Rowling Sues N.Y. Paper
arry Potter author J.K. Rowling and her U.S. publisher, Scholastic Inc., sued New York's Daily News on June 18, after the tabloid newspaper published small excerpts from the much-anticipated fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Reuters news service reported.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for southern New York, accusing the newspaper of copyright infringement, the wire service reported.
"We will vigorously defend any action and are confident we did nothing wrong journalistically or legally," Daily News spokesman Ken Frydman told Reuters.
In an article published June 18, the newspaper reported it obtained a copy of the book at a store in the borough of Brooklyn. The book was released at 12:01 a.m. June 21. No advance copies were made available to the media, as the publisher had hoped to keep the plot under wraps until the book's release, stoking the curiosity of Potter fans, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Rowling told NBC's Katie Couric that she sobbed uncontrollably when she made the decision to kill off a major character in Phoenix, according to a report on TV Guide Online. "It was awful to write," she said. "It was absolutely awful."
Potter V Books Stolen
housands of copies of the much-anticipated fifth Harry Potter book were stolen from a warehouse in England over the weekend, police told the Reuters news service.
The 7,680 copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were taken in a late-night heist on Merseyside in northern England on June 15, the news service reported. Police said they were checking a white articulated trailer truck found about 20 miles from the warehouse for forensic evidence.
Police cautioned would-be readers not to touch the books, or else face criminal charges themselves.
Meanwhile, the fifth of J.K. Rowling's Potter books is showing signs of being bigger than its precessors when it hit store shelves at 12:01 a.m. June 21, USA Today reported. An unprecedented 6.8 million copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix go on sale Saturday morning, with an additional 1.7 million ready to ship if early sales reports are strong, said Michael Jacobs of Potter's U.S. publisher, Scholastic, to the newspaper.
Already, advance orders of 655,813 have come in to Amazon.com, almost double those for the fourth Potter tome, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in 2000, the newspaper reported. More than 1 million copies are expected to sell at Barnes & Noble stores and on the company's Web site in the first week, which would make it B&N's best-selling title, the newspaper added.
Booksellers, distributors, printers, binders and the like have signed affidavits promising to keep Phoenix secure until the exact on-sale moment. Scholastic has a field operations group mobilized to follow up on rumors of early sales, the newspaper reported.
Lucas Not Thrown By Hulk
osh Lucas—who plays Bruce Banner's nemesis, Glenn Talbot, in the Marvel Comics film adaptation Hulk—told SCI FI Wire that he had to work hard to make his fight scenes with the titular computer-generated character look realistic.
"You're taking these wires and these harnesses and different things that are moving you, and you're trying to figure out a way to make it look like you're not initiating the movement, but something else is," he said in an interview. "And that's a very, very difficult thing to do. And it takes a lot of time and a lot of choreography."
As difficult as the stunts were, Lucas insisted on doing as much of them himself as possible. "I think every single moment of this movie is actually me on-screen," Lucas said. "I think you can quite clearly see that, because that's the play of weeks of work [and asking], 'How is it going to look like he's being thrown?' as opposed to 'He's throwing himself.' ... I think it's something [director Ang Lee] tremendously learned on Crouching Tiger and then incorporated it into the quite realistic violence of this movie."
Lucas said that he had never done an action film of this scale before, and he was grateful for the experience. "I'm terrifically physical as an actor, period," he said. "That's my favorite thing, ... to really immerse myself into the physicality and the movement of a performance. But I've never been able to have the incredible stunt coordinating, almost ballet choreography, of a movie like this, which goes into creating these stunts." Hulk opened June 20.
Hulk is released by Universal Pictures, owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Hulk Challenged Elliott
am Elliott, who stars as Gen. Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross in the Marvel Comics film adaptation Hulk, told SCI FI Wire that it was difficult getting used to the multiple-camera technique employed by director Ang Lee.
"There's an interrogation scene in the beginning of the film with me and Bruce Banner [Eric Bana], in which they shot with multiple cameras," Elliott said in an interview. "These guys at this level take great pains in setting these shots up where they should all work. So it's our job as actors to be performing within a certain amount of confines there."
The technique involved filming a single scene with as many as four cameras at one time in order to capture various angles that could be edited together as a split-screen effect in the finished film. Elliott said that performing to all of the cameras at once presented a unique challenge for him. "It's disconcerting [because] you're playing to all these cameras, and you've got to kind of have that in your head. Because if you're not playing to all of them, then one of them may as well not even be on."
But Elliott said that he was pleased with the final result. "I think it worked on so many levels that I don't think anybody's prepared for how well it worked," he said. "I think the Hulk fanatics are just going to climb the walls for this thing. I really think it's going to be successful."
Hulk, from Universal Pictures, opened June 20. Elliott co-hosted with Josh Lucas (Glenn Talbot) the SCI FI Channel's insider's guide to the movie, Hulk: The Lowdown, at 10 p.m. ET/PT June 18. Universal and SCI FI are owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
T3 Loken Played Live And CG
ristanna Loken—who plays the female TX cyborg in the upcoming sequel film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines—told SCI FI Wire that she not only played the character in live action, but also provided the movements for her computer-animated "endoskeleton."
"All of the [computer-animated] stuff that was done on me and my character was laid over [on] top of my own body movements," Loken said in an interview. "So I was actually doing it first."
Loken peformed movements for animators, who were doing motion capture for a template for the animated endoskeleton. "We went up to San Francisco, and they had these three-dimensional cameras that can photograph your body from all angles and record your movements," she said. Animators then built the image around Loken's performance in scenes that depict the TX as a metal creature. "So all that movement was me, even my face, even when I'm like that [grimaces]. ... I was really crawling around, yeah." Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines opens July 2.
T3 Game Due In Fall
tari announced the fall release of Terminator 3: War of the Machines, a PC-based single-player and online multiplayer first-person shooter game.
Currently in development by Hungary-based Clever's Games, Terminator 3: War of the Machines will allow up to 32 players to face off online as either technologically advanced SkyNet Terminators or battle-hardened Tech Com Special Forces, the company said.
Terminator 3: War of the Machines takes place during the ultimate battle described in the Terminator film franchise. The third movie, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, hits theaters on July 2.
Stahl Makes T3 His Own
ick Stahl, who takes over the role of John Connor from Edward Furlong in the upcoming sequel film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, told SCI FI Wire that had to reinvent the character for himself.
Stahl plays Connor as a grown man. Furlong played a pre-adolescent Connor in the previous film in the franchise, 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but was not asked to reprise the role in T3.
"I remembered that role distinctly from when I was kid," Stahl said in an interview. "I knew that there was a lot of fans of this movie that wanted to see something repeated. They want to see the same sort of formula, and they get used to certain characters. And to me, he was John Connor as well. But I basically just had to approach it as if it was my own, as if it really hadn't been done before, just because that's really all I could do: ... draw from my own experience. I knew they wanted to go a different direction with it, a different director, different direction for the story."
Director Jonathan Mostow helms T3, taking over the franchise from its creator, director James Cameron. As for why Furlong wasn't asked back, Stahl said that he wasn't told. "They just wanted to start a new chapter in the franchise," he said. "I don't really know why." T3 opens July 2.
Danes Answered T3 Call
laire Danes, who plays Kate Brewster in the upcoming Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, told SCI FI Wire that she was hired at the last minute to replace actress Sophia Bush, who was originally cast in the role.
"Well I was hired the day before I started working, literally," Danes said in an interview. "My character was kidnapped by the Terminator, and I was kidnapped by the Terminator series production. I didn't quite know how to make sense of it, because I didn't have time to."
Bush, 20, actually shot for more than a week in the character before director Jonathan Mostow replaced her, reportedly because of her youth. Danes, 24, was returning from a vaction in Australia with her boyfriend when she got the call. "Coincidentally," she said, "the afternoon I had arrived in L.A. expecting to only be here for about three days before I returned to New York, I got a frantic call from my agent saying, 'There's been a crisis on the Terminator set. They had hired another actress, but she proved to be too young for the part, and they need to recast immediately, and they would like you to step in. Now.' So someone messengered the script to me. I read it as quickly as humanly possible and tried to evaluate it with some kind of sound judgment, and I just said yes."
In retrospect, Danes said the big-budget SF action movie came at just the right time. "I was free," she said. "It seemed like a really exciting opportunity. What a great adventure! And I'd just done three very sensitive, experimental, thought-provoking films of a smaller scale. And I guess I was prepared to go blow some stuff up. I was channeling my inner badass." Terminator 3 opens July 2.
Arnold Paid For Key T3 Shot
rnold Schwarzenegger, who stars in the upcoming sequel film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, told SCI FI Wire that he put up $1.4 million of his own salary to shoot part of a massive chase involving a construction crane.
In the scene, the female TX cyborg (Kristanna Loken) is chasing John Connor (Nick Stahl), while Schwarzenegger's familiar T-800 cyborg is hanging from the crane's hook as it's dragged through a glass office building.
Schwarzenegger said that director Jonathan Mostow considered cutting the shot when the production fell behind schedule. "I didn't want them to cut certain things because they fell behind, because it hurts the movie," he said. "And this scene was written in, and I had very clear vision the way it should be. And so I said to Jonathan, 'Jon, we have to shoot the scene. It doesn't matter what anyone says.' And then I said to [producer] Andy [Vajna], I said, 'Why don't I put the money in, and then later on, when the money comes back, you pay it back to me.' But, I said, 'We have to have that scene in there, because I think it's a great scene.'"
The scene, shot on a quarter-mile street set especially built on the former Boeing aerospace plant property in Downey, Calif., required 14 cameras to shoot as the crane arm slams into the glass building, destroying it. "I would say it's about 50 percent to 70 percent me," Schwarzenegger said. "To be honest with you, sometimes I don't know." Terminator 3 opens July 2.
T3 To Screen For U.S. Troops
rnold Schwarzenegger told SCI FI Wire that on the 4th of July he will take his upcoming new film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines to Kuwait, where it will screen for U.S. troops who are stationed in the Persian Gulf.
"I will be going around the world with this movie to promote it in all the different countries, and then July 4, I will be with the American soldiers in Kuwait, ... doing a screening for Terminator 3 to bring them a little bit of joy for all the work that they're doing in helping us to keep this country safe," Schwarzenegger said in an interview while promoting the movie.
Schwarzenegger reprises his most famous role in the sequel, which opens in the United States on July 2.
Westworld In The Works
rnold Schwarzenegger, who will star in the upcoming remake of Westworld, told SCI FI Wire that a script is in the works from the same writers who penned the actor's upcoming Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Longtime genre writing partners John Brancato and Michael Ferris (TV's The Others) wrote T3, based on a story by them and writer Tedi Sarafian, and also wrote the script for the proposed Catwoman film.
"The only thing I can tell you is that the same writers that wrote Terminator 3 are writing right now, are in the middle of writing Westworld," Schwarzenegger said in an interview. The movie is based on Michael Crichton's 1973 SF classic, about a robotic theme park where things go horribly awry.
Schwarzenegger added that he will star, but "I'm not going to be playing the Yul Brynner character [a robot gunslinger], where I play a machine, because I'm doing that in this movie [T3]," he said. "But it will be a very interesting story, and it will be a continuation of the saga." T3 opens July 2.
Maguire Talks Spidey 2
obey Maguire, who reprises the title role of the upcoming Spider-Man sequel, told MTV.com that he's happy to be back.
"It was great putting on the Spider-Man suit again," Maguire told the site during a break in filming on a Los Angeles soundstage. "It was like coming home."
Maguire added, "I really love the script, and I like the team of people who are making the movie. We get along very well, and it's a great atmosphere. [Director] Sam [Raimi's] a very funny guy and fun to work with and also very intelligent and has a great vision for this film. I love working with him, and he sets the tone for the whole set. ... It's good to be working on something I'm excited about."
Details of the sequel are being kept top secret, though it's been reported that Spidey will face off against Doctor Octopus, played by Alfred Molina. "He looks pretty cool," Maguire said about Doc Ock. Spider-Man 2 is slated for release on July 2, 2004.
King's Tower Nears End
tephen King told USA Today that the last three books in his seven-volume Dark Tower series will be published over the next 17 months.
King, who was struck by a minivan and nearly killed four years ago, told the newspaper that his "close encounter with a Plymouth minivan ... got me going again" on the epic western fantasy series.
Wolves of the Calla will come out in November, Song of Susannah in summer 2004 and The Dark Tower in November 2004, the newspaper reported. The series will total about 3,500 pages, "nothing to be ashamed of," King told the newspaper.
Before that, King will release a completely revised edition of the series' first book, The Gunslinger, on June 23. In the revised edition, King changed or deleted words on nearly every page, added three scenes (about 35 pages' worth) and cut false starts that went nowhere in the books that followed, the newspaper reported.
Brits To Helm Hitchhiker
ammer & Tongs, the British commercial and video-directing and producing team, will helm a feature film based on Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for Spyglass partner Roger Birnbaum and Disney, Variety reported.
The team—writer-director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith—will work with writer Karey Kirkpatrick (Chicken Run), who did a polish on a script written by the author before he died nearly two years ago. Spyglass is budgeting the film and will soon set a start date, the trade paper reported.
SF author Adams will receive a posthumous executive producer credit. The much-loved book tells the story of Arthur Dent, who one day is whisked away by an alien to become an intergalactic traveler, while Earth is about to be flattened to make way for an intergalactic bypass. The book was previously adapted for the BBC in the early 1980s.
I, Robot Adds Cast
ames Cromwell (Star Trek: First Contact) and Bruce Greenwood (The Core) have signed to co-star in I, Robot, the 20th Century Fox movie adaptation of Isaac Asimov's classic SF book, Variety reported.
The film just began shooting in Vancouver, B.C., with Will Smith, Bridget Moynihan and Chi McBride starring and Alex Proyas (Dark City) directing.
Cromwell plays Dr. Lanning, the creator of the most advanced robot ever built. Greenwood plays Lance Robertson, the top executive at U.S. Robotics, who tries to impede a murder investigation. Smith stars as Detective Spooner, a technophobe who suspects robots may be the perpetrators of a series of murders, though their programming prohibits them from harming people, the trade paper reported. Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman wrote the screenplay.
Episode III Roles Cast
he official Star Wars Web site reported that Bruce Spence (The Road Warrior) has won a role in the upcoming prequel film Star Wars: Episode III.
The Moviehole Web site, meanwhile, reported a rumor that Bai Ling (The Crow) has also been cast. There was no word on what roles Ling or Spence will play.
Ling played Myca in The Crow and also appeared in Wild Wild West and The WB's Angel.
Spence is perhaps best known as the Gyro Captain in Road Warrior and voiced a character in the current computer-animated film Finding Nemo.
The official Star Wars site also reported that director George Lucas has arrived at Fox Studios in Sydney, where production will commence this summer.
Galaxies Launch Set
ucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment Inc. announced that the much-anticipated Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, a massively multiplayer online game series, will debut June 26.
The Galaxies online fan community now exceeds 500,000 registered members, the companies said.
The companies will launch four subscription plan options: month-to-month ($14.99 per month), three months ($14 per month), six months ($13 per month) and 12 months ($12 per month). Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided carries a suggested retail price of $49.95 and includes a 30-day subscription to the game.
A special collector's edition, which includes a book of game-related art, in-game wearables, a pewter figurine, lapel pin and patch and a signed manual, will be available for a suggested retail price of $79.95.
Diaz Ready For Shrek 2
ameron Diaz, who will again voice Princess Fiona in the upcoming sequel to the computer-animated hit film Shrek, told SCI FI Wire that fans can expect even more comedy this time around.
Diaz added in an interview that she begins work on the animated sequel in a week.
"They're bringing the comedy to a whole other level on it, so it's really exciting," Diaz said. Diaz declined to discuss plot details for the sequel, which will reunite her with co-stars Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy. "It's hilarious," she said. "They're really doing an amazing job." DreamWorks will release Shrek 2 on June 18, 2004.
Daredevil DVD Is Packed
ox Home Entertainment announced that it will release a two-disc DVD of Daredevil on July 29.
The special edition, with a suggested retail price of $29.98, will feature a widescreen transfer of the superhero movie, as well as commentaries and other features.
The first disc will include commentary by director Mark Steven Johnson, text commentary, an enhanced viewing mode, six multi-angle scene studies and a DVD ROM. The second disc will include the documentaries Beyond Hell's Kitchen: Making Daredevil, The Men Without Fear: The Art of Daredevil and Daredevil: HBO First Look; the Daredevil No. 1 virtual comic book; Shadow World, an in-depth look at Daredevil's sight; and other featurettes, as well as three music videos.
Alien Vs. Predator To Shoot?
he Filmjerk Web site reported a rumor that principal photography will begin in Prague on a proposed Alien vs. Predator movie in October.
Citing anonymous sources, the site reported that Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson will helm.
The movie will purportedly will deal with the duel between creatures from the popular Alien and Predator film franchises. Filmjerk also reported that the movie will not involve any of the human characters from the films’ previous installments. The story reportedly centers on a group of human scientists on an Antarctic expedition to lure Predator hunters, using alien eggs as bait.
Stars Enhance Sinbad Toon
im Johnson, who co-directed the upcoming animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, told SCI FI Wire that having A-list stars such as Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones as lead voice actors had a profound effect on the finished product.
"You end up discovering so much in the first three or four of your 12 or so recording sessions with the lead that you make lots of changes," Johnson said in an interview. "I mean, Brad took anger and made it hysterical. ... That's genius. And so we found ways to let this utterly competent adventurer become utterly juvenile, incompetent in the face of these kind conflicts. And he brought that and so much more to the role [of Sinbad]."
Johnson added that casting voice actors is very different from casting a live-action film. "You do have to realize that with an animated film, you're not getting the dazzling smile and the million-dollar hairdo. You're getting the voice," he said. "But the other thing you realize really quickly—having worked with a wide range of different levels of talent and acting—is these people are famous for a really good reason. There's something about their ability to speak a line that makes us pay attention and feel a more universal emotional connection with that line. So it's not merely stunt casting to be able to grab somebody like Brad Pitt and put him in the role of Sinbad. There's a charisma that extends beyond the blond hair and blue eyes. It's really amazing what a great actor does purely with [his] voice."
Once the recording process started, Johnson and co-director Patrick Gilmore worked on adapting the script to fit the actors' interpretation of the characters. Johnson compared the experience to a play workshop. "When you workshop a play, you write work down, you get it up there on stage, you watch people read it, you realize what's flat and boring or not real, you customize to the actor," he said. "It's very much that experience: listening very hard to the actor and working with them to craft the character that really feels significant and real. You get away with a lot in live action that you don't get away with in animation. It's got to be extra real, because it's fake." Sinbad opens July 2.
Sinbad Evokes Harryhausen
ohn Logan, who wrote the upcoming animated feature Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, told SCI FI Wire that the film was greatly influenced by the work of legendary visual-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen.
"I would say, for me, the entire Sinbad experience can be summed up in two words, which [are]: Ray Harryhausen," Logan said in an interview. "Because I grew up on those movies, and I just loved them. And I love sort of the look of them, the feel. They were sort of gaudy and fun and exciting and swashbuckling."
Harryhausen is known for perfecting the technique of stop-motion animation in films such as Clash of the Titans and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. DreamWorks head Jeffrey Katzenberg was well aware of Logan's admiration for the filmmaker's work when he approached him to write the script. "This is where Jeffrey is the master. The master," Logan said. "He pitched it to me as, like, ... 'It's the story of these friends, and it's like a classical thing, and it's Ray Harryhausen, and it's all that stuff you love. Let's just do it.' Little did I know four years later I'd still be doing it."
Logan—whose previous credits include Star Trek Nemesis and the Oscar-nominated Gladiator—had never worked on an animated feature before taking on Sinbad. He said he initially turned down the project, based on his lack of experience, but that Katzenberg persuaded him to reconsider. "I know nothing about animated movies," Logan said. "I know nothing about the process. And he sort of pitched this idea of doing Sinbad a la Ray Harryhausen, paying homage to that spirit of swashbuckling fun. And of course, Jeffrey being Jeffrey, I eventually said yes, because it sounded like such an exciting idea." Sinbad opens July 2.
T-Birds Is Old School
ill Paxton, who stars in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Thunderbirds, told Empire Online that the film is an old-school family adventure.
"Thunderbirds ... [has] got an innocent charm," Paxton told the site during a break in filming in the United Kingdom. "Great action and great scale and great characters."
Paxton (Frailty) added, "To me it has an old-fashioned, retro set of ethics. ... I feel like it's going to be embraced as a breath of fresh air as far as big family movies go. But when I say family-friendly, I don't mean homogenized. This thing has got something for everyone, and I mean that in a great filmmaking way."
Based on the 1960s marionette SF TV series, Thunderbirds is directed by Star Trek: The Next Generation veteran Jonathan Frakes.
World Gets 2004 Release
aramount Pictures has picked up U.S. distribution rights to The World of Tomorrow, a retro SF action film starring Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow and directed by Kerry Conran, Variety reported.
Paramount is in final talks on the deal and is expected to release World at an as-yet-unspecified date in the summer of 2004.
Principal photography wrapped in April in London. World uses a combination of live action and computer animation. During production, the actors worked entirely on blue-screen sets, the trade paper reported. The animation is scheduled to take 52 weeks to complete.
World is set in 1939 New York, with Paltrow playing a reporter who notices that the world's scientists are disappearing. She and Law track down a mad scientist to foil his plot to take over the world, the trade paper reported. Angelina Jolie, Casey Affleck, Giovanni Ribisi and Bai Ling also star.
Second Coming Clones Christ
arner Brothers-based Castle Rock Pictures has picked up the supernatural thriller pitch Second Coming, about a recently paroled thief who finds himself entrusted with guarding a boy believed to be a clone of Jesus Christ, Variety reported.
Ian Corson is writing the script, loosely based on an original story idea by James Woods.
Castle Rock will produce the film. Corson will likely have a first draft of the script sometime this summer, the trade paper reported.
Affleck Mulls Ghosts
en Affleck (Paycheck) is considering starring in Disney's fantasy comedy film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Affleck is near a deal to star in Ghosts, pending the hiring of a director for the movie, which has yet to receive a green light, the trade paper said.
Produced by LivePlanet's Sean Bailey and Chris Moore, with Jon Shestack, Ghost centers on a bachelor who goes to his younger brother's wedding, where he is visited by the ghosts of his past girlfriends. John Lucas and Scott Moore wrote the script, the trade paper reported.
Paramount Pictures' Paycheck, directed by John Woo and based on a story by Philip K. Dick, hits theaters on Christmas.
Boogeyman Scares Up Cast
mily Deschanel and Barry Watson are set to star in the supernatural horror film Boogeyman for director Stephen Kay, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Screen Gems and Senator International's genre label Ghost House Pictures will finance the film, the trade paper reported.
Boogeyman follows a young man, traumatized in his childhood by terrible events, who returns home to face his fears. Ghost House heads Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert are producing the project, which begins shooting this month, the trade paper reported. Eric Kripke, Juliet Snowden and Stiles White wrote the script.
SG-1 Premiere Scores
he June 13 two-hour seventh-season premiere of the SCI FI Channel original series Stargate SG-1 beat its cable competition with a 1.9 household rating, the network reported.
The show delivered more viewers (2.43 million) than any season premiere of any series in SCI FI history.
The premiere also brought in more viewers than any episode of Stargate SG-1 in its entire cable run to date, the network reported. The premiere was the most-watched June telecast in the history of SCI FI and outshone its basic-cable competition, coming in at number one for the day in both persons 18-49 (1.35) and persons 25-54 (1.55), the network reported.
New episodes of Stargate SG-1 air Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Zoom Heads For Film
evolution Studios has optioned the film rights to the superhero graphic novel Zoom's Academy for the Super Gifted from creator Jason Lethcoe, Variety reported.
Team Todd and Underground Films will produce the live-action film adaptation.
The novel tells the story of an unpopular high-school girl, who is whisked away by her mysterious father to a school for superheroes, where she discovers her talents, the trade paper reported. Writers are being sought for the adaptation.
Lethcoe, who has worked as an animator at Disney and Warner Brothers, first published Zoom's Academy in 2001 through Astonish Comics, the trade paper reported.
Briefly Noted
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E! Online's 'Nuff Said column reported a rumor that Ashton Kutcher is the only candidate to put on the cape and cowl in a proposed fifth Batman movie.
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USA Today managed to obtain a copy of the much-anticipated Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and has posted its review of the fifth book in the best-selling series, which went on sale at midnight June 20.
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The Comingsoon.net Web site posted an image of Hugh Jackman as the title character of the upcoming monster movie Van Helsing, which is slated for release in 2004.
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Genevieve O'Reilly has been cast as Mon Mothma in Star Wars: Episode III, the official Web site reported. An older version of Mothma, played by Caroline Blakiston, appeared in Return of the Jedi as the leader of the rebel alliance.
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DreamWorks has already staked out June 18, 2004, as the release date for its upcoming computer-animated sequel film Shrek 2.
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Former X-Files star David Duchovny will make his feature writing/directing debut with House of D, which is described as a movie fable about New York and friendship, TV Guide Online reported. Duchovny's former co-star, Gillian Anderson, meanwhile, will star in My Scorpion Soul, a thriller film with Peter O' Toole.
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Rob Schneider is the latest name to join the cast of Around the World in 80 Days, starring Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Jim Broadbent for director Frank Coraci, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film, currently in production, previously lined up cameos from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathy Bates, Johnny Knoxville, Cecile de France and others.
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Atari announced that its latest Dragon Ball Z-inspired role-playing game, Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II for the GameBoy Advance, is now available in stores in North America, the GameSpot Web site reported.
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Bruce Campbell told fans on his official Web site that he won't play Lizard in the upcoming Spider-Man movie sequel. "I play the 'Snooty Usher,' another pivotal role, where I deny Tobey Maguire [Peter Parker] access to see Kirsten Dunst [Mary Jane] in her first big play," Campbell said.
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Minnie Driver has been set to co-star in The Phantom of the Opera, Joel Schumacher's upcoming film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Variety reported. Driver will play Carlotta, the reigning opera house diva, who becomes infuriated when a young rival (Emmy Rossum) upstages her.
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Because of a dispute over an elaborate in-lobby marketing effort, Paramount Pictures will not book its upcoming movie Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in 47 of Regal Entertainment Group's theater complexes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film opens July 25.
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American Idol champ Ruben Studdard will make a cameo appearance in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, currently shooting in Vancouver, B.C., Warner Brothers told SCI FI Wire.
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British actress Kate Beckinsale (the upcoming Underworld and Van Helsing) has become engaged to marry Underworld director Len Wiseman, her spokeswoman told Access Hollywood. Beckinsale has a 4-year-old daughter, Lily, with her former boyfriend, actor Michael Sheen, who also appears in Underworld.
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John Malkovich has signed to star in the comedy Color Me Kubrick, the true story of a man who conned his way into London's high life by pretending to be reclusive 2001: A Space Odyssey director Stanley Kubrick, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The script was written by the late director's longtime personal assistant, Anthony Frewin.
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Eve, Gina Gershon, Michael Clarke Duncan, Keith Carradine and Rob Zombie have been set as guest voices on MTV's upcoming animated Spider-Man series, Variety reported. The show premieres July 11 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
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Famke Janssen (X2) will be honored as international star of the year at Cinema Expo 2003 in her native Netherlands, Variety reported. The awards ceremony will take place June 26 in Amsterdam.
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Producer Mimi Polk Gitlin has signed a deal with Joshua Stern to write Paper Dragon, a fantasy film about a boy and his ancient Chinese warrior friend, Variety reported.
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Former James Bond star Roger Moore received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II over the weekend, TV Guide Online reported. The 75-year-old actor was cited for his work for children's charity UNICEF.
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