he SCI FI Channel has given the green light to begin production on Children of Dune, a six-hour miniseries sequel to its Emmy-winning Frank Herbert's Dune. The miniseries begins production in Prague in April 2002 and is slated to air in 2003.

Dune adapter John Harrison wrote the script, based on Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, the second and third novels in Frank Herbert's six-volume Dune Chronicles series. Richard P. Rubinstein comes back on board as executive producer.

The sequel will continue the story of the Atreides family and recount the fall of Paul's empire, with the future resting in the hands of Paul's heirs, his twin children. No casting has been announced yet.

The premiere of Frank Herbert's Dune in December 2000 was the most-watched program in the history of The SCI FI Channel and earned a place among the top 10 of all original basic cable miniseries in the past five years.

alle Berry told SCI FI Wire that she "definitely wants" to play the bad Bond girl opposite Pierce Brosnan in the next 007 adventure, but revealed that her participation hinges on whether or not her X-Men 2 schedule will allow it. The situation is complicated by the fact that as yet there is no X-Men 2 production schedule, she said in an interview.

When X-Men 2 does finally roll camera, Berry said that she hopes to see more of her character, Storm, than she did in the original X-Men movie. "The problem was, with so many characters, they had to hone in on one story, or else it would have probably come off like a bunch of vignettes," she said. "I think they opted to tell Wolverine's [Hugh Jackman] story."

Berry added, "They also had to play to an audience that maybe knew nothing about the comic books. So they had a lot of backstory and history to tell. I'm hoping this time they will get into some of the other characters and that we'll learn [about them]. All I know right now is that Storm gets a haircut. She's like the den mother of the group. She's very mother-like, very nurturing, but it didn't really come across in the first movie. She's solid. They all come to her, even Wolverine, for guidance and advice. I'd like to see more of that. I'd also like to understand a bit more about where she came from. She's from Africa, and I'd like the audience to understand why she came here, how she discovered her unique powers. I'm hoping some of that will be in the sequel."

ox Home Entertainment announced the release of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season-one DVD set on Jan. 15, 2002. The set will include all 12 episodes of the fantasy series, which is currently in its sixth season.

The DVD will feature commentary by series creator Joss Whedon, interviews with Whedon and co-star David Boreanaz (Angel), the pilot script, the original trailer, DVD-ROM links, images and biographies, Fox announced. The set will carry a suggested retail price of $39.98 in the United States.

ajandra Delfino, who plays Maria in UPN's teen alien series Roswell, told SCI FI Wire that she doesn't concern herself with the show's fate or how it bounces back and forth between SF and romance. "I try not to think about it," the actress said in an interview. "I don't have enough invested in it—I don't think any of us do—to let it frustrate us. The people it must frustrate are the fans."

Roswell kicked off its third season, its first on UPN, in October, but Smallville has consistently won the ratings war. And that's despite the fact that Roswell has returned to its earlier romantic storyline, which initially attracted passionate fans and elicited excellent reviews. Delfino, however, can't offer much of an opinion about the show's quality. "For us, [the episodes] are our job," she said. "Rarely do we end up seeing the finished products, because we're working that day, or we've been doing this so much we really don't watch it. And I can definitely speak for all of us. For me, the reason I like an episode [now] is because we had a lot of fun doing it, or we had a great location, [or because of] what we all had personally going on."

PN's teen alien series Roswell's days may be numbered, Variety reported. The network is backing off earlier statements that it committed to a full 22 episodes for the current season, and is now saying it might cut its order to as few as 13, based on the show's lackluster ratings, the trade paper reported.

UPN chief executive Dean Valentine told Variety that the network has the right to cut Roswell's order based on ratings. UPN insiders told the trade paper that there's a chance UPN might order just 19 episodes, with a smaller chance UPN will simply stick with the 13 already guaranteed. A final decision is expected within the next few weeks.

ucy Lawless told TV Guide Online that she won't likely reprise her role as Shannon McMahon in this season's The X-Files. McMahon apparently met her demise earlier in the season, but awoke at the bottom of the sea—leaving the door open for a return.

But Lawless said that she has no plans to come back. "I'm halfway through my third pregnancy; I'm due at the end of April," she said. "I don't see how they can use a pregnant supersoldier. So I doubt that will happen. But it was a really great experience, and I'm so glad I did it. I think they can get on just fine without me."

he X-Files creator Chris Carter told the Zap2it Web site that he's not worried about the reported departure of Gillian Anderson at the end of the current season. "What's certain is that there's still a tremendous number of stories that can be told," Carter told the site. "The trick is exploring them with this new cast of characters," including Agent Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Agent Reyes (Annabeth Gish).

Anderson's departure also calls into question whether Carter would remain with the show for a possible 10th season. "I never imagined doing what I'm doing on season nine," he said. "It's against all odds. The only reasons I stay are that I feel a tremendous loyalty to the people I work with. I feel that the show still is a good storytelling vehicle, and I feel a responsibility to make good on a promise that I would stay on the show as long as David [Duchovny] and Gillian stayed with it."

Carter is currently in talks with 20th Century Fox to produce a movie sequel to the show's feature film, which would likely re-team Carter with Duchovny and Anderson, the site reported.

he X-Files' remaining original star, Gillian Anderson, told TV Guide Online that she will quit at the end of the current season, her ninth. "After this season, yes," she told the site. "My contract is up."

Anderson's statement confirms rumors that her Agent Scully would leave the show at the end of the season. But Anderson added that she's still open to reprising the role in any upcoming X-Files films. "Yes, I am," she said.

hoopi Goldberg, who played the mysterious Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation, was spotted this week on the Paramount lot, where filming of the 10th Trek movie, Nemesis, is taking place, a source told SCI FI Wire. It's unclear whether Goldberg will appear in the film, which also marks the return of TNG character Wesley Crusher, played by Wil Wheaton.

alden Media said that it has teamed up with The C.S. Lewis Co. to produce a live-action film version of Lewis' classic children's novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Reuters news service reported. Walden, a division of the Anschutz Group, bought the film option to the classic fantasy book and the rest of the late author's Chronicles of Narnia series. Variety reported that Walden will bring the project to New Line and Warner Brothers, with an eye to a 2004 release.

"I've been interested in pursuing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe since Mrs. Klein's fifth-grade English class," Cary Granat, chief executive of Walden Media and former president of Miramax Films' Dimension label, told Reuters. Granat said Walden has optioned all seven books in Lewis' Narnia series and intends to make them into a franchise. Lion, first published in 1950, is the second in the series. Lion was previously adapted by the BBC and in at least one animated version, Variety reported.

eenen Ivory Wayans is in talks to direct Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment's The Incredible Shrinking Man, with Eddie Murphy in the title role, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Brian Grazer is producing the film, which aims to go into production around June.

The film would remake the 1957 Universal SF film of the same name, based on Richard Matheson's novel. It told the story of a man, played by Grant Williams, who begins to shrink after he is exposed to a strange mist. Mark Burton and Billy Frolick wrote the script to the remake, the trade paper reported.

eorge Clooney and Steven Soderbergh's Section Eight has acquired the feature rights to Australian author Maxx Barry's SF book Jennifer Government, with Doubleday taking the novel's publication rights, Variety reported. Jennifer is a satirical mystery-thriller set in a near future in which the entire world has been privatized and every service requires a credit card, the trade paper reported.

No director or writers are attached yet.

ichael Moriarity and Eric Close have been cast in The SCI FI Channel's upcoming original miniseries Taken, from Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. The 20-hour miniseries, which started production in September in Vancouver, weaves together the stories of three families over three generations and their roles in the history of alien abductions.

In addition to Moriarity (Law & Order) and Close (Now and Again), the cast will include Willie Garson, Anton Yelchin, Ryan Hurst, Chad Morgan, Rob LaBelle, Catherine Dent, Tina Holmes, Steve Burton, Julie Benz and Joel Gretsch. Additional casting will be announced in coming months. Principal photography continues through the end of May 2002.

SCI FI also announced a list of directors for the 10 two-hour episodes, including Tobe Hooper, Breck Eisner, Felix Alcala, John Fawcett, Robert Harmon, Bryan Spicer and Sergio Mimica-Geezan, who worked as first assistant director to Spielberg on Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List.

Leslie Bohem wrote all 20 hours of Taken. Taken is slated to air in the fourth quarter of 2002.

tar Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones is halfway through post-production, having completed its 1,000th shot, director George Lucas told the official Star Wars Homing Beacon newsletter. "The tendency with other movies is to do the big push at the very end," Lucas told the newsletter. "It's like a term paper—you study, you work, you do your research, and you keep putting off the actual writing until it's almost too late. What we've done is gotten half the term paper already written way early, so we have plenty of time to do rewrites and finish the project and have the opportunity to make changes and improve it. It's a great thing to be on schedule."

Lucas added that the film is still months away from completion. "Everybody's done just a really great job of staying on schedule and keeping their heads down and really working hard to meet these milestones," Lucas said. "The most difficult part and the most complicated shots are yet to come." Episode II opens in May 2002.

tar Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader debuted as the top third-party video game for the new Nintendo GameCube system, LucasArts Entertainment Co. announced. The title also ranked as the second overall game for the gaming console.

Star Wars Rogue Leader, developed in conjunction with Factor 5, features movie-like visuals in a game of aerial conflict in craft such as the X-wing, A-wing and B-wing fighters from the Star Wars films. The game takes players on a Death Star trench run, a space attack on a star destroyer and a battle on the ice planet of Hoth.

eter Wyborn, modelmaking supervisor for Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones, told the official Star Wars Web site that he and his crew had to devise the film's many props from original designs. "The [prop] guys next door built all sorts of weird things out of odd bits and pieces, whereas we tended to get more specific, engineered things," says Wyborn of his department. "You've probably got a bigger variety of craftsmen working here—pattern makers, industrial designers with model-making backgrounds and engineers."

Wyborn added that the various departments' responsibilities tended to blur during production. "There's three art directors that we dealt with. The line between departments and sets and props is a little bit blurry, and we found that we were doing things that the construction department had been too busy to do. For instance, we made some light fittings about eight feet in diameter. They were all engineered out of aluminum. That's not really model-making. We did the same thing with some of the tables and furniture in one of the apartments. There is quite a crossover.

"One of the first jobs we had was building chairs for the Naboo craft," Wyborn said. "We put pre-built pieces in there. For the speeders, we had to put in the steering column." Episode II opens in May 2002.

niversal has dropped out of the bidding contest for rights to the upcoming Terminator 3 film, Variety columnist Michael Fleming reported. DreamWorks, Disney (possibly through Dimension) and Paramount are still competing for the distribution rights to the Arnold Schwarzenegger sequel, Fleming reported. A deal is expected soon.

Producers Mario Kassar, Andy Vajna and Joel Michaels hired Tedi Serafian to write T3, which will be directed by Jonathan Mostow.

rnold Schwarzenegger could make a precedent-setting $30 million to star in the upcoming sequel film Terminator 3, Variety columnist Michael Fleming reported. The sequel, financed by Intermedia, is set to begin production in April. T3 takes place 10 years after the events in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, with a 20-something John Conner and Schwarzenegger's T-800 battling a female Terminatrix whose powers and morphing abilities go beyond anything seen before, Fleming reported. John Brancato and Michael Ferris wrote the script with director Jonathan Mostow, and the three spent eight months sharpening it, Fleming reported.

Sources close to the production denied to Fleming the $30 million salary precedent, but other sources told the columnist that Schwarzenegger's sequel pay will slightly exceed the $25 million he made five years ago on Batman and Robin. Mostow will be paid upward of $5 million, Fleming reported.

Several studios, meanwhile, are bidding for domestic rights to distribute the film, including Paramount, Disney, Universal and possibly DreamWorks, the trade paper reported.

rnold Schwarzenegger and director Jonathan Mostow were expected to sign contracts imminently to make Terminator 3, which is slated to begin shooting in April 2002, Variety reported. Neither star nor helmer has signed on the dotted line to make the proposed sequel to James Cameron's groundbreaking SF film yet.

Sources told Variety that the third Terminator film will have a production budget well above $170 million, making it easily the most expensive movie ever green-lighted.

ada Pinkett Smith, who appears in the upcoming two Matrix sequels, told the Calgary Sun newspaper that making the grueling films is like being caught in the virtual world itself. "There are days I feel I'm not just filming The Matrix," Smith told newspaper. "I feel like I'm in the Matrix." Smith plays Niobe in the two films, which are currently filming in Australia, the newspaper reported.

"It's the never-ending movie," Smith said. "I still have five more months of filming down in Australia. After [husband] Will [Smith] is finished promoting Ali, he and the children are going to join me in Australia for a month or so."

But Smith added that the work will be worth it. "These sequels are going to blast the original off the screen, and that's exactly what the fans want," she said.

he San Jose Mercury News reported that sets used in the Northern California shooting of the upcoming two Matrix sequels are being recycled rather than trashed. Filmmakers used more than 8,200 tons of building materials to construct sets that included a six-lane freeway, a huge cave and tenement façades.

Warner Brothers, the city of Alameda, the ReUse People Inc. and the local waste authority recycled the lumber to help build housing for low-income families in Mexico. The steel was used as is; 48 fire escapes and 60 decorative moldings were sold to local contractors; polystyrene blocks were sent out for use in insulation material; and the freeway set was crushed and will be used as road base, the newspaper reported.

he writers who adapted J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books for the screen told E! Online that they were judicious in how they reworked the famous text. Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens and director Peter Jackson worked on the scripts for the three Rings films.

"It was literally a process of the story revealing itself to us," Walsh told the site. "Peter and I would look through the footage and discuss various ways the story could be told." Even during post-production and editing, Walsh and Boyens reworked the scripts, and actors were recalled in early 2001 to film pickup scenes for the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring.

A prologue explaining the history of the One Ring was redone, and part of Frodo's story was reshot, so his knowledge of the ring's evil comes more gradually, the site reported. "We do end with a cliffhanger," Walsh said. "But we've tried to give film one a sense of completeness, a sense that a big part of this story is over."

Meanwhile, E! Online reported that New Line will premiere Fellowship with a series of galas around the world, with the big debut Dec. 10 in London. A high-profile screening follows in New York on Dec. 13 to benefit the New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund. On Dec. 16, there's an event in Los Angeles, followed by a gala in Wellington, New Zealand, Jackson's hometown. Fellowship opens to the public on Dec. 19.

ichael White, whose biography of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien comes out this week, told the Reuters news service that the writer would likely have hated the upcoming feature-film trilogy based on his epic novel. "I think he would have just closed his eyes to it," White said of Tolkien, who died in 1973 at age 81.

White added, "He had a hatred of all things Hollywood and did not believe in the idea of imitation being the best form of flattery. As a writer I find that staggering."

Peter Jackson's first Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, opens Dec. 19. Tolkien is likely to have preferred remaining unknown in his lifetime, Reuters reported. "Being a cult figure in one's own lifetime, I am afraid, is not at all pleasant," he is quoted as saying. "In my case at any rate it makes me feel extremely small and inadequate."

he family of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien has been split by a feud over the movie version of the trilogy, the British Independent newspaper reported. Christopher Tolkien, one of the late author's three surviving children, has severed contact with his eldest son in a dispute over Peter Jackson's upcoming three movies.

Christopher, 77, refused to co-operate with the project and remains opposed to it. But his eldest son, Simon, said that he was cut off from family affairs and banned from the board set up to protect his grandfather's estate after suggesting that the movies were a good idea, the newspaper reported.

Simon, 42, a barrister from London, said, "My father has refused to have anything to do with me or my son, who is 11, for three years, and he has rejected all requests to have a meeting. As long ago as early 1999, it was my view that we should take a much more positive line on the film, and that was overruled by my father. Following that, I was excluded from the board of the Tolkien company."

Simon met Jackson two years ago and will be attending the London premiere of the first Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring, with his wife, Tracy, and his son Nicholas, the newspaper reported. The first film opens Dec. 19.

arades, tributes and stars will celebrate the 100th anniversary on Dec. 5 of the birth of Walt Disney, who launched what was to become a multibillion-dollar worldwide entertainment industry, the Reuters news service reported. In Walt Disney World in Florida, the occasion will be marked by a "100 Years of Magic" celebration featuring a 25-foot-high portrait of the animator made out of cakes, a parade and a fireworks show.

In Beverly Hills, Disney will be remembered in a tribute evening featuring rare film clips, home movies and discussions organized by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Reuters reported.

ilmmakers will return in mid-January to finish principal photography on The Scorpion King, which was interrupted to accommodate star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's wrestling schedule and in anticipation of an actors' union strike that never happened, syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith reported. Most of Scorpion—a prequel to the two Mummy movies—was shot months ago, but key battle scenes were left to finish next month.

Filming will take place in the Los Angeles area. Universal is still eyeing an April 2002 release date, the columnists reported.

enneth Lonergan, writer-director of the Oscar-nominated You Can Count on Me, has been hired by Warner Brothers to adapt a big-screen version of author T.H. White's Arthurian book The Once and Future King, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lonergan is also interested in directing the film, the trade paper reported.

The 1958 King is actually a quartet of novels that comprises The Sword in the Stone, The Queen of Air and Darkness, The Ill-Made Knight and The Candle in the Wind, the trade paper reported. It tells the story of King Arthur from his birth to the end of his reign.

For the past couple of months, Lonergan has been working to adapt the 700-page book into a workable script, which he is expected to turn in to the studio as early as this month, the trade paper reported. The first novel in the quartet was the basis for the 1963 Disney animated film The Sword in the Stone. The three remaining books were the foundation for the 1960 Broadway musical Camelot and the movie based on it.

in Eater, a supernatural thriller film from director Brian Helgeland (A Knight's Tale), is slated to start shooting Jan. 11 in Rome, Variety reported. Helgeland's Knight's Tale stars, Heath Ledger and Shannyn Sossamon, will star in the new film, the trade paper reported.

Sin Eater, based on an original idea by Helgeland, tells the story of a priest who assists a female detective investigating a case involving a corpse covered with religious symbols, Variety reported. Former Polygram Filmed Entertainment president Michael Kuhn and Craig Baumgarten will produce.

riter-director Chris Noonan (Babe) will helm the romantic comedy/fantasy film The DisAssociate for MGM, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film is slated for a late spring production start.

The plot of the movie is being kept secret, but it reportedly concerns an ordinary man who has the opportunity to become extraordinary. Zach Helm wrote the script and is currently writing another draft, the trade paper reported.

Noonan's 1995 fantasy film Babe was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning an Oscar for best visual effects and a Golden Globe for best picture, comedy/musical.

etsy Mitchell—previously editor-in-chief of Aspect, the Warner Books science fiction and fantasy imprint—will become vice president, editor-in-chief of Del Rey Books, effective Jan. 2, 2002. The announcement was made by Gina Centrello, president and publisher of Ballantine Books, in a statement.

As editor-in-chief of Del Rey, Mitchell will oversee the Del Rey editorial department and be responsible for its day-to-day operation and overall strategic direction. She will also acquire and edit original titles for hardcover publication, as well as reprints for the trade and mass-market paperback lists.

Prior to Warner Aspect, Mitchell was associate publisher of the Bantam Spectra line, where she edited the Star Wars titles, as well as such SF authors as William Gibson and Dan Simmons.

riter-director Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) confirmed to SCI FI Wire that he is writing a film adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a project Bradbury said earlier that Darabont had taken over from Mel Gibson. "I'm going to be adapting that next year and hopefully directing it the year after," Darabont said in an interview. "I'm definitely going to be writing it. Hopefully I'll get it off the ground."

Bradbury told SCI FI Wire in an interview that Darabont would likely helm the film. Darabont said that he does not plan to modernize the text or make any significant changes to the story. "It'll be true to Ray Bradbury's book, which the [1966 François] Truffaut version wasn't," the director said. "I want to do a really faithful adaptation, and I don't want to pander to what is considered modern or not. It's a very timeless story. Let's keep it timeless. Why try to hip it up for the 21st century?"

Darabont added that he is also still thinking of adapting Bradbury's short-story collection The Martian Chronicles, but not for film. "I'm trying to get it set up as a miniseries. The way I've got it broken down, [it's] 13 half-hour [episodes]." Bradbury had said that the book would become a movie.

enerable SF author Ray Bradbury told SCI FI Wire that he's never had so many film projects in the works as he has now, at the ripe old age of 81. In addition to a film version of his short story "A Sound of Thunder," Bradbury is linked to movies based on his classic SF books Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, as well as an original miniseries for the SCI FI Channel based on The Illustrated Man.

"It's quite amazing," Bradbury said in an interview. "And two new books of poetry will be published during the next two months. Huge collections, all the collected poems of mine will be published in about two weeks. And then another book of poetry from Ireland, which is kind of wonderful. And I'm also putting together another book of essays, because my last book of essays, Yestermorrow, came out eight or nine years ago. So it's time to collect all of my various ideas that have been published in magazines and put them out. And then with all these films pending, it's an incredible year, when you consider I'm 81 years old. If you wait around long enough, maybe something will happen."

Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) will write and direct new movie versions of The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury said. "We're doing the Martian Chronicles over," he said. "It was done as a series 20 years ago by NBC. It wasn't bad, but it was boring. Really boring. And they had a lot of good people, but it was a disappointment. So now, Frank Darabont is going to write and direct a new version. And he's a very fine writer and director: Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. And also, his second project is Fahrenheit 451, which he's taking over from Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson was supposed to direct it five years ago, but he's let five years go by, and written 10 screenplays on Fahrenheit. Can you imagine that? If you know the novel, you need to have 10 screenplays? How about one?"

enerable SF author Ray Bradbury told SCI FI Wire that the feature-film version of his time-travel story "A Sound of Thunder" should begin production in Mexico's Yucatan in the spring. Pierce Brosnan is still starring—but director Renny Harlin has been fired because he wanted to alter a key element, Bradbury said in an interview.

"He's been on the project for more than a year, and he's a fine director," Bradbury said. "But then, about four weeks ago, quite suddenly, [he said,] 'Why don't we take the butterfly out of Sound of Thunder?' Can you believe that? When I heard it, I whooped with laughter. I said, 'Oh my God, ... if you wanted to be accurate about being stupid, this was it.' So they fired him, and we've got a new director now. I don't remember his name. They told me, but I didn't write it down." The Hollywood Reporter said that Peter Hyams (End of Days) was in talks for the job.

In the story, a time traveler journeys back to the past to observe dinosaurs, but inadvertently steps off a designated path onto a butterfly. When the traveler returns to the present, everything has changed. Of Harlin's comment, Bradbury said, "I think that's hilarious, don't you? It's the center of the story. It's been published in 80 anthologies. It's in every school in the country. And if you took out the butterfly, you wouldn't have a film. So, in the middle of all this, the Crusader [Entertainment] producers sent me a huge bouquet of inflated butterflies, six feet tall, beautiful butterflies. And I'm having a recording made by Frank Sinatra of the song Poor Butterfly right now."

u Tang Clan rapper Method Man denied in an interview with SCI FI Wire a persistent rumor that he will play a young Boba Fett in the upcoming Star Wars prequel films. "That Boba Fett sh-t? Yeah, right," said the rapper, aka Clifford Smith, in an interview.

im Carrey is in early talks to star in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, an offbeat fantasy film from writer Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich), Variety reported. Michel Gondry will direct the movie, which takes place partly in the recesses of the protagonist's brain, the trade paper reported.

Several A-list actresses are under consideration to play the female lead, the trade paper reported. USA Films is producing; USA Films is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

arbara Eden (I Dream of Jeannie) will guest star on an upcoming episode of The WB's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, playing Sabrina's (Melissa Joan Hart) mean great-aunt Irma, the Zap2it Web site reported. Eden's Sabrina episode will air Jan. 11, 2002.

Pop group Hanson will also appear in the episode and play a song from the band's forthcoming CD. Isaac Hanson plays the ex-boyfriend of Roxie (Soleil Moon Frye), surprising her with an impromptu song with his brothers at a soup kitchen where Roxie does volunteer work, Zap2it reported.

lack Isle Studios and Snowblind Studios announced the release of the action role-playing game Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for the PlayStation 2 gaming platform. The sequel is set in one of the most popular Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings, the Forgotten Realms.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance adapts the new Dungeons & Dragons rules set and allows players to customize characters.

ew Line is developing two romantic comedy films loosely based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The first, 35 to Life, from writing duo Steven Gary Banks and Claudia Grazioso, tells the story of a man who is visited by the ghosts of past relationships on the eve of his girlfriend's parents' 35th anniversary.

The second, an untitled Valentine's Day project from first-time writer Austin Winsberg, is described as A Christmas Carol set during Valentine's Day, the trade paper reported.