Carpenter Speaks About Angel
harisma Carpenter, who won't be returning as a regular cast member on The WB's Angel, spoke for the first time about her abrupt departure in an interview with the Boston Herald and said she was as shocked as anyone.
"I was not prepared," Carpenter told the newspaper. "I don't think you're ever prepared for that kind of situation."
Carpenter played the acid-tongued Cordelia Chase for three years on Buffy the Vampire Slayer before moving over to The WB's spinoff series. "Seven years, that's a long time," she said. "I started that show. To not be finishing it is a pretty big deal for me. They went back to work on July 24. ... On that day I thought, 'Oh, today is
officially my first day of unemployment.'"
Last spring, Carpenter returned to Angel just 10 days after giving birth to her son, Donovan, and spent two long days on the set, wrapping up the season, the newspaper reported. She said she is absolutely willing to return to the series to provide closure to her character's story arc and bring Cordy out of the coma in which she remained during last season's finale. "I think it would be incomplete if it wasn't addressed but I don't know what's being planned," she said. "I haven't heard anything. As we speak today, there are no plans for me to come back."
Rings Films Re-Released
ew Line Cinema will re-release the first two Lord of the Rings movies, with additional scenes and footage, two weeks before the Dec. 17 premiere of the third installment, The Return of the King, Variety reported.
New Line plans to put the film on 100-150 screens in the top 10 U.S. markets, the trade paper reported.
Other U.S. cities will have one cinema participating in the special extended-edition screenings, the trade paper reported. Advanced ticket sales are scheduled to begin in late September or early October on exhibitor Web sites and movie ticketing sites like Fandango, MovieFone and Movietickets.com.
Starting the week of Dec. 5, the extended DVD cut of Fellowship of the Ring will be released in some 100 or so theaters in the U.S. and in 20 theaters in Canada, the trade paper reported. The week of Dec. 12, the sequel Two Towers will screen, leading up to a worldwide Dec. 16 daylong marathon during which all three films will be shown back to back, the trade paper reported.
Alias' Other Woman Talks
ustralian actress Melissa George—who takes on the new role of Vaughn's (Michael Vartan) mysterious wife in ABC's Alias—told TV Guide Online that she'll first appear in the second episode of the upcoming third season.
"She will be working in the intelligence community, [but] I'm not saying which part," George told the site. "I'm not going to make her unlovable."
George was hired to play Lauren Reed, a Brit who married Vaughn sometime during Sydney's (Jennifer Garner) two-year absence. "Every woman can relate to being married to somebody [with] another woman [in the picture], and that's basically what is going to be going on," George said. "And she's a very ambitious, very strong, very intelligent woman. She's not going to let too much go past her. And she's very protective of her man, as every woman would be. But at the same time, she really looks up to Jennifer's character. She knows about her. She's read about her. So there's that whole thing going on as well. I think she's going to be fighting a lot of emotions."
As originally conceived, Reed was supposed to be a recurring character. But after George read for the part with Vartan, series creator J.J. Abrams turned it into a regular role, George said. "J.J. Abrams called me directly and asked me if I'd like to be on the show permanently ... long-term," she said. "And I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?' It was a very beautiful moment. I was so happy. It's the best show." Alias returns to its regular Sunday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot on Sept. 28.
HBO Hawks Carnivale
BO will mount a "distinctive" marketing campaign for its upcoming supernatural series Carnivale, which premieres Sept. 14, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The drama, set in the 1930s, deals with a traveling carnival in rural Oklahoma and differs from the network's usual contemporary shows, such as Sex and the City and The Wire, the trade paper reported.
"Our marketing plan for Carnivale is distinctive from any other of our series' marketing plans," HBO vice president for advertising Courteney Monroe told the trade paper. "The reason is that it's a very different type of show."
Carnivale weaves a tapestry of stories that fuse science fiction, history and religion, the paper reported. The series also is propelled by two seemingly disparate story lines that never intertwine throughout the first season, a narrative structure that could puzzle viewers.
As part of its campaign, HBO is offering a sneak peek in a CD-ROM with a 2-1/2-minute trailer that is being inserted into the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly for about 500,000 subscribers in major markets, the trade paper reported. The network is also quadrupling its typical off-channel buy of TV commercials for Carnivale, the trade paper reported. The first of four weeks of commercials kicked off during the first week of August with 30-second teaser clips. Another batch that explain Carnivale will hit airwaves in the two weeks leading up to the premiere, followed by another week of spots after the premiere.
Depp Eyes Wonka Role
ohnny Depp met with director Tim Burton about starring in Burton's upcoming Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and is poised to sign up for the role of Willy Wonka, Variety reported.
If Depp joins the cast, it will mark his fourth collaboration with Burton, after starring in the director's Sleepy Hollow, Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood.
Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) was offered the role in the Warner Brothers adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic book, and negotiations are expected to begin shortly, the trade paper reported. Plan B partners Brad Grey, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are producing, as is Michael Siegel, who manages the interests of the Dahl estate, the trade paper reported. Dahl adapted his novel for the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but reportedly wasn't thrilled with the result.
A script for the film is still being readied. Scott Frank wrote a draft, followed by Gwyn Lurie, and Warner has hired Pamela Pettler to write the latest version, the trade paper reported. Pettler wrote The Corpse Bride—the Mike Johnson-directed stop-motion animation film about a man who inadvertently marries a corpse—which Burton is producing.
Oscar Splits Matrix Films
he Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has ruled that The Matrix Reloaded and the upcoming Matrix Revolutions may not be entered into Oscar competition as one contender, the Zap2it Web site reported.
Both of the Matrix sequels are distributed by Warner Brothers, and now executives are trying to decide which one of the Keanu Reeves movies they will enter in the race for the Academy Awards in February 2004, the site reported.
Warner is reportedly considering withholding The Matrix: Reloaded from consideration so that Academy voters can focus on Revolutions. Revolutions, the last installment in the saga, opens Nov. 5.
Big Matrix Battle Promised
he Matrix Revolutions star Keanu Reeves (Neo) told the Australian Herald Sun newspaper that the upcoming third movie will feature "a battle between Zion and the machines, and the relationship between Agent Smith [Hugo Weaving] and Neo is resolved," according to a report on the Dark Horizons Web site.
"[Also] some questions of the journey of Neo as the One are answered, and lots of surprises."
The Matrix Revolutions will contain a 17-minute battle conducted on the scorched earth of the nuclear-ravaged real world, littered with crumbling cathedrals and leading Neo to his true destiny, the newspaper reported.
Co-star Jada Pinkett-Smith (Niobe), meanwhile, said that she's "more involved in the story. I help save the day, and you see my love story with Laurence [Fishburne (Morpheus)] resolved. [But] I don't think anybody gets married." The Matrix Revolutions opens Nov. 5.
Stone Up For Catwoman
arner Brothers has offered Sharon Stone a starring role in its upcoming Catwoman movie, as the female villain opposite lead Halle Berry, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Stone is expected to sign on to the film, which is being directed by French helmer Pitof, with Village Roadshow Pictures and Di Novi Pictures producing, the trade paper reported.
Stone would play Laurel, who is both the public face of a cosmetics company and the brains behind an evil operation she runs with her husband, the trade paper reported. Catwoman also has its eye on Josh Lucas for the role of Detective Lone, Catwoman's love interest. Oscar winner Berry is playing the title character, which is based on the DC Comics franchise.
Reynolds Eyed For Blade III
yan Reynolds is in talks to join Wesley Snipes in Blade: Trinity, the David Goyer-directed New Line drama and the newest installment in the vampire-hunter franchise, Variety reported.
Reynolds will play Hannibal, a vampire hunter, who teams up with a female vampire hunter. Ashley Scott (The WB's canceled Birds of Prey) is being eyed for the role, the trade paper reported.
The pairing could lead to a spinoff film, Variety reported. Blade: Trinity is being produced by Lynn Harris, Peter Frankfurt, Wesley Snipes and Goyer, who also wrote the script.
Weisz Mulls Constantine
achel Weisz (The Mummy) is in talks to star opposite Keanu Reeves in Warner Brothers' upcoming Constantine, a movie based on the DC/Vertigo comic series Hellblazer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio confirmed Weisz' interest to the trade paper. Weisz and Reeves previously shared the screen together in 1996's Chain Reaction.
Francis Lawrence is directing Constantine, described as Dirty Harry set in the occult world. Reeves will star as John Constantine, a man who dabbles in the occult and teams with a female police officer to fight evil forces, the trade paper reported. Weisz would play Angela, an officer who becomes involved with Constantine when her twin sister dies in a mysterious suicide.
Kevin Brodbin (The Glimmer Man) wrote the original script, with a rewrite by Mark Bomback and Frank Cappello, the trade paper reported. Lauren Shuler Donner is producing with former worldwide production president Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Akiva Goldsman.
League Eschews Venice
ox has decided to pull Stephen Norrington's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, starring Sean Connery, from the Venice International Film Festival, where it occupied an out-of-competition berth, Variety reported.
League premiered last week in Prague, where it was shot, but the comic-book adaptation was supposed to get a bigger launch from Venice, the setting of much of its action.
But "after giving it much thought, we decided to skip Venice," a spokesman for Fox Italia in Rome told Variety. League, based on the comic series by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, performed poorly at the box office after opening in North America on July 11.
JLA Season 3 In Works?
he Comics Continuum Web site reported a rumor that work is under way on a third season of Cartoon Network's Justice League animated series, though the second season has yet to begin.
The network has not officially announced a third season, the site reported.
Anonymous sources told the Continuum that either a theatrical or a straight-to-video Justice League movie will likely happen. The upcoming Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman movie drew a positive reception at Comic-Con International in San Diego recently. The second season of Justice League launches on Oct. 4.
Cleese Fine-Tuned Shrek 2
ohn Cleese, who voices Princess Fiona's father in the upcoming computer-animated sequel film Shrek 2, told SCI FI Wire that he has been fine-tuning the royal character over the course of four recording sessions.
"It's actually in the course of recording the lines that you slowly begin to see that this inflection or this way of doing it seems to work and that inflection or that way of doing it doesn't," Cleese said in an interview. "That's what I feel I'm doing when I'm recording. I'm slowly filing it down. I'm getting a better sense of what works for this character, this style of script."
Cleese, who plays the king of Fiona's hometown of Far Far Away, added that he first listened to the filmmakers' ideas, because he felt they had been with the character longer than he had. "You're in the room with people who at that point have probably been thinking about the movie for six months, and you have very little idea indeed," he said. "So most of the first couple of sessions are trying to find out what's in their minds."
Though he's open to improvising, Cleese said he has so far only made up four lines in his entire work on the project. Shrek 2, which picks up the story of the green ogre (Mike Myers), Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and Donkey (Eddie Murphy), opens June 18, 2004.
Episode III Spoilers Hinted
ick McCallum, producer of Star Wars: Episode III, told fans in a chat on the official Star Wars Hyperspace Web site that the movie has shot about 80 pages of the 129-page script so far, and that they are two days ahead of schedule.
"Everything is going well, and every day is a challenge to get through, especially the underwater work we're doing now," McCallum said in the chat. "I've just left the stage where we have an underwater tank, where we're shooting Obi-Wan [Ewan McGregor] fighting with droids."
McCallum also let slip a few spoilery tidbits about the upcoming prequel. Among them:
•"We've shot three major lightsaber battles."
•The film will include a scene in which Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) receives the name Darth Vader, and it reveals why.
•David Prowse, who played the dark lord in the original trilogy of movies, will "absolutely not" play Darth Vader in Episode III.
•The movie will show an infant Luke and Leia Skywalker "less than a month old."
McCallum added that the prequel will have "the same emotional depth as [Empire Strikes Back], and yet, because there are so many new planets, it is visually one of the most ambitious films we've done.
On the surface, the film ends on a sad note (and for me, a personally gloomy one, because I'll be out of a job), but of course, we know where the story goes from there. Anakin is the Chosen One, after all."
USA Orders More Dead
SA Network announced that it is renewing its supernatural series The Dead Zone for a third season, with an order of 13 new episodes.
The show also adds a new executive producer, Karl Schaefer (Strange Luck). The series is set to resume production this fall.
The Dead Zone premiere remains the highest-rated and most-watched original dramatic series debut in the history of basic cable, the network announced.
Based on characters from the Stephen King novel, The Dead Zone was created for television by writer/executive producer Michael Piller (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and his son, supervising producer Shawn Piller.
The series will bring back stars Anthony Michael Hall (Johnny Smith), Nicole deBoer (Sarah Bannerman), Chris Bruno (Walt Bannerman), John L. Adams (Bruce Lewis), Kristen Dalton (Dana Bright) and David Ogden Stiers (the Rev. Gene Purdy). The show will also bring back recurring guest stars Sean Patrick Flanery (Greg Stillson) and Frank Whaley.
USA Network is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Seitz Reincarnating Proud
aramount Pictures has tapped Hillary Seitz (I, Robot) to write a remake of The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, Variety reported.
Producer Scott Rudin optioned the remake rights to the 1975 supernatural film, which starred Michael Sarrazin as a college professor who experiences flashbacks from a previous life. The film also starred Jennifer O'Neill and Margot Kidder, the trade paper reported.
Director David Fincher (Panic Room) was in talks last year to helm the remake, which is being produced by Rudin along with Daniel Ostroff, Alison Rosenzweig and Tracie Graham, the trade paper reported.
Phenomenon II To Air
BC will air Phenomenon II, an original TV movie sequel to John Travolta's hit 1996 theatrical film, on Nov. 1, the Zap2it Web site reported.
ABC will air the movie as a Wonderful World of Disney presentation, the site reported.
Phenomenon II—from the original film's writer, Gerald DiPego—stars Christopher Shyer in Travolta's role of George Malley, an ordinary man given extraordinary powers by a strange light in the sky. The sequel ignores the fact that Malley died at the end of the first film, the site reported. Instead, Malley moves to San Francisco, begins a new life and realizes he may not be the only person with strange and unexplainable abilities.
The cast features Jill Clayburgh, Terry O'Quinn, Peter Coyote, Gina Tognoni, Stoney Westmoreland and Helmar Augustus Cooper. Ken Olin (Alias) directs.
Scott Bites Into Perfect
ougray Scott will play the lead and Saffron Burrows is in talks to take the co-lead in Perfect Creature, a vampire movie due to roll soon in New Zealand, Variety reported.
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Bend It Like Beckham) is in talks to play the villain in the film, from Kiwi writer-director Glenn Standring, the trade paper reported.
Tim Sanders (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), Russel Fischer and Haneet Vaswani of Roc Media (Beckham) will produce, the trade paper reported.
Perfect Creature is slated to shoot in Dunedin, with Animation Research handling the computer effects.
UPN Boots Up Jake 2.0
PN has released a synopsis of the pilot of its upcoming SF action series Jake 2.0, entitled "The Tech," which premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Sept. 10.
The show stars Christopher Gorham (Odyssey 5) as National Security Agency computer technician Jake Foley, who is caught in the crossfire of a lab takeover and is accidentally injected with nanites, which give him superhuman powers, the network said.
As Foley's powers emerge, he is tapped to be the NSA’s mightiest top-secret, crime-fighting weapon. He must use his wits and newfound but untried abilities to save his longtime crush, Sarah Heywood (Marina Black), from IRA kidnappers who want the experimental nanites bonded to Jake's system, UPN said. The pilot also features Philip Anthony-Rodriquez (Kyle Duarte), Judith Scott (Louise Beckett) and Keegan Connor Tracy (Diane Hughes).
Rob Lieberman (The Dead Zone) directed the episode from a script written by Silvio Horta. David Greenwalt (Angel) is executive producer. Jake 2.0 will air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, right after Enterprise.
SF Papers Solicited
he science fiction literature division of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is soliciting proposals for papers to be presented at the 2004 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., March 24-28, 2004, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site reported.
Papers on all aspects of science fiction literature, history and theory are welcome.
Proposals for individual papers or proposals for paper sessions (consisting of a brief description of session focus plus proposals for three to four individual papers on a common author, theme, period or critical approach) are both welcome, the site reported.
Proposals must include a 500-word abstract and appropriate bibliography indicating the project's scholarly or theoretical context. Postmark deadline is Oct. 15. Send proposals to: Robin Anne Reid, P.O. Box 353, Commerce, TX 75429.
Liu Joins Game Over
ucy Liu (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle) is joining the cast of Game Over, UPN's midseason computer-animated comedy series, the network announced.
The Carsey-Werner-Mandabach show features Liu as the voice of Raquel, the secret-agent wife and mother of the Smashenburn family, who live in an alternate video-game universe.
David Sacks, David Goestch, Jason Venokur and Ross Venokur write and executive produce the upcoming series. Liu joins a cast that includes Patrick Warburton as Rip, the head of the family and a hotshot Grand Prix racecar driver; E.G. Daily as Billy, a 13-year-old wannabe hip-hopper who argues with his 14-year-old sister, Alice (Rachel Dratch).
Artie Lange voices the familiy pet, Turbo, a 300-pound talking creature. The next-door neighbors are the Changs, a family of kung-fu-fighting Shaolin monks, including the Dark Princess and her husband, Sam (played by Marie Matiko and June Sie).
Magic Site Goes Beta
izards of the Coast has suspended all game queues and tournaments on its Magic: The Gathering Online 2.0 Web site and has set up free beta servers while it fixes problems that have been crashing the site, the GameSpot Web site reported.
The beta servers were set to go live on Aug. 21 and will remain up from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. PT on business days.
Cards, avatars and ratings changes on the beta server will not be transferred to the live server, but Wizards is urging players to continue as normal so that they can identify and address any new problems, the site reported.
Based on the Magic: The Gathering collectible-card strategy game, Magic: The Gathering Online 2.0 is a completely revised version of the original online game, which was released in 2002.
Chan's Time Breaker Delayed
ackie Chan, who will star in the Hong Kong-produced fantasy film Time Breaker, told SCI FI Wire that production will be delayed from the intended summer start in order to rewrite the script.
"When I looked at the script, there were a lot of special effects," Chan said in an interview. "After The Medallion [which has many computer effects], I'm not sure anymore, so now we change the script."
In Time Breaker (formerly Titanium Rain) Chan will play an Imperial Guard from the Ming Dynasty who pursues a samurai for 400 years. Now that he is committed to Rush Hour 3, Shanghai Dawn, an untitled drama and New Police Story, Chan may find it difficult to squeeze Time Breaker in. "It might not happen until next year," he said. Time Breaker will be directed by Stanley Tong.
Blaine To Dangle In U.K.
he United Kingdom's Sky One and Channel 4 have signed up for magician David Blaine's latest project: six weeks' residence in a Plexiglas box suspended over the River Thames, Variety reported.
With London's Tower Bridge in the background, David Blaine: Above the Below will show for 44 days, starting Sept. 5.
Sky One will stream the complete 44-day experience on one of its Sky Active digital interactive channels, as well as regular broadcast transmissions, the trade paper reported. Sky's cameras will capture the entire event, which is a Sky/C4 co-production. Filmmaker Harmony Korine will direct the program and create a narrative stream of the event, slated to finish on Oct. 20 at 9 p.m. GMT, the trade paper reported.
Truth Casting Rumors Fly
he IGN FilmForce Web site reported a rumor that Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro has been offered a key role in the upcoming movie Truth, Justice & the American Way, about the death of TV Superman George Reeves.
The Focus Features film is being directed by Allen Coulter (The Sopranos), from a screenplay by Paul Bernbaum, and filming is expected to begin later this year, the site reported.
If he accepts, Del Toro would play the second male lead of Lamar Moglio, the fictionalized detective hired by Reeves' mother to investigate the actor's curious suicide, the site reported.
Meanwhile, FilmForce reported a companion rumor that fellow Oscar winner Ben Affleck may no longer be in the running to star as Reeves.
SCI FI Recalls Arnold Films
he SCI FI Channel will postpone three previously scheduled Arnold Schwarzenegger movies until after the Oct. 7 California gubernatorial recall election—and, in a bit of tongue-in-cheek programming, will replace them with California disaster movies.
The muscly Austrian actor is running to replace Gov. Gray Davis. "Although not obligated under federal rules to give equal time to political candidates, SCI FI Channel has made a decision to re-schedule all Arnold Schwarzenegger movies until after the California ballot on Oct. 7," the network announced.
In their place on Aug. 24, SCI FI ran the following California-themed movies: Volcano: Fire on the Mountain, at 5 p.m. ET/PT; Inferno, at 7 p.m.; and Ice, at 9 p.m.
Trek Actress Loses Suit
federal appeals court rejected a lawsuit by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actress Chase Masterson (Leeta) against the dating service Matchmaker.com, ruling that a fake Internet profile posted with the star's image was not the company's fault, the Associated Press reported.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the personal profile information published on Matchmaker's service is solely up to the user's discretion and the company is immune from the lawsuit, the AP reported.
Masterson, whose real name is Christianne Carafano, sued Matchmaker after learning that an online profile using her photos had been created in 1999, the wire service reported. The profile included her home address, phone number and text stating she sought a dominant man with "a strong sexual appetite." Masterson received calls and e-mails from would-be suitors, who believed the actress was looking for a date online. She said she felt unsafe in her home and moved to hotels in Los Angeles for months with her son, the AP reported.
Kids WB Unveils Slate
he Kids' WB announced its fall schedule, bringing back several shows, Variety reported.
The Saturday morning block will kick off Sept. 13 with new episodes of Yu-gi-oh at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., Pokemon: Advanced at 10 a.m., followed by Mucha Lucha, the trade paper reported.
New episodes of Ozzie & Drix will air starting Aug. 23 at 9:30 a.m. The rest of the schedule includes What's New Scooby-Doo and Jackie Chan Adventures, which will make up the weekday 3-5 p.m. afterschool block alongside Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh, the trade paper reported.
A new series, Xiaolin Showdown, will bow in November. Teen Titans, Astro Boy and the returning Static Shock will join the schedule later in the season, the trade paper reported.
Briefly Noted
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UPN has posted a new
teaser trailer for the upcoming season premiere of Enterprise, "Xindi," featuring glimpses of the alien Xindi Council and the new Military Assault Command Operations soldiers. "Xindi" airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Sept. 10.
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USA Today has published a lengthy story about the making of the third Lord of the Rings film, The Return of the King, which opens Dec. 17.
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Judy Greer has joined the ensemble cast of M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming fantasy thriller film The Woods, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Production begins in Philadelphia in October.
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Bollywood's first SF film, Koi Mil Gaya (Found Someone), starring Hrithik Roshan, has taken $3.2 million in India, the United States and the United Kingdom in its first week, Variety reported.
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The ComingSoon.net Web site has posted the teaser trailer for the upcoming third Matrix film, The Matrix Revolutions, which opens Nov. 5.
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The LDJW Films Web site reported a rumor that Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) will play the leading female role in the upcoming fourth Jurassic Park film, though the film is still in development.
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Alien director Ridley Scott will receive the Film Excellence Award at this year's Boston Film Festival, Sept. 5-14, Variety reported.
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New York-based City Lights Pictures will co-produce writer Jeffrey Reddick's (Final Destination) supernatural thriller film Tamara, about an unpopular teen who comes back from the dead as a vixen hell-bent on revenge, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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New character teaser posters and desktops have gone up for the upcoming third Lord of the Rings film, The Return of the King, which opens Dec. 17.
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The preliminary schedule has gone live for Torcon 3, the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, Aug. 28-Sept. 1, in Toronto.
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A Fox spokesman denied to TV Guide Online rumors that its new fall drama Tru Calling, starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Eliza Dushku, is being delayed to midseason. "[The rumors] are untrue," the spokesman said.
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NBC has ordered up two episodes of T.H.E.M., which stands for Totally Hidden Extreme Magicians, a reality series featuring a troupe of conjurers who confound unwitting bystanders with illusions, according to The Hollywood Reporter. After sampling the half-hour pilot in May, NBC's alternative programming department ordered a second episode with an eye toward giving it a test run sometime during the fall season.
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Spike TV has green-lighted a series compiled from cartoon shorts showcased at the Spike & Mike Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation, a traveling underground tour, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Six episodes of the series will begin airing in late fall as part of the Strip, the Spike TV block that features animated series such as Stripperella.
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Karl Urban, who reprises the role of Eomer in the upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, talks about the sequel film on the official Rings Web site. Return of the King opens Dec. 17.
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Will Ferrell, star of upcoming New Line fantasy comedy Elf, will be honored as comedy star of the year at ShowEast 2003, Variety reported. ShowEast is slated for Sept. 29-Oct. 2 in Orlando, Fla.
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Producer Gale Anne Hurd (Hulk) and her Valhalla Television company have signed an exclusive TV development deal with Viacom Productions, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Valhalla's first project, with the working title Corporate Spy, will be written by Erica Beeney.
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Warner Home Video will release a two-disc DVD edition of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on Nov. 11, with commentary by star Arnold Schwarzenegger, Variety reported. The DVD, priced at $19.95, will also include commentary by director Jonathan Mostow, new footage, an on-set gag reel, four visual-effects labs, the HBO First Look featurette, a SkyNet personnel/weapons database, storyboards and a costume/production design gallery.
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DreamWorks has moved up the date of its computer-animated mafia fish movie Sharkslayer to Oct. 1, 2004, from Nov. 5 of that year, the weekend that Disney and Pixar will premiere its next animated feature film, The Incredibles, Variety reported. DreamWorks is also changing the title of the film in the next week or so to eliminate the term "slayer," which is considered too harsh, given the film's comedic elements.
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