Episode II Trailer Hits Web
he never-before-seen full trailer for Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones debuted on the Internet at the official Star Wars Web site on March 10, the same day it premiered on the Fox network during prime time, the official Homing Beacon newsletter reported.
The trailer will begin playing in movie theaters on March 15, attached to the upcoming computer-animated film Ice Age.
"With this trailer, we start to look at the story and the state of the galaxy in Episode II," Lucasfilm's vice president of marketing, Jim Ward, told the newsletter. "It sets the stage for what's about to happen and how the characters are involved. We find out that the Republic is on the brink of war, and the Jedi are overburdened in trying to hold everything together."
The 2 1/2-minute trailer, entitled Clone War, culminates with glimpses of some of the largest action sequences ever found in a Star Wars movie and begins to lift the veil surrounding the Clone Wars first mentioned—but never explained—in the original Star Wars movie, the newsletter reported. "In Episode II, we're going to see the Jedi in action like we've never seen them before," Ward said. "We're going to see hundreds of Jedi, hundreds of lightsabers, thousands of clones, in a huge battle. The trailer gives just a hint of what's to come." The trailer aired on Fox between original episodes of Malcolm in the Middle at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT and The X-Files at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
New Episode II Footage Screened
heater owners got a glimpse of new footage from Star Wars: Episode II on March 5, including a new peek at Yoda, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Producer Rick McCallum presented a new technical reel and trailer for the prequel, which opens May 16, to conventioneers at ShoWest 2002 in Las Vegas.
The footage included a montage of scenes from the film, set to a musical score, the trade paper reported. The new trailer emphasized action, scope and introduced a whole menagerie of new Star Wars creatures, the paper added.
"I know some of you are worried," McCallum told the convention, according to remarks posted on the official Star Wars Web site. "You think that we have made a small intimate love story about Jar Jar Binks getting funky with the Ewoks. Don't worry—you can all relax now. I am proud to have the opportunity to show you our latest trailer, which will be out in theaters in the next couple of weeks."
McCallum added that much work remains to get the film ready for release. "We still have over 300 unfinished visual effects from the last three reels of the film," he said. "Those will need to be completed in an astonishing seven weeks. We started our final mix yesterday. We will be releasing the film day and date in over 60 countries and in 19 different languages. But we will be ready May 16th."
Episode II Comic Due In April
ark Horse comics will release an adaptation of the upcoming prequel movie Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones on April 24, three weeks before the film hits theaters, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
Henry Gilroy has adapted George Lucas' and Jonathan Hales' screenplay, with Jan Duursema and Ray Kryssing providing the artwork, the site reported.
Clones will appear as a trade paperback and as a four-issue series of comics, the site reported. The four issues will feature covers by Tsuneo Sanda. Photographic cover versions will be available as well, the site reported.
Dark Horse is also participating in the comic book industry-sponsored Free Comic Book Day on May 4. Participating retailers will carry a free Star Wars comic, Star Wars Tales: A Jedi's Weapon, in which Obi-Wan Kenobi and his student Anakin Skywalker take part in a pre-Episode II adventure. Henry Gilroy, Manuel Garcia and Jimmy Palmiotti created the title, which features a photo-composite cover by Valerie Reckert.
Why Mulder Reopened X-Files
V Guide Online reported that it was David Duchovny himself who suggested a return to The X-Files, even though the actor had previously asserted that he had no interest in reprising the role of Agent Fox Mulder on the long-running TV series.
Series creator Chris Carter initially approached Duchovy about directing the April 28 episode of the series, which wraps its nine-year run in May.
Not only was Duchovny interested, but "he had suggested that he act in the [April 28] episode as well, which was a big surprise to us," executive producer Frank Spotnitz told TV Guide. "We certainly didn't expect that." When the decision was made to put Duchovny in the May two-hour series finale instead, Spotnitz added, "what became uncertain at that point was whether David would still co-write, direct and act in [the April 28] show. So the final outcome, as you well know, is that he is going to act in the [series finale in May] and co-write, direct, but not act in, [the April 28] episode."
Spotnitz said he understands Duchovny's change of heart. "My impression from talking to him was that he still cares about the show," he said. "He's still invested in it and certainly cares about [Mulder]. And I think he recognized that it was the best thing for the show and the audience [for him] to come back and give closure to nine years of the series. I think we all agree on that."
Pickens Faces End Of X-Files
ames Pickens Jr., who plays FBI Deputy Director Kersh in The X-Files, told SCI FI Wire that he's trying to be a realist when it comes to the imminent demise of the series.
"Cary Elwes and I have spent less time with the show than just about anyone else, so we
didn't have quite as much invested in it as Gillian [Anderson] or Annabeth [Gish] or Robert [Patrick]," said Pickens, who has played the recurring role since season six. "But you're always sad to see a show end, especially one like The X-Files that's had such a history and such longevity and such popularity."
Pickens, who appears next in the feature film Red Dragon, added, "To be a part of that history has been quite exciting. I can honestly say that I've been a part of television history, in a way. I guess The X-Files ran its course. It happens to every great racehorse. There's a time to retire him and put him out to stud. I don't think there's that much left to film. They've got me for March and April, and then I think we're done. I don't know how much they'll use me yet. It takes them about 10 days to shoot an episode, so I'm looking at two or three more episodes, max." The two-hour finale of The X-Files will air May 19 on Fox.
Potter, Rings Join Top 10
arry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring have joined the elite club of the top 10 highest-grossing films in history, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Potter is the second highest-grossing film ever, with a worldwide take of $941.7 million and counting. That bumped Star Wars: Episode I ($925.5 million) into third place, the trade paper reported.
Rings is now the number-eight highest-grossing film ever, with worldwide box-office of $749.6 million, the trade paper reported. Titanic remains the number-one movie of all time, with $1.83 billion worldwide.
More Potter Casting Announced
ason Isaacs was among several actors who have signed on to the cast of the upcoming sequel film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Variety reported.
Isaacs will play the malevolent Lucius Malfoy, father of Harry's nemesis, Draco Malfoy.
Other cast additions: Miriam Margolyes (Cats & Dogs) as the green-fingered Prof. Sprout; Mark Williams as Ron Weasley's father, Mr. Weasley; Shirley Henderson as Moaning Myrtle; Gemma Jones as Madam Pomfrey; and Sally Mortemore as librarian Madam Pince. Kenneth Branagh will play Defense Against the Dark Arts Prof. Gilderoy Lockhart, the trade paper reported.
Stewart Talks Nemesis
tar Trek: Nemesis star Patrick Stewart told E! News Daily that it's not clear whether the upcoming 10th Trek film will be the last for the Next Generation crew, according to a report on the TrekWeb site.
"I honestly don't know, and I also don't know if it should be," Stewart told the show. "Ultimately, these things come down to one issue, and that's profits. But I have a notion that there is a sequel begging to be made of this particular movie [laughs]."
Stewart reprises the role of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in the movie, which introduces a new villain, Shinzon, played by British actor Tom Hardy. "The good captain [patting his chest] has been captured, and he is a prisoner of Shinzon, our young bad guy," Stewart said. "[Let's call him a] confused guy. ... He is very bright, very charismatic, but psychologically a terrible mess." Nemesis is slated for a November release.
Fans Rally Again For Roswell
ore than 11,750 fans of UPN's teen-alien series Roswell have signed on online petition to keep the show alive for one more season.
"Roswell is a great television program, and I am helping all Roswell fans to start early in the quest to have Roswell reach its fourth birthday," the petition reads.
Though official word won't come out about the low-rated series' future until later this spring, fears have run rampant that UPN will cancel the show. Co-star Majandra Delfino earlier posted on her Web site that she expected the show to go off the air, and it's believed that the network has already cut the series' current third-season order of episodes to 18 from the original 20.
Fan action has kept the show alive before. At the end of the show's first season, a deluge of fan mail—and tiny Tabasco bottles, the aliens' condiment of choice—persuaded the show's then-network, The WB, to renew it for one more year. For now, UPN has put Roswell on a brief hiatus until April, when it returns with new episodes Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Jackman Bulks Up For X2
ugh Jackman told the Urban Cinefile Web site that he's glad he has time to prepare to reprise the role of Wolverine in the upcoming X2, the sequel to X-Men.
"It's been two years, and the first one was such a big rush, because I got cast within a week of shooting, and it took me about three or four weeks into shooting before I really felt I had the character down," Jackman told the site. "So now I feel confident I know what Wolverine is about."
Jackman added, "I've got to start eating tuna and bulking up, which is a bit of a pain. But apart from that, I'm really looking forward to it." X2 is slated for a May 2003 release.
Adams Couldn't Find Towel
uthor Neil Gaiman (American Gods) told Cinescape Online that he was only a young man when he first met fellow writer Douglas Adams, the late author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Gaiman eventually wrote Don't Panic, Adams' authorized biography.
"I was just a silly little guy," Gaiman told the site. "When I met Douglas I was only in my early 20s, and I had just sort of stumbled upon writing. I was by no means an experienced or established writer. But the thing about [Adams] was that he didn't care. He treated me like a professional and like an equal. ... I learned from him that the people who have the most reason to be arrogant are the nicest, and that all too often it's the 'second-string' people who are extremely conscious of how important they are."
Gaiman added that he left out one anecdote about Adams, whose best advice in Hitchhiker was always to carry around a towel. "One day I was in his office, going through various papers in the filing cabinet as part of the research for the book, and his mother was there on a visit. I think I was looking through old Doctor Who scripts or something, when I heard his mother ask for a towel so that she could take a bath. He went from cabinet to cabinet and couldn't find any. It was unbelievable: Douglas Adams didn't know where his towel was!" Adams died of a heart attack last year; his last book, A Salmon of a Doubt, is being readied for publication as part of a compendium in May, Cinescape reported.
Buffy: Changes Due For Anya
mma Caulfield, whose ex-demon character, Anya, faced marriage on UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer on March 5, told the Boston Herald that the pivotal episode "is the catalyst for a very interesting journey for Anya."
But Caulfield remained coy about details, including rumors that a key character will meet his or her demise this season. Series creator "Joss Whedon makes you invaluable, and then he'll kill you," Caulfield told the newspaper. "I told him, just give me a couple months' warning so I don't buy a new house or plan a big trip."
Caulfield added that she views her surprising success in television as a way station on the way to other endeavors. "I had this awakening there of what I'm supposed to do," Caulfield told the newspaper. "I made peace with the fact that this business is not what I'm supposed to do. It's really a steppingstone for other projects." Caulfield, who owns two cats, said she wants to "effect great change for the animals of the world." In the meantime, she said, "I'm very much at peace. I'm on a great show, playing a great character, surrounded by great people. I'm so blessed." Buffy airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Season Two Buffy DVD Due In June
he DVDFile Web site reported that the complete second season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer arrives on DVD on June 11.
The set will feature the season's episodes in full-frame format with 2.0 surround sound, the site reported.
The new DVD set will also feature more extras than the recently released first-season set. These include audio commentary on select episodes; interviews with series creator Joss Whedon; three featurettes, Designing Buffy, A Buffy Bestiary and Beauty and Beasts; more than 150 images of set designs, monsters and cast and crew; scripts for certain episodes; U.K. and U.S. ads and trailers for Buffy and its spinoff series, Angel; and updated cast biographies. The set will carry a suggested retail price of $59.95, the site reported.
Genre TV Casting Announced
he Fox network announced casting for several upcoming genre series and pilots, Variety reported.
Rebecca Gayheart will play Inara in the cast of Firefly, the SF series coming from Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, the trade paper reported.
Andrea Roth and Max Baker, meanwhile, join the cast of Fox's new take on The Time Tunnel, from writer Rand Ravich and director Todd Holland. Fox also ordered a pilot for a supernatural family comedy, The Big Fix, about a self-centered man who arrives in the afterlife and is given the chance to go back and correct his mistakes, the trade paper reported.
NBC announced the casting of Paul Wasilewski and Julian Morris in the lead roles of Lancelot and Arthur in the network's upcoming Young Arthur series, the trade paper reported.
A.I. DVD Reveals Process
aurent Bouzereau, special features producer on the DVD of Steven Spielberg's SF film A.I. Artificial Intelligence, told SCI FI Wire that the collaboration of all departments in the film allowed him to create a set of documentaries that paint a complete portrait of the making of the movie.
"The way we tried to design it was to give a sense to the audience of what it's like to make a movie," Bouzereau said. "Because I had access to every single department, I could really get into everybody's head."
Bouzereau joined director Spielberg at Amblin seven years ago to work on special-edition content for library titles such as Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. For A.I., Bouzereau joined Spielberg on the set during the making of the film, and his connections with the filmmakers allowed him access to the actors, costumers, set designers, music producer, Stan Winston's studio and effects house Industrial Light & Magic, all of whose work is spotlighted on the DVD.
"It was a dream come true for me to actually watch Mr. Spielberg at work," Bouzereau said. "It's the first time he's had someone on the set not only documenting the film for the theatrical release, but also for the DVD. Because I had worked with some of his collaborators on the film before, they all came to me saying, 'Oh, we have this extra stuff for you for the DVD.' People were always thinking of the audience out there who would experience the movie at some point on DVD." The two-disc A.I. DVD will be released on March 5.
Winston Signs On For T3
pecial-effects guru Stan Winston—who won makeup and visual-effects Oscars for his work on the second Terminator film—has signed on to the third installment in the franchise, T3: Rise of the Machines, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Winston will be the film's animatronic and makeup effects supervisor.
The sequel, to be directed by Jonathan Mostow, will feature a new female cyborg, the T-X, to be played by Kristanna Loken. The T-X will have advanced powers, including control over other machines and the ability to disappear, the trade paper reported.
Winston is nominated this year for an Oscar for his work on Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
Cameron To Helm Dark Angel?
alarie Rae Miller, who plays Original Cindy on the Fox SF series Dark Angel, told SCI FI Wire that series co-creator James Cameron may raise his involvement in the show soon, including directing an episode.
"There's some talk about a couple of things," Miller said in an interview. "I heard that James Cameron might actually be directing the season finale. I don't know. I know that there's some possibility. I know it's not a decided thing yet."
Cameron, who wrote the Dark Angel pilot, directed by David Nutter (The X-Files, Smallville), has not yet directed an episode of the popular drama, so this could signal a change that could extend beyond one episode. "I think that has a lot of bearing on what happens next season," Miller said. "I know that he's becoming more involved again. He was involved originally, and then ... you know what happens when television series enter their second season. In the second season, a lot of changes happen, and there are a lot of times when the powers that be decide to change stuff. So it'll be interesting to see what happens after this year." After a three-week absence, Dark Angel returns at 9 p.m. ET/PT March 8 with a new episode, "Love in Vein."
Rosenbaum: Lex Isn't So Bad
ichael Rosenbaum, who plays Lex Luthor on The WB's Superman series, Smallville, told SCI FI Wire that his bald and bold character will remain a good guy for a while longer—but added that seeds of his dark future are being planted now.
"At this point, Lex really does mean well," Rosenbaum said in an interview. "He doesn't want to do what his father [John Glover as Lionel Luthor] had done, which is ruin his reputation. The easiest thing Lex could have done was to change his last name and move, but he didn't want to do that."
Rosenbaum added, "Lex wanted to prove to the world that he isn't this bad, rich businessman who screws everybody out of their work and out of their farms, and he wanted to show the world that he's different and good. But he's lived his whole life in his father's shadow. I think he really does mean well. But you don't mess with Lex. People push him. After a while it's one of those things where if people call you names over and over, you try to be Mr. Nice Guy and you say, 'I'm not really a bad guy.' They say, 'You're Lex Luthor. You're Lionel Luthor's son.' After a while it's like, 'OK, well then, kiss my ass.' That's when the bad comes out. You can push someone to a certain point and then ... . That's what Lex is all about. He can only be pushed so far." Smallville airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT Tuesdays.
Kreuk Sees Smallville Changes
mallville star Kristin Kreuk told SCI FI Wire that she hopes the show's writer-producers will explore her character, Lana Lang, apart from her relationships with beau Whitney (Eric Johnson) and soul mate Clark Kent (Tom Welling), especially now that they've remedied the matter of too many "Kryptonite monsters."
"I think it's getting better," Kreuk said in an interview. "For a while there I was really unhappy. I'm not like Michael [Rosenbaum, who plays Lex Luthor] or Tom. They call [producers] Al [Gough] and Miles [Millar] every week and tell them what they like and what they don't, and they give them ideas. Especially Michael, he calls them all the time. I think that's why his character is so great, although they write Lex amazingly well."
Kreuk added, "I, on the other hand, ... don't call them, even if I'm unhappy with something. I don't have any suggestions.
I don't have anything to give them. But it's getting better. [Lana's] starting to work on this business endeavor she's got. That gives her a lot to do and a lot to think about other than her parents." Smallville airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT Tuesdays on The WB. Kreuk will also be seen as the title character in the ABC production Snow White: The Fairest of Them All, airing March 17.
Tech Oscars Awarded
n underwater camera that was used to shoot a shark's point of view in Jurassic Park III was among the winners of technical Oscars handed out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on March 2, the Reuters news service reported.
Actress Charlize Theron presented the 25 awards in a ceremony in Hollywood, Calif.
Industrial Light & Magic, the San Francisco-based special effects house, won awards for two computer software developments, including a "Creature Dynamics System" used to animate the mummy priest Imhotep in The Mummy.
Oscars for artistic achievements will be handed out March 24 in Los Angeles.
Evil 2 Already Working
sequel to the upcoming SF horror film Resident Evil is in the works, though the first movie has yet to hit theaters, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Constantin Film and Sony's Screen Gems have signed a deal for the tentatively titled Resident Evil: Nemesis, with director Paul W.S. Anderson returning to write and produce the sequel, the trade paper reported.
Anderson wrote, directed and produced the first film, which is based on the popular Capcom video game series of the same name. The movie acts as a prequel to the game series, with new characters played by Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez, among others.
The second film will reportedly combine characters from the first film with characters from the video game. "I'm already thinking about the sequel, and there are lots of opportunities to blend characters from this film, like Alice [Jovovich] and Matt [Eric Mabius], with characters from the games, like Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield, in a new side story set within the game's universe," Anderson told the Reporter.
The trade paper also confirmed spoilers reported previously in SCI FI Wire that the sequel will introduce the Nemesis monster from the third game in the series, which was hinted at in the end of the first film. That movie shows the beginning of Matt's transformation from human to creature. Resident Evil opens March 15.
Mabius Talks Resident Evil 2
ric Mabius, who co-stars in the upcoming SF horror film Resident Evil, told SCI FI Wire that he may appear in director Paul Anderson's proposed sequel—even though the first film doesn't hit theaters until March 15.
Resident Evil, based on the Capcom video game series, acts as a prequel to the first game.
In a possible spoiler for the sequel, Mabius said in an interview, "This [film] brings us up to above ground in Raccoon City. I'm going to be Nemesis in the sequel. I'll be putting on 30 or 40 pounds and three or four hours a day in prosthetics. This guy has tentacles and all this crazy stuff going on." In the first film, Mabius plays Matt, a character who did not appear in any game. Matt gets infected with the T virus, and the evil scientists take him away, saying, "We want him in the Nemesis program." To play his mutated form in the sequel, Mabius said that he will study the game in which Nemesis appears.
"I prepare to an annoying extent usually, so I'll probably dissect every possible aspect ... of the character," Mabius said. "Obviously, it will be predicated on where the character goes in the script, but I'll gather everything I can about the character [from the game]." Anderson denied that a script was completed. But Mabius suggested it was a done deal. "When Bernd Eichinger, the head of Constantin Films, saw an early cut in December, he wanted Paul to start writing the sequel," Mabius said. "Based on some of the pre-sales alone, Sony is demanding a sequel already. It's pretty exciting and wasn't really anticipated."
Cruise Needs Speed In Race
irector Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Cindy Pearlman that Days of Thunder star Tom Cruise will slip back into the driver's seat in the upcoming Death Race 3000.
"Tom plays Frankenstein, the best driver in the world," Anderson told Pearlman. "But he has that nickname because he's been in so many crashes. He's a little bit beat up. He's a little reckless."
Anderson added, "We've updated the movie in that it's not a race across America. It's now a race around the world. The cars are just amazing, too. They can fire missiles, become invisible, split and then re-form. It's a real high-tech adventure. ... One of the best scenes is a car breaking the sound barrier with a sonic blast on a river of ... ice. The ice begins to crack and shatter. It will be amazing."
Paramount has received a script for the SF movie, and Anderson added that he has one casting plan. "I'd love to cast Sly Stallone and bring him back as the same character he played in the first one [Death Race 2000]. He was a great Machine Gun Joe."
Skye Not So Ugly
zura Skye, star of ABC's upcoming Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, told TV Guide Online that she was surprised when she won the starring role in the TV movie that twists the Cinderella fairy tale.
Skye's agent "said I'd been offered the lead in the Cinderella story—no audition or anything," Skye told the site. "It was a huge deal, ... very flattering."
But, Skye, 19, added, "At that point, it dawned on me that they didn't want me to play Cinderella; they wanted me for the ugly stepsister. They didn't even need to see me—they just knew I was her. I was like, 'Oh my God!' But I read the script, and it wasn't nearly as insulting as it sounds."
Based on Gregory Maguire's novel of the same name, Stepsister is a new take on the classic tale, in which the title character's most attractive quality is her sharp mind, though she also has a pretty face, TV Guide reported. The TV movie aired as part of the Wonderful World of Disney at 7 p.m. ET/PT on March 10.
Cocteau's Beast Returns
ean Cocteau's classic fantasy film Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) will return to theaters after 56 years, in a restored, remastered and re-subtitled version, the Zap2it Web site reported.
The 1946 French-language movie, a dark take on the venerable fairy tale, tells the story of a young woman's discovery of a ravaged soul beneath a monstrous beast.
Cocteau's version of Beauty and the Beast is reportedly Jodie Foster's favorite movie. Josette Day and Jean Marais star.
Cowboy Pictures partners Noah Cowan and John Vanco, in cooperation with Janus Films, are behind the theatrical re-release of the movie, which will premiere at the Paris Theater in New York on April 5, Zap2it reported.
Dragon's Lair 3-D Updates Original
ill Panganiban, lead designer and creative director of the upcoming Dragon's Lair 3-D, told SCI FI Wire that the title will update the classic 1980s arcade video game and feature the familiar characters of Dirk, Daphne and Singe.
"The storyline of Dragon's Lair 3-D parallels the original," Panganiban said in an interview. "In this version, the backstories for some of the characters will be revealed, and players will get a much better understanding of the Dragon's Lair world. And players will have complete control over Dirk, which they didn't have in the arcade game."
The new production team comprises some of the developers who worked on the original arcade version, including Rick Dyer, the game's creator; animators Gary Goldman and Don Bluth; composer Christopher Stone; and some of the original voice actors and artists, Panganiban said. "Dragon's Lair 3-D will offer 250 rooms within the castle to explore; close to 40 different characters; realistic and amazingly fluid animation with a unique animated cel look; lots of power-ups, hidden secrets and special unlocks; and original music scores, featuring Dolby surround sound," he said. "[Fans] will also recognize many of the rooms, since the original backgrounds were used. Even certain death scenes, situations and animations were recreated." Dragon's Lair 3-D will carry a suggested retail price of $50.
Pearce Got Clocked In Time
uy Pearce, who stars in the upcoming Time Machine movie, told SCI FI Wire that he suffered bumps and bruises to play the physically demanding role of a man who journeys back and forth through the ages.
Especially hard was a hunting scene in which the monstrous Morlocks descend on Pearce's time traveler and his Eloi companions. "[The] hunt scene ... physically was quite demanding," Pearce told reporters while promoting the film. "And I actually broke a rib during that scene. So that became a little tricky then. And then all the scenes after that became quite challenging. Breathing and laughing."
But the hard work was worth it for Pearce, who confessed to being a fan of the original 1960 Time Machine film as a small boy in Australia. "That's why I wanted to be in this film, actually, because of being such a fan of the original film, the George Pal version" of H.G. Wells' classic SF book, Pearce said. "And I guess what it conjured in me, ... you know, the child within oneself ... just to sort of get back to that again is something that I found quite appealing, really. This is not normally the kind of film I would be drawn to doing, I suppose."
Pearce plays Alexander Hartdegen, a 19th-century scientist who suffers a tragic loss and constructs a time machine as a way to change the past. The lure of time travel is seductive, he added. "Possibly that notion that as human beings we tend not to want to concentrate on the present moment," he said. "We would always rather fantasize about the future or dwell on the past, or actually allow ourselves to feel very anxious about what possibly could happen in the future or dwell on sort of negative things that have happened in the past. And that's just our ego trying to sort of trying to create some identity for ourselves. We allow guilt and fantasy and all of these kinds of things to identify us. When really we would do ourselves a much greater service if we could actually exist in the present moment." The Time Machine opens March 8.
Jones Gave Vox To Time
rlando Jones, who plays the holographic Vox in the upcoming Time Machine movie, told SCI FI Wire that it was a challenge coming up with the snarky personality for his artificial character.
Jones appears in the movie as the computerized "compendium of all human knowledge," whom time traveler Guy Pearce encounters in futuristic New York.
"I know who Data is, I know who Spock is," Jones said in an interview about his SF forebears. "So how does an information unit 800,000 years in the future actually interface? ... There are now programmed responses [on the Internet] that are sarcastic, you know what I mean? So let's let this guy be all of that, plus four. ... Let's have him be HAL plus. And so that's really where the basic creation came from. And then, obviously, the secondary scenes, the same character is obviously in a very different emotional place. It's just about mapping out the emotions, how far the character grows, how much it knows."
Vox provides some comic relief in the film, but Jones—who is otherwise known for his humorous turns in films such as Evolution—said that the role did not require any improvisation. "Oddly enough, none of that is improv'd, really," he said. "It's probably the most scripted piece I've done. ... For me, the key was just, let's just figure out what the movie is about, and what the director is seeking to do with the picture. The second thing is how does my character plug into that, and how can I best serve the means that the director is trying to fulfill? ... The parameters are already sort of set up, and I find out what the parameters are, and then how to find out a way to sort of breathe some life into it in such a way as to make it compelling and interesting to watch." The Time Machine opened March 8.
Wells Disputes Time Rumors
imon Wells, who directed the upcoming SF movie The Time Machine, denied to SCI FI Wire rumors about the production, including reports that DreamWorks honcho Steven Spielberg ordered a month of reshoots that delayed the movie's release.
"This is hearsay and rumor," Wells said in an interview. "I found myself reading these kinds of reports on the Internet and stuff and thinking, 'How the hell do these ideas come up?'"
The reports suggested that Spielberg was unhappy with footage of time-traveler Alexander Hartdegen (Guy Pearce) and his adventures in the far-future world of the Eloi and Morlocks. Not true, Wells said. "When we first started shooting ... the stuff with Alexander recovering in Mara's house, we shot for a couple of days and looked at it and said, 'You know, we don't like the art direction. We don't like the costumes. We don't like the hairstyle on Mara.' And we chucked three days of material, and we negotiated getting two days to reshoot it, because by then we'd cut it down and knew what we really needed. And so we reshot all that material in two days. As far as I know, Steven was no part of that decision. ... It may have been that Steven looked at the stuff and said, 'OK, I agree with them. I want them to reshoot it.' [But] the story that somehow the whole Eloi storyline and 30 days of shooting got redone is simply not true. And I don't know where that comes from. But I do remember that right around the same time, Steven saw the first act of the movie all cut together and was actually very happy about it. ... So he was on set a couple of times at that time talking about stuff. So I don't know whether that's where the rumors started."
Wells, the great-grandson of H.G. Wells, author of the book on which the film is based, added that the movie was delayed to March 8 from the original Christmas 2001 release, but not because of any production problems. "The push-back was kind of a marketing decision, to be honest," he said. "By that time, we could finish the film by Christmas 2001, which was the original release date. But we were going to be right up to the wire with visual-effects stuff, and, in particular, the really impressive visual-effects shots wouldn't be coming in until literally the last couple of weeks before release. And the marketing department said, 'We won't have anything to put into the trailer. And we've got have to have a kick-ass trailer if we're going to be coming out in the shadow of Harry Potter and up against Lord of the Rings. You can't put us out there with ... none of the real eye candy to slap in the trailer.'"
Wells admitted he dropped out of a couple of weeks of production because of exhaustion. Gore Verbinski stepped in to complete principal photography, and Wells resumed control in post-production. "The trouble is, I was learning on the job," Wells said. "I was learning how to shoot a live-action movie, which I've never shot before. And also, in this particular case, an extremely complicated one. And just the stresses of that, and I simply wasn't sleeping enough. And that builds up on you. And eventually, I was looking into this dark pit of total despair and not even able to get out of bed. And thank God that DreamWorks is run by people who are filmmakers and creative talents themselves, because they understood. Many of them have been in these kinds of places themselves. They said, 'It's all right. We've got a way of working around this.' And also thank God for Gore Verbinski, who ... was prepared to come in and essentially fulfill the creative vision that was being planned. And was himself happy to service that creative vision, rather than try to take it somewhere else. But yeah, it was a tough time, and I am immeasurably grateful to DreamWorks, because by all reasonable rights, they should have fired my ass. And they didn't." The Time Machine opens March 8.
Frakes Treks To Clockstoppers
onathan Frakes told SCI FI Wire that it was liberating directing the upcoming SF movie Clockstoppers, the first non-Star Trek film for which he's called the shots.
The family film stars Jesse Bradford, Michael Biehn, French Stewart and newcomer Paula Garces, and it centers on a teen (Bradford) who discovers a watch that seems to stop time around him.
"It has been a treat to not have all the rules in place," Frakes, who previously directed Star Trek: First Contact and ST: Insurrection, said in an interview. "So many facets of the way a Star Trek film are done are the result of the rules a Star Trek story has to follow."
Frakes added, "The characters have to behave a certain way. You have to consider all the Starfleet protocols. There's a naval type of hierarchy to the characters, and the characters have established personalities and relationships. Here [on Clockstoppers], we pretty much had a clean slate. In terms of shooting, we could change things on the set, which we could never do on a Star Trek film. On Clockstoppers, I'm working with the producers, Gale Anne Hurd and Julia Pistor, to make the rules of Clockstoppers. That's been a big difference, to be included in development of the whole world. That wasn't an opportunity I had on Star Trek, because the world had already been established. It's been great." Clockstoppers opens March 29.
Biehn's Mean In Clockstoppers
enre stalwart Michael Biehn, who plays the villain in the upcoming SF family film Clockstoppers, told SCI FI Wire that it wasn't necessarily his association with Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss producer Gale Anne Hurd that led to his part in the film.
"This came about like most movies have for me," Biehn said in an interview. "I got sent the script by my agents. I read it and found a part in it that I liked. I think it was very helpful that Gale was involved, but I went in and met with [director] Jonathan Frakes. It just kind of worked out well."
Biehn co-stars in Clockstoppers as Gates, a man who plots to acquire a watch that appears to stop time. Standing in Gates' way are a couple of teenagers (Jesse Bradford and Paula Garces) who have possession of the device and do everything they can to keep it out of Gates' hands. "The character I play is a mean guy," Biehn said. "It's a Nickelodeon film, so it's that little bit over-the-top mean guy. I've played so many bad guys. People have seen me play this kind of intense bad guy, and this character tries to keep it all pulled together, but the kids drive him crazy. I actually thought it would go a little further over the top, but the more realistic you play a character, the funnier it usually is. Gates really thinks he's got it together, but then he blows. Then he thinks he's got it back together, and he blows again. This has been a great job. We shot in L.A. Jonathan is a fun director to work with. Working with Gale again after all these years was great. The character is fun. Clockstoppers is kind of a throwback. It reminds me a lot of Back to the Future. It's got that kind of sensibility to it. So it's been nice to do
something like this." Clockstoppers opens March 29.
Ghost Rider Not Dead?
avid Goyer, who wrote the script for the proposed Ghost Rider movie, told the Comics2Film Web site that the on-again, off-again project is moving ahead.
"Ghost Rider's in play," Goyer told the site. "It may end up at Sony, but there are three or four different people interested in it."
Goyer added that he, director Stephen Norrington and star Nicolas Cage still want to do the movie, which is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. But there could be a glitch. "I'm hearing now they want a kinder, gentler Ghost Rider," Goyer said. "The film that Norrington and Cage and I would have made was a very tough film. It would have been fantastic, but it was a dark movie. I'm hearing now that they want something with humor in it, too. I don't know, man. It's kind of an oxymoron to me. The guy's got a flaming skull. I guess you can do Happy Meals with that. [But] Norrington and I both said we didn't want to be involved with a PG Ghost Rider."
Muppets Ready For Prime Time?
im Henson Television has partnered with producers Team Todd and the Fox network to develop a new Muppet series that will feature a new crop of characters in addition to Kermit, Miss Piggy and other long-standing members of Henson's fuzzy troupe, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The proposed series is still in the early stages of development, but the plan is to take a new approach to the Muppet franchise—it will not be a remake of the successful Muppet Show comedy-variety show that aired in syndication from 1976-'81, the trade paper reported.
Henson TV vice president Ruth Caruso will oversee the project for the studio, along with Team Todd vice president for television J.J. Klein.
Nemo Goes Deep
onsters, Inc. producer John Lasseter told TV Guide Online that Pixar's next computer-animated feature film, Finding Nemo, takes viewers to a wet, new world.
"It's all underwater, with tropical fish as characters," Lasseter told the site. "It's on a coral reef and in a big wide ocean, with sharks and whales and turtles and jellyfish who get caught and put into an aquarium. It just looks incredible. It's like a cartoon Jacques Cousteau." The film is slated for a summer 2003 release.
Lasseter, who also directed Pixar's Toy Story, added that he's thrilled the Oscars have finally created a new category for feature animation. "I'm very excited that we have our own category," Lasseter said. "With animated features in the past, [the best] you have been able to hope for was nominations in maybe the music category, for song and score." He added, "I'm very proud of the fact that all of the nominees for the inaugural year of this category are computer-animated. When we were making Toy Story, there were a lot of people asking, 'Do you really think people are going to want to sit through an hour and a half of computer animation?' I always felt like if [Pixar] could make a good movie, it might open the door for others in the computer animation community. If the first film had come out and not done well or bombed at the box office, then Hollywood would probably blame it on the technology ... and others would never get a chance. Luckily, Toy Story came out and was the number-one movie of 1995."
Burns Up For Thunder
dward Burns is in talks to star in A Sound of Thunder, a time-travel movie based on Ray Bradbury's classic SF story of the same name, Variety reported.
Peter Hyams (Timecop) will direct Thunder, which is being produced by Elie Samaha and will be distributed by Warner Brothers.
Bradbury had told Science Fiction Weekly that Pierce Brosnan was set to star in the movie. It's unclear whether Brosnan, who was injured while shooting the current 20th James Bond movie, remains attached to the project.
Burns would play the lead character of Travis Ryer, an expert hunter who pairs with the inventor of a time machine in the future to repair catastrophic damage to the timeline, the trade paper reported.
Myers Is The Cat's Meow
ustin Powers star Mike Myers will headline the live-action movie based on Dr. Seuss' classic children's book Cat in the Hat, Entertainment Weekly reported.
"The blend of his irreverence works very well with the Seussian child sensibilities," producer Brian Grazer told the magazine.
Grazer added that Seuss' widow, Audrey Geisel, approved of Myers' casting. "Having Mike puts the story on steroids," Grazer said. Myers replaces Tim Allen, who left the project to work on Santa Clause 2.
Myers will undergo prosthetic transformations from makeup guru Rick Baker, but unlike Jim Carrey's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Cat will be aimed more at adults, Grazer said. "I think of him like Bluto, the character [John] Belushi played in Animal House," the producer said. "He took the characters on a ride more intense than anyone expected, and that's what the Cat does."
Madsen Joins Bond 20
ichael Madsen told the Moviehole.net Web site that he will play a new character in the upcoming 20th James Bond movie, a rogue CIA agent named Damian Falco.
"It's not a big role, but it's somewhat pivotal in that it introduces a new recurring character," Madsen told the site. "Most of my scenes are with Judi Dench [as M], who is a delightful human being." As for whether Madsen's character is a good guy or a bad guy, the actor said, "Let's just say it's pivotal."
The as-yet-untitled film brings back Pierce Brosnan as 007 in a closely guarded story involving North Korea, the ocean and the usual bevy of Bond girls.
Leguizamo Mulls Spawn 2
ohn Leguizamo told SCI FI Wire that if he returns as Clown/Violator in the proposed Spawn 2 sequel film, he would like his character to be more active and for the film to be darker than the original 1997 feature-film version of Todd McFarlane's comic.
"I want to keep the same humor, but I want it to be a little more acrobatic, more of a physical nemesis," Leguizamo said in an interview. "He'll be Clown and then go to Violator when he has to. I hope it's dirtier too. There was an R version [of Spawn] that was pretty nice, but I'd like this one to really be R as it should be, as the comic book was."
Leguizamo said that he also has a condition for returning. "It's got to be really huge money for me to do that again," he said. "That makeup, I had blisters on my face, big pus-filled calluses around my eyes. It really wreaked havoc. I used to be handsome, and all of sudden that wrecked my image."
Leguizamo—who next voices the character of Sid the Sloth in the upcoming computer-animated film Ice Age—said he is a fan of the original comic books. "I love Spawn. Spawn was one of the most important comic books of the '90s. It brought comic books back. They were failing, and Spawn came out and reinvigorated the whole comic-book world."
Shanks To Guest On Stargate
he SCI FI Channel confirmed that departing Stargate SG-1 cast member Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson) will make a guest appearance during the show's upcoming sixth season.
Shanks left the show at the conclusion of the fifth season, but will return in the sixth-season episode "Abyss," which sees Col. Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) tortured at the hands of the Goa'uld.
Stargate started out on Showtime and will continue to air on the pay cable channel through the end of season five. The show will then move to SCI FI in June, when the all-new sixth season begins. SCI FI will also rerun the first five seasons in order, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2002. Reruns of Stargate also air in various syndicated markets.
Jason X Got Caught In Limbo
ames Isaac, director of the upcoming but long-delayed Jason X movie, told Cinescape Online that unexpectedly complicated post-production and studio upheaval helped push the film's release date back two years.
"We have 350 visual effects, and that's not even including floor effects—you know, explosions and action and stuff," Isaac told the site. "We just have an enormous post-production on this film, and it's lucky for us that New Line didn't hold us to that date, because as we got closer and closer and closer, I mean, just the sound effects alone are incredibly complicated."
Isaac added, "It was unrealistic for us to be totally done and released and have an ad campaign, all those things, by that date. So that was pushed to a more reasonable date, which I think was April or something, and then, once we actually officially delivered, then the wall kind of came tumbling down over at New Line, where [president] Mike DeLuca left. A lot of executives left, and they were screwing around, they were hard up for cash. That's the bottom line, they were having a difficult time, and they were kind of regrouping. At that point I found myself in a situation where there was nobody at New Line who was involved with the movie who was still there."
But Isaac said that the success of Lord of the Rings has given New Line freedom to turn its attention to Jason X once again. "Now we have their attention, and it's so much better than if they just [said], 'OK, fine, we have to find a date and open it.' It would have been a problem. Now it's good. The trailer is really great. They've been great." Jason X, an SF sequel based on the Friday the 13th horror franchise, opens April 26. A new Web site has opened to promote the movie.
Allen SF Series Get New Life
roducers Kevin Burns and Jon Jashni have struck a deal with 20th Century Fox TV and Fox Television Studios to resurrect four classic Irwin Allen SF television series as movies or shows, including Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Land of the Giants, Variety reported.
Burns and Jashni run Synthesis Entertainment, which manages the interests of the Allen estate, the trade paper reported.
A new Time Tunnel series is in the works for the Fox network, as is a two-hour NBC backdoor pilot based on a new generation of Lost in Space. The deal also calls for a renewal of 20th Television's rights to distribute the original 83 episodes of Lost in Space; a production agreement to revive Time Tunnel, Voyage and Land of the Giants; and a new production agreement to revive Lost in Space, Variety reported.
Mutant X Mutates In Year Two
he syndicated TV series Mutant X will get bigger and badder in its upcoming second season, the Comics Continuum reported.
Writing has already commenced on the new season.
"The fans can expect to see more of the stuff they like and stuff they haven't seen before," Mutant X executive consultant Howard Chaykin told the Continuum. "The world gets bigger, the stakes are higher and the jeopardy deeper. We're going to put them through more hell in the second season." Production for season two will likely start in late May, the site reported.
Briefly Noted
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The Comics Continuum Web site reported that Cartoon Network has picked up its Justice League animated series for a second season. The network reportedly ordered 26 new half-hour episodes.
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The Dark Horizons Web site reported a rumor that The X-Files star Gillian Anderson may have a role in one of the proposed new Batman movies. Anderson reportedly let the possibility slip in a conversation with a Canadian radio station.
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New Line Cinema has signed Hayden Christensen—Anakin Skywalker in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones—to a two-year, first-look production deal, Variety reported. Christensen signed the deal for Forest Park Pictures, the production company that he and his older brother Tove set up.
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Production begins March 18 on The Hot Chick, a fantasy comedy movie in which a popular yet mean-spirited teenage girl wakes up one day to find that she's become Rob Schneider, the Dark Horizons Web site reported.
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The Comics Continuum Web site reported a rumor that Neil Patrick Harris is a candidate for the lead role in MTV's upcoming animated Spider-Man series.
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Variety columnist Michael Fleming reported a rumor that David Fincher (Alien 3) might be under consideration to direct the third installment of Mission: Impossible for star/producer Tom Cruise.
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Natascha McElhone (The Truman Show) has been cast alongside George Clooney in director Steven Soderbergh's upcoming Solaris, a new movie based on the classic SF novel by Stanislaw Lem, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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TV Guide named Enterprise star Jolene Blalock (T'Pol) one of its six 2002 Faces to Watch. Blalock appears in the magazine's March 9 issue.
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Mike McCafferty, who played Eberts on the SCI FI Channel's original series The Invisible Man, told SCI FI Wire that he will make a guest appearance on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under, airing March 24.
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The IGN FilmForce Web site reported that David Keith (U-571) has been cast as Matt Murdock's ill-fated father in the upcoming feature-film version of Marvel Comics' Daredevil series. Ben Affleck will star as the blind superhero.
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The full trailer for the upcoming prequel movie The Scorpion King has posted to the Web. The prequel to The Mummy Returns opens April 19.
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The Dark Horizons Web site reported that the X-Men sequel movie, X2, will begin shooting in Germany on May 8.
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Disney-owned ABC digitally altered several scenes of the March 2 broadcast of the James Bond adventure Diamonds Are Forever to put clothing on the character of Plenty O'Toole, E! Online reported. ABC changed the color of actress Lana Wood's sheer panties from tan to black and added a black bra.
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Hollywood.com reported that the upcoming four-minute preview of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers will come out attached to prints of the first Rings movie on March 29, not March 22, as previously reported.
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A vintage poster for the classic science fiction film Flash Gordon sold at a London auction for $26,710, the Reuters news service reported. Christie's told the news service that it was the highest-priced lot in a March 5 sale of 3,500 posters and featured a bare-chested image of star Buster Crabbe surrounded by Martians and his nemesis, Ming the Merciless.
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The Gallifrey One Web site debunked reports in the British media that Ken Dodd and Cat Deeley would appear in a new film version of the long-running BBC series Doctor Who.
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Dark Horizons reported that Ethan Embry (TV's Freakylinks) is in talks to join Gerard Butler and Paul Walker in the cast of Timeline, the time-travel movie based on Michael Crichton's novel of the same name.
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Columbia Pictures has teamed with John Baldecchi Productions to option Robert Frank's supernatural novel The Rising to develop it as a movie, Variety reported. The novel tells the story of a Detroit boy with the ability to revive the dead with a single touch.
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Universal is developing a fantasy children's film, Darin Scott's Penny Dreadful: Ghost Detective, Variety reported. The project is described as a blend of Spy Kids and Beetlejuice and tells the story of a young girl whose psychic abilities allow her to work with ghosts to fight an evil witch, the trade paper reported.
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