Douglas Adams Dead At 49
ouglas Adams, author of the satirical SF novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and its sequels, died unexpectedly May 11 of an apparent heart attack in Santa Barbara, Calif., the Associated Press reported.
He was 49. British-born Adams reportedly collapsed while working out at a gym.
The Hitchhiker's Guide, which began as a BBC radio series in 1978, was turned into a book, which sold 14 million copies worldwide, and later into a television series, the AP reported. Guide is a satirical adventure about a group of interplanetary travelers, including Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android.
Guide was followed by the sequels The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; and So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. Adams followed with several books about holistic detective Dirk Gently; Last Chance to See, a book about endangered species; and, with John Lloyd, the alternative dictionary The Meaning of Liff, the AP reported. Adams also produced the Starship Titanic computer game and an online travel guide inspired by Guide. In recent years, Adams was working on bringing Guide to the big screen.
Adams had lived in Santa Barbara since 1996. He is survived by his wife, Jane Belson; a 6-year-old daughter, Polly; and his mother, Jan Thrift.
B5: Rangers Cast Announced
he SCI FI Channel announced casting for its upcoming original television movie Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers.
Dylan Neal, Alex Zahara (Dark Angel), Myriam Sirois (Babylon 5), Dean Marshall, Warren T. Takeuchi, Jennie Rebecca Hogan, David Storch, Enid-Raye Adams and Gus Lynch will join Mackenzie Gray and Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar) in the movie.
Legend of the Rangers begins production May 14 in Vancouver and Toronto, SCI FI announced. Rangers, from the creators of B5, is the pilot for a possible SCI FI series.
Bakula Confirmed For Enterprise
aramount confirmed the rumored casting of Scott Bakula as Capt. Jonathan Archer in its upcoming fifth Star Trek series, now officially called Enterprise.
The May 10 announcement described Bakula's character as "a physical and intensely curious captain with a bold personality" who has a strong sense of duty but is also a bit of a renegade.
The announcement is the first official confirmation of the highly anticipated show's name and casting, which have been the subject of weeks of rumors. "Obviously, I love the genre and am a long-time fan of Star Trek," Bakula said in a statement. "I am also thrilled to be working on a TV series again with Kerry McCluggage and Garry Hart, a relationship that dates back to 1988 with Quantum Leap." Bakula is best known to SF fans for his five seasons as Sam Beckett on Quantum Leap, for which he earned a Golden Globe and four Emmy nominations, Paramount announced.
"We couldn't be happier," Enterprise co-creator and executive producer Rick Berman said in a statement. "Scott personifies the charm and intelligence that the role calls for."
Other Enterprise cast members include Jolene Blalock, John Billingsley, Linda Park, Anthony Montgomery, Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
No announcement has been made about the network on which Enterprise will run, but UPN is expected to add it to its fall schedule.
Trek X Focuses On Troi
ohn Logan, screenwriter for the upcoming 10th Star Trek movie, told Star Trek: The Magazine that the film will focus in part on the character of Deanna Troi, according to a transcript of the story on the Voyager's Delights fan Web site.
"The movie will focus on Picard and Data, [and] I think the other characters--particularly Deanna--have more to do than they have in the other movies," Logan told the magazine.
Logan added that he's looking forward to an adventure with the Romulans. "I was delighted with the chance to get to play with the Romulans, and I don't think they've quite been explored enough," he said. "In the original [Gene] Roddenberry universe, the Klingons represented Soviet Russia, and the Romulans represented the Communist Chinese. For me the Communist Chinese is a really interesting world that was never fully explored, certainly in the movies, and not even as much as I would have liked in the series, except for individual episodes. I've always found that sort of Byzantine structure of Chinese Communism very interesting and very provocative and lethal in a way I never found the Klingons. There is so much duplicity and mendacity and cleverness in the way the Romulans move through their world with very strategic chess moves. And also they are an old and ancient race, like the Vulcans, so they have gravitas to them, which I find very interesting." Logan has completed a second draft of the movie, the magazine reported.
Cast Talks Voyager End
tar Trek: Voyager cast members had mixed feelings about the series' end, TV Guide reports in its upcoming May 19 edition.
The edition, available on May 14, commemorates the May 23 series finale of Voyager.
"In these past few days, everybody has been acting out his or her own particular psychology, and some of it hasn't been attractive," Kate Mulgrew (Capt. Kathryn Janeway) told the magazine. "Each of us in our own way is dealing with the enormity--or lack thereof--of saying goodbye." Mulgrew added that she is headed for "an abrupt decompression period. I'm proud of what I accomplished over these seven long years. I will miss the privilege of doing this every day."
Added Tim Russ (Tuvok), "This was all new and exciting when we started, and it's much older now. I think everybody's ready to move on."
Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) agreed. "I think we've done everything we can with my character," she said. "It's time to wrap." She added that tension followed her fourth-season debut on the series. "No one in an ensemble show is going to like some new person coming in and getting tons of press and storylines, but I think it was toughest on Kate," Ryan revealed. "I'm sure it was tough for that focus to shift. But what was I going do--not do press so that I wouldn't step on toes?"
TV Guide's tribute issue will feature three collector's covers that form one image when put together, and an exclusive online fourth cover that will wrap around the entire magazine, available at the TV Guide Store.
Trek V Timeslot Set?
he TVinsite Web site reported a rumor that UPN has tentatively scheduled the upcoming fifth Star Trek series, Enterprise, for Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
That would follow the new original show Stephen King's The Dead Zone, based on King's book.
Officially, Paramount has remained silent about the new Trek series, and no network has been chosen to air it. UPN is expected to announce its fall schedule May 17 in meetings with advertisers.
Interplay Readies Excelsior Game
nterplay Entertainment announced the development of Star Trek: Shattered Universe, a video game for the PlayStation 2 platform set about the USS Excelsior in the universe of the original Trek series.
Based on the classic Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," the game takes place in a dark alternative universe in the time period just after the events depicted in the feature film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the game publisher announced.
The game features the crew of the Excelsior, under the command of Capt. Hikaru Sulu, which finds itself stranded in the parallel universe. Gamers will encounter Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans, Tholians and Gorn and artifacts--including the Guardian of Forever and the Doomsday Machine--from the original Trek series. Star Trek: Shattered Universe is scheduled to ship in the fourth quarter of this year.
Dawn Mum On Buffy Spoilers
ichelle Trachtenberg--little sister Dawn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer--doesn't like spoilers, and won't give any away about the show's upcoming fifth-season finale, its 100th episode, TV Guide Online reported.
The finale airs May 22 on The WB.
"I was a huge Buffy fan myself [even before getting cast], and I would go on the Internet a lot," Trachtenberg told TV Guide. "But I'd always stray from Web sites that revealed any information prior to the airing of the episode. Like in the third season, when Buffy stabbed Angel. ... If I'd read that he dies, I would have been expecting it, and it would have ruined it for me. So I will not speak of any occurrences in the Buffy world."
In related news, The Hollywood Reporter said that News Corp.--the parent of Buffy production studio 20th Century Fox TV--extended its station affiliation agreement with UPN in a deal that UPN parent company Viacom's president and chief operating officer Mel Karmazin said was tied to UPN's acquisition of Buffy from The WB. But News Corp. sources denied to the trade paper that the extension was connected to UPN's two-season Buffy pickup. The extension is believed to cover the term of the Buffy deal, which runs through the 2002-'03 season, the trade paper reported.
Angel Finale To Be 'Epic'
uffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told EW.com that the second-season finale of spinoff series Angel will be "huge and epic, which we've really got to stop doing, because we can't afford it."
The Angel finale will air on The WB on May 22.
Whedon added, "The characters are going to go into another dimension and get a different view of how they've been living over the last season, and there'll be princesses and monsters and all sorts of insanity. It's a lighter, more fun arc than with Buffy. And we'll have somebody showing up who will become a regular next season."
Angel executive producer David Greenwalt told the Zap2it Web site that the new character is named Fred, played by Amy Acker, and is "a smart girl, who's unfortunately been lost in another dimension for five years and is a little crazy." Her character was introduced in the May 1 episode, "Belonging."
As for how the move of Buffy to UPN will affect Angel, Whedon said it might rule out future crossover episodes. "I would hope not, but you never know," he said. "It's hard enough to do them when the shows are on the same network. Angel needed to find its sea legs, and I think it has. What the characters are going through this coming season doesn't really involve the Buffy characters, so it is its own show."
BBC Buffy Spinoff "Grown Up"
uffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told the Los Angeles Times that the proposed British series based on Buffy character Giles will be more of a "grown-up, quiet show about a cool, grown-up, non-teen-age man quietly solving ghost stories."
Whedon is in talks with the BBC for six episodes of the show, which would star Anthony Stewart Head. SCI FI Wire first reported the proposed series last week.
Whedon added that the Giles show "would be very different in tone: slower, more like the series already on TV there. But not too British." It's not clear whether Buffy cast members might make guest appearances on the proposed show.
Whedon told the Times that he is looking for a U.K. partner to oversee production. Whedon would hammer out storylines and draft scripts with the current Buffy writing staff, perhaps shooting an initial episode in L.A. before production shifts to England.
Animated Buffy Not Cast Yet
uffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told TV Guide Online that he's hoping to sign the cast to voice characters in his upcoming animated version of the show.
No deals have been struck, "but I'm hopeful that we can get our cast to do it," Whedon told the site. "It wouldn't be the same without them."
The Fox show won't hit the airwaves until February 2002 at the earliest. But Whedon said he's already contending with the network over budgets. "I thought, 'No, we won't fight over budgets,'" he said. "But you're never not going to fight over budgets. They're like, 'If you want seven dragons [instead of one], you have to draw them all, and it'll cost more. But I want the show to look as good as it can, and that's going to cost money."
Still, Whedon is enthusiastic about returning to Sunnydale High. "We're getting to do what we wanted to--the things that you can't do on the [live-action version]," he said. "It's slightly more off-center ... whimsical. ... It's nice to go back to the well of adolescent stories, and the very basic dynamic of Willow likes Xander, Xander likes Buffy, and Buffy can't admit that she's attracted to that Angel guy."
Fox, EA Develop Genre Games
lectronic Arts and Fox Interactive have signed a deal that will allow the development of several new game titles based on Fox properties, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Aliens, the companies announced.
The games will be unveiled at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles later this month. A list of upcoming games follows.
•Aliens: Colonial Marines, coming this fall for the PlayStation 2 console. The game is a first-person squad-based game based on the Alien film franchise.
•The Simpsons Road Rage, coming this fall for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. The game is an action racing title with a full Simpsons storyline.
•Buffy the Vampire Slayer, due in 2002 for the Xbox console. The game is a single-player, third-person action horror game based on The WB's hit television series.
Star Talks BBC Buffy Spinoff
he Ain't It Cool News Web site reported details of the proposed BBC spinoff series based on The WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was first reported on SCI FI Wire.
Buffy star Anthony Stewart Head told convention-goers in the United Kingdom that the proposed series would be based on his character Giles and would be titled either Ripper or Watcher.
Head reportedly added that the series would deal with ghost stories and inner demons, and that Buffy creator Joss Whedon had already written the first episode. Head, who has expressed a desire to spend more time in England with his family, also reportedly said that Whedon is a fan of British television and that he and Whedon had held talks with the BBC about the spinoff series.
Buffy co-executive producer Marti Noxon earlier told SCI FI Wire that the series was still in talking stages, but was envisioned as a limited-run show that might eventually air in the United States as well.
X-Files Future Uncertain
he X-Files creator Chris Carter told New Times that he still hasn't decided whether the show will return for a ninth season next year. The X-Files season finale, "Existence," airs May 20 on Fox.
"Right now, there is a lot of ground to cover in getting there for next year," Carter told the newspaper. "Right now, there are certain X factors, if you will. We don't know. We're all hopeful. I think everybody wants to come back. I am not sure if David [Duchovny] wants to come back or not, but I don't foresee any real concrete reason why we wouldn't come back. That said, it is in negotiation."
One of the issues may be the future of Carter's other show, The Lone Gunmen, an X-Files spinoff that is earning respectable, if not spectacular, ratings. "But it's not how I look at it," Carter said. "Certainly, I want them to treat anything we do with respect here and to support it, because we work hard and do good work. If they didn't, it would make me upset the place we've decided to call home--our partners--are not doing their part. It's simply that. It's a matter of Fox believing in the show--Fox the network and Fox the studio--and them not believing they have something on tap that has a better shot. It's as simple as that, but certainly there are politics involved."
Carter added, "I'll tell you what one of the best things is about doing [Gunmen]. Sitting in these audiences every day now, I will hear peals of laughter coming from down the hall, because they're watching dailies, and it's such a nice thing. The X-Files is what it is, and to have something like this come along, it builds on something that has been wonderful and produced for me a wonderful amount of success and opportunity. The Lone Gunmen is the lucky product of that. I look at so much comedy on television, and I'm thinking to myself, 'Well, we're funnier than that.' I just wish people would tune in and watch it."
Carter, meanwhile, told TV Guide Online to expect a surprise in The X-Files' two-part season finale. He said that the birth of Scully's baby will figure prominently--"but we get to it in a rather indirect way, and then it becomes the centerpiece," he told the site. The Lone Gunmen will also show up. And, Carter added, "I will say that you can expect a significant death in the two-parter."
Anderson Down On X-Files
he X-Files star Gillian Anderson told The New York Times that she's not enthusiastic about the prospect of returning for a ninth season, as required by her contract.
Though the fate of the popular series remains up in the air, Anderson told the newspaper, "For a lot of people, if you don't like your job, you can quit your job. I don't necessarily have that option."
Anderson added, "Eight years is a long time." The series' upcoming two-part season finale will center on Anderson's character, Agent Dana Scully, and her mysterious pregnancy. "There are a lot of twists and turns that the audience has been journeying through with us," she said. "And here, at the end, it's kind of interesting to see what happens with Scully and this full belly of hers." The finale airs May 13 and 20 on Fox.
Duchovny On Gunmen?
he Lone Gunmen creator Chris Carter wouldn't confirm or deny that David Duchovny, star of the show's predecessor, The X-Files, will make a surprise guest appearance in Gunmen's May 11 season finale, TV Guide Online reported.
"Well, I can't comment on it, of course," Carter told the site. But, he added, the finale will "definitely" feature a big surprise.
As for the future of the ratings-challenged Gunmen, Carter said, "Actually, the ratings are respectable. For Friday night at 9, they are good ratings for Fox. Everything is relative in the ratings game, because Friday night is a very small night. So we're actually heartened by what we have done in the ratings, but a show like this takes some time to find an audience. But I know that there is a vocal audience out there, because they weigh in every day and every week on the Internet. ... Of course you want to always perform better than expectations. Right now I think we're performing to expectations. So I think if we can start to build on what we've done--certainly through the sweeps period--then the chances for the show coming back will be great."
Genre Shows To Be Unveiled
enre shows may figure prominently in the fall schedules of the television networks, which will be unveiled starting next week in network presentations to advertisers in New York, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Still uncertain is whether Fox's The X-Files will return for a ninth season, though the trade paper reported that Fox has been negotiating a new deal with creator Chris Carter and is optimistic that it will be settled by the time Fox unveils its fall schedule. The TVinsite Web site speculates that Fox's midseason series The Lone Gunmen is riding the fence, and observers have speculated that Carter's decision on more X-Files rides on the fate of his other offspring.
Meanwhile, rumors are circulating that Fox will air episodes of The Tick--a satirical superhero series based on the animated show and comic book--and Night Visions--a supernatural anthology show--in the summer, rather than in the fall as planned. Fox spokesmen told SCI FI Wire that no air dates have yet been scheduled for either show.
The WB is expected to hang on to Angel, even though it lost Buffy the Vampire Slayer to UPN. Also due in the fall is Smallville, about a teen-age Superman, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch spinoff Witchright Hall, the trade paper reported.
Also uncertain is the fate of the teen alien series Roswell, but the Reporter said UPN is waiting in the wings to scoop the series up if The WB passes. UPN is also expected to work on landing the new Star Trek series and will unveil the paranormal drama The Dead Zone, based on Stephen King's book, the trade paper reported. TVinsite predicts that UPN may cancel 7 Days, though Paramount wants it renewed for a fourth season.
Wells Out Of Time
ith only 18 days of principal photography left, director Simon Wells has abruptly dropped out of The Time Machine, to be replaced by Gore Verbinski (The Mexican), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Wells--who was making his live-action directorial debut with the movie version of his grandfather H.G. Wells' classic SF novel--was diagnosed with "extreme exhaustion" and was ordered by doctors to rest for a minimum of two weeks, the trade paper reported.
Verbinski will finish filming and hand the movie back to Wells, who plans to oversee all post-production, the paper reported. Wells directed several animated features, including DreamWorks' The Prince of Egypt. Time Machine, starring Guy Pearce, Mark Addy, Philip Rosco and Jeremy Irons, has been shooting in New York and Los Angeles since February.
Gibson Mulls Signs
el Gibson is mulling an offer from Disney to star in The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shymalan's next supernatural thriller, Signs, which begins shooting in the fall, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The top-secret plot of the film is thought to concern the appearance of crop circles on a family farm in Pennsylvania, the trade paper reported.
Disney picked up the project last month in a multimillion-dollar pre-emptive bid, according to the Reporter.
Goyer To Helm Murder
avid Goyer (writer of Blade II) will write and direct the supernatural thriller Murder Mysteries for Dimension Films, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dimension is already developing Ghost Rider, based on the Marvel Comics series, which Goyer is writing, the trade paper reported.
Murder, based on a short story of the same name by comic writer Neil Gaiman, is a film noir set in heaven during the last days of Earth's creation and follows the angel of vengeance as he sets out to solve the first murder ever committed.
Neill Gushes Over Jurassic III
am Neill, star of the upcoming sequel Jurassic Park III, told Reuters that some of the finished scenes are "completely sensational."
Neill--who reprises his Jurassic Park role of Dr. Alan Grant--told the wire service that post-production work was frantically under way to meet the movie's July 20 release date.
"It is coming together incredibly well," Neill said. "I was doing some voice work for it yesterday, and I've seen cut sequences from it. I haven't seen the whole film, but the stuff I saw was completely sensational. It just takes your breath away. ... We had a great director called Joe Johnston, who we all loved. He brought a completely fresh pair of eyes to all this. Joe has a wonderful sense of mischief, and it's that kind of wicked sense of fun that is exactly what you need for a movie like this."
Steven Spielberg produced the movie. Five screenwriters have been associated with Jurassic Park III, which has been dogged by rumors of budget overruns and frantic rewriting during shooting last year, Reuters reported.
Rings Previewed At Cannes
isitors are already screening scenes from Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy at the Cannes Film Festival, TheOneRing.net Web site reported.
Some of the footage depicts a sequence at the Mines of Moria from the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, and other footage features scenes from the next two films, the site reported.
The site also reported that a new trailer for the film will be released very soon.
The films' official Web site, meanwhile, is creating a separate site that will feature live coverage from the Lord of the Rings preview and party at Cannes.
Saruman Not Lee's First Choice
hristopher Lee, who plays the evil wizard Saruman in Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, told the Italian Caltanet Cinema Web site that he originally wanted to play Gandalf.
"I've dreamt it all my life," Lee told the site. "But now I'm too old. When I read The Lord of the Rings, I thought 'Gandalf!' But then when I came to do it, I realized I'm too old to do all the physical things in the movie. Otherwise, I know that Ian McKellen will be very good as Gandalf."
Lee seemed very familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's books, on which the films are based, and the mythology behind them. "Tolkien said that the date of the facts told in The Lord of the Rings was 7,000 years ago in England. That's what he said. Saruman is a Maiar--great wizard. When they came to Middle-earth, they were five. Two, the Blue Wizards, are not mentioned. The other three are Saruman the White--the greatest one--Gandalf the Gray and Rathagast. We don't see Rathagast in the book and in the movie. Basically we have these two great wizards: Gandalf and Saruman. They are very powerful. They had human bodies, but they're not human. They are spirits of the Maiar sent to Earth. When they came to Earth, Saruman is good, at the very beginning. He is given the land to have his castle. He also has Palantir, which is the crystal bowl. He finds Sauron, who has been re-created. He's come back after the great battle before The Lord of the Rings. Also, Sauron, at the beginning, was not a bad person, but he becomes Melkor's servant. And then a bad and evil person. After the battle, Sauron disappears as a human being. He becomes a spirit, the red eye. He is the Lord of the Rings. ... There are many rings made but, like the poem said, 'one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.' That one ring was made by Sauron. When Sauron finds that the Hobbit Frodo keeps it, he wants it back."
Rings Secrecy Sought
ournalists attending a Cannes Film Festival screening of footage from Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy are being asked to sign a special declaration of goodwill, the Ananova Web site reported.
The declaration reportedly asks reporters not to disclose details of the upcoming films.
Journalists will screen about 20 minutes of the trilogy's first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, which premieres in December. Many cast members are being flown into Cannes for the screening and a party at a chateau outside Cannes. The film's producers are planning to bring in parts of the set to recreate Middle-Earth, Ananova reported.
Shrek Helmers Talk Disney
he directors of DreamWorks' upcoming computer-animated movie Shrek told SCI FI Wire that the fantasy film's jabs at Disney weren't the result of animosity on the part of former Disney executive and current DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Katzenberg, who left Disney in a highly publicized dispute, co-produced the movie, a fairy tale that parodies several Disney films and pokes fun at Disneyland.
But co-director Andrew Adamson said that Katzenberg did not come up with any of the Disney bits, such as making the villain's kingdom a theme park. "It was incredibly organic to the process, really," Adamson said in an interview. "The start is, we're dealing with fairy tales. And we're parodying fairy tales. And you can't do that ... and ignore the biggest exporter of fairy tales to today's world. So that stuff came very organically."
Disneyland is a natural target for satire, Adamson added. "The art directors went up to Hearst Castle, and you can see a little bit of Hearst Castle still in the design. But we were looking for something that was a popular culture kind of reference to a manufactured environment. Farquaad is the antithesis of Shrek. Shrek has this very organic, muddy environment that's very natural. And Farquaad wanted to recreate the perfect world, the perfect environment. We looked at Universal City. We looked at Las Vegas. And we obviously looked at the most obvious [place]."
Adamson's co-director, Vicky Jenson, told SCI FI Wire that the story was a parody, but not a mean-spirited one. "It's a bit self-referential, but not to the point of being cynical," she said. "It's got kind of a modern edge to it. I hate using the word edge, and you made me use it! ... The humor was key to us. We wanted to make a funny film. And it was really important that we make a film that said what needed to be said. There are so many fairy tales that come close to that. [The Little] Mermaid was wonderful as far as talking about a smart young woman, sick of swimming, ready to stand, but just dropped out at the last second, where she goes from the father's home into her new husband's home, from one castle to another. So it got close, but ah, it didn't get all the way there. And we got to examine why fairy tales do that, and in making fun of some of the old-fashioned ideals about what people are supposed to look like and how princesses are supposed to act and what makes a hero, it allowed us to really poke fun at a lot of the things that we hold valuable in our culture today. So it really went hand in hand with the kind of humor that we're using."
Shrek, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, opens May 16 in Los Angeles and New York and May 18 everywhere.
Shrek Opens Early
reamWorks Pictures announced that it will open its computer-animated fantasy film Shrek on May 16--two days earlier than planned--in exclusive runs in New York and Los Angeles.
The film opens nationwide on May 18.
Shrek will screen at the AMC Century 14 in Los Angeles and the Loews Lincoln Square in New York. The movie features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow and is based on William Steig's children's book of the same name.
Matrix II Title Revealed
he second installment of the Matrix film series will be called The Matrix Reloaded and will hit theaters in 2002, EW.com reported.
Writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski began principal photography March 26 in Oakland, Calif., with much of the original cast intact, including Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving, the site reported. The cast will add Jada Pinkett Smith and singer Aaliyah, both of whom have reportedly signed on for the as yet untitled third Matrix film as well, EW reported.
Reloaded will continue shooting in Oakland through June, before taking a summer hiatus, during which the Wachowskis will concentrate on editing and special effects. The cast and crew will then reassemble in September at Fox Studios in Sydney to complete filming. Joel Silver will again produce.
Obi-Wan: Episode II Is Better
wan McGregor told journalists at the Cannes Film Festival that the script for George Lucas' upcoming Star Wars: Episode II is "much better" than that for Episode I, the Popcorn U.K. Web site reported.
In answer to questions about whether McGregor was unhappy with Episode I, the actor replied "no," then added, "It could have been better. Could have been a lot better." Many critics panned Episode I when it premiered in 1999.
McGregor, who reprises the role of young Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode II, has previously said that shooting Episode I was "boring" in places. Episode II is in post-production, with an eye to a May 2002 release.
Lucas Eyes Episode III Start
tar Wars: Episode II is heavy in post-production, but director George Lucas is already looking ahead to the next film, producer Rick McCallum told the official Star Wars Web site.
"George is starting to think about Episode III," McCallum told the site. "Hopefully we're going to start in September on conceptual work and start on animatics [moving storyboards] for some of the larger sequences for Episode III. We'll try to lock down the costumes by December 2002 so we can make it easier for wardrobe staff to start constructing costumes in Sydney for January 2003."
In the meantime, a rough cut of Star Wars: Episode II is being readied for June, and dozens of visual effects shots have been completed, McCallum said. Industrial Light & Magic "has completed about 160 shots, which is a lot better than what we had at this time for Episode I," he said. "Then, we were at about 63 shots. Our next goal is to have 1,100 shots done for early fall. We're looking at about 2,200 shots total--virtually every shot in the movie."
McCallum--who is on his way to Sydney to supervise dialogue looping--added that the film is on track for its planned 2002 release. "The game plan's there," he said. "We're very goal-oriented now. We have calendars everywhere. We know what we're doing next Friday. We know what we're doing the Friday after. We know what cut we have to get to."
Vader's Prowse Back In Hospital
ritish bodybuilder David Prowse, the hulking actor who inhabited Darth Vader's costume in the Star Wars movies, has been re-admitted to the hospital after suffering partial paralysis, the Popcorn U.K. Web site reported.
Doctors have reportedly diagnosed Prowse's ailment as an abscess at the base of the spine.
Prowse was initially admitted to the hospital at the end of February, after losing the use of his arm. At the time, doctors could not explain his illness, Popcorn reported.
Prowse's spokesman, Phil Day, told Popcorn that doctors are working out how to remove the abscess. "It's all about the tests now, and he is going to be [in the] hospital for some time," Day said.
Sony Seeks Evil Rights
ony's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group is in final talks to acquire North American distribution rights to the upcoming SF movie Resident Evil, Variety reported.
Constantin Film and Intermedia co-financed and hold the international rights to the movie, which is based on the Capcom video game series of the same name, the trade paper reported.
Evil, which stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, James Purefoy and Eric Mabius, started shooting March 5 in Berlin under the direction of Paul Anderson (Mortal Kombat).
Meanwhile, the Countingdown Web site, quoting anonymous sources, reported that the movie will aim for a PG-13 rating in order to appeal to a teen audience.
Rice's Ramses To Rise
aren Essex will write the feature-film adaptation of Anne Rice's novel The Mummy or Ramses the Damned for James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment and 20th Century Fox, Variety reported.
The film will tell a fictional story based on the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses the Great, who, after sleeping for 2,000 years, is awakened by an archaeologist. Production on the project is tentatively planned for 2002.
Essex wrote the novel Kleopatra, a two-volume feminist retelling of the life of Cleopatra, which will be published by Warner Brothers this August and in August 2002.
Maguire Says Spidey Is Faithful
pider-Man star Tobey Maguire told the Comics Continuum Web site that the film should be faithful to its comic-book origins.
"We're trying to honor the comic as much as possible, but we're trying to make our own movie," Maguire told the site. "I think it's going to be a really good movie. We have all the ingredients for it."
Director Sam Raimi told the Continuum that he said his movie compares well with the first Ultimate Spider-Man comic. "There are so many similar scenes," he said. Spider-Man is currently in production with an eye to a 2002 release.
Spidey Site Designer Picked
ony has tapped Media Revolution to develop the official Web site for its upcoming Spider-Man movie, Variety reported.
Media Revolution beat out several rivals for the site, which is slated to debut in July.
Media Revolution designed the movie's teaser site, which appeared in March. The full site is expected to include video press conference highlights, downloads, discussion boards, sweepstakes and extensive behind-the-scenes information.
Media Revolution created the Frequency Web site for New Line, as well as the site for The X-Files.
MIB 2 Bets Against Strike
olumbia Pictures has scheduled production of its upcoming sequel Men in Black 2 past the June 30 deadline for actors and studios to reach agreement on a new union contract, in effect gambling that a strike won't happen, the Inside.com Web site reported.
The film is slated to begin shooting June 4 and to finish by Oct. 9 in Los Angeles and New York.
"If the strike happens, they stop working," a Columbia source told Inside.com. "But they're definitely forging ahead with production."
Virtually every other movie currently in production is slated to wrap by June 30. Even the two Matrix sequels are taking a break on June 30 before relocating to Australia to resume filming in the fall, Inside.com reported.
Tomb Tunes Due June 5
he soundtrack to the upcoming Tomb Raider movie hits stores June 5, 10 days before the Angelina Jolie film opens nationwide, Paramount announced.
The soundtrack features cuts from U2, Missy Elliott with Nelly Furtado, Moby, Nine Inch Nails, Chemical Brothers, Fat Boy Slim, Outkast and Groove Armada.
The first single from the album is a special mix of U2's Elevation. Tomb Raider, directed by Simon West based on the Eidos video game series of the same name, opens June 15.
Spaceless Resurrected?
he Coming Attractions Web site reported a rumor that Fox has resurrected the proposed animated SF movie Spaceless, but will produce it as a live-action film instead.
Spaceless was dropped after Fox's Titan A.E. tanked at the box office, resulting in the closure of Fox's animation studio.
But Coming Attractions, citing an anonymous source, reported that the studio has revived the project and attached director Gore Verbinski (The Mexican). Jeff Vintar will be doing a rewrite of his original script, the site reported. The movie tells the story of a man floating in space, who records the story of his predicament into his spacesuit.
ER Doc Stars In Doctor Sleep
oran Visnjic (ER) will star in the supernatural thriller movie Doctor Sleep, Variety reported.
The $10 million British film starts shooting May 13 in London.
The Croatian-born actor will play a hypnotherapist with telepathic powers who gets caught up in the pursuit of a ritualistic killer, Variety reported. Shirley Henderson, Paddy Considine, Miranda Otto and Corin Redgrave co-star. Nick Willing will direct from his adaptation of Madison Smartt Bell's novel of the same name. Sleep marks Visnjic's first starring role in a feature film.
Joshua Coming To Screen
ony Goldwyn (The 6th Day) will star in the title role of the independent supernatural movie Joshua, to be directed by Jon Purdy for Crusader Entertainment, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is slated to begin shooting at the end of the month in Chicago before moving to Rome.
Based on the first novel in a series by Joseph F. Girzone and adapted by Brad Mirman, Joshua tells the story of the possible second coming of Jesus Christ to a small U.S. town, the trade paper reported. Goldwyn will play a Christ-like stranger who disrupts the town with radical preachings about unity, love and reconciliation among all religions of the world.
The $8 million-$10 million film, produced by Howard Baldwin and his wife and producing partner, Karen, is envisioned as the first in a series. Domestic distribution has not been set, the trade paper reported.
Indie War Of The Worlds Preps
ewly formed Pendragon Pictures announced that it will begin production of an independent-movie version of H.G. Wells' SF novel War of the Worlds in September.
Pendragon chief executive Timothy Hines will direct the film, the company announced.
Susan Goforth will adapt the novel and star in the film, which will also feature a cast of television actors and unknowns. The $42 million production will be shot with the same digital system George Lucas used for his upcoming Star Wars: Episode II, the company announced.
The film is being financed with venture capital. Hines previously made films for Troma Films' 50th Street Films art division. Hines also directed Bug Wars, a low-budget SF movie about two female survivors of a doomsday war against giant alien spiders, which was made for video.
Dark Angel Stars To Wed
ark Angel star Jessica Alba is sporting an engagement ring from her co-star, Michael Weatherly, her spokeswoman told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Alba, 20, reportedly bought the ring with Weatherly, 32.
Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker reported that the couple has set no wedding date, but hopes to marry soon. Spokesmen for Dark Angel have previously denied a romantic relationship between the co-stars. Dark Angel airs its first-season finale May 22 on Fox.
Witchblade Resumes Story
ancy Butler, who plays Sara Pezzini in TNT's upcoming Witchblade TV series, told the Comics Continuum Web site that the show picks up where the original television movie left off.
"Sara is dealing with the loss of her partner," Butler said. "She's dealing internally with that, and with having this blade on her wrist. She still doesn't know how to use it."
Pezzini is a New York police detective who has fallen into possession of a supernatural gauntlet, the Witchblade. "I think she's starting to accept it," Butler said. "Sometimes it's just a real pain in the wrist, as we say, but she is starting to accept it. I think more because it's used in her favor, and she thinks that she knows how to use it, without giving too much away. She's starting to summon it, if you will. And it's working for her. So I think there is a bit more acceptance."
But Pezzini is a real person, not a superhuman, Butler said. "The thing that I think made the pilot such a success and will make the series even more of one is my character's vulnerability and strength," she said. "The show is set in a real homicide office of the police department. The situations are in fact very realistic. It's great, because it makes it that much more potent when we're really solving a crime every week." TNT will rerun the original Witchblade movie at 9 p.m. June 5 and will air the first original episode in the same timeslot a week later.
Angel Eyes Not What It Seems
s Angel Eyes--Jennifer Lopez's upcoming thriller movie--supernatural or not?
Television trailers for the movie, which also stars Frequency's Jim Caviezel, might have some people believing that it is, suggesting that Lopez must discover the truth about a mysterious stranger's past. The trailer's tag line: "You won't believe your eyes."
But audiences that attended advance screenings of the film have found that the movie contains no supernatural elements. Producer Mark Canton told SCI FI Wire that he did not feel the advertising was misleading. "It's a tagline," Canton said at the film's press junket. "It's not a movie that has a literal translation, like most movies. It was always a story about human beings and being able to take care of yourself without having to rely on some extraordinary outside force, like we've seen in other movies."
Director Louis Mandoki suggested to SCI FI Wire that there might be a possible otherworldly interpretation for the relationship story. "The supernatural aspect of it is love," Mandoki said. "Love is supernatural. Also, what's supernatural about it is the haunted quality of the character, where you don't know who this guy really is, because he doesn't know who he really is. Suddenly a twist of fate brings him something that changes his life again, and it's a powerful force, a female force." Angel Eyes opens May 18.
Stargate SG-1 To Get Big
ichard Dean Anderson, star and executive producer of Showtime's Stargate SG-1 series, told Science Fiction Weekly that viewers can expect bigger special effects and more character stories.
"We're entering year five of first-run stuff for Showtime, and as far as the episodes that we should anticipate, ... we've continually gotten a slightly larger budget every year, so we're able to put more on the screen, as the saying goes. That means that we can start utilizing the incredible talents of our special-effects people, so we'll be hopefully seeing a lot more of that."
Anderson, who plays Col. Jack O'Neill, added, "As the year progresses and unfolds, [producers] Brad and Robert, that is Wright and Cooper, will be piecing together hopefully some more character-driven stuff. Let me just throw that out there. But I can't give away any plot lines; that'd be ludicrous. Nobody'd tune in. As far as the future for the Showtime episodes that have already aired, we are sold into syndication, so we'll be appearing primarily on the Fox syndicated networks and then eventually The SCI FI Channel. So, we'll be around for a while."
Hey Sprouts In New SF Pilot
irginia Hey, who played Zhaan on the SCI FI Channel original series Farscape, has been cast in the pilot for the proposed SF series Area 23, currently under development by Mindshow Entertainment.
Hey plays a character named Nina Draconni, a "perceptor" and member of a top-secret government team of people with psychic powers.
Mindshow is currently seeking investors for the pilot movie of Area 23.
Apes Is Almost All New
im Burton, director of the upcoming Planet of the Apes movie, told the Los Angeles Times that he went back to the drawing board when re-conceiving the original 1968 film.
"You can't really remake Planet of the Apes, because the whole vibe and feeling of the original movie was very '60s," Burton told the newspaper. "You have to look at it from a different perspective, and I saw something oddly compelling about the concept of talking apes."
Burton added, "When you do primate research, you start thinking how weird our perception of apes is--that they're kind of close to us, yet they can rip you to shreds. That's kind of frightening. Even when they smile at you, they don't really mean it" in the way humans do. "You put all that into the mix, and sometimes things that don't seem like a good idea become exciting, because there's something risky about it."
Apes screenwriter William Broyles Jr. added that he kept only the premise from the original film and Pierre Boulle's French-language novel La Planète des Singes, upon which the movie was based. "I thought it would be very intriguing to create this movie from scratch," Broyles told the Times. Among other things, the new version does not take place on Earth, which provided the surprise ending of the first film, and the characters and locations are all new, the newspaper reported. Broyles based his story in part on his research of Roman history. "What I described was a structure and class system on the ape planet, how its economy worked, what their religion was like, and how humans fit in as the slave culture. I had a great deal of fun with it." Apes opens July 27.
Star OK With Knight Music
eath Ledger, star of the upcoming medieval sports movie A Knight's Tale, told E! Online that he's comfortable with the film's liberal anachronisms and pop-music score.
"It's the way it is for a reason," Ledger told the site. "We weren't drawing any lines or limitations to keep the movie historically correct. We were trying to keep it free and open."
Ledger added, "It's a movie, man--it's a fairy tale. It's not about a particular period in time. I loved that the music allowed us to do that. I didn't even have to act in keeping with the time, just play the script and the character. I loved it."
Ledger plays a lowborn 14th-century Englishman who becomes a champion jouster. For the fight scenes, Ledger said he and co-star Rufus Sewell had to make some adjustments to riding in armor. "It was really heavy and really hot," Ledger said. "We all had lower back problems by the end of the movie, because when you're riding on the horse, the armor just clanks and weighs you down."
Myst III On Shelves Now
yst III: Exile, the third installment in the best-selling video game franchise, arrives on store shelves May 8, featuring new ages and a new story set 10 years after the events in the last Myst game, Riven.
A trailer for the new game is running in movie theaters or may be seen on the official Web site. The game is designed for the PC.
Presto Studios took over game development from Cyan, the Daily Radar site reported. Creators promise that the new installment will feature more video, puzzles that make more sense and a more balanced and detailed experience in general, the site reported.
A.I. Details Leaked
teven Spielberg revealed key details of his upcoming top-secret SF epic movie A.I. to the Los Angeles Times over the weekend.
The movie, set in the future, concerns a world divided between "mecha" robots and "orga" organic creatures, such as humans, who treat the mechas like slaves, the newspaper reported.
And though trailers for the film suggest it resembles Pinocchio--about an artificial boy's desire to become real--Spielberg told the newspaper, "Pinocchio is a catalyst for the beginning of an odyssey, a journey into the future. But it's not the movie."
The android boy (Haley Joel Osment) meets up with another "mecha" Spielberg called "his scoutmaster," the Times reported. The character, Joe Gigolo (Jude Law), is a "love mecha," Law told the paper. "He's a gigolo. He has various clients, some he just talks to, some he massages. Some he presumably takes a bit further. They are able to change the way in which he seduces." Law added that his character sings and dances in the film "as part of entertainment. He's a full-service mecha."
A.I., based on the Brain Aldiss short story "Super Toys Last All Summer Long!" and a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick, opens June 29.
Bonestell Nominees Named
he Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists announced nominees for the 2001 Chesley Awards, honoring works from the year before.
The awards are named after astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell. Winners will be announced Aug. 31 at the 59th World Science Fiction Convention (Philcon) in Philadelphia. A full list of nominees follows.
Contribution to ASFA
•Todd Lockwood, Jon Schindehette and Wizards of the Coast
•Morgana McGee
•Mel White
Best Monochrome Unpublished
•The Secret Garden by Jill Bauman
•Anubis by Charles Keegan
•Enchanted Wood by Joel Keener
•Baby Dragon by Stanley W. Morrison
•A Wizard of Earthsea by Drew Willis
Best Color Unpublished
•Dance of the Dead by Ed Cox
•Daybreak by Lubov
•Appointment with Death by Omar Rayyan
•The Berry Market by Stanley W. Morrison
•Reach by Michael Whelan
Best Three-Dimensional
•The White Dragon by Robert Belgrad
•Goth Faery by Wendy Froud
•Bookstand by Johnna Klukas
•Millennium Angel by Sandra Lira
•Frazetta's Barbarian by Clayburn Moore
Best Art Director
•Jim Baen, Baen Books
•Irene Gallo, Tor Books
•Sheila Gilbert, DAW books
•Jon Schindehette, TSR Books and Wizards of the Coast
•Jamie Warren Youll, Bantam Books
Best Interior Illustration
•Kinuko Craft, Cinderella
•Leo and Diane Dillon, 2000 Leagues Under the Sea
•Omar Rayyan, "A Dear Gazelle"
•Ruth Sanderson, Where Have the Unicorns Gone
•William Stout, The New Dinosaurs
Best Cover Illustration: Magazine
•Brom, Dragon
•Bob Eggleton, Sue Chicon Program Book
•Frank Kelly Freas, Analog
•Jael, Dreams of Decadence
•Joe Jusko, Tomb Raider No. 6
•Todd Lockwood, Dragon
•Luis Royo, Heavy Metal
Best Gaming-Related Illustration
•Tristan Elwell, Staunch Defenders
•Todd Lockwood, Forge of Fury, Dungeons and Dragons Module
•Ian Miller, Crucible: Conquest of the Final Realm
•Drew Struzan, Star Wars
Best Product Illustration
•Braldt Bralds, Boucat
•Kinuko Craft, Angel
•Donato Giancola, Dracopaleontology
•Todd Lockwood, Redgar
•Keith Parkinson, Everquest: The Scars of Velious
Best Cover Illustration: Paperback
•Larry Elmore, The Chicks in the Mail
•Donato Giancola, Carthage Ascendant, the Book of Ashe, Book 2
•Don Maitz, The Magic Dead
•Jean Pierre Targete, Circle at Center
•Mark Zug, Clandestine Circle
Best Cover Illustration: Hardback
•Kinuko Craft, The Tower at Stony Wood
•Bob Eggleton , Darkness Descending
•Donato Giancola, The Lord of the Rings
•John Jude Palencar, Forests of the Heart
•Michael Whelan, Tangled Up in Blue
Award for Artistic Achievement
•Frank Kelly Freas
•Tom Kidd
•Don Maitz
•John Jude Palencar
•Lisa Snellings
Aurora Awards Honor Canadian SF
he 2001 Aurora Awards, honoring Canadian SF, were presented May 5 at V-Con 25 in Vancouver, B.C., organizers announced.
The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association presents the awards in 10 categories. A full list of winners follows.
Best Long-Form Work in English
•The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan
Best Long-Form Work in French
•Demain, les étoiles by Jean-Louis Trudel
Best Short-Form Work in English
•"Surrendering the Blade" by Marcie Tentchoff
Best Short-Form Work in French
•"La Danse des esprits" by Douglas Smith, translated by Benoît Domis
Best Work in English (Other)
•Science Fiction: The Play by David Widdicombe
Best Work in French (Other)
•Solaris, edited by Joël Champetier
Artistic Achievement
•Jean-Pierre Normand
Fan Achievement (Fanzine)
•Voyageur, edited by Karen
Bennett
Fan Achievement (Organization)
•R. Graeme Cameron
Fan Achievement (Other)
•Donna McMahon
New X-Men 2 Names Revealed?
he Countingdown Web site reported rumors that the upcoming X-Men 2 movie will feature some new characters.
Citing an anonymous source at Fox, the site reported that a treatment for the sequel features the Sentinels and Beast.
The site added that Beast is an escapee from somewhere or an old friend of Xavier's (Patrick Stewart). But the treatment also contained notes suggesting that nothing is set in stone yet.
X-Men 2, the sequel to 2000's hit movie based on the Marvel Comics series, is in the early stages of development. Director Bryan Singer and the cast of the original film are on board for the next film.
Harvey Awards Presented
he 2001 Harvey Awards were presented April 27 at the Pittsburgh Comicon, organizers announced.
The awards, honoring comic books, are named for Harvey Kurtzman, a cartoonist, writer, editor and co-founder of Mad magazine. A full list of winners follows.
Best Writer
•Alan Moore for Promethea
Best Artist
•Jaime Hernandez for Penny Century
Best Cartoonist
•Al Jaffee for Mad magazine
Special Award for Humor
•Sergio Aragones
Special Award for Excellence in Presentation
•Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware, design by Chris Ware
Best New Series
•Luba's Comics and Stories by Gilbert Hernandez, edited by Gary Groth
Best Continuing or Limited Series
•Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware, edited by Kim Thompson
Best Single Issue or Story
•Superman & Batman: World's Funnest by Evan Dorkin and various artists
Best Graphic Album of Original Work
•Last Day in Vietnam by Will Eisner, edited by Diana Schutz
Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work
•Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware, edited by Chip Kidd
Best Anthology
•Drawn & Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 1, edited by Chris Oliveros
Best Inker
•Charles Burns for Black Hole
Best Letterer
•Todd Klein for Castle Waiting
Best Colorist
•Laura DePuy for The Authority
Best Syndicated Strip
•Mutts by Patrick McDonnell
Best Biographical/Historical Presentation
•The Comics Journal
Best Presentation of Foreign Material
•Lone Wolf & Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, edited by Mike Hansen
Best Domestic Reprint Project
•The Spirit Archives by Will Eisner, edited by Dale Crain
Best New Talent
•Michel Rabagliati
Best Cover Artist
•Adam Hughes for Wonder Woman
Jack Kirby Hall of Fame
•Guido Crepax
•Mort Weisinger
•Sheldon Moldoff
No. 1 Mummy Rises Again
he Mummy Returns wrapped up the No. 1 slot at the box office on its opening weekend, taking in an estimated $70.1 million on the weekend of May 4, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
The sequel to 1999's hit The Mummy ranked as the biggest non-holiday debut in film history, bumping 1999's Star Wars: Episode I, which earned $64.8 million in its first weekend, the Reuters news service reported.
The Mummy Returns, starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, set new records for Friday ($23.4 million) and Saturday ($26.8 million) as well.
Among other genre releases, Spy Kids remained strong, taking fourth place, with an estimated $4 million in ticket sales. The Robert Rodriguez movie was headed past the $100 million mark after a month of release. But audiences were forsaking The Forsaken, which sank to No. 8 in only its second weekend of release, taking in only $1.5 million.
Briefly Noted
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ABC is actively developing a live-action musical version of Disney's animated movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame for the network's Wonderful World of Disney franchise, Variety reported.
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ConJose, the 2002 World Science Fiction Convention, will increase its membership rates in July.
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The Tomb Raider Chronicles Web site reported that the music video for U2's Elevation single from the Tomb Raider movie soundtrack may be postponed because star Angelina Jolie is too busy to shoot it. New footage will now be considered, including the insertion of computer-generated imagery to replace Jolie.
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J-14, a teen magazine, reported that director Darren Aronofsky wants Freddie Prinze Jr. to don the cape and cowl in his proposed Batman: Year One movie, according to the Ananova Web site. Prinze would reportedly play a young Bruce Wayne.
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The Comics2Film Web site reported that Marvel and Fox may be seeking a new writer to work on Sam Hamm's script for a proposed Fantastic Four movie. Director Peyton Reed (Bring It On) recently signed on to helm the feature.
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The Spielberg-DreamWorks fan Web site reported a rumor that Universal will launch its upcoming sequel Jurassic Park III on more than 3,400 screens, 200 more than last week's The Mummy Returns. Jurassic III opens July 20.
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The Ain't It Cool News Web site reported a rumor of a major spoiler for The WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series, Angel. The site reported that the vampire Spike, played by James Marsters, survives this season's Buffy finale and moves to Los Angeles, where he'll appear in next season's Angel.
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Tomb Raider star Angelina Jolie told the Los Angeles Times that the movie favored live, on-set special effects over computer trickery, except for a key sword-fighting scene involving monkeys. "It was like doing a very strange dance with a sword, all by myself," Jolie told the newspaper. "It was only difficult in that you don't have any kind of clue what to do next, it all has to be in your imagination and your memory. You have to remember that you're looking at something and turn as if something's behind you."
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A movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical The Phantom of the Opera is moving forward at Warner Brothers, Variety reported. Lloyd Webber collaborator Ben Elton has completed a screenplay. Lloyd Webber has written some new songs for the film and held a sing-through in an event attended by Shekhar Kapur, who's expected to direct.
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The 24-episode third season of The X-Files has been released in a seven-disc DVD set. A collector's edition includes deleted scenes, audio commentary, behind-the-scenes features and interviews with X-Files creator Chris Carter.
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Klea Scott (Millennium), Kathryn Morris, Daniel London, Neal McDonough, Patrick Kilpatrick, Arye Gross, Katy Boyer (The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2) and Frank Grillo have joined the cast of Steven Spielberg's upcoming SF thriller movie Minority Report, the Zentertainment Web site reported. Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton and Steve Harris star in the thriller, which is based on the Philip K. Dick short story of the same name.
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The official Web site of Disney's upcoming animated fantasy film Atlantis: The Lost Empire has posted a new trailer. The movie opens June 15.
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The X-Files' Robert Patrick told The Daily Show that he won't reprise his role as a killer cyborg in the upcoming Terminator 3 movie, the Dark Horizons Web site reported.
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Tommy Lee Jones will indeed be back in Men in Black 2, despite rumors to the contrary, the New York Post reported. Shooting on the sequel commences in June in New York.
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The TrekToday Web site has posted what it says are spoilers for the upcoming finale of Star Trek: Voyager, which airs May 23.
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