British Fantasy Awards Given
he 2001 British Fantasy Awards were presented on Sept. 23 at the British Fantasy Society's 30th Birthday Bash in London, Locus Online reported.
A full list of winners follows.
The August Derleth Award for Best Novel
•Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
Anthology
•Hideous Progeny, Brian Willis, ed.
Collection
•Where the Bodies Are Buried by Kim Newman
Short Fiction
•"Naming of Parts" by Tim Lebbon
Artist
•Jim Burns
Small Press
•PS Publishing
Karl Edward Wagner Award
•Peter Haining
Enterprise Boosts UPN
PN announced final ratings for the two-hour season premiere of Enterprise, which resulted in the network's highest-rated night of programming since the 1995 premiere of Star Trek: Voyager.
The Sept. 26 Enterprise debut drew 12.5 million viewers, the network reported.
Enterprise also made the evening UPN's highest-rated Wednesday night ever, the network reported. Enterprise set new records with the highest Wednesday metered market ratings for 39 UPN affiliates across the country, including those in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington.
Enterprise Has Fast Start
PN's two-hour Sept. 26 premiere of Enterprise drew big ratings, placing the Smackdown network in second place for the night, TV Guide Online reported.
According to preliminary estimates, Enterprise averaged a 9.9 rating, good enough to rank just behind NBC in the 8 p.m. hour and CBS at 9 p.m., according to Zap2it.com.
The new Star Trek series, starring Scott Bakula, fell short of Star Trek: Voyager's debut ratings back in 1995, TV Guide reported.
Trek X Set Visit Auctioned
rekkers have a chance to bid on a visit to the set of the upcoming 10th Star Trek film, Nemesis, in a charity auction sponsored by Chivas Brothers.
The set visit is one of several items in the eBay auction, which will benefit charities such as The River Fund.
The Trek auction will run from Oct. 11 to Oct. 21. The winner will visit the Nemesis set at Paramount in Los Angeles, then have lunch with star Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard). The auction marks the 200th anniversary of Chivas Brothers, creators of Chivas Regal Scotch whiskey.
Frakes Hosts TNN Trek Special
tar Trek: The Next Generation star Jonathan Frakes will host TNN's original one-hour documentary America Loves ... Star Trek, which airs Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. ET/PT as part of the cable network's Trek marathon Oct. 1-5.
The marathon launches TNN's regular airings of TNG.
America Loves ... Star Trek looks at how the series has become the longest-running and most successful franchise in television history, as well as at the franchise's influence on society. The documentary mixes clips from the original and spinoff series with interviews with cast and production-team members, space experts and fans.
The marathon, Next Gen on TNN: A 5-Day Mission, features three of the Trek movies and 77 popular episodes of TNG. It will air daily from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. ET/PT.
Trek X Gets Green Light
aramount Pictures has finally given the green light to Star Trek: Nemesis, the 10th movie in the franchise, with Digital Domain overseeing the visual effects, Variety reported.
Stuart Baird (U.S. Marshals) will direct, and the film begins shooting Nov. 28, the trade paper reported.
John Logan (co-writer of Gladiator) wrote the screenplay; longtime Trek producer Rick Berman will produce. Paramount is eyeing a fall or holiday 2003 release, Variety reported. As expected, the new film will again feature the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation, including Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard.
Digital Domain is finishing up effects for The Time Machine and did some shots for the first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring, the trade paper reported.
Genre Films To Reshoot NY
he
Dark Horizons Web site reported that Spider-Man, Men in Black 2 and Stuart Little 2 will return to New York City to reshoot certain scenes.
The films, which are all set in New York, will need to get new footage to deal with changes since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
But the site added that it's unclear when the productions will resume, as the city is not yet issuing new film permits. MIB 2 may simply need to shoot new background shots of the Chrysler Building for the movie's climax, which has been moved from its original World Trade Center location.
Spidey To Address Attack
. Michael Straczynski, who is currently writing a story for Marvel Comics' Amazing Spider-Man series, will address the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in future issues, the Newsarama Web site message board reported.
"Ever since the events surrounding the WTC, I have said little because, as noted in response to another note, I simply didn't have the words and didn't know where to look for them," Straczynski reportedly posted on his moderated Babylon 5 Usenet forum. "And consequently declined invitations to make a statement, on the further grounds that I'm not qualified."
Straczynski added, "I got an e-mail from Marvel, who felt that in at least one of their books they needed to really address the issue of what happened at the WTC. Their feeling was that the one character best suited to this was Spider-Man because, after all, he's a native New Yorker. So they asked me to write it. Unsure if I had the wherewithal necessary to pull it off without embarrassing myself or trivializing the situation through any inadequacies on my part, I asked for 24 hours to think it over. Figured I'd probably pass, since I just didn't know how I could handle it in a comic-book format. Somewhere along the way that night, I found the words, ... and 24 hours after my mail, I sent in the script. I think it says what needs to be said." The writer did not specify in which issue this story will see print, Newsarama reported.
Rising Stars Still Rises
op Cow Productions executive Chris Carlisle told the Comics Continuum Web site that Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski continues to make progress on his script for a proposed movie based on his Rising Stars comic series.
"Joe has been steadily doing good work on the script, and we are all quite pleased with where the story is and the direction it's headed," Carlisle told the site.
MGM is developing the Rising Stars movie. Marc Silvestri and Spike Seldin of Top Cow and Charles Roven and Richard Suckle of Atlas are producing the film. Rising Stars could be developed as a trilogy, the site reported.
McKellen OK With Rings Double
an McKellen, who plays Gandalf in Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy, told Inquest magazine that he had no problem using a stunt double in the epic movies, according to a report on the Ananova Web site.
"When I realized on Last Action Hero that even so fit a gent as Arnold Schwarzenegger has a double, I lost any worries about being thought weedy," McKellen told the magazine.
McKellen added, "Doubles have a double advantage: It means that two Gandalf scenes can be shot simultaneously, and so the schedule progresses."
McKellen said that he found a scene with the demonic Balrog the most difficult to film. "Confronting the Balrog was hard because, whatever you eventually see in [the first Rings film] The Fellowship Of The Ring, all I saw aloft in the studio was a yellow tennis ball—Gandalf's eyeline for the monstrous, fiery creature." Fellowship opens Dec. 19.
Rings Adapter Is A Big Fan
hilippa Boyens, one of the writers of Peter Jackson's three upcoming feature-film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, told Cinescape Online that she doesn't feel pressure to live up to fan expectations.
"I don't think the fans' expectations are any bigger than ours," Boyens told the site. "What's more overwhelming is making it work and getting it right."
Along with Jackson and his frequent collaborator Fran Walsh, Boyens is one of three screenwriters who are also Tolkien aficionados, the site reported. Boyens can still recall her first exposure to the book. "My mother gave it to me when I was 11, but I actually didn't read it at that time," she said. "I kept looking at it—that's a big book to read! When I was around 15, I [finally] read it, and then it became the book I read when it was a really wet day and you were stuck inside, or the book you went to when you were feeling miserable. And that was my book." The first Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring, opens Dec. 19.
Enya On Rings Soundtrack?
he Enya.org Web site reported a rumor that the ethereal Irish pop singer Enya is performing at least two songs for the soundtrack of Peter Jackson's upcoming The Fellowship of the Ring movie, the first of three Lord of the Rings films.
The site reported that the BMI Song Search Web site lists Enya's name in connection with two songs, including one called Aniron Theme for Aragorn and Arwen. Another song, registered at the same time as the first one, is titled Here Comes Desire, the site reported.
New Line Cinema has not confirmed that Enya will perform the songs. Fellowship opens Dec. 19.
Angel Goes Wide This Year
he WB's vampire series Angel, which starts its third season at 9 p.m. Sept. 24, will air in widescreen or letterbox format this year, the network announced.
"The format lends itself to the production quality and action sequences of Angel," executive producer David Greenwalt said in a statement. "Still, viewers who do not have the capacity to view shows in this format will not miss anything and will be able to enjoy the show as they have in the past."
Angel opens the season with an episode entitled "Heartthrob," in which a grief-stricken lover seeks revenge on Angel (David Boreanaz). The episode also marks the introduction of Amy Acker as a new regular cast member.
The network and New Line Cinema also confirmed an earlier report that a new trailer for the first of Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings films would debut during the episode. The film, The Fellowship of the Ring, opens Dec. 19.
Buffy DVD Finally Due
he long-awaited DVD of the complete first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will come out on Jan. 15, 2002, the DVDFile Web site reported.
Presented in full frame with English and French 2.0 surround tracks, the DVD will include a full-length audio commentary by creator Joss Whedon on the episode "Welcome to Hellmouth," the site reported.
The DVD will also feature three Whedon interviews on six episodes ("Hellmouth," "The Harvest," "Witch," "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date," "Angel" and "Puppet Show"), an interview with actor David Boreanaz (Angel), a Buffy trailer, the original pilot script, a photo gallery, biographies and DVD-ROM Web links. The suggested retail price is $39.95 for the three-disc set.
Grant Out Of Potter 2?
he British Teletext Web site reported a rumor that Hugh Grant has dropped out of the upcoming second Harry Potter movie due to scheduling conflicts.
Grant was rumored to be in line for the role of Prof. Gilderoy Lockhart in the movie version of J.K. Rowling's second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets.
A source at Warner Bros. told Teletext, "To have Hugh on board, we had to bring the production forward three months, which we can't do. So sadly, he's forced out." Grant reportedly underwent hair and makeup tests and even dyed his hair blond, rather than wear a wig.
Potter Is Close To Williams
omposer John Williams told The Times of London that he has a personal reason for scoring the upcoming feature-film version of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
"I have grandchildren who read [the Harry Potter books] and love them," Williams told the newspaper. "I have children who read them and love them. In my family, there are three generations of American people enjoying Rowling."
Williams said his score for the first Potter movie will be "magical, theatrical" and meant to capture a child's sense of wonder in the world, the newspaper reported. Potter opens Nov. 16.
Potter 2 Set To Be Built
he British Sun newspaper reported that an immense outdoor set representing the Weasleys' house is being built near Watford, England, for the upcoming sequel film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, according to a report on the Dark Horizons Web site.
The house is the place where Harry and his friend Ron Weasley will spend their summer from Hogwarts, the site reported.
Construction of the house is expected to take about 12 weeks. Second-unit filming has reportedly already begun on the sequel, and principal photography is slated to begin in December. The first movie based on J.K. Rowling's popular Potter books, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is nearing completion for a Nov. 16 release date.
Rowling Goes Platinum
uthor J.K. Rowling won four British platinum awards, one for each of her best-selling Harry Potter novels, the Associated Press reported.
The U.K. book industry created the prizes, modeled after the music industry's gold and platinum records and based on sales in bookstores, supermarkets and over the Internet, the AP reported.
Platinum awards recognize sales of more than a million books; writers who have sold more than 500,000 copies receive gold awards. Rowling is believed to have sold more than 100 million Potter books worldwide, the wire service reported. Rowling did not attend a Sept. 21 ceremony in London, but asked her publisher, Nigel Newton, to deliver a message of thanks. "Despite what you may have read, and probably to Nigel's immense relief, I am happily incarcerated in a rather chilly Edinburgh, busily writing book five," Rowling's message said, referring to reports that she's suffering from writer's block, the wire service reported.
Hicks Toned Atlantis Down
cott Hicks, who directed the movie version of Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis stories, told SCI FI Wire that he toned down a lot of the book's SF and violent elements.
"Of course, in the [book], there's a lot of supernatural ingredients in the story," Hicks told reporters while promoting the film. "Ted [Brautigan, played by Anthony Hopkins,] is an alien. The low men are aliens. ... William Goldman had stripped a lot of that out, and I decided to remove it completely and keep Ted as a human being, but with this psychic ability, which I honestly believe that some people have."
Atlantis tells the story of the bond that develops between a mysterious stranger (Hopkins) and a boy in 1960 New England. Hicks also altered the character of Liz, played by Hope Davis, who is the mother of the film's hero, 11-year-old Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin). "I felt that, you know, we could not see this woman beat up her son and ever hope to have any sympathy for her," Hicks said. "And in the book, and in the screenplay that I read originally, she throws Bobby across the room and bangs his head against the wall, and there's blood. ... I thought, 'It's too much.' ... I didn't think you could ever get to a point of reconciliation. Of course, in Stephen King's novel, Bobby becomes a juvenile delinquent. It's a whole other story. But the story we were telling was this Bobby, and this Liz. So, yes, I toned it down, because I felt Hope Davis already had, you know, a tightrope enough to walk between keeping our sympathy [and] losing our sympathy on her way through, which I think she did incredibly well." Atlantis opens Sept. 28.
Atlantis Star Kisses Fame
nton Yelchin, the young star of the upcoming supernatural film Hearts in Atlantis, told SCI FI Wire that he shares his first on-screen smooch—indeed, his first one ever—in the movie.
"It was my kiss, so it was pretty interesting," especially with a crew of 50 people watching, the seventh-grader said sheepishly while promoting the movie to the press.
Yelchin plays Bobby Garfield, an 11-year-old boy who befriends a mysterious stranger (played by Anthony Hopkins) in 1960 New England. Yelchin admitted that he was a little intimidated by his well-known co-star, declining to call him "Tony," despite the actor's requests, and instead addressing him as "Sir Anthony." But the Russian-born, American-raised child star said that once he got on set, he bonded with the elder actor. Yelchin found his character "as soon as I did the scene with somebody else." As for being the star of a big-budget Hollywood movie, he said, "All my friends say that, but I don't like [thinking] that, so mostly they don't talk about it." Atlantis opens Sept. 28.
Hopkins Foresaw Atlantis
nthony Hopkins, who stars in the upcoming feature-film version of Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis, told SCI FI Wire that he took the job in part because of a strange coincidence.
"I was in Florence, making a movie, Hannibal, and I was sitting by the pool at the hotel, because somebody had given me a book by William Goldman, and it was called [Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade], which was his recent memoir, autobiography," Hopkins said in press interviews while promoting the film.
"And he talks about screenplay writing. And he mentioned my name on a few pages, which were very complimentary. Because I'd been in two films written [from] his screenplays, Magic and A Bridge Too Far. And then I went on to the other chapter, which was about Stephen King and Misery with Kathy Bates. ... It was very interesting, his take on screenplay writing and how the studios would influence the screenplay writer. ... And I thought, 'Well, I'd like to ... do a Stephen King [film]. And I'd like to work with William Goldman again.' ... Two days later, Dino De Laurentiis was having a little party in his villa there in Florence, and my agent happened to be there, ... and in conversation, he said, 'By the way, there's a script on its way to you. It'll be here probably tomorrow, at the hotel, Fed Ex. It's a Stephen King story.' I said, 'Yeah?' He said, 'It's by William Goldman.' So I told him, 'I'll do it.' And he said, 'Well, read it first.' So I read half of it. ... And Bill Goldman phoned me, because he was so pleased and he was so surprised by my quick response. He said, 'It was such a fast response. I wanted you to do it. But I didn't think you'd respond.' So I told him the story, and he said, 'Well, there you are.'"
In Hearts, which is based on King's story collection of the same name, Hopkins plays Ted Brautigan, a mysterious man with unusual abilities who moves into the room upstairs from a young boy (Anton Yelchin) and his single mother (Hope Davis) in the early 1960s. Hopkins said he tried to put the boy at ease during the production. "He kept wanting to call me Sir Anthony," Hopkins. "I said, 'Don't call me that.' Or Mr. Hopkins. But I couldn't get him to call me Tony. So ... I said to his mother, 'Why doesn't he call me Tony?' She said, 'He's scared of you.' ... But we had a lot of fun. He's a nice boy. A wonderful actor." Hearts in Atlantis, which was directed by Scott Hicks, opens Sept. 28.
Vampire's Strieber Bites Again
hitley Strieber told SCI FI Wire that he chose to write The Last Vampire, the long-awaited sequel to his novel The Hunger, in order to discover how his relationship to the material—especially the central character of Miriam Blaylock—changed over the 20 years between books.
"I've matured a lot since I first wrote [The Hunger]," Strieber said in an interview. "I guess I wanted to see how it would feel to return to Miriam's world and how she had changed, the subtle ways in which she might have matured herself, although in her context 20 years is really not much time."
The Last Vampire finds Miriam, the gorgeous creature of the night, seeking a man with whom she can procreate before she loses her immortality. Enter one Paul Ward, vampire hunter extraordinaire. Miriam becomes as obsessed with him as he becomes with her. "I didn't allow her to change too much, or I didn't find her too much changed," Strieber said of Miriam, whose perfect man will need to have undead blood running through his system. "She's a little wiser, a little richer, a little more desperate for novelty. She's also a very skilled liar. People keep writing me, 'Well, you said in The Hunger that this had happened to her father and now, in The Last Vampire, you write that [happened to her father]. The two books don't work together.' There's more to learn about Miriam's personality and the reason she would inject false pasts into various narratives about her. That will come out in the future. I returned to it, ultimately, out of love for it. I always loved The Hunger and The Wolfen, ever since I wrote them, and she drew me back."
Beyond promoting The Last Vampire—out now in hardcover from Pocket Books, with the film rights "in flux"—Strieber keeps busy with a radio program called Dreamland, which the author hosts each Saturday night with his wife, Anne. Strieber also oversees his official Web site, which boasts 10 million hits a month. Much of the site is currently devoted to news about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, though there's still room enough for a story about a wave of UFO sightings in Norway.
Returning to The Last Vampire, Strieber promises that he won't let another 20
years pass before picking up Miriam's trail of blood. "That might be a risk, for me not for her," said Strieber, who would be 75 years old if he were to wait until 2021. "I'm writing another novel about a vampire called Vampire Dawn that has a connection to Miriam. It's not entirely about Miriam. I've got a new vampire in my world, who I've been learning about and introducing myself to and trying to survive writing about."
Aaliyah Role Up For Grabs?
he New York Post reported a rumor that pop singer/actress Brandy and James King lead a pack of young stars who want the part Aaliyah had in The Matrix Reloaded.
Warner Bros. originally intended to keep Aaliyah in the film and dub her voice, the newspaper reported. Aaliyah died unexpectedly in a plane crash last month.
But the Post reported that the studio has decided to reshoot her scenes with another actress. "The role had to be expanded, and they want the character for another sequel," a source told the newspaper. Eva Mendes was up for the role, but several other actresses are "lobbying very, very hard," the Post added.
The Australian cable program Premier, meanwhile, reported a rumor that Oz singer Erykah Badu had landed the Aaliyah part, according to a report on the Coming Attractions Web site.
Fans: Keep Aaliyah In Matrix 2
ore than 10,000 fans have signed an online petition urging filmmakers to keep the late pop singer and actress Aaliyah in the upcoming Matrix Reloaded sequel film.
The young actress was slated to play Zee in the sequel and a third installment, The Matrix III, before her untimely death in a plane crash last month.
"In the wake of the tragic death of R&B singer/actress Aaliyah, Warner Bros. is rumored to be cutting the scenes Aaliyah has already filmed for The Matrix 2 and recasting the role," the petition reads. "We would like to urge WB to honor the memory of Aaliyah's life and keep her scenes in The Matrix 2. Along with your help, we hope to get Warner Bros. to keep Aaliyah's memory alive."
Directors Andy and Larry Wachowski and producer Joel Silver are grappling with whether to recast Aaliyah, the Los Angeles Times reported. Silver, through a studio spokeswoman, declined to discuss with the Times how they will deal with Zee. Aaliyah shot some scenes for Reloaded in the United States, but the bulk of her role was scheduled to be shot in Australia, starting in late October, the newspaper reported.
Dance To Highlight Matrix 2?
he Ananova Web site is reporting a rumor that the upcoming Matrix Reloaded sequel film will feature a huge dance number.
Citing a report in San Francisco Magazine, the site reported that choreographer Charles Moulton mounted a dance sequence involving more than 1,000 extras.
"It's huge," Moulton reportedly told the magazine. "Colossal. I saw the dailies, and they were absolutely spectacular. When we were shooting, there were hordes of people. They were using cranes, huge dollies, cables. Cameras came swooping down over the crowd." The Matrix Reloaded is currently shooting in Australia and is slated for a 2003 release.
Roswell Tensions Ease?
ick Wechsler, who plays Kyle on UPN's teen alien series Roswell, told SCI FI Wire that it's business as usual on the set, despite buzz that co-stars Brendan Fehr and Jason Behr didn't want to return to the series for its third season.
"I don't ask anyone else about it," Wechsler said in an interview. "So far I think I've managed to stay out of anyone else's
business."
Wechsler plays the son of Sheriff Jim Valenti (William Sadler), ex-boyfriend of Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby) and ally to the aliens Max (Behr), Michael (Fehr) and Isabel (Katherine Heigl). He added, "If [anyone's] complaining, they're complaining to each other or to friends on the outside or whatever, but I haven't heard much of it. I haven't seen the effects of it, but I've seen a couple of little things. I can feel the reluctance, and it's a little frustrating. There are people like me who aren't as capable of moving forward immediately and who would appreciate everybody being cooperative and being there so I don't lose my job. I don't want [anyone] to look down on the entire cast. I just feel like it's making me look bad, too, if the word on the street is the Roswell cast had to be dragged back, and when people come to the set, it shows. It's really unfortunate."
UPN will relaunch Roswell Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, starting Oct. 9. The network has given the show and its persistent fan base the best possible lead-in series ever: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Jacko Cameos In MIB2?
ill Michael Jackson appear in Men in Black 2?
E! Online reported a rumor that director Barry Sonnenfeld invited Jackson onto the sequel's Culver City, Calif., set to shoot a cameo.
Jackson was mentioned in the first Men in Black as one of several aliens in plain sight. Jackson reportedly offered to provide a song for the sequel if he was allowed to appear in the film. A Sony representative denied to E! that Jackson shows up in the movie, but confirmed that his music may indeed appear on the soundtrack.
Bale Up For Batman?
he ComiXtreme Web site reported a rumor that Christian Bale is in line to don the cowl and cape in director Darren Aronofsky's proposed Batman: Year One film.
Bale told the Moviehole Web site, meanwhile, that he's "very interested in working with Aronofsky."
Moviehole also rebutted rumors that Bale (Reign of Fire) was in line to star in an upcoming Harry Potter film. Bale's agent told the site, "This is an Internet rumor with no truth in it whatsoever."
Beck Takes Part In Chimera
teve Beck will direct Warner Bros.' upcoming supernatural movie Chimera for Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis' Dark Castle Entertainment, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The project reteams the studio and producers with Beck, who is making his feature directorial debut on the upcoming 13 Ghosts, starring Tony Shalhoub, Shannon Elizabeth and Matthew Lillard, the trade paper reported.
Chimera tells the story of a group of boat salvagers who find a lost 1953 passenger ship floating in a remote region of the Bering Sea. After claiming the ship and attempting to tow it to land, mysterious things begin to happen aboard the derelict vessel, the trade paper reported.
Mark Hanlon wrote the script for Chimera. Silver and Zemeckis will produce. Christopher McQuarrie was previously in negotiations to direct the project, but a deal could not be reached. Beck began his career as a visual art director on films such as The Abyss and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the trade paper reported.
Jumpgate Ships
he 3DO Co. announced shipment of Jumpgate, a massively multiplayer online space-simulation video game.
Jumpgate is available in a limited numbered
edition exclusively through Amazon.com, Best Buy, CompUSA,
Electronics Boutique, Gamestop (formerly Babbage's) and 3DO.com, the company said.
Developed by NetDevil of Louisville, Colo., Jumpgate combines combat, trade, mining, aliens, pirates and more in a constantly evolving 3-D universe.
Affleck Up For Daredevil?
he Comics2Film Web site reported a rumor that Ben Affleck may be interested in playing the title role in the upcoming feature-film version of Marvel Comics' Daredevil series.
Variety reported earlier that Vin Diesel had turned down the role in favor of The Chronicles of Riddick, the sequel to Diesel's 2000 hit film Pitch Black.
Comics2Film cited anonymous sources saying that Daredevil producers like Affleck and are eager to sign an actor for the film, which is slated to begin shooting in November.
Affleck and his partner Matt Damon are reportedly both fans of the character. Affleck reportedly wrote the foreword to the paperback Marvel's Finest: Daredevil Visionaries, which collects the comics written by Affleck's director friend Kevin Smith, the site reported.
New Lexx, I-Man Coming
he SCI FI Channel will air new episodes of Lexx and The Invisible Man, which were delayed last week, in their regular Friday timeslots on Sept. 28.
The I-Man episode "Exposed," which features guest star Adam Storke, was delayed out of sensitivity to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the United States. Lexx was postponed to accommodate SCI FI's airing of the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon.
I-Man, which will air at 8 p.m., features a cameo by Storke, who appeared in the defunct ABC SF series Prey with I-Man star Vincent Ventresca. A rerun of the final episode of Prey, with Storke and Ventresca, will precede the I-Man episode. Storke will chat with fans live on SCIFI.COM following the airing of "Exposed."
Lexx will air the episode "Magic Baby" at 10 p.m., in which the crew joins forces with an aging rock star who says he's a reincarnated druid.
Encore Kicks It With New Doc
he Encore cable network has commissioned a feature-length documentary chronicling the history of kung-fu movies, from the silent films produced in Shanghai in the 1920s to the recent Matrix and Mission: Impossible II, Variety reported.
"Nobody has ever done a documentary like this, despite the fact that martial-arts movies are one of the most popular genres out there," Bob Leighton, president of Starz Encore Entertainment, told the trade paper.
Point Blank Productions will produce the documentary. Joni Levin is the producer, and Keith Clarke is the writer-director. The documentarians have already conducted interviews in Hong Kong with Raymond Chow, founder of Golden Harvest (Return of the Dragon); director Stanley Tong (Supercop); and cinematographer Pei Pei Cheung (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Encore plans to schedule the documentary to coincide with the premiere of Crouching Tiger on Starz! in January, Variety reported.
Germans Develop Canterville
he new animation divison of Germany's Studio Hamburg Produktion will join Ellipse Deutschland to develop a live-action/animated movie based on Oscar Wilde's short story "The Canterville Ghost," Variety reported.
The screenplay for Canterville Ghost is finished, but a director and cast are yet to be signed, the trade paper reported.
"Ghost" tells the story of an American family that buys a haunted house in Great Britain. The animated portions likely will be done at Ellipsanime, Ellipse Deutschland's French affiliate, while the live-action scenes might be shot in the United Kingdom, the trade paper reported.
Diesel Signs For Riddick
in Diesel has signed an $11 million contract to reprise his Pitch Black role in the sequel The Chronicles of Riddick, Variety reported.
X-Men writer David Hayter wrote the script for Riddick, which Universal will distribute in summer 2003, the trade paper reported.
Scott Kroopf, Ted Field and Tom Engelman of Radar Pictures will produce, and Diesel and his One Race Productions partner George Zakk are likely to have producing jobs as well, the trade paper reported. No director has been hired yet; the movie is slated to begin shooting in spring 2002. David Twohy co-wrote and directed the original Pitch Black.
In taking the Riddick role, Diesel passes up the chance to play the title role in Daredevil, the Mark Steven Johnson-directed adaptation of the Marvel Comics serial about a blind lawyer who becomes a superhero, Variety reported.
Hulk Scouting Locations
arvel Studios executive Kevin Feige told the Comics Continuum Web site that location scouting is underway for Universal's upcoming movie version of the Incredible Hulk comic series.
"We're looking at desert landscape, but that's only a small portion of the film," Feige told the site. "We're doing location scouting all over the country."
Feige could not confirm whether Australian comic Eric Bana is in line to play Bruce Banner, as reported by Variety. Sources told the Continuum that Bana is "like a Hugh Jackman before X-Men." James Schamus, production partner of Hulk director Ang Lee, has been working on the latest revision of the script, the site reported.
Static Avoids Boston
Boston radio station reported that the supernatural thriller film Static, previously known as The Ring, won't shoot in Beantown as previously planned, according to a report on the Dark Horizons Web site.
The film was supposed to start shooting next month, but many people involved in the film do not want to fly into Boston as a result of this month's terrorist attacks on the United States.
Filmmakers are currently looking for another location in another state. DreamWorks is developing Static, which is based on the Japanese supernatural thriller The Ring, about a journalist investigating an urban legend about a cursed videotape that supposedly kills whoever sees it.
ABC Mulls Dinotopia Series
BC is talking about buying 22 hour-long episodes of a proposed Dinotopia TV series from Hallmark Entertainment, Variety reported.
The series would continue the story begun in Hallmark's upcoming six-hour miniseries, which the network plans to air this season, based on James Gurney's best-selling Dinotopia fantasy books.
Robert Halmi Sr., executive producer of Dinotopia, told the trade paper that the negotiations are separate from the deal for the miniseries that ABC and Hallmark worked out two years ago. Other sources told Variety that if ABC declines to commit to the series, Hallmark will try to shop it to other broadcast networks. Hallmark may already have started working on scripts for the series, the trade paper reported.
Halmi said the Hallmark Channel is committed to taking reruns of both the miniseries and the series following their broadcast runs.
Junger Enlists With D-Men
il Junger is set to direct Warner Bros.' upcoming supernatural action-comedy film D-Men, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Andrew Lazar and his Mad Chance Productions company will produce the film. No start date has been set.
The movie is based on comedy writer Martin Olson's manuscript Encyclopedia From Hell, about two men who thwart a demon invasion, the trade paper reported. Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner (Space Cowboys) wrote the script. Lazar and Mad Chance most recently produced Warner Bros.' summer hit Cats & Dogs, according to the Reporter.
Dragon's Lair Due For CD-ROM
igital Leisure announced that it will release a CD-ROM version of the classic arcade video game Dragon's Lair on Oct. 3.
The game, from animator Don Bluth (Titan A.E.), was the first laserdisc game when it was introduced almost 20 years ago.
The CD-ROM will feature MPEG 1 video and gameplay that resembles the original arcade title. The CD-ROM also features interviews with the game's creators. Digital Leisure will also produce CD-ROM versions of other classic video games, including Space Ace and Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, in the fall.
Hussain Rises To Ascension
irector Karim Hussain told Fangoria that his upcoming film Ascension combines genres.
"It's a science fiction horror movie about three women climbing endless stairs to the top of a massive tower," Hussain told the magazine. "Once they reach the summit, if they ever do, something will happen that will trigger the end of the world."
Hussain said he would begin shooting in February 2002, with a release planned for early 2003. "I'm writing and directing the film, which is produced by Zuno Films and Screen Machine Films of Montreal, in partnership with several Japanese companies," the director said.
Durand Dogs It In Dark Angel
evin Durand told SCI FI Wire that Joshua, the new character he'll portray on Fox's Dark Angel, is a mix of human and dog DNA.
"He's got a little bit of the canine in his genetic cocktail," Durand said in an interview. "He was basically thrown in the basement at Manticore once they realized that he was not completely human-looking."
Durand added, "So Joshua is basically the first version of what Max [Jessica Alba] is. She's the evolution of me. They made a lot of improvements, and the final results came out looking like Jessica Alba. Joshua, on the other hand, definitely exhibits the canine side. The beast features are subtle, but they're definitely there."
Joshua will be introduced in the episode "Designate This," the first episode of the SF series' second season. In it, Max encounters Joshua while trying to escape from the Manticore compound. Subsequent hours will find Joshua and Max becoming close friends, though rumors of a romance are just rumors at this point. For the moment, Joshua will look for a place to live and deal with both the excitement and inevitable prejudice he'll face on the streets of Seattle.
Durand said that he likes SF, and a quick glance at his resume reveals that he's not a stranger to the genre. "It's the ultimate escape from reality, from the everyday world," he said. "I did an episode of Andromeda ['The Sum of Its Parts'], and I do a recurring [role] on Stargate [SG-1]. On Stargate, I'm a Goa'uld. He's holier-than-thou, and he knows it. He can kill anyone at any second. He's incredibly intelligent, and he's absorbed all of this knowledge and strength from other cultures. He's this pompous a-shole, and, unfortunately, he's got every reason to think that. Andromeda was a good experience, too. [Star] Kevin [Sorbo] was great and supportive. I was incredibly uncomfortable in my costume, but they got the look they wanted." Dark Angel starts its second season in its new 8 p.m. Friday timeslot on Sept. 28.
Jeepers 2 More Ambitious
eepers Creepers writer and director Victor Salva has ambitious plans for a proposed sequel to his hit supernatural horror film, Fangoria reported.
Salva is reportedly envisioning a follow-up analogous to James Cameron's approach in Aliens, the magazine reported.
That means more monsters, more action and more victims. The original actors all had sequel clauses in their contracts; Gina Philips is likely to star again, with Jonathan Breck reprising his Creeper role, while Justin Long may reappear only in a cameo, Fangoria reported.
A.I. Too Smart For U.S.?
rian Aldiss, on whose short story Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence was based, told the Web site of the British Guardian newspaper that the film was probably too highbrow for U.S. audiences.
The 76-year-old author, who wrote the 1969 short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long!," was trying to account for the film's failure to find an American audience.
"Perhaps audiences tired of David's winsomeness," Aldiss told the site. "Perhaps—my money is on this one—it is just too intelligent for adolescents, to judge by the initial runaway box-office success of the moronic new Planet of the Apes."
A.I. grossed $29 million on its opening weekend in North America, compared with Planet of the Apes' $68.5 million. "Of course there is no love affair, no archetypal boy meeting archetypal girl," Aldiss added. "The very missing item that excludes science fiction from wider popularity."
Aboriginal SF Goes Extinct
boriginal Science Fiction, a genre magazine founded in 1985 and edited by Charles C. Ryan, will cease publication, Locus Online reported.
The 2nd Renaissance Foundation Inc. and DNA Publications put out the magazine.
Stories and illustrations scheduled for the next several issues of Aboriginal will appear in DNA's publication Absolute Magnitude; Aboriginal subscribers will receive copies of Absolute Magnitude for the length of their subscriptions, except for life subscribers, who will receive a two-year subscription, Locus reported.
"When I realized I no longer had the time to do the work, my primary concern was that subscribers receive the number of issues they have subscribed for and that authors and artists see their work in print," Ryan said in a statement. "This agreement with DNA will fulfill both of those criteria."
New Planet Faithful To Robbie
he Dark Horizons Web site reported a rumor that the upcoming remake of the classic 1956 SF film Forbidden Planet will indeed feature Robbie the Robot.
Not an update, but an exact duplicate of the original mechanical man, the site reported.
The only difference will be that the mechanics visible in Robbie's head will be slightly updated to include computer-generated flashing lights synchronized to his speech. In the original film, technical limitations meant a lag time between Robbie's vocals and the head mechanics and lights, the site reported.
New Line Cinema secured the rights to Planet and will fast-track a big-budget remake, Variety reported. Planet, loosely based on Shakespeare's play The Tempest, starred Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis.
Repli-Kate Needs Distributor
ugene Levy, star of the cloning comedy film Repli-Kate, told SCI FI Wire that the movie is done, but still needs a distributor to get a full theatrical release.
"It's a very small film, almost like an independent," Levy said in an interview. "They were looking for a distributor, and I haven't heard that it's coming out. I hadn't heard that they'd found a distributor yet."
Levy, who shot the film three years ago, plays a scientist who accidentally gets cloned by his two goofball assistants. They were trying to clone the perfect woman—which to them means a woman interested primarily in sex. Levy said the film doesn't really explore the ethical issues surrounding cloning. "I don't think it's that deep," he said.
As the film did not have the budget for high-tech computer effects of cloning films like Multiplicity and The 6th Day, Levy recalled that the on-screen duplication was achieved primitively. "It didn't seem like there were special effects at the time," Levy said. "I think they kind of do this thing where you can't cross this line, just only go this far, and then you're going to be playing to a character who is over here. It was that simple. I walk out, and the clone walks out, and there's a bit of a confusing factor there." The film is currently rated R and co-stars Ali Landry as Kate.
Timeline Moves To U.S.
roducers may shoot the feature-film version of Michael Crichton's Timeline novel in the United States, not France, as originally expected, the IGN FilmForce site reported.
Poor weather, air-travel hassles and the threat of strikes derailed the production's European plans, the site reported. The Richard Donner time-travel film is still in pre-production.
Donner's location manager is currently scouting for suitable locations throughout the United States for the film, much of which takes place in the towns and castles of 14th-century France. The crew will reportedly require 40 acres of land on which to build medieval village and castle sets. It's unclear whether the change of plans will delay the film's production and release.
Episode II Teaser Due?
heForce.net reported a rumor that a teaser trailer for Star Wars: Episode II—The Attack of the Clones may appear in theaters in November, attached to prints of Pixar's Monsters, Inc.
Monsters is set to premiere Nov. 2; Clones is set for a spring 2002 release.
The first teaser trailer for Episode I similarly appeared in November 1998, the fall before the film's May 1999 opening.
Lucas Shoots Down Virtual Actors
tar Wars creator George Lucas, who is known to favor digital film production, nevertheless dismissed the idea of digital actors replacing flesh-and-blood performers, Empire Online reported. "Acting is acting," he told the site at his Skywalker Ranch offices in Northern California.
"Most of the discussion on virtual actors at this point is a discussion by people that don't know anything about acting. There is no such thing as a virtual actor. All actors are real. They're all flesh and blood. That's why it's such a ridiculous debate."
Lucas also said that computer-generated characters, such as those in this year's Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and his own Jar Jar Binks, still rely on real actors for their performances. "It's not just what the actor looks like," he said. "We don't make silent movies. The performance is in the voice, and then part of it is in the image, but it's not one thing."
Lucas added, "Most of the virtual actors or so-called virtual actors that are working today, even in my films, we use the real actor. The animators, who are also actors, take their cues from the actual actor that's on the set that plays the role. It's not like an animator thinks this up on their own. The computer does not create these actors. There are live, flesh-and-blood people working very hard, who are very, very talented and who understand the craft and have the talent to act, that are animating these characters in combination with an actual, live professional actor that has talent and craft to deliver a performance. You just can't make a lifelike figure and say, 'Well, this is going to work,' because it doesn't. It never will. Until you have real good artificial intelligence, you know, that's quirky, like humans are, you're never going to get that to happen. And it definitely will not happen in our lifetime."
Alice Rumors Dispelled
ohn August, who wrote a treatment for a feature film based on American McGee's Alice video game, told the IMDB Web site that the movie is not called Dark Wonderland, as rumored.
"I have no idea where the title Dark Wonderland came from," August said in response to a fan question. "Everyone involved on the project calls it Alice. I suspect some fanboy thought Dark Wonderland sounded cooler. But that's not the working title."
August also dispelled the notion that either Natalie Portman or Eliza Dushku was in line to star in the film. "It's a long ways away from casting, and any speculation is just fanboy fantasy," he said.
August also denied that he will be writing the final script for the film. "I agreed to write a 20-page treatment instead, fleshing out the characters and the plot," he said. "Once I turned that in, my involvement in the project was effectively over. Currently, the producers are working with other writers to come up with the script, so I have no idea how close they are to being able to film. While some projects do get lost in development hell, my instinct is that Alice will get made at some point."
Frost Mulls New Peaks?
win Peaks writer and co-creator Mark Frost said in a radio interview that he was planning a new feature film that would bring back the characters of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper and his partner Sam Stanley, according to a report on the Dark Horizons Web site.
Frost created the 1980s TV series with director David Lynch, who also helmed the Peaks movie, Fire Walk With Me.
Frost reportedly wants to get Kyle MacLachlan (Cooper) and Kiefer Sutherland (Stanley) to reprise their roles. The new story would take place in the FBI headquarters in Washington, the site reported.
Justice League Guests Named
owers Boothe and David Ogden Stiers will provide guest voices on Cartoon Network's upcoming Justice League animated superhero series, the Comics Continuum reported.
Boothe will voice Gorilla Grodd in a two-part episode written by Dwayne McDuffie, featuring the Flash and Green Lantern, the site reported.
Stiers will voice Solovar, a leader of Gorilla City, in the episodes. Interestingly, this won't be Stiers first brush with the DC Comics franchise: He played the Martian Manhunter in CBS' 1997 live-action Justice League of America pilot, which was not picked up, the site reported. Cartoon Networks' Justice League premieres Nov. 17.
Others Creeps Up
he Others crept up to No. 2 in the Sept. 21 box-office top 10, taking in about $5.2 million for the weekend and registering its highest ranking since it premiered seven weeks ago, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
Last weekend, the movie ranked fifth. To date, the ghost story has grossed about $80.2 million, the trades reported.
Jeepers Creepers was the only other genre film in the top 10, placing ninth with an estimated weekend take of $2.8 million and a total so far of about $33.6 million, the trades reported. Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 premiered on only 314 screens, taking in an estimated $1.5 million, for a respectable $4,799 per venue, the trades reported.
Briefly Noted
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Star Wars: Episode II star Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) told Australia's Herald Sun newspaper that Jar Jar Binks may be "as good as gone" in the upcoming prequel. "Episode I took loads of acclaim at the box office, but a number of real fans weren't happy with it," Daniels told the newspaper. "They're going to be pleased with the one we're doing now. It is definitely darker."
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The Ain't It Cool News Web site reported a rumor that Warner Bros. will change the name of its giant-spider movie to Eight-Legged Freaks from Arac Attack—supposedly because the old name sounds too much like "Iraq attack."
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Fox will release the DVD version of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake on Nov. 20, with commentary by Burton. Suggested retail price is $29.95.
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Warner Bros. will release both widescreen and pan-and-scan DVD versions of its fantasy film Cats & Dogs on Oct. 16, the DVD File Web site reported. Both DVDs will feature separate "cat" and "dog" audio commentaries, deleted scenes, the HBO First Look special and Teaching a New Dog New Tricks featurette, four Easter eggs and the trailer. The suggested retail price is $26.95.
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The MovieHeadlines Web site reported a rumor that Vladmir Kulich (Buliwyf in The 13th Warrior) is being courted for the lead role in a proposed Thor: God of Thunder film, based on Marvel Comics' Thor series. The film is reportedly slated for a 2003 release.
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LucasArts announced that its upcoming video game Star Wars Rogue Squadron II:
Rogue Leader will incorporate Dolby Pro Logic II sound technology. The game, developed by Factor 5 in conjunction with LucasArts, is expected to be available for the Nintendo GameCube platform in November.
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The Movieheadlines.net Web site reported a denial from producers of the James Bond films that Ralph Fiennes is in contention to replace Pierce Brosnan as 007.
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The French edition of Premiere magazine has posted images from the upcoming Blade 2: Bloodlust sequel film.
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The Force.net Web site has posted a spy report from an early screening of footage from George Lucas' upcoming Star Wars: Episode II—The Attack of the Clones.
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Dark Angel star Jessica Alba admitted to Glamour magazine that she had an eating disorder while training for her kick-ass role on the Fox SF series, according to a report on TV Guide Online. "I got obsessed with it," Alba said in the magazine's October issue. "A lot of girls have eating disorders—and I did, too. I got too thin. ... Now, I'm concentrating on being normal."
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The Direct Publications Web site reported that the latest DVD in the children's animated Danger Mouse series, Danger Mouse and the Tower of Terror, will be withdrawn because its title and cover illustration were deemed inappropriate in light of the recent terrorist attacks on the United States.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger has filed a $20 million lawsuit against one of the top makers of slot machines for allegedly producing and marketing its products with his Terminator voice and likeness without his consent, the Los Angeles Times and Zap2it Web site reported. The suit, filed Sept. 7 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, contends that International Game Technology did not seek the action star's permission before making its Terminator-like slot machines, video gaming machines or before advertising in catalogs and at a convention held earlier this year.
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The official Star Trek Web site has posted a new launch site for UPN's new series Enterprise, which premieres Sept. 26. The Mr. Video Web site, meanwhile, has posted what it says are the show's opening credits.
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Variety confirmed that the genre films Spider-Man, Stuart Little 2 and Men in Black 2 will return to the streets of New York City for reshoots starting in mid-October.
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The new trailer for the first of Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings movies, The Fellowship of the Ring, has been posted to the official Web site. The trailer made its much-hyped debut on television during The WB's season premiere of Angel on Sept. 24. Fellowship opens Dec. 19.
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The British News of the World tabloid reported a spoiler rumor that British actor Richard Bremmer would play the top-secret role of Voldemort in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone film.
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The third-season premiere of The WB's Angel drew a modest 4.0 rating on Sept. 24, retaining a shaky 56 percent of its households from lead-in 7th Heaven, the Inside.com Web site reported. Last year, Roswell—which aired in the same 9 p.m. Monday timeslot—managed a 64 percent retention, the site reported.
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The Ain't It Cool News and DVD Times Web sites have posted the first images of the computer-generated title character from the upcoming live-action Scooby-Doo movie.
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Prevue Magazine has posted a long interview with Adrian Paul, the former Highlander star who will now headline the upcoming syndicated SF television series Tracker.
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Blade Runner director Ridley Scott told an audience at a Los Angeles screening of the 1982 movie to expect a new, two-disc special-edition DVD of the film next year, the Ain't It Cool News Web site reported.
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Wesley Snipes has ordered Blade 2 writer David Goyer to write a third installment, the Calgary Sun newspaper reported. Blade 2 is scheduled for release next year.
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The British Mirror newspaper reported that Pitch Black 2 will open on Memorial Day 2003, according to a report on the Dark Horizons Web site.
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An official Web site has opened for the upcoming horror film From Hell, about a psychic detective tracking down Jack the Ripper. The movie, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, opens Oct. 19.
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