That Becomes Then
BC has pulled its struggling fantasy drama series That Was Then from the schedule after only two airings, though the show is not officially canceled, the Zap2it Web site reported.
That Was Then, which earned the dubious distinction of being the lowest-rated series on any of the four major networks in the new season, becomes the first new genre series of the season to disappear from the airwaves. ABC is putting the show on hiatus with the intention of bringing it back at a different day and time later in the season, the site reported.
The WB's new superhero series Birds of Prey, meanwhile, drew impressive ratings in its Oct. 9 premiere, helping the netlet to an average 5.4 rating/8 share for the night in the metered markets, the site reported.
Otto Marvels At Towers
iranda Otto, who plays Eowyn, the niece of beleaguered King Theoden [Bernard Hill] in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, told SCI FI Wire that she marveled at the outdoor sets when she arrived in New Zealand to shoot her scenes.
"You weren't acting in front of a blue screen," Otto said in an interview. "So many of the sets and [props] were made for real and made to scale."
"You had so many tangible things to work with," Otto added. "Edoras, the kingdom Eowyn comes from, was built on a hill in New Zealand. The place was in a very remote part of the country, and they actually had to build a road to get there. There were no accommodations nearby. You had to travel an hour and a half to get there. Peter [Jackson] was very adamant that things be real. He didn't want to blue-screen things. He hoped to make you feel that this was a real story that was happening—that, in a sense, it was history more than fantasy."
The Two Towers opens in U.S. theaters on Dec. 18, 2002. The Return of the King is slated to be released in December 2003.
Two Towers Game Goes Gold
lectronic Arts announced that its PlayStation 2 version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has gone gold.
The company, in a release, also announced that it has moved up the game's street date from early November to Monday, Oct. 21.
The Two Towers game enables players to reenact scenes from the first two Rings films, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Players can assume the roles of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, characters central to the films' action. Entertainment Arts is offering a gameplay trailer at http://www.ea.com/eagames/official/lordoftherings/videos.jsp.
A GameBoy Advance version of The Two Towers will be released by Electronic Arts on Nov. 12.
Live Akira Developing
arner Brothers will produce a live-action, English-language remake of Japan's anime classic Akira, Variety reported.
Blade director Stephen Norrington, who has just wrapped The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, has reteamed with League screenwriter James Robinson to develop the project. Jon Peters will produce, the trade paper reported.
Released in 1988, Akira was directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, who also wrote the comic from which it stemmed. The remake will tell the story of a bike-gang leader who must rescue his younger brother from his involvement in Akira, a secret government project. In the process, the biker must battle anti-government activists, greedy politicians and irresponsible scientists, the trade paper reported.
Gaiman Prevails In Spawn Suit
federal jury ruled in favor of genre author Neil Gaiman in his suit against Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and his companies in which Gaiman argued that he created three central Spawn characters, Angela, Cogliostro and Medieval Spawn, Gaiman's spokesman told SCI FI Wire.
The jury in Wisconsin ruled in Gaiman's favor in all nine of his claims against McFarlane, TMP International Inc., McFarlane Worldwide Inc. and Todd McFarlane Productions Inc., Gaiman's spokesman said in a release. Gaiman also prevailed on each of the counterclaims and affirmative defenses asserted against him, his spokesman announced.
Arbitrators must now decide how much money McFarlane owes Gaiman for co-creating the characters, the Associated Press reported. Gaiman has said that any money remaining from those he receives from the suit after his attorneys' fees are paid will be donated to comics-related charities, including the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Gaiman, author of American Gods and the Sandman comic books, lives in Menomonie in central Wisconsin, the AP reported.
Daredevil Swings Into N.Y.
ilmmakers have moved to New York to shoot exteriors and wide shots of the city for the upcoming Daredevil movie, which completed most photography in Los Angeles, the IGN FilmForce Web site reported.
Citing an anonymous source, the site reported that filmmakers are shooting establishing shots and "plates," or backgrounds, for visual effects that will be added in later.
The site added that a new Daredevil trailer will hit theaters in wide release on Nov. 1, but won't be attached to any film in particular. Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner and based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, is slated for a February 2003 release.
Lawrence Mulls Constantine
ideo director Francis Lawrence is in talks to make his feature directorial debut on Constantine, a film adaptation of the DC-Vertigo comic book Hellblazer, with Keanu Reeves in the title role, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Comic-book fan Nicolas Cage at one point had expressed interest in the film.
Reeves will star as John Constantine, a man who dabbles in the occult and teams with a female police officer to fight evil forces, the trade paper reported. Kevin Brodbin (The Glimmer Man) wrote the original script, with a rewrite by Mark Bomback and Frank Cappello.
Lawrence has directed videos for such groups and artists as Aerosmith, Backstreet Boys, Destiny's Child, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Pink, Will Smith and Britney Spears. His video for Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," from the Armageddon soundtrack, won the 1998 MTV Video Music Award for best video from a film, the trade paper reported.
Rock Won't Play Punisher?
he IGN FilmForce Web site disputed a rumor that wrestler/actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is in the running to play the title character in a new film adaptation of Marvel Comics' Punisher series.
Citing an anonymous source, the site reported that The Rock won't play vigilante Frank Castle.
Production on The Punisher is slated to begin next year, the site reported. Producer Gale Anne Hurd (Clockstoppers) will produce the film, which will be written and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh (Die Hard: With a Vengeance).
Davis To Land in Smallville?
illiam B. Davis, most familiar to television viewers as the duplicitous Cigarette-Smoking Man on The X-Files, reportedly will guest-star on an upcoming episode of Smallville, according to a rumor on the Web site KryptonSite.com.
The Web site noted that Davis will play the corrupt mayor of Smallville and suggested that the actor might return on a recurring basis.
Davis has been busy since reprising his role as CSM in the X-Files series finale in May. He's working on the medical series Body & Soul and plays Father Michael in the SCI FI Pictures original movie Clive Barker Presents Saint Sinner, which premieres Oct. 26.
The X-Files currently is airing on SCI FI Channel on Tuesday and Wednesday nights from 7PM – 11PM ET/PT.
Iron Man Game Coming
ctivision will publish a hand-held game based on Marvel Comics' Invincible Iron Man series, coming to the GameBoy Advance this fall.
The game will place players in the role of Iron Man, battling his archenemies Blizzard, Crimson Dynamo and a team of other supervillains.
Developed by Torus Games, The Invincible Iron Man game will feature Iron Man as he fights hordes of enemies while tracking down the supervillains who have stolen his battlesuit technology.
Columbus Passes Potter Torch
hris Columbus, director of the first two Harry Potter movies, told SCI FI Wire that he is passing the helmer's torch to Alfonso Cuarón for the proposed third film, but won't abandon the franchise and its young trio of leads, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron).
"I'm certainly going to be around," Columbus said in an interview. "I'm not going anywhere."
Columbus directed 2001's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and the upcoming Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Mexican-born Cuarón (A Little Princess) will take on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, based, like the earlier movies, on J.K. Rowling's best-selling series of Potter novels.
"I am producing Prisoner of Azkaban," Columbus said. "I will be on the set. I will make sure the transition is going very smoothly. So I will be there for them. I met with each of [the stars] individually when I made the decision [not to direct Azkaban]. They were the first people I talked to, aside from my own family. I said, 'Look, guys, I'm not going to be doing the third [film].' I explained to them the reasons why. They were very kind about it and said they were going to miss me, but they understood. And I guaranteed them at that time that I would be there for them. I said I will be on the set, and I said, 'If there are any problems, if anything makes you uncomfortable, I will be there for you guys.' So they know I'm still going to be there. I won't be the guy directing their performances, but I will be there. That was a commitment I had made to them earlier on, and I felt compelled to say it [again]. That's why I'm staying in London for another year." Chamber of Secrets opens Nov. 15.
Cuaron Preps Azkaban
arry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuaron jokingly told Empire Online that the raw sexuality of his most recent film, the Spanish-language art-house hit Y Tu Mama Tambien, could rub off on Harry [Daniel Radcliffe], Hermione [Emma Watson] and Ron [Rupert Grint] during their next adventures at Hogwarts.
"Sex in Harry Potter?" Cuaron teased. "It's going to be steamy... magical. We'll have digital effects, too!"
The filmmaker, who previously helmed Great Expectations and A Little Princess, told the magazine that he and Potter creator J.K. Rowling are getting along well. "[She is] super cool, a great creative ally," he said. "I think we have a great connection creatively. I feel very good about it."
Cuaron, who hails from Mexico, has been spending time in London meeting with Rowling, producer David Heyman and the first two films' director, Chris Columbus—who will relinquish his director's chair after Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets but remain with the franchise as executive producer. "I've always liked London and spent long periods here, but never quite as long as this," Cuaron said. "I'm just having a blast working on this film and collaborating with everyone and walking around London every day."
Clone Wars To Ship
ucasArts announced that its Star Wars: The Clone Wars video game is ready to ship and is expected to hit stores Oct. 29.
The game, for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube gaming platforms, picks up the story following the end of this year's prequel film Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones.
In the game, players assume the role of either Jedi master Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi or Anakin Skywalker as they fight in the titular conflict. The game takes players to several new environments, including the planets of Kashyyyk, Raxis Prime and Thule.
Yu Talks Freddy vs. Jason
onny Yu told SCI FI Wire that it was New Line Cinema's decision, not his, to recast the role of Jason in the Freddy vs. Jason film that he is directing.
The studio has cast an unknown Canadian actor as the hockey-masked villain, despite Kane Hodder's four-film history with the franchise.
Yu declined to take sides in the matter. "I'm totally neutral because I don't know Kane and I'm not that familiar with that franchise anyway," he said in an interview. "So for me it's just an actor. Whomever the studio wants [is fine]."
The director noted that his unfamiliarity with either the Friday the 13th or Elm Street franchise gave him a fresh perspective on both, something he also was able to bring to the Child's Play series when he directed Bride of Chucky.
"When I did Chucky, I didn't know anything about Child's Play," Yu said. "That's exactly what the producers from Chucky and the producers from Freddy vs. Jason want. They want a fresh angle, a director with a different style."
Freddy vs. Jason currently is shooting in Vancouver. New Line is aiming for a release date of June 13, 2003.
Avary Teases Phantasm's End
scar-winning screenwriter Roger Avary gave SCI FI Wire a tease of Phantasm's End, a proposed horror sequel for which he wrote a script.
"I wanted to answer the universal equation of Phantasm, but also keep it cryptic and ask more questions," Avary said in an interview. "Also, I've always wanted to go over to the other side. I'd been thinking about it since I first saw the film in high school and just wanted to make an exciting movie out of it."
Phantasm's End will go into production after director Don Coscarelli secures distribution for his latest film, Bubba Ho-tep. Avary said he did the work pro bono. "I love Don Coscarelli's work," he said. "So after the Academy Awards [in 1994, best original screenplay for Pulp Fiction], rather than take all the big money jobs that were offered to me, I called him up and said, 'I just won the Academy Award. I would very much like to write a Phantasm film. It's one of my favorite movies. I'd like to write a sequel.' He was like, 'Great.' And so I wrote it for free. I love Don's work. I think Don is brilliant."
Anderson Readies Evil 2
aul W.S. Anderson is writing and will produce the second installment of this summer's hit video-game-inspired zombie film Resident Evil, Variety confirmed.
The sequel is slated to begin production in the first half of 2003, Germany's Constantin Film announced.
Anderson—who wrote, directed and produced the first film—hasn't decided if he'll direct the sequel, the trade paper reported. Constantin, in partnership with Samuel Hadida of France's Metropolitan Film, also will finance the second film.
Knotts Getting Haunted?
he Creature Corner Web site reported a rumor that veteran character actor Don Knotts will play the groundskeeper in Disney's upcoming Haunted Mansion movie, based on its theme park attraction.
The rubber-faced Knotts has some previous experience with spectral presences, having starred in 1966's The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.
The site also reported that Oscar-winning makeup effects master Rick Baker will design the film's ghosts and Madame Leota's crystal ball visual effects. Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) is directing the film, which will star Eddie Murphy.
Treasure Game Due
ony will release a video game based on Disney's upcoming animated movie Treasure Planet, in turn adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel Treasure Island, the GameSpot Web site reported.
Timed to come out for the PlayStation 2 gaming system alongside the film's November release, the video game will also be based in the future and feature characters from the movie.
Disney Interactive and Bizarre Creations are developing the title, which will require players to explore derelict mines, thriving spaceports and outer space on foot, on hero Jim Hawkins' rocket-powered surfboard and on giant space galleons, the site reported.
Meanwhile, Disney announced that Goo Goo Dolls lead singer John Rzeznik has written and recorded two songs for the movie, "I'm Still Here" and "Always Know Where You Are." The Treasure Planet soundtrack is scheduled for release on Nov. 17. The movie hits theaters on Nov. 27.
Kidman Linked To Birth
icole Kidman is attached to star in Birth, a supernatural movie from director Jonathan Glazer, which has moved to Fine Line Features from Regency Enterprises, Variety reported.
The New Line specialty label acquired worldwide rights to the film, which Glazer will direct from a script he wrote with Jean-Claude Carriere. The film will begin production in New York in January 2003. Kidman's deal has yet to close, the trade paper reported.
Birth tells the story of a 35-year-old New York woman who encounters a 10-year-old boy who is convinced he is the reincarnation of her dead husband, the trade paper reported.
EA Cancels Aliens
lectronic Arts has canceled its proposed video game Aliens: Colonial Marines, which was to have been based on the James Cameron film Aliens, the GameSpot Web site reported.
The publisher had put the game on hold in June, the site reported.
Electronic Arts told the site that there are no plans to pick up Aliens' development in the future.
World Updates Verne
irector Frank Coraci told SCI FI Wire that his upcoming film version of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days will elaborate on the SF themes and gadgetry in Verne's original story.
"The movie does take place at the turn of the century, and I decided instead of just making Phileas Fogg an Englishman that's very wealthy, in this version he's an inventor," Coraci said in an interview. "That was inspired by the idea that Jules Verne was way ahead of his time, and so our Phileas Fogg is a man way ahead of his time, living in a Victorian era when people didn't want to accept big change."
Coraci added, "They were very stodgy and trying to hold onto their old ways, and the bet [to travel the world in 80 days] stems out of him trying to prove to them that the world is a much more progressive place and that anything is possible. In that sense, I think it's the modern-day version of a Jules Verne theme. Think ahead. Think progressive."
Coraci will also include an appearance by a character from another Jules Verne story, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea's Captain Nemo. Phileas and Passepartout will encounter Nemo, allowing Coraci to construct Nemo's submarine Nautilus. "We thought it would be fun to do that, and we've created this amazing version of what we think the Nautilus looked like. Of course, a lot of it is going to be special effects, because we're going to create this 300-foot sub. We looked at every possible design, because there are so many Nautiluses, and we created this one that moves sort of like an animal. So it sort of slinks like an eel or a snake. We've created this bizarre organic version of it, so a lot of that is going to be done with special effects."
Jackie Chan will play Passepartout. The role of Phileas has not yet been cast. Production is set to begin in January 2003, with an eye to a Christmas 2003 release.
Clarkson Gets Real In Carrie
atricia Clarkson, who co-stars in a new TV movie based on Stephen King's supernatural novel Carrie, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming telefilm will distinguish itself from director Brian De Palma's 1976 film.
"It's different," Clarkson said in an interview. "It's very different. It's shot very raw, very real, very cinéma vérité."
Clarkson (The Green Mile) plays Carrie's mother, a religious nut who believes her daughter's telekinetic powers are the work of the devil. She added that she is trying to avoid Piper Laurie's portrayal of Mrs. White in De Palma's film. "I stayed as far away from it as possible," Clarkson said. "I hadn't seen it in 15 years, and I was so happy that I hadn't, because it was not in my [mind]." Carrie will air on NBC. No date has been set yet.
Haunted Sweepstakes Starts
he SCI FI Channel and horrormeister Clive Barker—the creative force behind the upcoming original SCI FI movie Clive Barker Presents Saint Sinner—are sponsoring a "This Old Haunted House Sweepstakes" for a chance to win a home makeover a la Barker.
The winner of the month-long contest will have his or her home completely transformed for Halloween 2003.
Viewers must enter at SCIFI.COM's official Saint Sinner Web site by midnight Oct. 22. In addition to the one-of-a-kind Clive-Barker-inspired home makeover, the winner will receive the fixings for a Halloween party for 50. Grand-prize and first-prize winners also will get McFarlane Toys' Tortured Souls 2 action figures, the second line of grisly action figures co-designed by Barker and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane.
SCI FI will announce the winners on air during the premiere of Clive Barker Presents Saint Sinner, which begins at 9 p.m. ET/PT Oct. 26. Saint Sinner tells the story of Brother Tomas, a 19th-century monk, who unwittingly unleashes two female demons and must pursue them into the 21st century.
Groovenians Come To TV
ennis Hopper, Paul Reubens and Ann Magnuson will voice characters in Cartoon Network's upcoming animated SF TV special The Groovenians, Variety reported.
Conceived by pop surrealist Kenny Scharf, the special tells the story of a pair of bored teens who escape to the bohemian planet of Groovenia, the trade paper reported.
Scharf, whose work sits in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, told the trade paper, "I've always wanted to do a cartoon. And I finally decided to kick myself in the head and do it." Groovenians was written, produced and directed by Jordan Reichek (Invader Zim) and illustrated in the style of Scharf's works, the trade paper reported. The Groovenians will air Nov. 10 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT as part of the network's Adult Swim programming block, with the possibility of expanding into a series.
Warner Buys The Farm
arner Brothers has bought an as-yet-untitled fantasy family movie from Cats & Dogs and Looney Tunes: Back in Action writers John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, Variety reported.
The live-action movie will feature animatronic elements in a story about barnyard animals who pull together to save a farm, the trade paper reported.
Robert Simonds Co. president of production Tracey Trench will executive produce the film.
Winick Mulls Garner's 13
irector Gary Winick (Tadpole) is in talks to helm Alias star Jennifer Garner in Revolution Studios' upcoming fantasy comedy 13 Going on 30, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Producers are eyeing a production start early next year, while Garner is on hiatus from her ABC series, the trade paper reported.
Written by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, 13 is described as a female Big and tells the story of an unpopular 13-year-old girl who is humiliated during a party game, hides in a closet and emerges to find herself transformed into an adult on the verge of her 30th birthday, the trade paper reported.
Calling Noreascon Applicants
oping to entice residents of every U.S. state and Canadian province to join the upcoming Noreascon Four, organizers are offering free T-shirts to the first entrants from areas not yet represented.
T-shirts will also go to the first members from any other nation or region.
So far, the upcoming 62nd World Science Fiction Convention has members from 47 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, eight Canadian provinces and 16 other nations. Noreascon Four takes place in Boston Sept. 2-6, 2004.
"Boston in 2004" T-shirts will go to the first members from Montana, North Dakota or Oklahoma in the United States and from Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon in Canada, organizers said.
Bledel Rolled With Tuck
lexis Bledel, who portrays a turn-of-the-century teen in the upcoming supernatural fantasy Tuck Everlasting, told SCI FI Wire that the filmmaking process was much more challenging than she initially anticipated.
"There was a lot of physical work in this movie that I really wasn't aware of," Bledel said in an interview while promoting the film. "When I read the script, I read mostly the dialogue to kind of understand the character and what I was supposed to do."
"In between all the dialogue there were all these little paragraphs that I just skipped over," Bledel added. "Like, 'Okay, they're running around. Great.' But I didn't really realize, 'Okay, that's going to be a whole day of climbing up rocks and jumping into very cold water.' You usually don't take that into account until you actually do it."
The film marks the first big-screen role for Bledel, who made her television debut only two years ago in Gilmore Girls. Bledel said the best advice she got on the Tuck Everlasting set came from co-star Jonathan Jackson, who plays Jesse Tuck, her character's love interest. "We were having one of those days with the climbing and the jumping around, and he was like, 'Don't worry about it, because all the bad stuff you forget at the end of the shoot [and] you'll only remember the good stuff,'" she said. When asked if Jackson was right, Bledel laughed and replied, "I'm working on it."
Based on the award-winning book by Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting is a love story between an ordinary girl longing for freedom from her domineering parents, and a boy whose entire family can never die thanks to the powers of a hidden spring near their forest home. Bledel's 15-year-old character is faced with the ultimate choice between leading a normal life and living forever with Jesse and his family. The actress revealed that she knows what she'd do if ever she faced a similar situation. "I probably wouldn't want to be stuck at 15 because I think that's a pretty conflicted age, with all the hormones and the crazy skin problems or whatever," she said. "I'd probably want to be a little older and have a better sense of myself. I probably wouldn't. But, you know, the movie kind of sways you one way. You'll just have to find out."
Tuck Everlasting opens in theaters Oct. 11.
Twohy Got Deep In Below
irector David Twohy told SCI FI Wire that he looked at a number of significant submarine films while trying to create a unique visual style for his upcoming sub-based supernatural thriller film Below.
"Stylistically, it's important for me to find a different look for my submarine movie from all the other submarine movies," he said in an interview while promoting the film. "And you have to look first, of course, at Das Boot. And I did—all six hours of it, the German TV version of it. All compelling, by the
way. Every hour."
Twohy added, "I see that that is very much cinéma vérité. Pretty much hand-held and very much like you are there. And that's cool for them. So we give them that. I look at U-571, and that seems to be sort of a slick, high-level, studio take on submarine movies. And then I happened on the idea of doing it as a noir film."
Below takes place aboard a World War II submarine that happens to be haunted. In
order to give the cast an understanding of the historical setting, Twohy had his actors watch a number of submarine films as well. "It would have been like Run Silent, Run Deep and Enemy Below and those great submarine films of the '50s," he said. "Because in the '50s they had not only the equipment, they had the real World War II boats there. They had the technical know-how. The filmmakers could actually take the real boats out in the ocean, dive them [and] get all these great shots, which we can't do anymore,
because those submarines don't dive anymore. You can tow them around, but that's it. So if I wanted a shot of a Gato-class submarine diving, I had to go to Run Silent, Run Deep and see the real thing, the real deal."
Twohy said that the film has one advantage over its predecessors: the area of
visual effects. Realistic underwater sequences can be created with the use of computer graphics that weren't available to the filmmakers a few decades ago. "In the old movies the underwater scenes were really, really sad. But with the limitations at the time, they were filming in bathtubs. They were probably using three-foot models in bathtubs. And I was using an all-CG model." Below opens Oct. 11.
Greenwood Dove Into Below
ruce Greenwood, who plays the captain of a haunted World War II submarine in Below, told SCI FI Wire that a fuctional set built especially for the film helped capture the sense of being on a real submarine.
"It was massively practical and horrendously heavy," Greenwood said in an interview while promoting the film. "It was about 120 feet long, but it was built in 25-foot sections, and they had linked three of the sections together so you could run through them and be followed by a Steadicam or whatever. But it was also on a gimbal. It would tilt and shake and shudder. Just monstrous hydraulics underneath it."
Although the submarine set was quite long, Greenwood said, it wasn't very wide, which made it claustrophobic both on and off camera. "Basically, you get in there early in the morning and they'd batten down the hatch," he said. "Occasionally, they'd pop off one side of it, but that was really rare because [director David Twohy] wanted it to have that feeling [of] if the camera swings anywhere, you know you're going to be contained."
Twohy, in a separate interview, explained that the set design provided a sense of authenticity for the cast and crew. "[There was] sometimes no way out except aft and forward," Twohy said. "And sometimes they even had trouble finding a way off the set themselves." The director added that he heightened the sense of realism by triggering a variety of sound effects during the filming. "I had these hidden speakers built into the set," he said. "And off-screen or offstage when I was watching [the actors] from monitors I had a bank of sound effects that I could play and a trigger right in my hand. So, [at] any given time during a rehearsal or the scene itself, I could trigger a whale call. I could trigger sort of a ghost shiver to run though the boat. I could trigger depth charges."
Below opens nationwide on Oct. 11.
No Ring Sequel—Yet
alter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, producers of the upcoming horror film The Ring, told Cinescape that they currently harbor no plans to kick-start a Ring franchise.
"The idea is to hope the first movie works," MacDonald said. "And if it does, it's a very challenging franchise to create because I don't think, at least in initally looking at the other Ring sequels [produced in Japan], there's an obvious story to [tell]."
"I don't think any of them were as good as the original," MacDonald added. "We hope the movie is a success and it leaves itself open to some interpretation for a second, but we would start at the beginning, creatively saying, 'Is there a story worth telling?'"
Parkes concurred with his producing partner and wife, saying, "You know, it's odd. You're first attracted to this videotape that causes your death in seven days. But that [becomes] the least of it. It was merely the starting-off point of something that I find far more interesting. In our test screenings of the movie, we're finding that audiences are very surprised that the movie goes in a more complex and different direction than what is suggested by the premise alone. I think because this videotape is out there in the world [it] does suggest, '[Yes], there will be a sequel.' But, actually, it would not work for us merely to exploit that aspect of the story."
The Ring opens in the United States on Oct. 18.
Jackson Reveals Mace Windu Fate
amuel L. Jackson told SCI FI Wire that he is preparing for his character Mace Windu's big death scene in Star Wars: Episode III.
"I know what's going to happen," Jackson said in an interview. "I gotta go there. I gotta die."
Jackson went on to explain that he had a lunch meeting with George Lucas last month, during which time he tried to find out details of his character's impending demise. "We were just talking about stuff," Jackson said. "And then [Lucas] finally said, 'Okay, so you know you've got to die. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to kill you yet, because I guess you're the most important guy that's going to die. In the other ones, Obi Wan is still there and Yoda's still alive and Darth is still there.' So I become the most important character that can die. I guess it's got to be pretty dynamic. So he's working that out." Star Wars: Episode III goes into production in June 2003 for a May 2005 release.
Nosferatu Haunts Nemesis
ward-winning Star Trek makeup maestro Michael Westmore told SCI FI Wire that the Viceroy, the Star Trek Nemesis character portrayed by Ron Perlman, was specifically designed to resemble Nosferatu.
"That's exactly what [director] Stuart Baird wanted," Westmore said in an interview. "Stuart handed me a picture of Nosferatu and said, 'I need an alien that looks like this.'"
Westmore created some sketches for Baird, "and then we went to town on it," he said. "We designed the head and then the ears. That was neat, because Stuart said, 'I want to be able to see through the ears.' So I made the ears out of clear gelatin. If there's any backlight behind them, you can see through the ears. Then we painted veins on the back of the ears. So if there's any light showing through, you can see veining through the ears. I think the Viceroy is a pretty fearsome character, and Stuart seemed pleased with what he saw. We were also lucky in that we were dealing with Ron, who's done makeup roles so much. He just kind of sat down and enjoyed it, even though this was probably one of the most extensive makeup processes he's had to go through since [the TV series] Beauty and the Beast." Star Trek Nemesis opens nationwide on Dec. 13.
Up Remake In The Works
he remake rights to director Hideo Nakata's horror film Don't Look Up have been secured by Distant Horizon, an international film financing, production and distribution entity, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Nakata also directed the Japanese film The Ring, a supernatural terror tale that served as the basis for DreamWorks' English-language remake, which is set for release Oct. 18.
Don't Look Up centers on a film director and his crew who lose their sanity when the spirit of a slain actress from another era haunts their set. Anant Singh, president of Distant Horizon, told the trade paper that he and his company are presently looking for a screenwriter to draft an English-language adaptation.
Briefly Noted
-
Horrormeister Clive Barker, the creative force behind The SCI FI Channel's upcoming original TV movie Clive Barker Presents Saint Sinner, will appear on the syndicated TV show Extra on Oct. 11 to discuss the film and his new book. Check local listings.
-
Jennifer Tilly will play Madame Leota, a fortune teller inside a crystal ball, in Disney's upcoming Eddie Murphy film Haunted Mansion, based on the theme-park attraction, Variety reported.
-
Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (The Scorpion King) will receive the 2002 Nova Award for rising star at the 10th annual Diversity Awards, recognizing achievement in film and television, which will be presented in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Nov. 3, Variety reported.
-
Straight from the 1999 Edinburgh Festival, the original satirical play Star Wars Trilogy in 30 Minutes will receive its U.S. premiere at the Coronet Theater in West Hollywood, Calif., starting Oct. 25, Variety reported. Adapted and directed by Patrick T. Gorman with the permission of George Lucas, the half-hour play reduces the three original Star Wars films into a coherent comedy with all the famous lines intact.
-
Patrick Cassidy, son of Shirley Jones and the late Jack Cassidy, is joining the cast of The WB's Smallville in the recurring role of Henry Small, the Zap2it Web site reported.
-
Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio film will claim the title of widest release in Italy's box-office history and will be the first local production projected digitally when it opens in that country on Oct. 11, Variety reported.
-
Samuel L. Jackson told the Latino Review Web site that viewers will learn more about his character, Gibbons, in the upcoming sequel film xXx2. "[Director] Rob [Cohen] and I had some conversations about what Gibbons' backstory is and why he is what he is, and hopefully that will show up in the next one," Jackson said.
-
The Hallmark Channel will air a seven-hour marathon of Touched by an Angel reruns on Oct. 20, the Zap2it Web site reported.
-
Organizers have extended to Nov. 1 the deadline for entries for the Southeastern Science Fiction Achievement Awards, designed to honor works by individuals born or living in the southern United States.
Back to the top.
