Doyle Takes Campaign To Trekkers
abylon 5 star Jerry Doyle, who is running as a Republican candidate for a California congressional seat, took his campaign to his surest constituency over the weekend: fans at the Grand Slam Star Trek convention in Pasadena, Calif.
Doyle entreated fans to help get the word out about his campaign in California's 24th district, where he is running as an underdog to unseat incumbent Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman in November.
"I need you to get me elected because my first act in Congress will be to put Babylon 5 back on in prime time," Doyle said to the wildly cheering audience. He added that he will rely on word of mouth among SF fans--something a professional political fund-raiser advised him against. "She said to me, 'If you think you're going to get elected to Congress on the backs of a bunch of sci-fi geeks, don't give up your day job.'" Doyle said. "So I say, 'Geeks! Rise up! Prove her wrong!'"
In a prelude to his campaign speech, Doyle alluded to issues that matter to him, including education and taxes, but didn't go into detail on his proposed policies. He said his campaign is creating a Web site at www.jerrydoyle.com. And he said he needed to raise between $750,000 to $1 million to mount a credible campaign. "The goal is to get to Washington so maybe we can clean up a few things back there," he said.
Kelley Snub Outrages Trekkers
rekkers have voiced their outrage at the omission of DeForest Kelley in the memorial tribute to actors on this month's broadcast of the Academy Awards, Hollywood.com reported.
Kelley, who played Dr. Leonard McCoy on the original Star Trek television series and six of the Trek films, died June 11.
More than 100 fans posted complaints on the alt.startrek newsgroup and other Usenet forums, the Web site reported. "Did anyone else notice that the Academy totally snubbed DeForest Kelley and John Colicos [Count Baltar from the Battlestar Galactica TV series, who died in March] during the memoriam section tonight? What the hell?" one fan said, according to Hollywood.com.
"It was a tragedy that DeForest Kelley wasn't announced in the 'in memoriam' tributes," Mary Jensen, author of a DeForest Kelley Web site, told Hollywood.com. "We should all call the Academy and let them know we are upset."
The omission was puzzling because Kelley acted in 20 films in the course of a career that stretched back to the 1940s. His career included roles in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Raintree County and Apache Uprising.
Trek Sulu Novel Possible
ohn Ordover, editor of Pocket Books' series of Star Trek novels, challenged fans to write him requesting a book based on the character of Capt. Hikaru Sulu and the crew of his starship, the U.S.S. Excelsior.
In response to fan queries on the publisher's Web site bulletin board, Ordover said, "I'll cut a deal with you: You get 1,000 people to write me an individual letter requesting a Capt. Sulu novel--a street mail letter and no petitions or form letters count--and I'll do a Capt. Sulu novel." Letters would need to be addressed to Ordover at Pocket Books, 1230 Sixth Ave., New York, NY 10020.
Fans have been rallying support to press Paramount to base its next Star Trek television series on Sulu and the Excelsior, and are planning to take their campaign to the "Grand Slam" Trek convention in Pasadena, Calif., the weekend of April 1. On April 22, campaign organizers will try to get 10,000 fans to demonstrate in costume in front of Paramount Studios and television stations that broadcast Trek.
Braga Now Says He's Staying
ill he or won't he? Star Trek: Voyager executive producer Brannon Braga, who told Cinescape magazine that he was leaving the series to work on a new Trek show, now says he's staying.
In a statement to SCI FI Wire, Braga said through a spokesperson that he would continue to produce Voyager.
"Brannon Braga will remain in his current position on Star Trek: Voyager until the new series requires a majority of his time," the spokesperson said in the statement. "At that point, [Voyager writer and producer] Ken Biller will take over responsibilities as head of the writing staff for Star Trek: Voyager."
Cinescape had reported that Braga was going to leave Voyager to develop a new Trek series to replace Voyager when it ends its seven-year run.
T3 and T4 In The Works
erman and Japanese investors will finance the production of Terminator 3 and 4, the sequels to James Cameron's megahits Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The films will be produced by Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, the trade paper reported.
Teddy Sarafian is nearing completion of the T3 script; David Wilson has completed an 80-page treatment for T4. No cast or director has been chosen for either film, but Terminator 3 is aiming at a summer or fall 2001 release, the trade paper reported.
The filmmakers are trying to sign Arnold Schwarzenegger to reprise his role as the eponymous killer cyborg, but Schwarzenegger has said he won't do it without James Cameron. Cameron has not signed on. Kassar's and Vajna's C2 Productions, meanwhile, is also planning to produce a TV series and a computer game based on the Terminator franchise.
Osment Gets $2 Million For A.I.
aley Joel Osment will receive $2 million to star in A.I., the SF feature film to be written and directed by Steven Spielberg, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Osment, who received an Oscar nomination for his breakthrough role in 1999's hit The Sixth Sense, will star in A.I. with fellow Oscar nominee Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley).
Osment's A.I. pay will double the fee he received for co-starring with Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey in the upcoming Pay It Forward, the trade paper reported. Warner Bros. and DreamWorks are co-producing A.I.
A.I., based on a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick, is set for a July 10 start and a summer 2001 release.
Soft SF Winners Announced
om Piccirilli won first prize in the Soft Science Fiction Writers Association's "Best of Soft SF Contest" for his story "I Am a Graveyard Hated by the Moon," the association announced.
Magee Gilks' story "Vigil" took second place, and Uncle River's "The Dashing About Flying Box People" won third.
James Van Pelt received an honorable mention for his story "Saturn Ring Blues." The first place award included a prize of $100; second meant $50 and third $25. The association defines "soft SF" as science fiction in which characters, emotional content and artistic effect are emphasized over plot and science.
Disney Orders SF Western Posse
dam Rifkin (Mouse Hunt) will write and direct Posse, an SF action comedy, according to Variety.
Special effects wizard Stan Winston (Small Soldiers) will produce the movie, the trade paper reported.
Posse tells the story of a small-town sheriff who is drafted into an intergalactic dragnet by three alien federal marshals, Variety reported. Walt Disney Co. wants Rifkin to complete a screenplay before it approves the movie.
Grant, Gorey Receive Lifetime Awards
harles Grant was named one of two recipients of the Horror Writer Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.
The other recipient is writer and artist Edward Gorey, the association announced.
The award is given "to an individual whose work has substantially influenced the dark fantasy/horror/occult genre," the HWA said. "It honors not merely the superior achievement embodied in a single work, but acknowledges superior achievement in an entire career."
Grant is the author of several novels based on the Fox television series The X-Files, as well as Goblins, Whirlwind and Winter Knight, which is book three of his Black Oak series. Grant's novels have appeared on the best-seller lists of USA Today, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the London Times. He has also received two Nebulas, three World Fantasy Awards and the British Fantasy Society's special award for lifetime achievement.
Gorey is the author and illustrator of several books of macabre humor. He also provided the familiar animation that opens the PBS series Mystery!. The Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented at HWA's meeting on May 11-14 in Denver.
West Unlikely For Anakin Role
ake Shane West (Once and Again) off the list of potential Anakin Skywalkers in Star Wars: Episode II.
"I'm pretty positive I'm not doing it," West told TV Guide Online.
But there may be a new entrant. "I met with the casting director [Robin Gurland], and just to show you how it was, I was waiting outside to meet with her, and someone was in with her and the door opens and the guy comes out and it's Colin Hanks [Tom Hanks' son and co-star of The WB's Roswell]." Hanks and West had acted together in Whatever It Takes. "It was like, 'Great! Up against each other again!" West said.
Columbus Is Wild About Harry
hris Columbus, the newly named director of the first Harry Potter movie, has already traveled to Scotland to meet with J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling children's book series on which the film is based, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Columbus told the newspaper that he plans to cast a British actor in the lead role of the young wizard-in-training, "without a doubt."
Columbus also told the Times that he was "incredibly excited" about directing Potter. "My oldest daughter, Eleanor, who is 10, got me into the books over a year ago. Between my four kids and all their friends, I've heard a lot about what this movie should be and how I could ruin it if I cut this or that scene. I won't let anyone down. It will be a faithful adaptation."
Columbus On Fantastic Four
ow that Chris Columbus has signed on to direct the feature film version of the first Harry Potter book, his on-again, off-again movie of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four series seems moribund.
Columbus, who was going to produce the Fantastic Four, told Cinescape writer Cindy Pearlman that the major obstacle remains cost.
"We had budgetary concerns," Columbus said. "You have four characters who have these intense
superpowers. ... We're trying to find a way to do it that's not complete animation. It's really daunting. Right now, the budget would be about $280 million. It's prohibitively expensive. We can't make that film. So we continue to tinker with the script to get this movie down to
size."
U.K. School Bans Potter
n English Christian school has banned J.K. Rowling's best-selling Harry Potter series of children's books, arguing that they do not conform with Bible teachings, the Reuters news service reported.
St. Mary's Island Church of England school in Chatham, U.K., banned the story of a young wizard and his adventures.
Meanwhile, preorders for the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament, are placing it on Amazon.com's best-seller list, though the book isn't due until July 8. And Warner Bros., which announced this week that Chris Columbus will direct the feature film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, has already committed to a sequel based on the second book in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Harry Potter Grows Up
arry Potter will face his greatest challenge ever in the fourth installment of J.K. Rowling's popular children's book series: girls.
In the next book, due July 8, the young wizard-in-training will evince an interest in the opposite sex, Rowling told the British newspaper The Guardian.
"Last time you met him he was 13," Rowling told the newspaper. "He's 14 now, and he's started to realize girls are quite interesting." She added that fans should not be deterred by this change. "I tend to think that if someone is sufficiently engaged in one of his books, he's not going to be too disappointed if, at some point, his hero holds hands with a little girl."
Will Indy IV Go To Atlantis?
he much-anticipated fourth installment in the Indiana Jones film series may deal with the lost continent of Atlantis, tipsters told the Ain't It Cool News Web site.
The film would be called Indiana Jones and the Garden of Life or Indiana Jones and the Lost Continent, anonymous students in a film class at the University of Southern California told AICN.
The students said they were told the information by their professor, who is planning on having series creator George Lucas visit the university on April 12, the site reported. (Admission to Lucas' talk is apparently restricted to ticket-holding students in the class.)
"Our professor, who is frequently in contact with Lucas, said Indy IV will be a joint venture between Lucasfilm and DreamWorks, with [Star Wars: Episode I producer] Rick McCallum as producer," a student told AICN. "Our professor also said the film will be about Atlantis ... and was written by Jeffrey Boam [The Phantom]! I do want to say, however, that I would not take this as 100 percent true fact as I am not sure where our professor got his information."
King Nets $450,000 From "Bullet"
tephen King told Time magazine that the electronic release of his short story "Riding the Bullet" earlier this month will earn him at least $450,000.
More than half a million readers have downloaded the 66-page story since it was released on the Internet, the magazine reported.
Based on the success of "Bullet," King told Time that he's considering publishing a serialized novel online. "If I were to do something like that, whether they wanted it to or not, it would force a lot of people to read online. I would love to do something like that because I think we're at a point where there are maybe a dozen writers who could literally change the way people regard reading."
Even so, King is not convinced the Internet is the future of book publishing. "There's a lot of plumage here, but I wonder if the beast underneath isn't still pretty scrawny," he told Time. King, a Macintosh user, couldn't download his own story, which came out only in PC-readable formats. "This is a good illustrative example of all the potential that so-called e-commerce has, and then the reality of the situation," he said.
King Story Pirated
tephen King's short story "Riding the Bullet" wasn't just the first by a best-selling author to be released exclusively on the Internet--it was also the first to be pirated, according to the ZDNet news Web site.
Len Kawell, president of Glassbook Inc., one of the e-book publishers of King's story, told ZDNet that hackers had decoded the story's encryption and posted "Bullet" to the Web for free.
The monetary loss to King was negligible--legitimate sites like Amazon.com gave the story away for free as well, though others were selling it for $2.50. But the piracy raised concerns about the safety and security of Web-only publishing. "The reality is there's no such thing as an invincible copy protection system," Kawell told ZDNet. "It's impractical to make it both invincible and usable."
King's story was offered on the Internet in mid-March, and more than half a million people have downloaded it. King told Time magazine that he expected to earn $450,000 from the story.
God Is Dead
hree strikes and it's out: NBC has canceled its controversial animated satire God, the Devil and Bob after three showings because of low ratings, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The show had performed poorly in its Tuesday 8:30 p.m. time slot, the trade paper reported.
The show, about a Detroit auto worker and the battle of good and evil, had been boycotted by more than a dozen NBC affiliates, mainly in conservative regions of the country. Affiliates had refused to the air the show in part because they said it was in poor taste or contained offensive characterizations of God.
Animated X-Men Debut In Fall
he Kids WB told the Comics Continuum Web site that an animated X-Men series is in the works for the fall.
The show, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, could be called either X-Men or X-Men: Children of the Atom. It will be produced at Film Roman, the site reported.
The Kids WB has ordered 13 episodes of the series, which will tell the story of the mutant heroes in their younger days. "Bob Forward is the new story editor of the series, and it's likely that other writers from previous Marvel shows will be involved," Comics Continuum reported.
Model X-Men Bikes Coming
ans of the upcoming Fox feature film X-Men will be able to buy toy models of the one-of-a-kind motorcycle Wolverine rides in the movie.
Titan Motorcycle Co. of Phoenix is making the real bike, a custom Roadrunner model, which will also be featured in promotions for the film, the company announced.
But fans will be able to buy two separate toys based on the bike, as well as a collectible die-cast replica. The film, based on the long-running Marvel Comics series of the same name, opens July 14.
Matrix Wins Big At Oscars
he Matrix took home four Academy Awards Sunday, March 26, upsetting Star Wars: Episode I in several categories and coming in second only to best-picture winner American Beauty in the total number of Oscars.
The Matrix won awards in every category in which it was nominated: film editing, visual effects, sound effects editing and sound.
Sleepy Hollow won the award for best art direction and best costume design at ceremonies in Los Angeles.
But genre filmsThe Sixth Sense, Episode I, Being John Malkovich and The Green Mile went home empty-handed, despite several nominations each. The Matrix bested Episode I in three categories: sound, sound effects editing and visual effects.
Matrix 2 Plot Details Revealed?
rinity may or may not be a double agent in The Matrix 2, according to rumors on the SF Crowsnest.com Web site.
The site posted spoilers from the upcoming sequel to the 1999 Oscar-winning film The Matrix that revealed what it said were key plot points.
Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) is kidnapped and taken to an alternative virtual reality, and Neo (Keanu Reeves) must re-enter the Matrix to find her. But Neo must discover whether Trinity is in fact a double agent working for the artificial intelligence that operates the Matrix.
Moviegoers will also finally see Zion, the last human city, as well as the Core Conscience, the mainframe for the human resistance, SF Crowsnest.com reported. Matrix 2 is in production for a 2001 release.
TV Stars Voice Ice Age
he Ice Age, an animated film set in prehistoric times, will feature the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Jane Krakowski and Goran Visnjic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Fox film, to be directed by Oscar-winner Chris Wedge, is set to start production in June.
Ice Age is a comedy about a woolly mammoth (Romano), a saber-toothed tiger (ER's Visnjic) and giant sloths (Leguizamo and Ally McBeal's Krakowski) who combine forces to rescue a human baby. Wedge won an Academy Award in 1999 for directing the short animated film Bunny, the trade paper reported.
Giant Bugs Coming In Arach Attack
ean Devlin and Roland Emmerich (Godzilla) will produce Arach Attack, an SF comedy film about giant spiders, Variety reported.
New Zealand director Ellory Elkayem will helm the movie--his first feature film--based on a script he co-wrote with Jesse Alexander, the trade paper reported.
The film, from Devlin and Emmerich's Centropolis Entertainment, tells the story of a toxic waste spill that creates giant arachnids, who go on a rampage. Much of the film's less-than-$30-million budget will go to special effects. No cast has been set.
SCI FI To Air Lucas Student Film
he SCI FI Channel's upcoming short film series Exposure series will air George Lucas' student movie, THX-1138-4EB: Electronic Labyrinth, which was the basis for the full-length feature THX 1138.
SCI FI will broadcast the film as part of a one-year licensing agreement with AtomFilms, which provides short films to the Web, SCI FI announced.
Exposure was created to showcase short films from both established and up-and-coming filmmakers. The first episode will air at 10 p.m. ET April 5 and will feature Tim Burton's first film, Vincent; Mark Osborne's Oscar-nominated short film, More; and original shorts from new filmmakers from the U.S., New Zealand and France.
The deal with AtomFilms gives SCI FI a first-look option on any new Atom short film that fits Exposure's sensibility, as well as a first-look at all SF films in Atom's existing library. Each of the selected AtomFilms shorts will be highlighted for a month on the Exposure Web site on SCIFI.COM.
SCI FI Reports Record Ratings
he SCI FI Channel reported its highest-rated first quarter ever, with ratings up 29 percent from the first quarter a year earlier.
Ratings for the first quarter of 2000 were also 13 percent higher than the previous first-quarter peak, in 1995.
SCI FI reported an average viewership of 568,000 households in the first quarter of this year, 42 percent more than in the first quarter of 1999 and 11 percent higher than the record fourth quarter of 1999.
First-quarter ratings for the SCI FI Prime block of original series from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays were up 57 percent over the first quarter of 1999. The March 17 second-season premiere of Farscape garnered a 1.6 rating, tying its all-time high.
This spring, SCI FI will launch a number of new series, including the weekly SF short film showcase Exposure, the action comedy series Invisible Man and Crossing Over With John Edward, a daily talk show about paranormal phenomena.
Hey's Not Blue About Zhaan
irginia Hey, who plays the blue-skinned Zhaan on The SCI FI Channel series Farscape, said she has a lot in common with her high priestess character, according to an interview on the SFX Web site.
"I don't think to this day the producers realize that Zhaan and I have identical interests in medicine, science and spiritual pursuits," she told the site.
She added, "It was the kind of character that I couldn't refuse; she is what I would wish to aspire to if I could attain her level of knowledge. Mind you, it would certainly take me the 812 years it took Zhaan."
Hey said there are practical difficulties when it comes to working on a series with characters who are played by puppets. "Each character takes between six to eight people to operate, so you're working with bodies all over the place. Dodging and stepping over bodies in the middle of scenes is hilarious. But I took to believing their surreal cognition easily, because thanks to my mother--who was an artist--I'm blessed with a wonderfully artistic imagination. So I embrace Rygel and Pilot as fellow actors."
Static Clings To The WB
he Kids WB network is developing an animated children's television series based on the Milestone comic series Static by Denys Cowan, according to the Comics2Film Web site.
Cowan is creatively involved in the series, which is slated for a fall premiere, the site reported.
Static tells the story of high-school student Virgil Hawkins, who finds himself endowed with electrical powers. Dan Riba (Batman Beyond) will reportedly direct episodes of Static.
Disney Developing Undone
ndone, a supernatural thriller movie, is in development at Walt Disney Co. based on a pitch by Seth E. Bass and Jonathan Tolins, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio reportedly paid in the mid-six figures for the idea, the trade paper reported.
Undone tells the story of a man who is haunted by the ghost of his wife's former husband. Bass and Tolins wrote the original version of American Neurotic and Dad's New Life, both of which are still in development.
Blair Exec To Launch New Site
xecutive John Hegeman, who is credited with Artisan's successful Web-based marketing strategy for The Blair Witch Project, is leaving to launch a new Web site described as "the ultimate experience in horror, SF and fantasy," according to Variety.
Hegeman will launch the Distant Corners Web site in partnership with Joe Roth, former head of Walt Disney studios, the trade paper reported.
Roth is the primary investor in the new venture, and Artisan will own about 14 percent. Hegeman starts his new job on Monday, April 3, but will continue to serve as an adviser to Artisan, which is producing the sequel The Blair Witch Project 2.
Aliens, Predators, Terminators Battle
utting a new twist on three familiar franchises, Dark Horse comics is publishing Aliens vs. Predators vs. Terminators, a four-issue series.
The comics are priced at $2.95 each.
The series pits the characters from the three venerable film franchises against each other in the year 2032. Skynet, the computer intelligence that spawned the Terminators, is the villain, seeking to combine the strength of the cyborgs with the ruthlessness of the alien species. Ripley, the heroine of the Alien movies, joins forces with the Predators to battle Skynet. The series will feature cover art by Dwayne Turner (Spawn).
Jurassic 3 To Shoot On Maui
urassic Park 3, the proposed second sequel to 1993's Jurassic Park, will film on the Hawaiian island of Maui instead of in New Zealand, according to the Dark Horizons Web site.
Director Joe Johnston also told the magazine Moviz 2000 that neither Helen Hunt nor Elizabeth Hurley is starring, as had been rumored, nor is Chris Klein, who recently signed to do a remake of the 1975 SF film Rollerball, according to Dark Horizons.
William Goldman (The General's Daughter) is rewriting the script, Johnston reportedly said. As for the plot? "All I can say is that it isn't a prequel to the first movie, but a new and more independent story, which stands alone. Expect more dinosaurs and more plot!" Johnston said.
E:FC Changes In Store
rincipal cast members of the syndicated television series Earth: Final Conflict may not be leaving as previously rumored, according to the fan-edited Earth: Final Conflict Galactic Newsletter.
Principals Richard Chevolleau (Augur) and Lisa Howard (Lili Marquette) are still negotiating contract renewals for a fourth season, the newsletter reported.
"Dave Bushe of the Richard Chevolleau Fan Club has confirmed that Chevolleau has been made an offer to return, but that it would call for far less screen time than originally reported," the newsletter reported. Howard's representatives have denied rumors that she turned down a contract renewal offer.
David Hemblen (Jonathan Doors) is leaving the show. Executive producer Paul Gertz told fans at the Philosophy Sphere Web site, "I don't deny it. By the way, you won't be disappointed with the way it is handled." Gertz also said to expect fewer scenes of Anita La Selva as Zo'or and Leni Parker as Da'an. "The watchword for season four will be less is more," he said. "Let's give Leni and Anita some real scenes to play, not just filler. So, we'll see them less, but hopefully their scenes will be more dynamic."
Sixth Sense Web Site Opens
alt Disney Co. has opened a new Web site to coincide with the March 28 release of its Oscar-nominated thriller The Sixth Sense on home video and DVD.
The site features downloads, behind-the-scenes interviews and a sweepstakes to win a home theater system.
The site also offers a game in which users uncover "secrets" about the film, the complete text of the screenplay and a posting board where users can share their own ghost stories.
The DVD of The Sixth Sense, which was nominated for six Oscars, contains extra scenes, an extended ending, a making-of documentary and other features. The film recently surpassed Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back as the 10th highest grossing movie in history, with $290.3 million in domestic box-office earnings.
Bram Stoker Nominees Announced
he Horror Writers Association announced the nominees for this year's Bram Stoker Awards, which recognize superior achievement in the horror genre.
The awards are named for the 19th-century Irish author of the novel Dracula.
The awards will be presented at the 2000 World Horror Convention on May 13 in Denver. Charles L. Grant and Edward Gorey will be honored as Lifetime Achievement Award winners. A full list of the nominees follows.
Novel
•Darker than Night, Owl Goingback
•Hannibal, Thomas Harris
•Low Men in Yellow Coats, Stephen King
•Hexes, Tom Piccirilli
•Mr. X, Peter Straub
First Novel
•Widow's Walk, Steve Beai
•Every Dead Thing, John Connolly
•King Rat, China Miéville
•Wither, J.G. Passarella
Long Fiction
•"Five Days in April," Brian A. Hopkins
•"Dread in the Beast," Charlee Jacob
•"Right to Life," Jack Ketchum
•"Mad Dog Summer," Joe R. Lansdale
Short Fiction
•"The Grave," P.D. Cacek
•"The Entertainment," Ramsey Campbell
• "Halloween Street," Steve Rasnic Tem
•"After Shock," F. P. Wilson
Fiction Collection
•Death Drives a Semi, Edo van Belkom
•The Nightmare Chronicles, Douglas Clegg
•Hearts in Atlantis, Stephen King
•Deep into that Darkness Peering, Tom Piccirilli
Anthology
•The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Twelfth Annual Collection, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
•The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 10, edited by Stephen Jones
•The Last Continent: New Tales of Zothique, edited by John Pelan
•999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense, edited by Al Sarrantonio
(Ellen Datlow is the fiction editor of SCIFI.COM.)
Nonfiction
•Darkecho (all 1999 issues), edited by Paula Guran
•The Essential Monster Movie Guide, Stephen Jones
•Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography, Victoria Price
•Hellnotes (all 1999 issues), edited by David B. Silva and Paul F. Olson
Comic Book, Graphic Novel or Other Illustrated Narrative
•Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Neil Gaiman
•Jonah Hex: Shadows West No. 1, Joe R. Lansdale
•Hellboy: Box Full of Evil, Mike Mignola
•Faust: Book of M, David Quinn
Screenplay
•The Green Mile, Frank Darabont
•The Blair Witch Project, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez
•The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan
•Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Hush," Joss Whedon
Work for Young Readers
•Something Lumber This Way Comes, Joe R. Lansdale
•Creepy Susie & 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children, Angus Oblong
•Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K.Rowling
Other Media
•I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (audio), Harlan Ellison
•Masters of Terror (Web site), Andy Fairclough
•Gothic Net (Web site), Seth Lindberg
•Conspiracies (audio CD of F. Paul Wilson story), WyrdSisterS ProductionS
Spanish Others Set To Start
t a post-Oscar party in Los Angeles, director Alejandro Amenabar told a reporter for Spanish television that shooting will begin at the end of May on his supernatural thriller The Others, which will star Nicole Kidman, according to the Dark Horizons Web site.
The movie, which is not related to the NBC supernatural television series of the same name, will film in the northern Spanish city of Santander before moving to Madrid.
The Web site also reported that Kidman recently bought a house near Madrid. The Others is a Spanish-French co-production that will be shot entirely in Spain, though it is set in England, Dark Horizons reported. Miramax will distribute the film.
Duchovny Tells All To Anderson
avid Duchovny revealed that The X-Files creator Chris Carter once suggested he and his Files co-star Gillian Anderson seek therapy for their at-times chilly relationship.
Odd thing is, Duchovny admitted this to Anderson herself, in an unusual Q&A that Anderson conducted at the request of USA Weekend magazine.
When Anderson asked Duchovny, "How do you perceive our relationship?" Duchovny replied, "It's like the roots of a tree. It's very twisted, but it's growing. You know the tree is alive, and it works in its own tree-like way, yet you couldn't untangle it. You could, but you'd need the help of a gifted professional."
When Anderson responded with laughter, Duchovny added, "I always think back to the third or fourth episode. I was sitting in the office with Chris Carter, and he actually wanted us to get help. He was concerned with how we were relating onscreen. He said, 'You seem bored or angry with each other. Maybe you should go see somebody.' I thought, 'What? We'll go as the characters? "Hi, my name is Fox Mulder. This is my partner, Scully. We're here for couples therapy."'"
Duchovny added, somewhat facetiously, "We should have therapy for long-running series actors. It'd be good for the cast of Friends to have group therapy. We'd have couples therapy, because we're not an ensemble. Actually, when Chris said that, I thought he was insane. But we do spend so much time together, and it's a hard relationship to navigate. As soon as I say, 'No, we don't see each other after work,' then it's 'You hate each other.' There seems to be no room in fans' minds--as the fans are portrayed through journalists--for a complicated relationship between us. It can't be summed up with 'I love her. She's the best!' or 'I can't stand her!'"
McKellen On Dual Rings Sets
n the latest postings to his official Web site, Ian McKellen reveals that there are twin sets of Hobbit interiors for the feature film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
One set of interiors is Hobbit-sized, i.e., designed for people only 3 feet, 6 inches tall, said McKellen, who plays the wizard Gandalf in the films, now shooting in New Zealand.
The other sets are exact matches, but larger, built for the actors who play Hobbits. "When I, as Gandalf, meet Bilbo or Frodo at home, I bump my head on the rafters," McKellen said. "So there is a small Bag End set with small props to match." He added, "And of course there has to be a big Bag End, where the scale is human-sized and all the objects of the small set are duplicated, but bigger."
McKellen also describes the experience of acting opposite legendary British actor Christopher Lee, who plays Gandalf's nemesis, the wizard Saruman. "Spread across the black throne under Orthanc's vasty roof, [Lee] looked like King Lear in age and authority. He is 78 years old, handsome and powerful. When he speaks, all I see and hear is Saruman, my old associate gone wrong. Except once when he rounded off a speech, at [director] Peter Jackson's suggestion, with a snarl. To be within four feet of a Lee snarl is unsettling. I was glad he wasn't wearing his [Dracula] fangs."
ID4 DVD Includes Extras
he DVD of the 1996 hit movie Independence Day is slated for release June 27 in a two-disc special edition, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced.
The film, one of the top-grossing films of all time and a best-selling VHS video title, won an Oscar for best visual effects in 1997.
The DVD will feature five and a half hours of material, including nine minutes of new footage, an alternate ending, more than 550 stills from the movie's production and a link to a 3-D online multiplayer ID4 game, with a one-month free subscription. The DVD will be priced at $34.98.
Edge Pilot In Production
ews from the Edge, a proposed SF television series, is shooting a pilot for NBC in Vancouver, a source told SCI FI Wire.
The series was pitched as a cross between the 1970s series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and the movie Men in Black.
The pilot, written by producer Silvio Horta (Urban Legend), tells the story of a tabloid cub reporter following up reports of a monster dwelling in the New York City sewers.
Wild West Named Worst Film
he day before Oscars went to Hollywood's best, the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation handed out "Razzies" to Hollywood's worst, with Wild Wild West claiming the "top" prize as the worst movie of 1999.
WWW copped five of the "awards," including worst movie, director, screenplay, song and screen couple (co-stars Kevin Kline and Will Smith).
Heather Donahue was named worst actress for her role in The Blair Witch Project, and Jar Jar Binks was named worst supporting actor for his turn in Star Wars: Episode I. Denise Richards got the nod for worst supporting actress for playing a nuclear physicist in The World Is Not Enough.
Perennial genre star Sylvester Stallone won the dubious distinction of worst actor of the century. Razzies were determined by mailed ballots to 465 foundation members, including movie fans, journalists and film professionals.
Highlander Opera CD Debuts
oger Bellon and Harlan Collins, who jointly composed music for Highlander: The Series, have compiled Highlander: A Celtic Opera, based on the show, which ceased production in 1997, according to Eon magazine's Mothership Web site.
Opera is a 72-minute CD that chronicles the origins and adventures of immortal Duncan MacLeod, hero of the series.
"Harlan and I had been working together," Bellon told the site. "We were looking for something to do in the way of musical theater, opera, something bigger than what we'd normally been doing." Collins persuaded Bellon that the series mythology fit what they were seeking.
Dark Angel Details Emerge
etails are emerging about the pilot television movie for James Cameron's proposed series Dark Angel.
The cyberpunkish series pilot is written and executive produced by Cameron, according to the iFUSE Web site.
Dark Angel is set in 2020, after an electromagnetic pulse has wiped out all electronics, the site reported. In a chaotic San Francisco, the narrative centers on a 20-something female motorcycle messenger named Max, who possesses special night vision. She and her friends navigate an underworld of homeless people, criminals and corrupt cops while eluding a mysterious villain named Lydecker. It seems Max is some kind of escapee from a top-secret military experiment, and Lydecker's trying to get her back.
The Dark Angel pilot is still in development. The series is slated for the Fox network.
Briefly Noted
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Dorling Kindersley, the British book publisher that lost $22.4 million by overestimating demand for books and merchandise based on Star Wars: Episode I, was sold to media company Pearson for $498 million.
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Production photos from the proposed feature film version of Douglas Adams' satirical SF novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy have appeared on the Coming Attractions Web site. The photos purportedly depict the design for Marvin the Paranoid Android and the electronic Hitchhiker's Guide itself.
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Rae Dawn Chong will make her feature film writing and directing debut on Cursed Part 3, a spoof of the Blair Witch-style horror genre, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cursed starts shooting April 10 in Los Angeles.
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Witchblade, a two-hour television movie for TNT, has wrapped filming and is in post-production with an eye to an October broadcast, according to the Comics Continuum Web site. The movie--a pilot for a possible series--is based on the Top Cow comics series of the same name.
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The official Web site has opened for the SF thriller Quantum Project, which calls itself the first full-length feature film being developed for the Internet. The site contains a teaser trailer for the film, which premieres at 12:01 a.m. EDT May 5.
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The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan's next movie, Unbreakable, may have a superhero element to it, according to the Comics2Film Web site. Unbreakable tells the story of a man who acquires unique abilities after an accident.
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A trailer for Overload, an independent SF feature film from actor Bill Mumy (Babylon 5), has been posted to the movie's official Web site.
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Michael Rooker (The Bone Collector) will co-star with Jean-Claude Van Damme in the independent SF feature film Replicant, which starts shooting in April in Vancouver, according to Variety.
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The soundtrack for the upcoming film The Crow: Salvation has been released, featuring tracks from the Infidels, Hole, Tricky, Rob Zombie, Kid Rock, Danzig and Filter. The film, the second sequel to 1994's The Crow, opens in May.
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Look for Susanna Thompson to reprise her role as the Borg Queen in the season finale of Star Trek: Voyager, in which Capt. Janeway, Tuvok and Lt. Torres are assimilated, the Zentertainment Web site reported.
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TV Guide reported that Minnie Driver, who co-stars with David Duchovny in the upcoming romantic comedy movie Return to Me, will make a guest appearance on the April 30 episode of Duchovny's The X-Files.
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LucasArts is rumored to be working on a next-generation game based on Star Wars: Episode I for the PC and the PlayStation 2 platform, according to TheForce.Net Web site. The game, code-named Europa, will be a high-end flight simulator, the site reported.
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Nestor Carbonell (Suddenly Susan) and Liz Vassey (Maximum Bob) have joined the cast of The Tick, the live-action half-hour pilot for Fox based on the comic book and animated series of the same name.
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Australian actor David Wenham is rumored to be in the running to play Faramir in Peter Jackson's film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, according to TheOneRing.net Web site.
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Final Destination came in third in the Oscar weekend box-office rankings, landing another $7.1 million for a respectable total of $20.3 million after two weeks of release. Mission to Mars ranked fourth, with $5.8 million for a total of $49.3 million.
