Fox Cancels Firefly
oss Whedon, creator of Fox's SF Western Firefly, confirmed to fans that Fox has canceled the struggling series, but left open the possibility of shopping the show to another network.
Fans, meanwhile, were organizing a postcard-writing campaign, bolstered by last week's ad in Variety, to urge the continuation of their favorite show.
In a post to the Buffistas bulletin board, Whedon wrote, "Don't think for a second that I have given up on this show. I think it has been mistreated shamefully, but the Fox network has indicated that they would not stand in the way (which they can) of my finding a new home for the show. That's no easy prospect. But I will do everything in my power, as always, to keep this bird in the air. Of course I'll post if there's any news." In the meantime, production of the show has shut down, Whedon added.
Fox will air the show's two-hour pilot on Dec. 20, then replace the series at 8 p.m. ET/PT Fridays with Fastlane. Three original hourlong episodes remain to air.
On the Tim Minear.net Web site, meanwhile, Whedon's colleague and Firefly executive producer Tim Minear said that he directed the last episode to be shot. "Fox says they're going to somehow air all eps," Minear posted. "But we're not giving up yet. Please continue to check Firefly: Immediate Assistance for updates on the campaign to ressurect Firefly."
Buffy Toon Due Soon?
oss Whedon, creator of UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, told syndicated columnist Marilyn Beck that his moribund Buffy animated series could hit the airwaves as early as January 2003.
Earlier, Whedon had said the show—which revisits the Scooby Gang during their Sunnydale High School years—was on hold for a variety of reasons and wouldn't debut until at least May.
But Beck reported that Fox will premiere the show in January, with Buffy cast members Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz, Seth Green, Nicholas Brendon and Michelle Trachtenberg voicing characters.
Bell Mulls Angel Move
eff Bell, executive producer of The WB's Angel, told SCI FI Wire that he's not worried about the latest timeslot change.
"They've moved us each year. Every time they move us the same people show up. We were terrified of Sundays at 9, which I think is the hardest hour in TV," Bell said in an interview. "We were doing fine. So for whatever reason we're now going to be Wednesdays at 9." After the January move, Angel will have aired on four different nights in its three and a half years on the air.
The move will put
the series up against UPN's The Twilight Zone and NBC's The West Wing. But Bell believes the biggest competition will come from ABC. "The one that will really kill us is The Bachelor. That will kill us. That will kill everything. That will kill West Wing. That will kill every living brain cell and zillions and zillions of people, mainly women, will watch it."
For those who wish to keep their brain cells intact, Bell promises that Angel will pick up right where it left off, when the show's characters thought they were witnessing the end of the world. "You're going to be shocked, but in episode eight the world didn't end," Bell said. The producer revealed that January episodes will focus on the new Big Bad, who proves to be "even more horrible than we imagined." Angel will begin airing in its new timeslot on Jan. 15 in place of the canceled Birds of Prey.
Rings, Taken Get Globe Nods
he Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nominees for the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards, recognizing the best in film and television.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was among the nominees for best picture. Its predecessor, The Fellowship of the Ring, received a 2001 nomination for best director and other awards, but not for best picture, and took home no globes.
The SCI FI Channel's original miniseries Steven Spielberg Presents Taken got a nod for best miniseries, the channel's first Golden Globe nomination.
The awards will be presented Jan. 19, 2003, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The ceremony will be broadcast live on NBC at 8 p.m. ET. A list of genre, science fiction and fantasy nominations follows.
Film
Best Picture, Drama
•The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Director
•Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Original Song
•"Die Another Day," Die Another Day
Television
Actress in a Television Series, Drama
•Jennifer Garner, Alias
Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
•Steven Spielberg Presents Taken
Kudos Honor CGI Actors
he Broadcast Film Critics Association acknowledged computer-generated characters in its nominees for the Best Digital Acting Performance category of the eighth annual Critics' Choice Awards, the Zap2it Web site reported.
The nominees included Dobby the house elf from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gollum from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Yoda from Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones.
With 187 members, the association is one of the largest critics' organizations in the United States and will announce winners Jan. 17, 2003, at gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Rings Breaks Records
n its first day of release on Dec. 18, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers took in approximately $26 million at the domestic box office, making it the second-highest Wednesday opening ever, New Line Cinema announced.
The domestic total represents a 44 percent increase over the opening-day take of last year's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers drew moviegoers as early as Tuesday night, when fans lined up for sold-out midnight showings at 3,622 theaters, the studio said. The film broke all single-day records in Denmark and marked the highest opening day ever in Germany, Austria, Finland, Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden and Norway.
Kiwi Duo Barred From Towers
ord of the Rings director Peter Jackson publicly attacked the New Zealand Film Commission and banned two top executives from attending the Australasian premiere of The Two Towers on Dec. 18, Variety reported.
Jackson reportedly blames the government- and lottery-funded commission, the only local provider of development finance, for not preventing the March collapse of Kahukura Productions, which had four films in post-production.
Jackson claimed the commission had plenty of warning about Kahukura's financial difficulties, yet refused to take responsibility. As a result, it has lost its investment and the filmmakers' work is stuck in insolvency proceedings. On the eve of the premiere in the Kiwi capital of Wellington, distributor Roadshow "uninvited" commission chairman Barrie Everard and chief executive Ruth Harley at Jackson's request, the trade paper reported.
Everard called Jackson's move "somewhat petty" and accused the director of trying "to use his considerable prestige to force the commission into a gross misuse of public funds," Variety reported.
Wood Enters Mind
ariety reported that Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood will join the cast of the upcoming SF film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
The film revolves around a failed couple, played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, who attempt to rekindle their romance through a revolutionary treatment that erases painful memories from the human brain.
Wood plays a technician who implements the treatment. A shrink (Tom Wilkinson), his receptionist (Kirsten Dunst) and the techs (Wood and Mark Ruffalo) have motivations that come into play when the couple tries to undo the treatment, the trade newspaper reported. The film will begin shooting next month in New York.
Mind Cast Set
scar-nominated actor Tom Wilkinson has joined the cast of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which Michel Gondry is directing from a script by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film begins shooting next month in New York.
Wilkinson joins Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst and Mark Ruffalo in the cast. The story centers on Joel (Carrey), who seeks to eliminate the memories of his affair with Clementine (Winslet), but changes his mind halfway through the process. Wilkinson plays Dr. Mierzwiak, who is supervising the process and is secretly having an affair with his secretary (Dunst), the trade paper reported.
Frewer Eyes More Headroom?
att Frewer (Steven Spielberg Presents Taken) told a chat on SCIFI.COM that he's trying to resurrect his most famous character: Max Headroom.
"We're putting together a deal on a new Max Headroom project," Frewer told fans. "Then I'm doing a film with my brother. The Headroom project is still in the deal-making process, so I can't say anything about it."
Frewer played the "computer-generated" character and his human counterpart, Edison Carter, in a British TV series, TV movie and subsequent American series set "22 minutes in the future." Frewer said that he's pleasantly surprised by the character's continuing popularity. "When we were making it, we knew it was way ahead of its time," he said. "I think if it was on the air [now] it would still look cutting-edge. I don't think the network was ready for it. It made a huge splash over a short time. It went as quickly as it came. That in a way was probably a plus. It never had time to go stale. Always leave 'em wanting more."
Cox Talks X2
rian Cox, who plays Gen. William Stryker in the upcoming X-Men sequel, X2, told SCI FI Wire that his character is reminiscent of real-life figure Tom Ridge.
"I'm the director of Homeland Security, really," Cox said in an interview. "Really, that's who I am."
Cox, a veteran character actor currently on view in The Ring, and perhaps best known for playing Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter, added, "I am Tom Ridge, except with a little bit more humor. ... It's a great, great part, and Bryan [Singer] is a very gifted director. Bryan does it all on the spot. I mean, he's not a Spike Lee [with whom Cox worked on the upcoming drama 25th Hour]."
With regard to his character, Cox said, "Stryker was a real role. It was a real character, and probably the best character in the film, because it has an arc. He has a history. He has a secret, and there's so much going on with the part."
When asked to elaborate on the secret, Cox demurred. "I'm not going to tell you," he said. "It's a secret. I'm not going to tell you a secret. You know, there are a lot of secrets. So in that sense, it's a great role to play." X2 is set for release on May 2, 2003.
Spielberg Talks Indy IV Details
teven Spielberg, who will direct a fourth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, confirmed for SCI FI Wire that the movie will have a supernatural element and that it will take place in the 1950s.
"You have to understand that [star] Harrison [Ford] is going to be 62 years old when the film [begins production in 2004], so we had to push the years into the 1950s," Spielberg said in an interview.
Spielberg also revealed that it was Ford himself who got the ball rolling on development of the sequel. Spielberg said that neither he nor producer George Lucas would otherwise have thought of making another Indy adventure. "Harrison's the one who got George and [me] to do it," the director said. "I was done with the Indiana Jones series, and Harrison got very proactive with both George and [me] and said, 'I want to play Indy one more time.' So he started this. Blame him."
Writer/director Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) is still writing the Indy script, but preproduction is on schedule for Spielberg to begin directing in 2004, with an eye to a July 2005 release, Spielberg said. "We have a story," he said. "The story's wonderful, but Frank's writing the script right now. Frank and I and George spent weeks together pounding out the story. The story's all pounded out. Now Frank just has to labor through it."
Indy Girls To Reunite
teven Spielberg told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Cindy Pearlman to expect cameo appearances by Indiana Jones' old girlfriends in the upcoming fourth installment in the Indy franchise.
"I'd like to get Karen Allen back for one sound bite, and there are other Indy girls who had smaller roles who will come back," Spielberg told the columnist.
As for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Kate Capshaw, who also happens to be Mrs. Spielberg? "Maybe or maybe not," Spielberg said. "Frank Darabont, who is writing the script, called me and said, 'I'm not sure we can work her into the script, too.'"
But, Spielberg added, "Sean Connery as Indy's pop will be back for a few scenes, and it's set in the early '50s. That's all I'm saying, and I've already said too much." Indy IV is set to begin shooting in early 2004.
Potter III Won't Revive Harris
he BBC's CBBC Newsround Web site shot down a rumor that filmmakers would use computer technology to resurrect the late Richard Harris as Professor Dumbledore in the upcoming third Harry Potter movie.
The British tabloid newspaper The Sun had earlier reported that unused film footage of Harris' face would be superimposed on the body of stand-in actor Harry Robinson in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Not so, the CBBC Web site reported. "Warner Brothers told CBBC Newsround this is completely false," the site reported. Harris, who played Dumbledore in the first two Potter films, died in October.
Potter Parody Is OK
spokesman for Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling told the Reuters news service that the author doesn't consider a best-selling parody to be in the same category as an unauthorized Russian series of books.
Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody by American humorist Michael Gerber is selling out in Britain, the United States and countries from Estonia to Japan, Reuters reported.
Rowling's agent is contemplating legal action against Russian author Dmitry Yemets for his unauthorized Tanya Grotter books, about a wizard orphan who wields magical powers and battles an enemy too terrible to be named, the wire service reported. But asked to comment on Gerber's book, a spokesman for the Christopher Little literary agency said, "This is a genuine parody and a completely different kettle of fish from Tanya Grotter."
In Gerber's parody, a young wizard named Barry Trotter attends Hogwash School and fights to stop filming of Barry Trotter and the Inevitable Attempt to Cash-in. The parody has shipped more than 50,000 copies in the United States, with editions in Japanese, Estonian and Chinese.
Judge Wants More Stargate
hris Judge, who plays the Teal'c on the SCI FI Channel's original series Stargate SG-1, told SCI FI Wire that he's pleased that his negotiations for a seventh season of the show, the show's second on SCI FI Channel, worked out.
"It was just basically a matter of dotting the i's and things like that," Judge said in an interview. "I was looking forward to coming back."
Judge added, "I think we're just hitting our stride now, so why stop? And next season, Rick [Anderson] will still be with us, and Michael Shanks, who is one of my best friends, will be back [as Daniel Jackson]. So it's going to be great. I'm just glad all the business stuff worked out. It gives us another year to evolve these characters."
Judge especially wants to learn more about his own character. "Is he going to make Earth his home? Is he going to settle down with some Earth woman? Is he going to fall in love with someone from another planet and stay there? Is he going to travel the universe and try to liberate Jaffa? Those are the things I want to see for Teal'c."
New episodes of Stargate SG-1 will air Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, beginning Jan. 10, 2003, with the episode
"Unnatural Selection." Production is underway now in Vancouver, B.C., on the show's upcoming seventh season.
Hellboy Cast Complete
asting is complete for Guillermo del Toro's upcoming Hellboy movie, the Comics2Film Web site reported.
Production on the film adaptation of Mike Mignola's comic series will commence in Prague in March.
New to the cast are Rupert Evans as FBI agent John Myers and Victoria Smurfit as Nazi babe Ilsa. Ron Perlman stars as the titular antihero, with Doug Jones as Abe Sapien, Selma Blair as Liz Sherman, John Hurt as Professor Bruttenholm, Larry Miller as Tom Manning and Karel Roden as Grigori Rasputin.
Disney Bidding For Henson?
eports emerged that Walt Disney Co. may be considering a bid in the battle to buy Jim Henson Co., best known for creating the Muppets television series and movies, the Reuters news service reported.
Whether Disney submits a bid and wins is an open question: Rumors of a merger have swirled around Hollywood for more than a decade, after Disney almost bought the company in 1989, the wire service reported.
Henson's German owner, EM.TV, says it is in talks with unidentified bidders to sell the company, which it bought in March 2000 for $680 million and has multiple bidders, Reuters reported. Sources told the wire service that Disney was mulling a $135 million bid for the company. Disney told Reuters it would not comment on acquisition rumors as a matter of policy.
Aussies Mad For Max
he Moviehole Web site contradicted a rumor that the fourth Mad Max film will be shot in southern Africa rather than Australia, the location of the past three films.
According to the Australian newspaper The Herald Sun, financial incentives and a lack of studio space had lured the production of Fury Road to Namibia.
Not so, an undisclosed source told Moviehole. Identified only as a "noteworthy Aussie player," the source informed the site that the newspaper story was incorrect and that director George Miller "wouldn't dare film the majority of Max anywhere but Down Under."
Powers Pinball Coming
he GameSpot Web site reported that Global Star Software will be releasing an Austin Powers-inspired pinball game for the PC early next year.
The game is currently being developed by Wildfire Studios and will feature characters from all three Austin Powers films, the site reported.
Players will be able to battle against Dr. Evil on two different pinball tables. Stars Mike Myers and Robert Wagner will lend their voices to the game. The game is scheduled for release in February 2003.
Showtime Has Illusions
howtime may order a pilot for Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions, a supernatural horror series based on the 1995 movie that starred Scott Bakula, Variety reported.
The series would focus on a private investigator whose expertise is the supernatural. The pilot is tentative because the budget could be prohibitive, the trade paper reported.
Meanwhile, Showtime has renewed Jeremiah, with Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings) joining the cast as a regular. But the cable network has yet to make a decision on a second year of Odyssey 5, which probably won't make it to a second season because Showtime is reconfiguring its Friday lineup to make room for only one SF series, the trade paper reported.
Mary Jane Edgier On MTV
op singer Lisa Loeb, who will voice the character of Mary Jane in MTV's upcoming animated Spider-Man series, told the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel that her version will differ from Kirsten Dunst's portrayal in this year's hit Spidey movie.
"The version of Mary Jane that I'm playing in this series is a little bit more edgy and cool and more of an individual than the character in the movie," Loeb told the newspaper.
Loeb added, "She's more of a real person with a real personality. I relate to her, and I think she's a good role model." Spider-Man, based on the Marvel Comics series, is slated to premiere on MTV in 2003.
Teen Author Gets Knopf Deal
lfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, has acquired world publication rights to Inheritance, a fantasy trilogy by 19-year-old Montana author Christopher Paolini, the publisher announced.
Eragon, the first book in the trilogy, is slated for publication in September 2003. Paolini is currently at work on Eldest, the second installment in the trilogy.
Eragon is set in a magical land called Alagaesia and tells the story of 15-year-old Eragon, an orphan whose life is transformed by a mysterious blue stone. Guided by an ancient sword, a loyal dragon and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon discovers that the fate of the Empire could rest in his hands.
Paolini began writing Eragon when he graduated from high school at the age of 15. With the help of his family, he self-published the book in February. The trilogy was acquired from Simon Lipskar at Writers House and will be edited by Knopf editor Michelle Frey. "We are thrilled to welcome Christopher to our family of authors," said Chip Gibson, president and publisher of Random House Children's Books, said in a statement. "He is a uniquely talented individual whose passion and commitment to writing fantasy is astonishing. Great things are in store for Christopher Paolini."
Shinobi Film Coming
indfire Entertainment recently acquired the film rights to Sega's Shinobi video game, the Zentertainment Web site reported.
The game and movie tell the story of a legendary ninja, using the ancient traditions of Shinobi magic, who seeks to avenge his clan and confront his past after a sinister force is awakened in Tokyo.
Mindfire plans to begin production on the film later next year, for a planned
summer 2004 release, the site reported. Mindfire recently produced the upcoming horror films House of the Dead and Vampirella.
Hanks Takes Polar Express
om Hanks told SCI FI Wire that his next film, the children's fantasy Polar Express, would re-team him with Cast Away director Robert Zemeckis.
"Polar Express will be some strange, bizarre thing," Hanks said in an interview. "Whatever the current
state of digital live-action filmmaking is in 2003, that's what Polar Express
will be."
Based on the children's story by Jumanji author Chris Van Allsburg, Polar
Express centers on a young boy who refuses to give up believing in Santa Claus and then one Christmas Eve stumbles upon a steam engine train that transports him and his friends—all disbelievers—to the North Pole. Hanks will play the train's conductor and co-produce the film, which will blur the lines between live action and animation.
"The aesthetic quality of Chris Van Allsburg's book is so overpowering when you read it," Hanks said. "There's something that not only sucks you [in about] the artwork that he created—there is this intangible quality to the story and the characters. It's like 35 pages [long], half of which is text. [We're] using his art as the storyboards for the movie. It's got all sorts of elements to it. There's doubt, there's a journey, there's a quest. There are monumental moments that everybody can relate to. If we do it right, it'll be quite an artistic enterprise. It'll be like nothing the audience has ever seen. And if we fail miserably, we will be here around the year 2004 [doing an interview], and you'll all be saying, 'OK, so you want to explain exactly what happened here, Mr. Smarty-Pants?' And I'll be trying to come up with something." Polar Express will begin filming early in 2003 for release during the 2004 or 2005 holiday season.
Ring 2 Goes Back To Future
he Ring producer Walter Parkes told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming sequel will be both a prequel and a sequel, like the second Godfather film.
Parkes added that he intends the sequel to hit theaters in October 2004, exactly two years after the release of the original.
"[The] Godfather is the greatest movie ever made, and The Ring is not, but they are both about the creation of a fascinating monster," Parkes said in an interview. "You were fascinated at the creation of Michael [and Vito] Corleone, and I think you're fascinated by this little girl Samara and where she came from. For that reason, I thought, like [Godfather II], maybe we could look forward and look backwards. So we're trying to make arrangements with [director] Gore [Verbinski] and [writer] Ehren [Kruger], who worked on the first one. We just have to roll up our sleeves and get going on it quickly."
Parkes said that he doesn't want to make only a prequel. "Unfortunately, I don't know any prequels that quite work as well as sequels do," Parkes said. "Red Dragon was a little disappointing. It didn't make $100 million. There's an interesting prequel to be made, which has to do with the parents who give birth to Samara and what happens. That was so beautifully explored in Rosemary's Baby, the kind of anticipation you have about giving birth to a first child and your fears and hopes and all of that, and what happens if this child has powers? There's something really interesting in all that."
The Japanese film on which The Ring was based was followed by both a sequel and a prequel, upon which Parkes hopes to improve in the American counterpart. "They did a prequel and a sequel in Japan, and both of them are very narratively unsatisfying," Parkes said. "What was interesting about The Ring was that it was equal parts conventional Western horror movie and equal parts very particular ambiguous Japanese mystical spiritual experience. But it had enough of both to be very delicious. Now that people know the secret of Samara and know what the videotape does, it's going to be very hard to invent something which is as fresh as the first one, but [that] also carries forward that kind of duality. We're going to try, though." Parkes added that he hopes to recruit Ring stars Naomi Watts and Daveigh Chase to reprise their roles in the sequel.
SCI FI Develops 1,000 Days
he SCI FI Channel will adapt Marvel's Strikeforce: Morituri comic series into A Thousand Days, a miniseries set for 2003.
SCI FI and Universal Television Group sibling Reveille will produce the show in association with Marvel.
Writers Matt Holloway and Art Marcum will write A Thousand Days, which deals with a group of super soldiers who die 1,000 days after being engineered to fight evil. The Strikeforce comic appeared in the mid-1980s, but is not currently being published. Marvel will reintroduce the comic for the series' launch on SCI FI.
Holloway and Marcum also will executive produce the series, along with Reveille head Ben Silverman, Marvel Studios chief executive Avi Arad and Rick Ungar, president of Marvel Characters Group. Reveille is a joint venture between Universal Television Group and Silverman.
Universal Television Group and the SCI FI Channel are both owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Dark Film Rights Sold
ame publisher Infogrames announced that it has sold film rights to its supernatural horror video game Alone in the Dark to Dritte/Vierte Boll Kino Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. K.G., a German company.
Under the agreement, Boll Kino will control exclusive worldwide theatrical film rights to Alone in the Dark, as well as video, DVD, television, cable and pay-per-view rights for the film.
Infogrames will retain all other rights to the franchise, including rights for series on free television and cable. Principal photography for the film is currently scheduled to commence in Vancouver, B.C., in the spring of 2003, with Uwe Boll (House of the Dead) directing and producing. Shawn Williamson will also produce.
Introduced in 1992, Alone in the Dark is credited with helping to create the survival-horror gaming genre. To date, the franchise has sold several million units worldwide, Infogrames said.
Brosnan Still Bond
ames Bond producer Barbara Broccoli told the Associated Press that Pierce Brosnan will reprise his role as Agent 007 in the 21st Bond film.
"It's like asking a bride as she's going up the aisle who her next husband is going to be," Broccoli told the wire service. "I mean, he is James Bond. He's our guy. And until he's no longer James Bond, we ain't looking anywhere."
The as-yet-untitled film will represent Brosnan's fifth outing as the iconic British spy. The most recent Bond feature, Die Another Day, has earned more than $100 million since its release four weeks ago.
Dinotopia Extinct?
he Hollywood Reporter, citing anonymous sources, said that ABC will pull Dinotopia from its schedule after its Dec. 26 episode. The network has a football game scheduled for the following week.
After that, it plans to run movies in the Thursday 8-10 p.m. period, the trade paper reported.
Dinotopia, a live-action/computer-animated series based on James Gurney's popular illustrated books, has struggled in the ratings since its debut in November. Dinotopia initially aired as a three-part miniseries in May.
Star Wars Stamps Released
ustralia is releasing a series of limited-edition stamps featuring vehicles and vessels from the Star Wars saga, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
The print run will be limited to 10,000 sheets of stamps based on a nominated design. Each sheet comes in a presentation envelope along with 20 sheets of Star Wars letterhead and 10 envelopes.
The set is currently available for purchase from the Australia Post Web site and retails for approximately $21.50 in US dollars.
Nemesis Game Add-On Here
ans of Activision and Taldren's Star Trek Starfleet Command III PC game can now download an add-on that will add a single-player mission featuring the Reman starship Scimitar from the current Star Trek Nemesis movie.
The add-on also includes several pieces of concept art from the film, including detailed illustrations of the Scimitar and Romulan Scorpion ships, as well as the latest modifications to the U.S.S. Enterprise E.
Star Trek Starfleet Command III is available now at retail stores in North America and carries a suggested retail price of $49.99. Nemesis is now playing in theaters.
Fuqua Rounds Up Arthur
ntoine Fuqua (Training Day) is set to direct producer Jerry Bruckheimer's upcoming King Arthur movie for Disney, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A spring start date is contemplated, the trade paper reported.
The film is described as a demystified take on the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and a more realistic portrayal of the mythology. The Arthur project originated in 2000, when writer David Franzoni (Gladiator) approached Bruckheimer Films (Armageddon) executives Chad Oman and Mike Stenson with an outline for a more realistic version of the Arthur legend. Franzoni then developed the outline into a full script, which has since been revised by John Lee Hancock. Oman and Stenson will executive produce, the trade paper reported.
Briefly Noted
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Superman star Christopher Reeve and his wife, Dana, will join New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in ringing in the New Year at the annual ball-drop in Times Square, the Associated Press reported. Reeve, 50, and his wife were selected to lead the celebration because of their "combined strength and courage," Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Business Improvement District, told the AP.
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Lions Gate Films will open the Spanish supernatural drama Intacto in select theaters in the Los Angeles area on Dec. 23. The film will screen at The Regent Showcase, Laemmle Playhouse Pasadena, Laemmle Fallbrook in Woodland Hills and the University Town Center, Irvine.
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The official Lord of the Rings Web site has posted a look at the visual effects behind the sequel The Two Towers' climactic Battle of Helm's Deep. The Two Towers opened Dec. 18.
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The Broadcast Film Critics Association chose The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as one of its nominees for its 2002 best picture award. Winners will be announced Jan. 17, 2003.
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A teaser trailer has gone up for Bruce Almighty, an upcoming supernatural comedy film starring Jim Carrey, which opens Memorial Day 2003.
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Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast (1991) were among 25 films added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress this year as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act.
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The Bloody Disgusting Web site has posted Robert Englund's own behind-the-scenes photos, taken by his wife, Nancy Englund, on the Vancouver, B.C., set of the upcoming Freddy vs. Jason film.
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Jennifer Esposito is in talks to star in CBS' fantasy comedy pilot Harry's Girl, from writer-producer Rob Greenberg, about a city woman whose dog narrates her life, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show is targeted for fall 2003.
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The teaser trailer for the upcoming Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines will go live on the official Web site at 6:30 PT Dec. 17. T3 opens July 2, 2003.
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The official Matrix Web site has posted new images from the upcoming sequel film, The Matrix Reloaded, which opens May 15, 2003.
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E! Online columnist Anderson Jones reported that Dimension has hired director Kevin Smith (Dogma) to write the screenplay for the proposed fourth Mad Max movie.
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The 68th annual New York Film Critics Circle on Dec. 16 awarded Japan's Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away the honor of the year's best animated film, the Reuters news service reported.
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E! Online columnist Anderson Jones reported a rumor that The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) and Vin Diesel have been approached to play the villainous Venom in the Spider-Man sequel film, The Amazing Spider-Man, which is slated to begin production in February 2003.
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The second Lord of the Rings movie, The Two Towers, was on the American Film Institute's list of 2002's 10 best movies. The Two Towers opened Dec. 18.
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The Comics Continuum Web site has put up a teaser poster from Ang Lee's upcoming The Hulk, based on the Marvel Comics series The Incredible Hulk. The site also reported details of the visual effects for the film, which opens June 20, 2003.
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Is the world ready for rap star Eminem to put on Batman's cowl and cape? NW Magazine in Australia is reporting a rumor that the rapper, otherwise known as Marshall Mathers, is up for the part in the proposed Batman vs. Superman movie, according to a report on the MovieHole Web site.
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