O'Connell Confirms Super Rumor
ormer Sliders star Jerry O'Connell confirmed for E! Online that he's up for the lead role in the upcoming Superman movie.
"Yeah, I'm definitely right in there," O'Connell told the site. "There is some stiff competition, but I guarantee you I can do more push-ups than all those other guys."
O'Connell reportedly screen-tested for the role of the Man of Steel. The site added that Superman director Brett Ratner served as O'Connell's senior advisor when he was a freshman at New York University.
"There are guys in front of me that have nominations," O'Connell added. "The only thing I've been nominated for is best attendance for physical education in junior high. Whether it happens or not, I'm in this business for the long haul. I know for a fact that I look good in blue Spandex. If it doesn't happen, Space Ghost is always an option."
Meanwhile, the New York Post reported that former Felicity star Keri Russell is in the running to play Lois Lane, according to a report on TV Guide Online.
Boreanaz Denies Super Rumor
ngel star David Boreanaz denied in a chat on E! Online the rumor that he has been cast in the title role of the upcoming Superman movie.
"I'll just kill the rumor now—it hasn't happened," Boreanaz said. "I did go in and read for the part, but I can't do it because of my schedule with Angel."
A Warner representative, meanwhile, told the Dark Horizons Web site that no one has yet been cast in the lead.
Lowe To Be Luthor?
asting rumors continue to fly around the proposed fifth Superman movie.
The British Z Review Web site reported a rumor that former West Wing star Rob Lowe is being considered to play the villainous Lex Luthor in the upcoming Superman movie.
E! News Live, meanwhile, reported a rumor that former Sliders star Jerry O'Connell is being looked at to play the title role, according to a report on Dark Horizons.
Stars In Line For American?
GN FilmForce reported a rumor that Hugh Jackman and Benicio Del Toro will star in Truth, Justice and the American Way, a proposed biographical film about the life of Superman actor George Reeves.
Jackman would play Reeves, and Del Toro would play Lama Moglio, the private investigator hired by Reeves' mother to investigate the actor's mysterious death, the site reported.
Polish brothers Scott McGehee and David Siegel (The Deep End) will direct the film, the site added. No deals have been struck yet.
Focus Features hopes to begin filming this June. The screenplay was penned by Paul Bernbaum, the site reported.
Tudyk To Play I, Robot
lan Tudyk, last seen as Wash in Fox's canceled Firefly, will perform as the computer-animation reference for the CGI character Sonny opposite Will Smith in the upcoming SF film I, Robot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Alex Proyas is directing the adaptation of Isaac Asimov's classic book for Fox and will begin shooting in May, the trade paper reported.
Smith plays a detective investigating a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot (Tudyk).
Like Andy Serkis (Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers), Tudyk's actions, facial expressions and mannerisms will be CGI-enhanced to create the robot, the trade paper reported.
Grimm Seeks Stars
obin Williams, Heath Ledger and Matt Damon are among the top actors being offered roles in the upcoming fantasy film Brothers Grimm, to be directed by Terry Gilliam, Variety reported.
Dimension Films and MGM will co-finance, produce and handle domestic distribution on the $75 million action/fantasy movie, the trade paper reported.
Grimm is a fictionalized story that casts the German fairy tale authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm as traveling spellbusters, claiming to protect European townsfolk from enchanted creatures, the trade paper reported.
Ehren Kruger, who wrote the U.S. remake of The Ring, penned the script.
Gilliam's Quixote Lives On
erry Gilliam's failed production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote lives on in the documentary Lost in La Mancha.
Filmmakers Louis Pepe and Keith Fulton chronicled the demise of Gilliam's film after a short production plagued by catastrophes, including storms, lost equipment and an ailing star.
The film would have told the story of an advertising executive transported back in time to join Quixote, who mistakes him for Sancho Panza. Pepe told SCI FI Wire that Gilliam supported their attempts to tell the true story, including all of his flaws.
"We would send cuts of the film to Terry, and he really only viewed it as a fellow filmmaker," Pepe said in an interview. Pepe added, "He would give his opinion about things like, 'It drags here' or 'It could be funnier here.' But he never, never censored anything or exercised a right of approval."
Pepe and Fulton originally set out to document the production for a behind-the-scenes special. But when Quixote fell apart, they knew they had to make a different film. "It was a couple months after Terry's film collapsed that we made that decision and decided that we have the material to tell a really good feature-film story," Pepe said.
Pepe added that he hopes the film serves as an example to other struggling filmmakers. "I think what Lost in La Mancha shows that no other documentary about moviemaking has ever shown is how fragile the filmmaking process is. So many of the stories that we get about filmmaking tend to be sort of Hollywood versions. ... I think with Lost in La Mancha, the lesson is a more realistic lesson about the reality of the filmmaking process, that it's incredibly fragile and that the most mundane realities can bring it all crashing down." Lost in La Mancha is playing in select cities.
Morgan Rats Out Willard
len Morgan—who wrote, directed and co-produced New Line's upcoming remake of Willard—told SCI FI Wire that he saw in the original 1971 rat-attack film a potent metaphor of anger.
"As [star] Crispin [Glover] put it to me, it was like the rats are almost a manifestation of that anger," Morgan said in an interview. "And that anger just does nothing but eat you up. So when you're a kid and you go, 'Oh, the boss got it, yay!' And now when you're older, you understand, it's not a healthy."
In Willard, Glover takes on the role that Bruce Davison originated, of a frustrated young man tormented at work by a sadistic boss, who befriends a pack of rats living in his basement.
But Morgan said that he and producing and writing partner, James Wong, had a different actor in mind at first: Doug Hutchison, who played liver-eating mutant Eugene Tooms in Morgan and Wong's X-Files episode "Squeeze." "I really wrote it with Doug Hutchison in mind," Morgan said. But the studio had other ideas, he added. "I couldn't tell you why, [but] they said no," he said. "They ran a lot of people by [us]. At one time the offer went to Macaulay Culkin, and we were saying no." Willard opens March 14.
Dune Shoot Tested Helmer
reg Yaitanes—who directed the SCI FI Channel's upcoming original miniseries
Frank Herbert's Children of Dune—told SCI FI Wire that he wasn't daunted by the task of shooting the six-hour epic.
"I've never done a project this long, and it was interesting for me, because you never know what you're made of until you do it," Yaitanes said in an interview.
Yaitanes shot John Harrison's 300-page script—adapted from Herbert's Dune Messiah and Children of Dune novels—over a period of nearly three months in Prague. "Somewhere out there, there's this picture of me, on the last day of shooting," he said. "We'd just done 80 days of shooting, and I'm there all energized, and my cast was wiped out. I was ready for more. I could have done another 100 days."
Yaitanes—whose previous work includes episodes of The Invisible Man—added that he studied earlier filmed versions of Dune, including SCI FI's Frank Herbert's Dune, which was directed by Harrison, and director David Lynch's 1984 feature-film version. "I definitely used John and Lynch's work as research, and as an opportunity to say, 'Here's what worked. How do we improve it? And here's what doesn't work. How do we change it?' But it's such different material. Dune was a very different experience; the two books used for this are very different from Dune." Children of Dune premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT March 16.
Rings, Minority Top Saturn Nods
inority Report and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers received the most nominations for the 29th Annual Saturn Awards, organizers announced.
The awards, from Cinescape magazine and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, will also honor director James Cameron with the Dr. Donald A. Reed Award in ceremonies on May 18 in Hollywood, Calif.
Special awards will also go to Kurt Russell, Sid and Marty Krofft, Bob and Harvey Weinstein and Bill Paxton for their contributions to the genre, organizers said.
The Two Towers and Minority Report each garnered 10 nominations, including best picture for fantasy and science fiction, respectively. On the television side, UPN's Buffy The Vampire Slayer and The WB's Smallville received the most nominations, with five each.
The SCI FI Channel's original miniseries Steven Spielberg Presents Taken got four nominations, including best single program presentation, best actress (Emily Bergl) and two best supporting actress nods, for Heather Donahue and Dakota Fanning, organizers said. Two SCI FI original series also received nominations: Farscape got three nods, and Stargate SG-1 two.
A full list of nominees follows.
Film
Best Science Fiction Film
•Men in Black II
•Minority Report
•Signs
•Solaris
•Star Trek Nemesis
•Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones
Best Fantasy Film
•Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
•The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
•Reign of Fire
•The Santa Clause 2
•The Scorpion King
•Spider-Man
Best Horror Film
•Blade II
•Eight Legged Freaks
•Frailty
•Queen of the Damned
•Resident Evil
•The Ring
Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film
•The Bourne Identity
•Die Another Day
•One Hour Photo
•Red Dragon
•Road to Perdition
•XXX
Best Animated Film
•Ice Age
•Lilo & Stitch
•Spirited Away
•Treasure Planet
Best Actor
•Pierce Brosnan, Die Another Day
•George Clooney, Solaris
•Tom Cruise, Minority Report
•Tobey Maguire, Spider-Man
•Viggo Mortensen, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Best Actress
•Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man
•Jodie Foster, Panic Room
•Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil
•Natascha McElhone, Solaris
•Natalie Portman, Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones
•Naomi Watts, The Ring
Best Supporting Actor
•Ralph Fiennes, Red Dragon
•Tom Hardy, Star Trek Nemesis
•Andy Serkis, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
•Toby Stephens, Die Another Day
•Max Von Sydow, Minority Report
•Robin Williams, Insomnia
Best Supporting Actress
•Halle Berry, Die Another Day
•Samantha Morton, Minority Report
•Connie Nielsen, One Hour Photo
•Rachel Roberts, Simone
•Sissy Spacek, Tuck Everlasting
•Emily Watson, Red Dragon
Best Performance by a Younger Actor
•Alexis Bledel, Tuck Everlasting
•Hayden Christensen, Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones
•Tyler Hoechlin, Road to Perdition
•Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
•Jeremy Sumpter, Frailty
•Elijah Wood, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Best Direction
•Chris Columbus, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
•Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
•George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones
•Bill Paxton, Frailty
•Sam Raimi, Spider-Man
•Steven Spielberg, Minority Report
Best Writing
•Scott Frank and Jon Cohen, Minority Report
•Brent Hanley, Frailty
•Hayao Miyazaki, Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt, Spirited Away (English version)
•Mark Romanek, One Hour Photo
•Hillary Seitz, Insomnia
•Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair and Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Best Music
•Danny Elfman, Spider-Man
•Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek, One Hour Photo
•Jo Hisaishi, Spirited Away
•Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
•John Williams, Minority Report
•John Williams, Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones
Best Costume
•Deena Appel, Austin Powers in Goldmember
•Trisha Biggar, Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones
•Ngila Dickson, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
•Lindy Hemming, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
•Bob Ringwood, Star Trek Nemesis
•Deborah L. Scott, Minority Report
Best Makeup
•Michelle Taylor, Gary Matanky, Bob Newton and Mark Boley, Blade II
•Nick Dudman and Amanda Knight, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
•Peter Owen and Peter King, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
•Michele Burke-Winter, Camille Calvet and KNB Effects Group Inc., Minority Report
•Rick Baker, Jean A. Black and Bill Sturgeon, The Ring
•Michael Westmore, Star Trek Nemesis
Best Special Effects
•John Mitchell, Nick Davis, John Richardson and
Bill George, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
•Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook
and Alex Funke, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
•Scott Farrar, Henry La Bounta, Michael Lantieri and Nathan McGuiness, Minority Report
•John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier, Spider-Man
•Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow, Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones
•John Hynek, Matthew Butler, Sean Andrew Faden and John Frazier, XXX
Cinescape's Face of the Future, Female
•Monica Bellucci
•Emma Caulfield
•Kristanna Loken
•Rosamund Pike
•Sarah Wynter
Cinescape's Face of the Future, Male
•Sean Ashmore
•Eric Balfour
•Eric Bana
•Nathan Fillion
•Shane West
Television
Best Network Television Series
•Alias
•Angel
•Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•Enterprise
•Smallville
•The Twilight Zone
Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series
•Andromeda
•The Dead Zone
•Farscape
•Jeremiah
•Mutant X
•Stargate SG-1
Best Single Program Presentation
•Carrie
•Dinotopia
•Lathe of Heaven
•Snow Queen
•Stephen King's Rose Red
•Steven Spielberg Presents Taken
Best TV Actor
•Richard Dean Anderson, Stargate SG-1
•Scott Bakula, Enterprise
•David Boreanaz, Angel
•Ben Browder, Farscape
•Anthony Michael Hall, The Dead Zone
•Tom Welling, Smallville
Best TV Actress
•Emily Bergl, Steven Spielberg Presents Taken
•Claudia Black, Farscape
•Charisma Carpenter, Angel
•Jennifer Garner, Alias
•Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•Kristin Kreuk, Smallville
Best TV Supporting Actor
•Alexis Denisof, Angel
•Victor Garber, Alias
•John Glover, Smallville
•James Marsters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•Michael Rosenbaum, Smallville
•Connor Trinneer, Enterprise
Best TV Supporting Actress
•Amy Acker, Angel
•Jolene Blalock, Enterprise
•Heather Donahue, Steven Spielberg Presents Taken
•Dakota Fanning, Steven Spielberg Presents Taken
•Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•Michelle Trachtenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
DVD
Best DVD Release
•Brother's Keeper
•Dagon
•Dog Soldiers
•Hunchback of Notre Dame 2
•Metropolis
•Vampires: Los Muertos
Best DVD Special Edition Release
•A.I. Artificial Intelligence
•The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
•Memento
•Minority Report
•Monsters, Inc.
•Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones
Best DVD Classic Film Release
•Back to the Future Trilogy
•Beauty & The Beast
•E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
•The Great Race
•Near Dark
•Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Best DVD TV Programming Release
•Babylon 5, season one
•Buffy the Vampire Slayer, seasons one and two
•Highlander, season one
•The Outer Limits, the original series
•Star Trek: The Next Generation, seasons one-seven
•The X-Files, seasons five and six
Special Award Recipients
The Dr. Donald A. Reed Award
•James Cameron
Life Career Awards
•Kurt Russell
•Sid and Marty Krofft
Special Achievement Award
•Bob and Harvey Weinstein
Filmmaker's Showcase Award
•Bill Paxton
Spectrum Winners Named
rganizers announced the winners of the 10th annual Spectrum Awards, for fantastic-themed art, Locus Online reported.
Winning works will be published in Spectrum 10: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, edited by Cathy and Arnie Fenner, to be published by Underwood Books in October, the site reported.
Winners include Charles Vess, Dave McKean, Jon Foster and James Gurney, as well as Grand Master Award winner Michael William Kaluta, the site reported.
PKD Award Judges Named
udges have been named for the 2003 Philip K. Dick Awards, named for the legendary SF author and given to distinguished science fiction published in paperback original format in the United States.
The nominees will be announced in January 2004. The awards ceremony will take place in Seattle at Norwescon 27 in April 2004.
The judges for the 2003 award are Stephen L. Burns, Suzy McKee Charnas, Craig Jacobsen, Richard Parks and Janine Ellen Young.
Cuaron Talks Potter III
lfonso Cuaron, director of the third Harry Potter movie, told the Zap2it Web site that he's faced cast changes and fire delays in the first week of shooting.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, based on the third of author J.K. Rowling's best-selling Potter books, began principal photography Feb. 24 in Leavesden, England.
"I look forward to bringing this intricate story to the screen and sharing it with film audiences around the world," Cuaron said from the set. "To be entrusted with such rich and beloved material and given the opportunity to collaborate with this extraordinary cast and crew on the next Harry Potter adventure is an honor."
One of the first major decisions facing Cuaron was the replacement of the beloved Richard Harris in the role of Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of the Hogwarts School for Wizards, where Harry's adventures take place, the site reported. Michael Gambon (Gosford Park) got the role.
No Special Matrix DVD Due
arner Home Video has decided not to release a two-disc special-edition DVD of The Matrix, due to a shift in strategy in how to market the film's upcoming sequel, The Matrix Reloaded, the Zap2it Web site reported.
In order to broaden the film's fan base before The Matrix Reloaded's May 15 release, Warner will instead reduce the price of the standard Matrix DVD to $19.99, starting April 29, which will include a mail-in ticket offer for the sequel, the site reported.
In order to receive the mail-in ticket, the rebate must be sent in by June 6.
In addition, Warner will package the standard DVD with the two-hour behind-the-scenes documentary, The Matrix Revisited, for a new price of $34.99, which will also include the ticket offer, the site reported.
Weaving Returns In Rings
ugo Weaving, who plays elvish leader Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, told SCI FI Wire that his character will have a brief but important role to play in the third and final film, The Return of the King.
"Elrond's not really a major character on the screen," Weaving said in an interview. "He sort of embodies certain elements of Middle-earth, and he's the character who understands the prehistory. He kind of brings with him the great weight of years. [He is] like 3,500 years old, ... so he's kind of been around."
Weaving added, "He needs to be there because of Arwen and Aragorn and their love story. And he needs to be there to express the fact that the elves are leaving as a people and that human beings are going to have to take over Middle-earth. So I guess he's telling an important part of the story, and he's stressing an important part of that world."
Weaving, who will also be seen this year in the sequel films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, said that he was grateful his role in The Lord of the Rings was not as demanding as those of his fellow cast members. "It would be impossible for me to do that and The Matrix, too," he said. "I could go and play Elrond, because it wasn't a huge time-consuming role for me. But I was still over [in New Zealand] for quite a long time, just doing the small amount that I did." The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is scheduled to open Dec. 17.
Cusack Eyes Stepford
ohn Cusack is in talks to star opposite Nicole Kidman in Paramount Pictures' upcoming remake of The Stepford Wives for director Frank Oz and producer Scott Rudin, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie will begin shooting in June.
Cusack's sister, Joan, also stars in the project, marking the seventh time that the siblings have worked together, the trade paper reported.
Stepford is a remake of the 1975 SF thriller film about a woman (Kidman) who moves into a neighborhood where husbands have transformed their wives into robots designed to cater to them. Cusack will play Kidman's husband. Joan Cusack plays Bobbie Markowitz, a hostile, sarcastic, cranky woman who is out of shape and enjoys drinking, but gets transformed into a robot, the trade paper reported.
Paul Rudnick wrote Stepford, which is based on Ira Levin's novel of the same name.
Dead Dawns Again
ommercial director Zack Snyder is set to direct a remake of George Romero's classic zombie film Dawn of the Dead, starting in June, Variety reported.
Strike Entertainment will produce for Universal Studios.
James Gunn (Scooby-Doo) is writing the script, which will reinvent Romero's 1979 film, a sequel to his Night of the Living Dead. Dawn deals with a swarm of slow-moving cannibalistic corpses who attack a shopping mall, the trade paper reported.
Richard P. Rubinstein, who produced the original, struck a remake deal with Strike's Marc Abraham and Eric Newman after long resisting past overtures, the trade paper reported. Rubinstein is also executive producer of the SCI FI Channel's upcoming original miniseries
Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.
Universal Studios is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Schumacher Talks Phantom
irector Joel Schumacher told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Cindy Pearlman that he will direct a film version of the musical Phantom of the Opera.
But Schumacher added that Antonio Banderas will not star in the adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit play.
"Antonio is not doing this version," Schumacher told the newspaper. He added, "I haven't cast yet, but I want to go younger. Maybe Antonio was part of a past project. He was in Evita, and Andrew loves him, but he's not my phantom."
Schumacher is reportedly prepping the project and thinking about casting. He said that he wants to have Phantom out next Christmas. "I'm a little scared to do this project, but if you're not a little scared, then you're doing the wrong movie," he said. "If you think you can phone it in, then God has a very wicked surprise for you."
Clone Toon In Works
nimation director Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack) told the Star Wars Homing Beacon newsletter that he's beginning work on the upcoming animated Star Wars: Clone Wars series for Cartoon Network.
Clone Wars, a series of animated shorts, will air on the network starting in the fall.
"Luckily Samurai Jack is just ending up," Tartakovsky told the newsletter. "I finished the last storyboard in December. So, slowly, Star Wars just took over. I'll still be doing post-production on Samurai Jack until the very end of Star Wars, and we’ll be done Star Wars by late summer."
Many of the Samurai Jack crew will work on Clone Wars, Tartakovsky said. "We're a pretty slim crew, because I wanted it to have more of a personal touch, so it doesn't get too huge." The crew includes art director Paul Rudish, who is doing all the main designs; Dave Dunnet, who is doing the background designs; Scott Wills, the background painter; and Michel Gagne, who will do all the effects designs. "I wanted all the effects to be really stylized and specific, so it feels more nurtured," Tartakovsky said. "He's going to design them all and animate a lot of them himself."
Critics Say Toy Is Tops
he Online Film Critics Society has named Toy Story the best animated feature film of all time.
The international association of Internet-based cinema journalists has also posted a list of its choices for the top 100 animated features of all time.
The society's top 10 includes Fantasia (1940), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Toy Story 2 (1999), The Iron Giant (1999), Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) and Spirited Away (2002).
Kingdom Wins Award
ingdom Hearts was honored by the International Game Developers Association in the category of excellence in visual arts, Square and Disney Interactive announced.
The award was presented March 6 at the Third Annual Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony in San Jose, Calif.
Kingdom Hearts combines classic Disney characters and worlds with newly introduced characters and environments created in the Square style.
New Line Updating Holmes
ew Line Cinema will develop a modern-day version of the Sherlock Holmes story in Holmes and Watson, from Darkness Falls producers William Sherak and Jason Shuman, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
James Robinson (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) will write the screenplay, the trade paper reported.
The film will center on the descendants of the legendary sleuth and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, and will be set in modern-day London. The heir to the Holmes legacy will be portrayed as a twentysomething playboy who uses his talents mainly to pick up girls, until he is unwittingly drawn back into the family detective business by a young, sexy Dr. Jane Watson, the trade paper reported.
Owen Crowned As Arthur
live Owen has signed to star in Disney's upcoming King Arthur film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio is in negotiations with fellow British actor Stephen Dillane to take on the role of Merlin in the studio's Jerry Bruckheimer-produced take on the medieval legend, the trade paper reported.
Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) is set to direct the film, which is eyeing a spring production start. The film reportedly demystifies the Arthur legend and promises a realistic portrayal.
David Franzoni (Gladiator) wrote the script, which has since been revised by John Lee Hancock, the trade paper reported.
Futurama Game In Future
ame publisher SCi is developing a video game based on the Futurama animated TV series, the GameSpot Web site reported.
The third-person action game is in development for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube and is scheduled for release in the spring, the site reported.
The game allows players to fight as one of four different characters, including Fry, Bender, Leela or Dr. Zoidberg, against Earth's new supreme ruler, Mom. Series writers worked on the video game's script, the site reported.
Ring 2 Is Original?
he Ringworld Web site reported a rumor that a proposed U.S. sequel to last year's hit horror film The Ring will not be based on the Japanese sequel.
According to an anonymous tipster, the site reported that a rough script will be delivered by December, with an eye to an October 2004 release.
Ring director Gore Verbinski may not return, Ehren Kruger will again write, and Naomi Watts is in talks to star again and is about to sign, the site reported.
Riverworld Runs March 22
he SCI FI Channel announced that its original movie Riverworld, based on Philip José Farmer's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel series, premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT March 22.
Alex Proyas (The Crow and Dark City) makes his debut as an executive producer for television with the two-hour movie, co-produced by Tasman Films, Alliance
Atlantis and Box TV.
Riverworld is a mystical place where people from every historical era have been reborn young and healthy, from Rome's Emperor Nero to Mark Twain. Among them is Hale, a 21st-century American astronaut who emerges as the leader of a motley crew of souls.
Riverworld stars Brad Johnson (Always) as Hale; Emily Lloyd (Welcome to Sarajevo) as Alice Liddell Hargreaves, a Victorian woman; and Cameron Daddo (The Outer Limits) as Sam Clemens, aka Twain. Other cast members include Jonathan Cake (The One and Only) as Nero and Kevin Smith (Xena: Warrior Princess) as Valdemar, one of his final roles.
Stuart Hazeldine (Proyas' The Masque of the Red Death) wrote the script. Kari Skogland (The Crow series pilot) directed. Proyas' partner Topher Dow serves as executive producer, along with Alliance Atlantis' John Morayniss and Janine Coughlin, Tasman Films' Don Reynolds and Box TV's Gub Neal. Janine Dickins of
Tasman Films and Mary Kahn of Alliance Atlantis produced. Box TV's Justin Thomson-Glover co-produced.
Hellboy Shoots In Prague
evolution Studios announced the start of filming in Prague on its upcoming film adaptation of Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic series.
The film stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, John Hurt and Jeffrey Tambor and is slated for a summer 2004 release by Columbia Pictures, the studio announced.
Guillermo Del Toro wrote and is directing the movie, which is being produced for Revolution Studios by Lawrence Gordon, Dark Horse Comics' Mike Richardson and Lloyd Levin. Patrick Palmer is serving as executive producer, and Mignola is serving as associate producer.
Rick Baker (How the Grinch Stole Christmas) is creating the special makeup effects for the film.
Perlman plays Hellboy, summoned from the underworld and raised in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. He joins "Mer-Man" Abe Sapien; Liz Sherman (Blair), who can control fire with her mind; and Myers, an FBI agent who is his rival for Liz's affections.
Moore Joins Forgotten
ouble Oscar nominee Julianne Moore has signed on to star in Revolution Studios' upcoming supernatural thriller film The Forgotten, with Joseph Ruben set to direct, Variety reported.
Moore will play Telly Paretta, a grieving mother who is stunned when her psychiatrist tells her that she has created eight years of memories of a deceased son she never had, the trade paper reported.
The Forgotten starts shooting before the end of the year. Gerald DiPego (Phenomenon) wrote the script. Columbia Pictures will distribute The Forgotten next year, the trade paper reported.
Moore was nominated for Oscars for her performances in Far From Heaven and The Hours.
Mighty Writers Hired
aramount Pictures has tapped Maurice Chauvet and Christopher Vail to write the script for a computer-animated Mighty Mouse movie for Nickelodeon Films, Variety reported.
Chauvet's credits include co-writing Sony Classics' gambling addiction drama Owning Mahowny with director Richard Kwietniowski.
Director John Woo and producing partner Terence Chang will produce Mighty Mouse, along with Nickelodeon's Albie Hecht and Julia Pistor. Barry Jackson will provide concept design work, with Nickelodeon performing the animation work in-house, the trade paper reported.
Wonder Woman Evolving
omic artist Drew Johnson, who joins writer Greg Rucka as the new creative team behind DC Comics' Wonder Woman, told fans that the venerable character will be undergoing some changes, according to a report on the Comics Continuum Web site.
"Greg is actually doing a pretty intense overhaul on the Wonder Woman book," Johnson said during a panel at MegaCon. "He's introducing about nine new supporting characters, creating a new environment that she's going to be in day to day. She'll be operating out of the Themysciran embassy. It's really focusing on the diplomat/soldier aspect of the character."
Johnson added, "We're going to change the overall appearance of the character just a touch. She's actually going to look Greek. She'll have a longer nose, a broader face, and she'll be colored with olive skin." Johnson said that a small braid and ponytail have been approved. "And we're drawing the tiara deeper down the bridge of her nose," he said. DC Comics is keeping the costume designs under wraps for now, the site reported.
De Bont Talks Tomb 2
an de Bont, the director of the upcoming Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, told SCI FI Wire that the sequel film will be bigger, but more realistic.
"This is a great story, and more reality-based than the first film, concentrating on both ancient and modern worlds, but not so fantasy-based," de Bont said in an e-mail interview.
Added de Bont (Speed), "It's a darker, sexier story, and it shows Lara's [Angelina Jolie] vulnerability, and is more three dimensional. She's not superhuman. She can be tested. She doesn't always have the answers. All the characters have been more thoroughly developed."
But the film will also feature bigger action, sets and locations, de Bont said. "Visually it's a stunning film," he said. "We have been all over the world to locations you have never seen on film before. Perhaps the most thrilling was in Africa, possibly the actual cradle of civilization, where we filmed in the crater of an active volcano, known as the mountain of God, in Tanzania."
"There is double the action in this movie, but it is very integrated with the story," de Bont added. "Angelina is very physical, and she is very good at action. Other actresses say they did the stunts, but few of them do. Angelina is more accomplished than any other actress." Cradle of Life, which just wrapped production, opens July 25.
Enterprise Alters Course?
roducers of UPN's Enterprise told TV Guide that they will make a "slight revision" in the show's course to make it more epic, according to a report on the official Star Trek Web site.
Executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga said the show will soon embark in a new direction.
Expect "epic challenges ... that better exploit the sense of awe and danger" for the crew, Braga told the magazine.
Berman added, "Let's just say there will be a slight revision in our mission, and a slight revision in the part of space that Enterprise is heading into."
Night Comes To Screen
olumbia Pictures and Senator International will partner on the supernatural film 30 Days of Night, based on the comic series of the same name, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Ghost House Pictures, the production company launched last year by Senator, Spider-Man director Sam Raimi and Raimi's longtime producing partner Rob Tapert, will produce.
The film is set in Barrow, Alaska, where an evil force strikes terror into residents during the town's month-long winter night, the trade paper reported.
Steve Niles wrote the comic, which was illustrated by Ben Templesmith and published by Idea & Design Works. Niles will develop the screenplay, the trade paper reported.
Mutant X Suit Partly Settled
ox and Marvel Enterprises have settled a long-running lawsuit over the Mutant X television show, which is in its second year, Variety reported.
But Fox has not settled with Tribune Entertainment, the syndicator, and Fireworks Entertainment, the producer and international distributor, the trade paper reported.
In a joint release, Fox and Marvel said the parties have amicably resolved their differences and put the lawsuit behind them and look forward to an expanded relationship. The terms of the settlement are confidential, the trade paper reported.
Fox sued Marvel, Tribune and Fireworks in April 2001 to stop production of a television show it claimed was a copycat of Fox's X-Men movie, the trade paper reported. A federal court judge in New York enjoined the show from using the X-Men logo and films clips, but allowed the show to go forward. On appeal, the court reinstated false advertising claims against Tribune and Fireworks. The case has been in litigation since January 2002, the trade paper reported.
Microsoft Ships Freelancer
icrosoft announced that it shipped Freelancer, a space combat game for the PC, to stores on March 4.
Players can embark on an epic space adventure that puts them in the space pilot's seat, the company announced.
Digital Anvil and Microsoft Game Studios developed the title. Players assume the identities of traders, naval officers, galactic explorers or bounty hunters, and their identities determine which allies and enemies players will encounter in the game.
Freelancer carries a suggested retail price of $54.95.
Olmos To Star In Galactica
scar-nominated actor Edward James Olmos is close to signing a deal to star as Cmdr. Adama in the SCI FI Channel's upcoming four-hour miniseries and backdoor pilot Battlestar Galactica, the network confirmed.
Meanwhile, another Oscar nominee, Mary McDonnell, has agreed to play the role of President Laura Roslin. Lorne Greene played Adama in the original 1980s TV series.
The cast includes British actor Jamie Bamber as Apollo and Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck.
Michael Rymer (Queen of the Damned) will direct the "reimagining" of the classic Galactica, which begins production in Vancouver in March. Battlestar Galactica will air exclusively on SCI FI in late 2003.
Produced exclusively for SCI FI, Battlestar Galactica is written by Ronald D. Moore (Roswell, Star Trek: First Contact) with David Eick (American Gothic, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) and Moore serving as executive producers.
Coogan Joins Chan In 80 Days
omedian Steve Coogan and Oscar winner Jim Broadbent will co-star with Jackie Chan in the upcoming film adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, Variety reported.
Coogan will play Phileas Fogg opposite Chan's Passepartout, the trade paper reported.
In addition, Hal Lieberman has joined Bill Badalato as producer, the trade paper reported. Shooting starts March 15, and the filmmakers hope to cover more single locations than any other film.
Next step will be the addition of stars in cameo roles. Since the film is being directed by Frank Coraci, who helmed Adam Sandler's hit comedies The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy, suspicion is that Sandler might be among them, the trade paper reported.
Briefly Noted
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Diane Farr (Roswell) and Adam Arkin will star in The Ripples, a new TV comedy from NBC Studios and DreamWorks TV, about a couple that has been married for 4,000 years, the Zap2it Web site reported.
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Spider-Man will premiere on HBO at 8 p.m. ET/PT May 3, exactly one year after it hit movie theaters, the Comics Continuum Web site reported.
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New Regency has made a preemptive deal for Position, a script written and to be directed by Rand Ravich (The Astronaut's Wife), Variety reported. The thriller film centers on two men and a woman who find themselves being taken to some scary places while on a road trip.
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Sony Pictures is changing the name of the Jackie Chan supernatural film The Highbinders to The Medallion and will release it Oct. 17, Dark Horizons reported.
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The British Z Review Web site reported that Ryan Gosling may appear in a cameo role as Gambit in the upcoming X Men sequel, X2, which opens in North America on May 2.
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The Digital Bits Web site reported that Daredevil will hit DVD around June 10.
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Kelly Hu (X2) told E! News Live that she's looking to star in Jade, the film adaptation of a comic series about a 4,000-year-old vampire who heads a crime family in China, according to a report on Dark Horizons.
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The second of nine Animatrix animated shorts has gone live on the official Matrix Web site.
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Teri Hatcher, who played Lois Lane on TV's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, filed for divorce from her husband of nearly nine years, actor Jon Tenney, the Reuters news service reported.
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Simon Rex and Jeremy Piven have joined the cast of Dimension Films' upcoming SF spoof film Scary Movie 3, which starts shooting later this month in Vancouver, B.C., Variety reported.
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To celebrate The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' six Academy Award nominations, TheOneRing.net and Sideshow/WETA Collectibles will host an Oscar party at the Hollywood Athletic Club in Los Angeles on March 23.
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Organizers announced the launch of Galacticon 2003, a fan-based event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original Battlestar Galactica, Oct. 24-26 in Los Angeles. No guests have been confirmed.
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The final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will air May 20, the New York Daily News reported. UPN executives, meanwhile, told the newspaper that they're working with Buffy creator Joss Whedon to develop a spinoff series that would use one or more Buffy characters.
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Juan Carlos Fresnadillo won the Grand Prize at the Oporto International Film Festival (Fantasporto) for his supernatural film Intacto, Variety reported.
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Jennifer Tilly told TV Guide Online that she's eager to star in a sequel to Bride of Chucky, in which she voiced a living doll. "We're still trying to make Bride of Chucky 2," she told the site. "I have a sequel deal in place, and a script is written, so we're trying to get a green light on it."
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Palm Pictures has purchased the U.S. and Caribbean distribution rights to the foreign film Demon Lover, starring Connie Nielsen, Chloe Sevigny, Gina Gershon and Charles Berling, the Zap2it Web site reported.
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Star Wars director George Lucas received a standing ovation as he accepted the Vanguard Award at the 14th annual Producers Guild Awards on March 2 in Los Angeles, the Reuters news service reported.
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Reruns of The WB's Angel will air on TNT as early as fall 2003.
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