Xena To End Next Season
inescape Online
reported that the upcoming sixth season of the hit syndicated television
series Xena: Warrior Princess will be the last.
Studios USA Domestic Television president Steve Rosenberg and series creator
and executive producer Rob Tapert made the announcement.
The upcoming
22-episode season will feature episodes in which Xena and Gabrielle return
to their respective childhood homes. Xena will find her village of
Amphipolis haunted by evil and will be sucked into a battle against
Mephistopheles, which will involve the archangels Michael, Raphael and
Lucifer.
In Gabrielle's
hometown of Poteideia, meanwhile, the duo will discover that Gabrielle's
niece Sarah has been captured by the raider Gurkhan. They will set sail for
North Africa on a rescue mission and will intervene to help unite two tribes
of warring nomads in a campaign to defeat their Roman enemies,
Cinescape reported.
The season will
also feature a three-episode Viking arc that takes Xena and Gabrielle north
when a Norse warrior named Beowulf approaches Xena for help.
Studios USA is
owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Episode II Enters Sound Stage
tar Wars: Episode II is in post-production, and
supervising sound editor Matthew Wood is gathering audio to create the
film's unique sounds, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
"I'm actually going out and recording new sound effects," Wood told the
site. "I'm taking the recording gear we used on the set, and I'm going out
into the field and recording various interesting sounds to apply to the
film."
Wood began
collecting sounds while the film was shooting in Australia. "I was over in
Australia for a couple a months," he said. "I was recording various sounds
out there, after reading the script. Right now, I'm building up a library of
organic, interesting, unique sounds. I've got a fairly big library that I've
been accumulating over the past 10 years that I can always dip into, but I
want to try to go with a lot more new fresh sounds in this film."
Wood added, "There
was a trip that I took down to Melbourne while I was there. I went to
Phillip Island, and there were a bunch of penguins that migrate to this one
spot down on the very southeastern part of Australia. I was able to go out
there and record. A lot of these penguins have really interesting-sounding
calls--they have three or four different calls. They just come up to shore
around 6 o'clock at night, and they burrow in their nests. There're hundreds
of them. I was able to get rather distinct calls, because they call out to
each other." The penguins are slated to voice a new alien species in
Episode II.
Travolta Plans Battlefield 2
ohn
Travolta told journalists that he still plans a sequel to this year's
disastrous Battlefield Earth, the Reuters news wire reported.
The $73 million SF epic--based on L. Ron Hubbard's novel of the same
name--earned only $21 million in U.S. box office.
But that apparently
hasn't deterred Travolta, a devotee of the Church of Scientology, which
Hubbard founded. "The bottom line is that I feel really good about it,"
Travolta reportedly said. "Here I was taking big chances, breaking a new
genre. ... I am so thrilled, believe it or not, at the outcome, because I
didn't believe I could get it done."
Battlefield
Earth starred Travolta as the leader of aliens bent on world dominance.
The movie was almost universally blasted by critics. But, Travolta said,
"When I felt better about everything was when George Lucas and Quentin
Tarantino and a lot of people that I felt knew what they were doing saw it
and thought it was a great piece of science fiction."
Travolta previously
said that the movie was based on only the first half of the book, and that a
sequel has already been planned.
Witt In Spidey, Malkovich Out?
obey
Maguire, star of Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man film, told Italian
journalists that Alicia Witt is definitely in the running to play Peter
Parker's girlfriend, Mary Jane, according to the Spider-Man Hype! fan
Web site.
But Maguire added that filmmakers are having trouble casting the role of the
villainous Green Goblin, which was previously connected with John
Malkovich.
It's unclear
whether Malkovich is leaving the project. Earlier this month, Raimi
confirmed that Malkovich was the choice for the role of the villain,
otherwise known as Norman Osborn. The movie, which is based on the Marvel
Comics series of the same name, is slated for a January 2001 production
start.
Berlinger May Remake Wicker
ward-winning documentarian Joe Berlinger, who just completed
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, told SCI FI Wire that he's in talks
with Artisan Entertainment to helm a remake of the 1973 cult film The
Wicker Man.
Speaking during a press briefing for the sequel to 1999's The Blair Witch
Project, Berlinger said, "I'm talking to Artisan now about doing a
remake of The Wicker Man, which I'm sure will be equally as
controversial [as Blair Witch 2]."
The Wicker
Man, directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, told the
story of a police sergeant who investigates the disappearance of a young
girl and discovers an island tribe of neo-pagans who practice disturbing
rituals.
Berlinger, who
directed the acclaimed documentaries Brother's Keeper and Paradise
Lost with partner Bruce Sinofsky, said, "I'm just talking with them
about it. You know I'll do something wacky ... to it."
Actors Found Blair 2 Scary
ctors
who worked on Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 told SCI FI Wire that
they had nightmares and went through unusual preparations for their roles
during the grueling 10 weeks they worked on the film in Maryland.
"It was arduous, definitely," said co-star Stephen Barker Turner during a
Los Angeles press briefing on the sequel to 1999's hit The Blair Witch
Project. "Not only the subject matter, but the amount of work that we
had to get in under the schedule we had to do it."
The five unknowns
play characters obsessed with the first movie who travel to Maryland to tour
locations connected with the film. They labored from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every
day. "[We'd] go back to the hotel, scarf down some room service, have
nightmares," said Turner, who plays a Blair scholar in the movie. "I
think the subject matter breeds [nightmares]. I think everyone, to a
person--and I'm very proud of our cast--we all did not shy away from the
darkness of the script. ... We did feel that we had a huge responsibility to
the fans of the first one."
Erica Leerhsen, who
plays a Wicca devotee, said she spent hours watching videotapes of satanic
rituals provided by Blair Witch 2 director Joe Berlinger to prepare
for a scene in which her character flips out and performs a ritual nearly
nude. Leerhsen and co-star Tristen Skyler "were watching hours of these
rituals, and they're weird and nothing really happens," Leerhsen said. "At
first, we were making fun of them. But by the end we were just completely
like, 'Ohmigod, Joe, we have to do this thing with the skull.' ... And the
next thing I know, there's a skull on set. ... And now I have to be naked
with a skull."
Kim Director, who
plays a Morticia-like Goth, delved deeply into that subculture to prepare
for her role. "I was very alone for those four months," she told SCI FI
Wire. "I finally went to a Goth festival in Baltimore, and ... one of the
promoters came up to me and asked me if I would be interested in doing his
catalog of fetish modeling. And that was when I realized I was in like
flint, I was totally one with the Goths [laughs]."
Book of
Shadows opens Oct. 27.
100,000 Surf Blair 2 Webcast
live
Webcast to promote Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 drew 100,000 users
in its first six hours, Artisan Entertainment told the Reuters newswire.
"As of 2:45 p.m. PDT, there were 100,000 unique users from eight countries,
and we expect that number to rise significantly in the next few hours," an
Artisan spokesman told Reuters.
Artisan,
SCIFI.COM, Yahoo, Amazon.com and Jumpcut are sponsoring
the 64-hour Web event that began at 9 a.m. PDT on Oct. 18 to promote the
sequel to 1999's hit movie The Blair Witch Project. The Webcast will
feature live chats with stars of the upcoming sequel and the director, Joe
Berlinger.
SCIFI.COM and
Mothership.com are providing live coverage of the Webfest. SCI FICTION
editor Ellen Datlow will host a panel of noted horror writers who will
discuss the Blair Witch phenomenon at 12 p.m. PDT on Oct.
20.
Book of Shadows:
Blair Witch 2 opens Oct. 27.
Site Releases Blair E-book
he Peanutpress.com Web site announced that it will
release Blair Witch: Graveyard Shift, a new eBook novel for Palm
handheld computers that will complement the upcoming movie Book of
Shadows: Blair Witch 2.
No print editions are planned for the book, which provides the bridge story
between Showtime's Blair Witch 2 broadcast in August and Book of
Shadows.
The site will also
launch a Halloween contest on Oct. 18, with prizes including a Palm m100
handheld computer and a free copy of Blair Witch: Graveyard
Shift.
Book of
Shadows, the sequel to 1999's hit movie The Blair Witch Project,
opens Oct. 27.
Buffy Boy Riley To Stay?
arc
Blucas, who plays boyfriend Riley Finn on The WB's hit series Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, told the Salt Lake City Deseret News paper that
he's planning on sticking around, despite persistent rumors of his imminent
demise.
Blucas said his character is a regular "for the season, as far as I know
now."
Blucas added, "He
certainly lives in the first episodes. He gets to do a little fighting. He
gets to do a little rolling around in bed. We're picking up right where we
left off last year. So I couldn't ask for more. ... There's a comfort level
that comes with it. There's knowing the character after having a season
under my belt. Knowing where he's been, because when you start off, you
really don't know these things."
Blucas added that
he's eager to see where Buffy creator Joss Whedon takes Riley this
year, the series' fifth. "I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes my
character this season, because Riley is learning the gray areas now. And
that's a hard time, but that's an interesting, fun time as well. But I think
he'll finally let his hair down a little and relax. But knowing Joss, my
shirt'll probably be off a lot, too."
Mummy 2 Will Rock
rendan Fraser told the IMDB Web site that the upcoming
sequel The Mummy Returns will top the original 1999 The Mummy.
Fraser will reprise the role of adventurer Rick O'Connell in the sequel,
which is set to hit theaters in May 2001.
"I'm going to go
out on a limb and say this one is going to be much better," Fraser said.
"We're not doing a remake. We're taking what worked in the first one and
making that even better." Oddly, Fraser said he never met his co-star, pro
wrestler The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson, who plays the villainous Scorpion
King. "In Morocco, where we filmed, The Rock is a myth, a legend and, in our
movie, one scary guy. I never got to meet him, because he left Morocco
before I got there, but all the Moroccans were in awe of him. The Rock has
been cyber-scanned. It's going to be really fun and chilling for the
audience."
Guns OK For Jolie's Guards
ngelina Jolie won't be able to pack pistols during filming of
her upcoming movie Tomb Raider in Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat
temples, but her bodyguards will, the Associated Press reported.
Foreigners are generally not allowed to bring weapons into the country, but
Cambodia will make an exception for Jolie's protectors, the AP
reported.
"We believe it's
only a problem of procedure," Cambodian spokesman Khieu Kanharith told the
AP. "After all, prime ministers visit with armed bodyguards." Jolie plays
adventuress Lara Croft in the Paramount movie, which is based on the Eidos
video game series of the same name. Cambodia earlier granted the production
permission to shoot scenes in the landmark temples.
Dalton Possessive About Exorcism
imothy Dalton, who stars in Showtime's upcoming television movie
Possessed, told TV Guide Online that he worried the recent
re-release of the 1973 feature film The Exorcist might steal some of
his movie's thunder.
Possessed, which debuts Oct. 22 at 8 p.m., tells the true story of
the church-sanctioned exorcism that formed the basis of the fictionalized
Exorcist.
"When I first heard
[of the re-release], I thought, 'Oh Jesus, do they have to?'" Dalton
told TV Guide Online. "I bet they found out [we] were doing the real
story and thought, 'Hey, no one has seen The Exorcist in a long time,
why don't we get it out and make some money?' And they were right, weren't
they? They did make some money."
Still, Dalton
added, "It could only help. If people are fascinated with The
Exorcist, then they've got to be fascinated by the real story."
Possessed takes a less head-spinning look at the true story of the
only officially sanctioned exorcism in modern times. "We're actually taking
this real exorcism and trying to give it to you with all its complexity,
hoping to provoke you into wondering what it was really all about," Dalton
said.
The Body Set For Release
olumbia TriStar Motion Picture Group has acquired all North
American rights to The Body, a supernatural thriller starring Antonio
Banderas and Olivia Williams, from MDP Worldwide, Variety reported.
The movie is slated for an early 2001 release.
Jonas McCord
directed the film from his screenplay based on Richard Ben Sapir's 1983
novel of the same name. The Body tells the story of an archaeologist
(Williams) who makes a discovery that threatens to undermine the foundations
of Christianity. She joins forces with a Jesuit priest (Banderas) who is
sent by the Vatican to disprove her findings. The movie was shot in Israel
and Rome.
WB Mulls Sabrina Spinoff
he WB
and Viacom Productions plan to develop a spinoff of the popular series
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch later this season, Variety
reported.
The spinoff's conceit will be introduced in the 15th episode of this year's
show and will revolve around a bad witch who's sent off to a school for
mischievous witches and warlocks, the trade paper reported.
The episode will
act as a pilot for a series described as a cross between Welcome Back
Kotter, The Facts of Life and Charmed, Variety
reported. The as-yet-untitled spinoff could wind up as a companion to
Sabrina in the fall of 2001. Bruce Ferber (Home Improvement)
is expected to spearhead the project with Paula Hart, both of whom currently
executive produce Sabrina.
New Potter A Ways Off
.K.
Rowling, author of the Harry Potter children's novels, told USA
Today that the fifth installment in her best-selling series will be out
within the next two years.
The book is "not too far along," Rowling told the newspaper. "It will be
ready when it's ready."
Rowling isn't
saying what the next book will be about. "For me to give away stuff at this
point would hurtle us toward book seven," she said. "It's been 10 years of
work for me to get to this point, and I would like the kids to come to it
and be surprised. That's how it should be with a book. You shouldn't know
the ending."
As for the upcoming
feature-film version of her first Potter book, Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer's Stone, Rowling said that she awaits it with "a mixture of
excitement and apprehension." Rowling has script approval, but still worries
that Hollywood "won't do it right," she told the newspaper. The movie is
slated for a November 2001 release.
Child Actors Mad About Potter?
he
child actors portraying characters in the Harry Potter movie have
accused filmmakers of paying low rates, according to a report on the BBC.
Citing the British Independent newspaper, the BBC reported that at
least four agents representing the unnamed actors resent what they call the
"heavy-handed" behavior of the film's studio, Warner Brothers.
The newspaper also
reported that two agents have already withdrawn actors from the film. Warner
declined to comment on the allegations, saying that any contractual
agreement is "strictly confidential," the BBC reported.
Daniel Radcliffe,
11, signed on to play the title role in the feature-film version of J.K.
Rowling's best-selling children's novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone, which is currently in production in Great Britain.
In other
Potter news, Warner's parent company, Time Warner Entertainment, is
suing costume maker Disguise Inc. of San Diego for manufacturing costumes
based on the Potter series of books, for which Time Warner holds the
merchandising rights, the Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, Rowling
is writing two spinoff reference books from the popular series to benefit
Comic Relief, an organization that fights poverty and social injustice, the
AP reported. The short books Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them
and Quidditch Through the Ages will be released worldwide during a
Comic Relief fund drive March 16.
Dern Back For Jurassic III
aura
Dern will reprise her Jurassic Park role of Ellie Sattler briefly in
the upcoming sequel Jurassic Park III, according to the Popcorn
U.K. Web site.
Dern will appear in the opening sequence of the movie, which is currently in
production in Hawaii and Los Angeles, the site reported. Joe Johnston is
directing.
Dern would join her
Jurassic Park castmate Sam Neill, who is reprising the role of Dr.
Alan Grant in Jurassic III. New cast members include William H. Macy
and Téa Leoni. Jeff Goldblum, who played chaotician Ian Malcolm in the
previous two Jurassic Park films, won't have a role in the third
movie, the site reported. Neither Dern nor Neill appeared in the second
film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
SCI FI Will Air Halloween Parade
usan
Sarandon and Kathy Griffin will host The SCI FI Channel's coverage of New
York's Village Halloween Parade, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 31.
The parade will feature a live musical performance from the neo-swing band
the Squirrel Nut Zippers. The theme of this year's parade is science
fiction.
As part of the
parade, SCI FI has sponsored its own entry: an 85-foot-long, 15-foot-high
sandworm, based on the creatures in SCI FI's upcoming original miniseries Frank Herbert's
Dune. The miniseries, based on
Herbert's classic SF novel Dune, premieres in December.
Preceding parade
coverage, SCI FI will broadcast 12 hours of horror movies, including
Night of the Living Dead and The Lost Boys. SCI FI will repeat
the parade at 9 p.m. and follow it with a continuation of the horror movie
marathon at 11 p.m.
SCI FI Presents
New York's Village Halloween Parade will be simulcast live on SCI FI's
sister channel, USA Network. SCIFI.COM will offer online coverage via
three live video streams to complement the broadcast. SCIFI.COM will also
sponsor a Halloween sweepstakes with the grand prize of a replica Fremen
costume from Frank Herbert's Dune.
Sorbo Happy Herc's Done
evin
Sorbo, star of the syndicated TV series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda,
told the Los Angeles Times that he's glad to have left his old
persona from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys behind.
"I dropped 20 pounds and cut 8 inches of hair," Sorbo told the newspaper.
"It was definitely time to get rid of the hair."
Sorbo added, "When
I look at [Andromeda], I see a completely different guy. I think when
people watch it, they won't even remember me as Hercules. I don't want
people to forget. ... But I had to progress."
Sorbo plays Capt.
Dylan Hunt in the SF series, which has a 44-episode commitment from Tribune
Entertainment. Hunt, a starship military commander for a galaxy-wide
republic, is released from suspended animation 300 years after his republic
has collapsed and enlists an unlikely band of spacefarers to help him
rebuild it. In the pilot episode, there is a comment that Hunt looks like a
"Greek god"--a humorous reference to Sorbo's previous role.
"What's good about
[Hunt] is he's not Hercules," Sorbo said. "When he fights, he's not going to
win every time. With Herc, you knew he was going to win; you just had to
make it funny. ... This character is emotional. He has so much more going
on. ... Hunt is more accessible; people can relate to him more. He isn't
half-god. He isn't the strongest person in the world. He is just somebody
with strong moral beliefs and standards he sets for himself, and he's in a
universe that's totally against that. It'd be like a Republican in the
Democratic world of Hollywood. As Hercules, as great as that was,
that character can only save the world. I can save the universe
now."
Kavalier Heads For Screen
ichael Chabon will adapt his own novel The Adventures of
Kavalier & Clay for the big screen for producer Scott Rudin,
Variety reported.
The book tells the story of World War II refugees who create a comic-book
superhero not unlike the original Superman.
Rudin will produce
a movie version of the best-selling novel. Chabon's earlier novel The
Wonder Boys was made into a film directed by Curtis Hanson.
Alien Props Auctioned
he Fleetwood
Owen online auction house is taking bids for props and costumes from
Ridley Scott's 1979 SF classic movie Alien.
The items include unpublished production stills, an original alien costume,
a complete spacesuit worn by Kane (John Hurt) and a flamethrower used by
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).
The auction runs
through Nov. 1. Fleetwood Owen is run in part by Fleetwood Mac band
member Mick Fleetwood.
Love Bug Will Drive Again
alt
Disney Co. is accelerating development of Herbie the Love Bug, an
update of the 1969 fantasy movie The Love Bug, about a sentient
Volkswagen, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio has fast-tracked the new movie's development and is close to
hiring a writer.
The studio is
hoping to start production on Herbie before the threatened actors'
strike against producers, the trade paper reported. Disney has also
reportedly not decided whether to use the original Volkswagen beetle car or
a new, updated one.
The original movie
starred Dean Jones and Michele Lee and was followed by the sequels Herbie
Rides Again in 1974, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo in 1977 and
Herbie Goes Bananas in 1980.
Lazarus Child To Rise
agle
Pictures, an Italian production company, will develop The Lazarus
Child, an SF thriller movie based on Robert Mawson's best-selling novel
of the same name, Variety reported.
Oscar-winning writer Ron Bass will pen the script and produce the
movie.
In a plot
reminiscent of this summer's The Cell, Lazarus tells the story
of a young comatose girl whose 12-year-old brother is enlisted by an
eccentric researcher to enter the girl's mind and help revive
her.
Eagle is also
developing a fantasy feature film based on Tom Tryon's novel Night
Magic.
No 2001 in 2001?
hoped-for 2001 re-release of Stanley Kubrick's SF classic movie 2001: A
Space Odyssey is on hold, according to a report by syndicated columnist
Jeffrey Wells.
Warner Brothers told Wells that the theatrical re-release is "up in the
air," though it's on the studio's official schedule.
Wells reported that
work is being done on the 1968 movie, presumably for a DVD
release.
Hurley Bedeviled By Bedazzled
lizabeth Hurley, who plays the devil in Fox's upcoming
supernatural comedy Bedazzled, told the E! Online Web site
that she didn't have to do much preparation for the role.
"There's nothing to research," Hurley told E!. "No one can say to
you, 'I don't think the devil would sit like that or eat like that.' ...
It's kind of liberating. For my inspiration, I used how [co-star] Brendan
[Fraser] played Elliot. The more shy he got, the naughtier I
got."
In the remake of
the 1967 Dudley Moore/Peter Cook comedy of the same name, Fraser plays a
hapless loser who sells his soul to the devil to win the love of a woman.
"My theory is you have to walk with the devil a bit to be able to renounce
him," Hurley said. "Otherwise, if you've never experienced a bad feeling,
it's pretty hard to reject it. ... I get tempted every day--every day! Maybe
envy is just under the surface at all times in most of us. It's very
destructive. I think sins stop you from concentrating on yourself, and they
take away the attention from one's own faults, so you can't improve and have
a better life--you just obsess about someone else's."
Hurley, meanwhile,
has found herself the object of protests by the Screen Actors Guild, which
is on strike against producers of television commercials, according to a
report on the Popcorn U.K. Web site. Hurley filmed a commercial for
cosmetics, claiming that she was unaware of the strike. But protesters
picketed the Hollywood premiere of Bedazzled this week, though Hurley
issued a written apology and offered to donate money to the
union.
Bedazzled
opened Oct. 20.
BBC Lost World In Works
hristopher Hall, producer of the BBC's upcoming miniseries based
on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, told the SFX
Network Web site that the series will be faithful to the book.
The only major change will be the addition of a female character to provide
romance, SFX reported.
"We plan to start
shooting some time in the new year and are at present looking at New Zealand
as our major location," Hall told the site. Tony Mulholland will write the
script for the two-part miniseries, which is slated to air on British
television around Christmas 2001.
McConaughey Joins Reign
atthew McConaughey will join Christian Bale slaying dragons in
the upcoming fantasy movie Reign of Fire, according to the Hollywood
trade papers.
The post-apocalyptic film is slated to shoot in Great Britain in
February.
Rob Bowman (The
X-Files) will direct the movie, which is described as a cross between
Mad Max and the Arthurian legends. McConaughey will play an American
who teams with Christian Bale's Brit to battle dragons that have emerged
from under the earth. Gregg Chabot and Kevin Peterka wrote a draft of the
script; Matt Greenberg did a rewrite that is being polished by Zak Penn.
Spyglass Entertainment is producing.
Ellison Stories Land On Web
enerable SF author Harlan Ellison has granted the Fictionwise.com Web site the rights to market 35
of his short stories in eBook format.
The works include award-winning Ellison stories, as well as works that are
no longer in print and difficult to find, the site announced.
"Watching all the
blue-sky IPO Web sites come and go, promising the riches of Araby, but
delivering ashes and excuses, functioning only as sucking black holes
draining off investment capital, it is some small miracle--in my view--the
way Fictionwise.com operates with calm, determined professionalism to
put the work out there on the Web," Ellison said in a statement. "If one
needs a metaphor for their way of doing business, for their attention to
detail and quality, their scrupulous honesty and respect for the creative
talent in the milieu that is lousy with hot-air hustlers, adolescent
hacker-thieves and just plain inept buffoons, try this: the 300 Spartans who
took on all of Xerxes' vast and endless armies. Here's wishing
Fictionwise.com a long and smooth highway."
Ellison's stories
are available in the most popular eBook formats for handheld devices and
personal computers, including Acrobat, Rocket, Palm and Microsoft Reader.
Most Fictionwise.com eBooks retail for between 39 cents to
$2.
Lynn To Pilot Guam
onathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny) will direct the offbeat SF
comedy Guam Goes to the Moon for Paramount Pictures, according to
The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie tells the story of a washed-up astronaut who is given a second
chance to go to the moon by a billionaire who wants to start a space program
in his homeland of Guam.
David Diamond and
David Weissman wrote the original script, which has been through a series of
rewrites. Paul and Chris Weitz will produce the movie. Production is slated
to start in February.
Crow 3 Flies To Video
imension Films will release The Crow: Salvation, the
third installment in the supernatural revenge franchise, straight to video
on Jan. 23, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio opted against a theatrical release after a poor test screening in
Spokane, Wash.
Salvation
stars Kirsten Dunst and Eric Mabius. The original film The Crow,
based on James O'Barr's comic series of the same name, earned more than $50
million at the box office. Fans of the franchise have objected to
Dimension's handling of the third Crow movie, saying that the studio
intentionally set the movie up to fail in theaters.
Monsters Delayed?
onsters, Inc., the upcoming computer-animated fantasy
film from Disney and Pixar, may be behind schedule and could miss its
November 2001 release date, according to a rumor on the Dark
Horizons Web site.
Citing an unnamed source, the site reported that delays are resulting from a
lack of manpower.
Pixar reportedly
doesn't have enough people on hand to complete the work on time. The work
may also be affected by Pixar's planned move from its existing Richmond,
Calif., offices to new ones in nearby Emeryville.
Rollerball Will Outdo Itself
L
Cool J, who will co-star in John McTiernan's remake of the 1975 SF classic
movie Rollerball, told the French edition of Premiere magazine
that the new film outdoes its predecessor.
"This movie will surpass that by light years," LL Cool J told the magazine.
"Technology has gone to a new level now, and you have to realize that and
acknowledge that. ... I think people are going to be blown away."
The
rapper-turned-actor will play a character nicknamed The Headhunter, a
working stiff and Rollerball athlete. LL Cool J also provided a preview of
his costume: lots of leather, accessorized with chrome gloves and
shinguards.
As for
Rollerball's social commentary, LL Cool J said, "I don't think
Rollerball is so much about a social statement. .... I think it's a
popcorn movie." Rollerball is currently in production in
Canada.
Warner OKs Live Scooby
arner
Brothers confirmed that it will produce a live-action version of the
animated television series Scooby-Doo, to be written by James Gunn
and directed by Raja Gosnell, Variety reported.
The film is slated to begin production in February.
The movie will
follow the exploits of Scooby and his human companions, Fred, Daphne, Velma
and Shaggy, as they unmask phony ghosts. An animated movie, Scooby-Doo
and the Alien Invaders, was just released direct to video,
Variety reported.
Goyer Sees Ghost Delays
avid
Goyer, who is writing the first draft of the upcoming Ghost Rider
movie, told Eon Magazine that the movie may be delayed by
the pending Hollywood union strikes.
"Along with the writers' strike, there's also the actors' strike that's
coming up, and I'm working on Ghost Rider now trying to get a draft
done," Goyer told the magazine. "The financiers are under the hope that the
movie can happen before the strike, but I don't really see that
happening."
The movie is based
on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. "The script is coming along
great," Goyer said. "I'm having a lot of fun. As I worked out the story with
[director] Steve Norrington, I think we were both surprised at how mythic
it's become. We both remarked that in some ways the themes were similar to
those of Blade [on which Goyer previously collaborated with
Norrington], but it just struck us as being a much more mature
work."
Goyer added, "I was
surprised when I sat down to write Ghost Rider with how sort of
mythic and serious it's become. I think people are really going to be
pleasantly surprised. We're definitely highlighting the curse element. It's
not a happy story. The Spirit of Vengeance itself is a really horrific
figure."
Psycomic.com Relaunched
CIFI.COM has relaunched the comic Web site Psycomic.com with
new features.
The site provides comic book fans with an extensive comics database, as well
as a showcase of exclusive weekly columns by writers such as Kevin Smith, J.
Michael Straczynski and Dwayne McDuffie.
Psycomic.com's database features an index of graphic novels
by various publishers and reviews of the top 100 books as determined by the
editors and community at large. The "Hot 100" list will be updated weekly.
Many of the titles will be available for purchase online in the SCIFI.COM
Store.
Psycomic.com
also features message boards, interviews and commentary.
Smith Mulls Matrix Sequels
ada
Pinkett Smith is in talks to appear in the two sequels to 1999's hit SF
movie The Matrix, playing the rumored character of Niobi, Morpheus'
love interest, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The first sequel, The Matrix 2, is slated to begin production in
March in Australia under filmmakers Larry and Andy Wachowski and producer
Joel Silver. The Matrix 3 would begin production immediately after
2 wraps.
Smith would join
original cast members Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and
Hugo Weaving. Previous rumors have said that Niobi (or Niobe) is a tough
female ship captain who is the former romantic interest of Fishburne's
character and is also romantically linked with the leader of Zion, the last
human city.
Dead Heads For Screen
indfire Entertainment will develop a live-action movie based on
Sega's best-selling The House of the Dead video game series,
Variety reported.
The film will mirror the game's storyline, in which genetic research leads
to the creation of zombies who imperil the future of the human
race.
Dave Parker and
Mark Altman will write the script. Mindfire's Millennium division will
produce. Millennium previously produced The Specials and Free
Enterprise.
Cleo 2525 Coming Back
he
syndicated SF television series Cleopatra 2525 will return in
January, Studios USA Domestic Television president Steve Rosenberg told
The Hollywood Reporter.
Cleo, half of the studio's Back2Back Action hour, had been
placed on indefinite hiatus.
Rosenberg also
confirmed that Jack of All Trades, the other half of the hour, has
been canceled.
When it returns,
Cleo will expand to a full hour, Rosenberg said. It's unclear whether
that means Cleo will enter into new production of hour-long episodes,
or whether Studios USA will simply repackage two half-hour reruns of
Cleo.
Studios USA is
owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Will Gaiman Write Batman?
eil
Gaiman, creator of the Sandman comic series, told a panel at the New
York Anime Festival that he'd be interested in collaborating with anime
artist Yoshitaka Amano on a new Batman comic.
The festival was sponsored by SCIFI.COM and the Japan Society.
Amano--an animator
who has worked on G-Force, Speed Racer, Vampire Hunter D and Final
Fantasy--expressed interest in illustrating a Batman story if
Gaiman was involved. The two have collaborated in the past on Gaiman's
graphic novel Sandman: The Dream Hunters.
Amano is currently
working on a series of illustrations of the caped crusader and is preparing
to draw his version of DC Comics' Superman for a series of color
posters.
Duncan Goes Ape In Apes
ichael Clarke Duncan, one of the stars of Tim Burton's upcoming
Planet of the Apes, told Entertainment Weekly magazine that
it's not easy monkeying around.
Duncan (The Green Mile) will play a talking silverback gorilla in
Burton's remake of the 1968 SF classic movie, according to a report on the
Associated Press newswire.
"You have to learn
to roll your shoulders forward, hunch your back and round out your arms the
way apes do," Duncan told the magazine. "I'm also learning how to pick
things up with a curved arm."
Co-star Tim Roth is
getting the hang of it, Duncan added. "Tim's excellent, because he's a
chimpanzee and shorter to the ground; he kind of looks the part
already."
V-8 Revving Up
rtists Production Group will develop V-8, a futuristic
road movie based on a pitch by screenwriter Dario Scardapane
(Quantico), Variety reported.
V-8 tells the story of a messenger who must deliver a mysterious
package.
APG bought
V-8 through its newest venture, a $200 million production pact with
StudioCanal, Variety reported. Scardapane is a former writer for
Vogue magazine.
Roswell In Trouble?
he
WB's teen alien series Roswell needs to do better in the ratings if
it is to survive, according to a report on EW.com.
The show's second season premiere attracted 4.1 million viewers, better than
its first-season average audience of 3.5 million, but below the level needed
to continue, the site reported. Roswell airs at 9 p.m. on
Mondays.
Last week's second
episode drew 3.9 million viewers, which was a 39 percent decline from its
lead-in, 7th Heaven. "The WB will be watching it closely over the
next few months to determine its future," John Spiropoulos, associate
director of audience research for Initiative Media, told EW.com. "To
survive, it needs a much bigger audience than it's getting."
Roswell
producers have been playing up the show's SF elements and playing down the
teen romance to bring in more viewers. "We learned that simply having a
human in love with an alien was not a potent enough story to build the
entire show around," executive producer Jonathan Frakes told EW.com.
"So the focus this season is more on the aliens."
Magic Deal Conjured Up
talian production company Eagle Pictures has picked up the film
rights to screenwriter Scott Steindorf's adaptation of Tom Tryon's
best-selling supernatural novel Night Magic, Variety reported.
Night Magic tells the story of a New York street magician who strikes
a pact with the devil.
Night Magic
was originally optioned by Paramount as a vehicle for Tom Cruise; Steindorf
picked up the rights when that deal lapsed, Variety reported. The
producers hope to attach a director by December and to begin casting the
principal roles soon after.
WB Mulls New Electra Woman
he WB
network is considering a remake of the Sid and Marty Krofft series
Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, about a pair of magazine reporters who
battle crime as superheroes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The original 1976 series was part of the Krofft Supershow Saturday
morning lineup on ABC.
Writers Elisa Bell
and Jeff Kline, along with Randy Pope of Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, are
developing a new treatment of the show for The WB. The original show starred
Deidre Hall and Judy Strangis.
Lost Souls Finds No. 3 Slot
he
Winona Ryder satanic thriller movie Lost Souls debuted in the No. 3
box-office slot on the weekend of Oct. 13, taking in an estimated $8.4
million, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
No other genre films debuted that weekend.
The newly enhanced
version of The Exorcist, meanwhile, continued to possess box-office
legs. It came in No. 6, earning an estimated $5.4 million for the weekend
and $30.4 million after four weeks of release. The Exorcist's total
earnings, including its original 1973 release, are now $195.7
million.
Briefly Noted
-
IGN has posted a trailer from the upcoming feature-film version of
the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.
- Neil Gaiman told fans at a New York charity reading that he
has finished nearly 40 pages of the script for a proposed feature film based
on the character Death from his Sandman graphic novel series, the
SFX Network Web site reported. Gaiman described the film as "The
High Cost of Living, only bigger," SFX reported.
- J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry
Potter series of children's novels, debuted at No. 5 on Entertainment
Weekly's "Power List" of the 101 most influential people in
entertainment. The magazine's "Power List" edition hits newsstands Oct. 20.
- Mischa Barton (The Sixth Sense) has landed a
supporting role in Universal's supernatural thriller Dragonfly,
starring Kevin Costner and directed by Tom Shadyac, Variety reported.
The movie goes before cameras Nov. 1.
- Joss Whedon, creator of The WB's hit series Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, told the Salt Lake City Deseret News paper that
he has no immediate plans for a feature-film version of the popular show.
"Not until after the series is over, if ever," Whedon told the newspaper.
"As far as I'm concerned, the Buffy movie comes out every week. For
the amount of work that it takes, it feels like that."
- The ET Online Web site has posted a trailer for Wes Craven's upcoming supernatural movie
Dracula 2000.
- A second trailer for Arnold Schwarzenegger's upcoming SF
thriller movie The 6th Day has been posted to the film's official Web site. The 6th
Day opens Nov. 17.
- Katharine Towne will join David Duchovny in the cast of
DreamWorks' upcoming SF comedy Evolution, to be directed by Ivan
Reitman, Variety reported. The movie is slated to begin production
this month in Los Angeles.
- Luke Askew will join Matthew McConaughey and Bill Paxton in
the upcoming supernatural thriller movie Frailty, Variety
reported. The movie is slated to begin shooting this month and marks
Paxton's directorial debut.
- The Dark Horizons Web site reported that Cambodia
will allow makers of the upcoming Tomb Raider movie to shoot in the
nation's famous Angkor Wat temples. The film, starring Angelina Jolie, is
based on the Eidos video game series of the same name.
- ABC denied to E! Online that it is eyeing The WB's
hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, despite rumors that the show
might switch networks once the contract expires between The WB and
Buffy production studio Fox.
- The Dark Horizons Web site reported a rumor that
John Cleese will play Nick the Nearly Headless Ghost in the upcoming feature
film version of J.K. Rowling's best-selling children's novel Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone.
- The Coming Attractions Web site disputes a rumor
that The X-Files star David Duchovny was called by George Lucas to
appear in Star Wars: Episode III. Citing its own source, the site
says that Duchovny's comments during a French fan chat were mistranslated
and that Lucas never called Duchovny.
- Fox's Freakylinks saw its Oct. 13 audience drop 25
percent from its premiere the week before, a disappointing performance for
the paranormal drama.
- Moore Action Collectibles and Moore Creations obtained the
license for The WB series Angel and will produce a Christmas ornament
featuring the title character in December. The first of a series of
Angel statues and busts, meanwhile, will come out early next year.
- Popster and former Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera is in
talks to guest star in an episode of The WB's Sabrina the Teenage
Witch, E! Online reported.
