's actors--Geena Davis, Jonathan Lipnicki, Hugh Laurie and the voices of Michael J. Fox and Nathan Lane--have not yet committed to the sequel, but some have expressed interest in returning, the trade paper reported. Talks are also underway with the original film's director, Rob Minkoff. The 1999 release of Stuart Little has earned $128.6 million so far in North America.
Hammer Studio Will Be Reborn
ammer Film Productions, the legendary British studio that produced classic horror films such as Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein, will be reborn under the aegis of an investment group.
The investment consortium paid about $1.6 million for the inactive studio and plans to resurrect it with a slate of new film and television productions, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
Hammer will partner with other producers on a project-by-project basis. Hammer also has a library of 179 movies, 29 shorts and documentaries, and six TV series, as well as a catalog of scripts and books that has not yet been developed.
Hammer was founded in 1935, but ceased active production in 1983. Its classic films include The Mummy, The Curse of the Werewolf, The Plague of the Zombies and The Devil Rides Out.
SF&F Films Get Makeup, Hair Nods
ustin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Bicentennial Man were among the SF&F movies receiving nominations for Hollywood Makeup Artist & Hair Stylist Guild Awards for 1999.
The two films each received multiple nominations for special-effects makeup and hairstyling. Sleepy Hollow received one nomination.
Among television series, Star Trek: Voyager and The X-Files received multiple nominations. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed each received one nomination.
The nominations were made by the members of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage
Employees Local 706. Winners will be announced March 19 at a ceremony in the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Witchblade Starts Production
roduction has begun on Witchblade, a two-hour TNT telefilm based on the Top Cow comic series of the same name.
Ralph Hemecker (Millennium, The X-Files) will direct from a script by J.D. Zeik (Ronin), TNT announced.
Yancy Butler (Drop Zone) stars as New York detective Sara Pezzini, whose search for justice brings her into contact with an ancient, intelligent, living weapon so powerful it can battle Earth's darkest evil forces.
The movie also stars David Chokachi, Eric Etebari, Anthony Cistaro and Will Yun Lee. Witchblade premieres on TNT in October.
Nutter Leaving Roswell?
irector David Nutter, executive producer of The WB's hit show Roswell, has taken a leave from the teen alien series to helm the two-hour pilot of James Cameron's upcoming Fox series Dark Angel, a spokeswoman for The WB told SCI FI Wire.
"He's on a leave of absence to direct the pilot of Dark Angel," said Suzanne Gomez, a spokeswoman for The WB.
Rumors have circulated that Nutter will leave Roswell entirely for the new show, but Gomez could not confirm those reports. "He's out for the rest of the season," she said. "About next season, we just don't know whether he'll be with Dark Angel or Roswell." Nutter has directed several of episodes of Roswell, including the pilot. He also executive produces the show with Jason Katims, Jonathan Frakes, Kevin Kelly Brown and Lisa J. Olin.
A veteran of The X-Files and Millennium, Nutter also directed the SF feature film Disturbing Behavior, which featured Roswell co-star William Sadler.
Dark Angel, from director James Cameron (Titanic) and writer Charles Eglee (Murder One), centers on a group of young people in a post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest.
Final Destination Landing As Planned
he recent crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 won't cause New Line Cinema to delay the release of its supernatural thriller movie Final Destination, in which a plane crash figures prominently, a studio source told SCI FI Wire.
The film, starring Devon Sawa and directed by James Wong, will open as scheduled March 17, contrary to rumors that the movie was being bumped to late summer. "It's totally not true," the source said. "It's not going to be moving because of the tragedy."
The source also denied that the movie is also running into unusual problems with the Motion Picture Association of America, which hands out ratings. The MPAA is supposedly concerned about the graphic nature of some of the film's scenes, including one in which a character dies when knives fall from a kitchen pot rack. But, the source said, "Any film that has any kind of violence in it has problems with the MPAA, but there's no big concern right now."
The source added that final reshoots for the movie are complete. Early versions of the film's ending--in which the hero dies--tested poorly, and the ending was redone.
Grier To Star In Bones
eventies icon Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) will star opposite rapper Snoop Dogg in Bones, a ghost movie from New Line Cinema.
Ernest Dickerson (Juice) will direct the movie on location in Vancouver, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Bones tells the story of a dead man (Dogg) who comes back as a spirit to seek revenge against those who ravaged his neighborhood. Grier will play a clairvoyant who was Dogg's girlfriend. The screenplay is by Tim Metcalfe and Adam Simon.
DreamWorks Buys SF Movie 20/20
reamWorks paid six figures to writer Mike Finch for his pitch, 20/20, an SF action movie.
Neal H. Moritz (I Know What You Did Last Summer) will produce, according to Variety.
Finch has several movies in development, including Absolute Zero, with Sean Connery attached, and Aeon Flux, a live-action film based on the MTV animated series.
Karloff Heir Sues Universal
he daughter of Boris Karloff has sued Universal Studios for $10 million, claiming that Universal cheated her out of royalties from the merchandising of her father's image.
Sara Karloff argues that Universal failed to pay monies owed her from the merchandising of characters played by her father in classic Universal horror films such as Frankenstein and The Mummy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Among other things, the suit argues that Universal designed and licensed generic Frankenstein and Mummy characters that "look confusingly similar to, but not precisely the same as, the Karloff characters" to avoid paying Sara Karloff royalties. Universal declined comment on the pending litigation. Boris Karloff died in 1969.
Briefly Noted
- Actor Jim Varney, who provided the voice for Slinky Dog in Toy Story and Toy Story 2, died of cancer on Thursday, Feb. 10, at the age of 50. Varney was best known for portraying the bumbling character Ernest in nine Ernest movies.
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Salter Street Films International announced it sold the first three seasons of the SF series Lexx to Japan's Sci-Fi Channel. The show currently airs on stations in more than 100 countries, including the SCI FI Channel in the United States and Space in Canada.
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NBC has renewed the SF sitcom 3rd Rock From the Sun for the 2000-01 TV season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello will have a cameo appearance in an upcoming episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Executive producer Rick Berman's son is apparently a fan of the band. Morello will speak a few lines as a Starfleet officer.
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Trekkers interested in taking part in The Excelsior Campaign, which aims at persuading Paramount to produce their idea for a new Star Trek TV series, can get more information about the worldwide effort at the campaign Web site.
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Teen pop sensations The Backstreet Boys will become comic superheroes under an agreement with the Internet animation company of Marvel Comics guru Stan Lee. The Backstreet Project will debut as a comic book to be sold at
Backstreet Boys concerts starting Feb. 19; a Web-based animated series will launch in the summer.
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J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, will design a line of action figures for Top Cow Comics, Dynamic Forces and Palisades Marketing. Straczynski's Rising Stars action figures, based on his Top Cow comic book of the same name, debut in the summer.
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Artisan Entertainment sued the United Artists Theatre Circuit, claiming breach of contract and arguing that the theater chain failed to pay full licensing fees for showing The Blair Witch Project. Artisan seeks at least $3.1 million in damages.
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Game maker Wizards of the Coast has acquired the rights to create trading card games and card game accessories based on characters from Marvel Comics, including the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man and Captain America. The first release will be an X-Men trading card game in the summer to coincide with the release of Fox's movie based on the Marvel series.
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Stuart Little remained a contender in box-office rankings, coming in at No. 3 over the Feb. 4 weekend with $4.8 million in revenues. That brings the total take for the mouse movie to $128.7 million, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
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Nominees for the 1999 Kurd Lasswitz Prize, given annually to the best SF books and stories written in or translated into German, have been announced. Winners are selected by writers, publishers and other SF literary professionals in German-speaking countries. The full list of nominees (in German) are posted on the phantastik.de Web site.
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NBC's new supernatural series The Others gave the network its best Saturday, Feb. 5, demographic ratings in more than two years. The Others, a DreamWorks co-production about a team of psychics, won an average of 11.1 million viewers, a 5.1 rating and a 14 share in the key 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers.
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Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me star Mike Myers won one of the top honors Sunday, Feb. 6, at the 14th annual American Comedy Awards. The ceremony will air March 23 on Fox.
