Furlong In Talks For T3
dward Furlong confirmed for TV Guide Online that he is in talks to reprise the role of John Connor in the upcoming Terminator 3, the next installment in the popular film franchise.
"Right now, they're just kind of in the process of putting it together," Furlong, 22, told TV Guide. "The script's great. I think it's going to be happening."
Furlong would reteam with his Terminator 2: Judgment Day co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has already said he'll be back for T3. The two also appeared in Terminator 2: 3-D, the Universal Studios theme park attraction. But Terminator creator James Cameron has said he's not interested in directing the third film.
Oldman Bows Out Of Apes
ary Oldman told Access Hollywood that he won't appear in Tim Burton's upcoming remake of Planet of the Apes, according to a report on TV Guide Online.
"Sadly, they'll be making the movie without me," Oldman reportedly told the show.
Oldman added, "They don't want to pay anyone. They're cheap." Mark Wahlberg will star in Burton's remake of the 1968 SF classic movie.
Freakylinks Not Sickening
than Embry, star of Fox's new paranormal drama Freakylinks, told TV Guide Online that the show won't make viewers sick.
"There's not too much of that Blair Witch-style, shaky-camera 'spookvision' everybody's [talking about]," Embry told the site. "The handheld digicam adds a little flavor, but the whole show isn't shot like that, so you don't need your barf bag."
The Oct. 13 episode featured Embry's Webmaster character, Derek Barnes, exorcising a possessed pregnant woman. "It's a beautiful episode for Friday the 13th," Embry said. "It's extremely scary--Rosemary's Baby meets The Exorcist. This is actually my favorite one so far."
Embry said his role as a paranormal investigator is a departure from his films, in which he's generally played a naive high-school kid. "I'm trying to get up there and play somebody a little older, not do the high school thing again," he said. "The horror/sci-fi realm was something I hadn't done before."
ABC Eyeing Buffy?
BC may be ready to stake a claim to The WB's hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, EW.com reported.
The report revives previous speculation that the show, which just started its fifth season, may be considering a network jump should ongoing contract renewal talks go south between The WB and Twentieth Century Fox, which produces the series.
Sources told EW.com that ABC is taking a quiet interest in acquiring Buffy. "Since day one, [ABC Entertainment co-chair] Stu Bloomberg has been a fan of the show," a source close to the drama told EW. "He's been trying to get [Buffy creator] Joss Whedon to create a show for them." Buffy's ratings continue to improve: Viewership is up 12 percent among adults 18 to 34, and the show recently posted its best-ever performance among young women, EW.com reported.
The site reported that Fox may seek more money from The WB--$2 million per episode, up from the current $1 million--but that may be too rich for the netlet. Official talks between Fox and The WB don't begin until January, EW.com reported.
Ironically, ABC lost its previous teen supernatural superhero--Sabrina the Teenage Witch--to The WB this season in a dispute over money.
Producer Previews New Witchblade
rad Foxhoven, director of TNT's Witchblade pilot, told the Comics Continuum Web site that the upcoming series will feature both long and short storylines.
"A comparison would be The X-Files as a limited series, with Witchblade--like the [Top Cow] comic book [on which it is based]--having one main story arc with many various subplots intertwined throughout the show," Foxhoven told the Continuum.
Foxhoven added, "Without the scripts being complete at this time, TNT is using this as a guide for how this first season will be structured." TNT announced that it has ordered 11 episodes of a Witchblade series, to premiere in the summer of 2001.
"I'm obviously very happy to see the Witchblade movie continue on into a regular series," Foxhoven said. "The reaction to the movie was so strong, it just makes sense to expand the story and really explore the world that was initially created in the comic book."
Top Cow's David Wohl, a Witchblade comics writer and a producer on the movie, told the Continuum that he looks forward to being involved in the series as well. "I believe we will be involved in the creative process of the series more than we were on the two-hour [movie]," Wohl said. "But what that involvement will entail remains to be seen."
Cursed No Longer Is
s part of a last-minute overhaul of its troubled upcoming sitcom Cursed, NBC will exorcise all of the show's supernatural elements, including the titular hex, according to EW.com.
The premiere date for show, starring Steven Weber, has been pushed back to Oct. 26 from Oct. 12, where it was slated to occupy the coveted post-Friends 8:30 p.m. Thursday time slot.
The network, unhappy with early episodes, fired co-creators Mitchel Katlin and Nat Bernstein, scrapped the existing series and brought in Friends executive producer Adam Chase and his colleague Ira Ungerleider to revamp the show. In the process, the network sought to change the series' original premise: that a man finds himself living under a supernatural curse after a bad blind date.
"We're removing the magical elements from the show," Ungerleider told EW.com. "You have to look at the curse more metaphorically. Everyone in life is cursed. It's just that life for him will be a little harder--and hopefully funnier--than it is for the rest of us."
Batman Director Talks
arren Aronofsky, director of the upcoming Batman: Year One movie, told the Dark Horizons Web site that he can't say much about the top-secret project.
"I've only just been hired to do it, so I haven't anything much to say," Aronofsky said.
Aronofsky is writing the screenplay for Warner Brothers' fifth installment in the Batman franchise with graphic novel writer Frank Miller. The director also said he's working on an SF movie idea that he hopes to finish before Batman.
Fandom Awards Presented
he First Fandom Hall of Fame Awards were presented at the Archon 24 convention in Collinsville, Ill., on Sept. 30, according to a report on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site.
The First Fandom Hall of Fame Award is presented annually for contributions to the field of SF as a fan, writer, editor, artist, agent or any combination of these. A complete list of winners follows.
2000 Hall of Fame Award
•Marty Greenberg, co-founder of Gnome Press
Posthumous Recipients
•Theodore R. Cogswell, writer and academic
•Mark Schulzinger, former secretary/treasurer of First Fandom
The Moskowitz Archive Award
•Ray Beam
Potter Nemesis Malfoy Cast?
om Felton (The Borrowers) is rumored to be playing Harry's nemesis Draco Malfoy in Chris Columbus' upcoming feature-film version of J.K. Rowling's best-selling children's novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, according to the unofficial Harry Potter Movie Web site.
The site reported that Felton has been spotted on the set of the film, which is currently in production in Great Britain.
The site also reported a rumor that Alan Rickman will indeed play Professor Snape, though no official announcement about that casting has been made.
New Tomb To Be Epic
he next generation of Eidos' Tomb Raider game series will feature episodic updates from game developer Core, according to the FGN Web site.
The new Lara Croft game is being developed for the PlayStation 2 gaming platform.
Players will buy the original full product at first, and Core will offer episodic updates online through the PS2 that will build on the original content, adding new adventures, locations and characters, FGN reported. Future sequels will be developed, building the franchise into an epic story.
"The game will pan out much like a soap opera, with new characters, levels and situations being introduced at regular intervals," a Core spokeswoman told FGN. Tomb Raider Next Gen is slated for a late 2001 release.
Jar Jar Mockumentary Sold
eurotrash.com has bought the Web broadcast rights to Jar Jar Binks: The E! True Hollywood Story, an online parody biography of the Star Wars: Episode I character, Variety reported.
The 10-minute mockumentary was pulled from iFilm.com Oct. 11, after complaints from executives at the real E! network, the trade paper reported.
Neurotrash will post Jar Jar on Oct. 13. The site will launch other programming on Nov. 1, Variety reported. While on iFilm, Jar Jar was downloaded more than 71,000 times.
Smith Says MIB Gang Is Back
ill Smith told TV Guide Online that there will be some familiar faces in the upcoming Men in Black 2, the sequel to his 1997 hit Men in Black.
"The whole gang is back!" Smith told the site, referring to co-stars Tommy Lee Jones and Linda Fiorentino. "Oh and how they bring Tommy's character back! ... I can't let it out, but it's so brilliant." Jones' representative confirmed to TV Guide Online that the actor has signed on for the sequel.
Smith added, "It's great when a sequel can have a better script, because it is so rare that the second film is better than the first one. But this one is ridiculous! ... [Director] Barry Sonnenfeld has the script and is working on it now, but the [threatened actors' union] strike is kind of holding things up."
Smith said things are less certain for a follow-up to his 1996 blockbuster Independence Day. "We've been talking about it," Smith said, referring to ID4 writer Dean Devlin and director/writer Roland Emmerich. But, he added, "when you've got a movie that made that kind of money, rest assured somebody is talking about a sequel."
Tron 2.0 In Works?
he Coming Attractions Web site reported that a long-awaited sequel to Disney's 1982 classic SF film Tron is in the works, rumored to be called Tron 2.0.
Coming Attractions quotes the VFXPro Web site as saying Tron director Steven Lisberger will be involved with the sequel.
"It's been an interesting experience for me, certainly, to go back to that film after 20 years and really study it and see what it was about from this perspective," Lisberger reportedly said. "I learned a lot about my own film. It's going to be interesting on the next Tron to try to create some of the sensuousness that the first film had in terms of the graphics, but to do it in a digital way."
TNT Orders Witchblade Series
ased on the success of its two-hour Witchblade original movie in August, TNT has ordered 11 episodes of a new series based on the Top Cow comic series of the same name, the network announced.
Witchblade, starring Yancy Butler, is slated to premiere in the summer of 2001.
The Witchblade movie was the No. 1 original movie among adults 18-49 and 25-54 for the year to date, TNT reported. It was also the top movie for the week of Aug. 21-27, earning a 4.5 rating (3,491,000 households) and was the top movie among adults 18-49 (3,157,000) and among adults 25-54 (3,631,000).
Witchblade tells the the story of New York detective Sara Pezzini (Butler), who has acquired a mysterious ancient gauntlet that confers supernatural powers. She uses it to battle the forces of evil. J.D. Zeik wrote the movie.
Witchblade is produced by Top Cow Productions and Halsted Pictures, in association with Warner Bros. Television. Ralph Hemecker (Millennium, The X-Files) will again direct, with Dan Halsted executive producing for Halsted Pictures and Marc Silvestri executive producing for Top Cow Productions.
Miller To Pen Batman: Year One
rank Miller told Comic Shop News that he will partner with director Darren Aronofsky on the script for Batman: Year One, the upcoming movie based on Miller's graphic novel of the same name, according to a report on the Eon magazine Web site.
"Darren and I had a lot of fun working together on the Ronin movie project. We make a good team, I think. ... Darren in particular wanted to make Year One."
Miller added, "The movie business is wild. There's so much money involved, and so many people, that anything can happen. Maybe Darren and I will set the world on fire. Maybe our script will wind up sitting next to all the other could-have-beens that litter the shelves of studio execs. I'm certain we can do a good job--but anybody who isn't financing his own movie himself is foolish to predict his fate--or his involvement in it.
"I expect to have a lot of fun with Year One," Miller said. "From the get-go, I see many things that need changing--but ultimately, even if the movie gets made, mine will only be one of many voices calling the shots. I'll bring my very best efforts to the script. I won't write a single line I don't believe in."
EA Close To Rings Game Deal
ew Line Cinema is near a deal to license video game rights to Electronic Arts for its upcoming film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, Variety reported.
EA snapped up the rights for Harry Potter video games this summer.
Sources told Variety that the Rings license fee is in excess of $10 million, making it one of the most expensive ever. The trade paper said an announcement is expected later in October. If the deal is struck, EA will beat out Activision and European publisher Codemasters for the coveted Rings license.
The movies, which are expected to wrap production around Christmas, are based on J.R.R. Tolkien's three novels of the same name. The first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, is slated for a holiday 2001 release.
Osment Opposes Potter Movie
oung actor Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) told TV Guide Online that he was never interested in playing Harry Potter in the upcoming feature-film version of J.K. Rowling's best-selling children's novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
The Oscar-nominated actor was reportedly Steven Spielberg's choice for the role before he opted not to direct the movie. Chris Columbus will direct, and 11-year-old British actor Daniel Radcliffe will play Harry.
But 12-year-old Osment, who has read all four Potter novels, said he doesn't like the idea of adapting Potter for the silver screen. "I never wanted to do Harry Potter. I thought it should have stayed a book," Osment told the magazine.
Osment added, "There are some books that should be made into movies and some books that shouldn't. ... Harry Potter is 70 percent imagination. You purposely have to leave stuff out in the books, for you to fill in with your imagination, and that's what's so great about the novels. You have so much input yourself. And now, when the movie comes out, it's going to be such a stereotype for kids to think of. When they think of Harry Potter, they're going to think of what's portrayed on-screen."
Halloween Restored, Honored
newly restored print of John Carpenter's classic horror film Halloween will screen in a tribute Oct. 13 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, Variety reported.
Anchor Bay Entertainment and the American Cinematheque will host the event.
The screening marks the first reunion of the movie's key personnel, including director Carpenter, producer and co-writer Debra Hill, executive producer Irwin Yablans, cameraman Dean Cundey, production designer Tommy Lee Wallace and star Jamie Lee Curtis, as well as cast members P.J. Soles and Nancy Kyes.
Dark Angel Has Legs
ox's SF drama Dark Angel rated well in its second outing Oct. 10, drawing 13.4 million viewers to place second for the 9 p.m. hour behind ABC, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The James Cameron show saw its viewership decline from 17.4 million in its premiere, the trade paper reported.
The WB ranked fifth for the night with the combination of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel drawing 5.2 million viewers.
Dino Attacks L.A. Museum
niversal Studios Home Video staged a velociraptor attack at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History to promote its release this week of Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park DVDs, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Flipped cars, torn-up trees and toppled light posts greeted the press outside the museum, where the dinosaur will become a permanent display.
The museum's dinosaur store will also offer select behind-the-scenes footage from the DVDs for public viewing, the trade paper reported.
Black Gets Damned Role
laudia Black, who plays Aeryn Sun on The SCI FI Channel's original series Farscape, told fans on SCIFI.COM that she will play the vampire Pandora in the upcoming Queen of the Damned movie.
Black made the announcement on SCIFI.COM's Farscape On Air Colony bulletin board.
Queen of the Damned is based on Anne Rice's novel of the same name, as well as on The Vampire Lestat, another one of her Vampire Chronicles books. "For those of you who have read Anne Rice's books, be prepared for some filmic license and adaptation, if you know what I mean," Black posted. "While being loosely called the sequel, The Queen of the Damned is not the book which directly follows [Interview With the Vampire] and will not star Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt [who starred in the feature-film version of Interview]."
The movie stars singer Aaliyah as Queen Akasha and Stuart Townshend as the vampire Lestat. Michael Rymer will direct.
Rings Extras Exploited?
xtras working on Peter Jackson's upcoming film trilogy The Lord of the Rings are being paid substandard wages, according to a report in the New Zealand newspaper The Press.
Hollywood-based film consultant Anna Wilding told the newspaper that the mainly Kiwi extras are being treated like "slave labor."
Extras hired to ride horses in the movie were receiving daily rates of $200 and meals, but would be paid at least $500 plus allowances if the films were being made in America, the newspaper reported. Wilding added that many riders were being paid as extras, when under U.S. conditions they would be classed as stunt people and paid up to $1,500 a day, The Press reported.
Film company publicist Claire Raskind told the newspaper that the riders were only too happy to be on the set. They were provided with three meals a day, showers, toilets and movies at night. Raskind also said the production's horse coordinator, Steve Old, believed people would pay to have the same experience and conditions.
Rings, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's three novels of the same name, recently marked the one-year anniversary of its production in New Zealand.
FCC Blasts Fox Over Angel
CC chairman William Kennard blasted Fox's decision to air the premiere of Dark Angel in lieu of the first presidential debate, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"To my mind, this disregard for the American democratic process is unacceptable," Kennard said in a speech at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York.
"When we've reached the point where the networks feel they can show baseball and sci-fi flicks in lieu of critical presidential debates, then I believe it's high time that we rethink the terms of broadcasters' compact with the American people," Kennard said.
Fox aired the two-hour premiere of James Cameron's SF drama at 9 p.m. Oct. 3, replacing the debate in much of the country. NBC aired a baseball game. "We reached a new low last week, when two of the four major networks--NBC and Fox--chose to pre-empt the first debate of the most hotly contested presidential election in four decades for sports and entertainment programming," Kennard said.
DS9 Game Not Too Trek
ouglas Hare, producer of the upcoming video game Star Trek: Deep Space Nine--The Fallen, told FGN that the game will be accessible even to non-Trekkers.
"I think the main reason that many previous Star Trek games failed was because they weren't particularly good, as opposed to being too Trek," Hare told the site.
Hare added, "We've been asked countless times whether we'll be able to shake the 'Star Trek curse,' and we think we have. Indeed, there are now many excellent Star Trek games that have either just been released or are in development, which should undo any damage done in the past."
The PC game--developed by The Collective for publisher Simon & Schuster--will introduce a new alien species to the DS9 universe, he added. "Although there are many very cool hostile alien species in the show--almost all of which are in the game--we wanted to create a determined, brutal enemy that would be completely new and yet befit the Trek universe," Hare said. "We researched previous species from all the shows and came up with the Grigari. They're nano-based, bio-mechanical pirates/mercenaries designed to be efficient (exoskeletal with no internal organs), modular (interchangeable body parts), armored (combat), organic (can evolve and mutate)--in other words, they make the Borg look nice."
Boreanaz Says Angel Will Grow
avid Boreanaz, star of The WB's hit series Angel, told the official WB.com Web site that his tortured vampire character will grow in the show's second season.
"I take the character for what he is, and I think every day there's something new and exciting about him that I learn with every script," Boreanaz said. "Within each episode, I learn something different about the character."
Boreanaz added, "He has a tortured soul, and he has a guilty conscience. But at the same time, he's trying to rebuild that and make amends, for his own true sanity, to make himself become a better person. And I think we'll see that happen slowly but surely. In the beginning, he sure is going to feel a lot pain, and he'll be suffering. But it will be humorous pain."
Boreanaz, who now headlines his own series after appearing on Buffy the Vampire Slayer for three years, said that he's not concerned about the pressure of carrying the show. "I think that pressure is something that you bring upon yourself, and I was fortunate enough to have two great parents who instilled a lot of confidence in myself and also a lot of humility. I learned just to take things for what they are, work hard, and be loose with it. And with those ingredients, along with great cast members and a great support team and being part of the whole, rather than being part of the given, I think it works out." Angel airs on The WB Tuesdays at 9 p.m.
Spectrum Awards Announced
he Gaylactic Network announced the winners of the 2000 Spectrum Awards, honoring SF, fantasy and horror works that deal positively with gay characters, themes and issues.
The Gaylactic Network is an organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender fans of SF and genre entertainment.
The awards were presented for works originally released in 1999. Hall of Fame awards recognize works created before 1998. A full list of winners follows.
Best Novel (Two Winners)
•The Gumshoe, The Witch And The Virtual Corpse by Keith Hartman
•The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr
Best Short Fiction
•"Dapple" by Eleanor Arnason
Best Other Work
•Being John Malkovich, a film directed by Spike Jonze
Hall of Fame Media
•The Rocky Horror Picture Show
•Quantum Leap, "Running for Honor"
Hall of Fame (Three Winners)
•Slow River by Nicola Griffith
•Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
•The World Well Lost by Theodore Sturgeon
People's Choice Award
•The Gumshoe, The Witch And The Virtual Corpse by Keith Hartman
No Aston Martin For Bond?
he company responsible for marketing the James Bond movies denied to Empire Online rumors that 007 would be driving an Aston Martin in his next film.
Citing the British tabloid newspaper the Daily Mail, the Popcorn U.K. Web site had reported that Ford Motor Co., current owner of Aston Martin, was pushing to place the £200,000 ($290,000) Aston Martin Vanquish in the next Bond film.
"It's completely untrue," Anne Bennett, director of marketing at Eon Productions, told Empire Online. "Everything is up on the air at the moment. The production hasn't begun, and no deal has been done with any particular company."
Bond, as played by Sean Connery, drove a bulletproof Aston Martin DB-5 in 1964's Goldfinger. But in 1995, 007, as played by Pierce Brosnan, changed to the German-made BMW Z3 in GoldenEye. Bond also drove Beemers in the last two Bond films, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough.
TBS Orders Protectors Pilot
BS ordered a two-hour pilot for The Protectors, a supernatural action series, from writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, Variety reported.
Mel Gibson and Jet Li could executive produce any resulting series, the trade paper reported.
The martial-arts thriller would tell the story of a team of chosen people who battle a band of bad angels who influence human actions.
Dimension Enlists Alien Legion
imension Films has bought the feature-film rights to Carl Potts' SF/action comic book series Alien Legion and hired J.D. Zeik (Ronin) to adapt the comic for the big screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The series is described as "the French Foreign Legion in outer space" and tells the story of a young man disowned by his wealthy family who joins up with the "Alien Legion" to prove himself.
Potts will co-produce and Zeik will executive produce the film. Alien Legion is being developed as a live-action feature that will use both computer and physical effects, sources told the trade paper.
The comic book series was created by Potts and published between 1984 and 1992 by Epic Comics, the creator-owned arm of Marvel Comics. Potts was executive editor at Marvel Comics and editor-in-chief of the Epic Comics imprint.
Proyas To Launch Mysteryclock
ilmmaker Alex Proyas (Dark City) will launch a multimedia Web site called mysteryclock.com on Nov. 3.
The site will feature games, animation, short films and other genre-themed entertainment. Proyas directed such films as The Crow and Spirits of the Dark, Gremlins of the Clouds.
The site will feature Multiverse, a Flash-based SF animation series; Consequences, a screenwriting game in which Proyas will write the first two pages and users will be invited to submit subsequent scenes; Minute Movies, a series of very short shorts; Book of Dreams, an anthology of dream stories; and Mind Games, described as "visual treats for the eyes and mind."
The site will also offer extracts from Proyas' private journals; quotes about his creative process; stills, storyboards and sketches from The Crow and Dark City; two of Proyas' early short films, Strange Residues and Spineless; and a selection of Proyas' TV commercials and music videos.
Rose Red Actor Dukes Dies
avid Dukes, the veteran actor who was to appear in Stephen King's upcoming miniseries Rose Red, collapsed and died on the Washington state film set, according to the Associated Press.
He was 55.
Dukes succumbed to apparent cardiovascular disease, the wire service reported. Dukes was starring in Rose Red, which is slated to air on ABC in spring 2002.
Dukes appeared in more than 35 movies, including the critically acclaimed 1998 film Gods and Monsters, about Frankenstein director James Whale.
UPN's 7 Days Steps Ahead
homas Ropelewski, executive producer of UPN's time-travel series 7 Days, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming third season will switch gears to focus more on the show's current characters and introduce one new regular.
7 Days, which stars Jonathan LaPaglia as Frank Parker and Justina Vail as Olga Vukavitch, has its season premiere Oct. 11; it airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
"One of the things we learned in the second season is how flexible and malleable the style of storytelling in the show actually is," Ropelewski said. "Last year I would say was about experimentation in storytelling. We would jump genres. ... The third season is going to be more about characters and exploring our family of characters and their interactions."
This season, the show introduces a new character: Andrew "Hooter" Owsley, a boy computer genius played by Kevin Christy. Owsley will bedevil his mentor, Ballard, played by Sam Whipple. "He'll start at about episode five or six," Ropelewski said. He'll "bring a different kind of dynamic to the show, because he's this puppy dog in this high-technology toy store. ... Frank Parker is his hero. ... [Owsley is] filled with energy. ... And he needs a little guidance and training, and Parker will try to guide him."
Created by television veteran Christopher Crowe, 7 Days tells the story of a top-secret government project in which a chrononaut "back-steps" in time seven days to fix a problem. Vail won a Saturn Award this year for her portrayal of the brainy but sensual Olga.
Expect upheaval in the upcoming season, Ropelewski said. Donovan, played by Don Franklin, will act on his career frustration; Olga will have to deal with her attraction to Parker; Ramsey (Nick Searcy) may find himself in charge of the "Back-Step" program; and Talmadge (Alan Scarfe) may have to deal with a nervous breakdown. The third season may also see the return of a chrononaut from the future who was featured prominently in last season's finale.
Since its debut as an SF action-adventure series, 7 Days has evolved into a show about moral choices, Ropelewski said. "What the show has ... become is ... sort of like a Groundhog Day, where the questions it asks are, 'What would you do if you could live last week over again?' ... I think some of the best 7 Days episodes we've done are about moral choices. And I think it's probably the only show on the air that traffics in irony. ... Why [do] those small things that you change have huge significance that you don't even know about when they first happen?"
Henson To Helm Jack
rian Henson will direct Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, a miniseries for CBS based on the classic fairy tale, Variety reported.
The four-hour miniseries will make use of characters by the Jim Henson Co.'s Creature Shop.
Henson, director and executive producer of The SCI FI Channel original series Farscape, will begin production of Jack in London within the next two weeks, the trade paper reported. The miniseries is slated to air during the May 2001 sweeps.
Henson told Variety that the new version of the tale will focus on the descendants of the famous beanstalk-climber as they are held accountable for their ancestor's "crimes" against giantdom.
TNT Plans Pretender Films
he TNT cable network will produce two new original television movies based on the canceled NBC series The Pretender, whose reruns TNT currently airs, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The two yet-to-be-named original movies will be written and executive produced by series creators Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle, the trade paper reported.
Fred Keller will direct and executive produce. The movies are being produced by Fox in association with NBC and are expected to premiere on TNT early next year. The series ended with a cliffhanger when NBC abruptly canceled the show at the end of last season.
Craven To Host Exposure
irector Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream) will host a special Halloween episode of Exposure, The SCI FI Channel's original short-film showcase.
The special one-hour episode will focus on up-and-coming horror filmmakers and will air Oct. 18 at 10 p.m. ET.
The episode will feature three of Exposure's scariest films, including the world television debut of Silent Number, the award-winning graduate film by Jamie Blanks, the 26-year-old director of Urban Legend.
On Oct. 11, Exposure will feature the award-winning animator and gothic rocker Voltaire's Rakthavira, a stop-motion film narrated by rock star Debbie Harry.
Moore Plays Up SF In Roswell
tar Trek alumus Ronald D. Moore, now co-executive producer of The WB's teen alien series Roswell, told the Fandom Web site that he likes the harder SF direction the show is taking in its sophomore year.
Roswell, executive produced by Star Trek: The Next Generation's Jonathan Frakes, is playing up the alien mythology in its sophomore year. Moore joined the show in May.
"There is a balance between the relationship aspect of the show and the science fiction elements, and when those elements are in balance, the show really has hit its stride," Moore said. "If you watch the first season, you can see them--like any show in its first year--feeling their way and deciding what direction the series is going to go. Eventually, they realized that they needed to bring more science fiction into the series. Where we are right now is just in a really good place, where the heart and soul of the show is still the relationships among the characters, and especially the relationship between Max [Jason Behr] and Liz [Shiri Appleby]. But now the stakes are higher."
Moore added, "There is a stronger alien presence going on. There's a bigger canvas to tell stories upon, and it just makes everything, all the relationships, even more important and more crucial. It's like there is this little group of teen-agers in Roswell that share a secret, and they are thrust into these situations. Because only they know the secret, it strengthens the bonds between them, and it makes those relationships more complicated when things aren't working out."
Moore said he's willing to build the new alien mythology slowly. "[Executive producer] Jason [Katims] completely agrees," Moore said. "Mostly what I have been doing is writing and producing, keeping my hand in and delivering the show that is in Jason's head."
Britney To Meet Buffy?
ill teen diva Britney Spears stake vamps on The WB's hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Perhaps, but no deal has been cut yet, according to New York Daily News columnist Mitchell Fink.
Spears met Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar on the set of Saturday Night Live last season. The pop star told the Slayer that she'd love to guest-star on the show, schedules permitting. Spears' people have talked with Buffy producers, but nothing's been worked out yet, Fink reported.
"The talk is back and forth," an unnamed source told Fink. "No deal is set." The source added, "They would write whatever [Spears] wants. At most, it would be for one or two episodes, but it's still on the back burner as of now."
Kabuki Film Advances
avid Mack, creator of the World Famous Comics series Kabuki, told the Comics Continuum Web site that work progresses on the Fox animated movie based on his comic.
"Lots of exciting progress, but not much that I'm allowed to talk about yet," Mack said. "I had to sign a contract that included a confidentiality clause."
Mack added, "I'm only able to speak of what capacity that I have been employed with Fox, which is: Besides writing the treatment, and the writing work I've already done with them, my new credits and work on the Kabuki film presently include--as listed on my contract--visual designer, creative consultant and co-producer."
Kabuki is a fantasy comic that recasts the Alice in Wonderland story in terms of modern and ancient Japanese culture, crime and politics.
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Del Toro Pumped For Hellboy
irector Guillermo del Toro (Blade 2) told the official Hellboy.com Web site that he's eager to direct a feature-film version of Mike Mignola's Dark Horse comic series.
Del Toro is also reportedly recruiting Mignola to work on Blade 2--the sequel to 1999's Blade--as a conceptual artist.
Del Toro hopes to make Hellboy with producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin (Tomb Raider). Del Toro told the Austin Chronicle that Hellboy is "the film I want to make most," according to the Web site. "I would literally do that movie for no money up front. I would bet my entire salary on the back end. Not a dollar for my services."
Disney Bears To Jam
eter Hastings, producer of Disney's One Saturday Morning, is near a deal to direct Country Bears, a Walt Disney Co. feature film based on the Disneyland "Country Bear Jamboree" attraction, Variety reported.
Mark Perez is writing the screenplay for the fantasy comedy.
Jim Henson's creature shop has signed on to create the bears. Production is slated to begin Feb. 12, Variety reported.
Lucas Called Duchovny
he X-Files actor David Duchovny told fans that he got a call from George Lucas to appear in Star Wars: Episode III, but hasn't accepted it, according to a report on the Empire Online Web site.
Speaking in a French Internet chat, Duchovny said, "I'm a fan of Star Wars, but I'm not sure of having the time to act in it. ... I've got tons of projects in production after The X-Files series."
Duchovny will appear in 11 episodes of the upcoming eighth season of his hit Fox show. In addition, he's set to star in director Ivan Reitman's upcoming SF comedy movie Evolution, which is about aliens trying to invade Earth. "In Evolution, I play a professor who is charged with saving the world from aggressive aliens," he said. "I think that it's a transition that will take me away from The X-Files towards other roles."
Duchovny added that he's not eager to return to television once The X-Files ends. "I think it will be difficult to do another series, since people will always remember my work in The X-Files," he said. "I think it's the best time to turn the page and do something else."
Matrix Sequels Go To Sydney
oel Silver, producer of the upcoming Matrix 2 and 3, confirmed for the SFX Web site that the sequels will film in Sydney.
The original movie, 1999's hit The Matrix, also shot in the Australian metropolis.
"We talked about possibly shooting in the [United Kingdom], like we talked about shooting in Germany or Rome," Silver told the site. "But looking at all the different places, it was strictly a financial decision. It's all based on the economics. As we did the first shoot in Sydney, and there were economic benefits to doing such, we decided to shoot the others there too." Silver added that some exterior shots will be filmed in Chicago and San Francisco.
Rings Fellowship Will Smoke
nhabitants of Middle Earth in Peter Jackson's upcoming ord of the Rings film trilogy won't give up their love of tobacco, according to a report in the New Zealand Evening Post newspaper.
Despite misgivings by that country's Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, among others, filmmakers will remain true to Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien's depiction of characters with a fondness for pipe smoking.
Sir Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf, said in a radio interview, "I was wondering whether because of political correctness--people's worries of the dangers of smoking--that in a film a lot of children are likely to see we'd be asked to cut down the smoking, or not have it."
McKellen added, "It is pipe smoking, which if you don't inhale is safer than cigarettes. However, the hobbits, played as quite young people in our film, are all smoking away on their pipes."
Raimi Confirms Malkovich In Spidey
am Raimi, director of the upcoming Spider-Man movie, told E! that John Malkovich will indeed play the film's villain, the Green Goblin, according to the Popcorn U.K. Web site.
Raimi's confirmation apparently lays to rest recent rumors that scheduling conflicts forced Malkovich to drop out of the movie, which is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.
Raimi added that he's "thinking hard" about casting Alicia Witt (Urban Legend) in the role of Mary Jane Watson opposite Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker, Popcorn reported.
Raimi told Cinescape Online, meanwhile, that he's anxious about directing a movie based on such a cultural icon. "I live in fear every moment on this picture. I absolutely do. It's terrifying," Raimi told the site. "There are tremendous challenges. How do we pull off this shot? How do we make Spider-Man look real? How do we make the web look like a real spider's web? But the biggest challenge, I think, is in meeting the fans' expectations of what this fantastic character should be. That's really my goal."
Carey Not A Wonder Woman?
he Comics2Film Web site reported that rumors that singer Mariah Carey is in the lead to star in producer Joel Silver's Wonder Woman movie are most likely false.
Comics2Film said its own unnamed source knowledgeable about the film had heard nothing about the supposed casting.
But the site added that it's possible that talks with Carey have happened with other parties involved with the film, which is based on the DC Comics series of the same name. The Carey casting rumor originated in a report by a British tabloid newspaper.
U.K. School To Perform Potter
.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter series of children's novels, has granted a British girls' boarding school special permission to stage the first Potter dramatization, according to the Reuters news service and London Times.
Rowling will allow the North Foreland Lodge in Hampshire, England, to stage a version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the British version of her first novel (known in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone).
The permission is an exception to a seven-year ban on performing rights that was imposed because of the upcoming feature-film version of the first book, which is directed by Chris Columbus, Reuters and the Times reported. The Potter movie is now in production in Great Britain.
The school's head English teacher, Heather Morland, and its actor-in-residence, Andrew Fielding, adapted the book for the stage.
Freakylinks Rates Well
reakylinks, Fox's new paranormal Internet drama, premiered to strong ratings Oct. 6, winning the 9 p.m. time slot in its target demographic of adults 18-34, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The drama, starring Ethan Embry, drew a viewership of 6.8 million, aided by a lead-in from Police Videos.
The season premiere of The WB's Charmed at 9 p.m. on Oct. 5, meanwhile, drew 7.7 million viewers, making it the network's most-watched show of the week, the trade paper reported. Charmed topped its previous highs for the night in adults 18-34 and adults 18-49, Variety reported.
SF Author Roberts Dies
ritish SF writer and illustrator Keith Roberts died Oct. 5 after being hospitalized for a chest infection, Locus Online reported.
Born in 1935, Roberts was best known for Pavane, a 1968 collection of linked stories set in an alternate world in which Elizabeth I was assassinated and a technologically backward 20th-century England remains oppressed by the Catholic Church, Locus reported.
Roberts' other well-known works include the Anita series of fantasies, which began with the author's first published story in 1964; The Chalk Giants; the 1974 collection The Passing of the Dragons, which includes "Weihnachtsabend," a story about Hitler's winning World War II; Molly Zero; Kaeti and Company; and Kiteworld. His last published work was Drek Yarman, a short novel set in the Kiteworld universe.
Gaiman To Auction Scripts For Fund
raphic novel author Neil Gaiman is donating the original manuscript for his BBC TV series
Neverwhere, as well as manuscript pages from the novel based on the series, for an auction to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
The auction will be part of Gaiman's "Last Angel Tour" of speaking appearances to raise money for the fund.
Gaiman will donate the shooting scripts for all six episodes of Neverwhere, which include Gaiman's handwritten notes and directions. The scripts also include the first 20 pages of longhand manuscript of what would become the Neverwhere novel.
The scripts will be auctioned on eBay starting Oct. 16, coinciding with Gaiman's appearance in Chicago. The auction will end Oct. 26, when Gaiman ends his tour in Los Angeles.
Fans Petition For Cleo
early 800 fans of the syndicated half-hour SF series Cleopatra 2525 have signed on online petition to save the show, which has been put on indefinite production hiatus.
The remaining episodes of Cleo, the distaff half of the Back2Back Action hour, will run through January, after which time its fate is uncertain.
Fans are circulating the petition to be delivered to executives at Studios USA and Renaissance Pictures, which produce the show and its companion Jack of All Trades, which was canceled. "We ... believe that Cleopatra 2525 was not given the time to develop into a show that fulfilled its true potential and hope that it will be given the opportunity to do so, and we will be given the opportunity to watch it grow," the petition said. "It is for these reasons that we are imploring Studios USA and Renaissance Pictures to reconsider any present possible plans to cancel Cleopatra 2525."
Studios USA is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Briefly Noted
- Juliet Landau will reprise the role of vampire Drusilla on the Nov. 14 episode of The WB's hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, TV Guide Online reported. That same night, Landau will cross over to sister show Angel.
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Andre Bormanis, writer and science consultant on Star Trek: Voyager, will offer the science-fiction point of view on a panel examining the space program, "Human Space Exploration: Fact, Fiction, the Future," Oct. 23, in Pasadena, Calif., sponsored by the American Astronomical Society and The Planetary Society.
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The SFX Web site has hired a new online editor, former newspaper journalist Iain Hepburn, and will relaunch the site on Oct. 16 as SFX Network.com, with new features.
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The Dark Horizons Web site reported that English actor Luke Goss is in talks to play an Agent in the upcoming Matrix 2 sequel.
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The Oct. 11 third-season premiere of UPN's 7 Days matched its year-ago 18-49 rating (1.5/5), but drew fewer viewers (3.5 million vs. 3.9 million), Variety reported.
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The Coming Attractions Web site reported a rumor that the upcoming computer-animated Final Fantasy movie will be subtitled The Spirits Within. The movie, based on the Squaresoft video game series of the same name, is slated for a summer 2001 release.
- Fans lobbying to resurrect Star Trek character James T. Kirk have posted a fan-made "trailer" to the Bring Back Kirk Campaign Web site. The fans object to the way Kirk died in the film Star Trek: Generations and want Paramount to bring the character back on the big or small screen.
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Disney and Pixar have posted a teaser trailer to the Web, featuring the voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman, for their upcoming computer-animated feature Monsters, Inc. The movie doesn't hit theaters until Thanksgiving 2001.
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Fox Broadcasting has ordered a pilot script for Maiden NY, a fantasy television series about a graphic artist who draws a character who comes to life and moves in with him, Variety reported. Andrew Lazar (Space Cowboys) and Rand Ravich (The Astronaut's Wife) are developing the series.
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Desmond Askew (Go) will play a recurring role in The WB's teen alien series Roswell, Variety reported. Askew has already appeared in the show as the new curator of the town's UFO museum, and he will make an indefinite number of appearances in future episodes.
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Yahoo has posted a clip from Arnold Schwarzenegger's upcoming cloning thriller movie The 6th Day, as well as the movie's theatrical trailer. The movie opens Nov. 17.
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The French Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire award for best foreign short story will be presented to Terry Bisson for "macs," according to a news item on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site. The award will be presented at ceremonies in Nantes, France, on Oct. 28.
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Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), once rumored to be up for the part of Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movie, has instead chosen to appear in the remake of the war drama Four Feathers, according to the Hollywood trade papers. Raimi has recently said he's now eyeing Alicia Witt (Urban Legend) for the role of Peter Parker's girlfriend.
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Katie Carr will star in the upcoming ABC miniseries Dinotopia, based on James Gurney's best-selling fantasy book series of the same name, Variety reported.
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Contrary to rumors, Star Wars: Episode I villain Ray Park (Darth Maul) did not assist Episode II fight coordinator Nick Gillard choreographing battles in the next prequel, according to the official Star Wars Web site.
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Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy, a PC video game based on the 1997 feature film Starship Troopers, has gone gold, according to the game's publisher, Microprose.
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Rock star Marilyn Manson's newly formed label, Posthuman Records, will release the soundtrack to Artisan Entertainment's upcoming movie Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, the highly anticipated sequel to 1999's The Blair Witch Project. The album is set for release on Oct. 17 and will feature a new track from Manson. Blair Witch 2 opens Oct. 27.
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Digimon: The Movie was the only genre film premiere for the weekend of Oct. 6 and ranked No. 5 in the box-office standings with $4.1 million in ticket sales. The re-edited version of The Exorcist, meanwhile, ranked No. 4, bringing in $4.6 million during the weekend for a total of $24.1 million after two weeks of release, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
