Bale Is Batman
hristian Bale (Equilibrium) has been cast in the starring role of Bruce Wayne in Warner Brothers' upcoming new Batman movie, to be directed by Christopher Nolan and produced by Emma Thomas, the studio announced on Sept. 11.
Jeff Robinov, president of production for Warner Brothers Pictures, made the surprising announcement in a press release.
Principal photography on the film is expected to begin in early 2004. The movie is written by David Goyer (Blade) and Nolan (Insomnia) and will follow the early career of The Dark Knight, the studio said.
"What I see in Christian is the ultimate embodiment of Bruce Wayne," Nolan said in a statement. "He has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for."
Bale has starred in Reign of Fire, Little Women, Portrait of a Lady, Metroland, American Psycho and Laurel Canyon.
News of Bale's casting comes in the wake of reports that the studio had recently held a "bake-off" of virtually all eligible young actors in Hollywood for the coveted role. British-born Bale joins Michael Keaton, George Clooney and Val Kilmer as the latest actor to put on the cowl and cape. The upcoming Batman film will be the fifth in franchise.
Alias' Sark Cuts It Short
avid Anders, who plays the enigmatic Mr. Sark on ABC's Alias, told SCI FI Wire that his character will be operating independently of his former boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), in the show's upcoming third season.
"They've kind of had a rift," Anders said in an interview at the ABC Prime Time Preview Weekend at Disney's California Adventure theme park. "I mean, Sark's been in prison for two years, and Sloane's turned over a new leaf. So he's kind of becoming his own man."
As part of his character's new direction, Anders now sports an ex-con-chic buzz cut and said that he's already hearing negative comments from fans about his new look. "It's a whole new Sark," he said. "I've heard that some female fans have expressed a disinterest in my hair, but I dig it. It was [creator J.J. Abrams'] brainchild."
Co-star Greg Grunberg, who plays Agent Weiss on the show, chimed in to comment on Abrams' previous bad luck with haircuts (ratings fell sharply on Abrams' previous show, Felicity, when star Keri Russell cut off her famous curly locks). "I love it," Grunberg said. "[But] J.J. has a history of cutting hair and losing ratings. So hopefully this won't happen." Alias returns with new episodes on Sept. 28 in its regular Sunday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.
Weiss Sees More Alias Action
reg Grunberg, who plays CIA agent Eric Weiss on ABC's Alias, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming third season will find his character living with Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow, who is still recovering from the shock of missing two years of her life.
"I'm going to be roommating with Sydney, which is great," he said in an interview at the ABC Prime Time Preview Weekend at Disney's California Adventure theme park. "The CIA wants someone to keep an eye on her, because she's emotionally unstable."
The new living situation will put Grunberg's character frequently between Sydney and her now-married ex-boyfriend, Agent Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan). "I'm like everybody's confidant," Grunberg said. "I am in the middle, and that's a good place to be. Even Marshall [Kevin Weisman] was talking to me about his relationship with this girl he was interested in. I'm the shoulder to cry on. Everybody comes and talks to me. ... I am the show's Dr. Phil."
Grunberg—a lifelong friend of the show's creator, J.J. Abrams—added that his character will also see more action this season. "They're giving me a lot," he said. "I get to go on missions and stuff. I'm going to be basically the same, but more involved in the action stuff and getting out of the office." Alias returns with new episodes on Sept. 28 in its regular Sunday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.
Alias Gadget Guy Gets Lucky
evin Weisman, who plays techno geek Marshall Flinkman on ABC's Alias, told SCI FI Wire that his character will have more personal storylines in the upcoming third season.
"[Show creator J.J. Abrams] is always looking for ways to evolve, not only the show, but the characters," he said in an interview at the ABC Prime Time Preview Weekend at Disney's California Adventure theme park. "He always promised, 'You will be integral to the technical end of the show in terms of the missions and the gadgets and stuff, but once we've really had an opportunity to explore emotionally most of the characters on the show, we will get to you. And hopefully the show will still be on the air at that point.' And luckily it is."
At the end of last season, Marshall had taken an interest in fellow FBI Agent Carrie Bowman, played by guest star Amanda Foreman (best known for her role as Megan on Felicity, another Abrams creation). Weisman hints that their relationship has progressed in the two years since Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow went missing. "Finally, they're really starting to write some personal elements," he said. "There's a love interest, Amanda Foreman, who plays Carrie. She's coming back, and that relationship has sort of evolved." Alias returns Sep. 28 in its regular Sunday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.
Alias Stars To Spar
lias stars Michael Vartan and Jennifer Garner revealed to SCI FI Wire details of an onscreen fight they have early in the upcoming third season on ABC.
"It wasn't really a fight," Vartan said during a press conference at a prime-time preview at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. "Well, all right, there was a fight scene. But I was blindsided. I just want to say that she took me completely by surprise and kicked my ... can I say ass? And she stabs me too."
"Hey now!" Garner blurted, warning Vartan off a possible spoiler for the season.
Vartan's CIA agent Vaughn and Garner's Sydney Bristow return to ABC to pick up a cliffhanger from last season, when it was revealed that Sydney awoke in Hong Kong with the realization that two years have passed since her last memory. The fight scene between Vaughn and Sydney occurs in an early third-season episode.
"We already shot the scene," Garner told SCI FI Wire. "It was, as you can imagine, incredibly intense. And I did give him an actual pretty good wallop to the stomach, which I felt a bit guilty about later."
"Don't forget the elbow to the temple," Vartan said.
"And an elbow to the temple," Garner admitted sheepishly. "But, you know, we're all OK. We're smiling. We're here."
But Garner quickly clammed up when a reporter raised the issue of Vartan's and Garner's highly publicized off-screen romance. When asked "Do you kick his ass at home as well?" Garner replied tersely, "Next question." Alias returns Sept. 28 in its regular Sunday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.
Underworld Makers Sued
orror novelist Nancy A. Collins and the publishers of the Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse video games are suing the makers of the upcoming vampire-werewolf movie Underworld for copyright infringement, Cinescape Online reported.
Game company White Wolf Publishing and Collins (the short story "Love of Monsters") filed suit against Sony Pictures, Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment on Sept. 5 in the District Court of Atlanta, the site reported.
The game company claimed that there are more than 60 similarities between its two role-playing games and the film's storyline, the site reported.
Collins, meanwhile, charged that the premise of Underworld borrows heavily from "Love of Monsters," the site reported. "Apparently they are marketing this as a remake of Romeo and Juliet," Collins in a statement released by White Wolf. "What I think they really mean is that it's an on-screen adaptation of my story."
Sony Pictures, Screen Gems and Lakeshore had not responded to the lawsuit by the weekend. Underworld opens Sept. 19.
Underworld Star Got Physical
cott Speedman, who stars in the upcoming vampire-vs.-werewolf movie Underworld, told SCI FI Wire that he had to get physical for his active role—something the former Felicity star wasn't used to.
Prior to Underworld, the most demanding thing that Speedman had done on film was throw a punch, and the film's grueling stunts and fight scenes both exhilarated and terrified him, he said in an interview.
"I was terrified, because for this type of movie, it's not a big budget," Speedman said of the $20 million movie, which was shot in Budapest, Hungary. Speedman plays a human caught in the middle of an ancient war between the bloodsuckers and the lycanthropes.
In particular, Speedman said that he worried about a climactic fight scene with 65-year-old actor Bill Nighy, who plays an old and powerful vampire named Viktor. "The factory it was shot in was closed down, because the roof had caved in," Speedman said. "We had three days to choreograph it, and it wasn't like these lavish movies where you have months to get ready. I had never been in a fight in my life and was just trying to make it work."
But Speedman said that he had a ball working with co-star Kate Beckinsale. "It made it legitimate for me," he said. "She's a good actor, and she chooses well. That was the hook for me. Working with her is very, very good. We had a laugh."
Speedman's not signed for a possible sequel, but said that he'd be interested if the script were right. Underworld opens Sept. 19.
SCI FI Enters Underworld
ate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman, stars of the upcoming film Underworld, will answer questions from fans submitted via SCIFI.COM in a
SCI FI Inside special airing on the SCI FI Channel at 9 p.m. ET/PT Sept. 18.
The actors will be joined by Underworld director Len Wiseman in the special, which will also present never-before-seen footage from the movie.
Underworld reimagines vampires as a secretive clan of modern, aristocratic sophisticates whose mortal enemies are the Lycans (werewolves), a gang of street thugs who prowl the city’s underbelly.
SCI FI Inside: Underworld will air throughout the broadcast of John Carpenter’s 1998 vampire-slaying classic Vampires. The special will also premiere an exclusive preview from the new film, which opens Sept. 19.
Wiseman Stretched Underworld
en Wiseman, director of the upcoming vampire movie Underworld, told SCI FI Wire that years of experience with music videos came in handy when trying to stretch the budget of his feature-film debut.
Wiseman said that he strove for the look of a $60 million movie on a budget a third of that while shooting on location in Budapest, Hungary.
"I kind of [built] my career off of the word-of-mouth that said, 'Oh, this is the guy. You could give him $100,000 and make it look like $600,000,'" Wiseman said in an interview.
Underworld stars Kate Beckinsale as a gun-toting vampire on the front lines of a centuries-old war against a race of werewolves. The movie combines Matrix-style stunts with the popular mythology of vampires and werewolves. "I was out to make a living, breathing graphic novel," Wiseman said. "I wanted the audience to sit down and, with the exception of turning the pages themselves, feel as though they were watching a comic book play out."
Wiseman also talked about his recent engagement to Beckinsale, which was revealed after the film wrapped production. "You get to know somebody over the course of working on a movie, and right upon meeting Kate, [I found] we got along immediately," he said. "We find the same things important, the same things cheesy, the same things cool. We realized we're in the same frame of mind. We ended up liking the same movies and having the same sense of humor. You spend 15 hours a day working with somebody on a movie, and after awhile you find out you're the same person."
So it's not surprising that Wiseman is thinking of helming a sequel to Underworld, not to mention an upcoming action ghost story called Black Chapter. Underworld opens Sept. 19.
Star Nearly Missed Underworld
ate Beckinsale, the British actress who stars in the upcoming vampire/werewolf movie Underworld, told SCI FI Wire that she nearly didn't read the script when it first came into her mail slot with a stack of other projects.
"I thought it would be a schlocky B-horror movie with the vampires," Beckinsale said in an interview. "I didn't fancy running around in a white nightgown screaming. But the director had sent along drawings with the script that showed my costume [a form-fitting leather catsuit]. And I thought, 'Oh, OK. That's interesting.'"
Luckily, Beckinsale, 29, read the script and fell in love with the part of Selene, the gun-toting vampire who battles an army of werewolves through the ruins of an unnamed European city (the movie was shot in Budapest, Hungary). Beckinsale added that she still dislikes vampire and werewolf movies, but that she's a sucker for action films. "I really have loved action movies, but if you get sent a good script for an action movie, you want to play the boy part," she said. "I don't want to be sitting on an airplane making calls. I want to be blowing up the elevator shaft."
In Underworld, Beckinsale gets her wish. She kicks, shoots and jumps and does many of her own stunts. "Legally, if I was allowed to do it, they'd make me do it," she said. "Which was great, because I think as an adult you rarely have to suddenly get good at something in a short time. It's quite a tricky feeling, because I'd never held a gun, and in three months' time I had to do it like I'd been using one for several hundred years." Underworld, which also stars Scott Speedman, opens Sept. 19.
WB Speeds With Flash
he WB has ordered a pilot for a TV series based on the DC Comics series The Flash, Variety reported.
Todd Komarnicki (Resistance) is writing the pilot and will executive produce the project via Warner Brothers Television and his Guy Walks Into a Bar company, the trade paper reported. The WB has attached a hefty penalty to the project if it's not picked up to series.
The Flash, which centers on a man with superhuman speed, is the Frog network's latest attempt to reimagine a comic or literary classic for prime time, following its Superman-inspired Smallville and this season's upcoming Tarzan, the trade paper reported.
As with Smallville, the new Flash will have a "no tights, no flights" philosophy, which means the character won't be clad in his classic red suit, the trade paper reported. The new show will also reportedly incorporate a time-travel element: The hero will be a fresh-out-of-college Gothamite who discovers he has the ability to move so fast, he can travel backward or forward in time.
Purcell Cast In Blade III
ominic Purcell (Fox's canceled John Doe) has signed on to play Wesley Snipes' vampire nemesis in New Line Cinema's upcoming Blade: Trinity, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Purcell is the latest addition to a cast that includes Kris Kristofferson, Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds in the third installment of the Marvel Comics-based franchise, the trade paper reported.
David Goyer wrote and is directing the sequel. In addition to TV's Doe, in which he played an amnesiac know-it-all, Purcell has appeared in Mission: Impossible II and Equilibrium, the trade paper reported.
Angel Lightens Up
avid Boreanaz, star of The WB's vampire series Angel, told the official WB Web site that the upcoming fifth season will feature more stand-alone episodes and shorter story arcs.
"It's not going to be so heavy as it was in the past," Boreanaz said. "The arcs are going to be shorter. There are going to be more stand-alone shows."
Boreanaz, sporting a small goatee, added that the show will get a little lighter this season. "You're going to see a group of characters investigate something [and] get through it," he said. "It will be more light stuff happening. A lot of dark humor going on. ... It's action. ... There's adventure. There's love. ... It's fast-paced, [with] special effects. ... It's going to be packed with quick jabs rather than long punches this year." Angel returns to its regular Wednesday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot on Oct. 1.
Indy IV To Be Real
rank Marshall, who is producing the upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie, told Empire Online that the sequel will make use of real effects, and not computer-generated ones, whenever possible.
"One of the things I enjoy about these movies is that they do recall the old cliffhanger serials of the '30s and '40s," Marshall told the site. "We didn't have computer effects in those days. We couldn’t easily erase things, and I think one of the unfortunate by-products of the computer age is that it makes filmmakers lazy. You become more creative when you have to hide ramps with a tree rather than erase it later as you can today."
"In Raiders, that's a real ball rolling behind him, so [star] Harrison [Ford] really is in some danger running in front of that," Marshall added. "These are real situations, and that adds to the excitement and the creative energy on the set."
Marshall added that the Indy IV script remains unfinished, but he said that filmmakers would strive to do things for real. "When you start getting into computers, you get fantastical situations, like in The Matrix or movies like that," he said. "We don't want that. We want exciting heroism. We want seat-of-your-pants, skin-of-your-teeth action. We didn't have all the money in the world on the first films, and we want to keep that B-movie feel. We want to make Indy IV like we made the first three."
Constantine Cast Grows
ock star Gavin Rossdale and actor Djimon Hounsou are poised to join Warner Brothers' Constantine, based on the DC/Vertigo comic series Hellblazer, for director Francis Lawrence, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz and Tilda Swinton star.
The film centers on John Constantine (Reeves), a man who dabbles in the occult and teams with a female police officer (Weisz) to fight evil forces, the trade paper reported. Rossdale will play Balthazar, a nemesis of Reeves' character; Hounsou will star as Papa Midnite, the owner of an occult club who was once a demon fighter like Constantine, but is now trying to get out of the business, the trade paper reported. Kevin Brodbin wrote the original script, with a rewrite by Mark Bomback and Frank Cappello.
Rossdale is frontman of the rock band Bush. Hounsou starred opposite Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and recently signed on to join ABC's Alias in a recurring role.
Wright Rewinds Questor Tapes
erbert Wright, executive producer of the proposed television series Gene Roddenberry's Questor, told SCI FI Wire that the show has found financing and is moving forward.
Questor will be based on The Questor Tapes, an NBC pilot that Star Trek creator Roddenberry co-wrote and produced in 1974, but that never materialized into a weekly series. "We're financed," Wright said in an interview. "We have more meetings, because we've not yet chosen what broadcaster will carry us, whether it will be network or cable. We may still go with syndication."
Questor will follow the plight of an android on a mission to help save mankind from itself. Wright said that the show will launch with a two-hour kick-off episode rather than a standard pilot. "That's what they did with Star Trek: The Next Generation," said Wright, who was a co-producer on TNG. "It's not really a pilot, because a pilot means that everyone needs to see it and see if they like the numbers before they go forward. In fact, we're thinking we'll start off each season with a two-hour show. But after the first two-hour, we're planning 24 hourlong episodes. We're doing this show on a prime-time level, with a prime-time budget, so it's obviously of high class, and it's not going to be done low-budget like some of the more recent Roddenberry projects."
Joining Wright as co-executive producers are Michael Ewing (Anger Management), producer-director Peter Segal (Nutty Professor II: The Klumps) and Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry. "Peter will direct the first two-hour [episode]," Wright said. "Peter is probably known for his comedies, but Nutty Professor II was also sci-fi. We're not going to make Questor a comedy, but we are going to have a lighter tone to this. The original pilot that Gene did also had a lot of funny moments. One of the things that Gene and I had discussed 30 years ago, and also while we were doing Next Generation, was lightening the mood with appropriate comic moments." Wright expects that Gene Roddenberry's Questor will be ready in time for the 2004-2005 television season.
Vatican Endorsing Passion?
he Drudge Report gossip Web site reported a rumor that "an influential Vatican cardinal" is about to endorse Mel Gibson's controversial Passion, a movie about the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ.
The site reported that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, would praise Passion "unconditionally" in an upcoming Italian interview.
Passion has come under fire from critics, who worry that it will fuel anti-Semitism in its depiction of Jews and their role in the crucifixion story.
Gibson Wraps Blog
yberpunk author William Gibson told fans on his official Web site that he will be discontinuing his blog to resume writing novels.
"Time for me to get back to my day job, which means that it's time for me to stop blogging," Gibson (All Tomorrow's Parties) wrote on Sept. 12.
Gibson added, "I've found blogging to be a low-impact activity, mildly narcotic and mostly quite convivial, but the thing I've most enjoyed about it is how it never fails to underline the fact that if I'm doing this, I'm definitely not writing a novel. ... The image that comes most readily to mind is that of a kettle failing to boil because the lid's been left off."
Gibson—who is widely credited with coining the term "cyberspace"—offered no hint as to what his next book would be. But he promised to return to blogging sometime in the future. "So I'm out of here, as of this installment, and wish to thank everyone who in any way furthered my 'tween-books holiday," he wrote. "It's been ludic, as the anarchist says. Perhaps I'll be back, one day, somewhere on the far side of whatever it is I'm about to start writing."
Xbox D&D Ready To Ship
tari has announced that its new Dungeons & Dragons Heroes video game will ship for the Xbox on Sept. 23, the GameSpot Web site reported.
This is the first Dungeons & Dragons game for a current-generation console platform, the site reported.
Heroes features offline four-player play in seven environments in a story-driven campaign with a choice of four classic classes: fighter, wizard, cleric and rogue, the site reported. Originally planned for the GameCube and PlayStation 2, Dungeons & Dragons is now an Xbox exclusive.
Fever Cast Fit Types
ider Strong, who co-stars in the horror film Cabin Fever, told SCI FI Wire that leading cast members were perfectly suited to their on-screen personas.
"The first week of rehearsal we didn't know anybody, and the crew wasn't there yet," he said in an interview while promoting the film. "We just bonded like crazy and had a great time and realized that we were all perfectly cast, because we were exactly like our characters."
Cabin Fever centers around five friends who come to a secluded mountain cabin for a post-graduation trip, only to have their lives threatened by a deadly flesh-eating virus. "The group dynamics ended up falling into the patterns of the movie perfectly," Strong said. "Jordan [Ladd] and I became instant best friends. [James DeBello] drove us nuts. And the other two were ready to party."
Though the film contains some gruesome scenes, Strong said that the entire cast was game for anything that director Eli Roth threw at them. "I think we knew what we were getting into based on the script," Strong said. "You read about dogs eating people, and trying to have a sexual encounter with a girl and getting blood all over your fingers. You can't read stuff like that and not know what you're getting into." Cabin Fever opened Sept. 12.
Fever Makeup Was Intense
ordan Ladd, who plays a college grad stricken with a flesh-eating virus in the horror film Cabin Fever, told SCI FI Wire that her gruesome makeup effects were hard for the crew to deal with at times.
"What was really uncomfortable was how people responded to me on the set," she said in an interview while promoting the film. "The crew wouldn't look at me. They looked at the floor when they talked to me. It was strange, because all these guys that I'd go up and hug every day and they'd look me right in the eye and call me sweetie, nobody really talked to me. And I couldn't really say anything back because I had these appliances on my mouth."
Ladd said that she was impressed overall with the artistry of the makeup, which took three hours to apply and an hour and a half to remove. "If I wanted to have a cigarette or drink some water or something they'd have to remove them, and that was a 15-minute ordeal," she said. "It's unbelievable. I think it's beautiful. And I think they did an awesome job, and those holes really look like holes."
Though Ladd is not a fan of horror films, she said she wanted to take on the role to overcome her aversion to the genre. "Upon reading the script I really found it so disgusting that I was laughing reading it," she said. "Like, 'I can't believe how far this is going. It's continuing. The carnage is continuing. I can't believe it.' And I was laughing. I felt like if I'm going to be in a horror movie, I want to be in the most disgusting horror movie there is." Cabin Fever opened Sept. 12.
Disney Hall Enters Matrix
he Matrix Revolutions will have its world premiere at Los Angeles' new Disney Hall on Oct. 27, likely making it the only film to premiere at the new concert hall in its first year of operation, Variety reported.
Producer Joel Silver, a friend of architect Frank Gehry, made the deal to land the hall as a premiere venue for the Warner/Village Roadshow sequel, the trade paper reported.
During a construction tour last spring of the downtown L.A. site, Silver broached the idea of premiering the film there, and the designer embraced the idea, the trade paper reported.
The building has its official opening only four days before the premiere and is on an unusually tight schedule of galas, concerts and rehearsals during that first week, Variety said. The film opens 10 days after the premiere, on Nov. 5.
Sian Cast Expands
ichelle Rodriguez and Alfred Molina have joined the voice cast of Sian Ka'an, an animated film being billed as the first Hispanic-themed and -produced animated movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The duo joins Placido Domingo and Cheech Marin in the project, which centers on a young girl, Maria, in small-town Mexico who is "awakened" for a special mission: to rescue her father and save the Golden Snail from extinction, the trade paper reported.
The snail is linked to the survival of all species on Earth. On her journey, Maria meets up with a cast of characters, including humans, animals and celestials, the trade paper reported.
Galactica Game Site Live
new Web site has launched for the Battlestar Galactica video game, which is based on the original 1970s TV series and features the voices of series stars Richard Hatch (Apollo) and Dirk Benedict (Starbuck), Vivendi Universal Games announced.
Dwight Schultz (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) also provide voices.
Set 40 years before the events in the series, the Battlestar Galactica game tells the story of young Ensign William Adama in his first assignment aboard the Galactica. Players will have to turn the tide against an overwhelming Cylon fleet as they tangle with swarms of fighters in space combat over a series of story-driven missions. The game will be available this winter for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox game systems.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the original Battlestar Galactica. The SCI FI Channel is also airing a new Battlestar Galactica miniseries, which debuts Dec. 7.
VU Games and SCI FI are owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Russian SF Author Bulychev Dies
ussian SF writer Kir Bulychev, whose real name was Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko, died Sept. 5, the Locus Online Web site reported.
He was 68.
Born in 1934 in Moscow, his best known works included stories about Alice Selezneva, a young girl from the future, first published in English in 1977 and collected as Alice: The Girl From Earth by Xlibris/Fossicker Press in 2002. Other English-language books included Half a Life (1977) and Gusliar Wonders (1983), both published by Macmillan as part of their Soviet SF line, the site reported. Details of Bulychev's life and work are found on his official English-language Web site.
Knightley Mulls Jacket
eira Knightley is in talks to star opposite Adrien Brody in Mandalay Pictures/Section Eight's SF-tinged movie The Jacket for director John Maybury and Warner Independent Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Oscar winner Brody plays a soldier convicted of murder and being treated in a psychiatric hospital, who begins to believe he is traveling through time, the trade paper reported.
Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) would play a woman Brody met as a child and for whom Brody's character searches, the trade paper reported. Marc Rocco and Massy Tadjedin wrote the script.
The Jacket is slated to begin production in the United Kingdom in January, after Knightley wraps Disney's King Arthur, which is currently shooting.
Cast Added To Phantom
iranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, Ciaran Hinds, Simon Callow, James Fleet, Victor McGuire and Jennifer Ellison round out the cast for the upcoming movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Joel Schumacher is directing the adaptation, which begins shooting Sept. 15 at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom for 16 weeks, the trade paper reported.
Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson star. Butler and Hinds shared the screen in this summer's Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.
Why Alice And Fountain Died
es Craven, who has been developing films based on the video game American McGee's Alice and his own novel Fountain Society for Dimension Films, told SCI FI Wire that both projects are all but dead.
Regarding Alice, a dark retelling of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Craven said in an interview, "[We] never got a script that Dimension liked, so it's been pushed way back on the back burner."
Fountain Society, a story about cloning in the future, also had script problems, Craven said. In particular, the studio wasn't interested in the philosophical issues raised by a story about an old scientist's brain transplanted into his young clone's body, he said. "A large part of it was about the continuing relationship with his wife, who remained old," he said. "The studio's feeling was that that story should be discounted, because the audience wouldn't be interested. It kind of turned us into a movie that was just basically a chase movie, and we were never really able to get to the point where we were all enthusiastic about it."
Craven said that three writers tried adapting Fountain Society for two years before everyone gave up on the project. "I think the studio ran out of money, ... and I guess I kind of got exhausted on the process of Fountain Society," he said.
Lawless Joins Tarzan
ucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) is joining the cast of The WB's upcoming Tarzan series in the crucial but only recently added part of Tarzan's aunt, Zap2it reported.
The New Zealand actress will play Kathleen Clayton, a publishing magnate and younger sister of Mitch Pileggi's Richard Clayton, the acting head of Greystoke Industries, the trade paper reported.
Kathleen and Richard have very different ideas of how to handle their recently rediscovered nephew Jack (Travis Fimmel). "Lucy has a tremendous sense of humor, warmth and grace," The WB's entertainment president, Jordan Levin, told the site. "She has a fun, larger-than-life personality that will shape the character of Kathleen Clayton as she makes it her own, and that is what attracted us to her for future development." Tarzan debuts Oct. 5 and will air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Cursed Reshoots; Baker Quits
es Craven, director of the troubled werewolf movie Cursed, told SCI FI Wire that many of the film's scenes will have to be reshot—and possibly recast—when the film resumes production in November.
Craven also made the surprising announcement that Oscar-winning makeup effects maven Rick Baker has retired, turning over responsibility for the film's werewolf makeup to KNB.
"I haven't seen that hit the news yet, but he shut down his studio," Craven said in an interview. "All of the elements have been taken over by KNB for us."
Craven shot Cursed for 11 weeks before Dimension Films halted production in June and ordered a script rewrite. "Quite an extraordinary amount of new material is going to be shot, and a lot of material is going to be thrown away," Craven said. Craven added that casting changes were likely, but he said that he does not know which cast members will still be available. The cast included Christina Ricci, Skeet Ulrich and Shannon Elizabeth. Dimension plans to release Cursed in 2004.
Craven Explains Cursed Delay
irector Wes Craven told SCI FI Wire that he expects to resume production in November on his werewolf film Cursed, which Dimension Films shut down after 11 weeks of shooting in order to fix the script.
Screenwriter Kevin Williamson rewrote his own script to address problems. "The studio wasn't happy with the third act, which we were about to start shooting," Craven said in an interview.
Craven added that the production shutdown and rewrite process has left him less than enthusiastic about the movie. "It's just been a matter of trying to get it done, so it's been a very long arduous process, and frankly I'm just sick of the process and want to go out and do something I can feel really good about," he said.
Craven said that he originally planned to make a different film. "We started with me being offered to do a remake of a Japanese film called Pulse," he said. "The usual translation was sometimes called Circuit. It's by [Kiyoshi] Kurasawa. Five weeks before shooting, Dimension pulled the plug on it. And then for one reason or another, they made us an offer that we kind of had to accept to do this film Cursed."
Cursed tells the story of a group of people who unite to fight a curse after they are attacked by a werewolf.
New Amityville In Works
new film version of The Amityville Horror is in development by
Emmett/Furla Films, Barstu Productions and Integrated Films and Management, Variety reported.
Daniel Farrands (Amityville 2000) will write the script, the trade paper reported.
The movie will be based on the haunted house immortalized in the book and film The Amityville Horror, based on the true story of a house in Amityville, N.Y., in which Ronald DeFeo murdered his parents and four siblings while they slept in 1974. In 1977, Jay Anson wrote about a family who bought the house and was supposedly tormented by a series of supernatural events, the trade paper reported.
Toonami Airs Clone
he British action adventure channel Toonami will air Star Wars: Clone Wars, the animated shorts series from Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network Studios that picks up where the feature prequel Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones left off, Variety reported.
Toonami, which bows Sept. 8, plans to air the series Nov. 10. Clone Wars debuts in the United States Nov. 7 on the Cartoon Network, the trade paper reported.
The series deals with the Jedi Knights' mission to lead the Republic's Clone Army against new and ruthless adversaries across the galaxy, the trade paper reported. Production of the series was led by lead animator Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack).
Aurora Awards Presented
he 2003 Aurora Awards for excellence in Canadian science fiction and fantasy were presented Aug. 30 at Torcon 3, the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, in Toronto, according to a report on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site.
The awards were presented by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. A full list of winners follows.
Best Long-Form Work in English
•Permanence by Karl Schroeder
Best Long-Form Work in French
•Le Revenant de Fomalhaut by Jean-Louis Trudel
Best Short-Form Work in English
•"Ineluctable" by Robert J. Sawyer
Best Short-Form Work in French
•"La Guerre sans temps" by Sylvie Bérard
Best Work in English (Other)
•Be VERY Afraid by Edo van Belkom
Artistic Achievement
•Mel Vavaroutsos
Fan Achievement (Fanzine)
•Made in Canada newsletter, Don Bassie, ed.
Fan Achievement (Organizational)
•Georgina Miles (Toronto Trek 16)
Fan Achievement (Other)
•Jason Taniguchi, one-man SF parody shows
Gaylactic Honorees Feted
inners were announced for the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards, honoring works in science fiction, fantasy and horror that include positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered characters, themes or issues.
The awards were presented at Torcon 3, the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, in Toronto last weekend. A full list of winners follows.
Best Novel
•Fire Logic by Laurie Marks
Best Short Fiction
•"Three Letters from the Queen of Elfland" by Sarah Monette
Best Comic/Graphic Novel (tie)
•The Authority
•Green Lantern: Hate Crime by Judd Winnick
Best Other Work
•Queer Fear II, Michael Rowe, ed.
SF Award Winners Named
everal awards were presented at Torcon 3, the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, in Toronto, taking advantage of the presence of the world's leading SF and fantasy authors, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site reported.
Following is a list of award winners.
Robert A. Heinlein Award
•Michael Flynn
•Virginia Heinlein
Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award
•Edgar Pangborn
Prometheus Award
•Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (Best Novel)
•"Requiem" by Robert Heinlein (Hall of Fame Award)
Sidewise Award
•The Severed Wing by Martin J. Gidron and Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove (Long Form, tie)
•"Empire" by William Sanders (Short Form)
Torcon Art Show Award
Amateur:
•Captain's Kitten by Tina Klein Lebbink
•Phoenix Rising by Jacob and Wayne Fowler
•The Egg: Fire Dragon 3 of 4 by Cheryl Garrett
•Metropolis by Dan J. O'Driscoll
•Serpent Star 3: Bluestar by Rachael Mayo
Professional:
•Green Man by Erin McKee
•Sea Dragon by Mai Q. Nguyen
•Mariner's Tale by Theresa Mather
•Chariots of New Frontiers by John Platt
•Asimov June by Jean-Pierre Normand
•Cherudek by Sophie Klesen
Chesley Awards Given Out
he 18th annual Chesley Awards, honoring SF and fantasy artworks, were presented at Torcon 3, the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, in Toronto last weekend.
Originally called the ASFA Awards (for their sponsor, the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists), the awards were renamed in honor of astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell after his death in 1986. A full list of winners follows.
Artistic Achievement
•Tom Kidd
Best Cover Illustration, hardback
•Resurgence by Todd Lockwood
Best Cover Illustration, paperback
•Briar Rose by Tristan Elwell
Best Cover Illustration, magazine
•Todd Lockwood for Dragon, number 302
Best Interior Illustration
•Scott Gustafson for Classic Fairy Tales
Best Color Work, Unpublished
•The Storm by Richard Hescox
Best Monochrome Work, Unpublished
•The Skimmer's Lagoon by Maurizio Manzieri
Best Three-Dimensional Art
•ConJosé Dragon by Kim Graham
Best Gaming-Related Illustration
•Spider Queen by Todd Lockwood
Best Product Illustration
•Dean Morrissey for The Light Ship
Best Art Director
•Irene Gallo for Tor Books
Award for Contribution to ASFA
•Geoff Surrette for design and management of the ASFA Web site
Briefly Noted
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Dark Horizons reported that diminutive actress Daveigh Chase (Samara) will return for the upcoming sequel to last year's supernatural horror film The Ring.
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Producer Jerry Bruckheimer told the Latino Review Web site that Johnny Depp has agreed to reprise his pirate captain role in a proposed Pirates of the Caribbean sequel film. "We just made a deal with the writer who did the rewrite of the first Pirates," Bruckheimer added.
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The International Broadcasting Convention has awarded filmmaker James Cameron its IBC International Honor for Excellence for what an international jury called Cameron's "continuing enthusiasm for embracing technological innovation to engage his audience," Variety reported.
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The Sept. 10 series premiere of UPN's Jake 2.0 scored the network's largest total audience (3.7 million) in the time period since Oct. 9, 2002, the network announced. The SF series also retained 90 percent of Enterprise's total audience of 4.1 million for its third-season premiere.
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Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has won a top Spanish award for promoting international harmony by stimulating children's creativity through her books, the Reuters news service reported. The British author beat 37 other nominees to win the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord.
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MGM has launched an official Web site for its upcoming SF fantasy movie Good Boy!, about extraterrestrial canines, which opens Oct. 10.
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UPN has clarified that the official name of its Star Trek prequel series remains Enterprise, and that the title Star Trek: Enterprise is being used only for on-air promotional purposes. Enterprise returned for a third season on Sept. 10.
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A call sheet on the set of Star Wars: Episode III confirmed that production will wrap in Sydney on Sept. 17, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
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David Spade will star in an untitled holiday-themed fantasy comedy movie that Columbia Pictures has picked up for studio-based Happy Madison Productions, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Richard Dargan, Eric Wade and Diane Duarte wrote the movie, which deals with Kraig (Spade), the ne'er-do-well son of Santa Claus.
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Gore Verbinski, director of Disney's blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, will be honored as helmer of the year on Oct. 2 at ShowEast 2003, Variety reported.
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The parents of late R&B singer/actress Aaliyah have settled their negligence lawsuit against the owners of the chartered Cessna that crashed two years ago, killing their daughter and eight others, TV Guide Online reported. The plane was allegedly 700 pounds overloaded. Aaliyah was working on The Matrix Reloaded at the time.
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Director Robert Rodriguez is interested in a film adaptation of Mike Allred's classic supernatural comic series Madman, Zap2it reported. Madman deals with Frank Einstein, a reanimated corpse with unpredictable psychic powers who is trying to revive his creator and seek revenge on the killer.
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Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez will be honored with an Award of Excellence in Filmmaking on Oct. 2 at ShowEast, which kicks off Sept. 29 at the Orlando World Center Marriott, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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The Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, Calif., will host the 2006 World Science Fiction Convention, beating out competitor Kansas City, Mo., Locus Online reported. The convention, to be called L.A.con IV, will be held Aug. 23-27, 2006, at the Anaheim Convention Center, across the street from Disneyland and site of the 1996 Worldcon.
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Former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar recently recorded a voice part for an episode of Fox's The Simpsons, to air in early 2004, TV Guide reported. In the episode, Gellar plays a young delinquent named Gina, who befriends Bart in juvenile detention, the magazine reported.
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The special-edition DVD release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring won four DVD Awards in a ceremony at the Universal City Hilton on Aug. 20, in conjunction with the DVD Conference and Showcase, Billboard reported. The awards honored technical and artistic achievement in DVD releases.
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