Gellar Confirms Buffy End
arah Michelle Gellar confirmed reports that she will quit UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the end of the current seventh season, according to the cover story in the March 7 Entertainment Weekly magazine.
"Buffy, in this incarnation, is over," Gellar told the magazine, her eyes welling with tears, according to a report on the Associated Press.
The series will wrap up in May with a five-part story, which will include the
return of Faith, the bad-girl slayer played by Eliza Dushku, and Buffy's first love, Angel, played by Angel's David Boreanaz, the magazine reported. "We're gearing up to tell a fabulous, huge, great arc," Gellar told the magazine. "It's going to be pretty spectacular."
Buffy creator Joss Whedon is planning a spinoff that may include some Buffy cast members, and he will pitch it first to UPN, Buffy's home for the past two seasons, the magazine reported.
Tron 2.0 Release Set
onolith Productions and Disney Interactive announced that they will ship Tron 2.0, a PC game inspired by the classic SF movie Tron, on Aug. 26.
Tron 2.0 is a first-person action title that digitizes gamers into the computer world, where they assume the role of Jet Bradley, son of ENCOM programmer Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) from the 1982 film, the companies said.
Gamers will race on light cycles, battle corruption both inside and outside of the computer world and explore locations, including the Internet Hub, Firewall and light cycle Game Grid.
Weaving Reloaded For Matrix
ugo Weaving, who reprises his role as Agent Smith in the upcoming sequel films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, told SCI FI Wire that his character's ability to replicate himself made for some interesting challenges during the filming.
"We achieved the multi Smiths in a number of different ways," Weaving said in an interview. "Sometimes I would move into a room, say, and do it 10 times and end up in 10 slightly different positions. And then there would be 10 of me."
Weaving, who is also known to audiences as Elrond in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, added, "Then there are other scenes where there are stunt doubles or doubles of me, men the same height as me, and there would be face replacements done afterwards. And then there would be completely CG Smiths in other scenes, and then also sometimes there were dummies. There were just stationary dummies."
In addition to the new duplication ability, Weaving said there will be another big change in his character. Smith has broken away from the Matrix and is now a free agent within the system. "He's basically working for himself," Weaving said. "But he has the same goal and the same purpose and focus, which is to destroy Neo." The Matrix Reloaded opens May 15 and The Matrix Revolutions opens Nov. 7.
Hartnett Drops Superman
osh Hartnett, who tested for the lead role in the upcoming new Superman film, has dropped out, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A new trio of actors has emerged as top choices: The Mummy's Brendan Fraser, Timeline's Paul Walker and newcomer Matthew Bomer (TV's Guiding Light), the trade paper reported.
Warner Brothers is trying to make test deals for the actors, with hopes of putting them in front of the camera sometime next week, the trade paper reported.
Fans Favor Superman
ne in three fans picked Superman as their favorite movie superhero, according to a poll commissioned by the cable channel TRIO.
Thirty-five percent of poll respondents named Superman as their favorite, while 19 percent chose Spider-Man.
Respondents also said that they believe Superman should be acknowledged with a commemorative U.S. postage stamp. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial was the second-most popular candidate for a stamp, the network said.
In other categories:
•The Star Wars saga's Darth Vader came in second for greatest villain of all time, following Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter.
•Most fans named The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as the sequel film that improved on the original. Fans also chose the film as most deserving of this year's best picture Oscar.
•Fans voted Men in Black II the most disappointing sequel, while fans gave Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 the dubious distinction of being the worst sequel of all time.
•Fans voted Steven Spielberg the most influential director working today.
Superman: The Movie, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, will premiere on TRIO at noon Mar. 23 as part of the network's "Easy Riders/Raging Bulls" programming promotion.
Harris Interactive conducted the poll interviews on behalf of TRIO from Feb. 13-16. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent. TRIO is part of the Universal Television Group, which also owns the SCI FI Channel and SCIFI.COM.
Marvel Files Spidey Suit
arvel Enterprises on Feb. 25 sued Sony Pictures Entertainment over a licensing agreement stemming from last year's top-grossing movie, Spider-Man, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Marvel filed the suit through its subsidiary, Marvel Characters Inc., in Los Angeles Superior Court against SPE and SPE Spider-Man GP Inc., the trade paper reported. The case was filed under seal, and Marvel officials were unavailable for more comment. Sony officials said they do not comment on pending litigation, the trade paper reported.
"The complaint is not an attempt to stop production of the Spider-Man sequel slated for May 2004, nor is it an attempt to change or upset any of the merchandising/licensing deals that are in place for the sequel," Marvel said in a statement.
LXG Wraps Filming
GN FilmForce reported that the upcoming League of Extraordinary Gentlemen film has wrapped production, although the role of Campion Bond remains uncast.
Citing an anonymous source, the site reported that the key role will be dealt with later.
The site added that a new trailer for the film, an adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel, will come out before the film's July 11 release.
Skarsgard Exorcises Von Sydow
tellan Skarsgard, the Swedish actor who plays Father Lankester Merrin in the upcoming prequel film Exorcist: The Beginning, admitted to SCI FI Wire that he is a little nervous taking on a role first played by his countryman, legendary actor Max von Sydow, in the original 1973 movie.
"A lot of journalists ask me the question, 'Do you think you're big enough to fill the shoes of Max von Sydow?" Skarsgard said during a break in filming at Rome's famed Cinecitta studio. "And I wasn't worried about it, but obviously unconsciously I was, because I had this dream the other night."
Skarsgard added, "I was walking down one of the streets of Cinecitta, and ... Max von Sydow comes walking towards me. And I'm happy to see him, and he's happy to see me. But when he gets close, I find out that he's actually 9 feet tall, which says something about my relationship [with him] [laughs]. And I say, 'You do have on high heels, don't you, Max?' 'Yeah!' Then everything was fine, but unconsciously, I'm obviously a little worried."
But Skarsgard said that he hasn't studied von Sydow's performance as the elderly priest in the original Exorcist film for his characterization in the prequel, which deals with Merrin's World War II years and his first encounter with the devil in Africa. "No, I'm putting my own spin on it," Skarsgard said. "I can't do what he can do. I can only do what I can do, so I'd better do it my way. Also, it's not necessary, because his character was at the end of his life, ... and what he was like when he was younger, you can't tell. So you have freedom to create a character in your own way." Exorcist: The Beginning wraps production this week and is eyeing a July release date.
Schrader Flips Exorcist Story
aul Schrader, director of the upcoming prequel film Exorcist: The Beginning, told SCI FI Wire that he will upend the original 1973 horror film for his movie, which takes the story back to its origins.
"I have to kind of flip the formula," Schrader said in an interview on the film's set at Rome's famed Cinecitta studios. "I can't have another 13-year-old girl being demonically possessed."
In The Beginning, audiences meet Father Lankester Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard) as a middle-aged priest, first during World War II in his native Holland, and later as an archaeologist in Kenya, where he has his first encounter with demonic forces. "The formula gets flipped by having a young boy who is ... physically afflicted, and as everything in this area of British East Africa ... gets worse and worse, and the sort of craziness and the human evil increases, he gets better," Schrader said. Merrin makes a startling discovery and the story plays out with a battle between good and evil.
The Exorcist story remains a potent metaphor for Schrader, who was raised in a strict Calvinist household and who attended religious college as an adult. "I certainly was raised to believe in a very real devil, a real Satan and a real hell," Schrader said. "I don't believe in the physical reality of those things anymore. But I still believe in their power as metaphors. And I certainly understand why they came into being as metaphors and their ongoing function in human psychology and in human spirituality." He added, "I did say that the [original] Exorcist was the most metaphorically pure of all films, because you have God and Satan wrestling over the ... physical body of a 13-year-old girl. ... I don't have quite that metaphor. I have to pull a few other tricks." Exorcist: The Beginning is in its final week of shooting and is eyeing a July release date.
Alias Renewed
BC will renew Alias for a third season, ABC Entertainment president Susan Lyne announced on Feb. 26, according to the Zap2it Web site.
The network was reportedly pleased that Alias has received a ratings bounce since its post-Super Bowl episode, drawing about a million viewers a week over its season average, the site reported.
Alias stars Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, a graduate student by day and reluctant spy for the CIA by night.
Garner's Elektra Film Confirmed
s expected, Alias star Jennifer Garner will reprise her Daredevil role of Elektra in an upcoming spinoff movie centered on the character, the Associated Press reported.
Twentieth Century Fox and production partner Regency Enterprises told the AP that Garner will star as Elektra Natchios in the film, which will be set after events in Daredevil.
Daredevil ended with a cryptic scene concerning Elektra's fate, leaving things open for the sequel, the AP reported.
Ferrell Grows Into Elf
cot Armstrong, who wrote the screenplay for the upcoming fantasy comedy Elf, told SCI FI Wire that Will Ferrell plays a human raised by wee folk.
The movie is now in production, Armstrong added in an interview.
"Will Ferrell is 6 weeks old, and he accidentally crawls into Santa's sack and gets accidentally taken to the North Pole," Armstrong said. "He gets adopted by elves and raised by elves. So [when he grows up,] he's 6 feet 3 inches, and all the elves are 3 feet tall."
The film will focus on Ferrell's character's emotional journey. "It's a movie about his coming to terms with the fact that he's adopted, he's a human being living in the North Pole," Armstrong said. "He goes on a journey to find his biological father, James Caan, who lives in New York. It's a really funny script, and the shoot's going really well." Elf is scheduled for a Nov. 7 release.
War Fears Delay Max
he prospect of a war in Iraq has prompted 20th Century Fox and Icon to postpone until fall the production start of Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth installment in the Mel Gibson franchise, Variety reported.
The sequel was originally slated to begin filming in Namibia in July, but writer-director George Miller won't start until sometime in the fall, the trade paper reported.
"Any time you do a show like this, it is a massive undertaking with enormous prep time," Jim Gianopulos, chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment, told Variety. "In this case, it is about the movement of huge vehicles and a mass of people, and with the pending war and all the potential logistical consequences, we had the latitude to wait and let some of this stuff blow over before going into full-bore production. What we do have firmly in place is Mel and George."
Fox had penciled in a tentative summer 2004 release date, but Gianopulos said the studio won't know if the film can keep that date until an actual start date is set, the trade paper reported.
Craven Sets Up Timeline
att Craven, who plays a scientist in the upcoming time-travel film Timeline, told SCI FI Wire that the science lab set was the biggest on which he'd ever worked.
"It was huge," Craven said in an interview. "I did a movie called Crimson Tide, and we worked on this 90-foot gimbal [moving stage]. The set for [Timeline] was twice the size, and the actual [time] machine was almost as big as that gimbal. It was huge, very impressive."
Craven added that the time machine is unlike your standard telephone booth or DeLorean. "This isn't really a time machine," he said. "It's more like we have discovered a wormhole that seems to be locked to a certain time and place in the past."
Based on the novel by Michael Crichton, Timeline tells the story of a group of archaeology students who must travel back to 14th-century France to rescue a professor. Craven's character does not travel through time, but Craven did get to see the set representing the Middle Ages in France. "The medieval set is awesome," he said. "I've also seen some of the movie, so I can tell you that it's spectacular looking. They spent $90 million on it, and it's all up there." Timeline opens in July from Paramount.
Del Toro Adapts Wind
lade II director Guillermo del Toro has signed on to write and direct a new live-action/computer-animated movie version of The Wind in the Willows for Disney, Variety reported.
Del Toro will write Willows with Matthew Robbins, his collaborator on the 1997 SF horror film Mimic, the trade paper reported.
Neal Moritz will produce the movie, which was set up by two University of Southern California film graduates, Corey May and Michael Wendschuh, who were mentored by Moritz through the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC, the trade paper reported.
The duo and their artist partner, Baruch Inbar, sold a treatment, art and related materials for a futuristically revamped version of the classic fairy tale to Disney in February, the trade paper reported.
Wind marks an abrupt change for del Toro, who is best known for dark, action-packed adult fare, including his current adaptation of Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic series.
Writers Get Framed
reamWorks has hired Robert Fyvolent and Mark R. Brinker to write the film adaptation of the best-selling supernatural video game Fatal Frame, Variety reported.
The Core writer John Rogers makes his feature-film producing debut with the proposed movie.
Fatal Frame, released last spring by Japanese publisher Tecmo, revolves around a woman's search for her missing brother, which leads to a haunted mansion, the trade paper reported. DreamWorks acquired the rights to the game last year, with executive Michael De Luca shepherding the film adaptation.
Wedge Ices New Deal
ce Age director Chris Wedge has signed a five-year, multipicture exclusive deal with 20th Century Fox, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Wedge and Blue Sky Studios, the animation company behind Ice Age, which Wedge co-founded in 1987, are at work on their second digitally animated film, Robots, for Fox, the trade paper reported.
That project, written by veteran comedy scribes Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, will be designed by illustrator William Joyce. Voice talent is expected to sign on to Robots in the coming weeks, the trade paper reported.
In addition, Wedge will executive produce a sequel to Ice Age that writing duo Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow are penning, the trade paper reported.
Raider's Jolie Still Game
ngelina Jolie, who reprises the role of Lara Croft in the upcoming sequel film Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, told SCI FI Wire that she's so eager to do her own stunts that producers have to hold her back.
That included one spectacular "sky flying" stunt in which two characters parachute off the 84th floor of a Hong Kong skyscraper, Jolie said during an interview on the film's London set at Pinewood Studios.
Jolie didn't actually jump, though she said she has skydived before. Instead, she shot close-up scenes standing on the 84th story, which was open to the air. But she argued to be allowed to do the so-called "base jumping" herself. "I happen to personally be very happy when I'm dealing with heights, which is fortunate," said Jolie, who rode a temporary elevator up the side of the IFC Building, which is still under construction. "So I loved it. I thought it was lucky that I got to get [to do it]. [But] There were lots of issues about me going too close to the edge and all that."
What did producers say when she asked? "I think they expected that of me," she said with a laugh. "They just said, 'Can we talk about it later, please?'"
In the film, which is in its final weeks of shooting, Jolie rode a motorcycle, a live bull, a jet ski and a boat, which collided with another. She also fired weapons and sustained minor injuries. "I'm missing a slight piece of my right elbow," she said. How did that happen? "A boat collision. And then a shotgun shell went in my eye, but that was more of a funny thing. ... It wasn't like a burn or anything, it just kind of stalled us for a few hours."
Tomb Raider, which is directed by Jan De Bont, is slated for a July 25 release.
Devlin Readies Mech Warrior
ean Devlin (Independence Day) will produce a movie based on the best-selling Mech Warrior video games, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Paramount Pictures is in talks to option the property from Wiz Kids, a Seattle-based game company, for Devlin's Electric Entertainment, which will develop a screenplay that Devlin will produce, the trade paper reported.
As with his last film, Eight Legged Freaks, Devlin told the paper that his intention with Mech Warrior is to make it look like a $150 million movie, while spending less than $100 million.
The movie will focus on the Republic and the forces outside it that are hoping to restart the Mech Wars of old, the paper reported. Jordan Weisman, who created Mech Warrior 20 years ago, will play a creative role in making the film, the trade paper reported.
Duff Slips On Cinderella
ilary Duff (Agent Cody Banks) will receive $2 million to star in Cinderella Story, an update of the fairy tale, for Warner Brothers, sources told The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is set to go into production in the summer, with Mark Rosman directing and Dylan Sellers producing, the trade paper reported.
Described as Clueless meets Cinderella, the movie is a modern-day comedy set in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, about a dorky high-school student who goes through a transformation to become one of the hottest girls in school, the trade paper reported.
Silver Goes Gothika
roducer Joel Silver told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming horror film Gothika—in which a criminal psychologist (Halle Berry) awakens as a ghost-haunted patient—will be far scarier than his previous House on Haunted Hill, Thirteen Ghosts or Ghost Ship.
Those films were also released under Silver and Bob Zemeckis' Dark Castle Entertainment banner.
"When I saw the success of The Ring—and frankly I liked The Ring—I didn't think it would have such
tremendous appeal," Silver said in an interview. "But I thought The Ring was scary. So we said, 'Let's try and go in that direction.'"
Silver added that Oscar winner Berry signed on after reading writer Sebastian Gutierrez's script, which the producer described as "really,
really scary." Penelope Cruz and Robert Downey have also joined the cast, under director Mathieu Kassovitz. Silver said that he's been watching Kassovitz's career.
"He made this picture, The Crimson Rivers, which I thought was really eerie and weird," Silver said. "I thought that he could
be like a Darren Aronofsky-type guy, who could do a movie that could have weight and punch to it, and that would still be scary and eerie." Gothika begins shooting in a few weeks.
Carnahan Tapped For M:I 3
aramount Pictures has tapped Narc director Joe Carnahan to helm Mission: Impossible 3, following the withdrawal of David Fincher from the project, Variety reported.
The studio is in talks with Carnahan over the third installment, to be produced by actor Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner via their Paramount-based production outfit, with Cruise again starring as agent Ethan Hunt, the trade paper reported.
Fincher (Seven) had been attached to Mission: Impossible 3 since early last year, but the director recently committed to The Lords of Dogtown, the trade paper reported.
Robert Towne remains attached to pen the script for Mission: Impossible 3, which is eyeing a May 2004 release date.
SCI FI Has Record February
he SCI FI Channel reported its highest February prime-time ratings ever, averaging a 1.0 rating (777,000 households).
That represented a 43 percent increase over the network's 0.7 rating last February and places SCI FI in the top 10 among all basic cable networks, the channel reported.
Stargate SG-1 remained SCI FI's top-rated original series. New episodes of Stargate SG-1 averaged a 1.6 rating (1.26 million households), a 78 percent improvement over February 2002, the network reported. SCI FI's Monday block of Stargate SG-1 reruns also got high ratings, doubling those in their time periods compared with 2002.
SCI FI scored high in several key demographics:
•Men 18-49 (0.7, ranked fifth)
•Persons 18-49 (0.5, ranking seventh)
•Men 25-54 (0.8, ranking fourth)
•Women 25-54 (0.5, ranking ninth)
•Persons 25-54 (0.7, ranking fifth)
•Total persons 2+ (0.5, ranking eighth)
The channel also ranked eighth in delivery of persons 18-49 and seventh for persons 25-54.
Unreal II Released
nfogrames announced that it has released a PC version of its Unreal II: The Awakening, the sequel to 1998's first-person-shooter video game Unreal.
Legend Entertainment developed Unreal II: The Awakening, which promises to immerse players in an epic adventure.
In Unreal II, players take on the role of John Dalton, a former marine now serving as a Colonial Authority marshal who finds himself caught up in an interstellar war.
Anderson Auctions For Charity
he official Web site for former X-Files star Gillian Anderson will host an auction March 2-9 to benefit the Neurofibromatosis Association in the U.K., a charity that Anderson has long supported.
The auction will feature autographed X-Files items and other collectibles.
Among the items for sale:
•An "I Want to Believe" poster autographed by X-Files creator Chris Carter and stars David Duchovny, Anderson, Robert Patrick, Annabeth Gish and Mitch Pileggi.
•A poster for Anderson's London play What the Night Is for, autographed by Anderson and co-star Roger Allam.
•Three X-Files trading cards signed by Anderson.
Dueling Witches In The Works
creenwriter Nora Ephron has signed on to write the big-screen adaptation of the classic sitcom Bewitched, starring Nicole Kidman, Variety reported.
Kidman will play Samantha, a witch who falls in love with a mortal, much to the disdain of her family of fellow witches.
In allegedly unrelated news, the trade paper also reported that Danny DeVito has agreed to direct a remake of the 1942 comedy I Married a Witch. Tom Cruise may also be attached to star as well as produce. Five years ago, when the project was originally developed, Cruise and then-wife Kidman were considering the lead roles, Variety said. Both projects are in development at Columbia.
Salem's Lot Has Lowe
ob Lowe is set to star in a television remake of Stephen King's Salem's Lot for TNT, Variety reported.
Lowe will play Benjamin Mears, a journalist who returns to his New England hometown to find that it has become infested with vampires, the trade paper said.
TNT will lay out more than $15 million for the four-hour miniseries, which begins production in Australia in about two months. Peter Filardi (The Craft) wrote the new adaptation and Mikael Salomon will direct. Lowe previously appeared in the 1994 miniseries The Stand, which was also based on a novel by King.
Lenk Featured On Buffy
om Lenk, who plays former Evil Trio member Andrew on UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, told TV Guide that his central role in an last week's episode might be unnerving to fans.
"It's very bizarre in that most of the show is me," Lenk told the site. "I don't know if America is ready for that much Tom Lenk."
In the episode, entitled Storyteller, Andrew follows Buffy and company around with a camera to document their slaying activities, but is unexpectedly forced to confront his past as a villain.
Lenk acknowledged that fans may not forgive him for surviving while other, more popular, characters were killed off, but he insisted that his presence on the show is justified. "I'm the comic relief guy. I guess a lot of fans resent me for killing [Jonathan], or whatever, but there's a purpose for each thing." Storyteller aired Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. on UPN.
Cage To Surface As Namor?
icholas Cage is allegedly in training to star as the Sub-Mariner in the film adaptation of the Marvel comic book, a source told Ain't It Cool News.
The actor, who was at one time in the running for the role of Superman, was recently overheard at the gym telling his trainer that he was getting in shape for the upcoming Sub-Mariner film, which is currently being pushed into production.
TNN Airs Trek Uncut
able network TNN will begin airing unedited episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in March, the official Star Trek Web site reported.
It will be the first time that many of the episodes have been seen by television audiences in their entirety since they were originally broadcast during the syndicated run of the series.
Two back-to-back episodes will be shown every Friday night during March, and will be presented with limited commercial interruptions. As well as airing the "Trek Uncut" episodes, TNN continues to respond to fans' requests by airing TNG episodes consecutively from the beginning of the syndicated series, the network said.
Jacobs To Write Wolf
scar-nominated screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs has been tapped by Dimension Films to write the script for the Marvel comic-book adaptation Werewolf by Night, Variety reported.
Dimension co-head Bob Weinstein is betting that Jacobs, who wrote the screenplays for Chocolat and Shipping News, will add a certain pedigree to the project, the trade paper said.
"It is our aim to bring the werewolf genre to mainstream audiences in the same character-driven way we have done with our other superhero films," Marvel Studios' Avi Arad told Variety. "Werewolf by Night is at its core a beautiful love story reminiscent of the great Shakespearean tragedies. It needs the meticulous heartfelt crafting that Robert Nelson Jacobs is known for."
Tapping Mulls SG-1 Romance
manda Tapping, who plays Maj. Samantha Carter on the SCI FI Channel's original series Stargate SG-1, told SCI FI
Wire that upcoming seventh-season episodes could delve into Carter's romantic life.
But Tapping added in an interview that romance won't likely include a relationship between Carter and Col. Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson). "I don't think so, not given the parameters of where they are right now," she said.
Tapping added, "I think it's almost enough to know there's a huge attraction between these two people, and that there's a huge amount of love and respect between them. Certainly there are times when it bubbles to the surface, when they're like, 'Ooh, yikes, I forgot that I really am attracted to this guy.' But I can't do anything about it. ... If we push
that envelope and have them consummate the relationship in some way, like going fishing, that would be a big mistake." Stargate is currently in production for its seventh season, which will debut on SCI FI this summer.
SG-1 Enters Year Seven
roduction began Feb. 24 on the seventh season of SCI FI Channel's top-rated original series Stargate SG-1, the network announced.
The series continues to score high with viewers, both in its original episodes and in its repeats from other seasons.
The Jan. 10 winter premiere of the series delivered a 1.7 rating (1.3 million households). The show continued to perform well throughout the month, peaking at 1.9 (1.5 million households), and earning a 1.7 (1.3 million households) average for January--a 70 percent improvement over the time-period average one year ago. This is the strongest January performance of any show in SCI FI Channel history.
The series also excelled on Monday nights with a regularly scheduled block of four back-to-back episodes from past seasons. The Monday episodes scored a 1.4 average for January, making it the second-highest-rated night of the week following SCI FI Fridays.
The upcoming season (the second original season produced exclusively for SCI FI) will feature the highly anticipated return of fan favorite Michael Shanks as civilian archaeologist Daniel Jackson. After seven years on the air, Stargate SG-1now ranks among the longest-running science fiction series on television.
Fire Threatens Potter Set
fire broke out Feb. 22 on the set of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban near a railway bridge in Scotland, according to the Associated Press.
No injuries were reported, but production on the film was shut down and local residents were evacuated before the 100-acre blaze was extinguished by firefighters.
A scene featuring the "Hogwarts Express" train was being filmed when fire broke out, the news service said. It is unknown when production will resume. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, based on the book by J.K. Rowling, is set for release in the summer of 2004.
Rings Wins BAFTAs
he British Academy honored The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with three awards, more than any other film, during a ceremony on Feb. 23, the Associated Press reported.
Towers took home "Baftas" in the categories of visual effects, costumes and Orange Film of the Year, given by the cell phone company Orange to the most popular movie in Britain during 2002, the news service said. Homegrown epic Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was nominated in three categories, including visual effects, but went home empty-handed.
EverQuest Expansion Online
ony Online Entertainment has announced that it will release EverQuest: The Legacy of Ykesha, an expansion to the popular online game, via digital download from its Web site.
Breaking new ground by offering numerous technical advances and improvements to gameplay via digital download, The Legacy of Ykesha expands the world of Norrath for current EverQuest players by adding new adventure zones, quests, spells, items, a new playable character race and more, the company said.
The new digital extension can be downloaded for $21.99 U.S. Additionally, select retailers will receive a limited number of retail CDs in the coming weeks. Retail pricing will vary.
Briefly Noted
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CrossGeneration Comics is looking to bring its monthly fantasy comic-book series and graphic novel Meridian to the big screen as a computer-animated feature and has tapped screenwriter Bob Gale to adapt, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Breckin Meyer is in talks to star as John Arbuckle in 20th Century Fox's big-screen live-action/computer-animated adaptation of the Garfield comic strip, with Jennifer Love Hewitt finalizing a deal to play his love interest, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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A new theatrical trailer will tout the DVD release of Die Another Day in upcoming showings of The Matrix Reloaded and X2, the sequel to X-Men, Variety reported. The DVD comes out June 3.
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Dimension Films has cast actress Denise Richards alongside real-life husband Charlie Sheen in the third entry in the company's horror-spoof franchise, Scary Movie 3, which will parody SF movies, Variety reported.
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Warner Brothers is in talks with the Cannes Film Festival to screen the upcoming first Matrix sequel film, The Matrix Reloaded, in conjunction with the film's U.S. opening on May 15, Variety reported.
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Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's spokesperson confirmed to the Reuters news service that she recorded a small voice part for an upcoming episode of the animated series The Simpsons. In the episode, Rowling will meet Homer Simpson and his family when they visit England.
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The Scriptwriter's Network will hold a special screening of Batman Forever at the Arclight Cinemas in Los Angeles on March 11 at 7:30 p.m. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the original writers, Lee and Janet Batchler. Tickets are $11.00 and may be purchased in advance at www.arclightcinemas.com.
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Renowned British DJ John Digweed is working on music for MTV's upcoming Spider-Man animated series, the Comics Continuum Web site reported. Also providing music is William Anderson of X-Men Evolution.
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Universal Pictures has signed producers Chris and Paul Weitz of Depth of Field to develop a film based on the book series The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock.
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Irish actor Michael Gambon has secured the role of Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film, succeeding the late Richard Harris. Harris passed away last year after portraying Dumbledore in the first two Potter films. Production has already begun on the third installment, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
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E! Online columnist Anderson Jones reported that a director and a screenwriter have been hired for the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. Newcomer Tristan Patterson will write the screenplay, while Peyton Reed (Bring It On) will direct.
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Anthony Edwards has joined the cast of upcoming live-action film Thunderbirds, based on the 1960s British SF series featuring animated marionettes.
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