Goldblum In Jurassic 3?
ilmForce.com reported a rumor that Jeff Goldblum may reprise his Jurassic Park character, chaotician Ian Malcolm, in the third installment of the dinosaur franchise.
The site reported that Goldblum is deciding whether to appear in Jurassic Park 3, which is in pre-production.
Sam Neill will reportedly reprise his Jurassic role of Alan Grant in JP3. Goldblum appeared in both the original film and the sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Meanwhile, FilmForce reported that JP3 will be a prequel to the first film. The site added that principal photography will take place in Hawaii, starting at the end of July. And the site speculated that JP3 will also carry the title Extinction, Embryo or End of Chaos.
Neill May Return In Jurassic 3
he Hollywood Reporter confirmed rumors that Sam Neill is in talks to star in Jurassic Park 3, reprising the role of Alan Grant from 1993's Jurassic Park.
There is no completed script for JP3, the trade paper reported.
Production is slated to start in the summer. Universal Pictures is closely guarding details of the project.
Carrey: Grinch Not Bad
im Carrey told Newsday that he sees good in the lead character he'll play in the upcoming movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
"I looked at him as not just being an angry guy," Carrey said about the Grinch.
Carrey added, "Nobody is just an angry guy. What we are is hurt, whether it's self-imposed or something happened to us. That made me able to make [the Grinch] sympathetic. That's how I approached it. This is a guy who wants to be invited to the party, but can't admit it to himself."
The film, a live-action adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, opens around Thanksgiving.
Cable Net Looks At Haunts
he History Channel will air Haunted History, a non-fiction summer series that will examine myths about ghosts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Haunted History airs on the cable network Fridays at 10 p.m. starting Aug. 11.
The first episode will look at Tombstone, Ariz. Subsequent shows will visit other cities and examine their legends and tall tales, the trade paper reported. About 10 episodes will air, some of them reruns from History Alive.
Voyager Crew Returns
he crew of Voyager has returned--not to Earth, but to Paramount Studios, where it will begin shooting the seventh and final season of Star Trek: Voyager.
The official Star Trek Continuum Web site reported that Ethan Phillips (Neelix) and Robert Picardo (The Doctor) were the first cast members to report for duty on June 22--at 5:45 a.m., for makeup call.
The Voyager cast and crew will begin shooting "Unimatrix Zero, Part II," the second part of last season's cliffhanger. Veteran Trek director Mike Vejar will helm the episode.
Hitchhiker Draft Done
ouglas Adams told fans that he has finished a new draft of a screenplay for the movie version of his comic SF novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
"I finished an all-new draft of the screenplay last week, and [director] Jay [Roach] loves it," Adams said in a post on his official Web site.
Adams added, "It's the first time in all these years that we've had a screenplay which clearly works and seems to solve all the problems of it needing to be both a real version of Hitchhiker and also a proper movie. It's been a very hard circle to square."
The film version of Adams' popular book has been in development for years. "Please be patient," Adams asked his fans. "I have to be discreet. Don't believe anything you read here that doesn't come directly from me, especially anything from so-called 'informed, insider sources,' most of which belongs in the Half-Witted Crap Forum."
FX Maven Talks D&D
eorge Gibbs, special effects maven on the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie, told the DNDMovie.com Web site that he relied more on old-fashioned tricks than computers.
"There are lots of effects in the film--things blow up, dragons breathe and such," Gibbs told the site.
Gibbs added, "One of the most interesting things we did was this quicksand carpet trap. We had to make a carpet that you could sort of fall into and sink like quicksand." How did he do it? "Porridge ... heh heh. It was a terribly complicated thing, but basically we colored a screen with this flocking in different colors to make a carpet pattern. Then we held it just above the surface of this huge tank of porridge set level with the floor and tapped it till the flocking fell through the holes and colored the porridge with the pattern of the carpet. That scene required several takes, so we had to do it again each time."
Gibbs also supervised the construction of huge sets, including a massive maze. "The maze is very intricate, because it's not static. It has all these things that revolve and flip over and thrust in and out at you. And of course it also shoots fire and has some other nasty surprises."
But one of the hardest effects was the smallest. "There's a gauntlet that Bruce [Payne] wears. ... It's very intricate and it has three sets of double blades, and they have to be able to spring out during combat. ... The first version of it didn't quite work right. ... They put it on, and they made the blades pop out, and then [director] Corey [Solomon] said, 'Now let me see you raise your arm.' And the guy did, and all the blades slid back in! It was two weeks before shooting, and needless to say Corey was not happy. So he says, 'Here, George, you fix it.' We basically had to rebuild the entire thing from scratch."
Dungeons & Dragons, based on the Wizards of the Coast game of the same name, opens in the fall.
Now It's Dr. Rowling
ritish writer J.K. Rowling, author of the popular Harry Potter series of children's novels, has received an honorary doctorate, the Associated Press reported.
Rowling received the degree from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland's oldest university.
The university praised Rowling's ability to capture children's imaginations with her books, irrespective of the competing attractions of television, Nintendo and Pokemon, the AP reported. Rowling was also recently named an Officer of the Order of British Empire. The fourth Potter book is due July 8.
Meanwhile, the AP also reported that the next Potter book will be translated into Braille only weeks after the debut of the print version, instead of the usual several months. The National Braille Press in Boston will rush out a version for the blind within two to three weeks of the print release, the wire service reported.
Hopes High For Potter IV
loomsbury Publishing will print 1.5 million copies of the fourth Harry Potter book to meet anticipated demand, according to the Reuters news service.
The fourth volume in J.K. Rowling's popular series of children's novels debuts on July 8. Bloomsbury is keeping the book's title secret for now.
Amazon.com is reportedly gearing up for what it expects to be its biggest online best-seller ever, Reuters reported. The 750-page book will also be translated into 49 languages and sold in 110 countries.
More Actors Join Potter
im Roth (Pulp Fiction) and Robbie Coltrane (The World Is Not Enough) are reportedly both in talks to play roles in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Variety reported that Roth would play Prof. Snape at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and The Hollywood Reporter said that Coltrane would play Hagrid the friendly giant.
If the two British actors sign on, they would join Maggie Smith, who is also reportedly considering a role in the film. Potter is based on J.K. Rowling's best-selling children's novel of the same name. Smith would play Prof. Minerva McGonagall, though the Reporter said it's unclear whether Smith's schedule will work.
Filmmakers have yet to sign any child actors to play the key roles of Harry and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger, despite receiving tens of thousands of inquiries. Chris Columbus (Bicentennial Man) will direct the Warner Bros. movie, based on a screenplay by Steve Kloves.
Pi Guy Meets Batman?
i director Darren Aronofsky may collaborate with comic writer Frank Miller on a new Batman feature film, the Ain't It Cool News Web site reported.
AICN reported that Aronofsky would co-write a script with Miller, who revived the Batman comic series in the 1980s with his seminal Dark Knight stories.
AICN added that the new film would be a departure from the previous Batman films.
SCIFI.COM, Mothership Merge
CIFI.COM has merged with Mothership.com, the SF Web site of Centropolis Entertainment.
USA Networks Inc., the parent company of SCIFI.COM, and Centropolis jointly announced the merger, which brings together the Internet's two largest SF sites. The agreement combines the media and e-commerce resources of USAi with Centropolis' storytelling experience, the companies announced. Terms were not disclosed.
SCIFI.COM and Mothership.com are pioneers in developing entertainment content on the Internet. SCIFI.COM, a "People's Choice" Webby Award winner, was the first Web site companion to a cable channel and the first to create and stream original programming.
Centropolis, owned by filmmakers Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, created the first movie Web site, for their 1994 release StarGate, and Godzilla.com, to promote the feature film Godzilla. Centropolis produced Independence Day, Godzilla and the upcoming Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. Devlin will serve on the advisory board for SCIFI.COM.
SCIFI.COM Unveils New Look
CIFI.COM unveiled a new look on June 20 as part of a massive site redesign and relaunch by USA Networks Interactive.
SCIFI.COM was revamped in order to better showcase its growing lineup of original online content and programming.
The site redesign features a new, intuitive navigation layout, as well as several new programs and interactive features. Users can now access SCIFI.COM's content through six main sections: SCI FI Today, SCIFI.COM Presents, On Air, Buy SCI FI, Colony and Freezone. Highlights of the site include the original Web programs Eclipse and Seeing Ear Theatre, as well as SCI FI Wire news and reviews, feature stories, special events, communities and e-commerce.
Several major projects were launched in conjunction with the new site, including Eclipse, a Flash-animated dramatic series from Daniel Govar and Russell Wicks. SCIFI.COM also debuted Anime Colony, a community area for fans of Japanese animation; the streaming media section SCI FI Stream; a new site for the upcoming Sciography TV series; and more.
J. Michael Straczynski's City of Dreams, a Seeing Ear Theatre original production, will premiere on July 10. Later this summer, ROLAND 99, an action series that marks the Web's first major hybrid of stop-motion and Flash animation, will make its debut. A trailer for ROLAND 99 was posted on SCIFI.COM on June 22.
Sciography Seeks Zone Fans
ciography, the upcoming SCI FI Channel series that looks at SF entertainment, is seeking fans to interview about the classic SF television series The Twilight Zone.
Sciography is a new, monthly biography-style series that focuses on TV programs instead of people.
The Twilight Zone episode will look at the background of the series, how it came to the air and the phenomenon that has evolved around it. Anyone interested in being interviewed for the show can e-mail the producers. Sciography is also seeking footage, photos, memorabilia, anecdotes and other material about the series. Sciography will debut on SCI FI in July.
Straczynski Dreams On SCIFI.COM
abylon 5's "great maker" J. Michael Straczynski has created a new online audio series, City of Dreams, for SCIFI.COM's Seeing Ear Theatre.
Steve Buscemi (Fargo) stars in the first episode, "The Damned Are Playing At Godzilla's Tonight," which will premiere on July 10.
The second installment of the 13-episode weekly drama will feature Frequency star Andre Braugher and Braugher's real-life wife, Ami Brabson, in an episode called "Rolling Thunder." Kevin Conway, the voice of the storyteller in The Outer Limits and the star of the PBS television movie The Lathe of Heaven, will narrate the entire series.
City of Dreams comprises new audio stories written for SCIFI.COM, ranging from the dark and ominous to the supernatural and hopeful.
Anime Colony Launched
CIFI.COM has launched Anime Colony, an online community area dedicated to fans of Japanese animation.
The area will provide a place for fans to interact with one another and to create their own home pages. Anime Colony is the first of several niche-oriented fan sites SCIFI.COM will launch over the coming months as part of a relaunch of the Web site.
The Anime Colony results from a partnership between SyCoNet.com and USA Networks Interactive, a division of USA Networks. As part of the partnership, SyCoNet.com's ANIMEDEPOT.COM will be the exclusive advertising sponsor of Anime Colony.
Eclipse Debuts On SCIFI.COM
CIFI.COM premiered Eclipse, a Flash-animated weekly dramatic series, on June 20.
New episodes will follow every Tuesday for 13 weeks.
Eclipse comes from animator Daniel Govar and writer Russell Wicks, and is described as SCIFI.COM's most ambitious, original dramatic series yet. The story is set in the year 3552, whenTwo human soldiers, Gavin and Thomas, are taken from the past and brought
into the future to fight for Mette, a mysterious, exotic woman. The two time
travelers soon learn they will have to risk everything to ensure the
survival of humankind.
humanity is engaged in a battle against an alien force and is on the brink of extinction.
Two human soldiers, Gavin and Thomas, are taken from the past and brought into the future to fight for Mette, a mysterious, exotic woman. The two time-travelers soon learn they will have to risk everything to ensure the survival of humankind.
Shyamalan May Write Indy 4
. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) could write the long-awaited fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series, Variety reported.
The paper said Shyamalan is talking with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford about scripting the film, which Spielberg would direct in 2002.
Though Lucas, Spielberg and Ford agreed to do a fourth Indy movie in 1993, the three have been otherwise occupied while various scripts have been written, the trade paper reported.
Variety cited unnamed sources as saying that indications are strong that Shyamalan will start writing in January, once he completes his supernatural thriller Unbreakable. That film stars Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson.
Arnold Will Be Back In T3
e'll be back: Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed on the dotted line to return as the killer cyborg in Terminator 3, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
The third installment in the Terminator franchise is slated to go before cameras in Los Angeles in the spring of 2001, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Variety reported that the film is aimed at a summer 2002 release.
It's unclear whether Terminator creator James Cameron will sign on to direct. Schwarzenegger has previously said he wouldn't do another Terminator film without Cameron, and he repeated his desire to work with Cameron on T3 during an interview on Access Hollywood this week.
The Reporter said the relationship is tenuous between Cameron and T3 producers Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar, and that Cameron has yet to meet with either about the project. But the trade paper cited unnamed sources as saying that Cameron has read the T3 script and that Schwarzenegger is lobbying hard to bring Cameron on board. Variety cited unnamed sources close to Cameron as saying that the director is talking with Schwarzenegger about returning.
The film will have a budget of $100 million. No studio has agreed to distribute the film yet.
Mystique Makeup Secrets Revealed
-Men makeup supervisor Gordon Smith told the Comics Continuum Web site that Rebecca Romijn-Stamos truly suffered to become the blue shape-shifter Mystique.
"She was great," Smith told the site. "It was very difficult for her."
Smith said Romijn-Stamos wore 75 to 90 silicone prosthetics, as well as head-to-toe blue makeup, to become the nearly naked mutant in the upcoming Fox movie. "The first time we did it, it took 10 hours. ... But, after the third time, we had it down to six hours, so we cut four hours off it."
And despite appearances, Romijn-Stamos was not nude. "She's not wearing anything but the prosthetics, but the prosthetics are designed as clothing," he said. "We built them for modesty's sake and practicality, so she could go to the bathroom."
Despite the makeup ordeal, Smith said that Romijn-Stamos received the utmost care and sensitivity. "I backed out of that after the first application for modesty reasons and polite reasons. My mother raised me good. It's very intrusive. So I had a team of girls, who were artists from my studio, look after Rebecca pretty much exclusively."
X-Men, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, opens July 14.
Singer Was No X-Men Fan
ryan Singer, director of Fox's upcoming X-Men movie, told the Comics Continuum Web site that he wasn't a fan of the Marvel Comics series before he started the film.
"Before I even read the comic book and before I knew anything about the stories from any of the off-shoots, the comics or the cartoon, I read the bios on all the characters," Singer said. "In fact, I read the bios before I even met [X-Men creator] Stan Lee or the Marvel people."
But Singer quickly developed an affinity for the characters. "I didn't read a comic book," Singer told the site. "And just from reading the bios, I sat down and started to elaborate on story ideas and conflicts and relationships. And they had already existed in the comic books. Stan would be like, 'We've had that.' I would be like, 'Really, that's so funny.' Because it makes perfect sense. These characters lend themselves so easily to so much discourse and conflict and drama and fun."
Singer added, "They're an awkward family. That's what makes the universe--the X-Men--so appealing to young people, especially when they feel they're different or odd or unique or disenfranchised." X-Men premieres July 14.
Fox To Watch Mutants
ox Broadcasting will air a mock U.S. Senate hearing into mutant activity as part of X-Men: The Mutant Watch, a special about Fox's upcoming X-Men movie.
The half-hour Mutant Watch premieres at 8 p.m. July 11.
Mutant Watch will offer previews, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from the film, which is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. The TV special will center on the X-Men character Sen. Robert Kelly, played by Bruce Davison, who has also figured in Fox's clever "Mutant Watch" marketing campaign. The special will follow a mock hearing of Kelly's Senate Subcommittee on Mutant Activities.
X-Men FX Wizards Scramble
-Men visual effects supervisor Michael L. Fink told Cinescape Online
that the crunch is on to finish the movie by its July 14 release date.
"Initially, we were going to start shooting in the early summer of '99, and the film was going to be a Thanksgiving release," Fink told the site. "And we ended up starting to shoot the movie in late September '99, and the release is now July 14. So we had our time trimmed at both ends."
To complete the film's estimated 500 effects shots, Fink hired several special effects houses. "The best way to do this when you have to divide a show up is to divide it by sequence," Fink said. Matteworld is doing aerial views of New York. Digital Domain is doing Magneto effect shots and the "X-jet" shots. Hammerhead is doing Cyclops' beams and Logan's claws. Kleiser-Walczak is doing the Mystique transformations.
"The effects in X-Men aren't quite as in-your-face as they were in a movie like The Matrix, because the intent here is to integrate a number of the effects into the story in ways that the audience may not even notice when they go by," Fink said. X-Men is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.
Mummy 2 Travels To U.K.
akers of The Mummy Returns have wrapped photography in Morocco and Jordan, according to the Arnold Vosloo Resource Page fan Web site.
Filming now begins at London's Shepperton Studios and at various locations around the city, including three weeks of night shots, the site reported.
Vosloo plays the evil Imhotep in the movie, the sequel to 1999's The Mummy.
Butler Bites Into Dracula
erard Butler (Mrs. Brown) will play the title vampire in Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000, Variety reported.
Butler joins Christopher Plummer (Abraham Van Helsing) and Sean Patrick Thomas (Cruel Intentions) in Craven's feature-film update of Bram Stoker's classic horror novel, Dracula.
Patrick Luccier will direct the film, which Craven is co-producing for Dimension Films. Producer Joel Soisson wrote the script. Dracula 2000 will go before the cameras later this year.
Li Will Kick It As Kato
et Li (Romeo Must Die) has committed to play Kato in Universal's upcoming The Green Hornet movie, Variety columnist Michael Fleming reported.
Li takes over the martial-arts role originated by Bruce Lee in the 1960s Green Hornet television series.
The film, based on the TV series and radio serial of the same name, is on track for a winter production start, Fleming reported. Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) has been working on the script. No one has been cast in the lead role yet.
Li will start Hornet after he completes starring in an untitled drama for French director Luc Besson and appearing in The First King for producer Joel Silver. Hornet could be sidetracked if Li appears in The Matrix 2 and 3 for Silver, as rumored.
Nielsen To Play Santa
BC will produce Santa Who?, a fantasy holiday television movie for the Wonderful World of Disney, Variety reported.
Leslie Nielsen will star as Santa Claus in the telefilm, which begins production next month.
Nielsen's Santa will suffer amnesia after falling out of his sleigh two days before Christmas. Tommy Davidson will play Santa's head elf, who's charged with finding the big guy.
Producer Sues Over Replicant
roducer David Dadon sued the production companies behind the upcoming Jean-Claude Van Damme SF movie Replicant, alleging breach of contract, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dadon sued Avi Lerner and his Millennium Films and Nu Image production companies, alleging that Lerner reneged on an agreement to provide Dadon with a producer credit and payment for his involvement in the film, the trade paper reported.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks unspecified monetary damages. Among other things, Dadon claims that Lerner promised him net profit participation on the film.
Blaustein May Direct Gelfin
arry Blaustein (Beyond the Mat) is in talks with Universal to direct his first feature film, The Gelfin, a fantasy movie once attached to Chris Farley, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
Blaustein is best known as a co-writer of such films as Eddie Murphy's The Nutty Professor and its sequel, The Klumps.
Blaustein co-wrote The Gelfin with David Sheffield. It tells the story of a mythological character, the gelfin, who brings good luck when he's in a good mood and bad luck when he's not.
Farley was going to star in the movie before he died in 1997.
Gyllenhaal Stars In Darko
ake Gyllenhaal (October Sky) will star in Donnie Darko, a fantasy thriller movie produced by Drew Barrymore's Flower Films, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
First-time writer and director Richard Kelly will helm the $10 million film.
Gyllenhaal will play a disturbed teenager in the movie, which combines fantasy and science fiction with romance, the trade paper reported. Executive producer Barrymore will also take a small role as a high school English teacher.
Lucas In Oz For Episode II
eorge Lucas has arrived in Australia to begin directing principal photography on Star Wars: Episode II, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
Shooting began June 26 at Fox Studios in Australia and will wrap at the end of August, producer Rick McCallum told the site.
The production then moves to Italy and Tunisia for a month of additional shooting, the site reported.
TheForce.net fan Web site, meanwhile, disputes a rumor that visual effects wizard Dennis Muren has dropped out of Episode II. Citing two unnamed sources, the Web site reported that Muren will indeed work on Episode II, even though he's reportedly also attached to Steven Spielberg's A.I. A.I., which Spielberg will direct, is in pre-production.
Episode II Cast Rumors Spread
tar Wars: Episode II rumors abound on the Internet, including possible casting for young Boba Fett and the return of a familiar face.
Coming Attractions and TheForce.net both reported that New Zealand actors Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors) and Tupoutahi Winitana may appear in the prequel.
Winitana may play a young version of Morrison's unnamed character, Coming Attractions reported. Or Morrison may play the father of Winitana's character, a young Boba Fett, according to the Dark Horizons Web site.
Meanwhile, Yahoo U.K. reported that Irish actor Gabriel Byrne will follow in the footsteps of his countryman, Episode I star Liam Neeson, by appearing in Episode II. Neeson, whose character was killed in Episode I, may also show up in the next film, Yahoo reported.
MovieHeadlines.net reported that Episode I special effects wizard Dennis Muren will not work on Episode II. Muren will reportedly work on Steven Spielberg's upcoming SF epic A.I. instead.
And Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) told Vancouver's TV-Week magazine that he's thrilled to be in Episode II. "It's awesome to portray a character who becomes [Darth] Vader," Christensen told the magazine, according to TheForce.net. "I'm getting ready to go to the dark side."
Christensen credited co-star Natalie Portman (Queen Amidala) for his successful audition. "The screen tests at Skywalker Ranch became all about meeting Natalie," he said. "It was just the thrill of shooting with her. I believe I have chemistry with her, and that is key to my getting the part."
U.K. Paper: Lee In Episode II
he British Sunday Mirror newspaper confirmed rumors that veteran U.K. actor Christopher Lee would appear in Star Wars: Episode II.
The rumor was first reported by the Ain't It Cool News Web site.
According to the Mirror, Lee, 78, will play an ancient and evil Jedi knight. The paper quoted an unnamed "insider" saying, "It will be a real spooky role." Lucasfilm reportedly wants to keep Lee's role top secret.
Best known as a staple of Hammer Films horror movies, Lee will also appear as the evil wizard Saruman in the upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
The official Star Wars Web site, meanwhile, announced that author R.A. Salvatore (Vector Prime) will write the novelization of Episode II for Ballantine Books. No publication date was set. Like the movie, the book will take place 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode I and follow the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his 19-year-old Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker.
Meanwhile, the Dark Horizons Web site reported that Heath Ledger (The Patriot) has denied rumors that he will appear in Episode II.
Speaking to the British press, Ledger reportedly laughed when asked if he was in the movie, adding, "absolutely not, no, no."
For his part, Samuel L. Jackson (Shaft) told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show that he would begin shooting his Episode II role as Mace Windu on July 6 in Australia. He also confirmed earlier reports that he would have a "big fight scene" in the prequel.
Damon To Be In Minority
att Damon told the iFUSE Web site that he's verbally agreed to a supporting role in Minority Report, Steven Spielberg's upcoming SF film.
Damon would co-star with Tom Cruise in the film, which is based on a Philip K. Dick short story of the same name.
Spielberg and Cruise "are two confident dudes," Damon told the site. "There's no way I wouldn't want to do that film. It's such a great concept, and I'd love to see that dynamic there." Spielberg will likely tackle Minority Report once he completes A.I., the SF film he's currently making, based on a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick.
Damon also confirmed reports that director Tim Burton has offered him the lead in the remake of the 1968 SF movie Planet of the Apes. But Damon hasn't committed to the role yet. Burton's "concept is really ambitious," Damon said. "It's not going to be like the original."
Damon added, "A lot of good stuff is coming my way. It's hard to make choices, which is a good place to be."
Scott To Appear In A.I.
dam Scott (Party of Five) will play a supporting role in Steven Spielberg's upcoming SF thriller A.I., according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Scott will play a mechanical repairman in the futuristic movie, which stars Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment.
Spielberg will direct A.I., which is based on a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick and on a 1969 short story by Brian Aldiss, "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long."
Robards To Star In A.I.?
am Robards (American Beauty) may play the husband in Steven Spielberg's upcoming SF thriller A.I., according to the Ain't It Cool News Web site.
Citing an unnamed source, AICN reported that Robards would join confirmed cast members Frances O'Connor, Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment in the movie.
Spielberg will direct the film, which is based on a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick and on a 1969 short story by Brian Aldiss, "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long."
Death Race Revving Up
olumnist Charles Fleming reported that Tom Cruise may star in a remake of the 1975 Roger Corman SF film Death Race 2000.
The remake--to be called Death Race 3000--would tell the same story as the original, about a futuristic car race in which drivers rack up points by mowing down pedestrians, Fleming reported.
Jonathan Lawton (Chain Reaction) will write the script, and Paul Anderson (Event Horizon) will direct the film for Cruise, who will also produce with his partner, Paula Wagner.
Paul Bartel, who died last month, directed Death Race 2000, which starred David Carradine and a young Sylvester Stallone as Machine-Gun Joe Viterbo, Fleming reported. Lawton told Fleming that he'd like to include Stallone in the remake as well.
Buffy Gains New Girl
roducers of The WB's hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer are casting for a new character named Dawn, the New York Post reported.
The character, a 10- to 15-year-old girl, is slated to join the show as a regular in the series' upcoming fifth season.
Buffy, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, will take the new character under her wing as a "little sister," the Post reported. But Dawn will have supernatural abilities of her own. In addition, Dawn will reportedly develop a crush on Xander, played by Nicholas Brendon. Casting is expected to wrap soon; cast and crew will return from hiatus next month to begin shooting the new season.
Orbach Encounters Mysteries
erry Orbach (Law and Order) will host Pax TV's new weekly paranormal reality show Encounters with the Unexplained, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The show, which premieres Aug. 25, will look into ancient and recent mysteries, from Noah's Ark and the Egypt pyramids to crop circles and the reported UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico, the trade paper reported.
One episode, "Ancient Medical Mysteries," will explore reports of ancient cataract surgery, dentistry practiced by the Etruscans, brain surgery performed in pre-Columbian Peru and centuries-old Hindu plastic surgery techniques.
Pax ordered 13 episodes of Encounters, with an option for a full 22-episode pickup, the trade paper reported.
Space: 1999 Homeward Bound
he classic 1970s SF television series Space: 1999 will be released on VHS and DVD video on Jan. 30, 2001.
A&E New Media will release re-mastered episodes of the show, starting with two VHS packages of three videos each, priced at $29.95, and two DVD packages with two discs each, priced at $39.95.
Subsequent releases will follow in the summer and late fall of 2001. Six collector sets will appear by the end of 2001. The company hasn't determined which of the series' 48 episodes will appear on video.
Space: 1999, which ran from 1975 to 1977, told the story of the inhabitants of a lunar colony accidentally sent on a dangerous journey through space after a massive thermonuclear explosion hurls the moon out of Earth orbit. The series starred Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and Catherine Schell.
-- Gregory L. Norris & Laura A. Van Vleet
Crow: Stairway Returning?
ryce Zabel, executive producer of the canceled syndicated television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, said that the show still has a chance of coming back.
"[Executive producer] Ed Pressman is still working toward that end," Zabel said. "Ed is a serious guy who gets things done. I'm rooting for him."
Zabel blamed the cancellation on money and politics, not on a lack of fan support. "The show was canceled, in my humble opinion, because [the production company] Polygram got sold to Universal, and Universal had only a year before getting out of the television production business," Zabel said. "Therefore, they could not get back in with somebody else's show, nor could they let a good one get away."
Zabel is confident that he can persuade star Mark Dacascos (Eric Draven) to come back to the show if it is picked up. "Mark is finishing a film in France right now," Zabel said. "We are in no imminent danger of starting again, so there's time to corral him if we need to."
Zabel also disputed rumors that James O'Barr, who created the Crow comic series on which the television show and movie franchise are based, wanted the series to have more violence. "James never said that to me," Zabel said. "He told me at the San Diego Comic-Con how much he liked what he had seen, and he said the same to [producer] Jeff Most [who also produced the 1994 feature film The Crow] on another occasion later. I think we did the violence as reasonably as one could do it for TV. The Crow [Stairway to Heaven], as I see the concept for myself, is about redemption. The movie Crow and the comic Crow are about revenge."
The SCI FI Channel will air reruns of The Crow's first season Sundays at 8 p.m. starting July 23.
Debra K. Gallagher, crowfans.com and crowsloft.com contributed to this story.
Timeline Game Due
idos and Timeline Computer Entertainment are developing a PC game based on Michael Crichton's novel Timeline, according to the FGN Web site.
The time-travel game is expected to ship this holiday season.
Crichton is reportedly overseeing development of the game himself in North Carolina. Like the novel, the game will tell the story of archaeology students who travel back in time to 14th-century France to rescue a professor. Players will assume the role of students who must navigate the medieval world among warring French and English armies.
Gromit Movie Coming
reamWorks may develop a feature-length version of Aardman Animations' Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit animated short films, Variety reported.
DreamWorks will release Aardman's Chicken Run, co-directed by Gromit creator Nick Park, nationwide on June 23.
A Gromit movie wouldn't hit the screens until at least 2004, the trade paper reported. Aardman is already working on The Tortoise and the Hare, which is slated for a 2002 release. Aardman has a four-picture deal with DreamWorks.
Park, who also produced Chicken Run, won three Oscars for animated shorts, two of them featuring Wallace, a cheese-loving inventor, and his intelligent dog, Gromit.
SF Poetry Awards Announced
he Science Fiction Poetry Association announced the winners of the 1999 Rhysling Award.
The association presented awards for the best short and best long genre poems of the year.
Rebecca Marjesdatter's Grimoire won the award for best short poem. Geoffrey A. Landis' Christmas (After We All Get Time Machines) won the award for best long poem.
Darkness To Fall On Net
riter and producer John Ridley (Three Kings) will adapt his SF novel Walk in Darkness for the Internet, Variety reported.
Ridley will adapt the book for an animated series to run on the UrbanEntertainment.com Web site, starting this summer, the trade paper reported.
The series will tell the story of a female rookie cop who is charged with hunting down mutants with superhuman abilities.
Zone Story Now Online
o Serve Man, the classic Damon Knight short story that became a beloved episode of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, has found new life as an e-book on the Fictionwise.com Web site.
Readers can download the story for 60 cents for the Palm and other handheld devices.
The story, which has been out of print for years, is among the most popular downloads on the short fiction Web site. Fans can also download other Knight SF stories, including "Masks," "The Great Pat Boom" and "Semper Fi."
Ledger To Play Lestat?
eath Ledger (The Patriot), who has said he's headed for Australia to make a new movie, may be in line to play Lestat in Queen of the Damned, according to a rumor on Coming Attractions.
Ledger has previously denied he's going to appear in Star Wars: Episode II.
Coming Attractions, citing an unnamed source, said Ledger could take over the vampire role from Wes Bentley (American Beauty), who turned it down. The Web site reported that Ledger has already committed to the role in the movie, which is based on Anne Rice's novel of the same name.
German SF Nominees Announced
he German Science Fiction Club announced the final ballot for the Deutsche Science Fiction
Preis (German Science Fiction Prize).
The prizes, honoring German-language SF&F works, will be awarded Oct. 7 at the Elstercon 2000 in Leipzig, Germany.
A full list of nominees follows.
Novel
•Canyons by Ady Henry Kiss
•Hundert Tage auf Stardawn oder Der Status des Menschen by Matthias Robold
•Londons letzter Gast by Emil Zopfi
•Mahlers Zeit by Daniel Kehlmann
•Mjöllnirs Erben by Markus Gerwinksi
Short Story
•"Das große Rennen" by Frank W. Haubold
•"Das Kinsky-Syndrom" by Wolfram Kober
•"Der Lockentenschnitzer von Beteigeuze XIV" by Horst Pukallus
•"Kaskade" by Jonas Ley
•"Nimrod" by Michael K. Iwoleit
•"Tag eines Handlungsreisenden" by Bernd Kreimeier
•"Wiedergänger" by Michael Marrak
•"Zur Hölle mit dem Maulwurf" by Uwe Hermann
Company To Make Fantasy TV
rookwell-McNamara Entertainment will produce several genre movies for television and theatrical release, according to Variety.
They include original fantasy TV movies aimed at families.
The Coat tells the story of a garment that makes wishes come true. It goes into production in December for the Disney Channel.
The Frog Prince is a Disney Channel film about a kid who takes a DNA pill that gradually changes him into a frog. Production starts in October.
Better Watch Out is a theatrical movie about Santa Claus' evil twin. The film is slated for production next year in Germany and in Los Angeles.
Bale To Star In Librium
hristian Bale (Shaft) will star in Librium, an SF movie about a fascistic future society, Variety reported.
Bale will play a law enforcement agent who rebels against the society, the trade paper reported.
Emily Watson and Taye Diggs will also star. Kurt Wimmer (The Thomas Crown Affair) wrote the screenplay and will direct. Shooting is slated to start in Europe in July.
Doyle Stumps With B5 Fans
abylon 5 star Jerry Doyle told fans that he felt compelled to run for U.S. Congress.
Speaking in a chat on the TNT cable network's official Web site, Doyle said, "Politics has always been a passion of mine, and while I would have liked to have done another series or movies, I felt compelled to enter the race because it appeared that the incumbent was going to run unopposed."
Doyle added, "I thought someone needed to step up to the plate, and to make a long story short, I am the Republican nominee for the 24th District [in Southern California]. I've put my acting career on hold, [and] I've committed to campaigning full-time." Doyle won the GOP nomination and faces incumbent Democrat Brad Sherman in November.
Goldblum Headlines Cats and Dogs
lizabeth Perkins and Jeff Goldblum will star in Warner Bros.' live-action/animated fantasy movie Like Cats and Dogs, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie is targeted for a summer 2001 release.
Goldblum will play a scientist dedicated to perfecting a cure for dog allergies. Perkins will play his wife. The movie tells the story of the epic war between cats and dogs, with Tobey Maguire, Susan Sarandon, Michael Clarke Duncan and Joe Pantoliano providing voices for the animated animals.
Larry Guterman (Antz) will direct the film, which started shooting this week in Vancouver, Canada.
Lee Narrates Spidey Game
tan Lee, who created the Marvel Comics series Spider-Man, will narrate the Activision game based on the comic, FGN reported.
The game, coming for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 platforms, will also feature Rino Romano, who provides the voice behind the animated Spider-Man television series.
Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jennifer Hale, Dee Bradley Baker and Darran Norris will also lend their voices to the game.
Highlander IV Due Aug. 25
hristopher Lambert (Highlander's Connor MacLeod) told fans that the feature film Highlander: Endgame will open in the United States Aug. 25.
Trailers for the long-awaited fourth installment of the popular movie franchise will begin appearing in movie theaters on the July 4 weekend, Lambert said during a chat on his official Web site.
"I would say that [Endgame] is the long-awaited real sequel to [1986's Highlander]," Lambert said. "What I'm saying is [that] after [Highlander II: The Quickening] and [Highlander III: The Sorcerer], we could afford to go back much closer to the original, with, of course, a different story line."
Lambert added, "I don't want to say too much about the movie; you will have the trailer in theaters as of the Fourth of July. It's gonna kick ass! And, I have to add, I've seen a big part of the movie; you won't be disappointed!" Lambert promised to preview scenes from the film on his site, which is being beta-tested.
Lambert stars in Highlander: Endgame with Adrian Paul, who headlined the Highlander television series. "It was great to be working with Adrian Paul," Lambert said.
Until the film opens, fans can check in at the newly opened Highlander: Endgame Web site.
TNT Sets Witchblade Air Dates
he TNT cable network will air Witchblade--an original television movie based on the Top Cow comics series of the same name--seven times following the TV movie's Aug. 27 premiere.
The two-hour film--the pilot for a possible series--airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT and repeats at 10 p.m. and midnight; 11 p.m. Aug. 29; 8 p.m. Aug. 30; 10:30 p.m. Sept. 2; and 10 p.m. Sept. 4.
Yancy Butler (Drop Zone) stars as NYPD detective Sara Pezzini, who inherits an ancient, intelligent weapon with which to battle the forces of darkness. The Warner Bros. production also stars David Chokachi, Eric Etebari, Anthony Cistaro and Will Yun Lee. Ralph Hemecker (Millennium) directs from a script by J.D. Zeik (Ronin).
Titan A.E. Fizzles
itan A.E. fizzled on the launch pad, coming in No. 5 in box-office rankings with a disappointing $9.5 million in its premiere weekend, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
Titan A.E., Fox's animated SF epic, opened June 16.
Mission: Impossible 2, in its fourth week of release, bested Titan to take the No. 4 spot with $10.9 million in earnings. M:I-2 has earned a total of $176.1 million and will likely surpass Mission: Impossible's North American gross of $181 million.
The weekend's other animated offering, Disney's Fantasia 2000, earned $2.8 million and placed 11th. Fantasia 2000, which had a successful run in Imax theaters earlier this year, opened in conventional theaters on June 16.
Actors Test For Spidey
everal young actors screen-tested last week for the lead role in Sam Raimi's feature film Spider-Man, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
On Friday, June 16, director Raimi tested Scott Speedman (Felicity), Jay Rodan (the upcoming Caveman's Valentine) and James Franco (Whatever It Takes), according to the trade paper.
Tobey Maguire (The Cider House Rules) is also reportedly in the running for the coveted role of Peter Parker. The film is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.
Meanwhile, Heath Ledger (The Patriot) told the British press that he turned down a chance to play Spider-Man to avoid being typecast forever, according to the Dark Horizons Web site.
Vonnegut Honored At Reunion
ndianapolis' Shortridge High School honored alumnus Kurt Vonnegut Jr. at the SF novelist's 60th reunion June 17, according to the Associated Press.
The school unveiled a bronze bust of the 77-year-old author by California artist Mary Weide, the wire service reported.
Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse-Five) was a member of Shortridge High's class of 1940. The high school's Athenaeum, where the bust was unveiled, was designed by the author's grandfather, architect Bernard Vonnegut.
Escaflowne Goes Online
roducers of The Vision of Escaflowne Movie: A Girl in Gaia have posted Japanese-language trailers on the official Escaflowne Web site.
The Oh My Queen! Web site has posted a text translation of the dialogue in the 10-minute trailers.
In addition, the Japanese television series on which the movie is based will appear on the Fox network later this year.
Otakon To Host BôA Concert
ôA, the British band whose song Duvet appears in the anime Serial Experiments Lain, will perform at the Baltimore Otakon anime convention Aug. 4.
BôA will perform as part of the convention's opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. as guests of honor.
The performance will feature clips from Lain and an appearance by the anime's creator, Yoshitoshi Abe, according to Otakon coordinator David Christopher Asher.
Viz Gives Books, Videos To Libraries
omics publisher Viz Communications donated more than $100,000 worth of manga books and anime videos to U.S. public libraries, the company announced.
Viz donated graphic novels, books, magazines, videos and comics to 15 libraries in Arizona, California, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin.
Viz, the nation's fifth-largest comics publisher, has previously donated to the Japanese Community Youth Council, the Los Angeles Tofu Festival and the San Francisco Rescue Mission. Earlier this month, Viz donated $12,000 worth of Pokémon calendars and comic books to San Francisco's Chinatown Branch Library for its summer reading program.
Gentlemen Adapt To Screen
ames Robinson told Fandom that he's writing the big-screen adaptation of Alan Moore's comic series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
The story brings together Victorian adventure fiction characters Captain Nemo, Mina Harker and Alan Quatermain to battle their evil counterparts, Prof. Moriarty and Fu Manchu.
It's not easy, Robinson said. "People, myself included, tend to hold these characters very near and dear and tend to have a very purist viewpoint about them," Robinson told the site. "The more you take them away from the scene that inspired it, the more you stand to earn the scorn from the fans that got the series attention in the first place."
Robinson added that he faces stiff challenges in adapting the comic for the movies. "The characters themselves don't have much of an arc," he said. "They all are set up and established from the beginning and really don't change much, because that's the way things are when you're doing a comic. ... With a film, characters do need to have an arc to their feelings and actions, and there needs to be a sense of resolution for them internally as well as the external adventure. Whilst I'm trying to create something that stands alone as a really cool film, I'm trying to be true to the vision and the feeling of the comic book series."
Rock On Tap For $6 Billion Man?
hris Rock may be in line to star in the Farrelly brothers' The Six Billion Dollar Man, according to the EW Online Web site.
Man is the inflation-adjusted movie based on the 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man.
EW Online reported that Peter and Bobby Farrelly (Me, Myself and Irene) will spoof the original series. Rock would play the reconstructed hero, who fights a nemesis who cost an additional $1 billion to build. The original series' main character, Col. Steve Austin, also reportedly will make an appearance in the film.
Expect Clashes On Andromeda
obert Hewitt Wolfe, head writer for Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, told Space.com that the upcoming TV series boasts a motley crew of clashing characters.
"It's quite a dynamic group, as we've discovered from shooting 'D Minus Zero,' which put them into a very ship-based, action-based environment," Wolfe said.
Wolfe added, "Very few of the regular characters are trained military officers, and they have a lot of attitude. They are not very disciplined. They don't always follow the orders given to them. ... They're definitely a bunch of scurvy dogs. They all have their own agendas, which really gives a nice charge to scenes where they may discuss different options to solve a problem."
"They are seven very different people," Wolfe said. "They all come from different places. Physically they all look very, very different. Psychologically they are all very, very different. Some of them are calm; some of them are quite hyper. We have serene. We have tough. It's very nice. And we have Kevin [Sorbo] at the center, and he has a lot of dynamism in his performance too. It's a nice mix." Andromeda premieres in syndication this fall.
Briefly Noted
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Angelina Jolie will have to curb her wild ways during the filming of her upcoming movie Tomb Raider: Producers have given her an 11 p.m. curfew, according to the Empire Online Web site.
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Richard Donner, producer of Fox's upcoming X-Men movie, will receive the Hollywood Film Festival's directing award on Aug. 7 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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Tiger Electronics has released an interactive Yoda talking toy, based on the Star Wars character. The 8-inch, Furby-like toy features the voice of Frank Oz, who voiced and operated the Yoda puppet in the Star Wars films.
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Robert Gordon has completed the script for Men in Black 2, which he delivered to Columbia and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, Variety reported. Columbia wants to reteam director Barry Sonnenfeld with actors Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones from the first Men in Black.
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Warner Bros. has a new script by William Wisher (Terminator 2) for the next Superman movie and is meeting with prospective directors, including Ralph Zondag (Dinosaur), Variety reported.
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Warner Bros. has opened an official Web site for its upcoming movie Space Cowboys, which premieres Aug. 4.
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The X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz told the Zap2it Web site that the series' eighth season story line is still up in the air. "We literally are figuring that out as we speak, because this is our first week back," Spotnitz said. "But it will be very different from the Mulder-Scully relationship."
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Cinescape Online columnist Cindy Pearlman reported that Mark Wahlberg (The Perfect Storm) may be in line to star in Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes. "People tell me I'm pretty simian, but I think Tim Burton wants me to be the Charlton Heston," Wahlberg said.
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The Green Mile took the No. 1 slot among video rentals during its first five days of video release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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The Crow: Salvation, the third film in the franchise based on James O'Barr's comic series, will screen for convention-goers at DragonCon in Atlanta June 30, according to the film's official Web site. Star Eric Mabius and O'Barr will attend. Mabius will also discuss the film on July 1.
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Joe Nussbaum, who directed the short film George Lucas in Love, will make his feature directorial debut with How to Eat Fried Worms, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lucas in Love, a parody of Shakespeare in Love centering on the Star Wars creator, at one point outsold Lucas's own Star Wars: Episode I on the Web.
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Disney will release Toy Story on DVD and Toy Story 2 on DVD and VHS on Oct. 17. Both movies will appear in a two-pack DVD set or a three-disc "Ultimate Toy Box" that will also include the short features Tin Toy and Luxo Jr., as well as the trailer for the upcoming feature Monsters Inc.
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Speed Racer's Mach 5 racecar went up for auction on eBay, the Reuters news service reported. The car, based on the Japanese animated television series, is being sold to benefit the Child Safety Network.
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Elemental Films has opened a new Web site to tout its independent SF fantasy film Ancanar. The site includes a new trailer for the movie.
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The ShowBiz Ireland Web site confirmed a report that Gabriel Byrne has been offered a role in Star Wars: Episode II. "The people from Star Wars called the other day to offer me something, but I don't know what it is yet," Byrne told the Irish Star newspaper, adding that he'd likely accept.
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Star Trek star William Shatner received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto on June 23. Shatner already has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.
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The SCI FI Channel has won nine Promax marketing and promotion awards and 15 BDA Design Awards for its broadcast and promotional designs. The awards included two World Class Awards for television branding and network packaging and the Razorfish Rocket Award.
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Michael Vartan (The Next Best Thing) will play Sir Lancelot in the TNT miniseries The Mists of Avalon. based on Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel of the same name, Variety reported. Anjelica Huston and Julianna Margulies also star in the miniseries, which puts a feminist spin on the Camelot story.
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NBC bought the broadcast rights to Chicken Run, the DreamWorks animated fantasy film, Variety reported. NBC also aired a half-hour primetime infomercial about the movie on June 24.
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Patricia Tallman, Wayne Alexander, Robin Atkin Downes and Maggie Egan will star in Babylon Park: Grudgematch, an animated parody of Babylon 5, which will premiere at DragonCon in Atlanta June 30. The spoof will also unspool at TorontoTrek in Toronto on July 15.
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Producer Richard Zanuck told syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith that there's no role for Charlton Heston in his update of Heston's 1968 film Planet of the Apes. Zanuck added, "It's not a sequel, it's not a remake of Planet of the Apes; it's a reconstruction of the basic idea--a re-imagination of apes and humans."
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Pop singer John Mellencamp will play a crime photographer who falls in love with
a clairvoyant woman in the murder mystery thriller After Image, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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IFilm has posted Computer Boy, a 50-minute spoof of The Matrix, to its Web site. The film--written, directed and produced by Abe Forsythe--features many of the same Sydney, Australia, locations as The Matrix.
