Picard On Board Trek 10
atrick Stewart has signed on to play Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in the proposed 10th Star Trek movie, the first Star Trek: The Next Generation crewmember to come on board, USA Today reported.
John Logan (Gladiator) is working on a script for the as-yet-untitled film.
But the newspaper said it's unlikely the next Trek movie will begin production before anticipated strikes by Hollywood actors' and writers' unions in the spring of 2001.
Paramount Auctions Trek Reruns
aramount is selling reruns of its three Star Trek series from the 1980s and 1990s to cable networks for a record license fee of $364 million, Variety reported.
The SCI FI Channel is reportedly one of the cable networks interested in bidding, the trade paper reported; SCI FI already runs the original Star Trek series.
TNN, TNT, Fox Family and FX, and the Odyssey Channel are also reportedly keen on acquiring the Trek reruns.
The three series are Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Voyager is wrapping up its seventh and last season on UPN; the other two series ran for seven years each in syndication.
Spock's Ears For Sale
ans of the original Star Trek television series will soon be able to bid on the original molds for Mr. Spock's Vulcan ears, the BBC reported.
Christie's auction house in Los Angeles is selling the mold and four pairs of the rubber ears as worn by Leonard Nimoy in the original Trek on Nov. 15 as part of an auction of TV memorabilia.
The mold is expected to fetch up to $20,000 and two pairs of ears are expected to garner up to $2,000, the BBC reported. Christie's will also auction off a plaster life mask of William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk, which was used for various makeup effects. The mask, which freezes Shatner's visage as it was during the show, is listed at an estimated sale price of $6,000.
The auction will also include original scripts from the first two Star Trek movies, as well as signed posters and other makeup prosthetics. The Star Trek lots are being offered by the heirs of Fred Phillips, the sole makeup artist on the original series and the first two movies.
Skinner To Do More On X-Files
itch Pileggi--FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner on The X-Files--told The Office of the Assistant Director fan Web page that his character will have a chance to grow in the show's upcoming eighth season.
Skinner witnessed the UFO abduction of David Duchovny's Agent Mulder at the end of last season, and at the beginning of the next one, he finds himself at odds with a new character: Agent John Doggett, played by Robert Patrick.
"Having seen a spacecraft, [Skinner] is now a full-fledged believer," Pileggi said. "Skinner [is] being given the opportunity to grow. New avenues have not only been opened to the show, but to the character. I don't believe the past few years have afforded Skinner any room to grow. It's been a nice change."
Pileggi added, "I think that I'm doing the best work I've ever done this season--partly because I'm being given something to do and partly because there is a new energy on the set. It's a nice change. We're having fun and laughing again."
Pileggi added that he has signed a new, two-year contract to appear in The X-Files, ending rumors that his character will be killed off. The X-Files' season premiere airs on Fox Nov. 5.
SCIFI.COM, Stan Lee Join Forces
CIFI.COM will partner with Stan Lee Media to present The Drifter, an original Web-based 12-episode animated SF serial.
The Drifter will debut in the first quarter of 2001.
The serial, set in the year 2074, will tell the story of Matthew Zane--who is code-named "Drifter"--the survivor of a worldwide computer meltdown called "The Crash" that killed 423 million people and caused another 2 billion to go insane. Using untested time-travel research, Matthew arrives in the year 2000 with the mission to prevent the development of technologies that will dominate mankind's descendants. As he pursues his goal, he must evade security agents from the future.
Verne Heads For SCI FI
he Sci Fi Channel has ordered 22 hour-long episodes of The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne and renewed the successful Invisible Man for a second full season of 22 episodes, Variety reported.
The orders solidify SCI FI's position as the cable network running the most scripted series each week, the trade paper reported.
Jules Verne, premiering in January, stars Chris Demetral in the title role in a "steampunk"-style series. It will be shot in Montreal on high-definition video.
With the addition of Verne, SCI FI will have six first-run hour-long series on its schedule spread over two nights.
Alexis Arquette To Fight Xena
lexis Arquette, a member of Hollywood's Arquette acting family, told TV Guide Online that he'll soon cross swords with Lucy Lawless in the final season of Xena: Warrior Princess.
"I'm going to New Zealand to do the final episodes of Xena," Arquette told TV Guide Online. "My friend has been the director for years, and I said, 'You have got to get me on before they're done.' I love that show. It's so corny."
Arquette will portray a debauched Roman emperor in two back-to-back episodes airing early next year, TV Guide reported. "I'm going to play Caligula," he said. "It's the basic story, except the only spin the show pulls is that Claudius--the brother who takes over after Caligula's killed--has always been portrayed as retarded. On Xena, he's only acting like [that] so he won't get killed by me in an untimely way, and he can take over."
Actor Used His Head In Blair 2
effrey Donovan, star of the upcoming Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, which opens Oct. 27, told the iFilm Web site that his shaved head provided new material for the movie.
When he showed up on the last day of shooting, Donovan sported a bald head, arguing that his character would have gone crazy after the events in the film.
Director Joe Berlinger liked the idea, as did Artisan Entertainment, the studio producing the sequel. Four months later, Artisan ordered the crew to shoot an entirely new sequence featuring Donovan's character in a mental hospital. It's the scene that now opens the film.
As for what to expect in the sequel to 1999's surprise hit The Blair Witch Project, Donovan said, "That would be like me painting some abstract painting and telling you what it means. I've always tried to be a part of projects that do not spoon-feed and hand you on a silver platter the solution to life. I think that's incredibly arrogant. I think we raise more questions than we've given answers."
Butler Wins PEN Lifetime Award
ctavia Butler, the esteemed SF author credited with helping to introduce African-American themes into genre fiction, received the PEN International Lifetime Achievement Award Oct. 25, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Butler, 53, previously won a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in recognition of her synthesis of science fiction, mysticism, mythology and African-American spiritualism.
Butler's latest novel, Parable of the Talents, won the 1999 Nebula Award. Her 1993 Parable of the Sower was a Nebula finalist. The short story "Bloodchild" won several awards, including the Hugo and Nebula. Butler is also known for her Patternist series of novels, about a 4,000-year-old body-changing African.
SF Drives Space Exploration
tar Trek: Voyager writer and science consultant Andre Bormanis told a meeting of the Planetary Society and the American Astronomical Society that science fiction helps drive society's ventures into space, according to the official Star Trek Web site.
But high cost and short-sighted public opinion cause reality to lag far behind the fiction, Bormanis added.
Speaking on a panel addressing "Human Space Exploration: Fact, Fiction, the Future," part of the annual meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences in Pasadena, Calif., Bormanis said he is also sometimes baffled by the priorities of society. He recalled when President Clinton made the announcement that a meteorite from Mars held apparent evidence of extraterrestrial microbial life.
"The first thing that one of the people from the press asked him was about his tie, because of the whole Monica Lewinsky thing that was going on," Bormanis said. "If I had been the president, even if I had been in the middle of this kind of a scandal, I would've said, 'What are you thinking? Did you hear what I just told you? We've got a fossil that we think may have come from Mars!'"
Bormanis added that manned space exploration will require a couple of changes. "I think at the very least we're going to have to finish the international space station we've just started to construct in low Earth orbit before we can think about going beyond low Earth orbit," he said. "We have to figure out a way to do it more cheaply. The bottleneck is, it's still really expensive to get people and payloads in space. It's about $10,000 a pound. We have to bring that down by probably a factor of a hundred before we can ensure that human beings are going to make the investments necessary to really explore the solar system. But that bottleneck someday is going to collapse ... I suspect in no more than 20 years. And then I think the dam will burst, and we'll see all sorts of activity in low Earth orbit, and then shortly after that, the moon, Mars and the outer planets."
Stargate Sequel Planned
GM plans to make a sequel to its 1994 SF hit movie Stargate, which spawned the Showtime television series Stargate SG-1, according to Variety.
The studio has reportedly fast-tracked the sequel for release in 2002.
MGM is also reportedly developing movies based on its Outer Limits television series, which will move to The SCI FI Channel next year.
Harrison Will Write Dune Sequel
he SCI FI Channel has struck a deal with John Harrison, writer and director of SCI FI's upcoming original miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune, to write a sequel based on further volumes of Herbert's classic SF series of books, Harrison told SCI FI Wire.
"I am flattered and thrilled that SCI FI is interested in pursuing another installment of Frank Herbert's Dune epic," Harrison said. "I think it is a vote of confidence in the first mini that will air in December and to the creative vision the producers and I have been able to bring to it." Harrison's six-hour Dune miniseries, starring William Hurt, Giancarlo Giannini and Alec Newman, will air on SCI FI Dec. 3-5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Harrison said a sequel would be either four or six hours long. As to whether it will be called Dune Messiah, after Herbert's second novel, Harrison said, "That remains an open question, because we don't know if we will adapt one or two more novels into the next mini. I'm working on a proposal for the adaptation and can relay more details in the near future."
When a possible sequel would go into production depends in part on how easily Harrison can adapt Herbert's books, Harrison added. "Clearly, we would all love to see it go into production soon so that the momentum of the first miniseries won't be dissipated by too much time," he said.
Dune Trailer Debuts On SCIFI.COM
new 60-second theatrical trailer for The SCI FI Channel's upcoming six-hour miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune premiered exclusively on SCIFI.COM Oct. 25.
The trailer can be seen only online until Nov. 10, when it will begin running in 650 theaters nationwide.
The new trailer gives viewers their first glimpse of such Dune icons as the giant sandworms of Arrakis and ornithopter airships. Dune will run on SCI FI Dec. 3-5 starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Potter Riles Oxford Dons
akers of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the feature-film version of J.K. Rowling's book of the same name, are angering students at Oxford University, where the movie is shooting, Empire Online reported.
Security guards are reportedly frisking students whenever they approach the top-secret set, the site reported.
"If they see any of us with a camera, they try to confiscate it," a student at Oxford's Christchurch College told Empire Online. "Even if you put your hands in your pockets, they think you're up to something suspicious. It's completely upset life at college--and we don't even get to watch them filming."
The Chris Columbus-directed movie is shooting in the college's cloisters, but entrances to the set are blocked by a combination of college and studio security, the site reported. Filmmakers have also blocked off a lecture room that overlooked filming.
More Spawn Film, TV Due
pawn creator Todd McFarlane told an online chat that he will continue to push for a sequel to the 1997 feature film based on his comic series, as well as further animated television episodes, according to the Comics Continuum Web site.
McFarlane said the sequel will not come from New Line Cinema, which produced the original film.
"Right now the rights revert back to me on Nov. 6, and I've got three studios waiting for me to come in the door and tell them it's legally back in my possession," McFarlane said. "So hopefully something will come out of one of those places."
After three seasons of the animated Spawn series on HBO, meanwhile, McFarlane said he hopes to go back into production soon. "I'm hoping by the beginning of next year, we will begin production on a 90-minute ... movie-length version that will then be sold either back to HBO or some other cable system," McFarlane said.
Partners To Finance T3
-2 Pictures struck a deal with Europe's Intermedia to co-finance Terminator 3, the proposed third installment in the SF series, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
Intermedia and producers Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna's C-2 Pictures will handle international marketing and distribution of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, but no domestic distributor has been lined up yet, the papers reported.
Terminator 3 is set to shoot in late spring with an eye to a summer 2002 release. Tedi Sarafian (Solar Crisis) wrote the script. Japan's Toho Towa and Germany's VCL co-financed development of the sequel and have distribution rights in their own territories.
Marsters Wants Spike Fangy Again
ames Marsters, who plays the vampire Spike on The WB's hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, told TV Guide Online that he's got ideas about how to make his character dangerous again.
Spike was rendered harmless last season by a computer chip in the noggin.
"He has powers; he just can't use them against human beings because The Initiative put that damned computer chip in his head," Marsters told TV Guide Online. "Basically, the writers had to find a way for Spike to stop trying to kill Buffy all the time, because he can't really kill her--and he can't keep failing at it, or he'll look pathetic."
Marsters has suggested to Buffy creator Joss Whedon that Spike make a move. "I'm hoping to go on [Buffy's spinoff series] Angel again, because I think I can draw more blood there," he said. "I could be a full-blown villain over there, because I can still mess with other vampires. And I hate the man anyway, because he took my girlfriend, so let's go!"
Marsters added that the girlfriend--the vampire Drusilla, played by Juliet Landau--will return. "She's going to be on a few Angel episodes and at least one Buffy," he said. "And I get to kiss her. It's fabulous to have Juliet back again, because there's a very romantic side of Spike, which I haven't gotten to play on since Dru left. We were supposed to be a Sid and Nancy, so we were always trying to act perverse, in a real subtle way. Doped up and horny, that's Spike and Dru all over!"
Andromeda Blasts Off
ene Roddenberry's Andromeda premiered with a 4.3 national rating and led all other syndicated weeklies for the week that ended Oct. 15, Variety reported.
The series, based on an idea by the late Star Trek creator, stars Kevin Sorbo.
On The WB, meanwhile, the combination of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel drew an average of 5.9 million viewers on Oct. 24, its best Tuesday since the shows' season premieres four weeks earlier, the Reuter newswire reported. Buffy also scored an all-time best rating among adults 18-34.
In November, The WB will double the amount of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch it airs on Fridays, adding a second half hour from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The WB will replace the struggling comedy Grosse Point and move it to Sundays, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Ball And Chain Pilot Ordered
ox Broadcasting Company has ordered a pilot for a live-action version of Scott Lobdell's comic book series Ball and Chain, about a divorcing couple who inadvertently acquire superpowers that will keep them together, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman has put the project on the fast track for production to begin in January, the trade paper reported.
Howard Gordon (The X-Files) and Molly Newman (Maximum Bob) will co-write and executive produce the pilot with Lobdell. Todd Holland, who recently won an Emmy for his work on Fox's Malcolm in the Middle, has signed on as director.
Ball and Chain is set in San Francisco at a time when the city is overrun by intergalactic bad guys masquerading as humans. A lone human crusader who knows where the aliens are hiding is about to be zapped with special crime-fighting powers by a benevolent alien sheriff when an earthquake hits and deflects the beam onto a battling couple passing by. The couple's powers work only when they're together, so the lone crusader must become a marriage counselor while helping the couple fight the good fight to save humanity, the trade paper reported.
New Spidey Title Coming
xel Alonso, the new editor of the Marvel Comics Spider-Man series of comic books, told the Comics Continuum Web site that a third Spider-Man title will launch in the first quarter of 2001.
The new title will feature secondary characters in the Spidey universe.
"Spider-Man's got one of the coolest supporting cast in comics, so why not dig down deep and take a look at them?" Alonso told the Continuum. "The new Spider-Man title is about the formidable shadow he casts over his city, and the people who live in it. ... Each story--told either as a stand-alone or a miniseries by rotating creative teams--will explore the people whose fortune--or misfortune--is to live in the same city as Spider-Man. The goal is to take a look at the effect that this guy in red-and-blue tights has on people--good guys and villains."
Episode II Thankful For Digital
akers of Star Wars: Episode II placed an ad in The Hollywood Reporter to thank Sony and Panavision for the camera equipment that allowed the movie to be shot entirely in digital format.
The producers used the companies' 24-frame progressive high-definition system.
The ad said, "We shot Star Wars: Episode II in 61 days in five countries in the rain and desert heat, averaging 36 setups per day, without a single camera problem. We have found the picture quality of the 24P Digital HD system to be indistinguishable from film. Thank you, Sony and Panavision, for helping us meet our goal of making an entirely digital motion picture." The ad was signed by director George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum and Lucasfilm Ltd.
Warner Developing Pet Peeves
arner Brothers will develop a fantasy movie based on Pet Peeves, an unpublished children's book from author Chris Tougas, and a treatment written by Tougas and producer Robert Lawrence, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Pet tells the story of a jerk who is terrorized by a visit from the monstrous manifestation of his own worst character traits, the trade paper reported.
Warner consumer products president Dan Romanelli and production vice president Polly Cohen are shepherding the project for the studio.
Batman Not Pi Guy's Next Film?
i director Darren Aronofsky told EW Online that Batman: Year One may not be his next film, as expected.
Aronofsky said he's also been working on an as-yet-unnamed science fiction project of his own.
"I've been working on the sci-fi film for 10 months, writing it," Aronofsky said. "I want to do a post-Matrix science fiction film, because The Matrix has sort of redefined everything. My college roommate, who is the smartest guy I ever met, just graduated from NYU, got his Ph.D. in neuroscience. And since [he's] a scientist--and just a brilliant guy--I said, 'Why don't you create a story with me?'"
Aronofsky added, "[With] Batman, the deal isn't completely done, but hopefully I'll write it and develop it into a film as well. It's just, with any of these big films--who knows what's going to happen? So I'm just pushing them both forward as much as I can."
Biller Now Exec On Voyager
tar Trek: Voyager head writer Ken Biller has been formally promoted to executive producer as part of a new development deal with Paramount Network Television, Variety reported.
Biller has been running the show now that former executive producer Brannon Braga is devoting more time to developing the next Trek television series.
Biller's new multiyear pact also calls for him to develop and produce drama series for the studio while remaining on Voyager for its seventh and final season. Biller had been co-executive producer.
Injury Delays Quixote
double-disk hernia forced actor Jean Rochefort to withdraw from the filming of Terry Gilliam's upcoming fantasy film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, suspending the production indefinitely, Variety reported.
The $32 million movie stars Johnny Depp as a New York advertising executive who wakes up in an alternate reality in which he is Sancho Panza to Rochefort's Quixote.
Rochefort, 70, fell ill only three weeks into principal photography, which began Sept. 25 in Spain, Variety reported. The delay throws into question the film's ultimate future, and producers are scrambling to reset production for January, with or without Rochefort.
Rowling Reading Draws 12,000
.K. Rowling read excerpts from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to an audience of nearly 12,000 fans in Toronto's SkyDome stadium on Oct. 24 in what was called the largest author reading ever, the Reuters news service reported.
Rowling's reading was part of the International Festival of Authors. Goblet of Fire is the fourth volume in Rowling's best-selling Harry Potter series of children's novels.
Teachers, children and other fans screamed and applauded Rowling as if she were a rock star, the news service reported. A voice announced to the audience that the crowd was gathered for a postponed quidditch match, referring to the game played by Harry and his schoolmates on flying broomsticks.
Fifth Potter Title Revealed
.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter series of children's novels, told the Today show that the fifth book will be called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Associated Press reported.
"I kept saying I wouldn't tell anyone, but then this cute boy, about 8, asked me, and I knew it would make him so happy," Rowling reportedly said.
Rowling has said previously that the fifth book will be ready within two years. "Although book five is underway, I really haven't got that far with it yet,'' she told the Today show. "I'd like to ensure that I really like the writing. ... I would like to take my time."
Rowling's British publisher, Bloomsbury, meanwhile, will be forced to reprint millions of copies of the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, after readers noted a typographical error deep in the text of the first edition, the BBC reported. Bloomsbury said its was bombarded with letters and e-mails from readers who noticed that Fudge, the minister of magic, suddenly changes to Crouch, a villain who disappeared earlier in the story, on one page.
TTA Competition Opens
he Third Alternative, a quarterly British magazine specializing in speculative fiction, announced the TTA Literary Prize competition.
Writers may submit previously unpublished stories no longer than 6,000 words in the categories of science fiction, horror, fantasy, slipstream and cross-genre fiction. Stories must not be under consideration for other competitions or for publication. The TTA will award a first prize of £1,000 ($1,451); a runner-up prize of £500 ($725); and five second runner-up prizes of £100 ($145) each.
Deadline for entries is Dec. 31. Entrants must include a fee of £5 ($8), payable to "The TTA Literary Prizes," and send their entries to: Prizes Administrator Peter Tennant, 9 Henry Cross Close, Shipdham, Thetford, Norfolk IP25 7LQ, England. Stories must be typed double-spaced, and the title page must carry the entrant's name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. Winners will be notified immediately, and details of the winning entries will be published in the first TTA of 2001.
More Dune TV Possible
ohn Harrison, writer and director of The SCI FI Channel's upcoming miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune, said that a sequel based on Herbert's other Dune novels is possible.
SCI FI's six-hour Dune miniseries, based on Herbert's classic SF novel of the same name, will air Dec. 3-5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Speaking on SCIFI.COM's Dune Web site, Harrison said, "All I can say at the moment is that there is great interest in pursuing a sequel to this miniseries, which would be drawn from the other books in the series. If I am involved, which I hope to be, I can assure everyone that we will be as faithful to these books as I've tried to be with Dune. Yes, the actors who played their roles in this production would be expected to return ... provided I (that is, Frank Herbert) didn't already kill them off."
Cinefantastique's Clarke Dies
rederick S. Clarke, owner and publisher of Cinefantastique magazine, died Oct. 17 of undisclosed causes, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site reported.
He was 51.
The magazine will continue to publish with no changes to the staff of seven, not including contributing writers, the site reported. Clarke is survived by his wife, Celeste Clarke; his children, Whitney and Caitlin; and his stepchildren, Drew and Ann Sikula, the site reported.
Episode II Editing Starts
en Burtt, editor of Star Wars: Episode II, has his work cut out for him: winnowing more than a hundred hours of footage into a finished film, according to the official Star Wars Web site.
Episode II is currently in post-production, a process that typically takes 20 months for a Star Wars movie.
Burtt's work takes place in an editing room full of computer workstations. "It's all focused down to this room," Burtt told the site. Director George Lucas and Burtt sit at an AVID workstation daily to scrutinize footage shot in Sydney and abroad over 14 weeks of principal photography.
"I was able to assemble maybe 60 to 70 percent of what was shot over there in Australia without George's input," Burtt said of his initial "assembly cut," a no-frills presentation of the basic story. "I showed that to him. Now, we go back to make his first cut of the film, inching our way through the film, starting with the first frame and working in story order. So each day, we try to make some progress. We may get a minute done; we may get three minutes done. It's fairly slow going. It's a lot of footage and a lot of decisions to be made."
Because Episode II was shot with digital cameras, Lucas and Burtt have great flexibility. "George is directing in the editing room," Burtt said. "He may rewrite something or re-conceive a scene. It's also the first time that he's had a chance to review his footage and reflect on it. Now he can sit back and forget that stress of directing on-set, and instead evaluate and critique what he's got. Not only do you have every shot to pass judgment on, but also every pixel within every shot. There's nothing to stop you from moving things around, changing lighting or altering sets, splitting characters up and rearranging things. That's what's happening now. It's his usual process, which is to take apart what he's done and experiment with what he's got."
Bedazzled Scene Cut In U.S.
rendan Fraser, star of the current fantasy film Bedazzled, told TV Guide Online that filmmakers deleted one of his characters from the movie before it opened in the United States.
Fraser played several roles in the movie, which tells the story of a man who makes a deal with the devil (played by Elizabeth Hurley).
"I was doing a rocker who was a cross between Oasis and the guy from Supergrass," Fraser told TV Guide Online. "I went onstage before thousands of extras in a stadium in downtown L.A., ... lip-synching a song written by the guy from Metallica. Forget acting; it was all about rock and roll!"
When his character wasn't performing, he was backstage taking pills, throwing up and engaging in a fairly explicit sex act on a table, TV Guide reported. "He was pretty vile," Fraser said. "It sort of became our homage to Sid and Nancy, [but] test audiences didn't buy it. I was going over the top [with it], because this guy is a complete wreck. We thought we were doing a spoof like This Is Spinal Tap."
The deleted scene will turn up on the DVD of the film and in versions of the movie released overseas.
Curry Stars In SCIFI.COM Webcast
im Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) will star in "Tight Grip,"
part of SCIFI.COM's fourth annual live audio Webcast from New York's Museum of Television and Radio at 8 p.m. ET Oct. 30.
"Tight Grip" is the first of two back-to-back half-hour episodes of the Tales from the Crypt audio drama series of SCIFI.COM's Seeing Ear Theatre.
"Tight Grip" will tell the story of an old steamer trunk, voiced by Curry, that has witnessed murder, mayhem and betrayal. Brian Smith and Tony Daniel co-wrote the story, which Smith will also direct. The subsequent live episode is called "This Trick'll Kill You," about a third-rate magician who will stop at nothing to possess the secret of a career-making magic trick. George Zarr wrote and will direct the episode.
Ronin Next For Pi Guy?
i director Darren Aronofsky is in line to co-write and direct Batman: Year One, but the wunderkind may also helm the feature-film version of Frank Miller's Ronin comic series, according to the Comics2Film Web site.
An unnamed source at Industry Entertainment told the site, "Aronofsky will write Batman, but of course, that is a long process. Ronin has always been one of his favorite comic books of all time, so until there is a finished script for either Batman or Ronin, it is impossible to say which will be his next movie."
But the site added that a source at New Line Entertainment said the studio had placed Ronin in turnaround, meaning it is on indefinite hold. Aronofsky has said he is eager to develop a movie version of the comic, which combines Japanese samurai mythology with a dystopian future.
Mir Due For A Fall?
ussian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov told the official Interfax news agency that the Mir space station would likely be allowed to fall out of orbit and crash into the Pacific Ocean in February, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
That would complicate NBC's plans for a new reality game show, Destination Mir. NBC last month struck a $40 million deal with Survivor producer Mark Burnett for the fall 2001 series, which would culminate with one would-be cosmonaut rocketing up to Mir.
Fortunately for NBC, MirCorp., a group of private investors that has acquired the rights to operate the station, was quick to note that Klebanov left open the possibility that Mir would remain in orbit if enough private funding is raised to stabilize the facility, the trade paper reported.
For its part, NBC said in a statement that the network remains "excited and supportive of Destination Mir, and our development of the series will continue as planned. We have every faith in Mark Burnett as a producer, and as far as we are concerned, the countdown has begun for the series liftoff next fall."
Cosmos Will Lift Off Again
BS will re-release Carl Sagan's landmark nonfiction space series Cosmos as a TV special and as a digitally remastered home video and DVD, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The re-release will mark the 1980 show's 20th anniversary.
Ann Druyan, Sagan's widow and longtime collaborator, has also launched the new Cosmos Studios banner to produce science-oriented film, TV and documentary projects, and has spearheaded the launch of the Internet portals carlsagan.com and onecosmos.net to serve as research tools and information clearinghouses on various celestial and Earthly topics, the trade paper reported.
The 90-minute Best of Cosmos special is set to begin airing on PBS stations nationwide during the Thanksgiving weekend. The video/DVD release of the 13-hour original Cosmos series will include updated informational segments and new footage of stars and the planets obtained by NASA and other sources in the 20 years since the original series was produced, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The video set will be distributed exclusively through the Web sites.
Blair Witch 3 In Works
inescape Online columnist Cindy Pearlman reported that Artisan Entertainment is already working on the third sequel to The Blair Witch Project, though the second one--Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2--doesn't hit theaters until Oct. 27.
"We actually have the third film slated for next year," Artisan marketing vice president Amorette Jones told Pearlman.
Jones added, "It's a prequel, directed by [Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez,] the guys who directed the original Blair Witch. It's set in the mid-18th century, and the focus is on Elly Kedward, who is the original Blair witch. It's about everything she went through. She came across the Atlantic and settled in Maryland. It should be an interesting film, and different from the others."
Raimi High On Spidey's Maguire
am Raimi, director of the upcoming Spider-Man movie, told Cinescape Online that he always wanted Tobey Maguire to play the Marvel Comics wall-crawler.
"I've been fighting for Tobey ever since I saw him," Raimi told Cinescape. "Peter Parker is such a true, good, simple person that I couldn't imagine anyone other than Tobey playing the part."
Raimi added, "I think one of the big challenges of Spider-Man is that he's a character, unlike Superman or Batman, that kids read and think, 'He's me. He's one of us.' So that's what Tobey has. I really identify with him as a real person, and I don't see the artifice of his acting in any performance he's ever given. I think he was a good choice for that reason."
Web Spins New Spidey Comic
arvel has posted the sold-out first issue of its Ultimate Spider-Man comic book on the Marvel.com Web site, downloadable for free, the company announced.
Ultimate Spider-Man No. 1 will be offered in four installments; the first 13 pages are already online, and additional sections will be added over the next three weeks.
The comic marks the launch of the Marvel.comics portion of the Web site, where readers will be able to download future issues of Marvel's top-selling comic titles. The online editions have been created with Flash technology, enabling readers to read the story by enlarging individual panels as they go.
Scully Ready For X-Files
illian Anderson, who plays FBI Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files, told Xpose magazine that she's eager to start the show's eighth season. "I think there's a new energy," Anderson told the magazine.
"It's just something has shifted, and there's just an overall sense like, 'OK, we've got another year, maybe even two years, to keep going, so how are we going to make this OK and not be resentful that we're doing the same damn thing for the eighth and ninth year in a row?'"
Anderson added, "This season feels good, it feels fresh. [New co-star] Robert [Patrick]'s come in, and he's glad to be here. He's done, like, 55 films, and I can imagine that it's nice to have the security of the show for at least as long it may run. He's got a very enthusiastic energy, and that enthusiasm and the opportunity of creating a new character for the writers, I think, has given the show new energy. And it gives the actors something new to work with, and that's also true for the writers."
Paul To Play A Vampire
ighlander: Endgame star Adrian Paul will lose the sword and put on fangs for his next role, as a vampire in the upcoming supernatural thriller movie A Breed Apart, according to Paul's official Web site.
The movie is set to begin shooting in November, the site reported.
Paul will play Aaron Gray, a vampire who teams up in the near future with a homicide detective (Bokeem Woodbine) to solve the murder of the detective's partner by another vampire.
Hitchhiker Stranded?
irector Jay Roach (Meet the Parents) told Entertainment Weekly magazine that he's trying to revive his feature-film version of Douglas Adams' satiric SF novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Disney has put the much-anticipated movie on hold, the magazine reported.
"It's quirky and expensive, and it's hard to sell," Roach told EW. He estimates that the movie would cost between $85 million and $100 million. "It's a risk, but Austin Powers was rejected at every studio before New Line took it," Roach added.
Resident Evil Fans Angry
ans are upset that the upcoming feature-film version of the Resident Evil video game series will differ significantly from the games and are mounting an Internet petition to preserve the games' storyline and characters.
The fans are reacting to a purported casting call for the film obtained by the
the VideoGames.net fan Web site, which says that director Paul Anderson's movie will tell the story of a commando team trapped in a laboratory where it must battle a homicidal computer and an army of the living dead.
That story differs completely from the Capcom game series' narrative, in which the nefarious Umbrella Corporation has destroyed Raccoon City and the mysterious t-virus has unleashed an army of zombies. More than 100 fans have posted messages to the petition threatening to boycott the film.
Andromeda Finding Stride
obert Hewitt Wolfe, head writer and co-executive producer of the syndicated TV show Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, told Space.com that the series is on track to be the No. 1 new show in syndication.
Andromeda is entering its fourth week, and "overall, the numbers have been great," Wolfe told the site. "We deal within a lot of markets from one week to another, so obviously the people out there who are watching it are digging it, because they're coming back for more."
Wolfe was philosophical about the critical reaction to the show, which is based on notes and ideas of the late creator of Star Trek. "Well, it's been a little bit mixed," Wolfe said. "I think there's been a lot of positive response. I think that there's been some negative response. Mainstream critics have been a little tough, but then, that's not unexpected with a syndicated sci-fi show--a genre show in general. They tend not to get them for a while."
Wolfe added, "I think a lot of people who might have come in expecting something very, very much like Star Trek, for example, or had preconceived notions about what they thought the show should be, have probably been disappointed, because it's definitely a different dish. We get a lot of complaints about our tech being inaccurate, because we don't use things like tractor beams, transporters, phasers and force fields. So that's kind of funny."
King Readies Ghostly Musical
orror author Stephen King is collaborating with rocker John Mellencamp on a "haunted musical," E! Online reported.
Citing Billboard magazine, the site reported that King and Mellencamp are working on a show aimed for Broadway that tells the story of estranged brothers and their father who find themselves stranded in a cabin inhabited by ghosts of their ancestors.
Mellencamp took the idea to King, who quickly signed on. "I was in Florida, so John came down and told me the plot," King told Billboard. "It was kind of a ghostly thing, which is why he thought of me, I guess. I liked the story." The pair are now working on the musical book and score.
ADV Plans Sailor Moon Videos
DV Films announced it has acquired the home video rights to the Sailor Moon television anime series, which is currently being broadcast as part of the Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block.
The 82-episode series will be released on VHS beginning Nov. 21, with four episodes per tape. ADV plans to release Sailor Moon dubbed in English; there are as yet no plans for either a subtitled or a DVD version.
Sailor Moon tells the story of junior high school student Serena, who discovers she has mystical powers and is destined to protect the world from the evil Queen Beryl and her Negaverse. Serena assembles the Sailor Scouts and, with the help of Luna, they battle evil in the name of Queen Serenity.
Fantasy IX Release Set
quare Electronic Arts announced that Final Fantasy IX, designed for the PlayStation game console, will hit U.S. store shelves on Nov. 14.
Final Fantasy IX is the latest installment of the popular video game series.
The new edition will offer new 3-D environments and cutting-edge graphic technology, the company said. Final Fantasy IX will feature a storyline centering on the evil queen's desire to dominate the world.
Phantastik Winners Announced
rganizers announced the winners of the German Phantastik Award for 2000, based on an e-mail poll of 574 readers of the German-language SF Web site Phantastik.de.
The winners were honored Oct. 21 at the BuchmesseCon convention in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. A full list of winners follows.
Best German Novel 1999
•Krieg der Engel by Wolfgang and Heike Hohlbein
Best Foreign Novel 1999
•Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
Best German Story 1999
•"Wiedergänger" by Michael Marrak
Best Anthology 1999
•Der Agnostische Saal 2
Best German Serial 1999
•Prof. Zamorra
Author of the Year 1999
•J.K. Rowling
Best Translation 1999
•Uwe Anton, Seize the Night by Dean Koontz
Best Feature 1999
•The Matrix
Best TV Series 1999
•Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Best Actress 1999
•Gillian Anderson, The X-Files
Best Actor 1999
•Keanu Reeves, The Matrix
Best German Web Site 1999
•SF Radio
Honor Award 1999
•The Matrix
Flop of the Year 1999
•Star Wars: Episode I
Craven Will Helm Pilot For UPN
PN has ordered an SF pilot from filmmaker Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street), Variety reported.
The network has asked Craven to produce and direct an as-yet-untitled pilot about a millionaire and a woman who specializes in artificial intelligence as they explore the paranormal, the trade paper reported.
UPN has also asked screenwriter Duncan Kennedy (Deep Blue Sea) to create an SF pilot called Jen-X, about the adventures of a cybernetically enhanced twentysomething hero, Variety reported.
New E.T. Toys Coming
teven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Universal Studios announced a three-year deal with retailer Toys R Us to roll out a line of toys marking the spring 2002 release of the 20th anniversary edition of Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Variety reported.
The toy chain will release its first line of E.T. products in September, timed with the opening of its 100,000-square-foot Times Square megastore, the trade paper reported.
Spielberg and the retailer have been working on the designs of the new toys and other products, which will include games, puzzles, sporting goods, apparel, accessories, gifts, collectibles, party goods, school supplies and electronics.
The 20th anniversary edition of E.T. will include previously unseen footage, new computer-generated enhancements and a digitally remixed soundtrack, Variety reported.
Kroffts Developing Rat's Tale
rusader Entertainment will develop Rat's Tale, a fantasy film based on a pitch by writer Dan Rosen, for producers Sid and Marty Krofft (H.R. Pufnstuf), Variety reported.
Rat's Tale retells the Cinderella story from the point of view of a rodent who is turned into a royal coachman, the trade paper reported.
The project marks the first original feature concept developed by the Kroffts, who recently set up their kids shows Land of the Lost, H.R. Pufnstuf and The Bugaloos as feature-film projects, the trade paper reported.
Bedazzled Ranks No. 2
edazzled premiered in the No. 2 slot in the box-office rankings for the weekend of Oct. 20, earning an estimated $13.7 million, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
Bedazzled stars Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley in a remake of the 1967 Dudley Moore-Peter Cook Faustian comedy movie of the same name.
In only its second weekend of release, however, the Winona Ryder satanic thriller Lost Souls dropped to No. 7 and saw its earnings fall by 59 percent to an estimated $3.3 million, for a total take of about $12.9 million. The re-release of 1973's The Exorcist, meanwhile, ranked eighth, with an estimated $2.9 million in ticket sales for the weekend and a total of $34.8 million after five weeks of release.
Briefly Noted
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Taylor Nichols (The Last Days of Disco) has joined the cast of Jurassic Park III, now shooting in Los Angeles, Variety reported.
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John Cleese has signed to portray the ghost Nearly-Headless Nick in the upcoming feature-film version of J.K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which is currently shooting in the United Kingdom, Variety reported.
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Disney is re-releasing Tim Burton's animated fantasy movie The Nightmare Before Christmas this week in 28 cities, USA Today reported.
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Christina Ricci (Sleepy Hollow) is rumored to be in line for the role of Velma in the upcoming live-action feature film based on the animated television series Scooby-Doo, the IGN Web site reported.
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LeVar Burton (Geordie LaForge in Star Trek: The Next Generation) wants to direct the next Star Trek movie, according to a report on the IGN Web site.
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The Popcorn U.K. Web site reported that Richard Harris will indeed play Professor Dumbledore in the feature-film version of J.K. Rowling's best-selling children's novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Harris had reportedly been at odds with the producers over his compensation.
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Hayden Christensen, who recently completed filming the role of Anakin Skywalker in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode II, is in final talks to play a troubled teen-age boy in Life as a House, Variety reported.
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The SCI FI Channel has posted the theatrical trailer for its upcoming original miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune to the official Web site. Dune will air Dec. 3-5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
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Susanna Thompson (Star Trek: Voyager's Borg Queen) will play Kevin Costner's wife in Universal's upcoming ghost movie Dragonfly, Variety reported.
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The German investment company Hannover Leasing is inviting local investors to help finance The Return of the King, the third installment of New Line Cinema's upcoming $270 million film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, Variety reported. Investors must be willing to put up at least $43,000 for the film.
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New Line Cinema has posted the trailer for its upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie, based on the Wizards of the Coast role-playing game of the same name. The movie opens Dec. 8.
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Wizards of the Coast has bought the rights from Chaosium Inc. to publish the D20 rule book for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, which is based on the Cthulhu cycle of stories by H.P. Lovecraft.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger told MTV's Total Request Live that Terminator 3 could begin production in the summer of 2001, with a release date in summer 2002, according to a report on Cinescape Online.
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Dune: House Atreides by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson won the Geffen Award for best science fiction book, and Stardust by Neil Gaiman won the Geffen for best fantasy book. The awards are named for Amos Geffen, the co-founder of the Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy, and were presented Oct. 19 at the fourth Israeli SF&F convention.
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Actor Tony Todd (Final Destination) told Fandom that there are talks underway for a fourth Candyman film. Todd also said that Final Destination 2, the sequel to last year's surprise hit movie, will begin shooting in February, and that his undertaker character will have an expanded role.
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Warner Brothers has posted the latest trailer for its upcoming SF thriller movie Red Planet to the official Web site. The site also features new sound effects and video footage on the making of the robot from the film. On Nov. 8, the site will auction props from the film. Red Planet opens Nov. 10.
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Matthew Lillard (Wing Commander) has joined the cast of 13 Ghosts, producer Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis' remake of the 1960 William Castle schlock horror movie of the same name, according to Lillard's official Web site.
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Disney is scrambling to recall some DVDs of its hit animated film Toy Story 2 after some viewers discovered R-rated clips from the John Cusack film High Fidelity accidentally inserted into the G-rated movie, E! Online reported.
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Pro wrestler Randy "Macho Man" Savage is in training for an unspecified role in Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie, according to the New York Daily News.
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Principal photography began Oct. 19 in Los Angeles on the SF comedy Evolution, directed by Ivan Reitman and starring David Duchovny, DreamWorks announced.
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Fox's new paranormal drama Freakylinks saw its ratings improve by 12 percent among adults 18-49 on Oct. 20, its third outing, Variety reported. The show won its hour in adults 18-34 and men 18-34.
