Braga: Trek News Coming
rannon Braga, who is co-creating the next Star Trek series with partner Rick Berman, told SCI FI Wire that Paramount will announce details of the so-far top-secret show in the next few weeks.
In an interview at the Grand Slam Star Trek convention in Pasadena, Calif., Braga also deferred questions about the upcoming show, except to say that everything is up in the air, though he said the studio is aiming at a fall premiere on UPN.
"All that I can tell you on the record is that Rick Berman and I have written a pilot, and we're gearing up to make the pilot," Braga said. "But in terms of the dates and in terms of when the show would premiere and where it will be, I don't know. I don't really know at this point. It depends on a lot of variables. The [impending writers' and actors' union] strikes, definitely--if there are two strikes, that's going to have a huge effect."
Braga also would not confirm or deny rumors circulating on the Internet about the new show, including a report over the weekend by Ain't It Cool News purporting to offer details of the pilot script. "Well, you know, I haven't seen it, so I don't know if it's accurate or not," Braga said. "I would be surprised, because very few people have [the script]. We've been very careful about who we've given the script to. Just a handful of people have it. But it's possible."
Braga added, "I am reading the Internet rumors, with some amusement, just like everybody else. I kind of follow it too." He acknowledged amazement at the level of detail in the rumors. "But this is nothing new for Star Trek, you know? I remember the day after we wrote the movie First Contact. A day later, the whole story was on the Internet. I don't know how it gets out. And initially, you're kind of upset when it does. But then you realize, 'Thank God people are interested enough to go to those lengths.' It's publicity. And better obsessive interest than no interest at all."
Among the AICN and other rumors: that the show will be set in the time period before the original series and will be called Enterprise, that Scott Bakula has been cast as the captain, that the second-in-command will be a female Vulcan, and that the pilot will deal with humanity's first encounter with Klingons.
Neelix Won't Miss His Makeup
than Phillips told SCI FI Wire that he's loved his Star Trek: Voyager experience but is ready to move on.
"We had a great run," said the actor, who has played the character of Neelix for seven years, during a conversation at Creation's recent Grand Slam convention.
"I made good friends and it was great to have
seven years of steady work," Philips said. "But I've had enough of the makeup. I will never
let myself go through that kind of process again. The only good thing--the only good thing--about the makeup is the anonymity of it. I'm starting
fresh again, a new actor looking for work."
Philips said he won't be wearing any makeup in his next project, Side Man, a show about jazz music and the life of jazz musicians. The show won a Tony Award in 1999 for best play and will run at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, Calif., from May 4 - June 17.
"It ran on Broadway for a long time and I'll be doing it at the Pasadena Playhouse," Philips said. "So I'm excited. I'll miss Star Trek, but I'm happy
to be jumping right into something else."
Voyager will end its seven-year
journey with a two-hour season finale, "Endgame," set to air on May 23.
Voyager Finale Details Leak
ources have revealed key details of the upcoming series finale for Star Trek: Voyager to SCI FI Wire.
The two-hour finale, "Endgame, Parts I and II," will shoot for 16 days, wrapping on April 9, the sources said.
Following are characters and plot point spoilers for the finale, which airs May 23.
•The finale alternates between the present and the future.
•In the future, several new characters are introduced, including Miral Paris, the daughter of Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres.
•Also in the future, regular Voyager characters have been promoted, including Adm. Kathryn Janeway and Capt. Harry Kim.
•Dwight Schultz appears as Reg Barclay.
•Susanna Thompson appears as the Borg Queen, and the plot involves a confrontation with the Borg.
Voyager End Is Bittersweet
rannon Braga--executive producer of Star Trek: Voyager--told SCI FI Wire that he has mixed feelings about the series' end in May after seven years of production.
"It's very bittersweet," Braga said in an interview at the Grand Slam Trek convention in Pasadena, Calif. "I actually more or less left Voyager early this season [to begin work on the upcoming fifth Trek series]. I wrote a handful of episodes, but my producing chores ended ... at the end of last year. So I got through my emotional parting at that time."
Braga added, "There's a mixture of melancholy--I knew I would miss the characters. But also a tremendous relief to not have to churn out stories week after week for these characters that I'd been doing for six years."
The series has evolved from its original conception, Braga added. "I think it's safe to say that a show never evolves as you think it's going to," he said. "It's very difficult to predict which characters will be popular and which won't. I think we all knew that Capt. Janeway would be the most popular character. But we didn't know that the Doctor would become as popular as he did. And we didn't know we'd be introducing a new character, Seven of Nine. And I think the show took a few years to find its creative voice, but it did eventually. And I think we're all very pleased with what happened over the course of seven years."
Braga, a veteran of other Trek series, said Voyager was his favorite. "I felt more proud of my work on Voyager than of my work on The Next Generation. I thought it was a Star Trek show that had a certain level of sophistication in its storytelling, and I certainly felt closer to it, because I was involved with it from the beginning. And I think we pushed Star Trek one step further into modern times and did some nice things. At the end of a series, if you work on a series like that for six years, you kind of look back, and you realize that out of 100 episodes, you're really really proud of 10; you're kind of proud of 30, and the rest is all varying degrees of disappointment, because it's so hard to produce a television show. So I just hope that the fans were surprised and enjoyed the show."
DeBoer Enters Dead Zone
ormer Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Nicole DeBoer told SCI FI Wire that she has landed the female lead in UPN's upcoming TV series The Dead Zone.
The actress--who played Ezri Dax on DS9 and was recently seen in an episode of The Fearing Mind--will co-star opposite Anthony Michael Hall (Weird Science). Dead Zone is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name.
"I just found out the other day that I got the role," DeBoer said in an interview during a break from signing autographs at Creation's Grand Slam Trek convention in Pasadena, Calif. "It just kind of came together very quickly, and I'm incredibly excited. All I really know so far is that we're
going to try to do a pilot and probably one episode before the [impending actors' and writers' union] strikes. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm happy for Anthony. He got a lot of praise for the TV movie he did about Bill Gates [Pirates of Silicon Valley], so this is another big project for him. It's another big project for both of us."
Episode II Shooting Again
he first phase of new photography for Star Wars: Episode II is underway at England's Ealing Studios, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
But several crew members said they have been working steadily on the prequel since principal photography wrapped in Seville, Spain, last year.
"We've been preparing to get the bulk of the effects work underway," visual effects supervisor John Knoll told the site. "We're making props, getting characters together, breaking down the scenes to see what [research and development] needs to be completed. That will be followed by a year of intense effects work."
R2-D2 operator Don Bies said, "I've been working on models for Episode II. Once we finish here, I'll be working on more model-making."
As for director George Lucas, he said, "Well, I've been working on Star Wars. Afterwards, I'll be working on Star Wars. Am I ever going to get my life back? Hmm. ... I sure don't know."
Star Wars Site Makes Fun
he official Star Wars Web site went back in time to 1979 for an April Fools joke, transforming the site to one promoting The Empire Strikes Back.
The site parodied itself, offering tidbits on the production of Episode V, cast lists, preview photos and even questions from fans.
A question even made fun of the obsession with proposed Star Wars DVDs, translating it into 1979 terms: "Why hasn't Lucasfilm released Star Wars for the Betamax?" The answer: "We understand the desire to watch Star Wars in the comfort of your own home on the best home video format available. However, George Lucas is very busy now, overseeing the production of The Empire Strikes Back. Lucasfilm will release Star Wars on Beta when we have the time to devote to it. We have something special planned for its release. As Obi-Wan said to Luke, 'Be patient.' Until then, keep on truckin'!"
Stoker Nominees Announced
he Horror Writers Association announced the nominees for this year's Bram Stoker Awards, recognizing outstanding writing in the dark fantasy, horror or occult genre published in 2000, Locus Online reported.
Winners will be announced at the 2001 Stoker Banquet in Seattle in conjunction with the World Horror Convention May 25-28.
The Horror Writers Association is a worldwide group of writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the genre. The Bram Stoker Awards are named in honor of the Irish author of Dracula. A full list of nominees follows.
Novel
•The Deceased by Tom Piccirilli
•The Indifference of Heaven by Gary A. Braunbeck
•The Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club by Brian A. Hopkins
•Silent Children by Ramsey Campbell
•The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon
First Novel
•House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
•The Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club by Brian A. Hopkins
•Nailed by the Heart by Simon Clark
•Run by Douglas E. Winter
Long Fiction
•"God Screamed and Screamed, Then I Ate Him" by Lawrence P. Santoro
•"In Shock" by Joyce Carol Oates
•"The Man on the Ceiling" by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
•"Riding the Bullet" by Stephen King
Short Fiction
•"Dead Cat Bounce" by Gerard Daniel Houarner
•"Fallen Angel" by Robert J. Sawyer
•"Gone" by Jack Ketchum
•"Mexican Moon" by Karen E. Taylor
Fiction Collection
•City Fishing by Steve Rasnic Tem
•Magic Terror: Seven Tales by Peter Straub
•Up, Out of Cities That Blow Hot and Cold by Charlee Jacob
•Wind Over Heaven and Other Dark Tales by Bruce Holland Rogers
Anthology
•Bad News, Richard Laymon, ed.
•Brainbox: The Real Horror, Steve Eller, ed.
•Extremes: Fantasy and Horror From the Ends of the Earth, Brian A. Hopkins, ed.
•The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, eds.
Nonfiction
•At the Foot of the Story Tree: An Inquiry Into the Fiction of Peter Straub by Bill Sheehan
•Hellnotes by David B. Silva and Paul F. Olson
•Horror of the 20th Century by Robert Weinberg
•On Writing by Stephen King
Illustrated Narrative
•Cable 79-84 by Robert Weinberg
•The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore
•Red Romance by Joe R. Lansdale
•Spuds by Bernie Wrightson
Screenplay
•The Cell by Mark Protosevich
•Pitch Black by David Twohy, Ken Wheat and Jim Wheat
•Requiem for a Dream by Darren Aronofsky and Hubert Selby Jr.
•Shadow of the Vampire by Steven Katz
•Unbreakable by M. Night Shyamalan
Work for Younger Readers
•Be Afraid!, Edo van Belkom, ed.
•The Christmas Thingy by F. Paul Wilson
•Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
•The Power of Un by Nancy Etchemendy
Poetry Collection
•Burial Plot by Sandy DeLuca
•The Complete Accursed Wives by Bruce Boston
•Paratabloids by Michael A. Arnzen
•A Student of Hell by Tom Piccirilli
Other Media
•Back to the Black Lagoon by David J. Skal
•Chiaroscuro by Patricia Lee Macomber, Steve Eller and Sandra Kasturi
•Gothic.net by Mehitobel Wilson
•Twilight Tales Reading Series, Tina L. Jens and Andrea Dubnick, producers
Saturn Nominees Announced
he Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films has announced its nominations for the 27th annual Saturn Awards, honoring genre movies and television shows, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The awards will be presented June 12 in Los Angeles.
In addition to the award nominees, the academy made several honorary mentions, the trade paper reported. Spider-Man director Sam Raimi will receive the George Pal Memorial Award, and producer Brian Grazer (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and actor Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) will each receive Life Career Awards. Film historian Bob Burns will get the Service Award for his efforts to house and restore props from classic genre films.
Shadow of the Vampire will receive a special achievement award for its behind-the-scenes take on director F.W. Murnau's classic vampire movie Nosferatu, the trade paper reported. Filmmaker Dustin Lance Black will take home the Dr. Donald A. Reed President's Award, renamed in honor of the Saturn Awards and academy founder, who died last month.
A full list of nominees follows.
Science Fiction Film
•The Cell
•Hollow Man
•The 6th Day
•Space Cowboys
•Titan A.E.
•X-Men
Fantasy Film
•Chicken Run
•Dinosaur
•Family Man
•Frequency
•Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
•What Women Want
Horror Film
•Dracula 2000
•Final Destination
•The Gift
•Requiem for a Dream
•Urban Legends: Final Cut
•What Lies Beneath
Action/Adventure/Thriller Film
•Charlie's Angels
•Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
•Gladiator
•The Patriot
•The Perfect Storm
•Traffic
•Unbreakable
Actor
•Jim Carrey, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
•Russell Crowe, Gladiator
•Clint Eastwood, Space Cowboys
•Chow Yun-Fat, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
•Hugh Jackman, X-Men
•Arnold Schwarzenegger, The 6th Day
Actress
•Cate Blanchett, The Gift
•Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream
•Tea Leoni, Family Man
•Jennifer Lopez, The Cell
•Michelle Pfeiffer, What Lies Beneath
•Michelle Yeoh, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Supporting Actor
•Jason Alexander, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
•Willem Dafoe, Shadow of the Vampire
•Dennis Quaid, Frequency
•Giovanni Ribisi, The Gift
•Will Smith, The Legend of Bagger Vance
•Patrick Stewart, X-Men
Supporting Actress
•Cameron Diaz, Charlie's Angels
•Lucy Liu, Charlie's Angels
•Rene Russo, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
•Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, X-Men
•Hilary Swank, The Gift
•Zhang Ziyi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Performance by a Younger Actor
•Spencer Breslin, Disney's The Kid
•Holliston Coleman, Bless the Child
•Jonathan Lipnicki, The Little Vampire
•Taylor Momsen, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
•Anna Paquin, X-Men
•Devon Sawa, Final Destination
Director
•Clint Eastwood, Space Cowboys
•Ron Howard, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
•Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
•Ridley Scott, Gladiator
•Bryan Singer, X-Men
•Robert Zemeckis, What Lies Beneath
Writing
•Toby Emmerich, Frequency
•David Franzoni, John Logan, William Nicholson, Gladiator
•David Hayter, X-Men
•Karey Kirkpatrick, Chicken Run
•Wang Hui Ling, James Schamus, Tsai Kuo Jung, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
•Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Epperson, The Gift
Music
•Tan Dun, Yo-Yo Ma, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
•Jerry Goldsmith, Hollow Man
•James Horner, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
•James Newton Howard, Dinosaur
•Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard, Gladiator
•Hans Zimmer, John Powell, The Road to El Dorado
Costume
•Caroline De Vivaise, Shadow of the Vampire
•Eiko Ishioka, April Napier, The Cell
•Louise Mingenbach, X-Men
•Rita Ryack, David Page, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
•Janty Yates, Gladiator
•Tim Yip, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Makeup
•Rick Baker, Gail Ryan, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
•Rick Baker, Nena Smarz, Edie Giles, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
•Ann Buchanan, Amber Sibley, Shadow of the Vampire
•Michele Burke, Edouard Henriques, KNB, EFX Inc., The Cell
•Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Jeff Dawn, Charles Porlier, The 6th Day
•Gordon Smith, Ann E. Brodie, FX Smith Inc., X-Men
Special Effects
•Scott E. Anderson, Craig Hayes, Scott Stokdyk, Stan Parks, Hollow Man
•Stefen Fangmeier, Habib Zargarpour, Tim Alexander, John Frazier, The Perfect Storm
•Michael Fink, Michael J. McAlister, David Prescott, Theresa Ellis, X-Men
•Michael Lantieri, David Drzewiecki, Amalgamated Dynamics, Rhythm and Hues, Cinesite, VCE.Com, The 6th Day
•Kevin Mack, Matthew Butler, Bryan Grill, Alan Hall, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Genre Home Video Release
•Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai
•Godzilla 2000
•The Ninth Gate
•Princess Mononoke
•The Prophecy 3: The Ascent
•Scream 3
Network Television Series
•Angel
•Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•Dark Angel
•Roswell
•Star Trek: Voyager
•The X-Files
Syndicated/Cable Television Series
•Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda
•The Beastmaster
•Farscape
•The Invisible Man
•The Outer Limits
•Stargate: SG-l
Single Television Presentation
•Frank Herbert's Dune
•Fail Safe
•Jason and the Argonauts
•Santa Who?
•Sole Survivor
•Witchblade
Actor on Television
•Richard Dean Anderson, Stargate SG-1
•Jason Behr, Roswell
•David Boreanaz, Angel
•Ben Browder, Farscape
•Robert Patrick, The X-Files
•Kevin Sorbo, Gene Rodenberry's Andromeda
Actress on Television
•Jessica Alba, Dark Angel
•Gillian Anderson, The X-Files
•Claudia Black, Farscape
•Charisma Carpenter, Angel
•Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•Kate Mulgrew, Star Trek: Voyager
Supporting Actor on Television
•Alexis Denisof, Angel
•Brandan Fehr, Roswell
•Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•James Marsters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•Michael Shanks, Stargate: SG-1
•Michael Weatherly, Dark Angel
Supporting Actress on Television
•Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•Katherine Heigl, Roswell
•Juliet Landau, Angel
•Jeri Ryan, Star Trek: Voyager
•Amanda Tapping, Stargate: SG-1
•Michelle Trachtenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Exorcist Banned On Good Friday
he government of the Australian state of Victoria has banned a planned Good Friday debut of the director's cut of The Exorcist, the Associated Press reported.
According to state law, theaters cannot run movies on Good Friday or
Christmas Day without a permit, and such a permit was denied to would-be Exorcist exhibitors out of respect for Christians who might take offense to goings-on in the William Friedkin classic.
Last year Warner Bros. released the enhanced version of the film--with 11 minutes of previously unseen footage and a digitally enhanced soundtrack--in the United States. The controversial Exorcist also recently aired for the first time on British television after being denied a U.K. home-video release in the 1970s because it was considered too disturbing.
3rd Rock Coming To An End
fter months of speculation, NBC officially announced that its long-running sci-fi comedy 3rd Rock From the Sun is coming to an end, according to Variety.
The series--which stars John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, French
Stewart and Joseph-Gordon Levitt as aliens living on Earth--has been running for six seasons and has the dubious distinction of appearing in an unprecedented 18 different time slots.
The final episode, which was filmed in such a way that it could serve
as either a season finale or a series capper, finds the aliens heading home in the same red convertible in which they arrived, with singer Elvis Costello sending the group off in style with a rendition of "Fly Me to the Moon." The
one-hour episode will air on May 22.
To date 3rd Rock has earned 29 Emmy nominations and eight wins.
Mummy Poster Wrapped For $115K
n anonymous telephone bidder recently paid 80,750 pounds ($115,000) during a London auction for a poster of Boris Karloff's 1932 version of The Mummy, according to various British news reports.
The Karoly Grosz-designed poster is one of only three copies known to still exist and sold for twice pre-sale estimates despite extensive restoration.
The sale, held at Christie's auction house, was part of a
collection of 65 vintage film posters from Jerome, Ariz. The owner
discovered that his father, who used to manage a movie theater, could
not bring himself to throw the posters away and had stored them in his garage.
Among the other rarities for sale was a one-sheet poster for the 1933
Paramount film Supernatural starring Carole Lombard.
Johnson To Rock Nukem?
he Coming Attractions Web site reported a rumor that wrestler The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) is under consideration for the title role in the proposed Duke Nukem movie.
Dimension Films is reportedly developing the movie, based on the 3-D Realms video game series of the same name.
The Rock will appear in the upcoming sequel The Mummy Returns and is also starring in a proposed Mummy prequel, The Scorpion King.
Creative Split Sank Pern
roducer Ronald D. Moore--whose pilot for a Dragonriders of Pern TV series was abruptly dumped by The WB--told SCI FI Wire that the network pulled the plug only days before production was set to begin in a dispute over the show's creative direction.
"It's dead," Moore said in an interview. "We were supposed to start shooting the day before yesterday [April 2]. We were very, very close. We were shooting in Santa Fe [N.M.] We had the cast. We had the production team. We had the CGI [computer graphics]. We had the whole enchilada, and they pulled the plug last Wednesday."
Moore said he had been trying to develop a serious adaptation of Anne McCaffrey's popular series of SF novels of the same name. But The WB ordered a "dialogue polish" from a second writer, and when Moore saw the rewrite, he felt the series had changed "fundamentally." "It was a different show," he said. "I had tried ... to keep the spirit of the books alive ... and make it a classy, interesting show. And ... what was evident in the draft they commissioned, they wanted a different show. It was more Buffy-esque and Xena-esque. It was something they felt more comfortable with on The WB. ... There wasn't a way to split the difference. Ultimately, they decided we should just let the project go. It was their decision. It was very disappointing for everybody. ... A lot of people put a lot of hard work into it."
Moore did not sound angry about the decision, though he was clearly dismayed at the pilot's cancellation just as it was set to shoot. "We ... had to shutter the offices, let the crew go, and it was too bad. But ultimately, I understand and respect the position of the network, because it's their network. But I had a responsibility to the material and the source of the material. ... And I think the fans--while they may be disappointed that the series won't go forward--would have been more disappointed if we had made a series that contradicted the world that Anne had created and was so wonderful."
Among the scenes fans will never see: A recreation of the books' Ruatha Hold in a New Mexico box canyon; an interpretation of Bendan Weyr as a series of pueblo-like cliff dwellings; and the birth of a dragon under the night sky and a blanket of Southwestern stars.
Moore said that Pern's complicated rights will likely prohibit the pilot's being picked up by another network this year or in its current incarnation. As for whether he'll try to mount an effort to revive the Pern series later on, he said, "I started talking about and looking for the rights to this series when I was [a writer] on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. ... The thought of doing it all over again is not something I'm eager to do at this moment. But maybe with a little time and distance, you never know. ... I have no regrets, and I'm glad Anne's property is still Anne's property and won't have been damaged in any way."
Change Comes To Roswell
onald D. Moore--co-executive producer of The WB's Roswell--told SCI FI Wire that the show will undergo a major change when it returns later this month.
The teen alien series returns April 16 with an episode that centers on the high-school prom, Moore said.
"It's very much about the relationships and the kids and things happening within the group, with Max [Jason Behr] and Liz [Shiri Appleby] at the center of it all," Moore said in an interview. "In the next episode, there's a shocking change in the cast. ... There's a death that affects everyone. And in turn, that is the catalyst for everything else that happens, the hows and whys of that character dying affect everything."
As for the future of the Monday-night series, Moore said the network will wait to see how the remaining episodes perform in the ratings during the crucial May sweeps period. "They'll want to see how those episodes do before they make a decision" about renewing Roswell for a third season, Moore said.
Moore added, "I really hope that Roswell comes back. It really deserves to get picked up, and it has a loyal fan following."
Reward Offered For Spidey Suits
hieves made off with four Spider-Man costumes used in the production of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movie, leading Columbia Pictures on April 4 to post a reward of $25,000 for their return.
A studio spokesman would not say how much the signature red-and-blue costumes were worth, but sources have told SCI FI Wire that they cost as much as $65,000 each.
Workers discovered the costumes missing early April 3 from the Sony Pictures Studios lot, where the film is being shot. "They're valuable property, and we'd like to have them returned," the spokesman told SCI FI Wire. "There are others, but we do need these for the production of the movie. Production has not been slowed by this, but they are part of the movie, and we would like them back."
Columbia Pictures--a unit of Sony--has created a hotline for tips leading to the recovery of the costumes: (310) 244-1044.
Principal photography on Spider-Man, the live-action film based on the Marvel comic series of the same name, began in January. The film is scheduled for release on May 3, 2002. The film features Tobey Maguire in the title role, along with Willem Dafoe and Kirsten Dunst.
Whedon Fumes At Fox
oss Whedon, creator of The WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff, Angel, told TV Guide Online that he's upset at Fox for putting Dark Angel on against his show, even though Fox produces all of them.
Dark Angel airs on Fox's broadcast network in the same Tuesday timeslot as Angel, and has caused the latter show's ratings to suffer.
"The fact that they put [Dark Angel] on opposite a show that they produce, thereby hurting it, shows that they really don't care," Whedon told TV Guide. "Their big picture is clearly so big that whatever I think and whatever I am doing doesn't matter, and I resent that. But I am not the big-picture guy. I'm just making my shows."
But Whedon said he hasn't asked Fox to move Dark Angel. "I don't deal with that," he said. "I have no control over that. I am not someone that can say, 'Work your schedule.' Ultimately I am not going to ask them to do anything. As long as I get to make my shows, the people who want to watch them will."
Animated Buffy Stretches Story
eph Loeb, who will executive produce The WB's upcoming animated version of its Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, told the Comics Continuum Web site that the new show will take Buffy fans to a new place.
Loeb is working with Buffy creator Joss Whedon.
"Buffy fans should be very pleased with what he has in mind," Loeb told the site. "What is so exciting is that animation allows Joss' imagination to go in even more extraordinary directions. We're currently writing episode one, putting together the bible [the handbook for the show] and coming up with stories for other fantastic new episodes."
Loeb added that the animated series will have its own life. "But we will be keeping the tone and seeing the characters who have made Buffy such an enormous hit--Xander, Giles, Willow and ... a few surprises, too," Loeb said. "Joss came up with a very unique way that will allow us to stay within continuity and still tell tales Buffy fans don't yet know. Folks who know my work from Superman For All Seasons, Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory will have an idea as to how we're going to pull it all off. At the same time, if you've never seen the live-action show, it will be very accessible. We want to break down the same walls that [the] Batman animated [series] did originally, both in terms of style and content. So Joss really has set the bar very high. The truth is, he doesn't want to do the show if it can't stand toe-to-toe with Buffy and Angel, his live-action shows. His hallmark is quality, and this is no exception." The show could air as soon as February.
Lee Mulls Hulk Start
rouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director Ang Lee, who will helm the upcoming feature film based on Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk, told the Popcorn U.K. Web site that he hopes to start production next year.
"I don't have a story yet, but I think it's a great idea," Lee told the site.
Lee added that he's attracted to the story's idea of the alter ego and describes the movie as an "interesting psychological study." "The comic strip is a franchise itself, so there's no need for a big movie," he said.
Lee is also mulling a prequel to the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, the site reported.
Tiger Games Uncrouching
he Taiwanese firm Vista Group plans to develop game titles based on the Oscar-winning film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Daily Radar reported.
The game will be developed for PC, PlayStation2, Xbox, Gamecube and Dreamcast platforms.
The PC version is slated for a winter 2001 release, and the console versions will likely come out early next year.
Vista Group also plans to release an animated movie and TV cartoon series based on the film, the site reported.
Mission 2 Games Possible
ame publisher Infogrames will release video games based on John Woo's Mission: Impossible 2 next year, the FGN Web site reported.
The games will be developed for both PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms, the site reported.
The first M:I2 game will bow in the fall of 2002.
Reno Hopes Visiting Plays To U.S.
ean Reno--star of the upcoming fantasy movie Just Visiting--told SCI FI Wire that he's not sure how the film, a remake of the 1993 French comedy Les Visiteurs, will translate for American audiences.
"I don't know, to tell the truth, I don't know," Reno said during a press briefing to promote the movie. "I don't know ... [what] the American reaction [will be]. But I hope they will follow the historical situation, which is a true, logical historical situation at that
time."
Reno described the film as a story about his character, a 12th-century knight, and his knave, played by co-writer Christian Clavier, as "immigrants in time." Under a magic spell, the protagonists find themselves transported into 21st-century Chicago. "Suddenly ... you're an immigrant from [the] middle ages, and also an immigrant in the land of freedom. That's nice," Reno said. "I hope [American audiences] will understand that and laugh about the destruction [they cause], because they are acting like kids [laughs]. They don't have any rules, in fact."
Clavier, who wrote the original hit French film and adapted it for the American screen with director Jean-Marie Poiré and American filmmaker John Hughes, said he set out to make an entirely new movie. "We found a kind of humor together, and we mixed our cultural life in a way," Clavier said during the press tour. "It was very, very long work, but very exciting to write that adaptation and to do a real, new movie and not simply a remake of the French version." Just Visiting opens April 6.
Reno Is Rollerball Heavy
ean Reno--co-star of John McTiernan's upcoming Rollerball remake--told SCI FI Wire that his character is hero Chris Klein's nemesis.
"I'm the villain," Reno said during a press tour to promote his new fantasy film Just Visiting. "[He] is a crazy guy--a monster--owning the rights, owning the teams, owning lives. And having the possibility to kill you."
Reno co-stars with Klein, X-Men's Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and LL Cool J in the remake of Norman Jewison's 1975 SF movie of the same name. Reno said he was attracted to the SF film--about a shadowy league of motorcycle-riding skaters--by the chance to work with the Die Hard director, whom he described as a "very good director, very good guy."
Primary filming on Rollerball has been completed, but the tentative August release date could be pushed back by the impending writer's union strike.
Walken Gets Fuzzy In Bears
hristopher Walken--best known for his frightening villains--switches gears to play the lead human in Disney's upcoming musical fantasy movie The Country Bears, Variety reported.
Walken joins actors Daryl "Chill" Mitchell (Galaxy Quest), Deidrich Bader and stars from the music world in the film, which is based loosely on an attraction at Disney World, the trade paper reported.
The movie will mix live action with animatronic bears; Haley Joel Osment and Charles Dutton will provide voices for the bears. Walken will play Reid Thimple, a banker who is trying to foreclose and demolish the Country Bear Hall, a musical venue where the creatures got their start.
Peter Hastings directs the movie, which began production March 12 in Los Angeles.
Horror's Chetwynd-Hayes Dead
upernatural fiction writer R. Chetwynd-Hayes, described by one of his
publishers as "Britain's Prince of Chill," died of bronchial pneumonia
on March 20. He was 81.
Chetwynd-Hayes had been living since early 2000 in a care home in Teddington, South London.
Ronald Henry Glynn Chetwynd-Hayes was born in Isleworth, West London, on May 30, 1919. Over more than 30 years, Chetwynd-Hayes steadily turned out more than 200 short stories and more than a dozen novels. At one time his collections of ghost stories and humorous horror occupied the shelves of nearly every public library in the United Kingdom.
In 1989, R. Chetwynd-Hayes received the Life Achievement Awards of both the British Fantasy Society and the Horror Writers of America. He was also a guest of honor at FantasyCon XVII in 1992 and at the 1997 World Fantasy
Convention in London.
Chetwynd-Hayes' correspondence and surviving manuscripts will be
archived in the collection of the Science Fiction Foundation held at
The University of Liverpool, where the material will be made available
to researchers.
--Stephen Jones
Bowie Biting Into Dracula?
ock star David Bowie may play the ultimate bloodsucker in an Italian made-for-television remake of Dracula, Canada's JAM! Music Web site reported.
Citing the Agence France-Presse news service, JAM! reported that Bowie was in talks with directors to play the vampire opposite Giancarlo Giannini as Prof. Van Helsing.
The Italian production would update the classic story, based on Bram Stoker's 19th-century novel, to modern times. The television project is slated to air in the fall.
It wouldn't be the first time Bowie has played a denizen of the night. He portrayed an aging vampire in director Tony Scott's 1983 movie The Hunger.
Fandom Sites Still Live
andom's 21 "Fan Domains"--Web sites for everything from X-Men to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Pokemon--will remain live for the time being, despite Fandom's announcement that it will cease all online operations, a spokesman told SCI FI Wire.
Fandom announced April 2 that it will shut down its online operations, but will continue to operate its offline companies, magazine publisher Cinescape and convention producer Creation Entertainment.
"The Web sites are not going to go dark," the Fandom spokesman said in an interview. "Fan sites will remain on the Web, and Cinescape Online will continue to operate" while the company seeks an investor or buyer to acquire the online properties. As of April 4, however, SCI FI Wire was unable to connect to the Cinescape Web site.
If none can be found, the main Fandom portal will go dark, the spokesman said. The fate of the fan-run sites is less certain. "I am assuming some of those fan sites will continue to exist, especially if they are hosted elsewhere," he said.
Fandom had acquired Another Universe--now FandomShop--in the first quarter of 2000 and Cinescape and Creation Entertainment in the fourth quarter of the year.
Debra Streicker-Fine, Fandom's chief executive, said in a statement, "For the last three months, we have had productive meetings and a series of opportunities to take Fandom to the next level, but the depressed marketplace has forced many companies to close, especially affecting online companies." Fandom was started in 1999 as a catalog publisher and has grown into a company that sells licensed merchandise, publishes magazines, operates fan clubs, mounts fan conventions and conducts collectibles auctions.
Hayter Signs On To X-Men 2
-Men screenwriter David Hayter confirmed to the Comics Continuum Web site that he has signed on to write the sequel, X-Men 2.
"There are some things going on with X2--the fan community should be excited to know that's our interoffice term for it," Hayter told the Continuum. "I am involved, but we are still not sure what the story is going to be."
Hayter denied a report in the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper that the script for X-Men 2 is being turned in this week. "Things are still up in the air with this," he said.
X-Men 2 Aims At Fall Start
-Men 2 may begin production in Canada in early fall for a July 2002 release, the Toronto Sun reported.
Director Bryan Singer also confirmed that Gambit, Beast and Jubilee will appear in the sequel, the newspaper reported.
X-Men 2 may not shoot in Toronto, the location of the first X-Men movie, the newspaper reported. Instead, Singer may take production to Vancouver, which is closer to Los Angeles. Other possible locations include Montreal and Australia. Production could be delayed by the impending actors' union strike in July.
UPN Dumps Craven's SF Pilot
PN has passed on the untitled SF pilot from Nightmare on Elm Street director Wes Craven, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The show focused on an entrepreneur and his partner, an artificial intelligence specialist, as they investigated the supernatural.
Craven was to produce and direct the pilot. Craven will now pitch the series to other networks as a midseason replacement series, the trade paper reported.
Matrix 2 Shot Details Revealed?
he Dark Horizons Web site reported rumors about the Oakland, Calif., location shooting of The Matrix 2, currently underway.
An anonymous source described the shoot in various locations around the city.
The site reported a scene involving a car chase between a silver and a black vehicle. A silver figure, presumably one of the film's villains, is firing an "Uzi-like" weapon from the sunroof of the black truck.
The site described the silver figures as wearing long, silver cloaks. Other speculation has suggested the figures are new computer viruses sent to eradicate the film's heroes, who include Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Roswell Still Alive
spokeswoman for The WB denied rumors that its teen alien series Roswell has been canceled.
Rumors to that effect were circulating on the Internet over the weekend.
"We won't have any definite answers or commitments for shows coming back until May 15," the spokeswoman told SCI FI Wire. That's the time when The WB will make its pitch to advertisers for the fall season, the so-called "upfront" presentation.
Roswell--which was taken off the air in March and replaced with Gilmore Girls--will return with new episodes on April 16.
Sauron Takes Form In Rings
hough he never takes solid form in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy of novels, Sauron will appear twice in Peter Jackson's upcoming Rings movie trilogy, the E! Online Web site reported.
Rings screenwriter Philippa Boyens has written a pair of scenes involving the Dark Lord.
"He never assumes physical appearance in the books, except when the ring is cut from his finger," Boyens told E!. "But what they can do now with digital imagery is amazing. ... We totally agree Sauron is far more fascinating as a force of evil than as an actual presence." But, she added, "the couple of moments when Sauron presents himself are incredible."
Meanwhile, New Line Cinema, which is producing the three movies, plans a major Rings presence at the upcoming Cannes film festival in May, E! reported. The studio has reportedly rented an entire castle just outside of Cannes, where there will be a party to promote the trilogy's first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, which opens Dec. 19, the site reported. Props are being flown in to recreate Middle-Earth in the south of France, and most of the trilogy's leads are expected to join director Jackson, including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee and Cate Blanchett.
Rings Shrank Astin
ean Astin--who plays the Hobbit Sam Gamgee in Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy--told the About.com action adventure page that computers allowed him to appear three feet, six inches tall.
"I think I was digitally shrunk back there," Astin said of the films' 14-month shoot in New Zealand.
Astin added, "I don't know if I've quite recovered from it. There are all kinds of amazing cinema-tomfoolery going on down in New Zealand. ... What I've seen is amazing, and they've got a lot more work to do before the films are finished." The first Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, opens Dec. 19.
Smallville Pilot Wraps
roduction wraps this week on the pilot for The WB's upcoming Smallville series, which shot in Vancouver, the Comics Continuum reported.
The X-Files veteran David Nutter directed the pilot, from a script by Miles Millar and Alfred Gough.
The cast of Smallville--which chronicles the high-school years of the DC Comics character Superman--includes Tom Welling as Clark Kent, Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor, Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang, John Schneider as Jonathan Kent and Cynthia Ettinger as Marthan Kent. The WB has ordered 13 episodes of the show.
7 Days Likely For Renewal
om Ropelewski, executive producer of UPN's time-travel series 7 Days, told Zap2it that he's confident the show will be renewed for a fourth season, despite being pulled off the air for a few weeks.
UPN will air the new SF comedy-drama Special Unit 2 in 7 Days' time slot, starting April 11.
A spokesman for UPN told SCI FI Wire that the network does plan to bring 7 Days back to finish out the third season after the initial run of Special Unit 2. He added that renewals won't be announced until early May.
"If it was any other network, I would say we'd probably be canceled," Ropelewski told Zap2it. "But on UPN, it's really one of the few time slots where they can really test out a new show and learn anything." He added, "I think it's very likely we will be back next year. UPN has been struggling to define itself, and next to Star Trek, we're the most-watched one hour. ... If you're losing your No. 1-rated show, do you cancel your No. 2-rated show?" Star Trek: Voyager ends its seven-year run in May.
Despite a recent dispute with co-star Justina Vail, Ropelewski added that he expects the entire cast to return. "Whatever [Vail's and star Jonathan LaPaglia's] off-camera chemistry is, their on-camera chemistry is great, and they know how to use it," the producer said.
Many Krofft Projects Underway
he WB's upcoming revival of Sid and Marty Krofft's 1970s television show Electra Woman and Dyna Girl is only one of several Krofft projects under development, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Markie Post and Anne Stedman will star in the pilot for Electra, which was developed by writers Jeff Kline and Elisa Bell, the trade paper reported.
Meanwhile, Nickelodeon and Paramount are in talks to revive a feature-film version of the 1969 TV show H.R. Pufnstuf, which was on hold at Sony. Mike Mitchell would direct, from a script by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.
A list of other projects follows, as reported by the trade paper.
•The Bugaloos, a movie based on the 1970-'72 Saturday morning series. Kerry Brown and Russell Scott are writing the screenplay.
•Land of the Lost, a movie based on the mid-'70s live-action and puppet television series about a family transported to a parallel universe, where dinosaurs never became extinct.
•A Rat's Tail, a film retelling the Cinderella story from the point of view of the rat who becomes a coachman. Dan Rosen is writing the script.
•Black Alice in Underland, a fairy tale anthology that will be produced as a television movie or series pilot.
New Time Like Old Times
ark Addy--co-star of the upcoming Time Machine movie--told About.com's action-adventure page that the latest filmed version of H.G. Wells' classic SF tale will mirror George Pal's 1960 movie.
"The original was 1960, so [the remake] sticks very closely to the novel, but you've got the advantage of the kind of stuff they can do with special effects nowadays," Addy told the site.
Addy added, "They're going to make that time-travel stuff just unbelievable, and also the designs for the Eloi and the Morlocks. In the original, they're a little ropey, but the stuff they can do now with prosthetics and makeup [is amazing] as well."
Addy plays Philby, the best friend of star Guy Pearce's Time Traveller. "I stay at home," Addy said. "I don't get to do any of the fun stuff. I'm just there at the beginning and the end, so all my stuff's turn-of-the-last-century New York--stiff clothes and talking proper."
Judd Purrfect For Catwoman
shley Judd will play the title character in Warner Brothers' upcoming film Catwoman, based on the character in DC Comics' Batman series, Variety reported.
Judd signed on after meeting last week with studio executives, the trade paper reported.
Catwoman--a character played by Michelle Pfeiffer in 1992's Batman Returns--marks the third Batman movie under development at Warner, Variety reported. The others include Batman: Year One, from director Darren Aronofsky (Pi), and a live-action version of The WB's animated television series Batman Beyond.
Pi Guy Teaming With Pitt?
i director Darren Aronofsky is writing and will helm an as-yet-unnamed SF movie for Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow, with Brad Pitt in serious talks to star, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The trade paper cited unnamed sources as saying that Aronofsky and Pitt have met about the project and are keen on working together. The plot of the movie is being kept secret.
Aronofsky is also working with graphic novelist Frank Miller on the script of Warner's proposed Batman: Year One movie.
Spy Kids Takes No. 1
he SF fantasy Spy Kids premiered at No. 1 in the box-office rankings, raking in an estimated $27 million on the weekend of March 30, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
The take marked the best premiere for writer and director Robert Rodriguez.
Spy Kids, which cost about $36 million to make, had the best March opening for a children's movie and the fourth-best March debut overall, the Reuters news service reported. The weekend take exceeded Dimension Films' projection of $20 million. A sequel to Spy Kids is already in the works, Rodriguez told SCI FI Wire earlier.
Among other films, Oscar-winner Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon remained in the top 10, coming in eighth with an estimated $5 million for the weekend and a total so far of $113.7 million.
Macy Upbeat About Jurassic III
illiam H. Macy, who co-stars in the upcoming sequel Jurassic Park III, told E! Online that he had fun on the set, despite earlier reports that had him fuming about the production.
"I've never done one of these [big-budget, special-effects features], and I've always wanted to--it's Hollywood at its pinnacle," Macy told the site.
Macy co-stars with Sam Neill and Téa Leoni in Jurassic III. "It turned out to be one of the funnest things I've done in years," Macy said. "I can't tell you what it's like to be someplace where the best and brightest are doing the best work they've ever done. It's mind-boggling."
The comments are quite a bit more upbeat than earlier ones the actor reportedly made, in which he accused the production of being a runaway.
Briefly Noted
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Pocket Books Star Trek editor John Ordover told the TrekToday Web site that the upcoming novelization of the Voyager finale will expand the story and stand as a lead-in to future Voyager novels. The book by Diane Carey, with extra material by Chris Golden, will come out a month after the May 23 finale airs on UPN.
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Rittenhouse Archives will produce trading cards based on The SCI FI Channel's original series
Black Scorpion. A six-card preview set is scheduled for early spring. A full series of cards is expected later this year.
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TNT has opened an official Web site for its upcoming Witchblade television series, based on the Top Cow comic series of the same name. Witchblade, starring Yancy Butler, premieres in June.
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Paramount is posting a new trailer April 4 for its upcoming Tomb Raider movie to the film's official Web site. The movie--starring Angelina Jolie and based on the Eidos video game series of the same name--opens June 15.
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The Countingdown Web site reported that Basement, Jaxx, Moby, the Chemical Brothers and Outkast will all appear on the soundtrack for Angelina Jolie's upcoming Tomb Raider movie.
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Disney has bought a pitch from producer Lauren Lloyd for Happily Never After, a fantasy comedy movie about the real lives of classic fairy tale characters, Variety reported. Greg McBride wrote the script.
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Organizers have extended the deadline to April 4 to cast online ballots for this year's Hugo Awards, citing a problem with the Web site.
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About 1,000 students at Lampson Elementary School in Garden Grove, Calif., viewed the March 29 premiere of Pokemon 3 The Movie. Lampson is one of 65,000 schools across the country invited to participate in the Poké-Read-A-Rama Challenge, an in-school literacy program that encourages kids to read. Lampson was selected by a random drawing for the national sweepstakes world premiere prize.
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Graham Greene will join Lou Diamond Phillips and Tim Matheson in the cast of Wolf Lake, a supernatural series pilot for CBS, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Valerie Bertinelli will join the cast of CBS' Touched by an Angel, playing an angel who teams with Roma Downey, Variety reported. Bertinelli's first appearance is April 29.
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Artisan and Marvel have hired Hans Rodionoff to write a script for a proposed Man Thing movie, a spin on the comic series about a swamp creature, Variety reported.
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