Nebula Winners Announced
he 2000 Nebula Awards were announced April 28 at a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The awards are voted on by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, who honor their peers in the categories of best novel, best novelette, best novella, best short story and best script.
The Nebulas are presented annually for works published in the previous calendar year. A complete list of this year's winners and categories follows.
- Best Novel
- Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear
- Best Novella
- "Goddesses" by Linda Nagata
- Best Novelette
- "Daddy's World" by Walter Jon Williams
- Best Short Story
- "macs" by Terry Bisson
- Best Script
- Galaxy Quest by Robert Gordon and David Howard
Also at the ceremony, Philip José Farmer received the previously announced Grand Master award, Robert Sheckley received the Author Emeritus award, and Yuri Rasovsky and Harlan Ellison earned the Bradbury Award for 2000X. Gordon, Bisson, Sheckley, Ellison, Williams, Farmer and Bear were on hand to accept their awards, while SCI FICTION editor Ellen Datlow accepted on behalf of Nagata.
During the awards, SFWA President Paul Levinson announced that author Norman Spinrad would be the next SFWA president, and he presented a Lifetime Membership to Ellison. This year's toastmaster was Neil Gaiman, while screenwriter Paul Guay was the keynote speaker.
Editor's Note:
"Goddesses" was first published in SCI FICTION, SCIFI.COM's short story section.
Hugo Finalists Announced
he Millennium Philcon announced the nominees for the 2001 Hugo Awards, recognizing achievement in science fiction.
The awards are named in honor of Hugo Gernsback, the magazine editor credited as "the father of science fiction."
The awards will be presented at the 59th World Science Fiction Convention, or The Millennium Philcon, in Philadelphia, Aug. 30-Sept. 3. A full list of nominees follows.
Novel
•A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
•Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
•Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
•Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
•The Sky Road by Ken MacLeod
Novella
•"A Roll of the Dice" by Catherine Asaro
•"Oracle" by Greg Egan
•"Radiant Green Star" by Lucius Shepard
•"Seventy-Two Letters" by Ted Chiang
•"The Retrieval Artist" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
•"The Ultimate Earth" by Jack Williamson
Novellette
•"Agape Among the Robots" by Allen Steele
•"Generation Gap" by Stanley Schmidt
•"Millennium Babies" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
•"On the Orion Line" by Stephen Baxter
•"Redchapel" by Mike Resnick
Short Story
•"Different Kinds of Darkness" by David Langford
•"Kaddish for the Last Survivor" by Michael A. Burstein
•"Moon Dogs" by Michael Swanwick
•"The Elephants on Neptune" by Mike Resnick
•"The Gravity Mine" by Stephen Baxter
Related Book
•Concordance to Cordwainer Smith, Third Edition by Anthony R. Lewis
•Greetings from Earth: The Art of Bob Eggleton by Bob Eggleton and Nigel Suckling
•Putting It Together: Turning Sow's Ear Drafts Into Silk Purse Stories by Mike Resnick
•Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion by James Gifford
•Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature, ed. by Andrew M. Butler, Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn
Dramatic Presentation
•Chicken Run
•Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
•Frank Herbert's Dune
•Frequency
•X-Men
Professional Editor
•Ellen Datlow
•Gardner Dozois
•David G. Hartwell
•Stanley Schmidt
•Gordon Van Gelder
Professional Artist
•Jim Burns
•Bob Eggleton
•Frank Kelly Freas
•Donato Giancola
•Michael Whelan
Semiprozine
•Interzone, edited by David Pringle
•Locus, edited by Charles N. Brown
•New York Review of Science Fiction, edited by Kathryn Cramer, David G. Hartwell and Kevin Maroney
•Science Fiction Chronicle, edited by Andrew I. Porter
•Speculations, edited by Denise Lee and Susan Fry; published by Kent Brewster
Fanzine
•Challenger, edited by Guy Lillian III
•File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
•Mimosa, edited by Nicki and Richard Lynch
•Plokta, edited by Alison Scott, Steve Davies and Mike Scott
•Stet, edited by Dick Smith and Leah Zeldes Smith
Fan Writer
•Bob Devney
•Mike Glyer
•Dave Langford
•Evelyn C. Leeper
•Steven H Silver
Fan Artist
•Sheryl Birkhead
•Brad Foster
•Teddy Harvia
•Sue Mason
•Taral Wayne
John W. Campbell Award
•James L. Cambias
•Thomas Harlan
•Douglas Smith
•Kristine Smith
•Jo Walton
Bakula's Trek Role In Doubt
cott Bakula will replace Burt Reynolds as the lead in a CBS comedy pilot, Late Boomers, casting into doubt reports that he would play the lead in the upcoming fifth Star Trek series, tentatively entitled Enterprise, Variety reported.
The trade paper added that Bakula's appearance in the Trek show is still possible, as he's only agreed to star in the CBS pilot.
The paper also reported that Bakula initially passed on the Star Trek show, but has resumed talks with producer Paramount in recent days, though no deal has been struck.
Trek X Spoilers Hinted
he Trek Today Web site reported spoiler rumors for the next Star Trek feature film, which it added will be tentatively titled Star Trek X: Nemesis.
Citing an anonymous source, the site reported a key scene in the upcoming film, which was written by John Logan (Gladiator) and is based on a story by Logan, Rick Berman and Brent Spiner.
An early scene is set in Alaska, at the wedding of William Riker and Deanna Troi, with Capt. Jean-Luc Picard as best man.
The site added that the film is scheduled to begin shooting later this year, with a release sometime in the spring or summer of 2002.
Borg Queen Casting Revealed?
peaking on the Fox & Friends television show, Star Trek: Voyager star Kate Mulgrew let slip a casting spoiler for the upcoming "Endgame" series finale, which airs May 23, according to the Cinescape Online Web site.
Asked about the rumored reappearance of the Borg Queen in the episode, Mulgrew said, "The Queen? I just worked with her."
Mulgrew reportedly added, "Boy, she's marvelous, Alice Krige. There's some great stuff with her in the finale."
Mulgrew's comments suggest that Krige, who played the Queen in the feature film Star Trek: First Contact, would appear in the finale, and not Susanna Thompson, who has played the Queen in previous episodes of Voyager.
Westmore Making Up Trek V
eteran Star Trek makeup artist Michael Westmore has signed on to the fifth Trek series now in production, the official Trek Web site reported.
Westmore will head the makeup department of the next series.
Westmore was makeup supervisor on the recently wrapped Star Trek: Voyager. He and his makeup team have won two Emmy awards, for the Deep Space Nine episode "Distant Voices" and Voyager's "Threshold." Westmore also garnered an Academy Award nomination for his Borg makeup in the movie Star Trek: First Contact.
Bale Up For Bond Role?
hristian Bale (Reign of Fire) told the Empire Online Web site that he'd be interested in taking on the role of James Bond, but not for a while.
Bale added that he saw similarities between Bond, currently played by Pierce Brosnan, and Bale's character from American Psycho, Patrick Bateman.
"I suppose there are actually a number of character traits that are similar between Bond and Patrick Bateman," Bale told the site. "A complete lack of remorse in killing people, [and] both are utter misogynists."
As for whether he'd consider overtures from Bond studio Eon Production, Bale said, "I've only thought of it because a couple of people have mentioned it since American Psycho. ... Certainly if I was going to do it, it wouldn't be for a long time."
Butler Up For Bond?
cottish actor Gerard Butler (Dracula 2000) is under consideration to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, the Scottish Daily Record newspaper reported.
The tabloid said series producer Barbara Broccoli was determined to have another Scot in the role, following in the footsteps of countryman Sean Connery, according to a report on the Reuters news wire.
The Record reported that Broccoli had arranged a summer meeting with Butler to discuss Bond. Brosnan's contract expires after his fourth Bond movie, the 20th film in the franchise, which goes into production in January.
The paper added that Broccoli was also meeting Colin Wells, who had served as Brosnan's stand-in during screen tests for other actors.
Mutant X Is Cast
everal actors have been cast in the upcoming syndicated SF series Mutant X, the Toronto Sun reported.
The series, co-produced by Fireworks Entertainment in association with Tribune Entertainment and Marvel, begins shooting the first of 44 episodes in Toronto in June for a fall debut.
Victor Webster, Victoria Pratt (Cleopatra 2525), Lauren Lee Smith (Dark Angel) and Forbes March will star as genetically altered superheroes in the show, the newspaper reported. The four will go into three weeks of intense high-wire and fight training with Hong Kong-trained fight coordinator Paul Rapovski before shooting begins, the Sun reported.
Webster will play Brennan, who can conduct electricity; Smith will play Emma, a telepath; Pratt will play Shalimar, whose DNA is half human-half animal; and March will play Jessie, who can alter his body density. Major roles still to be cast include Adam Xero and the lead villain.
X-Men 2 Aims At Fall 2002
arvel movie executive Avi Arad told the Comics Continuum Web site that he hopes the much-anticipated sequel to 2000's X-Men will hit theaters in November 2002.
"I think it's perfect timing," Arad told the site. "In 2002, you start the year with Spider-Man in May, and you have X-Men in November."
Arad added, "I feel pretty comfortable that all these [films based on Marvel comic series] are spaced properly. And they are all different."
Arad said that David Hayter has turned in a treatment for X-Men 2, "and we are all working toward a script." But he declined to say which new faces will appear in the sequel. "The main reason I'm not going to give you the names is because it's still a debate," he said. "Characters have to bring in a story, and we are aligning these things. Definitely, there will be new characters."
X-Men, Tiger Get MTV Nods
-Men and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon topped the genre-film nominees for MTV Movie Awards, with three nominations each, including best movie.
The tongue-in-cheek awards ceremony will air June 7 at 9 p.m. ET.
X-Men got nominated for best movie, best on-screen team and breakthrough performance by an actor (Hugh Jackman). Crouching Tiger was nominated for best movie, best fight and breakthrough performance by an actress (Zhang Ziyi).
Mission: Impossible 2 received two nods, for best male performance (Tom Cruise) and best action sequence (motorcycle chase). The Cell also got two nominations, for best female performance (Jennifer Lopez) and best villain (Vincent D'Onofrio).
One nomination each went to Nutty Professor 2 (best comedic performance, Eddie Murphy), Hollow Man (best villain, Kevin Bacon) and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (best villain, Jim Carrey).
UPN May Keep Buffy Time Slot
uffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told TV Guide Online that he expects UPN to keep the show in its current timeslot once it moves from The WB in the fall.
"The talk is of trying to keep it in the same slot--Tuesday at 8 [p.m.]," Whedon told the site. "There is no assurance of that; they may have a different plan. But that's the expectation and the hope."
As for Buffy spinoff Angel, Whedon said he doubted The WB would hurt the show out of spite or in retaliation for the move. "The WB is going to look at their schedule and see how strong they think it is, and if it fits in and if it can help them," Whedon said. "If they think [it will], then they'll keep it. People thought the decision would be made based on 'It's just too weird' or 'It can't stand alone.' But it has a slightly different audience than Buffy, and I believe it can stand alone. They're going to make that decision not on the high emotions of the last week, but on just regular old network scheduling."
But Whedon added that he hoped Angel would eventually move to UPN, where it can run as a block with Buffy, as before. "That is my hope as well. It's just simpler if they're together--if they're a block."
WB Posts News On Buffy
he WB posted another statement on its official Web site about the move of its hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer to UPN this fall.
Among other things, the network confirmed that it would continue operating the official Buffy Web site, but only "for as long as the show is still on The WB."
The statement--from WB co-presidents for entertainment Susanne Daniels and Jordan Levin--added, "Of course we're disappointed that Buffy won't be part of our long-term future, but we couldn't be prouder of what we've accomplished through years of nurturing and believing in the show and of the achievements to date of the talented cast and crew. It took a lot of time, effort and energy to get this show on the air at a time when there was nothing else out there like it, and to make it a success even when others doubted.
"Knowing how much you care about the show, we negotiated strongly to keep it on The WB, but ultimately the price 20th Television [the studio that produces Buffy] wanted was too high for us to pay while continuing to bring you other quality programming six nights a week," the statement said. "You will definitely want to see what happens in Sunnydale as the current season draws to a close. With the same passion we brought to Buffy, we're also working on some amazing new programs for the next season we think you'll be very excited about, and are looking forward to announcing those on TheWB.com in a few weeks."
Whedon Reassures Buffy Fans
uffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon sought to allay fan fears about the show's future on the official Buffy posting board April 21 and assured them that the series' move to UPN won't affect it.
"We're movin.' It's all true, we're moving to UPN, and what does this mean for you, the viewer? WRESTLING!" Whedon joked.
Whedon added, "Well, no, Buffy won't be wrestling. (Sadly.) She will be doing exactly the same thing she'd be doing on The WB. Why we're moving is a long and boring story that you all will no doubt get lots of from the entertainment press, so I just wanted to let you know this: NOTHING is going to change, except the number on your remote. We're still making the same eps, hopefully even at the same time. So if you're panicking, don't. And if you're not panicking, where's the love?"
Whedon added that he expects that the long-standing Web posting board--known as "The Bronze" after Buffy's favorite hangout in Sunnydale--will continue to operate, though it's currently hosted by The WB. "One of the first things I told the UPN execs about was the site," he wrote. "I don't know who finances/runs it exactly, but if it's WB-based, and they pull it, UPN has promised to have a new one up BEFORE that happens. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A BRONZE. Hopefully we can just keep this site up, but no matter what, we'll have a home."
As for the Buffy's companion series, Angel, Whedon wrote, "Will it move as well? That depends on The WB, and we honestly won't know what they're gonna do until they do it. If they drop it, UPN will put it on as a block with Buffy, just like the old days. If not ... well, who knows where it'll be? I just know it'll be cool. (We're already working out next year.)"
WB Posts Buffy Statement
he WB--which is losing Buffy the Vampire Slayer to UPN--has posted a statement on its official Web site calling the move "inauspicious."
"[Buffy studio] 20th [Century Fox] Television has made an inauspicious decision for the television industry by taking one of their own programs off of a non-affiliated network and placing it on a network in which they have a large vested interest, through their acquisition of Chris-Craft and public comments that Fox [Broacasting] and UPN are discussing ways to merge," the statement said.
The WB added, "While we are parting with a franchise we developed internally before bringing in 20th as a partner, The WB will continue to develop successful, innovative programming that delivers a high concentration of young adults and teens. We wish [Buffy star] Sarah [Michelle Gellar], [series creator] Joss [Whedon] and [executive producer] David Greenwalt well."
New Face On Angel?
avid Greenwalt--executive producer and co-creator of The WB's Angel--told the Zap2it.com Web site that he's hoping to add a familiar face to the show's lineup next year: Adrian Pasdar, star of Greenwalt's critically acclaimed but short-lived Fox show Profit.
Pasdar currently stars in NBC and Pax's supernatural drama Mysterious Ways.
"We've been dying to bring him to Angel," Greenwalt told the site. "It's a thing I've tried to work out a couple of times, and it's just a mammoth scheduling problem. But I would love to see him appear in Wolfram & Hart. It would make a lot of sense."
Greenwalt added that he's not worried about the show's future, even though its predecessor series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, moves to UPN next season. UPN has already promised to pick up Angel for two years if The WB cancels it; otherwise, it will remain on the frog network. "My thoughts are, we'll be in a good home either way," Greenwalt said. "It's all good."
ABC Has A New Wrinkle
BC will develop a miniseries based on Madeleine L'Engle's classic children's SF novel A Wrinkle in Time, to star Alfre Woodard, Kate Nelligan and Alison Elliott, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
BLT Productions and Fireworks International will produce and Miramax Television will distribute the four-hour miniseries in association with Dimension Films. Susan Shilliday wrote the script, and John Kent Harrison will direct the show, which began production in Vancouver.
The miniseries marks the first time the 1962 novel has been adapted for the screen. Miramax had been developing Wrinkle as a feature for years, before it revamped the book as a miniseries for Miramax's Disney sibling ABC, the trade paper reported. Wrinkle tells the story of a brother and a sister who encounter three eccentric unearthly women and embark on a cosmic journey in search of their physicist father.
Wrinkle is slated to air on consecutive Sunday nights next season as part of The Wonderful World of Disney.
Roswell Not Like The Real Thing
ick Weschsler, who plays Kyle Valenti on The WB's teen alien series Roswell, told the Akron Beacon Journal that as a native New Mexican, he's sometimes surprised at the series' lack of accuracy.
"I'm always frustrated by how not authentic the show is," he told the newspaper. "Like, why are there palm trees? And why are the streets always wet? ... Is there a cloud over Roswell?"
But Wechsler said he's never actually posed some of these questions to the producers of the show, which is actually shot in and around Los Angeles. "Every TV show and movie does this stuff," he said. "Nothing is real."
Rosenberg To Helm Poe
creenwriter Craig Rosenberg (Jurassic Park III) will write and direct Nevermore: The Nightmares of Edgar Allan Poe, a thriller movie in which the famous writer plays the prime role in a murder mystery, Variety columnist Michael Fleming reported.
In the movie, Poe grieves the traumatic death of his wife in Baltimore, then watches as a series of murders unfolds in town that replicates exact details from his fictional horror. The mystery is populated with characters from his own books, suggesting that Poe, driven mad with grief, could be committing the murders himself.
Rosenberg is also writing an update of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for Wes Craven to direct, Fleming reported.
Ireland Spawns New Kid Wiz Book
n a Harry Potter-like success story, Irish schoolteacher Eoin Colfer's fantasy children's novel Artemis Fowl is being published internationally in May and is already slated for development as a feature film, the Reuters news service reported.
Miramax films will develop the movie based on the first book by Colfer.
Reuters reported that the book's rights have sold in 18 countries for advances totaling more than $1.5 million.
Unlike Potter, however, Artemis Fowl is an anti-hero who kidnaps a leprechaun and steals his secrets, Reuters reported. The book is about a battle between Artemis and a band of fairies, dwarfs and trolls seeking to rescue the kidnapped leprechaun Holly Short.
Colfer said he had not read J.K. Rowling's best-selling Harry Potter novels until after he had completed Artemis Fowl.
Mars Lands On SCI FI
he SCI FI Channel is developing Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, a four-hour miniseries adaptation of Robinson's best-selling Mars trilogy of SF novels, the network announced.
Like the books (Red Mars, Blue Mars and Green Mars), the miniseries will chronicle the lives of the first 100 colonists on the Red Planet and their epic struggle to create a new world.
Robinson, a member of NASA's Mars Committee, will consult on the project. Red Mars will be executive produced by the partners at Created By.
SCI FI also announced that it is developing a science fiction version of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, changing the story's venue from the French Revolution to two planets long ago and far away. Ken Raskoff will produce the four-hour original miniseries.
Salem Special Comes To SCI FI
he SCI FI Channel announced that it is developing a one-hour special with mentalist Marc Salem entitled Mind Over Mind With Marc Salem.
The special will be produced by Howard Schultz and Lighthearted Entertainment and will air some time in 2002, the network reported.
Marc Salem has appeared internationally in lectures, on talk shows and in two Off-Broadway runs, demonstrating mind-reading, stunts and other abilities, the network reported.
SCI FI Lab Unveils Slate
he SCI FI Channel's programming development unit, the SCI FI Lab, has announced its first batch of specials.
The Lab is a stand-alone unit with its own facilities, charged with creating programming outside the traditional programming development process.
Currently in development (all working titles):
•Alien Hunter, about a hunter and his crew dedicated to saving the galaxy's most endangered and dangerous animals.
•Celebrity Time Capsule, in which 50 visionaries and celebrities come together to create a video time capsule for the next century, telecast from the base of the missile silo storing the memories of today for the people of tomorrow.
•Conspiracy Theory, which asks the questions "Do men in black really exist? What was Roswell really the site for? Was Princess Di murdered? Was O.J. framed by the mob?" Conspiracy Theory entertains wacky theories in a talk-show atmosphere and features a Tom Green-like roving reporter.
Machine Behind Time?
rish pop star Samantha Mumba, who appears in the upcoming Time Machine movie, told the ShowBiz Ireland Web site a rumor that the production has been delayed.
Mumba said she has had to re-shoot all of her scenes after DreamWorks partner Steven Spielberg supposedly decided to change the storyline, the site reported. Simon Wells is directing the film, which is based on his grandfather H.G. Wells' classic SF novel of the same name.
Mumba and her 11-year-old brother, Omero, share the screen with star Guy Pearce and Jeremy Irons, the site reported. The site reported that the film is a month behind schedule.
Man Not Swamp Thing
ans Rodionoff, screenwriter for the upcoming feature-film version of Marvel's Man-Thing comic series, told the Comics2Film Web site that the Artisan movie will differ from DC's Comics' Swamp Thing.
"It's going to be a lot darker and creepier," Rodionoff told the site. "It's less about Adrienne Barbeau and more like Heart of Darkness in the swamp."
Rodionoff is loosely basing his screenplay on a story that appeared in Adventure Into Fear No. 16, the site reported. The basic premise involves a developer who hopes to drain and develop the Everglades. When the constant sabotage of equipment escalates into the murder of one of the crew, the developer takes up arms against the native Seminoles he believes to be responsible--but something else is in the swamp, the site reported.
"It will be a mystery to the characters and the audience," Rodionoff said. "There will be a lot of different ideas about what the Man-Thing is. Everyone will sort of agree that there's something lurking in the swamp, but they don't know exactly what it really is. Certainly, the idea of a scientist whose body chemistry has mingled with moss and spores will be one of the legends."
Schaech Choosy About Vampires
ohnathon Schaech--who plays the villainous Kit in writer/director Joe Cardone's upcoming vampire movie The Forsaken--told SCI FI Wire that he picked the film over two other similarly themed movies.
"I had three scripts on my desk at the same time," Schaech said in an interview while promoting the movie.
"One was Dracula 2000, one was the Anne Rice [film adaptation] Queen of the Damned," Schaech said. "But they both had elements that had the same kind of feeling [as] every vampire movie I've ever seen. And Joe's had a really guttural, edgy, guerrilla kind of feel to it. He made fun of the genre. It was a very different take on things, and I love a difference. I've always done films ... that were different."
Schaech added that his bad-boy character resembled its creator. "This character is more like [Cardone]. ... I love writer/directors. I've always been very passionate about someone who is
passionate about what they do. And Joe is very much passionate about this film. You know, he got a real opportunity to come out here and make this movie. It's not a large-budget film. It doesn't have all those elements with the special effects, huge special effects like most features that come
out nowadays. So when I sat down and worked on the character Kit, I realized that there was a lot of Joe there."
As for how he prepared for the role of a vampire, Schaech quipped, "I listened to a lot of Metallica." The Forsaken, which co-stars Roswell's Brendan Fehr and Final Destination's Kerr Smith, opens April 27.
Reed To Direct Fantastic
eyton Reed (Bring It On) will develop and direct Fantastic Four, a Fox movie based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, Variety reported.
The news confirms rumors on the Ain't It Cool News Web site.
Fantastic Four centers on four astronauts who develop superhuman powers after their spaceship is exposed to cosmic rays. Marvel Studios, 1492 Pictures' Michael Barnathan and Constantin Films' Bernd Eichinger will produce.
Sam Hamm (Monkeybone) and Philip Morton have written a script and Michael France (GoldenEye) and Chris Columbus have contributed story ideas, but the producers and Reed are currently seeking a new writer, the trade paper reported.
Raja Gosnell, Brian Helgeland and Columbus have all been rumored at various times to be directing the movie.
Jolie Got Tomb Gift
ngelina Jolie told Cinescape magazine that she snagged some souvenirs from the set of her upcoming Tomb Raider movie, according to a report on the Empire Online Web site.
"I'm having my guns sent," Jolie told the magazine. "They were just put in their case, so I can have Lara's guns. I became really close to them and wore them every day, so I want them here."
Jolie added that she had to figure out how to play Lara Croft, the heroine of the Eidos video-game series on which the film is based. "I wanted to really understand someone being raised a certain way in England--their culture, the accent and also the class that she's raised in--the manners," Jolie said. "She's Lady Lara Croft, and I had very little practice in being a lady."
Disney Signs Signs
isney has bought Signs, a supernatural thriller movie from Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan, which he will direct in the fall, Variety reported.
Disney pre-empted other studios in snapping up the script; Disney produced both Sixth Sense and last year's Unbreakable, which together have grossed more than $900 million worldwide, the trade paper reported.
The plot of Signs is a secret, but like Shyamalan's previous two films, it is set in his home state of Pennsylvania. It revolves around the sudden appearance of a 500-foot array of circles and lines found in the crops of a family farm, the trade paper reported.
Disney Returns To Witch
isney will remake its 1975 supernatural movie Escape to Witch Mountain, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Adam Kulakow will write the new version for producer Andrew Gunn.
The remake of the movie, about two children with telekinetic powers, is described as being in the vein of The WB's Roswell or Fox's The X-Files, the trade paper reported. The original movie was based on a novel of the same name by Alexander Key and was followed by the 1978 sequel Return from Witch Mountain.
In the new version, the two children will be teens and won't be related, as they were in the original.
Distributor Takes Pulse
istant Horizon has acquired distribution rights to Kiyoshi Kurosawa's supernatural thriller movie Kairo (Pulse), an official selection for the upcoming Cannes film festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Distant Horizon will distribute the film in nearly all English-speaking territories except the United Kingdom, the trade paper reported.
Kairo tells the story of a ghost Web site whose frightening images affect visitors with a supernatural force. The film stars Haruhiko Kato and Kumiko Aso. Distant Horizon is aiming at a fall release of the movie in the United States.
Blade 2 Goes Its Own Way
avid Goyer--who wrote and is producing the upcoming sequel Blade 2--told the Comics Continuum that the movie will veer off from 1998's original Blade.
"We wanted to try to tell a new story that wasn't just the same one rehashed again," Goyer told the site. "With this movie, we went in just a completely different direction. We have a very large cast, a lot of vampires and more villains than in the first one."
Blade 2, starring Wesley Snipes, is currently in production in Prague under director Guillermo del Toro. Goyer added that the sequel won't pull punches, just like the first movie. "Just because it's a sequel, we didn't tone anything down, let's put it that way," he said.
Goyer added, "It looks great. There were a lot of blues in the first film. This has more greens and yellows and sodium. It kind of looks like Seven The Action Movie in a way." Goyer said production on Blade 2 could go into July, with second-unit work. He said that New Line will probably release the film in either spring or summer 2002.
Ming-Na 'Blown Away' By Fantasy
ing-Na--who voices the troubled heroine Dr. Aki Ross in the upcoming computer-animated Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within--told SCI FI Wire that it was weird seeing her voice coming out of someone else's photo-realistic animated face.
"The first time I saw it, it was very odd," the actress said in an interview. "Because I didn't realize how lifelike it would be. Now that I've seen a little bit more of it, I'm more used to it. But in the very beginning, yes, it was a little disconcerting, actually, yeah."
In Final Fantasy--which is based on the Square videogame series of the same name--Ross is a scientist in the year 2065 who is bedeviled by dreams and must figure out a way to thwart an alien threat to Earth. Advance footage of the movie, which screened over the weekend in Los Angeles, reveals animation that approaches reality, complete with human characters that are nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, as well as fantastical alien landscapes, Aliens-like armor and spacecraft and otherworldly monsters.
"Every time I see more of it, I'm more blown away," said Ming-Na, who still hasn't seen the full movie. "And I can't wait. ... They're now in the process of doing the music, with the London Symphony, ... and they're e-mailing me and telling me how fantastic the music is. ... So I'm really excited to see the final product."
The actress, who also voiced the lead character in Disney's Mulan, added that she was unfamiliar with the venerable game series from which the movie is drawn. "I started playing the game a little bit after I got the part, just for fun, just to see what it was about," she said. But she added that she's not worried about fan reaction to the movie. "No," she said. "When I go into any project, ... I do it because I love the material, or I love the character, or I love the people I'm working with, and I want to have that experience in my life. And if it becomes a big hit, or if it is successful and people profit from it, or people enjoy it tremendously, and it becomes whatever it becomes, then that's a life unto itself. I'm sure [director Hironobu] Sakaguchi-san, because he has such his heart and soul in this project--you know, it's his image, it's his story, his production company--I'm sure if you talk to him, his pressure is definitely different from mine. Mine is just to make sure when I go into the studio, I do a good job, and my pressure is hoping that people will believe in this character, and that's all I have to worry about." Final Fantasy opens July 11.
Sommers Got Big For Mummy II
tephen Sommers--writer and director of the upcoming sequel The Mummy Returns--told SCI FI Wire that he wasn't just content with making a bigger movie, though he did. The sequel contains "more bombast, more cacophony," Sommers said in an interview while promoting the film.
But, he added, "it had to be better. We knew we could make a bigger movie. That's not the hard part. The hard part is making it better."
To do so, Sommers said, "we had to come up with a better story. And to get the actors back. Because after Mummy I, all of our careers really took off, and we didn't have to do a sequel. But we all had so much fun, we all thought, 'Oh, wouldn't it be great? But let's not screw it up. Let's not do a lame sequel. Let's not damage our careers or the legacy of the first movie.' So the key was, for me, to come up with a better script, a better story, evolve all the characters. Make them all more interesting, more intertwined, and just make it better."
The sequel--which takes place about 10 years after the events of the 1999 hit The Mummy-- reunites Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo and Oded Fehr, and adds pro-wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to the cast as the Scorpion King. Sommers said the film's climax was the most challenging thing to shoot. "I like very intercut [sequences], where multiple things are happening at the same time. I love doing that in the climax, where the audience is following three stories, and they're all coming together at once. And that was very hard on both movies, but especially this movie, because during the climax, which is basically supposed to happen in one area, we shot it in ... five different countries, if you consider Marin County up north. We shot it in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, England and America. And over a year-long period. And it's all supposed to happen over ... a three-minute period. So my brain was kind of frying trying to keep all that together."
Mummy Man Amazed At FX
rnold Vosloo--the South African actor who reprises the role of the undead Imhotep in the upcoming sequel The Mummy Returns--told SCI FI Wire that it's not easy playing dead--or at least portraying a character who's largely a visual effect.
"It's an interesting thing," Vosloo said in an interview while promoting the film. "When we did the first movie [1999's The Mummy], I remember having a conversation with the ILM [Industrial Light and Magic] guys, [visual effects supervisor] John Berton, etc., and I said to them, 'Guys, why do you need me to do all the physical motions for the Mummy? Why don't you get a dancer or a mime artist or someone who's used to expressing [himself] with their body?'
"And they said, 'No, because this skeleton, Mummy, whatever, is going to move like you, it's going to be you,'" Vosloo recalled. "So I said, 'Oh, all right.' I didn't believe them, but I said all right. And I trusted myself to their techniques and stuff, and it's amazing, man, it's amazing what they can do with stuff, and it's been a great experience. They're so good at that."
Vosloo added, "Maybe in a few more years' time, they'll really be able to have emotion on the screen, in terms of those kind of [computer-generated] characters. Right now, what has helped is that [co-star] Patricia [Velasquez] and I are part of the underlying love story, and this current of love between them, so that when Patricia's on screen with the Mummy, you look at the Mummy, and he's gooey or whatever, but you really see Patricia looking at the Mummy with love. So it's a nice mix of the two, a mix of real emotion and this incredible technology." The Mummy Returns opens May 4.
Fehr Hosts Charity Mummy Event
ded Fehr--who plays Ardeth Bay in the upcoming sequel The Mummy Returns--told SCI FI Wire that he's hosting a private screening of the film a week before its May 4 opening to benefit a children's cancer charity.
Fans may bid for one of 100 tickets to the April 30 screening at Universal Studios in Hollywood, at which they will also have a chance to mingle with Fehr and the film's other stars, including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo and Patricia Velasquez.
Proceeds go to the Kids Cancer Connection, which helps children and their families at Los Angeles' Children's Hospital. One successful bidder will be selected for a special prize at the private screening. All successful bidders will receive a special invitation from Fehr.
Rock Rolls On Scorpion
ro-wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson--who plays the Scorpion King in the upcoming sequel The Mummy Returns--told SCI FI Wire that he's already working on a third film in the franchise, based on his character.
A prequel, The Scorpion King, is already underway, though The Mummy Returns doesn't even reach theaters until May 4.
The prequel will tell the backstory of The Rock's character, an assassin turned into an evil and fearsome 15-foot-tall man-creature, Johnson said. "The Scorpion King is a complete action-adventure," Johnson said in an interview during a break from production on the film, which is being directed by Chuck Russell (The Blob, The Mask). Johnson co-stars with Kelly Hu (Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan), Michael Clarke Duncan (Planet of the Apes), Peter Facinelli (Supernova) and Grant Heslov.
"It's comedy," Johnson said. "It's reality-based. It will have a lot of special effects, but certainly not to the extent of The Mummy Returns. When I say reality-based, I mean the fight scenes are reality-based. That was so key to me. I just wanted to make sure that the character of the Scorpion King--that this warrior who ultimately turns into the Scorpion King--was somebody that people could relate to, [who] kicks ass and at the same time shows his fragility and his vulnerability."
Johnson added, "People can relate to that. The guy gets knocked down from time to time, but
he keeps fighting and fighting until he can't fight anymore. That, to me, is very admirable. I saw that in a lot of Arnold Schwarzenegger films, and I appreciated it. And you are certainly going to see that in The Scorpion King."
Sierra Prepping Rings RPG
ierra On-Line has been quietly preparing a massive online role-playing game based in the Middle-Earth of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the Inside.com Web site reported.
The site based the report on information contained in a lawsuit filed April 20 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Los Angeles game developer MM3D filed suit against Sierra, claiming that the company breached MM3D's contract to create what it called the ''Tolkien Online RPG'' by trying to force the developer to accept diminished terms and a 50 percent cut in revenue from the project, Inside.com reported. The seven-page complaint offered no details about the secret game project.
A Sierra spokesman told the site that the company hadn't been served with the suit and said that Sierra is in negotiations with MM3D. For its part, MM3D posted a statement on its official Web site saying, "MM3D is hopeful about working this out with Sierra On-Line. We have enjoyed a good relationship with Sierra in the past, and we would like to enjoy a positive relationship with them in the future. We hope Sierra On-Line will honor its agreements."
Matrix 2 To Out-Fu Tiger
oel Silver, producer of the upcoming Matrix sequels, told the Popcorn U.K. Web site that the martial-arts sequences will surpass those in last year's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
"The Matrix sequel is so beyond anything you could ever imagine, it is really staggering what we are going to do on that movie," Silver told the site.
Silver added, "People are not going to believe it, but that's what we have to do, because a lot has happened since the first Matrix movie, and now we have to be ahead of the wave." Woo-Ping Yuen returns to choreograph the fight sequences, as he did for Crouching Tiger and the first Matrix.
"I think we're all working with the same people, in the same arena, but we're using it in different ways, which is good," Silver said. "Ang Lee used Woo-Ping in Crouching Tiger, but it's a very different kind of movie, it's a very artistic, very aesthetic picture. These [Matrix] movies are far harder, more action-packed."
Artists Laud Matrix 2 and 3
teve Skroce and Geof Darrow--comics artists working on the two Matrix movie sequels--told the Comics Continuum Web site that the next two movies could outdo the first.
"I've seen some footage and it's fantastic," Skroce, who is doing storyboards, told the site. "The little they've shot so far, over the last month or so, is so sweet. I would be very surprised if any of the Matrix fans aren't satisfied with the new ones."
Darrow, who is doing design work, added, "It's an incredibly coherent piece of work. It's going to be an amazing story. I'm pretty lucky to be working on it, this goofy comic book guy from Iowa."
Skroce said that the production--again directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski--seems to be unwinding slowly. "They said it would be five-six months, and I'm going on eight. When I get done in June, it will be more like 12-13 months. They don't want anything to be hacked out. It's gotta be right before it's done quickly. I'll keep doing sketches until the shot is exactly the way [the Wachowskis] want. The movie really does come out of their brains. I'm the translator; that's how I would describe it. We go through an immense amount of detail doing the boards correctly."
Chyna To Be Wonder Woman?
s pro wrestler Chyna going to play Wonder Woman or not?
That's the question raised by several Web sites, following a report on the World Entertainment News Network that she had landed the coveted role.
The site reported that Chyna--otherwise known as Joanie Laurer--had been offered the lead in the Joel-Silver-produced movie, which is based on the long-running DC Comics series of the same name.
Not so, the Comics2Film Web site reported. The site quoted a source at Silver Pictures denying the casting rumors, calling them "ridiculous" and adding, "There are no cast attachments at all."
Ghost May Be Unforgiven
avid Goyer--writer of the upcoming Ghost Rider movie--told comic convention-goers in Oakland, Calif., that the film is modeled in part on Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning 1992 Western Unforgiven, IGN Sci-Fi reported.
"We went back to Johnny Blaze, it's the Spirit of Vengeance, it's kind of a Jekyll and Hyde story," Goyer reportedly said.
Goyer added, "Johnny Blaze has no control over the Ghost Rider at all. The Ghost Rider kills people right and left, and Johnny Blaze is left to pick up the pieces. ... The Ghost Rider movie's actually being done in a much more realistic manner. ... Our model was actually Unforgiven." The $80 million adaptation of the Marvel Comics series is directed by Stephen Norrington (Blade).
Goyer said that Ghost Rider could actually begin filming as early as this summer, depending on the impending actors' union strike, with an eye to a spring 2003 release. He added that Nicolas Cage is "circling the drain" to star, but "he hasn't signed on the dotted line yet."
Coulter In A Heartbeat
elevision director Allen Coulter (The Sopranos) will make his feature-directing debut with the supernatural fantasy film In a Heartbeat, Variety reported.
The movie, written by Dina Chapman and Hopwood DePree, is slated to start shooting in the fall.
Heartbeat tells the story of a rich girl and a petty criminal who experience simultaneous near-death experiences and fall in love in the tunnel between life and death, the trade paper reported.
Gemini To Be Revamped
isney has hired Armageddon writer Jonathan Hensleigh to reconceive its SF project Gemini Man, which was once connected with Mel Gibson, Variety reported.
Darren Lemke came up with the idea and wrote a draft of the script of the story, set 20 years in the future, of an older man who is hunted by his younger self, the trade paper reported.
"I am preserving the kernel of the concept," Hensleigh told Variety. He said he won't rely on previous drafts of the script. "The basis of my story is that I am contemporizing it--it's happening right now."
Disney has been developing Gemini Man for two and a half years. The studio's Secret Lab visual-effects house tested computer effects to transform an actor into a younger version of himself. Though Disney was courting Gibson for the lead role, no actor is yet attached, the trade paper reported.
Writer Up To Minute
isney has hired writer John Killeran to rewrite Minute Men, an SF movie based on David Diamond and David Weissman's original script, Variety reported.
Andrew Gunn and his Gunn Films company will produce.
Minute Men tells the story of three teen-agers who invent a time machine that can take them back in time only 48 hours.
Paquin Headlines Darkness
nna Paquin (X-Men) and Lean Olin will co-star in Darkness, a supernatural thriller film written and directed by Jaume Balaguero, Variety reported.
Olin will play Maria, the mother in a family that moves to a remote house haunted by a dark mystery.
The English-language movie is set in and around Barcelona and will start shooting on April 26, the trade paper reported. The cast also includes Iain Glen (Tomb Raider), Giancarlo Giannini (Frank Herbert's Dune), and Spanish actors Fele Martinez and Fermi Reixach.
Prometheus Finalists Listed
he Libertarian Futurist Society announced the finalists for its Prometheus Award for Best Novel.
The winner will be announced over the Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia at the World Science Fiction Convention.
The award honors outstanding science fiction or fantasy that explores the possibilities of a free future, champions human rights (including personal and economic liberty), dramatizes the perennial conflict between individuals and coercive governments or critiques the tragic consequences of abuse of power, especially by the state, the society announced. A list of finalists follows.
•Lodestar by Michael Flynn
•The Sky Road by Ken MacLeod
•The Truth by Terry Pratchett
•Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith
•Eagle Against the Stars by Steve White
JP III The Best One Yet?
am Neill--who reprises the role of Dr. Alan Grant in the upcoming sequel Jurassic Park III--told Entertainment Weekly magazine that he was amazed at how far special effects have evolved since 1993's original Jurassic Park.
"I didn't realize how things had progressed--the creatures are so much more sophisticated," Neill told the magazine. "I think I can safely say this will be the best Jurassic Park."
It didn't always seem so, the magazine reported. "We had to go back to Hawaii in January. It wasn't planned," director Joe Johnston told the magazine. "We didn't have an ending that we liked the first time we were there."
Added co-star Téa Leoni, "We just had the ending missing? Joe is being graceful. We started in Hawaii with no ending, the middle a little up in the air, and the beginning, uh, pretty solid." She added with a laugh, "If the thing bombs, I'm going to blame it on the dinosaurs. I've got plausible deniability, man." Jurassic Park III opens July 18.
Lucas Touts Digital Movies
eorge Lucas--who shot his upcoming Star Wars: Episode II entirely with high-tech digital cameras--said he'll never go back to film, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
Speaking to the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas over the weekend, Lucas said, "I'm completely sold on digital. I can't imagine ever going back."
Lucas added, "It's as profound a change as going from silent to talkies and going from black and white to color. I've always been pushing the envelope of the medium, because I want to get the best possible image in the best possible way in telling my stories. I've always found myself bumping up against this celluloid ceiling of technology that says, 'You can't go here; you can't go there; you can't do that.'"
Lucas said the new technology removes those limitations. "The [new] possibilities center around malleability in terms of what you can do with the image, how you can change the image and work with it. That's the biggest issue the filmmaker will be faced with. The equipment is easier to use, and that allows you to get more angles and do more things than you'd normally be able to do. And once you've captured the image, the digital technology allows you to do an unlimited amount of changes and work in different ways that were not possible with the photochemical process."
Lucas added, "I think Episode II looks better than Episode I in terms of the technical quality of the image. James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola and a lot of other directors have come through here to see what we're doing. They're very enthusiastic about digital and are amazed at what we've been able to accomplish. We had no problems whatsoever with the camera or the medium or anything. We shot in the desert. We shot in the rain. We shot in all kinds of conditions. The picture looks absolutely gorgeous."
Justice To Look Familiar
nimation producer Bruce Timm (Batman Beyond) told the Comics Continuum Web site that his upcoming Justice League series will have a familiar look.
"It's very much in the same style and genre as Superman and Batman," Timm told the site. "The major difference is that we're going for a more realistic look in the backgrounds."
Timm added, "The events that take place in the show are so much larger than life than what happens in Batman. Batman, it was a fairly mundane adventure just in the fact that it was a non-superpowered human fighting non-superpowered villains for the most part, so we were able to stylize the backgrounds more to give the show more visual interest. Whereas with this show--we've got a goddess and a guy from Krypton and a guy from Mars and a space cop all teamed up together. So there's a lot of visual pow right there already. We felt the fact that these characters are already so larger than life, we should try to make the setting of the Earth look a little more realistic, so it will feel a little more believable, if that makes sense. So we're going for a little bit more of a--it's not really photographic or photo-realistic--but it's a little bit more of a realistic background." Cartoon Network has ordered 26 half-hour episodes of Justice League, which debuts in November.
Hamill, Brown Voice JLA
ark Hamill and Clancy Brown will reprise their Superman roles of the Joker and Lex Luthor for the Cartoon Network's upcoming Justice League animated series, the Comics Continuum Web site reported.
The Joker and Lex Luthor will be part of the Injustice Gang on the series.
The site reported that recording for the first season of Justice League, based on the DC Comics series Justice League of America, is about halfway completed. Kevin Conroy, the voice of Bruce Wayne and Batman in the animated Batman series, also returns. Other voices include George Newbern as Superman, Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern, Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, Maria Canals as Hawkgirl, Carl Lumbly as Martian Manhunter and Michael Rosenbaum as the Flash.
Loups To Prowl U.S.
niversal Pictures has picked up U.S. distribution rights to the French supernatural hit movie Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf), which is due out in the fall, Variety reported.
The French-language film was released in France in January and broke the domestic box-office record in its opening weekend, with 1.4 million admissions, besting Titanic.
Set during the reign of Louis XV, the film is based in part on the French legend of the Beast of Gevaudan, a giant wolf-like creature that supposedly killed more than 100 people in the 1760s. Desperate to end the growing unrest among the population, the king sends in a scientist and his brother to bring down the beast, the trade paper reported. Loups was directed by Christophe Gans and stars Samuel Le Bihan, U.S. actor and martial-arts expert Mark Dacascos, Monica Bellucci, Jeremie Renier, Emilie Dequenne and Vincent Cassel.
Briefly Noted
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The fantasy movie Just Visiting, which bombed at the box office, accounted for French studio Gaumont's loss of $60 million in 2000, compared with an $8 million profit in 1999, Variety reported.
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ConJose, the 2002 World Science Fiction Convention, has implemented two mailing lists for people wishing to keep up with the latest news about the upcoming convention. The convention takes place Aug. 29 through Sept. 2, 2002.
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Chow Yun-Fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has turned down the role of the villain opposite Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the upcoming Scorpion King movie, a prequel to this year's The Mummy Returns, according to a rumor on the 4w-movies.com Web site.
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Universal-based Casey Silver's Gone Fishin' Productions will develop Fat Chance, a comedy fantasy movie based on a pitch by writer Jim Thompson, Variety reported. The film tells the story of the female publisher of a top fashion magazine who wakes up obese and must find a man who loves her to break the spell.
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Fox Kids has ordered 26 episodes of a new anime series, Medabot, to debut in the fall, Variety reported. The series, from Nelvana in association with NAS/Kodansha, is set in the year 2122, when every kid owns a pet robot with artificial intelligence.
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Terminator 3 star Arnold Schwarzenegger told the Los Angeles Times that he is not planning to run for governor of the state of California in 2002, as has been widely speculated.
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The Dark Horizons Web site reported that the soundtrack to the upcoming Tomb Raider movie will hit stores on June 5, featuring U2's remix of Elevation and Nine Inch Nails' Deep.
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Seattle-based Versaly Games, which publishes and distributes games to mobile phones, will allow subscribers to download short SF and other fiction e-books from Fictionwise.com, which currently features works by Robert Silverberg, Larry Niven, Harlan Ellison and Mike Resnick.
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The TolkienOnline Web site reported that a hidden version of the trailer for Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy will be included on the DVD of Little Nicky, due out April 24.
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Universal Studios will partner with Heinz, Hershey's, Nabisco and Wendy's restaurants in a $20 million promotion for the upcoming video release of its hit film Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Grinch videos and DVDs come out Nov. 20.
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Variety reported that Paramount Network Television is set to announce this week that UPN will get the next series in the Star Trek franchise, which the trade paper confirmed is tentatively titled Enterprise and which will debut in the fall.
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Wesley Snipes was treated at a Prague hospital after suffering burns from lights on the set of his upcoming sequel Blade 2, the Ananova Web site reported. The actor spent six hours under the powerful spotlights before complaining of inflamed skin and tears streaming from his eyes, the site reported.
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine illustrator Doug Drexler will join the upcoming fifth Star Trek series as a junior illustrator, the official Trek Web site reported. Drexler will working in the art department to develop the visual look of the new show, including computer displays, logos and alien languages.
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Spy Kids slipped to No. 2 in the box-office rankings in its fourth weekend, taking in an estimated $10.2 million on the weekend of April 20, according to the Hollywood trade papers. The $35 million Robert Rodriguez film has amassed $86.1 million in 24 days.
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