Cardellini Sang For Scooby
inda Cardellini, who plays Velma in the upcoming Scooby-Doo movie, told SCI FI Wire that some of her funniest scenes were cut out of the final film.
"There were some interesting scenes, I think, that ended up having to go," she said in an interview while promoting the live-action adaptation of the long-running animated series. "There was one scene where Velma sings and dances on a piano after she's had a few of the hotel's special drinks."
In the scene, Cardellini sings I Can't Take My Eyes Off You, but the question of who she is singing to was made deliberately ambiguous, she said. "We don't know if she's singing to Daphne or Fred, ... which is part of a joke," she said. Cardellini said that the scene and others were cut to keep the film acceptable for a family audience. "I know at one point she sheds her sweater, and she's got something funny underneath, and, you know, it became a little risqué," she said. Filmmakers also cut a scene in which Cardellini and co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar share a kiss.
But Cardellini nevertheless said that she is pleased with the finished product, despite the cuts. She added that she was grateful to be able to portray one of her favorite cartoon characters. "Ever since I was a kid, this was my favorite," she said. "But if someone would have told me when I was a kid watching the cartoon after school that I would be playing her in a Hollywood movie, I would have thought they were crazy." Scooby-Doo opened June 14.
Prinze Animated About Scooby
een heartthrob Freddie Prinze Jr., who stars as Fred Jones in the upcoming live-action film adaptation Scooby-Doo, told SCI FI Wire that although he's a huge fan of the original cartoon series, he initially didn't want to be involved in the project.
"To be quite honest, I didn't think Hollywood could pull something like this off," he said in an interview promoting the film. "And it wasn't until I read the script that I realized that I had to be a part of it. I loved it so much, and I laughed out loud a thousand times."
Once he landed the role as the ascot-sporting leader of the Scooby gang, Prinze worked with the filmmakers to ensure the finished product would be true to its animated roots. "Literally, I have never met anyone that loves Scooby as much as me," Prinze said. "I have every single episode on tape, and there's over 340 of them. And so my passion for the project was expressed by me to the director Raja [Gosnell], and that tends to be infectious."
Prinze is quick to correct anyone who accuses him of being a mere fan of the series. "I'm not a fan," he insisted. "I'm not a geek. I'm a Scooby stud. That's the way I look at it, and that's the way I always will." Scooby-Doo opened June 14.
Tara's Death Riles Buffy Fans
he season-ending story arc of UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer—in which Tara (Amber Benson) dies and her lover, Willow (Alyson Hannigan), turns evil—is prompting a backlash among fans who argue in part that the finale undermined the series' otherwise positive portrayal of a lesbian relationship.
Though many fans were dismayed at the loss of a crucial character, still others saw the turn of events as a repudiation of one of television's few realistic gay relationships.
"Devoted followers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are left devastated by the producers' ... decision to destroy what many have felt was a wonderful portrayal of a loving, honest and natural long-term lesbian relationship," wrote Florida gay-rights advocate R. Zeke Fread on the 365gay.com Canadian Web site. "Especially because such a relationship as that of Tara and Willow is rarely depicted on television programs."
More than 1,000 fans have signed a petition to resurrect Tara. Others have written in protest to various Buffy fan sites, Salon magazine, the Boston Herald and elsewhere.
"Examine that body count for a moment," the Herald wrote. "The most significant character deaths—Jenny Calendar, Joyce Summers and now Tara—are all women. The show's two gay characters, Tara and high school jock Larry, both slain. (Alyson Hannigan's Willow does not count. Creator Joss Whedon told the Herald last year that she is at best bisexual.) The show's black characters? Kendra, Mr. Trick and, oh, yeah, that guidance counselor who hung around for half an episode—all dead. We knew Buffy lived on a hellmouth. Who knew she lived in Klan country?"
For his part, Whedon wrote on the official UPN Buffy posting board, The Bronze, shortly after the finale aired: "I killed Tara. Some of you may have been hurt by that. It's very unlikely it was more painful to you than it was to me. I couldn't even discuss it in story meetings without getting upset, physically. Which is why I knew it was the right thing to do. Because stories, as I have so often said, are not about what we WANT. And I knew some people would be angry with me for destroying the only gay couple on the show, but the idea that I COULDN'T kill Tara because she was gay is as offensive to me as the idea that I DID kill her because she was gay. Willow's story was not about being gay. It was about weakness, addiction, loss ... the way life hits you in the gut right when you think you're back on your feet. The course of true love never did run smooth, not on my show. (Only [NYPD Blue's] Dennis Franz has suffered more than my characters.) I love Amber, and she knows it. Eventually, this story will end for all of them. Hers ended sooner."
As for whether Whedon will bring back the character next season, he told SCI FI Wire cryptically, "Tara will not be back. But Amber will."
Buffy Crosses The Pond
oss Whedon, whose Buffy the Vampire Slayer took home the Saturn Award for best network television series, told SCI FI Wire that he will move production to England for the seventh-season premiere episode.
"I am going to England ... in a couple of weeks to shoot some second-unit with Tony [Head, who plays Giles,] and Alyson [Hannigan, who plays Willow,] for the season premiere of Buffy," Whedon told reporters after receiving his award June 10 in Los Angeles. "So that'll be fun. Our first production values ever. We're very excited. Usually it's 'So we're in Venice. Hand me that goblet.' So it's a thing."
As for next year's storyline for the UPN series, Whedon remained coy, but promised a change from this year's dark themes. "I can only tell you a little bit," he said. "This is something I've been sort of gearing towards since the very beginning of the show. It's a question of bringing it onto a much larger scale and at the same time making it much more personal and much more personal to Buffy herself. This year was a chance to let the other characters [shine.] ... The big climactic scene [was] between Xander and Willow, and that was because, as characters and as actors, they'd earned that opportunity. And I thought it was right for them to sort of be the spokespeople for what was going on at the end there. But next year Buffy will be much less peripheral to the climax. The climax will be the biggest thing we've ever done."
Whedon added, "You know, every year it might be the end. Except, actually, this year. This year I really did sort of leave it up in the air. You could have said this could have been an end, but the [cliffhanger] with Spike and the thing on Angel, this was sort of the exception to the rule. But I am looking for closure next year in way because we're making a more positive statement. This year was just about surviving the year. Sometimes the audience felt that actually it's their chore too. What? You don't want to be depressed all the time like me? I don't understand. But next year is something that's a lot more positive and definitive. And in that it has to end with an exclamation point, not a question mark."
Whedon: Angel Star Returning
utting to rest a persistent Web rumor, Angel co-creator Joss Whedon told SCI FI Wire that regular cast member Charisma Carpenter will indeed return for The WB series' fourth season in the fall.
Carpenter's month-long absence in the middle of last season and her character Cordelia's ascendance into a higher plane of existence in the season finale fueled rumors that unspecified personal problems had resulted in her departure from the series.
Not so, Whedon said in an interview at the Saturn Awards ceremony in Los Angeles June 10. "I hadn't heard all the vicious stuff," he said. "I just heard people saying, 'Is she coming back?' I've heard every vicious rumor about everybody, and I lend them all very little credence. She is coming back. She's a part of the show. She's an essential part of the show. ... It's not as vicious a rumor as the rumor that I directed Boy Meets World, but it's up there."
Whedon Details Firefly Flap
oss Whedon, creator of Fox's upcoming SF series Firefly, told SCI FI Wire that Fox and he disagreed over the tone and direction of the series' pilot, and that he and producer Tim Minear had a weekend to come up with a new one-hour premiere episode script before Fox green-lighted the series.
That new one-hour premiere episode may replace the original two-hour pilot episode, and the original two-hour pilot may wind up airing later in the season, Whedon said in an interview at the Saturn Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
"We did [write a new premiere episode], because they wanted to make sure we could deliver the ... show with a little more action and humor than what I had originally pitched," Whedon said. "So Tim Minear and I wrote a script over the weekend. They told us on a Friday night that they wanted it ... in order to decide. ... They said, 'It needs to be on our desks before we get there in the morning on Monday.' I didn't realize it would be so instrumental in them actually picking up the show. But, yeah, a little pressure. But I love pressure. The two-hour [episode] might be a special event in the middle of the season, instead of shown as a two-hour pilot. I'm not sure if that's a final decision or not."
Whedon added that the original pilot "is not in fact lost. The story on the Firefly pilot is, part of the back and forth ... between me and Fox ... has been about a drama vs. an action show. And although I pitched more of a drama with action, they wanted to up the action a little bit. We're doing some reshoots along those lines. ... But they also felt that they wanted to start the show with a one-hour pilot that showed everybody in place, instead of doing a movie in which you have to go through the whole thing and get everybody there. And while I don't know if I agree with that necessarily, they will show the pilot during the course of the season as an origin special if they decide not to show it at the very beginning. Either way, it works." Firefly, set in the aftermath of a galactic war, is slated to premiere on Fox in late September, Whedon said. "Just today, [we're] coming back to the story-breaking process. We start shooting in July."
Gellar Opts Out Of Buffy Toon
uffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar told SCI FI Wire that she has chosen not voice her character in Joss Whedon's proposed Buffy: The Animated Series.
"I don't know anything about the animated series," Gellar said in an interview. "I'm not part of that. It says that I am [on the Internet], but the first I heard of it was last week."
Gellar added that she does not know who would voice the animated Buffy. Gellar has played the Slayer for six years in the live-action series, which started on The WB and now airs on UPN.
Rohm Would Return To Angel
lisabeth Rohm—who left The WB's Angel in 2001 to join the cast of Law and Order—told SCI FI Wire that she would like her character, detective Kate Lockley, to return for an episode of the vampire series.
"I would do it in a heartbeat, but I would do it on the side," Rohm said in an interview. "I would come in and have Law and Order work out [my schedule]."
Rohm has met with Angel co-creator David Greenwalt to discuss when her return might fit with her commitment to Law and Order. "I talked to David Greenwalt yesterday," she said. "He's a very good friend, and [Angel star David] Boreanaz is a good friend, so I love the whole family. It's just a matter of timing, and I've been too busy, really. But I'd like to."
Greenwalt executive produced Angel for its first three seasons, after he and co-creator Joss Whedon spun it off UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As Angel begins its fourth season, Greenwalt is distancing himself from the show, becoming a creative consultant, and will instead focus on producing this fall's upcoming ABC supernatural series Miracles for Touchstone Television.
Daredevil Goes Dark
en Affleck, who puts on the red tights in the upcoming Daredevil movie, told USA Today that his film differs from Spider-Man, which is also based on a Marvel Comics series.
"This is a smaller, dark movie," Affleck told the newspaper. "We don't rely so much on computer effects. It's about characters."
One thing is similar: the lousy hours and torturous outfit. "It's just not normal to go to work at 6 p.m. and go to bed at 7 a.m.," said Affleck, who will play the blind superhero. "And that suit isn't comfortable. It's got to be as constricting as Spider-Man's."
Affleck added, "Daredevil is more complex, more human than most superheroes. He's blind and has tragic love affairs. As an actor, that kind of role appeals to you." Daredevil is slated for a February 2003 release.
More Woo In Witchblade
ill Yun Lee, who co-stars in TNT's Witchblade, told TV Guide Online that viewers will see more of his now-resurrected character, detective Danny Woo, in the show's upcoming second season.
"There's some cool stuff coming up with my [TV] wife [played by Sharlene Tuen]," Lee told the site. "Really cool, human stuff."
Lee's character is brought back to life, as the series has rewound its storyline back to the beginning. As for star Yancy Butler, who returned to the show after taking a month off to get treatment for alcohol addiction, Lee said, "She's kicking ass. She's so awesome. She looks great. It's great to have the family back." Witchblade kicked off its second season at 8 p.m. ET/PT on June 16.
Smallville Returns To Comics
C Comics will release a comic book based on The WB's hit Superman series, Smallville, the Comics Continuum Web site reported.
Smallville: The Comic, a 64-page book, is due Sept. 18.
The show's writer/supervising producer Mark Verheiden will pen the lead story, "The Beast," with art by Roy Allan Martinez, the site reported. The story concerns a dinosaur created by kryptonite that attacks local teens.
The issue will also feature a story by Smallville writer/producer Michael Green about a day in the life of Lex Luthor, with art by John Paul Leon. The issue will also contain photos, interviews with cast and crew, a look at the making of the first-season pilot and a preview of season two. The comic will carry a retail price of $3.95.
More Marvel Cameos for Lee
omic-book legend Stan Lee, who created such Marvel Comics superheroes as Spider-Man and the Hulk, told SCI FI Wire that he will appear in cameo roles in several upcoming Marvel movie adaptations.
"I've actually already filmed my cameo in the Daredevil movie," he said in an interview at the Saturn Awards, where he was recognized with the Life Career Award. "I'm a man walking down the street. Of course, the director spent a long time giving me my motivation."
Currently, Lee can be spotted in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene in the blockbuster hit Spider-Man. Lee also has a small role in Ang Lee's upcoming adaptation of The Hulk, which Lee has yet to film. "I have to do my cameo in the Hulk movie shortly. They tell me I'll be driving a car. And I insist on knowing what car, what model, how old is it? But we'll work that out," he joked.
Lee will have plenty of work in the future, it seems, as studios are scrambling to capitalize on the
record-breaking success of Spider-Man. Some of the other Marvel-based projects now in
development include Iron Man, Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four and Silver
Surfer. Lee had a simple explanation for the sudden proliferation of comic-book adaptations in
Hollywood. "Success breeds success," he said. So will Lee be making any cameos in these
upcoming films as well? "Of course," he said with a laugh. "They want the movies to be hits."
Witchblade Star Back At Work
itchblade co-star Anthony Cistaro told SCI FI Wire that star Yancy Butler was back at work June 10 on the TNT supernatural series, which has resumed production on its upcoming second season after Butler took off a month to seek treatment for alcohol addiction.
"Yancy Butler is shooting as we speak," Cistaro said in an interview at the Saturn Awards in Los Angeles, where he accepted Butler's award for best actress in a television series.
Cistaro, who plays Kenneth Irons, added, "I spoke to her on the set. In fact, she gave me some words to say tonight. Everything's great. ... I will say that when I was working her, God's truth, she gave 110 percent. She was always tremendous. I look forward to going back on Friday and the same thing happening. She's a real joy to work with. And anything you've read, I've had a chance to read, and that's how I found out about it."
Production halted about a month ago. Six of the second season's 13 episodes have already been shot. When Butler sought treatment, there was some speculation that she might be replaced in the lead role of NYPD detective Sara Pezzini. Witchblade launches June 16 with a two-hour premiere, before moving to its regular Monday-night timeslot.
Sonnenfeld Sets Up MIB II
arry Sonnenfeld, director of the upcoming sequel film Men in Black II, laughed loudly when asked by SCI FI Wire to provide a three-second synopsis.
"I can't answer anything in three seconds," the director said in an interview. "You know that."
Sonnenfeld—who also directed the first Men in Black five years ago—added, "Here's the shorter version, though: Five years ago, Agent K [Tommy Lee Jones] was neuralized. He's got no more memory. Now [Will Smith's Agent J] is the top guy, and there is suddenly a threat to Earth that is based on an event that took place 25 years ago, when Agent K was the agent in charge. Obviously, something didn't happen 25 years ago that was supposed to happen, and the only one who has the information about what went down—and this is shocking—is Agent K. So you've got Agent J, who neuralized Agent K, having to deneuralize Agent K. As it turns out, deneuralizing someone is a very difficult process. Who knew?"
Another plot thread involves what Sonnenfeld referred to as "the adult that goes home for Thanksgiving" scenario. "You're with your wife, you're in your mid-30s, and you're going to visit your parents up in Schenectady for the weekend," he said. "You say, 'They're not going to push my buttons. I'm an adult now. They're not going to open that door and say, "You wore that for Thanksgiving?"' ... You get to that door. Ding-dong. The door opens. 'You look so healthy.' 'What do you mean I look healthy? I always look healthy!' So you have the wonderful situation now, which plays out in the second half of the movie, where Agent J, who's been in charge, who's been the main guy, suddenly reverting to his old self. The second Agent K gets his memory back, in the first scene after he gets his memory back, they're dealing with the big question: Who drives? Agent K always did the driving. Agent J looks at Agent K and says, 'Yeah, well, you drove that old busted-up stuff. I'm driving hot new wheels.' Agent K looks at him, just stares at him. Agent J says, 'All right, all right, just don't scratch the paint.' So I love the adult becoming the kid again. No matter how old you are you always fall right back into the family structure. That was [a storytelling device] that allowed me to make this film feel a little different from the original." Men in Black II opens July 3.
Dawson Previews MIB II
osario Dawson told SCI FI Wire that she plays a surprisingly pivotal role in the upcoming sequel film Men in Black II.
"My character is named Laura Vasquez, and she works at this pizza place," the actress said in an interview. "You're introduced to her at the very beginning of the movie, because she's witnessing an alien murder."
Dawson, who's due next in the long delayed SF comedy Pluto Nash, added, "With all of this alien activity going on the Men in Black personnel show up, and not the police. So Will Smith [who reprises his role as Agent J] ends up being the guy who interrogates her and tries to find out what information she knows, what she thinks happened, and what she saw. There's something about Laura that Will finds himself very fond of. He likes her, and he decides not to neuralize her. That starts off our whole relationship, and for the rest of the film he's very protective of her and tries to figure out how or if she's involved in everything that's going on. I think he sees some of himself in her, his old self. That creates a spark between the two of them, and it's really, really sweet. So I'm part of the plot, and I'm also the love interest." Men in Black II opens nationwide on July 3.
Spielberg Mulls Jurassic IV
teven Spielberg told Starlog magazine that he's eager to produce a fourth Jurassic Park movie, though he told SCI FI Wire this week that he's unwilling to do any more sequel films.
"You're talking to the guy who has got to decide, and at this point I've pretty much decided to do a Jurassic IV," Spielberg told the magazine.
Spielberg added that he won't direct the fourth film in the popular dinosaur franchise. "I would hope that I could get Joe Johnston [who helmed Jurassic Park III] to direct this one, too, but it's up to him. I'll certainly offer it to Joe before I offer it to anyone else. We actually have a wonderful story that I think is the best story since the very first movie. In fact, I wish it were the third story instead of the fourth one. It came late, but it is actually the best story I've heard for a dinosaur movie since the Michael Crichton book. And I'm not going to tell you anything about it. My lips are sealed."
Spielberg Says No More Sequels
teven Spielberg, whose film A.I. Artificial Intelligence received five Saturn Awards on June 10, told SCI FI Wire that aside from the next installment in the Indiana Jones series, he does not plan to produce sequels to many of his most popular films.
"There'll never be another Back to the Future," Spielberg told reporters at the ceremony in Los Angeles. "There'll never be another E.T. [the Extra-Terrestrial]. I won't do another Close Encounters [of the Third Kind]."
As for the sequel Spielberg is making, the veteran writer/director/producer was characteristically mute on the details of the fourth Indiana Jones film. He did, however, disclose a proposed time frame for the project. "I can only tell you that our best estimate of production on
this picture is May of '04 to start shooting and late June to 4th of July for the release in '05," he said.
Spielberg pledged that he would be offering plenty in the way of original SF films in the future to please fans who might be hoping for an E.T. 2. "The great thing about science fiction is it celebrates the imagination. Science fiction is great for originals. So hopefully I'll be producing a
lot of original sci-fi for you to make up for the sequels I'm not making."
Barker Eyes Faith In Saint
orrormeister Clive Barker, whose original story is the basis of the upcoming original SCI FI Channel movie Saint Sinner, told SCI FI Wire that the two-hour telefilm mixes supernatural horror and time travel in a tale of redemption and the mythic battle of good vs. evil.
"The notion was to create something that would be genuinely scary, but would also have a lot of style to it," Barker said in an interview. "I wanted to do something that would have a little metaphysics going for it as well."
The movie tells the story of a 19th-century California monk, Brother Tomás (played by Greg Serano), who unwittingly unleashes two female demons, Munkar (played by Mary Mara) and Nakir (played by Rebecca Harrell). When the demons flee to the 21st century, Tomás must follow them to present-day Seattle and enlist the aid of a police officer (played by Gina Ravera) to stop their unholy rampage."The fun of that lies not only in the fact that Tomás and the demons are appearing in our time, and that they therefore have to learn about what this world is really like, but also that we have a chance to create two villainesses," Barker said. "When you get two Lady Macbeths, if you will, together, they can be some real fun."
But like Barker's other works, which include the Hellraiser films, Saint Sinner also uses horror as a means to explore deeper themes. "Even in the title, we're playing with some pretty heavy ideas," Barker said. "And that very much fits with the novels I've written and the movies I've been involved in. ... Because the monsters are treated very seriously, whether they are human monsters or inhuman monsters, they linger in people's imaginations perhaps longer than if the tongue is in the cheek ... I think something that horror movies have always had to offer audiences, particularly young audiences, has been this idea that you can tell these primal tales, which really have some authority to them as tales of good and evil. ... When [Tomás] speaks of God and faith and death and, in the end, redemption, [21st-century people] sort of roll their eyes. In fact, those are things which we're all in our hearts concerned about, I think. We sort of lost the vocabulary along the way. We're embarrassed by the vocabulary. And one of the things that horror stories have always allowed us to do is brush off that vocabulary, allow us to return to the notion of absolute good and absolute evil. The notion of redemption. The notion of deeds that are too terrible to be recounted except in whispers, and how they can be made good. And those sorts of ideas, in a curious way, are more pertinent since a certain event than ever. We've seen these terrible things going on in our world, and we have little but a secular response to it, and that's perhaps regrettable." Saint Sinner is currently in production with an eye to an October air date.
Jackman Stakes Out Van Helsing
-Men star Hugh Jackman is in talks for the title role in Van Helsing, a supernatural movie from Universal Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) will write and direct the film and produce it with his partner Bob Ducsay, the trade paper reported.
Sommers' screenplay, set in the late 19th century, finds Bram Stoker's fabled monster hunter Van Helsing summoned to a distant Eastern European land to vanquish evil, the trade paper reported. The movie will feature classic Universal monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man, as reimagined by Sommers.
Van Helsing is eyeing a Dec. 1 start date, with filming planned in Paris, Rome, Prague and soundstages in Los Angeles, the trade paper reported.
Shatner Hosts Full Moon Night
tar Trek star William Shatner will host late-night movies on the SCI FI Channel starting July 20, the channel announced.
William Shatner's Full Moon Fright Night will have the erstwhile Capt. Kirk hosting 13 not-quite-Oscar-caliber horror films every Saturday night, starting at 11 p.m. ET/PT July 20.
In addition to introducing the movies, Shatner will chat each week with special guests who are in some bizarre way related to the horror genre. Shatner will also personally re-enact some of the gruesome moments from that night's movie.
The films will come from the archives of B movie-meister Charles Band and his Full Moon Pictures. Fans will recognize Full Moon's Trancers, Subspecies and Puppet Master franchises. Shatner will host such films as Killjoy, Ragdoll, Shrunken Heads, Horrorvision, Oblivion and Stuart Gordon's Castle Freak for SCI FI.
Was Dead Zone Cut Back?
ead Zone series creator Michael Piller told SCI FI Wire that he always planned a first season of only 13 episodes, despite reports that USA Network cut the order down from 22.
"We knew from day one that the network wanted to do 13," Piller said in an interview. "They asked us to prepare a cliffhanger to put on the air at the end of 13, because they did not want to go up against the fall premiere episodes [on competing broadcast networks]. So this whole idea of cutting back from 22 to 13 is a moot point. We knew all along."
The Hollywood trade papers earlier reported that the order was cut back—reports that Piller suggested result from a misunderstanding of the particular phrasing in the original contracts. "Originally, the order was for 22, because there was some corporate issue with Lion's Gate, but the idea was always that if we did do another nine, it would be later, like January or March, so that's really the same thing that's in play now. Everybody understood that at the end of 13 there is going to be a pause and an opportunity to reflect. This is more about boilerplate language than any kind of cutback." The Dead Zone premiered on June 16.
Playing The Skeptic In Ring
artin Henderson, who co-stars in the upcoming supernatural thriller film Ring, told SCI FI Wire that he plays the skeptic who grounds the mysterious events in reality. Based on a hit Japanese film, Ring centers on a videotape whose viewers all die within hours of seeing it.
"I play the estranged boyfriend of Naomi Watts' character," Henderson said in an interview. "She plays a journalist, and my character is an international strife photographer. She enlists my help to help research a phenomenon, which seems to be causing a few deaths, one of which is close to her, her niece. So I reluctantly take on the challenge, very skeptically, and eventually we both get roped into it in a mystery, thriller, horror."
Henderson said the supernatural element is ambiguous, letting the audience create horror from within their own minds. "There's a lot of ambiguity, and that's where a lot of the scariness comes from, because you don't know. I think there's something about why people are afraid of the dark, because you can't see, so your imagination creates something probably a lot worse."
Chris Cooper plays a character in the opening and final scene, a serial killer of children who comes into possession of the tape. His real-world character also helps link the supernatural elements to reality, Cooper said in an interview. "There's a definite connection from the opening scene through the body of the film to the final scene, where you see where everything is connected," he said. "I'm trying to plead that I've found God and have straightened out, and since my incarceration I've learned restraint, and I should be given a second chance. He's a despicable character, and I hope I played him like that." Ring, directed by Gore Verbinski, is slated for an Oct. 18 release.
9/11 Informs ID4 II
roducer Dean Devlin told Cinescape Online that the events of Sept. 11 helped spur him and partner Roland Emmerich to reconsider mounting a sequel to their SF hit film Independence Day.
News of the proposed ID4 II was first reported on SCI FI Wire.
"The big point for us was the first film was never intended to have a sequel," Devlin told Cinescape. "We didn't want to jam one into it. So when an idea came up which really felt organic to the story we were trying to tell, we got really excited. It's not really beyond the second film. I don't think this is franchise building. We wanted to wait until he had an idea where we said, 'That's worth doing.' I think we finally have it. We'll know better when we start writing the script. I think there was something in the culture the first movie touched on that went beyond spaceships and buildings blowing up. And after Sept. 11, there was something in the culture that reminded us of the message of the movie and how people came together. We were deeply affected about that. We were asked a lot of questions in the press in relation to seeing those images. So it spurred a lot of discussion, and out of those discussions came a way of doing the film. And we move from that."
Garner Gets Big In 13
lias star Jennifer Garner is in talks to be paid $3 million to star in the upcoming fantasy film 13 Going on 30, described as a female Big, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
No director has been attached to the film, but the trade paper reported that Garner might have director approval on the film. The movie is expected to go into production next year while the actress is on hiatus from her ABC series, which begins its second season in the fall.
Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa wrote the screenplay, about a 13-year-old girl who emerges from a closet during a birthday party game to find herself transformed into a 29-year-old woman.
Garner is currently co-starring opposite Ben Affleck in the upcoming Daredevil movie.
Lipnicki Bonds In Little 2
onathan Lipnicki, who reprises his role as George Little in the upcoming Stuart Little 2, told SCI FI Wire that the fantasy sequel explores the depth of the friendship between him and Stuart.
"In this one, I'm friends with Stuart Little through the whole thing," Lipnicki, 11, said in an interview. "I cover for him when he goes off. I lie that he's just at a friend's house."
Stuart and George's new adventures include more animal encounters with creatures beyond the computer-animated mouse. "There's a falcon, there's birds and there's a few more others, like cats," the diminutive actor said. Stuart Little 2 opens July 19.
Allen Up For Toy III
im Allen told syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith that he's ready to voice Buzz Lightyear in a third Toy Story movie, if Disney and Pixar can resolve their differences.
"Tom Hanks wants to do it," Allen told the columnists. "So do I, and Don Rickles and the director and the writers."
The hangup is "a corporate and business thing," Allen said, without going into details. "And it's a shame. There's an absolutely great idea for a new script."
Fox Corrals Animal Control
ox will develop Animal Control, a fantasy film from writers Eric Kripke and Eric Gewirtz, Variety reported.
Barry Josephson will produce the film, about attendants at a zoo that houses mythical creatures such as the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot.
Kripke wrote Can't Get Arrested and Boogie Man; Gewirtz has written for the video games Star Trek: Armada and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the trade paper reported.
Winston Hints New Terminators
ward-winning effects guru Stan Winston, who is designing the killer cyborgs in the upcoming Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, revealed to SCI FI Wire that the sequel introduces a new terminator—one that predates the original version played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The new machines will appear in addition to the previously reported female TX, played by Kristanna Loken. "There is, of course, a new terminator, a female. And there are some terminators pre-Arnold," Winston said in an interview at
the Saturn Awards in Los Angeles, where he was honored for best special effects for
A.I. Artificial Intelligence. "There's a lot to see."
Winston added, "We're back, and we're doing some pretty wonderful stuff. Everything we're doing is new and different. So it's beyond what we've seen before." As he did in the first two Terminator films, Winston seeks to break new ground in the design of robotics and prosthetics for T3. "In Terminator 1 we pretended to create a robot. [In] Terminator 3, we really are," he said. "We push it with every film. That's the nature of the game. Every film we do is only R&D for the next one. So what we're doing right now is research and development for what we're going to do tomorrow." Terminator 3 is slated for release in the summer of 2003.
Wahlberg Warms Up Dreamcatcher
onnie Wahlberg told SCI FI Wire that to play Duddits in the film adaptation of Stephen King's Dreamcatcher, he focused on the heartwarming aspects of the mentally challenged character.
"The essence of who he was, Duddits is a lovable, wonderful fellow, despite his limitations physically and mentally," Wahlberg said in an interview. "I just tried to stay lovable."
To prepare for the film, Wahlberg said he focused more on Lawrence Kasdan's script than on King's novel, about a group of friends who reunite to face an extraterrestrial threat. "I think the screenplay was about as much of a true adaptation as you can have," he said. "Usually people write a screenplay based on a book, and they change everything. Lawrence Kasdan really didn't change anything. He stayed very true to the book, so the script was easier to deal with. [It's] 120 pages as opposed to 700 pages of Stephen King madness." Warner Brothers will release Dreamcatcher on Feb. 7, 2003.
Cooper Cruises Interstate 60
hris Cooper told SCI FI Wire that his character in the fantasy film Interstate 60, Bob Gale's feature directorial debut, is a crusader whom James Marsden's main character meets along a mythical highway.
"My character is a business executive who's dying of lung cancer, and he's on a trip to confront all those companies who tell lies," Cooper said in an interview. "He has dynamite strapped to him, and he hitchhikes. He's picked up by the main character and in a later section, I come to the main character's aid, because he is being lied to. It's a light piece, and I had a lot of fun with the character."
The film also stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Kurt Russell as characters Marsden meets along the way. "It's a kind of an on-the-road, coming-of-age film," Cooper said. "This man, through getting bonked on the head, starts getting signs and visions that he needs to take this trip, track down this woman, and he finds his way through to the said Interstate 60, which is nonexistent. On that trip, he runs into individuals who teach him life lessons." No release date is yet set for Interstate 60.
Spyglass Mulls Underdog Film
pyglass Entertainment (The Sixth Sense) has bought the feature-film rights to the 1960s superhero TV cartoon series Underdog, Variety reported.
The comedic series centered on a mild-mannered dog who is transformed into a superhero after being accidentally exposed to an experimental elixir, the trade paper reported.
The live-action movie will feature computer-animated elements. The TV series debuted in 1964 on NBC.
Aardman Readies Flushed
reamWorks and Aardman Animations are developing Flushed Away, a stop-motion animated fantasy film about a pampered British rat, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais will write the script for Flushed, about a rat who accidentally gets flushed from his posh penthouse into the London sewers, the trade paper reported.
Sam Fell will direct the project, with Aardman head Peter Lord producing. No voice talent has signed on yet. DreamWorks and Aardman most recently collaborated on the hit animated film Chicken Run.
Beastmaster Ends New Shows
eastmaster, the syndicated series about a man who can talk to animals, has ended its run after completing its third season, a spokeswoman for the series confirmed.
The show featured Daniel Goddard as Dar, the last male of the legendary Sula tribe, who began his quest searching for his long-lost love and, after losing her, went on to search for his family.
Dar traveled with a companion named Tao (played by Jackson Raine) and several animals, who helped him in his battles against mythical monsters, sorcerers and other evildoers.
In the final episode, "A New Dawn," Dar faces his final challenge before finally being reunited with his family. The show was based on the Beastmaster novels by Andre Norton and the films starring Marc Singer, who also guest starred in the series. A spokeswoman for the show's U.S. distributor, Tribune Entertainment, said that all three seasons of the series will continue in reruns next year.
Dante Talks Genre DVDs
irector Joe Dante told SCI FI Wire that he developed DVD special editions for his genre films Gremlins, Gremlins 2, Innerspace and The Howling simultaneously.
The Gremlins discs, available Aug. 20, will have the most new content, with commentaries, deleted scenes, a gag reel, behind-the-scenes documentaries and alternate-language tracks, the director said in an interview.
"Gremlins 1 has two audio tracks," Dante said. "One is me and the cast, and one is me and the effects producers. But there's less missing footage than there is on Gremlins 2. Gremlins 2 has 20 minutes of it, plus a gag reel. We never made a gag reel on Gremlins 1, so that's why there isn't anything there. Gremlins 1 also has a documentary that was made at the time, I think, by Mick Garris, which was shot on 16mm. We found that, and everybody looks younger, so that's great. Also, I've been told there are French and Spanish tracks, which should be more interesting than usual, because we actually redid the entire soundtrack of all the gremlins for the foreign editions. We actually rewrote all the stuff to make it appeal to the various localities. So listening to gremlins speaking French and Spanish ought to be interesting."
Innerspace, available July 9, has only one extra, the commentary track. "We tried to get Marty Short, but we just couldn't get his schedule [to work]. So it's me, Robert Picardo, Kevin McCarthy, Dennis Muren—who won an Oscar for the effects—and the producer. There was no extra footage. The picture ran 120 minutes. We did everything we could do to try to make it shorter, because it's a comedy, and I think comedies are better when they're shorter. But it just seemed to play at two hours, so that's what it was."
Finally, Dante wanted to produce a new Howling special edition, because he was dissatisfied with the previously available movie-only edition. "They're doing The Howling as a special edition at my insistence, because I was so annoyed with the transfer of the last DVD. I didn't like it, and I suggested that it might be a good idea to do another transfer. So we did, and it's got a documentary on it that's not bad, plus most of the stuff that was on the old Image laser disc." The new documentary incorporates old footage from behind the scenes and new interviews from the participants. The commentary will be the same as the one on the laser disc. "I didn't feel that I needed to do another commentary. In fact, Chris Stone, who's on the commentary, has passed away, so it seemed like it would be better to preserve that one." No street date is set for the new Howling DVD.
Sunburst Finalists Named
he Sunburst Award committee has announced the short list of books for its second annual awards ceremony.
The award, named after the first novel by Phyllis Gotlieb, one of the first published authors of contemporary Canadian science fiction, consists of a cash prize of $1,000 Canadian and a bronze medallion and honors SF by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. The award will be presented at the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, which takes place Sept. 24-29. A list of finalists follows.
•Paradigm of Earth by Candas Jane Dorsey
•The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto
•When Alice Lay Down With Peter by Margaret Sweatman
•Salamander by Thomas Wharton
•Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson
Sturgeon Finalists Announced
rganizers have announced the short list for this year's Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short SF fiction of 2001.
The nominees include a short story first published on SCIFI.COM's Sci Fiction page. The award will be presented July 6 at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas.
The Sturgeon Award was established in 1987 by James Gunn, director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at Kansas University, and is named for the Golden-Age SF author. A full list of finalists follows.
•"The Cat's Pajamas" by James Morrow
•"The Chief Designer" by Andy Duncan
•"The Dog Said Bow-Wow" by Michael Swanwick
•"Eternity and Afterward" by Lucius Shepard
•"Have Not Have" by Geoff Ryman
•"Hell Is the Absence of God" by Ted Chiang
•"Interview: On Any Given Day" by Maureen F. McHugh
•"Isabel of the Fall" by Ian R. MacLeod
•"Lobsters" by Charles Stross
•"The Measure of All Things" by Richard Chwedyk
•"New Light on the Drake Equation" by Ian R. MacLeod
•"Undone" by James Patrick Kelly
A.I. Wins Saturn Best SF Film
.I. Artificial Intelligence won the award for best SF film at the 28th annual Saturn Awards ceremony in Los Angeles June 10, sponsored by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and Cinescape magazine.
The Steven Spielberg/Stanley Kubrick film garnered five Saturn Awards, including best writing, best younger actor, best special effects and best music.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring took home three awards, including best fantasy film, best director and best supporting actor.
In the horror category, The Others won three awards, including best horror film, best actress and best supporting actress.
In the television category, the SCI FI Channel's original series Farscape won the award for best syndicated/cable TV series, and UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer took the prize for best network series.
In a new category, Buffy co-star James Marsters and Enterprise cast member Jolene Blalock each won a Cinescape Face of the Future Award, based on a poll of the magazine's readers. A full list of winners follows.
Film
Best Science Fiction Film
•A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Best Fantasy Film
•The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Best Horror Film
•The Others
Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film
•Memento
Best Actor
•Tom Cruise, Vanilla Sky
Best Actress
•Nicole Kidman, The Others
Best Supporting Actor
•Ian McKellen, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Best Supporting Actress
•Fionnula Flanagan, The Others
Best Performance by a Younger Actor
•Haley Joel Osment, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Best Direction
•Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Best Writing
•Steven Spielberg, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Best Music
•John Williams, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Best Costume
•Judianna Makovsky, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Best Makeup
•Greg Cannom and Wesley Wofford, Hannibal
Best Special Effects
•Dennis Muren, Scott Farrar, Stan Winston and Michael Lantieri, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Television
Best Network Television Series
•Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series
•Farscape
Best Single Television Presentation
•Jack and the Beanstalk—The Real Story
Best Actor in a Television Series
•Ben Browder, Farscape
Best Actress in a Television Series
•Yancy Butler, Witchblade
Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series
•Michael Rosenbaum, Smallville
Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series
•Jolene Blalock, Enterprise
DVD
Best DVD Release
•Ginger Snaps
Best DVD Special Edition Release
•Shrek
Best DVD Classic Film Release
•Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Special Award Recipients
The Dr. Donald A. Reed Award
•Sherry Lansing
The Life Career Award
•Stan Lee
•Drew Struzan
Special Achievement Award
•Anchor Bay Entertainment
The George Pal Memorial Award
•Samuel Z. Arkoff (posthumously)
Young Filmmaker's Showcase Award
•Donnie Darko
Gaiman Wins Top Stoker Award
eil Gaiman's American Gods won the prize for best novel in the 2001 Bram Stoker Awards, given out June 8 in New York by the Horror Writers Association.
The awards, named for the author of Dracula, honor outstanding work in the horror field, the HWA announced. A full list of winners follows.
Novel
•American Gods by Neil Gaiman
First Novel
•Deadliest of the Species by Michael Oliveri
Long Fiction
•"In These Final Days of Sales" by Steve Rasnic Tem
Short Fiction
•"Reconstructing Amy" by Tim Lebbon
Fiction Collection
•The Man With the Barbed-Wire Fists by Norman Partridge
Anthology
•Extremes 2: Fantasy and Horror From the Ends of the Earth, ed. by Brian A. Hopkins
Nonfiction
•Jobs in Hell, ed. by Brian Keene
Illustrated Narrative
•No Award
Screenplay
•Memento by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan
Work for Young Readers
•The Willow Files 2 by Yvonne Navarro
Poetry Collection
•Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes by Linda Addison
Alternative Forms
•Dark Dreamers: Facing the Masters of Fear by Beth Gwinn and Stanley Wiater
Lifetime Achievement Award
•John Farris
Dante Goes Looney Tunes
oe Dante (Gremlins) told SCI FI Wire he is directing the next as-yet-untitled Looney Tunes live-action/animated movie, which will not be a sequel to the last one, Space Jam.
"I would characterize it as the anti-Space Jam," Dante said in an interview. "In that film, the Looney Tunes were treated as a group, and they didn't have a lot of differentiation. They were used interchangeably. We're trying to go back to the specific character traits that Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett and Friz Freleng gave them when they were at their prime."
Dante hopes the new film will appeal to a new generation of fans, as well as those that grew up with the Looney Tunes. "We're trying to reintroduce them to a multigenerational audience," he said. "The idea is to bring the characters back to the archetypes of the late '40s and early '50s, when they were really funny and acerbic and relevant." No release date has been set for the film.
Matrix II Takes To Air
helicopter will buzz downtown Sydney during the filming of The Matrix Reloaded next month for what is expected to be one of the most complicated aerial stunts ever filmed, the Australian Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.
The stunt for the sequel will take at least two days to film, the newspaper reported.
The helicopter will fly below rooftop level in what insiders told the newspaper is the climactic scene of The Matrix Reloaded. The scene will be shot over at least one, and possibly two, weekends in July.
Details of the stunt are being closely guarded, with directors Larry and Andy Wachowski fearing other studios could steal their ideas. Most of the streets surrounding the stunt will be closed to the public, the paper reported.
The Matrix Reloaded will be released in May 2003. A second sequel, The Matrix Revolutions, is due out seven months later.
Koepp Back On Spidey 2
pider-Man screenwriter David Koepp, who previously said he wasn't interested in penning the sequel film, is now back on the job, Variety reported.
Koepp has emerged as the new writer of the film based on his own idea, the trade paper reported.
Screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (creators of The WB's Smallville) had previously signed on to write the script for Spider-Man 2. The movie is eyeing a January 2003 start date and a May 7, 2004, release.
Variety reported that Sony said Koepp will replace Gough and Millar only temporarily. Gough and Millar will take Koepp's first draft and start working from there, the trade paper reported.
Aronofsky's Fountain Moves Ahead
arner Brothers has partnered with New Regency to co-finance Darren Aronofsky's upcoming SF thriller film The Fountain, previously known as The Last Man, Variety reported.
The SF epic will star Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, the trade paper reported.
The companies are currently trying to determine a start date for the production, which is budgeted north of $70 million, the trade paper reported.
New Regency replaces Village Roadshow Pictures, which was originally expected to co-finance the film. Aronofsky and Ari Handel wrote the script, which has been kept tightly under wraps. Aronofsky will produce with Eric Watson, his partner in Protozoa Pictures.
Berman Says Nemesis On Track
tar Trek producer Rick Berman told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming 10th film in the franchise, Star Trek Nemesis, is looking good and is right on schedule for release in December.
"The studio [Paramount] is very, very pleased," the executive producer said in an interview. "Actually, the only notes we've gotten from the studio were to put some stuff back in that we'd taken out of the film."
Berman is also readying season two of UPN's Enterprise, which will begin filming in about two weeks. "We're busily editing [Nemesis], and they couldn't be more pleased," he said. "They are extremely pleased with our guest star/villain, Tom Hardy [who plays a Reman named Shinzon]. We're working away at all the things that one works away at at this stage of the game, which are the title sequence and trying to get the special effects done. We're also preparing for
the final sound mixes and things [like that]. That's always a very daunting task at this stage."
Perlman Talks Nemesis Makeup
on Perlman, who plays the villainous Reman Viceroy in the upcoming Star Trek: Nemesis film, told the Star Trek Monthly magazine that he had to wear a latex mask and headpiece for the alien role, according to a report on the Sci Fi Pulse Web site.
"It doesn't seem to let much oxygen in a pinch, so I'm breathing out of my mouth and nose," Perlman said. "I can't take it off until the end of the day. It takes a couple of hours to put on, and the days have been anywhere between 12 and 17 hours—no less than 12 and probably close to 15 on average."
As for his costume, Perlman added, "I have almost no mobility in it. Almost everything I do, I'm fighting the costume. This is a very unique exercise in pacing yourself, and I come up short every day. Every night I go home just whipped, really whipped."
But Perlman added that the makeup helps his performance. "There's no way you can create a character like this until you're actually in the getup and look at yourself in the mirror," he said. "That basically is the first clue as to what he walks like, talks like and what his mindset is, and that dictates everything else. So you do some generalized homework about the guy's circumstances, but you really have to wait until everybody puts on you what it is they're putting on you to create what is not human, but an abstraction." Nemesis opens in December.
Briefly Noted
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Cartoon Network will debut Baby Looney Tunes Sept. 3 at 9 a.m., Variety reported. The half-hour show will feature the adventures of the Looney Tunes cast as precocious toddlers, the trade paper reported.
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Miramax is developing Truth, Justice & the American Way, a movie written by Paul Bernbaum based on the death of TV's original Superman, George Reeves, Variety reported. Michael and Mark Polish are set to direct and produce the film, which Miramax will cast quickly and put into production this year, the trade paper reported.
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Amer Khawaj, 21, and Inderpreet Grewal, 20, both of Etobicoke, Ontario, are facing charges in Canada of trying to sell a stolen copy of Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones, which was filched from a local theater, the Associated Press reported. The men were reportedly trying to sell the film reels on eBay for $3,000.
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Original Terminator star Michael Biehn told his official fan club Web site that he will not appear in the upcoming Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. "I am not in a cameo in T3," he said. "I am in no way involved."
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Director Cameron Crowe and actress Cameron Diaz make cameo appearances in Steven Spielberg's upcoming SF thriller film Minority Report, the Empire Online Web site reported. The duo appear briefly on a subway. Last year, Spielberg made a cameo appearance in Crowe's Vanilla Sky, which co-starred Diaz and starred Minority Report topliner Tom Cruise.
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Joel Willoughby, an 11-year-old from Navarre, Fla., has won a walk-on role in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets sequel movie, now in production, Warner Brothers announced. Willoughby was the grand prizewinner of the online Owl Prowl game.
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David Prowse told the British TV kids show CBBC that he will put on Darth Vader's black mask for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode III and is rushing to get in shape, according to a report on the Dark Horizons Web site.
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London's Science Museum will mount an exhibition to mark the 40th anniversary of the James Bond movies, the Reuters news service reported. The exhibition, which will feature vehicles, gadgets and images from the 19 Bond movies, opens in October; the 20th film, Die Another Day, opens in November.
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Kelly Hu told the Comics Continuum Web site that her character in the upcoming X-Men sequel, X2, will be Lady Deathstrike.
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The IGN FilmForce site reported that a teaser trailer for the upcoming Daredevil movie will hit theaters on June 21, attached to prints of Steven Spielberg's Minority Report. Daredevil, based on the Marvel Comics series, opens Feb. 14, 2003.
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The IGN FilmForce Web site reported that Monica Bellucci has dropped out of the proposed live-action film adaptation of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel. Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea) and Milla Jovovich (Resident
Evil) are reportedly under consideration for Bellucci's role of Mina Harker.
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A Web-exclusive trailer for Steven Spielberg's upcoming SF movie Minority Report, created by Spielberg himself, has been posted. The film opens June 21.
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Brendan Fraser will star in the next live-action/animated Looney Tunes film, to be called Back in Action, Variety reported. The film begins production July 29 for a November 2003 release.
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Warner Brothers has posted a piece of the teaser trailer for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets sequel film, which is due in November.
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A private collector is offering what he claims is Capt. Kirk's chair from the set of the original Star Trek series' starship Enterprise in a live auction through eBay. The minimum bid: $80,000.
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USA Network, CBS and UPN have collectively ponied up about $16 million to acquire the broadcast rights to The Scorpion King, Variety reported. USA will get the first crack at the movie within a six-month window, beginning in September 2004.
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Producer Herman Cohen, who invented the teenage fright flick and launched Michael Landon's film career with I Was a Teenage Werewolf, died June 2 of throat cancer in Los Angeles at age 74, a hospital spokeswoman told the Reuters news service.
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The official Web site for the proposed Tron 2.0 video game has been modified slightly and promises more on June 18.
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New Line Cinema is set to hire Todd Alcott (Antz) to write the script for the live-action movie version of the animated TV series Samurai Jack, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) will direct, based on a previous treatment from series creator Genndy Tartakovsky.
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