Buffy Talks Get Ugly
alks between The WB and Fox, producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to renew the hit series may get ugly, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
The WB will make a proposal to Fox to pick up the show, now in its fifth season. But Fox may not be happy with the network's offer and could shop the series to another network.
"In all likelihood, where we will come out is that we will say, 'We will take all the revenue we can generate with Buffy, and we'll give it to you in a giant wheelbarrow,'" WB chief executive Jamie Kellner told TV reporters in Pasadena, Calif., Variety reported. "'And if that's not enough, then take it to somebody else, and you've demonstrated that you're not the kind of partner we should be doing business with.' ... We would not go to a place where we would deficit-finance negatives for somebody else."
But Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow responded, "They don't have wheelbarrows at the WB, they have Mercedes. Was [WB publicity executive vice president] Brad Turell whistling God Bless America behind Jamie when he gave that speech?" Variety reported.
The WB pays just under $1 million per episode for Buffy. Estimates vary on exactly how much the WB is pulling down in ad revenue on the series, though some sources indicate that with revenue from repeats, the network generates about $1.5 million-$1.6 million an episode, the trade paper reported.
Head Closes In On Giles
nthony Head--Giles on The WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer--told EW.com that he's not at all like the fussy former librarian he plays.
"I'm kind of a long way from Giles in a lot of ways, which people realize when I walk in the door with my earring and my jeans and everything," Head told the site. "But over the years, Giles has gotten a little closer to me, becoming a little hipper and a little funkier."
Head also admitted that he misses his family--girlfriend Sarah Fisher and two young daughters, who still live in England--but he remained noncommittal about reports that he might scale back his role on Buffy. "Yes, and I don't get back often enough. But the kids absolutely love the show. The times when we've talked about maybe me leaving, they've said, 'Oh my God, no, you can't, you can't!' It's very hard, because they're growing up, and Sarah has raised them as a single mother for six, seven years now. At some point, I will have to go and spend some time in England. But we shall see."
Buffy Sis Revelation Due
ichelle Trachtenberg--who plays Dawn, the mysterious little sister on The WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer--told the IGN Sci-Fi Web site that her character will learn more about her secret in a February episode.
"Dawn, of course, as you know, is a little special," she told the site. "She's just the key to the survival of mankind."
Trachtenberg added, "You have to expect an episode where Dawn gets a hint of what she is, and there will be one coming up, and I'm really proud of it. It should be fun."
As for Buffy fans, who initially resisted the introduction of her character, Trachtenberg said, "The fan response has been great. They love Dawn. They think she's pretty good. I hope I'm making you guys laugh and cry and smile and giggle."
No Hope For Ms. Topolsky?
ulie Benz--Darla the vampire on The WB's Angel--told TV Guide Online that she doubts she'll reappear on the network's teen alien series Roswell.
Benz played FBI Agent Ms. Topolsky in Roswell's first season, but her character was supposedly killed off mysteriously.
"I guess I could get that call--a WB exec recently told me they're still working on a way to bring me back," Benz told TV Guide. "I was like, 'OK.' I don't see how they could do it."
But it wouldn't be the first time one of her characters has risen from the dead. Darla was killed off in the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but reappeared in that show's spinoff series, Angel, at the end of last year.
But in Roswell, "They're so far removed from that [Topolsky] storyline that to get back to it now would be really hard," Benz said. "So I think at this point Topolsky's really dead."
Old Friends Due On Voyager
tar Trek: Voyager executive producer Ken Biller told the official Trek Web site that the second half of the series' final season will bring back familiar faces and offer a few suprises. "You're going to see Q again," Biller said.
"I won't tell you much about it, but you will see Q before the season is over in a very fun episode."
Biller added, "We might see Barclay and Troi again. ... [And] we're doing a really fun slam-bang time-travel episode called 'Shattered,' in which the ship gets split into a bunch of different time zones from the past, present and future, and Chakotay has to take Janeway from the past through a tour of her own future. And she suspects him because in her mind he's a bad guy, because she hasn't left Deep Space Nine yet."
Biller described the upcoming episode "Lineage" as "a real acting tour de force for Roxann Dawson and Robbie McNeill that takes them through their first marital crisis, but also has a big science fiction concept at the center of it."
Capital punishment and the 9-to-5 corporate culture will be put under the microscope in "Repentance" and the two-part "Workforce." "Shattered," "Lineage" and "Repentance" are scheduled to air this month, and "Workforce" in February.
Biller also remarked on the possibility that the upcoming fifth Star Trek series might not premiere next fall, as originally hoped. "I think a little breather would be healthy, and make the audience wait for it and want it," he said. "But I don't make those decisions. Those are all studio and network decisions."
Berman Talks Trek Future
tar Trek: Voyager executive producer Rick Berman told reporters that the series will end in a two-hour finale May 23, preceded by an hour-long retrospective of the show's 172 episodes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
But Berman remained coy about the new Trek series still in development to replace Voyager.
Berman said Trek franchise owner Paramount is in "complex negotiations" for a show as a potential series in the fall, but he declined to reveal the network Paramount is talking to, the trade paper reported. While UPN would seem a likely venue for a future Trek series, Berman declined to speculate on the chances of that occurring. The trade paper reported that NBC and Fox also have expressed interest in getting the franchise.
The Eon magazine Web site, meanwhile, quoted Voyager executive producer Ken Biller as saying the new series could be delayed by impending writers' and actors' strikes this spring. "They have a script, and there is a concept," Biller told the site. "I know what it is, but I'm not allowed to tell you what it is. I wish I could, but I can't. Basically, they're waiting to go ahead on making the pilot, but it's a little up in the air because of the whole sort of strike situation--when they're going to make it and when it's going to air. It's just all being held up by the strike. The earliest a new series could be on would be next fall, so obviously there would be at least a summer [without Trek]. But I think it's possible that it'll be made in 2001."
Cast, Producers Reveal More Trek
ate Mulgrew--Star Trek: Voyager's stalwart Capt. Kathryn Janeway--got misty while talking to reporters about the show's impending finale, the official Trek Web site reported.
"Seven years is a long time to be, as we say, 'in the trenches' with people who were initially strangers and who have become more intimate to you than those in your personal life," Mulgrew said, her voice cracking, during a press briefing in Pasadena, Calif. "I mean, it's very deep. I love them. ... It's been a marvelous journey with these guys."
The entire cast joined Voyager executive producers Rick Berman and Ken Biller at the UPN Winter Press Tour 2001, sponsored by the Television Critics Association. About the end, Berman said, "Resolving the series has a great deal more to it than just the question of does the ship get home or not? And I think to compact it down to a simple question like that is unfair to what we're hoping to accomplish in the final two-hour episode."
In response to a question whether filmmakers would use any Voyager cast members in the next Trek movie, Berman replied, "We may. We may." Berman also said that there is a possibility, albeit remote, that a two-hour television movie could be made based on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. "I think it's a possibility, but nothing that's in any kind of serious discussion."
Riker To Wed Troi?
ichael Dorn, who will play Worf in the upcoming Star Trek X movie, hinted to fans at a recent convention that Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) may marry, according to a report on Cinescape Online.
For her part, Sirtis told the same convention that she was hesitant to say what may happen with her character, adding that the powers that be would then "just take it out" of the film.
Producers have been secretive about the plot of the upcoming movie, except to say it will involve the Romulans and a new adversary for Capt. Picard.
Voyager Doc's Future Unsure
obert Picardo--the Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager--told Starlog magazine that his character's future is uncertain once the errant starship makes it home to Earth, according to a report on Cinescape Online.
"I don't know how they are going to deal with Voyager's coming home, with regard to what it means for the Doctor," Picardo told the magazine. "He's the only one who can say that his home is Voyager."
Picardo added, "We learned last season that all of the others like him--all of the first-generation [emergency medical holograms]--have been recommissioned for waste management use because the program was considered a colossal failure. What will happen to the Doctor when the ship gets home will provide an interesting resolution to his story."
Ninth X-Files Season Unclear
hris Carter told reporters that he's not sure there will be a ninth season of Fox's hit series The X-Files, according to the New York Post.
"I know there are plans to make it to season nine, but we're not quite there yet," said Carter, whose contract expires at the end of the current eighth season. "So I can foresee trying to write a movie in the next year, year and a half, maybe two years, but it all depends on ... what's going on with the TV series. But our plans have always been to put [original co-stars] David [Duchovny] and Gillian [Anderson] in those movies."
Duchovny (Fox Mulder) would likely not appear in the next season and is only appearing in half of this season's episodes. Duchovny returns to the show on Feb. 25.
Carter Offers Gunmen Details
he X-Files creator Chris Carter told the Hartford Courant newspaper that his upcoming midseason spinoff series, The Lone Gunmen, will be kind of a "misguided Mission: Impossible," according to the X-Files: Ultimate Information Complex Web site.
The three Gunmen--played by Bruce Harwood, Tom Braidwood and Dean Haglund--will be joined by a new character, Yves Adele Harlow, played by Zuleikha Robinson, Carter added. "She's just stunningly beautiful," Carter told the newspaper. "She's very young, and she's very green, but she's terrific."
Stephen Snedden will join the show as well as a possible fourth Gunman. X-Files regular Mitch Pileggi will appear as Skinner, but neither David Duchovny nor Gillian Anderson is scheduled to show up.
X-Files Hinges On Gunmen
he X-Files creator Chris Carter told the New York Daily News that a ninth season of his hit Fox series may depend on how the network treats his new show, The Lone Gunmen.
Carter feels burned by the way Fox handled his short-lived series Harsh Realm last season, and it's a major point in talks about the future of The X-Files, the newspaper reported.
"I'm really interested in their promotion and support of The Lone Gunmen," Carter told the newspaper. "I want to make sure that they are supporting us completely and not just partially."
Carter added, "They said they would promote through the first eight episodes [of Harsh Realm]. Well, it didn't go eight episodes. For me, that was a dishonesty." Fox canceled Harsh Realm after just three episodes.
Dunst Relates To Mary Jane
irsten Dunst--who will play Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie--said that she found something to relate to in her character, despite Mary Jane's harsh background.
Dunst joined other cast members and filmmakers at a Jan. 4 news conference in Los Angeles for the movie, which starts filming Jan. 8.
Mary Jane "had a very rough childhood, and she's always had to put up many masks," Dunst told reporters. "And part of this story ... is a lot of growth. ... Her father has always put her down. Her mother is a very weak character. And her father's an alcoholic. So she's gone through stuff that I haven't experienced. My mom was always very supportive. But everyone can identify with feeling weird in school. Especially [because of] the job I do, I always felt a little weird in high school, because I was different in a way. So I'll be able to relate. As much as I can, I always try to connect emotionally, of course, to my characters."
As for keeping Mary Jane's well-known looks, Dunst said, "I'm going to be a redhead, don't worry, yeah. I wouldn't want to upset any Spider-Man fans."
Dafoe Finds Layers In Spidey
illem Dafoe told reporters that he found many layers to his villainous Green Goblin character in Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie.
Dafoe joined other cast members and filmmakers at a Los Angeles news conference to talk about the movie, which begins filming Jan. 8. Dafoe plays a businessman and scientist whose experimental formula blows up in his face, increasing his strength and intelligence, but driving him mad.
"I think of my role in this movie as Norman Osborn, first, and the Green Goblin grows out of an aspect of Norman Osborn," Dafoe said. "Norman Osborn is an interesting character, because he's got a dark side and a light, positive side. He believes in science. He's interested in developing the physical and mental capabilities of the human being through science. And there's a dark side to that, and a light side. And the Green Goblin is the manifestation of that dark side."
Dafoe added, "Before I even read the script, Sam talked me through the film. And ... I loved the way he talked about it in such incredible, psychological terms. I also liked how he talked about the relationship with Norman and his son [Harry, played by James Franco], and Norman and Peter [Parker, played by Tobey Maguire]. ... It's very rich. ... The other aspect that attracts me to it is the physicality of it. I come from the theater. I still work in the theater. And sometimes what I miss in film is the real tangible, physical investment in things. And in this, I have lots of things to play with. I'm really looking forward to it."
First Spidey Image Posted?
he first image purportedly of Spider-Man from Sam Raimi's upcoming feature-film version of the Marvel Comics series has been posted to the CHUD Web site, drawn from an upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly.
If the photo is authentic, it would confirm Raimi's description of the wall-crawler's costume as hewing closely to that of the comic-book images familiar to fans.
The site reported that the photograph depicts star Tobey Maguire wearing the costume designed by James Acheson.
EW Confirms Spidey Pic
ntertainment Weekly magazine has confirmed that the photograph posted on the CHUD Web site is indeed the first image of star Tobey Maguire from Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie.
The magazine has posted the image on its own EW.com official Web site, after asking CHUD and other sites to take it down.
The image will appear in an upcoming edition of the magazine and depicts Maguire in the form-fitting costume designed by James Acheson.
The Coming Attractions Web site, meanwhile, reported more details about the costume. In design and development for six months, the costume is a single piece, from the boots to the top of the head. Sunglasses maker Oakley, which designed Cyclops' visor in last year's X-Men, created the lenses for Spider-Man's mask. The costume's web pattern was designed with the help of computers, made from dyed latex and hand-glued onto the costume, which was then coated with metallic paint.
Fans Line Up For Rings Peek
n a move that recalls the anticipation for Star Wars: Episode I, fans of Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy are ready to line up at select theaters--not for the first film, which doesn't open until Christmas, but for the new theatrical trailer.
Members of the Tolkien Guild are encouraging Los Angeles Rings fans to sign up to stand in line for 12 hours to see the first screening of the trailer, which will come attached to prints of New Line's Thirteen Days.
The trailer will screen before and after the first showing of Thirteen Days at the AMC Theaters in Burbank, Calif., at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 12. AMC is holding 250 tickets exclusively for guild supporters who wait in line, the group said.
The fan group is also encouraging fans in other cities to mount similar waiting campaigns.
NY Rings Fans Join Line
ew York fans of The Lord of the Rings will line up on Jan. 12 to view the first theatrical trailer of Peter Jackson's upcoming film trilogy, just like their counterparts in Los Angeles.
The fans are part of the Tolkien Guild's campaign urging fans around the country to line up for the trailers, which will be attached to prints of Thirteen Days. The New York fans will line up for the 10:35 a.m. show at the Sony Theatres Lincoln Square.
The guild also announced that Rings studio New Line Cinema has donated two Rings crew vests for a grand prize drawing taking place after the special showing of both trailers in Los Angeles and New York. The first of the Rings films, which are based on J.R.R. Tolkien's three novels of the same name, opens Dec. 19.
Rings Site Relaunch Nears
s expected, New Line Cinema announced that it would relaunch its official Web site Jan. 12 for Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
The new site will be available in 10 languages, the studio said.
New Line will also put up the theatrical poster for The Lord of the Rings and distribute the one-sheet via e-mail to millions of users, along with an audio file announcing the release of the new theatrical trailer, which will debut in theaters Jan. 12 attached to prints of Thirteen Days.
The site will also feature a customized Web browser, screen savers, photos, production information, cast and filmmaker biographies, character synopses, profiles of the production team, Real Audio interviews with the cast, filmmakers and production members, text interviews, maps of Middle-Earth and a regularly updated news section with official information about the release of the films. The site will be updated monthly basis at first. As the film's Dec. 19 release date draws near, the site will be replenished weekly. In the final weeks before the launch, the site will be updated daily.
Rain Doesn't Deter Rings Fans
ans weren't deterred by pouring rain as they lined up at a Los Angeles-area movie theater to be the first to view the theatrical trailer for Peter Jackson's upcoming The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to a report on the Tolkien Online fan Web site.
Fans in Los Angeles and New York were among those lining up for as much as 12 hours at the urging of a consortium of Tolkien fan Web sites. The Rings trailer is attached to prints of New Line Cinema's Thirteen Days, which opens Jan. 12.
Fans spent the wait listening to a tape of the BBC radio production of Lord of the Rings, sharing rumors about the films and signing a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy of novels to be given to director Jackson, Tolkien Online reported.
Rings Effects Maven Quits
scar-nominated visual effects maven Mark Stetson has quit his job as visual effects supervisor on the upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy amid reports of creative differences with director Peter Jackson, the New Zealand Dominion newspaper reported.
Stetson's departure is the film's second high-profile exit; actor Stuart Townsend (Aragorn) was dismissed earlier, the newspaper reported.
Stetson, who was nominated for Oscars for 2010 and The Fifth Element, left his home in the Wellington suburb of Hataitai and returned to the United States. Stetson works with special effects house Digital Domain, but he was supervising Weta Digital in creating the films' visual effects, a job which was expected to continue until the delivery of the third film in mid-2002, the Dominion reported.
Wells Tests For Matrix 2
tuart Wells (Billy Elliot) told the Empire Online Web site that he tested for a role in the upcoming Matrix 2 movie.
"I screen-tested for them, did some kicks and punches and stuff, and now they're gong to send me some more lines," Wells told the site.
Added Wells, who speaks with a thick northern British accent, "Although if I get the part I'll have to take a few elocution lessons." Wells said he's auditioning for a role as "an agile teen-ager with black hair. I'm definitely up for it, but I don't know how many others are--so fingers crossed, eh?"
Matrix Sequels In Trouble?
re the sequels to 1999's hit film The Matrix in trouble?
That's the impression going around amid a report from the New York Post's Page Six column that Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has officially opted out of The Matrix 2 and as-yet-unconfirmed rumors that Keanu Reeves broke his ankle during training.
Yeoh told Page Six, "I'm not going to do The Matrix. I'm a great fan of the Wachowski brothers [directors Andy and Larry], but some things are more important. I just started my own production company, and the filming of it conflicted with my movie [her upcoming action adventure movie The Touch]. I believe it is time to do other things, stories coming from Asia. At the end of the day, you have to do what's really important to you."
The Guerilla-Film.com Web site, meanwhile, reported a rumor that Warner Brothers may be backing away from its plan to shoot both The Matrix 2 and 3 back to back. In any case, it seems unlikely that the sequels will begin shooting before this year's anticipated writers' and actors' strikes.
Lee Takes On The Hulk
ng Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is the surprising choice to direct The Hulk, Universal's feature film based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Lee--who gained a reputation for such art-house fare as The Ice Storm and Sense and Sensibility--has won rave reviews for the Hong Kong martial-arts fable Tiger.
Sources told the Reporter that Lee was sold on The Hulk on the strength of the script by David Hayter (X-Men). Gale Anne Hurd and Marvel Studios president Avi Arad will produce the film.
Lee's version of the Hulk myth will be set in Berkeley, Calif., with such plot points as the misunderstood Hulk being pursued by the military while attempting to ward off threatening evil forces. There is also a love story between Banner and a fellow female scientist, the trade paper reported. No one has been cast in the film yet.
SET's Elevator Wraps
eter Gallagher, Oliver Platt, Kyra Sedgwick and Stanley Tucci have wrapped production on An Elevator and a Pole, the latest production of SCIFI.COM's Seeing Ear Theatre.
The audio drama premieres Jan. 19 at 5 p.m. PT/ 8 p.m. ET.
Elevator is described as an existential comedy in which two groups of characters find themselves in absurd circumstances when their two worlds collide with the opening of a set of elevator doors.
Koepp To Helm Supercollider
isney will develop The Superconducting Supercollider of Sparkle Creek, Wisconsin, an SF comedy film to be directed by writer David Koepp (Spider-Man), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Koepp wrote the script with longtime friend John Kamps; Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black) and Gavin Polone will produce the movie.
Supercollider is a science fiction comedy about a small-town sheriff and a physicist whose team of scientists has built a particle accelerator beneath her unsuspecting town. Both Koepp and Kamps are natives of Wisconsin, though Sparkle Creek is fictitious, the trade paper reported.
T3 Delayed, T4 In Works?
he Dark Horizons Web site reported a rumor that production of Terminator 3 will be pushed back until after this year's anticipated actors' strike.
Citing an anonymous source, the Dark Horizons said, "T3 has also been pushed back, though this ... is good, as a director hasn't been signed. John McTiernan is still very much interested, though post-production is very much his thing on Rollerball. We reckon the strike won't last long at all and are looking at a July start."
The site added speculation about a possible fourth installment in the popular SF franchise. "T4 ... [is] waiting on Arnold's [Schwarzenegger] yes/no agreement. It can be done without him, though nobody wants that. It could feature lots of the guy, too, in a proper role--a real character. ... Some ideas are going around that the Terminator was based on a rebel soldier."
Jack Up For More Joker
ack Nicholson told the Daily Radar Web site that he's eager to reprise the role of the Joker in any new Batman film.
"Baby, I've promoted it endlessly," Nicholson told the site. "I've got the title, I got everything going for him, but I can't. They're hung up on I died in the first picture."
Nicholson said playing the supervillain in 1989's Batman was no picnic. "On Batman, they invented all that kind of makeup," he said. "They'd never seen it before, so I'm looking at an average working day--they're going to want to shoot 12 hours minimum, and I'm going to be in makeup four and a half hours. Plus, I tend to gain weight pretty easily, so I would do a certain amount of time on the treadmill. By the time I left Pinewood [Studios], it was me, my driver and a janitor."
Still, the actor said he enjoyed the character. "Did I have fun in and around it?" Nicholson said. "Yes. I don't think there has ever been a character that I had more fun getting inside. He's completely megalomaniacal. You get to let all that out. He thinks the concerns of others are all completely crazy. He has no regard for human life or anybody around. But that's coming in the middle of an 18-hour day, every day. You don't have much time for fun."
Genre Films Vie For Sound Oscar
enre films were represented among the contenders for the sound-editing Oscar, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named seven films on Jan. 11 as possible nominees for the award.
Among the contenders was Space Cowboys, Mission: Impossible 2 and Unbreakable. A sound-editing nominating committee will announce the three finalists on Feb. 13.
Sony Develops Messenger
ony-based Revolution will develop The Messenger, a superhero movie based on a pitch by writer David Kendall, Variety reported.
Eddie Griffin is earmarked to star and Ed Decter to direct the film, the trade paper reported.
The Messenger tells the story of a New York City bike messenger who finds a talisman and gains superpowers.
Hitchhiker Seeks Ride
irector Jay Roach (Austin Powers) told the Popcorn U.K. Web site that he's still hopeful he can get a movie made based on Douglas Adams' satirical SF novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Roach said he's even begun thinking of possible actors for the film.
Roach said his perfect Zaphod Beeblebrox would be Jim Carrey. "We've always thought Jim Carrey would be a good Zaphod, and Douglas has always wanted Hugh Laurie for Arthur."
Though the project has been a tough sell to studios, Roach said Adams remains involved. "He's doing the adaptation himself and producing the film too. So it'll be a Douglas Adams authentic production," Roach said. "The challenge is to keep the quirkiness and visionary irreverence and still allow it to be commercial. The studios recognize that it's an expensive film, so I have to make it funny and cast it well."
Site To Offer Koontz E-Book
he Book of Counted Sorrows--a fictitious volume of poetry cited by author Dean Koontz in his horror and suspense novels--may become a reality, as an e-book published exclusively by Barnes & Noble.com, according to the Associated Press and other wire services.
The bookseller is set to become the first major retailer to start its own electronic publishing division, offering the Koontz work among its first titles, the wire services reported.
Barnes & Noble already publishes many books in paper form and is a major investor in the electronic market, AP reported. Last September, it purchased the digital provider Fatbrain.com, and it also owns a portion of the online vanity press iUniverse.com.
Ghost Rider Moves Ahead
he feature-film version of Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider series is moving forward, according to a report on the Comics Continuum Web site.
Director Stephen Norrington and writer David Goyer were at Marvel Studios last week working out details, the site reported.
"Norrington is officially starting his pre-production right away," Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige told the Continuum. "We're getting the script into shape. Ghost Rider is going to be very cool. It's going to be very different." Ghost Rider reportedly has a projected budget of $75 million and is being produced by Dimension Films and Crystal Sky Entertainment.
Clinton To Appear In Bond?
he Popcorn U.K. Web site reported a rumor that president Bill Clinton may make his acting debut in a cameo in the next James Bond movie.
Clinton leaves his current job Jan. 20.
The rumor is that Clinton would play a U.S. president at a reception attended by Bond.
Bond Films Go To ABC
GM has licensed 13 of its classic James Bond movies to air on ABC through September 2002, the Reuters news service reported.
The wire service quoted unnamed sources as saying that the deal was valued at $25 million; a studio spokeswoman declined to comment to Reuters.
The movies include Goldfinger, Thunderball and Octopussy. They will appear on ABC's Sunday Night Movie series.
Director Quits Enchanted
irector Rob Marshall has withdrawn from Disney's romantic fantasy movie Enchanted, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Marshall, a Broadway choreographer, would have made his feature-film debut with the movie.
Marshall and the producers had a "mutual parting of the ways" after "creative differences" emerged over the direction of the script, sources close to the project told the trade paper. Disney had scheduled the film for a 2002 release. A search for a replacement is under way, but it is unlikely that the project will begin production before the threatened actors' strike against producers, the trade paper reported.
Enchanted will mix animation and live action to tell a story about a girl who lives in an animated world where she is to marry a prince. But when she wants to marry for love instead, she is banished to the real world. Disney has not officially green-lighted the film, but some early work on the animated sequences has been done, the trade paper reported.
FX Oscar Contenders Named
everal genre films will be among those vying for the visual effects Oscar, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The visual effects branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named seven films Jan. 10 as contenders for the award.
Among those named were Hollow Man, Dinosaur, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and X-Men. The list will eventually be narrowed to three, with the nominations announced Feb. 13, the trade paper reported. Winners will be announced at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards on March 25.
Not making the cut were Red Planet, Space Cowboys, Mission to Mars, Mission: Impossible 2 and Chicken Run.
Dan Dare Flying To TV
omic writer Shannon Denton told the Comics2Film Web site that an animated television show based on the classic British comic series Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future is in the works.
Denton worked as a director on several episodes of the show when it first went into production, the site reported.
Dan Dare is a character in the vein of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. He was created by Frank Hampson in the 1950s and published by Eagle comics. The television series has been in development for British TV. Originally set up at Netter Digital (Babylon 5), the show was moved to Foundation Imaging. The computer-animated show will air first on British television; producers will also likely seek a U.S. distributor, the site reported.
Apes Toys, Tie-Ins Due
ox will unveil a major marketing push for its upcoming remake of Planet of the Apes, including deals with toymaker Hasbro and comic publisher Dark Horse, Variety reported.
The program will be launched at New York's International Toy Fair on Feb. 11-15, the trade paper reported.
Hasbro will introduce a line of action figures and collectible toys at the toy fair and will ship them to retailers just before the film's July release. Dark Horse will publish Apes comic books and graphic novels, while Buster Brown will produce footwear. In addition to traditional products such as lunch boxes, posters, knit caps, trading cards, T-shirts and backpacks, the Apes line will also include dioramas, inflatable furniture, scooters and scooter heads, underwear, clocks and shower caps, Variety reported.
Apes began shooting Nov. 6 and is expected to wrap in April.
Apes Fulfills Baker's Dream
akeup wizard Rick Baker told the Empire Online Web site that working on Tim Burton's upcoming Planet of the Apes remake fulfills a dream.
"I was obsessed with apes even before the original movie came out," Baker told the site. "So even though I was determined I wasn't going to do any work for a year, when this came up, I thought, 'Tim Burton. Planet of the Apes. I have to do this.' The original film inspired a whole generation of makeup artists, and I'm hoping we can achieve the same with this one."
Helena Bonham Carter is one of the actors who must undergo the daily transformation from human to ape, a process that takes four hours. "I shouldn't be doing this, of course," Carter told the site, while blowing cigarette smoke through chimp nostrils. "I'm extremely flammable, and Rick gets terribly upset." Carter added of her chimp mask, "My mum thinks I look like my aunt."
Myst III Developed For Mac
esigners of the upcoming Myst III: Exile, the latest installment in the popular fantasy video-game franchise, will develop versions for both PC and Mac, the FGN Web site reported.
Myst III, from Presto Studios and Mattel Interactive, is due for release on April 9.
"We're very happy to be introducing the third chapter of the Myst series with a simultaneous release on the Macintosh platform," game producer Dan Irish told FGN. "Many key parts of this product's development could only have been facilitated by the tools and capabilities available to developers on Mac. Presto Studios was the logical choice for this project, considering its experience in adventure gaming and long history of developing for the Macintosh."
Beast Begins Shooting
ufus Sewell and Carla Gugino will star in War of the Colossal Beast, the second of five Creature Features television movies for HBO, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Writer and director Sebastian Gutierrez is already shooting the film, which is inspired by Samuel Z. Arkoff's 1950s SF classic monster film, the trade paper reported.
Beast takes place in Ireland around 1900 and concerns the abduction of a mermaid and an attempt to ship her to America. Gil Bellows, Jim Piddock and Rya Kihlstedt also star. Special effects guru Stan Winston, Colleen Camp and Lou Arkoff are producing the Creature Features; Winston will create the creatures for all five films.
Lee In Line For M:I3?
ng Lee, director of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is rumored to be in the running to direct Mission: Impossible 3, the SFX Network reported.
Citing reports from Hong Kong, the site said that M:I2 star Tom Cruise was courting Lee to helm a third installment in the popular film franchise.
Other rumors suggest that M:I3 will pit Cruise against Samuel L. Jackson and that Oliver Stone was a possible candidate to direct. Stone previously worked with Cruise on the antiwar film Born on the Fourth of July.
Corman Bats For Black Scorpion
egendary producer Roger Corman, creator of The SCI FI Channel's original series Black Scorpion, told fans in a SCIFI.COM chat that the series differs only slightly from the two Showtime movies that preceded it.
"If there is any difference, it would probably be that the series is played a little bit more for humor than the pictures," Corman said. "But in both cases, we see the basic concept as being a fast-paced, action-filled sexy series with what we hope are wild special effects."
Black Scorpion stars former Miss Kansas Michelle Lintel, a two-time medal winner in track in the Junior Olympics and a martial arts expert, as a costumed crime fighter along the lines of Batman, Corman said. "We had Batman in mind when we were creating Black Scorpion, and there is that type of over-the-top humor, combined with more action and more special effects. Adam West, the original Batman, is back as the supreme supervillain, the Breathtaker, whose mission is to take all of the oxygen out of the air of the City of the Angels."
Lintel and West are joined in the show by a collection of "super vixens"--female bad guys. "Among the super vixens, we have 17 Playboy playmates and Penthouse pets, including Victoria Silvestedt, the Playmate of the Year," Corman said. "They are probably--as a matter of fact, I will change that--they are UNDOUBTEDLY the greatest-looking supporting cast of any show on television. And you see a lot of them because we economized when purchasing the material for their costumes." Corman added, "We have gotten a few comments that we are exploiting the sexuality of women. But I don't think that's true. I think we're celebrating the sexuality of women." The next Black Scorpion episode airs at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET/PT on Jan. 12.
First Wave Answers Due
hris Brancato, creator of The SCI FI Channel's original series First Wave, told a SCIFI.COM chat that the new third season should explore new territory.
"With the addition of a new character [played by Traci Lords] and a ramping up of the alien threat, we found a whole bunch of new stories to tell, and that made the season as exciting as the first two. The general consensus is that the third season is the best so far."
Brancato added, "We've worked very hard to tie up all loose ends of seasons one and two as we move through season three. I can't promise we've got them all, but I think we're pretty close."
Brancato hinted that viewers could expect the return of a familiar face. "I would venture to guess that an alien as forceful as Joshua would probably want to make his presence felt in season three. But watch and find out." As for hero Cade Foster, "All I can say about that is that the mystery of the twice-blessed man will be fully answered in season three." First Wave airs Mondays at 8 p.m. and 12 a.m. ET/PT.
Lords Kicks It On First Wave
raci Lords--the newest cast member on The SCI FI Channel's original series First Wave--told EW.com that she's more than qualified for her role as an alien-fighting militia leader.
Lords joined the series Jan. 8.
"I run ... and I do ninjitsu, which is ninja street fighting," Lords told the site. "I suppose that sounds rather menacing. Not that I go around beating up my boyfriends--if I had any--but I probably could. Don't print that. I'll never get a date." First Wave airs Mondays at 8 p.m. and 12 a.m. ET/PT.
Mothman Casting Announced
ebra Messing, Will Patton, Alan Bates and Lucinda Jenney are joining Richard Gere and Laura Linney in The Mothman Prophecies, a paranormal thriller movie from Lakeshore Entertainment and Sony's Screen Gems, Variety reported.
Messing will play the wife of Gere's character, a reporter who travels to West Virginia to investigate psychic visions and the appearance of bizarre entities.
Mark Pellington (Arlington Road) will direct the film, which is expected to start shooting Jan. 24 in Pittsburgh, the trade paper reported. Richard Hatem wrote the script based on a true story documented in a 1975 book of the same name by journalist John A. Keel.
Jolie Signed For Tomb Sequels
ngelina Jolie confirmed to Empire Online that she has signed up to play Lara Croft in the proposed two sequels to her upcoming Tomb Raider movie, which is still in production.
"Quite a few of us are signed up for two more," Jolie told Empire. "Lara's like James Bond and a dirty Indiana Jones. Oh, and absolutely a woman. I doubt you'll forget that."
As for whether her husband, filmmaker Billy Bob Thornton, will be asking Jolie to don her Croft outfit, she replied, "Well, he sees me running about naked. So I don't think the shorts do that much for him." Tomb Raider is based on the Eidos video game series of the same name.
Aliens Vs. Predators Film Possible?
ark Horse comics publisher Mike Richardson told the Comics Newsarama Web site that he's eager for a studio to develop a feature-film version of the Aliens vs. Predators comic series.
"We'd love to see that movie made, and there's still a possibility that it can be made," Richardson told the site.
Richardson added, "Probably now is a great time to do it, because there's not really anything happening with either [franchise], so here's something that could create a terrific new franchise. I think fans want to see it. I think we did a very nice job in our particular series."
Davis Confirms Potter Role
arwick Davis (Willow) told the IGN FilmForce Web site that he will indeed play Professor Flitwick and the Goblin Bank teller in the upcoming feature-film version of J.K. Rowling's best-selling novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Davis made the comments "to put an end to all these silly Internet rumors," the site reported.
Rowling, meanwhile, was named to the ranks of "influential" people in this year's Who's Who listing, Yahoo News reported.
More Mysterious Ways Due
BC has extended its partnership with Pax TV on Mysterious Ways, the paranormal prime-time drama series, Variety reported.
Pax has ordered a full 22 episodes of the show for next season, and NBC has secured rights to air eight of those episodes on an exclusive basis at least eight days before Pax, the trade paper reported.
NBC is expected to air those episodes beginning in July. NBC has an eight-day exclusive window for Mysterious Ways before it airs on Pax. The show returned to NBC on Jan. 1.
Pax, meanwhile, announced that it is developing Left Behind, a biblical prophecy drama based on the best-selling Christian book series of the same name, for the fall.
Blair 2 DVD/CD Coming
rtisan will release Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 as a combination DVD/CD--the first of its kind--on March 13, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The new patented technology will allow consumers to view the film, extra material and DVD-ROM extras on one side, then flip the disc and use it to play the film's soundtrack on the other side, the trade paper reported.
The CD side will be playable in portable and auto CD players as well. The CD will include The Reckoning by Godhead and a live version of the song from the Blair Witch Webfest, among other songs from the film, the trade paper reported.
The DVD-ROM will also include an "Easter egg," The Secret of Esrever, which will allow computer users to play the sequence backward to reveal clues to discovering ghost-like images hidden within the feature film.
Evans Hellbound With Drake
roducer Robert Evans has hired writers Steven Gary Banks and Claudia Grazioso to write the script for the fantasy comedy movie The Other Billy Drake, which is based on an idea by Evans' partners Christine Peters and Robin Guthrie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie tells the story of a man who is proud of being a jerk, but is killed while robbing an old folks' home.
Happily on his way to hell, he is rerouted to heaven and told he needs to return to Earth in order to violate three more commandments to prove that he deserves to be sent back down, the trade paper reported.
Thor Hammering UPN's Door?
he Mighty Thor--the proposed live-action superhero show based on the Marvel Comics Thor series--may end up on the UPN network in the fall, the Comics Continuum reported.
Thor is being developed as part of the deal between Marvel and Artisan Entertainment.
No deal has been struck with UPN, and Artisan has received interest from several parties regarding Thor, the site reported. A pilot script deal with UPN could be announced soon, Marvel executive Rick Ungar told the site. "That means that they pay a writer to do a script, and, if they want to go forward, the script gets shot as a pilot. We are presently in the process of doing the script." Tyler Mane, who played Sabretooth in the X-Men movie, has expressed interest in the title role, the site reported.
Farrell Talking Minority Report?
olin Farrell (Tigerland) is rumored to be in talks with Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise to appear in the duo's upcoming SF movie Minority Report, the ShowBizIreland.com Web site reported.
Citing anonymous sources, ShowBizIreland reported that Farrell met last week with Cruise and Spielberg to discuss terms for his role in the film, which is based on a Philip K. Dick short story of the same name.
Farrell would reportedly earn $1.5 million plus a share of profits for his role in the movie. The site also reported that Farrell may appear in Spielberg's current SF movie, A.I., which is based on a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick and a 1969 Brian Aldiss short story, "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long."
UPN Unveils Genre Shows
PN unveiled two new genre series at a press preview in Pasadena, Calif., the Reuters news service reported.
The network also announced that it will not change its name to the Paramount Network, as had been previously announced.
Special Unit 2, a midseason replacement set for the spring, will revolve around a secret team of Chicago detectives who track down "missing links" that look like mummies, gargoyles, werewolves and other creatures.
All Souls will take place in a haunted Boston hospital where ghosts roam the halls and strange experiments take place on patients who come in for otherwise routine surgery. All Souls will debut in the winter or spring.
Philip K. Dick Nominees Named
he judges of the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award and the Philadelphia SF Society announced the six works that make up the final ballot for the award, which will be presented April 13 at Norwescon 24 in Seattle.
The Philip K. Dick Award honors a distinguished science fiction book published for the first time in the United States as a paperback original.
The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, and the award ceremony is sponsored by the NorthWest Science Fiction Society. The complete list of nominees follows.
•Call from a Distant Shore by Stephen L. Burns
•Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
•Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
•Broken Time by Maggy Thomas
•Evolution's Darling by Scott Westerfeld
•The Bridge by Janine Ellen Young
People Award Genre Fare
el Gibson, star of the fantasy romantic comedy What Women Want, won the People's Choice Award for favorite motion picture actor in a Jan. 7 ceremony broadcast live on CBS from Pasadena, Calif., Reuters reported.
The Green Mile won the award for favorite motion picture and favorite motion picture drama.
Fox's freshman hit Dark Angel won the award for favorite new television dramatic series.
Women Still Has Legs
hat Women Want, the Mel Gibson fantasy comedy, held the No. 2 slot at the box office in its fourth weekend, taking in $15.5 million on the weekend of Jan. 4, for a total of $137.8 million, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
The Family Man fell to No. 5, with $9.2 million for the weekend and a total of $56.3 million after 17 days in release.
Wes Craven Presents Dracula 2000 took in an estimated $4.2 million for eighth place, for a total of about $26 million after 17 days of release, the trade paper reported. Shadow of the Vampire continued its strong business by taking in $100,000 on six screens, for a per-screen average of $16,667. The film goes into wide release Jan. 26.
Briefly Noted
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Constantine, based on the DC/Vertigo Comics series Hellblazer, is on a fast track for development as a feature film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Eon Magazine reported that Warner Brothers may release a special-edition two-disc DVD of Superman: The Movie and a boxed set of all four Superman movies, possibly in May. The DVDs will include additional footage, deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, screen tests, trailers and an isolated music track option.
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Genre film producer Troma Entertainment unveiled its 2001 lineup at the TromaDance film festival in Park City, Utah, this week, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Projects selected to run at the festival included El Destructo Hot Rods to Hell, H.R. Pukenshette, Topanga Mutant Surfer, Puking Zombies 13: Beach Blanket Bloodbath and Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger Part 4.
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France's CanalPlus has posted video interviews with the cast and crew of the upcoming Jurassic Park III to its official Web site.
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Morgan Freeman's Revelations Films production company has updated its official Web site with conceptual drawings for its proposed feature-film version of Arthur C. Clarke's SF novel Rendezvous with Rama, for which it set a release date of October 2003.
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Writer Todd Alcott (Antz) will rewrite Jon Cohen's script for producer Joel Silver's upcoming Wonder Woman feature film, which is based on the DC Comics character, the Comics2Film Web site reported.
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Newcomer Joe Manganiello will play the role of Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie, the Spider-Man Hype Web site reported.
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The Producers Guild of America will present a lifetime achievement award to Brian Grazer, producer of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Associated Press reported.
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Cliff Robertson will get his hair colored gray to play Uncle Ben in Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man film because the 75-year-old actor didn't look old enough to play Peter Parker's uncle, Variety columnist Army Archerd reported.
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Writer Warren Ellis announced on a bulletin board that his DC/Wildstorm SF comic series Planetary has been optioned by The WB for a live-action television series aimed at a 2002 release. The story focuses on a three-person team investigating the secret history of a 100-year superhero continuity the world never knew existed.
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Mark Steven Johnson, director of the upcoming Daredevil movie, turned in a draft of his script on Christmas Day, the Coming Attractions Web site reported. The story, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, will feature the characters of Kingpin, Electra and Bullseye, the site reported.
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The Coming Attractions bolstered rumors that Traci Lords would return in Blade 2: Bloodhunt, the sequel to Blade.
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Haley Joel Osment (A.I.) will voice the central character in Disney's upcoming live-action feature film The Country Bears for director Peter Hastings, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film is based on the Disneyland ride about a family of singing bears.
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Contrary to rumors, a spokesman for Showtime told SCI FI Wire that Stargate SG-1 has not been canceled. A full fifth season of the series begins this summer, the spokesman said.
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Frankie Muniz will voice the character of Rocky in Rumpus.com's animated movie The Red Bison, Variety reported.
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Star Wars: Episode I will come to television this spring on Fox, the official Star Wars Web site announced. Episode I will air on April 29 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
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The creative team behind USA Network's La Femme Nikita, including executive consultants Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, will chat with fans on Warner Brothers' official Web site, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. ET. Nikita's eight-episode fifth and last season kicked off Jan. 7.
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The official Web site of Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy is counting down the days to its relaunch on Jan. 12, the same day a new theatrical trailer unspools in movie theaters.
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