Dune Breaks SCI FI Records
he SCI FI Channel's original miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune, which completed its premiere three-day run on Dec. 5, was the most-watched program in the channel's history, SCI FI announced.
With a 4.4 rating and viewership of 2.9 million households, Dune ranked among the top 10 of all original basic cable miniseries in the past five years.
Dune also virtually doubled all previous viewership records for the channel, SCI FI announced. "The incredible success of this epic miniseries caps off a stellar year at SCI FI," Bonnie Hammer, SCI FI's executive vice president and general manager, said in a statement.
SCI FI will replay Dune Dec. 10 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Episode II Will Be Dark
eorge Lucas, director of Star Wars: Episode II, told the official Star Wars magazine that the upcoming prequel will begin to deal with Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader.
"He's cursed by the same flaws--and issues that he has to overcome--that all humans are cursed with," Lucas told the magazine, according to a transcript on the Fort Tusken Web site. "There's a lot going on there. It must be a real challenge to handle the transformation from the kid we saw in Episode I to the Darth Vader that we see in Episode IV."
Lucas added, "The whole point is--and the reason I started the story where I did--is that Anakin is a normal, good kid. And how does somebody who is normal and good turn bad? What are the qualities--what is it that we all have within us--that will turn us bad?"
Lucas said the Episode II will be darker than its predecessor. "It's definitely getting a little bit more intense," Lucas said. "The next one will probably be the darkest of all of them. Ultimately, I have to tell a story. So the story comes first. And I can't really play it to an audience. I mean, the story is what the story is. I knew that it was going to go very dark. You know, it may not be very successful when I get down that dark. But, you know, at least the thing will be finished, and it will have been good to me. There's not much I can do about that. I can't take a story that's basically very, very dark and make it happy. Because it's not. ... You're going to find that there's a lot of similarity between what Anakin goes through and what Luke goes through. They follow the same path. And it's a similar situation with some of the other characters, such as Boba Fett."
Episode II May Use CG Stunts
tar Wars: Episode II producer Rick McCallum told the official Star Wars Web site that the upcoming prequel may feature digital stunt performers.
"That's an interesting question, because we're currently preparing to really push the envelope on digital stunts in Episode II," McCallum said in response to a fan question.
McCallum added, "[Director] George [Lucas] has some great ideas for really far-out action sequences, where it might make sense to use a combination of live-action and computer-generated stunt performance. That might involve motion-capture work to ensure that the believable human quality is always there. And a skilled choreographer, like our own stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, will always be a must."
Episode II has already pushed the envelope in digital filmmaking, having been shot entirely with digital cameras. The film is in post-production.
New Episode II Images Unveiled
tar Wars: Episode II producer Rick McCallum unveiled new stills from the upcoming prequel at the InterBEE 2000 Conference in Chiba City, Japan, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
The images were shown to demonstrate the digital Sony cameras used to make the movie, the site reported.
"I wanted to meet with Sony and show stills of the film from hi-def," McCallum told the site. "They've never actually seen anything filmed. I wanted to make sure that those who have spent the last five years developing this camera actually understand how much we appreciated it and what a huge success it was for us."
Smith Confirmed For Matrix 2
ada Pinkett-Smith has closed her deal to co-star in the sequel to The Matrix, Variety reported, confirming weeks of reports.
Producers, meanwhile, are talking with singer Aaliyah and actors Harold Perrineau Jr. and Harry Lennex about playing roles in The Matrix 2, the trade paper reported.
Writer/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski are slated to begin shooting The Matrix 2 in Australia in March.
Bratt Aiming At Matrix 2?
he Coming Attractions Web site reported a rumor that Benjamin Bratt is trying to join his Red Planet co-star Carrie-Anne Moss in the cast of The Matrix 2.
Bratt told reporters at a press briefing for his upcoming Miss Congeniality that he has been talking with directors Larry and Andy Wachowski about a part in the sequel to 1999's hit The Matrix.
Bratt reportedly said he has a decent martial arts background that he could use in the sequel, which is slated to begin production in March in Australia.
Trek Game Cell Hints Coming
sers of the Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Fallen video game will be able to obtain hints and solutions via cell phone under an innovative arrangement between game publisher Simon & Schuster and Finland-based Add2Phone, the companies announced.
U.S. and Canadian gamers will be able to communicate directly with Simon & Schuster to get hints via their cell phone keypads, starting Dec. 11.
The system will make use of a new Finnish technology called SMASH. Gamers will sign up for the program on the official Fallen Web site. There is no charge for the service.
The Fallen is available for the PC at an estimated street price of $39.95. A Macintosh version is being developed and is scheduled to ship in December.
Birth Of Federation In Next Trek?
ongtime Star Trek writer and producer Ronald D. Moore told the Space.com Web site that the next Trek television series will likely deal with the birth of the Federation.
"That's my understanding," Moore told the site. "That's the word around the studio, but I haven't heard that from anyone on the show."
Moore, who is currently a producer on The WB's teen alien series Roswell, added, "The feeling always was that Star Trek really was about Starfleet in one way, shape or form. That part of it was a core concept of the franchise."
Frakes To Helm Trek X?
he Dark Horizons Web site reported that Star Trek script coordinator Lolita Fatjo told an SF convention in England that Jonathan Frakes would direct the 10th Trek movie.
Frakes, who played Cmdr. Riker in and directed the last two Trek movies, has remained noncommittal about Trek X. Fatjo added that it's unlikely filming will begin before impending actors' and writers' strikes next spring and summer.
Fatjo also reportedly said there is a "very high possibility" that the upcoming fifth Star Trek television series will occur in the time period before that of the original Trek series. She said casting will begin for the new series later this month.
Fatjo also denied rumors that Paramount was considering a film based on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Dark Horizons reported.
Janeway To Get Love Interest
tar Trek: Voyager producer and writer Bryan Fuller told the official Web site that the show's current season will offer a few surprises, including a love interest for Capt. Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).
"Capt. Janeway will have a romance with a real, live, flesh-and-blood he-man come February sweeps," Fuller said. "Stay tuned."
A familiar face may also make an appearance. "There is a distinct possibility that Q [John de Lancie] will return," Fuller added. As for Voyager's ultimate fate, Fuller said, "I'm torn on that question. There's a part of me that would like to see the adventures of Capt. Janeway and her intrepid crew continue in the Delta Quadrant because they're in a very unique situation. There are certain stories that couldn't be done if they were just another ship in the fleet. But on the other hand, this has been a series about a captain struggling to get her crew home. Somehow it only seems fitting that she should accomplish that goal. But my opinion is just one among many."
Visitor Doubts DS9 Movie
ana Visitor--Major Kira on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine--told the official Trek Web site that she's not holding her breath for a movie version of the canceled television series.
"Do I think they're going to do a DS9 movie?" Visitor asked. "No, I don't think so. Maybe someone's going to dock at Deep Space Nine on their way to some battle or something like that, and I'd be there to hand them a raktajino, but that would be the extent."
But Visitor said it wouldn't be difficult for the cast to come together again, though most have moved on to other projects. "I think that it would make a great movie, because we were like a repertory company," Visitor said. "We were all actors. Almost all of us came from theater, and we could all hit, you know? I think that we could handle a movie very well."
For her part, Visitor has kept busy. "I'm doing a musical in New Haven [Conn.] that has aspirations to go to Broadway, called Golden Boy, so I am in a small theater singing my heart out at the moment, about two hours from New York City. And the boys are in school, so I go back and forth, and they go back and forth, and what can I tell you? Their mom is an actress."
Andromeda Look Is Non-Trek
en Rabehl, production designer for the syndicated television series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, told Space.com that he wanted to distance the show's designs from those of Star Trek.
"This ship [Andromeda Ascendant], this High Guard vessel, about a kilometer long, was supposed to be very elegant, beautiful," Rabehl said.
Rabehl added, "I thought it would be jewel-like, extremely sophisticated and dangerous at the same time. So my mind started immediately filling up with images that were actually quite far away from Star Trek, in the sense that they had very gray-white vacuum-formed shapes that are very functional. And I started to lean more towards gold and bronzes and tried to get more curves and beautification of arches and images like that. ... In the end we did move away from that Star Trek look. So the influence of Star Trek was there, but in my mind it wasn't that hard to detract from it pretty quickly and move in a different direction."
One departure: "One of the comments that [executive producer] Robert Wolfe made was that he didn't want anybody sitting. His model for that concept was that on nuclear submarines, there is a more standing-oriented sort of environment. We carried that concept into the bridge, where all of the stations are standing stations, so that would probably be the only real 20th-century military model."
Aronofsky To Reinvent Batman
arren Aronofsky, director of the upcoming fifth Batman movie, told the Empire Online Web site to expect a new approach.
"It's going to be very different from anything ... you've seen," Aronofsky said. "Toss out anything you can imagine about Batman. Everything. ... We're starting completely new."
Aronofsky said he and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns author Frank Miller are working on a script. "There's no start date or budget for either yet," Aronofsky said. "We haven't even started writing the screenplay."
Aronofsky added, "Well, I'm going to do a very extensive reading of the literature, but it's going to be very, very different. I liked Tim Burton's thing [1989's Batman]. I think all of the films will stand on their own. All I can say is that I want to do something which totally reinvents the franchise."
JLA Series In Works?
arner Animation is developing an animated television series based on DC Comics' Justice League of America series, the Comics2Film Web site reported.
Citing a source at Warner Brothers, Comics2Film reported that Bruce Timm is developing the series for the Cartoon Network.
The series will feature the characters of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl. Aquaman will be included in one of the early stories, but not as a regular member of the team, the site reported.
Thor TV News Due Soon
arvel executive Rick Ungar told the Comics Continuum Web site that Artisan Entertainment may make a decision in the near future on a proposed Thor television series.
"Soon," Ungar told the site. "Something is happening there." The series would be based on the venerable Marvel Comics series of the same name.
Separately, Ungar told the site that the upcoming Mutant X television series will not be based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. Rather, it will have an original storyline, dealing with a secret government project to create new mutants who develop unexpected superpowers, and the efforts of the government to track them down.
"We anticipate getting in front of the cameras in April," Ungar said. "If you've done it really well, you hope to have eight to 10 scripts in your pocket before you go to shooting."
Jolie Hopes Fans Like Tomb
ngelina Jolie, who will play Lara Croft in the upcoming Tomb Raider movie, told the Associated Press that she hopes she meets the expectations of fans of the Eidos video game series on which the film is based.
"There are so many people who love this game," Jolie told the wire service. "She's their girl, and you don't want to take away the thing they love about her. You hope you do justice to what everyone wanted. You pray you got it right."
Jolie added, "We decided she was human now, and she wasn't perfect. I gained weight and worked out, and my shape changed. She's a woman, and she's curvy and cheeky and playful and wicked, and we didn't try to make her macho."
The actress added that she underwent rigorous training to play the role. "It's like joining the army," she said. "I almost recommend to everyone sending themselves off to some insane boot camp and traveling the world and taking themselves out of their normal life and getting free." Tomb Raider opens in June 2001. A teaser trailer for the film has been posted to the film's official Web site.
Ryan Stretches In Dracula
eri Ryan, who plays a comely vampire in Wes Craven's upcoming Dracula 2000, told the University of Nevada's Rebel Yell newspaper that she hopes the role helps distinguish her from Seven of Nine, the character she plays on Star Trek: Voyager.
"[I'm] looking for projects that'll break me out of what I've done for the past four years," Ryan told the newspaper, according to her official Web site.
Ryan described Dracula 2000 as a way to "add a very cool, very unique twist to the origins of Dracula." Dracula 2000 opens in theaters on Dec. 22.
West Welcomes Bad Guy Role
dam West, who will play the villainous Breathtaker in The SCI FI Channel's upcoming original series Black Scorpion, told TV Guide Online that he welcomed the chance to play the bad guy.
"It was good to play a supervillain for a change, instead of a good guy," said West, who is best known as the star of the 1960s Batman television series.
West added, "But it was a challenge for me to play someone that bizarre, with almost Shakespearean dimension." West appears as Dr. Noah Goddard, a onetime top cardiopulmonary surgeon who suffers brain damage from a gunshot wound and who now spends his days plotting ways to asphyxiate the city with a hallucinatory gas, TV Guide reported.
West added that the superhero series feels familiar. "Black Scorpion definitely is derivative," West said of the series, which stars Michelle Lintel. "They're trying to do a kind of Batman thing with the distaff side." SCI FI premieres Black Scorpion on Jan. 5.
UPN Cancels Freedom
PN has canceled the dystopian SF series Freedom because of low ratings, Variety reported.
UPN aired six episodes of the series, and two more are in the can, the trade paper reported. Freedom averaged a 1.7 rating and drew about 2.6 million viewers.
UPN is keeping the series' companion show, Level 9, about a top-secret team of computer crime investigators. Level 9 airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
NBC, meanwhile, will move its successful SF comedy series 3rd Rock from the Sun to 8 p.m. ET/PT on Tuesdays from 8:30 p.m., Variety reported.
D&D Sequels Already Planned
ourtney Solomon, producer and director of the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie, told SCI FI Wire that he's worked out the stories for two potential sequels to the movie.
"We read a thousand different things for Dungeons & Dragons ... as source material before we ever wrote the script," Solomon said during a press briefing. "When we wrote it out, it was a six-hour movie. ... So we made the first movie end, and we knew where the second and the third movies were going to go in a rough form. And so we have treatments for [parts] two and three."
Solomon added, "In the second one, the characters actually progress to a different level. ... Also ... I can show much more of the world in the second one--because obviously I'll have more money--that the D&D fans want to see. And I can even go harder-edged in the next one. But the first one has got to be an intro to a fantasy world."
The cast of Dungeons & Dragons--which includes Thora Birch, Jeremy Irons, Justin Whalin and Marlon Wayans--has signed on for two more sequels, Solomon said. And if the first film succeeds, Solomon looks forward to filming at least one sequence he cut out of the first movie. "There's a big dungeon sequence we were supposed to have in the movie. They made me cut it on set. That's my biggest disappointment. Because ... being a big D&D fan myself, it was such an elaborate, great sequence. ... So, guess what, if we get to a sequel, you're going to get that sequence, OK?" D&D, based on the Wizards of the Coast role-playing game of the same name, opens Dec. 8.
(Read a review of Dungeons & Dragons and Solomon's complete interview in next week's Science Fiction Weekly.)
D&D Fans Trip Out Birch
hora Birch--who plays Empress Savina in the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie--told SCI FI Wire that she was a bit overwhelmed at meeting fans of the Wizards of the Coast role-playing game on which the film is based.
"I've done a few of the conventions, and it's funny. ... Depending on which one you go to, sometimes, like, the real hard-core fans will come, and they're, like, decked out. ... It's trippy," Birch said during a press briefing for the movie, which opens Dec. 8.
Birch added, "You can see that there definitely is a group of people out there who are obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons and anything related. ... This is America [laughs]. ... I haven't had any real, like, freak experiences. ... Sometimes fans will go, like, 'Do you have a boyfriend?' [laughs] ... One time I got a gift, and ... on the little tag, he had put his number down. It was a little creepy. But otherwise, it's all good."
The 18-year-old actress said she took the part of the doe-eyed empress as a change of pace after her critically acclaimed role in American Beauty. "This came right after I was finished filming American Beauty, and it was really hard for me to let the character of Jane go," Birch said. "It was very easy for me to sort of stay in that kind of depressed funk I had worked myself into. And the character I play in this ... [is] the most sort of optimistic person on the planet. The main goal of the whole film is to provide a better life for her people. And I wanted something that would kind of snap me out of it and that was extremely different from American Beauty too. I'm not really like that [Jane]."
(Read a review of Dungeons & Dragons and Birch's complete interview in next week's Science Fiction Weekly.)
Dark Alice Film In Works
imension Films will develop a film based on designer American McGee's Alice video game, Electronic Arts' sinister take on the Alice in Wonderland story, according to the Well-Rounded Entertainment Web site.
Wes Craven has reportedly signed on to direct the film, the site reported.
John August (Charlie's Angels) is writing the script, with a first draft due in January. McGee told the site that "we have heard a rumor that Natalie Portman had called [about acting in the film]. I think that'd be pretty cool."
Fox Nixes Zombie College
ox Broadcasting Co. has declined to develop a television series based on Icebox.com's animated Web cartoon Zombie College, upset at premature publicity by the Web company, Variety reported.
Icebox had heavily publicized Fox's interest in the series, in part to cushion news of layoffs at the dot-com, the trade paper reported.
But Fox executives were reportedly upset at the press surrounding their interest, and it's unclear whether Fox had done more than order a script. Icebox continues to develop another Web series, Starship Regulars, at Showtime.
WB Orders New Static
he Kids WB network has ordered an additional 13 episodes of Static Shock, an animated superhero show based on the DC Comics series of the same name, Variety reported.
The Warner Brothers series will return for a second season in fall 2001.
Since its premiere on Sept. 23, Static Shock has led its time period among the broadcast networks in kids 2-11 and in other key kid demographics, the trade paper reported. Static Shock centers on the adventures of Virgil Hawkins, who becomes the electromagnetic Static, the first African-American teen superhero.
Verne Asks: What If?
avin Scott, creator of The SCI FI Channel's upcoming original series The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, told SCI FI Wire that the show asks the question: What if there was a bit of reality behind Verne's classic SF tales?
"What if he'd actually experienced a lot of the amazing things he described in his books and then disguised them as fiction to avoid getting into trouble with powerful people?" Scott said.
Scott added, "I went over the history of the period--we're talking about the 1860s--and tried to see where all these things might have happened and been kept secret. For example: What if Verne's giant gun from From the Earth to the Moon had been built in the Ural mountains by a group of Russian aristocrats who wanted to prevent the czar from emancipating the serfs?"
The series, which premieres Jan. 5, combines stories from Verne's science fiction with the characters of his time, from Napoleon III to Jesse James. Scott said at least one book--20,000 Leagues Under the Sea--was loosely based on real people. "It was originally about a submarine war between Russia and Poland," Scott said. "Jules' original idea for Capt. Nemo was a Polish nobleman whose family had been killed when Russian troops suppressed a rebellion in Poland. He'd built the Nautilus to revenge himself on the czar. Verne's publisher, Hetzel, read the manuscript and said they'd both go to jail if it was published. ... Jules had to choose between sticking to his guns and having a best seller. After about five minutes' hard thinking, he took out all references to the Russians and the Poles and got the best seller. The ships flying the Russian flag became 'the ships that fly no flag' and so on."
Jovovich To Star In Evil
illa Jovovich (The Fifth Element) will play the lead in the upcoming Resident Evil movie, to be directed by Paul Anderson, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The $40 million Evil, based on the Capcom video game series of the same name, is slated to begin shooting in and around Berlin in early February.
Jovovich will play Alice the zombie killer, part of a special military unit that fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer, the trade paper reported. To save the world, the unit must combat hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures because of a laboratory accident.
Gen 13 Film To Start Soon
roducer/director Courtney Solomon (Dungeons & Dragons) told SCI FI Wire that Disney will go into pre-production early next year on its feature-film version of Gen 13, the Wildstorm Comics SF series.
"Unfortunately, I haven't been doing much on Gen 13 in the last year, as you can probably imagine," Solomon said during a press briefing on D&D.
Solomon added, "I've read all the scripts ... and given comments on them. I'm just a producer on that. I actually acquired the rights for Disney from [creator] Jim Lee and brought that deal to them. ... It's been through a bunch of different executives. Fortunately, the last two years we were developing it, Nina Jacobson, who's now president of Disney [Buena Vista Motion Pictures], was our development executive on the project. And so it's one of her personal favorites."
Solomon added that Disney will change the story from the comic, which focuses on a cadre of genetically enhanced "generation X" soldiers. "Disney's changed it slightly," Solomon said. "They've changed the characters ... and ... they're changing the name of it. ... For me personally, I think they should have stayed more with the comic book. They've moved it slightly away from the comic book. What I loved about it in the first place was that it was sexy. It was good. And I loved the first six issues, the setting up of the whole thing. That was all great. The premise was great. And then you could go anywhere you wanted with the story."
No Unbreakable Sequels Planned
ontradicting statements by star Bruce Willis, Unbreakable director M. Night Shyamalan told the Empire Online Web site that he's not interested in making a sequel to the supernatural film.
Willis had told a chat on Yahoo! that Shyamalan always conceived of Unbreakable as the first of three movies.
But, Shyamalan told Empire, "I'm definitely not the kind of guy who wants to do sequels or be known for just one type of movie. I want each movie to be very, very original, the most original movie you can think of. It's kind of a conflict for me. If one day down the line I come up with an emotional story to tell that I'm feeling that [Unbreakable characters] David and Elijah could tell, then I'll use them to tell the story. But if I was going to do another movie with these two characters, then it would have to be a whole revisiting of the idea in a different way. But I have no plans for that right now. It's certainly not going to be the next movie."
Shyamalan added that his next movie will be lighter in tone than either Unbreakable or its predecessor, The Sixth Sense. "I just started writing it about a week ago," he said. "I've been traveling, promoting the film and writing in hotel rooms. I'm really enjoying this story."
Shyamalan Still Talking Indy IV
. Night Shyamalan (Unbreakable) told the Empire Online Web site that he's still talking with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford about writing the script for a proposed fourth Indiana Jones movie.
"They were asking me to write it, and I've been talking to them about it. We're just in the very early stages of it, and I don't know what will happen to it at the end of the day."
Shyamalan added, "There's a lot of people who have to come together to make it happen, and it's complicated. But it's very exciting, and I'm very honored to be in that group of people and to even be thinking about that."
Indy Grail Diary Auctioned
hristie's will auction off the Grail diary prop used in the 1989 movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on Dec. 12 in London, the auction house announced.
Part of a Christie's film and entertainment auction, the diary is expected to fetch £7,000-£9,000 ($10,069-$12,946).
The prop--a manuscript book bound in calf leather--figured prominently in the movie as the account of Dr. Henry Jones' (Sean Connery) search for the Holy Grail.
Scorpion Star Kicks It
ichelle Lintel, star of The SCI FI Channel's upcoming original series Black Scorpion, told TV Guide Online that she's no stranger to martial arts.
Lintel spends her down time practicing krav maga, the self-defense regimen of the Israeli army.
"Krav maga is really great for a girl to know because ... you can basically take on a guy 100 pounds over your own weight," Lintel told the site. "It's a really serious, multiple-weapon, five-people-coming-at-you kind of discipline. I really wanted to do it for myself, but it's worked well with the series."
Lintel, who also knows tae kwon do, said she will perform most of her own stunts in Black Scorpion, in which she will play a masked superhero. "I want to get out there and kick some more ass, basically--but in a good way!" she said. Black Scorpion premieres Jan. 5.
Mutant X Clears 60% Of TV Market
ribune Entertainment Co.'s upcoming syndicated television series Mutant X has been signed by television stations representing 60 percent of the nation, Variety reported.
The series, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, is slated to premiere in the fall of 2001.
The stations on board include Tribune Broadcasting's 22 major-market TV stations, the trade paper reported. Mutant X follows the adventures of a group of human mutants with extraordinary genetically engineered powers.
Heston Begs Off Apes Movie?
harlton Heston is reportedly denying rumors that he agreed to appear in a cameo scene in Tim Burton's upcoming Planet of the Apes remake.
A friend of Heston, who starred in the 1968 original, told the Ananova news service, "Chuck didn't want to distract the audience away from what was probably a very good dramatic plot with what he thinks is a fun gimmick. Fun gimmicks have their place, but not this time," according to the SFX Network Web site.
But the site also reported a rumor that Apes star Mark Wahlberg's Perfect Storm co-star George Clooney will appear in a crowd scene in Apes--apparently on a bet.
No Absorbing Man In Hulk
avid Hayter, who wrote a draft of the script for The Incredible Hulk, disputed a report that the movie would feature the villainous Absorbing Man, according to the Comics Continuum Web site.
"I read that in Entertainment Weekly, but I am not sure where they are getting their information," Hayter told the site.
Hayter added, "As far as I know, no one has read my script outside of Universal yet, and therefore I would assume that anything you read until it leaks out is incorrect." The movie is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.
JP3 Dino Will Dwarf T. Rex
urassic Park 3, now in production, will feature a new dinosaur nemesis that dwarfs the previous films' tyrannosaurus rex, according to the Countingdown.com Web site.
The spinosaurus is described as a 44-foot long, 11-ton monster with 'raptor-sized arms and a fin on its back, the site reported. The movie will also reportedly feature 10 other dino species.
The site also confirmed spoilers that the film will begin with an airplane crash on Isla Sorna, the Site B of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Sam Neill's Jurassic Park character, Alan Grant, is hired by a divorced couple--played by Téa Leoni and William H. Macy--to find a boy who was lost in the crash. Neither John Hammond (Sir Richard Attenborough) nor Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) appear in the film, the site reported.
Olin Vamps In Damned
ena Olin, who appears in the upcoming Queen of the Damned movie, told TV Guide Online that she will play an atypical vampire.
"I play Maharet, the most human of the vampires," Olin told the site. "It was an interesting experience. It was very unlike anything I've done."
Damned, based on the Anne Rice novel of the same name, is the long-awaited follow-up to 1994's Interview with the Vampire.
Moore Mulled For Witch
emi Moore is under consideration to star in a four-hour ABC miniseries based on Gregory Maguire's fantasy novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, based on the character created by The Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Alliance Atlantis will produce the miniseries.
The novel tells the life story of the witch of Oz, while also examining the effects of evil, the trade paper reported. Moore and her producing partner Suzanne Todd originally held the option for the book, but those rights lapsed. Alliance is interested in talking to Moore about starring in the miniseries, though she is reportedly more interested in producing the project as a feature rather than starring in it, the trade paper reported.
Dafoe Confirmed As Green Goblin
olumbia Pictures confirmed that Willem Dafoe will play Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, opposite Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man.
Sam Raimi will direct the feature-film version of Marvel Comics' series of the same name.
Columbia also announced details of the story, which will center on student Peter Parker, who is bitten by a mutant spider and gains superhuman strength and the spider-like ability to cling to any surface. Norman Osborn, Spider-Man's archenemy, assumes his ghoulish persona after an experimental formula blows up in his face. The formula increases his intelligence and strength, but also drives him insane.
Despite reports that the script is undergoing revisions, Columbia continues to attribute the screenplay to David Koepp (Jurassic Park). The film is slated to begin shooting in Los Angeles in January, then will move to New York, with an eye to a May 3, 2002, release, the studio announced.
Fan Posts Spider-Man Movie
an't wait for Sam Raimi's upcoming feature-film version of Marvel Comics' Spider-Man series?
Baltimore fan Dan Poole has already made a 50-minute Spidey flick and posted it on the Web, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Poole's shot the movie, The Green Goblin's Last Stand, 10 years ago. He played Spidey and even did his own stunts, including hopping onto a moving car, the Times reported.
Goblin tells the story of Spider-Man's efforts to stop Norman Osborn from becoming the villainous Green Goblin.
Gellar Wants Out Of Scooby?
he Dark Horizons Web site reported a rumor that Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar may be looking to withdraw from the live-action movie of the animated television series Scooby-Doo.
The reason? Dark Horizons reported that Gellar split up with Scooby co-star and real-life paramour Freddie Prinze Jr. and doesn't want to be in close proximity to her ex. Prinze and Gellar had reportedly agreed to play Fred and Daphne.
But the site reported that Gellar may not be able to get out of her contractual obligations for the film. The site reported that neither actor has issued any official word on the rumors.
New Exorcist Prequel In Works
organ Creek hired author Caleb Carr (The Alienist) to write the screenplay for Exorcist: Dominion, the proposed new installment of the Exorcist film series, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dominion is based on material from William Peter Blatty's original novel The Exorcist, the trade paper reported.
Dominion will be a prequel to The Exorcist that tells the story of Father Merrin and his first encounter with the devil during his missionary work in Africa. The project is slated to go before cameras in mid-2001.
Carr's latest novel, Killing Time, is a technothriller set in the year 2023 and revolves around the consequences of technology.
Lee Talks Saruman The White
hristopher Lee, who plays the evil wizard Saruman in Peter Jackson's upcoming The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, told the London Sunday Times that his role is about power.
"The point is, power corrupts," Lee said. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely--famous phrase--and that's what happens to him. [Saruman]'s meant to be the white wizard, but it comes out that he's gone to the dark side. That's all in the book. That's all in the film. And that's all I can tell you." The films are based on J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy of novels of the same name.
Lee added, "[Saruman]'s more than just a wizard. They are immortals. But they are human-shaped. They're called the Istari. ... They are Maiar. They are sent by the Valar, who are the creators, to Middle Earth. There are three wizards to concern yourself with, and I am No. 1, the most powerful, the most brilliant, the one of the greatest strength: Saruman the White."
New Rollerball Changes Things
ean Reno, who appears in John McTiernan's upcoming remake of Rollerball, told the Empire Online Web site that the film will differ from Norman Jewison's 1975 movie.
"Our version mainly differs from the original in rhythm," Reno told the site. "That, and point of view. It doesn't have the same violence as the original, and there's more of a connection between the game itself and the people. That's really the center of the movie--the meaning of the game to the people watching it."
Reno added, "I play the guy who owns the media rights to the game. You know--the cool guy." Rollerball, starring Chris Klein and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, recently wrapped photography and is slated for a summer 2001 release.
Grinch Still On Top
r. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas topped the weekend box-office rannkings for the third straight week, hauling in an estimated $27.1 million, for a 17-day total of about $172 million, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
Unbreakable, meanwhile, took the No. 2 slot on the weekend of Dec. 1, with an estimated $15.1 million, for a total of about $66.7 million after 12 days.
The 6th Day dropped a slot to No. 8, with an estimated $4 million for the weekend and a total of about $30.6 million after three weeks. Little Nicky came in 10th, with estimated gross of $2.4 million, and a four-week total of about $36.9 million.
Roswell Keeps Eye On Lovers
onathan Frakes, executive producer of The WB's teen alien series Roswell, told the British Cult Times magazine that the series' second-season emphasis on science fiction won't come at the expense of the show's core relationships.
"The single biggest marching order, from all of us down in the trenches through the higher-ups at the studio and the network was 'do not lose sight of the relationships, because that is what sold the show,'" Frakes told the magazine. "So it's a matter of finding the balance. That's where we are now. Obviously, some scripts lend themselves to the balance better and more efficiently than others."
Frakes added, "I think that the human-alien relationships, which are personified mostly by Max [Jason Behr] and Liz [Shiri Appleby], are what drew everybody in. It certainly intrigued me. By putting Max with Tess [Emilie de Ravin]--his destiny from the pod days, as it were--we are breaking up the A-story love team. We've got the comedy team intact, even though they've broken up, too, and that's Michael [Brendan Fehr] and Maria [Majandra Delfino]. But I think we need to be very careful about completely losing our two lead lovers. We always need to come back to them."
Dinotopia Series In Works?
BC may turn its upcoming Dinotopia miniseries into an ongoing series, Variety columnist Army Archerd reported.
The six-hour miniseries--based on James Gurney's illustrated children's book series of the same name--will air in May 2002.
Archerd reported that ABC will follow the miniseries with a 22-episode, one-hour series.
Marco Brabilia will direct the miniseries, which will star Tyron Leitso, Alice Krige, Wentworth Miller, Katie Carr, David Thewlis and Jim Carter. The books tell the story of a utopian island society in which humans and dinosaurs coexist peacefully.
Poe 'Ciphers' Decoded
ryptologists have deciphered encrypted texts published by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841 in a magazine where he worked as an editor, the Associated Press reported.
Neither of the two passages--a snippet of Joseph Addison's 1713 play Cato and a 150-word bit of poetry--were considered to be works of Poe himself.
Still remaining is the mystery of whether Poe selected and encoded the passage attributed to "Mr. W.B. Tyler," the AP reported. The texts were published as "ciphers," or puzzles, with a challenge to readers to decode them, but it took more than 150 years for the solutions to present themselves.
Duke University doctoral student Terence Whalen decoded the passage from Cato in 1992. Gil Broza, a 27-year-old computer programmer from Toronto, used computers to crack the second, more difficult text and was awarded $2,500 in October by Williams College.
Briefly Noted
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X-Men star Famke Janssen looks less likely to play the female cyborg in Terminator 3, as earlier rumored. Janssen has signed to play Michael Douglas' wife in the non-genre film Don't Say a Word, whose production would overlap with that of T3.
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The teaser trailer for Steven Spielberg's upcoming SF epic A.I. is available to America Online subscribers through Dec. 8 at keyword: Coming Soon, Variety reported.
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Cliff Robertson will play Uncle Ben in Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie, Variety columnist Army Archerd reported.
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Director Ron Howard told the Italian Caltanet Cinema Web site that he wasn't aware of a report on Ain't It Cool News suggesting he would be perfect to film Orson Scott Card's SF novel Ender's Game. "I just heard about it," Howard told Caltanet. "I don't know the book, so I'm going to have to check that Web site and think about it."
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West Coast rapper Mack 10 will make his TV debut on Fox's Dark Angel on Jan. 9, USA Today reported. In the episode"Out," the rapper will play Tacoma Bleed, a gang member in the show's futuristic Seattle landscape.
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The official teaser trailer for Paramount's upcoming Tomb Raider movie, based on the Eidos video game series of the same name, will go live on the official Web site at 11 a.m. ET Dec. 8.
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The Popcorn U.K. Web site reported a rumor that Cleopatra 2525, the surviving half of the Back2Back Action syndicated television package, may be canceled after a brief return early next year.
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Warner Brothers will re-release Space Cowboys on Dec. 22 in 500 theaters to give members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences another chance to view the film on the big screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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A teaser trailer for Steven Spielberg's upcoming A.I. movie has been posted to the Web. The teaser was first sneaked on Entertainment Tonight.
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Tom Hanks and his supernatural movie The Green Mile were among the nominees for the People's Choice Awards, the Associated Press reported. The 27th Annual People's Choice Awards will be presented Jan. 7 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
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Jurassic Park III, the latest installment in the popular film franchise, will feature a whole raft of new and returning creatures, Entertainment Weekly reported. Among them: apatosaurs, spinosaurs, brachiosaurs, parasaurolophi, compsognathi, pterosaurs and ankylosaurs.
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David Hayter's just-completed script for the feature-film version of Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk will pit Bruce Banner against his nemesis, Absorbing Man, Entertainment Weekly reported.
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Luke Perry, Dan Cortese, Olivia d'Abo and Dorian Harewood will star in Triangle, an upcoming paranormal television movie for the TBS Superstation, Variety reported. The movie deals with the myth of the Bermuda Triangle.
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