Berlinger Talks Blair Witch 2
oe Berlinger, director of the upcoming Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, told Eon Magazine that he took a different approach from 1999's The Blair Witch Project.
Berlinger is the award-winning filmmaker who directed the feature-length documentary Paradise Lost.
For Blair Witch 2, Berlinger's first fictional movie, "To make the movie relative to me as a documentarian, I didn't want to run through the woods, shake the camera and continue the story where the first one left off," Berlinger told Eon. "I wanted to do a horror movie that tackled a social issue. My concern was that people are not discerning enough, and when they consume media, they assume that if something is shot on video, it's real. I was fascinated by the real-life events of the town of Burkittsville being overrun by Blair Witch fans. I thought that would be a cool way to get a story going for a second movie."
Berlinger added, "The second movie treats the first as a cultural phenomenon. The film is about five obsessed movie fans who go to Burkittsville and take a tour through the woods. Then something creepy happens. They emerge from the woods, and one of the other bold decisions of the sequel is it doesn't take place entirely in the woods. It takes place in an urban-like interior space. I looked on real-life events and capitalized on [them] too--exploring the idea of [whether] should we trust video. Is it real or not?" Blair Witch 2 opens Oct. 27.
British Writer Freed In Bolivia
lison Spedding, a British anthropologist and author of the Walk in the Dark fantasy trilogy of novels, was released from a Bolivian jail on bail after being imprisoned two years ago on drug charges, the British Guardian newspaper reported.
Spedding benefited from recent changes in the Bolivian penal code, the paper reported.
Spedding, 38, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1998 when a judge ruled that two kilograms of cannabis found at her home was intended for trafficking, the Guardian reported. She was allowed to leave jail on condition she stay in La Paz until the Bolivian supreme court makes a final decision on her case.
Spedding's trilogy consists of The Road and the Hills, A Cloud over Water and The Streets of the City.
More Apes To Appear In Apes?
irector Tim Burton's upcoming remake of Planet of the Apes may feature a broader variety of ape and monkey species than the original 1968 film, the Coming Attractions Web site reported.
The first movie featured only chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas.
Citing an unnamed source, the site offered a partial list of the various primates who may appear in the movie, which will star Mark Wahlberg. Among them: chimpanzees, baboons, orangutans, howler monkeys, mangabeys, gorillas, spider monkeys, lervet monkeys, mandrills and loris monkeys. Michael Clarke Duncan will play a giant silverback gorilla, the site added.
Law Coming Along
ackie Estrada of comic book publisher Exhibit A Press told the Comics Continuum that work continues on the script for Supernatural Law, the upcoming Universal Pictures movie based on Batton Lash's comic series Wolff and Byrd.
The series tells the story of a law firm that represents demons and other supernatural creatures.
"Mike McCullers is doing a rewrite, with input from the director, Harald Zwart," Estrada told the site. "The rewrite is due in sometime next week. Nothing can get underway until casting is taken care of, and Universal is apparently looking at a lot of different people. And of course, everything could be affected by the threatened [Screen Actors Guild] strike."
The initial script was written by S.S. Wilson and Steve Mazur, with a pass by Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), the site reported.
King's Dragon To Get Animated
AMC Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based production company, has optioned Stephen King's novel The Eyes of the Dragon for an animated feature film, the Screendaily.com Web site reported.
The novel, which King wrote for his daughter in 1987, tells the story of a kingdom inhabited by dragons, magicians and knights.
WAMC told the site that the project's screenplay is due for completion by early 2001. Character design will be originated in the United States, while sets and background will be created in Europe, the site reported.
Scooby Doo Movie In Works
riter James Gunn told the Popcorn U.K. Web site that he's working on a screenplay for a proposed live-action version of the animated television series Scooby Doo.
"The script is on the second draft," Gunn told the site. "It just went into Warner Brothers two weeks ago."
Gunn added, "It looks like it's going to happen. There's a lot of momentum behind the film." Jennifer Love Hewitt is rumored to be in line for the role of Daphne. But Gunn denied a rumor that British actor Rhys Ifans would play Shaggy. "That's a false rumor," he said.
Devil Made Hewitt Do It
ennifer Love Hewitt will play the devil in The Devil and Daniel Webster, a supernatural movie that updates Stephen Vincent Benet's story of the same name, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Hewitt joins Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin in the movie, which Baldwin will also direct for Cutting Edge Entertainment and El Dorado Pictures, the trade paper reported. Production is slated to start Jan. 15 in New York.
Hewitt will play the princess of darkness, who goes head to head with Hopkin's character, publisher Daniel Webster, in a battle for the soul of writer Jabez Stone, played by Baldwin.
Owen Movie Booked
niversal Pictures chairman Casey Silver's Gone Fishin' Productions company will develop The Book of Owen, a fantasy movie based on a pitch by writer Vincent Ngo, Variety reported.
The movie tells the story of a man who discovers a book a week before his 36th birthday that contains the story of his life.
Each chapter covers a year, but the book contains only 35 chapters, leading the man to figure out his destiny, the trade paper reported.
Dark Angel Flies High
he Oct. 3 premiere of Fox's Dark Angel earned the network its largest Tuesday audience ever for regular programming, bringing in an average viewership of 17.3 million, the network announced.
Among adults 18-34, the show earned an 8.3 rating and a 22 share.
Meanwhile, the seventh-season premiere of Star Trek: Voyager on Oct. 4 held its own against strong competition from NBC's returning The West Wing. Voyager posted its strongest numbers in more than three years, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Average viewership was up 15 percent from last season's debut--7.10 million compared to 6.20 million--and the 3.9 rating in adults 18-49 was Voyager's best showing in that important demographic in three years, Variety reported.
The Specials Aren't Mystery Men
ames Gunn, writer of the SF film The Specials, told Eon Magazine that the independent superhero satire isn't a cut-rate version of last year's Mystery Men.
"If somebody says The Specials is about second-rate superheroes, that's where the similarities end," Gunn told the magazine.
Gunn added, "Besides that, Mystery Men is a slapstick action film. Our movie is a character comedy. It's about human beings. It's about being a superhero as a human being. It's not about being a superhero and fighting. They're totally different movies. I would actually say that in some ways Mystery Men and X-Men are more alike than The Specials and Mystery Men."
The Specials, which opened in limited release on Sept. 18, tells the story of America's "seventh-best superhero team" and stars Gunn, Thomas Haden Church, Paget Brewster, Rob Lowe, Jamie Kennedy, Judy Greer, Kelly Coffield, Sean Gunn, Jordan Ladd, Mike Schwartz and Jim Zuvelic.
Hulk Writer Is Serious
avid Hayter, writer of the upcoming feature film based on the Marvel Comics Hulk series, told the Comics Continuum Web site that he's going to take the story seriously.
Hayter, who also wrote the X-Men screenplay, told the site: "I'm taking the same mixture of taking it seriously and also having a good time at the movies that X-Men had and am bringing it to the Hulk."
Hayter has been working on the Hulk script for about six weeks. He was brought in to do a rewrite for producer Gale Anne Hurd on a story by Mike France and Michael Tolkin, Comics Continuum reported. "I'm writing the whole thing up from the ground again," Hayter said. "It's going great. I'm really happy with it, and everybody seems happy with it."
Anderson To Helm Evil
s rumored, Paul Anderson (Mortal Kombat) will direct the feature-film version of the Capcom video game series Resident Evil, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Anderson will also write the script for the SF/horror thriller, which is slated to begin shooting in London in January.
The movie will tell the story of a special military unit that fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of flesh-eating creatures. Anderson also directed Event Horizon.
Babylon 5 Game Dead
abylon 5: Into the Fire, a proposed video game based on the long-running syndicated television series, has been shelved, Richard G. Brewer, chief executive of the game's developer, Sector 14 Studios, said in a post to the FirstOnes.com fan message board.
"It is not due to problems with Sector 14 Studios, nor is it due to lack of interest by publishers or lack of funding, but rather the current holder of the materials recently informed us they were no longer interested in selling the game assets," Brewer said.
Brewer added, "This outcome is unfortunate, for several reasons. Those of you close to the project know just how revolutionary the game design and gameplay would have been, and given the rather stagnant performance of space combat games, many of us knew in our heart of hearts that [Into the Fire] had real potential to turn the market around and get some of the life that the first-person shooter market has been enjoying for the past three years. ... For the fan of Babylon 5, it is another blow--the last remaining unseen footage of the cast and crew will remain unseen."
What does this mean for Babylon 5 gaming? "Time will tell," Brewer said. "In the meantime, we'd be happy to hear from any of you. Please feel free to send us your thoughts at sector14studios@yahoo.com or contact me directly."
Voyager Designer Looks Ahead
ichard James, production designer for Star Trek: Voyager, told the official Star Trek Web site that he draws from a wide array of influences in coming up with the distinctive look of the series, which began its seventh and last season Oct. 4.
"I'm not conscious of it, but I can see when something is completed that I am influenced by certain things: Art Deco, Mayan, Frank Lloyd Wright," James told the site. "I see those influences, even though I'm not consciously trying to do that. I try to not look at a lot of things, because I want it to be fresh."
For the final season, James said not to expect radical changes in the way things look. "I would say no, I don't anticipate any. There were some minor changes to the Delta Flyer, because it's really a new one as the other one was destroyed. Visually we tried to make some slight differences." The main constraint, as always, is time, he added. "The time is crucial, and there's always the budget. We do a new episode every seven days, so it doesn't give us much time. At the time we get the script, we design and come up with the concepts, designs and budget for painting, construction and dressing. It all has to come together pretty fast. The constraints mostly are availability of material and the time element."
Bates Talking Dragonfly Role
scar-winning actress Kathy Bates is in final talks to join the cast of Dragonfly, a supernatural thriller starring Kevin Costner, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Tom Shadyac (The Nutty Professor) will direct the movie for Universal Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment.
Bates will play a next-door neighbor in the movie, which tells the story of a grieving doctor (Costner) who believes his dead wife is trying to communicate with him through the near-death experiences of his patients, the trade paper reported. Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson wrote the script, which is being rewritten by David Seltzer. Shooting is scheduled to begin next month.
Festival Honors Lovecraft Films
he annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, which promotes faithful movie adaptations of the gothic and science fiction writer's works, takes place in Salem, Mass., in October.
The festival will screen films at noon and 2 p.m. Oct. 13-15, 20-22 and 27-31. Admission is $4-$12.
Films featured in this year's festival include Cool Air, The Music of Erich Zann, Return to Innsmouth and The Hound. The films will be shown at the Phillips Library, where Lovecraft researched and set scenes from his novella "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." Andrew Migliore and John Strysik, authors of The Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft, will give a special film lecture at the Phillips Library Oct. 27 at noon.
The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival is part of Eerie Events 2000, which features stories, films and music inspired by writers of gothic fiction such as Lovecraft, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe. For tickets or more information, call (800) 745-4054, ext. 3214.
Hales Talks Episode II
onathan Hales, co-writer of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode II, told the French version of the Star Wars Insider magazine that the prequel will be more complex than Episode I, according to a report on TheForce.net.
Hales reportedly said that the love story between Anakin Skywalker and Queen Amidala will drive the story.
Hales added that the master-padawan relationship between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin will be characterized by humor. TheForce.net also reported that Hales worked closely with director George Lucas to shape Episode II's storyline.
Night Pilot To Shoot
riter Dana Windsor will produce the pilot for a proposed vampire soap opera entitled Living by Night, according to Cinescape Online.
Described as a cross between Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and the British soap opera East Enders, the pilot will begin production in Wilmington, N.C.
The pilot will center on Rain, a 500-year-old vampire who struggles to protect the humans he cares about.
SCI FI Buys Earth Rights
he SCI FI Channel reported that it has struck a deal with Tribune Entertainment to air reruns of the syndicated SF series Earth: Final Conflict.
SCI FI bought the rights to 88 episodes of the series and will buy the rights to another 22 if there is a fifth season. Earth: Final Conflict will join the SCI FI lineup in the fall of 2001.
The deal also covers all of the USA Networks cable and station properties and includes Web site and e-commerce elements that allow SCI FI and SCIFI.COM to share in the online promotion of and revenue generated from the series.
Earth: Final Conflict begins its fourth season in syndication this week.
Blood Video Game Due
eam Oshii will release a video game based on the anime series Blood: The Last Vampire for the PlayStation 2 gaming platform.
A feature-film version of Blood, meanwhile, will premiere at the New York Anime Film Festival on Oct 7.
The video game will take place in the year 2000--40 years after the events in the movie--and tell the story of a 17-year-old high-school dropout and a vampire slayer named Saya.
Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii wrote and Katsuya Terada illustrated a novel titled Blood, the Last Vampire: The Night of the Wolves, which was released in Japan in November. The manga magazine Monthly Ace Next and Dragon Magazine, meanwhile, will release comic and serial versions of the series.
13 Ghosts Scaring Up Stars
hannon Elizabeth (American Pie) is in final talks to star in Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis' remake of William Castle's 1960 schlock horror movie 13 Ghosts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Silver and Zemeckis will produce the film under their Dark Castle Entertainment company (House on Haunted Hill), and first-time director Steve Beck will helm for Warner Brothers and Columbia Pictures, the trade paper reported.
Tony Shalhoub, F. Murray Abraham and rapper Rah Digga are also in talks to appear in the movie.
Todd Alcott and Neal Steven will write the screenplay. The movie tells the story of a family that inherits an eerie mansion haunted by ghosts who can be seen only through special goggles.
Cameron Headed For Space?
oes Dark Angel creator James Cameron want to go where no director has gone before?
The New York Post, quoting the Russian news agency Interfax, reported that the filmmaker wants to travel into outer space and stay on board the Russian space station Mir, beginning next summer.
But Cameron's representative denied the report to the Mr. Showbiz Web site. "Jim has taken a number of trips to various NASA facilities, [and] most recently [visited] Russian [space facilities], in support of his upcoming projects," Rae Sanchini, president of Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment production company, told the site. Cameron is working on a TV miniseries and an IMAX film about Mars, and he is co-writing the related novel about a fictitious manned mission to the red planet, Mr. Showbiz reported.
Carey To Be Wonder Woman?
iting a rumor in the British tabloid The Daily Star, the Popcorn U.K. Web site reported that singer Mariah Carey is the front-runner to play the titular superhero in producer Joel Silver's upcoming Wonder Woman movie.
Sandra Bullock has been previously linked with the role.
Carey joins a list of actresses rumored to be in line for the coveted role, including Shannon Elizabeth and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The movie is based on the DC Comics series of the same name.
Hopkins To Headline Devil
nthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin will star in The Devil and Daniel Webster, a supernatural movie based on Stephen Vincent Benet's story of the same name, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Baldwin will also make his feature-film directing debut with the movie for Cutting Edge Entertainment and El Dorado Pictures, the trade paper reported. Production is slated to start Jan. 15 in New York.
Hopkins will play publisher Daniel Webster and Baldwin will play writer Jabez Stone in the updated version of Benet's story, about a writer who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for fame and fortune. Pete Dexter (Michael) adapted the story for the screen, and Bill Condon and Nancy Cassaro did a rewrite.
Li Will Be The One
artial arts star Jet Li (Romeo Must Die) will star in the supernatural thriller The One, the next movie from Final Destination director James Wong and his writing partner Glen Morgan, Variety reported.
Morgan and Wong are former producers of such television series as Millennium, The X-Files and Space: Above and Beyond.
Li, who will be paid upwards of $7.5 million for his role, will play a cop who must fight his evil twin from a parallel universe to save the world, Variety reported. The Revolution Studios project is slated to begin production in January 2001 with an eye to an August 2001 release.
The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson, was originally slated to star in The One, but dropped out to star in The Scorpion King. Morgan and Wong are rewriting the movie for Li. Li will also reportedly star in both sequels to 1999's hit The Matrix, which are in pre-production.
Rowling Gives To Charity
.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter series of children's novels, donated $730,000 to the One Parent Families charity, according to the Reuters news service.
Rowling is a divorcee and a single parent herself.
Rowling has also agreed to represent the National Council for One Parent Families, the leading British charity for lone parents, Reuters reported.
Matrixy Veronica On Tap
andscape Entertainment will develop Veronica, an SF movie based on Nicholas Christopher's novel of the same name, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks) will adapt the novel for the screen.
Veronica is described as The Matrix framed as a love story. It centers on a cynical photographer who meets an enigmatic woman on a snowy night in Greenwich Village and travels across time and space into a magical world where her father is trapped in an alternate dimension.
Time Has E-Mail Hook
yde Park Entertainment will develop Running Out of Time, an SF mystery-thriller movie based on a pitch from writer Michael Wright (Dangerous Attraction), Variety reported.
The movie will tell the story of an Internet company employee who begins getting e-mail from himself in the future, warning of impending doom, the trade paper reported.
Hyde Park principals David Hoberman and Ashok Armitraj will serve as two of the producers, Variety reported.
Fox Readies New Journey
ox 2000 will develop a new feature-film version of Jules Verne's classic SF novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, based on a pitch from writers Travis Wright and John Glenn, Variety reported.
The new movie will tell the story of a group of scientist/adventurers who embark on a journey that turns into a quest for the origins of vampire mythology, a signficant departure from Verne's story.
Wright and Glenn recently sold the idea for the genre film Red World to producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
Anderson May Return To London
he X-Files star Gillian Anderson told the British newspaper The Guardian that she is thinking about taking her act to the London stage, where she would like to appear in theatrical plays.
Anderson also said she plans to live part-time in the British capital at some point, though her commitment to The X-Files will likely keep her near her current home in Malibu, Calif.
Anderson is no stranger to London; she spent part of her childhood there while her father studied at the London Film School, The Guardian reported.
Anderson was thoughtful about violence in American entertainment. "We have this despair that we're living this American life and in some way we release that through this aggression that comes through in our form of entertainment," Anderson said. "In some way, we're getting out all the rage and dissatisfaction and frustration. Is that healthy, because it's an outlet that is not affecting our home life? Or by seeing that in the movies, are we then able to go home and have an excuse to slap our loved one? It's so hard to know."
Ryder To Get Hollywood Star
inona Ryder, star of New Line's upcoming satanic thriller movie Lost Souls, will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 6.
Ryder's star will be at 7018 Hollywood Blvd., in front of the Johnny Grant building adjacent to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Lost Souls, which opens Oct. 13, stars Ryder as a young woman who becomes aware of a satanic conspiracy that will plunge the world into the ultimate darkness.
Potter's Hooch Cast
he Empire Online Web site reported that Zoe Wanamaker will play Madame Hooch in Chris Columbus' upcoming feature-film version of J.K. Rowling's best-selling children's novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Hooch is the teacher at Hogwarts school for wizards who teaches young Harry how to fly a broomstick.
The movie, currently in production in Great Britian, will film this week at Alnwick Castle, the Web site reported.
Father Of Scully's Baby Revealed?
rank Spotnitz, executive producer of The X-Files, told the Palm Beach Post newspaper that the upcoming season may reveal the father of Scully's baby. "It could've been Mulder," Spotnitz told the newspaper.
"There is a very violent debate whether that would be a good plot development. Other things I've heard is that somehow it's an alien pregnancy. And there was an episode last season where Scully was in the company of Cigarette-Smoking Man and she was unconscious and woke up in a bedroom. Those are the three scenarios."
Spotnitz added, "You'll get more information early in the new year, probably sometime after Christmas. Since Mulder is missing, I think it would be difficult for Scully to get real hard answers." The X-Files starts its eighth season on Nov. 5.
As previously reported, Mulder will appear in only about half of the series' 22 episodes. Scully (Gillian Anderson) will be paired with a new FBI Agent, John Doggett, played by Robert Patrick. "Most X-Files fans love Mulder, and they love Mulder with Scully," Spotnitz said. "It's quite natural that when you've loved a character and actor to feel resistance to a new guy coming in. No matter how wonderful the new actor and character is, it's a hard sell to the audience. Plus, Scully doesn't like him. I suspect he'll win her over. Robert Patrick is a hard actor not to like."
Shadow Falls Over SCI FI
he SCI FI Channel will air Shadow of the Blair Witch, an original one-hour special tied to the upcoming feature film Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2.
The special premieres Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. ET. The movie--the highly anticipated sequel to 1999's The Blair Witch Project--opens nationwide Oct. 27.
Like the mockumentary Curse of the Blair Witch, which SCI FI aired in conjunction with the original Blair Witch Project, Shadow is a pseudo-investigative report. It purports to look into events depicted in Book of Shadows--specifically, the crimes of tour guide and Burkittsville, Md., native Jeffrey Patterson. The special will feature new footage from the movie.
SCI FI Reports Record Ratings
he SCI FI Channel reported record ratings in the third quarter of 2000.
The quarter's 0.9 household rating was up 13 percent from the like quarter a year earlier and represented the third record ratings quarter in a row. For the second quarter in a row, SCI FI has made it into the list of top 10 highest-rated cable networks.
SCI FI attributed the strong ratings performance to original series such as Farscape and Invisible Man, a new on-air look and a no-repeat "Summer of SCI-FI" programming strategy.
In September, SCI FI ratings grew 25 percent to 1.0 from last year's previous record-breaking September. SCI FI is currently ranked No. 1 among all television networks year-to-date in its concentration of adult viewers aged 25-54.
Pace Changing For Boreanaz
avid Boreanaz, star of The WB's hit vampire series Angel, told EW.com that the film-noir-flavored Oct. 3 episode marks a change of pace.
"What's great is that usually we go back to the 1800s or the 1700s," Boreanaz says of the episodes that flash back in the 240-year history of the character he plays. "Here, it's the 1950s and the colors just came to life; we didn't do the typical 'let's shoot it in black and white' type of thing. It has a little bit of a James Dean vibe."
Boreanaz offered spoilers for the episode. "Basically, we find that Angel is living in a hotel with these writers and actors," he said. "He gets involved because there's a demon that's living in this hotel feeding off the insecurities of people. At the end of the episode, we find out where the new headquarters will be, where the team will be setting up shop."
Boreanaz added that this year's Angel will balance light and dark. "Last year, I think Angel developed some form of sarcastic humor that was inherent to that type of character. This year, I think the producers are going to open him up more as far as him having to sing karaoke songs, making a fool out of himself, and I think that's where he might be his funniest."
As for future episodes, Boreanaz said, "We're actually doing one right now that involves myself, Spike, Drusilla, Darla, the Master. We've got some heavy sh-t coming up there. We're going to the Boxer Rebellion next week. It's going to be wild."
Raimi Readying Spidey Movie
am Raimi, director of Sony's upcoming Spider-Man movie, told the Popcorn U.K. Web site that he is deep in pre-production.
Raimi and crew are "working in every phase of production you can imagine," including scouting locations in New York and Los Angeles, setting up soundstages and sets, revising the script and casting, Raimi told the site.
Raimi added that star Tobey Maguire is bulking up to play the lead role of Peter Parker in the movie, which is based on the venerable Marvel Comics series of the same name. Maguire is "undergoing a great transformation himself right now," working with a martial arts expert, a climbing expert and a physical trainer who is helping him "work on his body motion to get down the spider-type moves," Raimi said. "It's not going to be a Tobey that anybody recognizes."
Maguire is perfect for the role, Raimi said. He "has a good heart, and when you look into Tobey's eyes, he's really true. The thing that made [Parker] so popular is that Peter Parker is a good person, and Tobey is a good person, so I think it's going to work."
McKellen Says Films Ring True
an McKellen, who plays Gandalf in Peter Jackson's upcoming film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, again defended the faithfulness of the movies to J.R.R. Tolkien's three novels of the same name.
Posting to his official Web site, McKellen said, "Lord of the Rings is perhaps the most faithful screenplay ever adapted from a long novel. This is not just because our writing quartet is devoted to the original and would share other fans' resentment if it were 'mistreated.'"
McKellen added, "Tolkien has an advantage over Dickens, Tolstoy and other epic writers. His storylines have a clear sweep and are less concerned with the byways and subplots which characterize 19th-century novels. Consequently the major milestones of the fellowship's journey are intact. Inevitably, even in a three-film version, there will be some omissions of characters and elisions of events. But as the story unfolds onscreen and as the landscapes are seen for the first time, little will be missed.
"The enthusiasts who have read the novels over and over may notice every change, but in doing so they will miss the point," McKellen said. "Peter Jackson's movie does not challenge the novel's supremacy any more than the distinguished book illustrations by Howe, Lee et al. were meant to replace Tolkien's descriptive words. Paintings, drawings, animations and at last the feature films all augment our appreciation of Lord of the Rings. And just watch the book sales rise as New Line's publicity for the film gears up."
McKellen also had a simple reply when a fan asked him to dispel widespread rumors that the character of Arwen would end up in battle scenes, an issue of much concern among fans. Could he debunk the rumor? "I can," McKellen wrote.
Fantasy Moon Coming
astle Hill Productions will distribute Blue Moon, a fantasy movie starring Ben Gazzara and Rita Moreno, Variety reported.
The movie won the best American feature prize at the Avignon/New York Film Festival and the Gold Award at Worldfest Houston, the trade paper reported.
The movie tells the story of an aging couple who travel to the Catskills and confront their younger selves. John Gallagher wrote and directed Moon.
The movie premieres Oct. 30 in New York in a benefit for the Children's Hospital at Montefiore.
Wild To Foresee Future Animals
iscovery Communications' Animal Planet cable network will premiere The Future Is Wild, a computer-animated show that speculates on what kind of animals may roam the Earth in 100 million years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The one-hour show will be part of Animal Planet's Watch With the World event, set for the end of 2001. The show will air in 62 countries where Animal Planet is carried and could potentially reach 120 million viewers, the trade paper reported.
The pilot episode of Wild will be followed by a 13-episode series, which will premiere in the first quarter of 2002. The series will take a look at evolutionary theory and the projections of leading scientists. Some of the speculative future animals include a 20-foot-long armor-plated animal called a "rattleback," a flying hybrid of a bat and a vulture, and a giant land squid.
Jeremiah Is Straczynski's Pilot
ariety identified the pilot being written by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski for Showtime: Jeremiah, based on a long-running European SF comic series of the same name.
Straczynski had posted to a Babylon 5 newsgroup that he was working on the two-hour pilot, but had declined to name it.
Variety said that the SF pilot from Lions Gate Entertainment will tell the story of Earth 15 years after a virus has killed everyone who has reached puberty. Joe Dante (Small Soldiers) will executive produce the pilot, which could develop into a Showtime series.
It's Tough Being An Angel
essica Alba, who stars as Max in Fox's new SF series Dark Angel, told the Fandom Web site that it's not easy headlining her first major series.
"Oh, a lot tougher than I appreciated," the 19-year-old actress told the site. "The truth is, I expected the worst, but expecting the worst and actually doing the worst are actually two completely different things [laughs]."
In the new series from Titanic director James Cameron and his partner Charles Eglee, Alba plays Max, a genetically enhanced warrior who escapes her military handlers and ekes out an existence as a bicycle messenger and cat burglar in post-apocalyptic Seattle, circa 2019. The series premieres Oct. 3.
"I have to get up at 6:30 [a.m.] so I can work out from 7 to 8:30, then I have to run back to my house, take a shower so I can get picked up at 8:45, which I'm usually five to eight minutes late for, and my driver probably isn't the happiest man in the world," Alba said. "Then I have to get my butt to the [Vancouver] set, go straight into makeup. I eat my breakfast while I get my hair and makeup done, and in the middle of that, I have to go and get pulled for rehearsals, come back and change and go onto the set. I'm there all day until about 11 at night, when they say we've lost our location and there's no way we can get any more, and start it all over again."
Alba added, "We're really shooting a mini-movie in eight days, and in that, I'm doing two or three pages of dialogue with three or four different characters and, like, five hours of action sequences. That can be any day. Three days a week, I do action and acting, and the rest I do ridiculously long scenes of dialogue. And when do I have time to memorize this stuff? I don't know [laughs]."
But it's all worth it, Alba said. "I am doing what I love. I'm really lucky. It's hard work, and you don't realize you can do it until you do it."
Ghost Haunts Park Avenue
imension Films will develop Park Avenue Ghost, a supernatural comedy movie based on a pitch by writers Peter Wortmann and Bob Conte, Variety reported.
Rupert Everett and LL Cool J may star in the ghost story, the trade paper reported.
The movie tells the story of a young African-American man who finds himself in the company of a stuffy spirit, Variety reported. The writers most recently completed the script for Curious George.
Batman Joins Scorpion At Museum
ormer Batman star Adam West and a bevy of pinups from The SCI FI Channel's upcoming original series Black Scorpion will unveil the Scorpionmobile at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on Oct. 5.
West plays the archvillain "Breathtaker" in Scorpion, which stars former Miss Kansas Michelle Lintel as the titular superhero.
Black Scorpion, a campy one-hour series, begins airing on SCI FI in January.
Gershon, Perry In SCIFI.COM Crypt
ina Gershon (Face/Off) and Luke Perry (Beverly Hills 90210) will voice Island of Death, the first installment of 13 new Tales from the Crypt episodes to be produced exclusively for SCIFI.COM's Seeing Ear Theatre.
The Internet-based audio dramas will be posted weekly starting Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. ET. The series is based on stories from Tales from the Crypt comic books in the tradition of the 1980s television series of the same name, which can still be seen on The SCI FI Channel Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
In Island of Death, Gershon will play Galatea Hapsburg, the hostess of the reality television show Mantis. Galatea sleeps with "dot-com" millionaire Quinn Dillon (Perry), then proceeds to hunt him down through a camera-filled deserted island jungle. Island of Death was originally published in the comic The Vault of Horror and has been adapted for audio by Seeing Ear Theatre's Tony Daniel.
As in the TV series, the Crypt Keeper (John Kassir) will introduce each Crypt audio drama. In addition, episodes two and three will be streamed live from the Museum of Television and Radio in New York on Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. ET. The series will then roll out new episodes every Thursday starting Nov. 2.
Studio Recruits Virtual Producers
ions Gate Films said that it has teamed with online company Hollywood Stock Exchange to recruit "virtual producers" for its upcoming film Shadow of the Vampire, about the making of the silent vampire movie Nosferatu, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Under the program, the filmmakers would allow online visitors to follow the movie via the Internet through various stages of its production and marketing campaign and to suggest ways to improve them.
Participants will get a screen credit, but only if they also pay $10 for associate virtual producer credit or $50 for executive virtual producer. In exchange, virtual producers will split $150,000 if the movie grosses $10 million domestically, $300,000 if it grosses $15 million and $500,000 if it grosses $20 million, the trade paper reported.
Since Vampire is completed, the virtual producers will have a chance to make suggestions about the film's DVD features, but not on the movie itself.
Otto's Eowyn Driven By Rage
iranda Otto, who plays the warrior princess Eowyn in Peter Jackson's upcoming film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, told E! Online that her character is fueled by rage.
"She's furious," Otto said of her Rohan character. "Her kingdom has a glorious past, and she has these ideals of courage and honor, but she's surrounded by war and death--and nothing's going right."
Otto added, "She's dying to prove she's made of as good a mettle as the men--or better. But she's only allowed to be passive. So she has to hold this rage and frustration inside her."
Readers of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy of books, on which the films are based, will know that Eowyn falls in love with Aragorn, the wandering prince. "He symbolizes all the lost ideals that she believes in, and he's kind to her," Otto told E!. "If you're used to coldness and things going badly and loneliness, and if somebody's suddenly kind to you, it can break you. She falls in love with him, and she thinks it's her fate to be with him."
But things don't work out for them, she said. "When I first read the scripts, I focused on her Joan of Arc-ness," Otto said. "Dressing as a man, going into war and killing the King of the Witches--it's so heroic, so wonderful. There's an enormous amount of courage there, and she gets to live out her ideals of honor. But it's also a death wish. She's fearless because she doesn't care if she dies."
Crow Producer Slams Studio
d Pressman, producer of the ill-fated sequel The Crow: Salvation, blasted Miramax for failing to promote the revenge fantasy movie, according to USA Today.
After a poor test run in Spokane, Wash., Miramax decided that the third installment in the Crow franchise would be shopped either to a cable television network or released straight to video.
Pressman said that Miramax set the film up to fail theatrically. "There was no television or radio backing," he told the newspaper. "All we got was the smallest newspaper ad."
Miramax executive Mark Gill disputed that. Gill told USA Today that the studio picked up Salvation mainly for its value on video and cable. As for the advertising, he said, "They got the standard-size ad for that market."
Pressman also suggested that Miramax was squeamish about releasing a violent movie in light of congressional hearings about the marketing of R-rated films to underage viewers. But Gill also denied that, pointing out that the studio will be releasing other violent fare theatrically.
Spiner Would Play Data Again
rent Spiner, who played Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, told the British magazine Dreamwatch that he'd reprise the role, but without much enthusiasm, according to the TrekWeb fan site.
"I don't think I'm really ever excited about it," Spiner told the magazine. "It's a job. It's a good job, and I enjoy doing it. It's a nice character to play, and he has a lot of variety and it's given me the opportunity to play a lot of different things over all the episodes we've done. But it doesn't excite me any more than any other job. I like to work."
As for the appeal of Star Trek movies in general, and Star Trek: Insurrection in particular, Spiner said, "I think the research they've done on Star Trek, ... maybe 6 percent of the audience that goes to a Star Trek movie is the 'general public' and is not a Star Trek fan. I don't know if there's ever a concerted effort to expand [the audience]. I think if they made an effort to assuage the fans, that's where the success comes in, because they go back again and again."
Rings' King Théoden Speaks
ernard Hill, who plays King Théoden in Peter Jackson's film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, told E! Online that his character has an inner duality.
"He exists on two levels--the public and the private, like most monarchs," Hill told the site from the films' New Zealand location. "He's faced with war against Sauron, but he wants to keep his people safe, too. He says things are fine in Helm's Deep to boost his army's courage, even though he causes disaster by not sending for help."
Hill added that Théoden doesn't always get it right, "but it's my job to show the [humanity] and vulnerability in his actions, as well as his nobility."
Hill's character figures prominently in the key Edoras scene, during which Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the Fellowship of the Ring seek the king's help before the battle of Helm's Deep. Hill said he is looking forward to another scene, when Saruman's agent, Grima, bewitches Théoden. "When Saruman's poison enters Théoden's body, it's as if he becomes 150 years old," he said. "It's only when Gandalf exorcises the black magic that Théoden can recover and lead his people. ... The makeup will be great!"
Richards Conflicted On Angel
. August Richards, who joins the regular cast of The WB's hit series Angel, told E! Online that his character--renegade vampire hunter Charles Gunn--is conflicted about show's bloodsucking hero.
"We are allies," Richards told the site. "We both want vampires dead. But Angel being a vampire creates conflict, because my character despises vampires--hates them on every level. So I'll kill Angel last. Whoops, I shouldn't say that ... but it's true. That's just how it is."
Fighting vampires daily means working nightly, Richards said. "We start at 8 p.m. Vampires can only come out at night, so that's when we do it. We sometimes go until 5 in the morning. I remember when we were doing my first episode last season, I shot all night. It was, like, 4 in the morning. I had to do a fight scene, and I was so damn tired. I was working the graveyard shift!"
Episode II Still Going And Going ...
ick McCallum, producer of Star Wars: Episode II, told the official Star Wars Web site that it will take three years total to finish the prequel, even though principal photography wrapped in September.
"We've now come back to California to start the editing and continue other post-production activity," McCallum said.
McCallum added, "Next year we'll have our planned next rounds of shooting to pick up any live-action elements necessary, just as we did for Episode I. From there, the film will be in post-production right up until the planned release in the summer of 2002. So out of the whole three-year process (including a year of pre-production) we're filming for only about 14 weeks or so."
Blair 2 Web Fest Coming
irector Joe Berlinger and stars of the upcoming Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 will chat with fans during the Blair Witch WebFest, a live event Oct. 18-20, according to the film's official Web site.
The fest will also feature live Webcasts and chats with other horror and SF personalities.
Fans will also get to preview the movie, which opens Oct. 27, and The SCI FI Channel's companion special, Shadow of the Blair Witch. Book of Shadows is the much-anticipated sequel to the 1999 hit movie The Blair Witch Project.
Old City To Time-Travel
ideo director Paul Hunter (Lenny Kravitz's American Woman) will direct the time-travel thriller movie Old City, Variety reported.
It will mark Hunter's feature-film directorial debut.
Jon Cohen wrote and Jan De Bont (The Haunting) will produce Old City, which tells the story of a cop who pursues a serial killer both in contemporary times and during the 18th century.
Cohen wrote the script for Wonder Woman, the feature-film version of the DC Comics series of the same name, for producer Joel Silver (The Matrix).
Straczynski To Write Spidey
abylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski confirmed in a post to the rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated newsgroup that he will write for Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man series, according to the Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 Web site.
"As a long-time Spidey fan, this is something I'm looking forward to enormously," Straczynski wrote. "You can expect to see the first JMS-written issue of [The Amazing Spider-Man] probably around March or April of next year."
Straczynski has been busy with his own comic series, Rising Stars, produced under his Joe's Comics imprint for Top Cow. Straczynski said he is also producing a screenplay for a feature-film version of Rising Stars, tentatively titled Born in Fire, which he will turn in around mid- or late November. "MGM read the outline, loved it, had a couple of very smart suggestions ... and as of Wednesday, I've been put to script," he wrote.
And Straczynski is developing a new, as-yet-unidentified TV series. Straczynski produced an outline for the pilot TV movie this week, and was asked to produce a script for that project as well, he said. "The network is indeed Showtime, as some have speculated, with Paramount Television the studio attached, and it's for an hour series (debuting with a two-hour pilot movie) slated for their Sci-Fi Fridays slot," he said. "The project is based on an outside source, though I can't yet comment on that. I'm on as executive producer/show runner. In addition, feature-film director Joe Dante is aboard also as executive producer, and he will be invaluable in setting the visual and directorial tone of the series. It's been an absolute pleasure working with Joe, and if we get past the next few hurdles--every series has to go through the stages of pilot outline, pilot script, decision to produce the script and then the go-order on a series, same as with B5 and every other program--I'm really looking forward to working with him on the series." He said he would aim to turn in the pilot script by Nov. 1.
Lastly, Straczynski said Warner Brothers wants to shop his proposed television series The World On Fire, which he worked on with The X-Files Creator Chris Carter, in the spring.
Clarke's Ideas Bloom In Light
egendary SF author Sir Arthur C. Clarke told the British Guardian newspaper that he came up with most of the ideas in his new novel, The Light of Other Days, though it was mostly written by SF author Stephen Baxter.
Clarke hammered out the text with the 42-year-old British writer in a series of e-mails.
But Clarke created the book's WormCam--a time-viewing device that abolishes privacy, speculative biography and unsolved crime, The Guardian reported.
HarperCollins will release Light next week. It tells the story of Himal Patterson, a megalomanic media tycoon who invents WormCams as a means of getting to the news the instant it happens.
Gamers Can Try Fantasy IX
quare Electronic Arts, the North American publisher of SquareSoft products, will host a Final Fantasy IX Consumer Demo Day inside the PlayStation store at Metreon Sony Entertainment Center in San Francisco from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 7.
Consumers will have a chance to play the highly anticipated role-playing game a month before it hits store shelves.
Final Fantasy IX is the latest installment in the best-selling Final Fantasy series, which to date has sold more than 30 million units worldwide. Final Fantasy IX tells the story of an evil queen's desire to dominate the world and features eight characters who use a variety of weapons, magic and monsters.
Braga Preps Next Trek Pilot
tar Trek: Voyager executive producer Brannon Braga told the Fandom Web site that he and partner Rick Berman are working on the pilot script for the next Trek series.
"I've told you, at the very least, that we are writing the pilot, and that we are deeply immersed in the pilot script," Braga told the site.
"Ken Biller has taken over Voyager officially," Braga added. "I did a script for him, and a story for him, but at some point, I had to step away to work full-time on the new show, on the pilot, which Rick Berman and I have been working on diligently for the past month. It's very exciting."
Braga declined to discuss specifics about the new series, which will replace Voyager when it ends its seven-year run at the end of the season that starts Oct. 4. "It's going to be quintessential Star Trek," Braga said. "It hopefully will rekindle the adventure and thrill of the franchise, and at the same time reinvent it. I said it before: We don't want to plop a new crew on a new ship and title it Star Trek: Intrepid. We've got to do something that at once recaptures the heart and soul of Star Trek, while at the same time reinventing Star Trek to make it different and fresh and bring it into the 21st century. We think we've found a way to do that."
Braga said he's unconcerned about uncertainty over the future of the UPN network, on which Voyager currently runs. "We are just focusing on what we have been hired to do, which is to create the best series that we can, and write a drop-dead pilot. The politics and finances of what happens with the studio and the network are really so far beyond our realm of expertise and control, that there is really nothing we can do or say or influence. I think it's probably a safe bet that Star Trek, this new series, will end up comfortably somewhere. We're just not exactly sure where yet."
Red Hollow To Haunt Theaters
rnold and Anne Kopelson will produce Red Hollow, a supernatural thriller based on a pitch by writers Byron Willinger and Phillip de Blasi, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Hollow tells the story of a haunted prison in which only the innocent survive, according to the trade paper.
The Kopelsons' production company, meanwhile, will also develop Buying Time, an SF thriller script from Mark Allen Smith.
Ryder Not A Lost Soul
inona Ryder, star of the upcoming satanic thriller movie Lost Souls, told Cinescape Online she doesn't really believe in demonic possession.
"I absolutely do not believe in the devil," she told Cinescape columnist Cindy Pearlman.
Ryder added, "I think it's an abusive tool used by parents to frighten their children. It's this whole 'You'll burn in Hell' type of thing."
Lost Souls, which premieres Friday, Oct. 13th, has been delayed for the better part of a year, awaiting the release of similarly themed thrillers such as End of Days and Bless the Child, which have come and gone.
Kress Completes Probability Sun
F author Nancy Kress told SCI FI Wire that she has finished her latest book, Probability Sun, a sequel to this summer's novel Probability Moon.
Both books, as well as a planned third volume in the series, are set in the same universe as Kress' Nebula Award-winning novelette "The Flowers of Aulit Prison."
Kress described Moon as being "about alien contact, a space war, a mysterious artifact and the nature of reality as each of us experiences it inside his own head, including the limits on sharing that reality with anyone else." She said Sun is "about a second expedition to the planet World, because the humans have left something valuable behind that they hope will help them in the war against the Fallers. As the book starts, the humans are losing the war."
As events unfold in Sun, Kress said "another, desperate action involves trying to communicate with the Fallers on different terms than have ever been tried before. Neither strategy turns out as expected--with staggering consequences."
Tor Books will release Probability Sun next summer, and Kress said she has already begun work on the third and last book in the series, The Fabric of Space. She said she also recently sold two short stories to Asimov's Science Fiction, as well as a piece called "Wetlands Preserve" to SCIFI.COM's short story section, SCI FICTION.
Exorcist Possesses Legs
he enhanced version of 1973's The Exorcist continued to turn heads during the weekend of Sept. 29, coming in second in the box-office rankings and scaring up an estimated $7.4 million in earnings, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
In its second week of release, the horror classic has earned a total of $17.9 million.
What Lies Beneath took the No. 8 spot with $1.7 million, for a total take of $148.5 million after 11 weeks of release. Space Cowboys ranked No. 10 with an estimated $1.4 million, for a total of $87 million after nine weeks of release.
Russos To Pen Horror Film
rothers Joe Russo and Anthony Russo will write the script to an as-yet-untitled "house of horrors project" for Universal Pictures and producers Jon Berg, Damien Saccani and Julie Plec, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie will tell the story of a group of friends who engage in a role-playing game by re-enacting a real-life murder in the house in which it took place.
When one of them dies, the game continues, but the stakes get higher, the trade paper reported.
Briefly Noted
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James Franco (Whatever It Takes) is in talks to appear in Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie, playing Harry, son of the villainous Green Goblin, who has not yet been cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Juliet Landau will reprise her role as the vampire Drusilla in a multiple-episode arc on The WB's hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff, Angel, during November sweeps, Variety reported.
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Disney is in advanced talks with director Julie Taymor (Titus) to helm a stage version of Pinocchio, with workshopping slated to begin within the next several months, Variety reported. Taymor directed Disney's smash stage production of The Lion King.
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Representatives of Paul Newman denied to Cinescape Online a rumor that the actor would play a 75-year-old Batman in Darren Aronofsky's upcoming Batman: Year One.
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Larry Konner and Mark Rosenthal (Mighty Joe Young) will rewrite Bill Broyle's script for Tim Burton's upcoming remake of Planet of the Apes, Variety reported. Konner and Rosenthal also wrote the script for the feature-film version of the 1960s cult SF TV series The Prisoner for director Simon West (Tomb Raider).
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The upcoming fantasy movie The Grinch Who Stole Christmas will premiere at the British Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund's Royal Film Performance on Nov. 15.
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The Oct. 3 premiere of Fox's Dark Angel earned the network its largest Tuesday audience ever for regular programming, bringing in an average viewership of 17.3 million. Among adults 18-34, the show earned an 8.3 rating and a 22 share.
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LucasArts will release its action arcade game Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles for the Sega Dreamcast gaming platform this fall.
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The British tabloid The Sun reported that Paul Newman may play the caped crusader at age 75 in Batman: Year One, Darren Aronofsky's upcoming film based on the DC Comics series of the same name, according to TV Guide Online. "It's hard to believe that I'll be Batman at 75," Newman reportedly said. "It's not the usual story. It's going to be futuristic stuff."
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The Ain't It Cool News Web site reported a rumor that John Malkovich has dropped out of Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie, which is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. Malkovich reportedly signed on to play the villainous Green Goblin.
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The National Park Service said that a film center proposed by Star Wars creator George Lucas for San Francisco's former Presidio military post may be too big and modern for the 224-year-old base, the Associated Press reported. Lucasfilm's Digital Arts Center may not conform to federal laws intended to protect historic areas, the Park Service said.
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Sotheby's London has partnered with Amazon.com in an online auction of Star Trek and other SF memorabilia. The auction comprises more than 500 lots, including books, a 1966 script from the original Star Trek series valued at $1,500-$2,000 and other items. The auction closes Oct. 16.
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The official Star Trek Web site has posted video interviews with cast and crew of Star Trek: Voyager, talking about the Oct. 4 season premiere, "Unimatrix Zero: Part II."
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The Comics Continuum Web site reported that release of the straight-to-video animated movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker will be postponed to December from the original Oct. 24.
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HarperCollins Children's Books has opened an official Web site to commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first novel in C.S. Lewis' Narnia series of children's books.
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Star Trek: The Next Generation star LeVar Burton won the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award of the Literacy in Media Awards for his 18 years of work promoting literacy on PBS' Reading Rainbow series, according to the official Star Trek Web site.
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Blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd will provide the lead song on the soundtrack of the upcoming animated movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, according to the Comics Continuum Web site.
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Eduardo Yanez will join Michael York and Michael Biehn in the cast of Megiddo: Omega Code 2, the supernatural Christian thriller sequel to 1999's The Omega Code, Variety reported.
