Gaiman Awakens Sandman
eil Gaiman, author of the first new Sandman stories in seven years, told USA Today that the long break was necessary.
"When I stopped doing Sandman in 1996, people said, 'Why? Do you hate the character or something?'" Gaiman told the newspaper. "I said, 'No, no, I love these characters. That's why I'm going to stop.' When I came back to them, they were still waiting for me."
Sandman: Endless Nights, a hardcover collection of seven stories released Sept. 24, is illustrated by American and European artists such as Milo Manara and Miguelanxo Prado, the newspaper reported. The volume deals with several of the characters in Gaiman's elaborate universe.
"You get things like the Delirium story, where I essentially write about madness from five different points of view," Gaiman said. "I do things like the Destruction story, the Desire story. In the Dream story, I get to tell the first-ever Sandman story, which was really fun, almost a 'secret origins.'"
Gaiman added, "Sandman was always a big resilient structure that was never about superheroes. The giant 2,000-page story is an enormously upbeat tragedy, if such a thing is possible." Endless Nights has a first printing of 100,000 copies and carries a suggested retail price of $24.95.
Underworld Sequel In Works
creen Gems has made a deal for writer Danny McBride and director Len Wiseman to write a sequel to their hit film Underworld, the second in what is envisioned as a trilogy of vampire vs. werewolf movies, Variety reported.
Wiseman has said he would again direct, the trade paper reported.
Underworld topped the domestic box office in its premiere last week. The proposed sequel will be a co-production between Lakeshore Entertainment and Screen Gems, the trade paper reported.
Screen Gems and Lakeshore hope to put the second movie into production as soon as possible, with a third film—a prequel—to follow. No deal is in place for star Kate Beckinsale (Wiseman's real-life fiancee), though she has expressed interest in reprising her lead role, the trade paper reported.
Firefly DVD Details Sneaked
he DVDAnswers.com Web site posted details of the upcoming complete series DVD for Fox's canceled Firefly, which hits stores on Dec. 9.
The four-disc set will carry a retail price of around $50, the site reported.
The site added that the set should include commentaries for several episodes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a video of show creator Joss Whedon singing the SF western's theme song, a gag reel and deleted scenes.
Potter Targets Adults
cholastic Corp. said it plans a marketing push to lure more adult readers to its best-selling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Reuters news service reported.
Scholastic said it has sold 11 million copies of the fifth Harry Potter book since its release 12 weeks ago.
Nevertheless, the publisher plans a new print advertising campaign aimed at adults, scheduled to run in such publications as Rolling Stone, US Weekly, Time Out NY and Outside, the wire service reported.
The new ad campaign is aimed at an 18-to-35-year-old audience. The ads will feature readers and fans of the best-seller, including a tattoed biker, a fashionista and sports fans, Reuters said. The ads will use the same tagline: "We all have our reasons. What's yours?"
Smallville Spoilers Revealed
l Gough, executive producer of The WB's Smallville, said in issue number four of the Smallville comic that the upcoming third season will show how Clark (Tom Welling) deals with all the new information he has received about his origins, according to a report on the KryptonSite Web site.
"How does he process it, and how will it help him on his road to becoming Superman?" Gough told the comic.
Gough also revealed a number of spoilers for the upcoming season. "We'll see Lex take a very dark turn early on," Gough said. He added: "Clark will get a new superpower. There aren't that many left, so I'll leave you to guess which one. But he gets it in a very interesting way."
Among the other spoilers:
•Jor-El (Terence Stamp) will be heard in the series premiere.
•Krypto the superdog was cut out of an early episode.
•Lois Lane won't appear until at least season four. But Jimmy Olsen may show by the end of the third season.
•Lana (Kristin Kreuk) may get a new love interest.
Smallville returns Oct. 1 in its new Wednesday 8 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.
Enterprise Now Trek
PN confirmed to SCI FI Wire that its prequel series Enterprise will officially change its name to Star Trek: Enterprise with the Sept. 24 episode.
"It's just a natural tie-in," a UPN source said in an interview. "Everyone calls it Star Trek anyway."
The network sent a memo to its affiliates on Sept. 23 informing them of the change. "Over the past few weeks our marketing and publicity efforts have been using Star Trek: Enterprise for promotional purposes, and by formally changing the show's title, we will be able to further capitalize on and form a stronger connection to the famous and highly successful Star Trek franchise," Diane Kuri, UPN's director of communications and operations and CBS/UPN affiliate relations, wrote in the memo.
The new name is one of several changes that UPN has made to the prequel show in an effort to boost ratings as Enterprise begins its third season.
Mad Max IV On Hold
proposed fourth Mad Max film has been put on hold over concerns stemming from the current unrest in Iraq, Variety reported.
Mel Gibson had been set to reprise his most famous role in Mad Max: Fury Road, which was scheduled to shoot in Namibia in July, the trade paper reported.
Instead, Gibson is in talks with Warner Brothers to star in Under and Alone, an action drama based on the true story of ATF undercover agent Billy Queen, who infiltrated the notorious and violent Mongols Motorcycle Club, the trade paper reported.
Watts Eyed For Kong
irector Peter Jackson is eyeing Naomi Watts (The Ring) to follow in the footsteps of Fay Wray and become the obsession of the giant ape in his remake of the classic creature feature King Kong, Variety reported.
Jackson has offered the lead role to Watts for Universal's Christmas 2005 film.
In King Kong, Watts would play Ann Darrow, an American actress who makes a living performing in Broadway song and dance shows in Depression-era New York, the trade paper reported. Jackson has written the script with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, his co-writers on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Kong will shoot in New Zealand, where Jackson has built soundstages and special-effects studios, the trade paper reported.
Universal is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
King Trailer To Debut
ew Line Cinema announced that the new trailer for its upcoming third Lord of the Rings movie, The Return of the King, hit theaters on Sept. 26, attached to prints of Secondhand Lions.
The trailer debuts online at the official Web site on Sept. 29.
The Return of the King opens in theaters Dec. 17.
New Rings Game Develops
lectronic Arts announced the development of The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth, a game for the PC based on the Rings film trilogy.
Battle for Middle-earth will capture the epic battles from the Rings movies in a release slated for summer 2004.
The Battle for Middle-earth makes use of the Generals game engine, allowing players to select "good" or "evil" campaigns. Players will be given the freedom to command a variety of major armies from the films, each with their own distinct strengths and weaknesses, EA said.
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth will be the third EA title released under its Rings license. The upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, based on the final movie, will be released in November for multiple platforms. The King movie hits theaters on Dec. 17.
Taken Wins Miniseries Emmy
he SCI FI Channel's original miniseries Steven Spielberg Presents Taken won the Emmy for outstanding miniseries at the 55th annual prime-time Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 21.
Taken's award marked SCI FI's first major prime-time Emmy award. On Sept. 13, SCI FI's sequel miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune won an Emmy for visual effects during a separate ceremony.
Taken took home the statuette in ceremonies broadcast on Fox from the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium.
Executive producer Leslie Bohem, who wrote the entire 20-hour miniseries, accepted the award, along with the cast and crew. SCI FI will rebroadcast Steven Spielberg Presents Taken on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, beginning Sept. 28.
Horror Channel In Works
able television entrepreneurs Nick Psaltos and Kim Bangash have enlisted directors Wes Craven, John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper to join the advisory board of the Horror Channel, a proposed network that aims to begin operation on Halloween night 2004, Variety reported.
Psaltos and Bangash have made a few formal presentations to potential investors and cable operators. Horror Channel has scared up $750,000 so far, and it hopes to harvest $3 million from the venture-capital community within the next four months, the trade paper reported.
No cable operators have signed up for the Horror Channel yet. Bangash told the trade paper that the network has more than 1,000 U.S. horror movies to draw on for its round-the-clock schedule, as well as another 1,000-plus movies and TV series from abroad.
Bellucci Reloads Grimm
onica Bellucci (The Matrix Reloaded) has signed to play the evil queen in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film The Brothers Grimm, now shooting in Prague, Variety reported.
A Dimension Films-MGM co-production, Brothers Grimm transforms the famed fairy-tale authors into traveling con artists who perform bogus exorcisms and pretend to protect people from enchanted creatures, until they encounter a real magical curse in a haunted forest, the trade paper reported.
Bellucci will portray the forest's ruler, a woman who has found eternal life, but not eternal beauty, the trade paper reported. She turns to the forest in order to procure the young virgins whose blood she needs to stay lovely.
The Brothers Grimm stars Matt Damon, Heath Ledger and Jonathan Pryce. Written by Gilliam, Tony Grisoni and Ehren Kruger, the production is expected to continue through mid-November, the trade paper reported.
Bellucci also plays Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion.
Hayter Talks Watchmen
avid Hayter (a writer on X-Men) confirmed for fans at ManiaFest that he will make his feature-film directorial debut with a movie version of Alan Moore's classic Watchmen graphic novel, according to a report on CountingDown.com.
"The cool thing about Watchmen is that it is a complete story, ... and it's really a murder mystery that has a great beginning, middle and end," Hayter said. "And for years, people have been saying, 'Oh, that's unfilmable. You'll never be able to translate that.' And I disagreed. This is the greatest movie I've ever seen. So I'm looking forward to doing that, something with such ... profundity."
Hayter also discussed his ideas for costumes. "We've got Rorschach, who's basically in a trenchcoat and a fedora, but he's got that awesome mask," he said. "And it's going to be such a great visual that's still half-real and half-costume."
As for Dr. Manhattan, a blue superhero who spends most of the story wearing nothing at all, Hayter said, "We've had a couple of actors in their 40s say, 'Yeah, I'd like to play Dr. Manhattan.' I'm like ... I don't know if I think we need to see you naked."
Barbeau Charms Carnivàle Star
drienne Barbeau, who plays Ruthie the snake charmer in HBO's supernatural drama Carnivàle, told TV Guide Online that her character will have a romance with Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl).
That, despite the fact that Stahl's 24 and Barbeau is 58.
"As the series goes on, we get more into the lives of all the carnie workers," Barbeau told the site. "But Ruthie really takes off around the fourth or fifth episode. ... It's not your typical network television romance," she said with a chuckle. "I love how this show lets women in their 40s and 50s explore their sexuality. We're not just seeing 23-year-old skinny models with gorgeous men, like on Friends."
Barbeau is well-known to SF&F fans for her early film roles, in which she often played a sexpot. "People look at my earlier career and go, 'Oh, sex symbol,'" she said. "But I've never done a love scene—except with a swamp monster in Swamp Thing! Think about the movies I've done, like The Fog, Escape From New York, Creepshow, Cannonball Run. ... I was never hired to [do] those Kathleen-Turner-in-Body-Heat-type of roles. So here I am, finally getting to be sexy!" Carnivàle airs Sundays at 9p.m. ET/PT.
League Studio Sued
roducer Martin Poll and screenwriter Larry Cohen have filed a $100 million lawsuit against Fox, claiming it stole their idea for this summer's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Variety reported.
According to the complaint for copyright infringement, filed Sept. 25 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Poll communicated with Fox as early as 1993 about a feature titled Cast of Characters, a fictional struggle revolving around Allan Quatermain and Sherlock Holmes battling James Moriarty and Dorian Gray, the trade paper reported.
According to the complaint, Cohen (Phone Booth) wrote Cast of Characters in 1992 and optioned it to Poll (The Lion in Winter) the following year. Poll then signed John Landis to direct the film, hired a writer to work on the script and had numerous conversations with Fox's then-head of production Tom Rothman about the project, the trade paper reported.
Fox credits Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's graphic novel of the same name as the source for its film. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, starring Sean Connery, opened this summer and made $65 million at the domestic box office, the trade paper reported.
Bova Pushes Space Plane
F author Ben Bova, a past president of the National Space Society, told SCI FI Wire that he thinks NASA should develop a reusable space plane.
"NASA should put everything they've got into a reusable space plane, an orbital vehicle that can carry people into space reliably and economically," Bova said in an interview.
Such a vehicle could be useful should a future space shuttle discover wing damage similar to that that felled the Space Shuttle Columbia, Bova added. "There's a space plane that NASA wants to build, to serve as a rescue vehicle that can be launched on short notice," he said. "The technology is there. It's the investment that is lacking, whether it is government or private. A vehicle that can take a few people into space economically is also a prototype of a vehicle that can fly you from Vancouver to Tokyo in less than an hour."
Bova said that the soul-searching in the wake of the Columbia accident affords NASA a chance to focus on the new vehicle. "When you talk about space technology the problems are not technological," he said. "If you give engineers the job to do it, and the means to do it, they'll do it. The only question is will they get enough funding to do it? Will they get the political backing to do it? If you got a group of top engineers together and say, 'I want to go to Mars in 12 years with a team of explorers,' ... they'll be able to do it. It's basically a question of political will."
Bova Rings Up Saturn
F author Ben Bova told SCI FI Wire that Saturn—the latest novel in his Grand Tour series—transports a human colony to the second-largest planet in the solar system.
"Saturn is really about a group of 10,000 people who are not exactly exiled, but are encouraged to leave the Earth by the request of [the] government controlling the Earth," Bova said in an interview.
Bova, who has written more than 100 fiction and nonfiction books, added: "They're free-thinkers. They're not given to following orders very well. The novel is about the people in this habitat, going out to Saturn and establishing orbit around the planet. ... And we discover how power in this community plays out."
Bova said that some members of the group want to rule, but most people couldn't care less. "They want to be left alone," he said. Among the others are scientists who want to study the planet's famed rings. Another, Manuel Gaeta, wants to be the first person to set foot on the moon of Titan, against the wishes of the scientists. "The central character is a woman, Holly, who had died as a teenager," Bova added. "She had cancer. She was actually killed, by her sister, Pancho Lane, who has been in my other novels. Pronounced clinically dead, but ... cryogenically frozen, she was revived in a 30-year old body of an adult, with a mind of a teenager. It's a story of Holly and her maturation."
Saturn ultimately explores the birth of a self-contained society aboard a spaceship, Bova said. "People who take no interest in politics usually get the government they deserve," he said. "When you get a whole bunch of people who don't care about politics, who don't want to take an active role in their own self-government, you're going to get a dictatorship."
Bova is currently working on the next book in the series, which takes place on Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. A collection, Tales of the Grand Tour, will be published by Tor Books in January. Bova's next novel, meanwhile, is The Silent War, scheduled for May. "It concludes the story behind The Asteroid Wars," he said. "It sets the stage for another move forward in the expansion into the solar system."
Ferrell Monkeys With George
ill Ferrell (Elf) will voice the Man in the Yellow Hat for Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment's upcoming animated feature-film version of the classic Curious George children's books, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Curious George movie will be an all-new adventure based upon the title character, an inquisitive monkey transplanted from the jungle to the big city by the Man in the Yellow Hat, the trade paper reported.
Jun Falkenstein will direct from a screenplay by Michael McCullers, Daniel Gerson, Rob Baird and Joe Stillman. The movie has staked out a Nov. 4, 2005, release date, the trade paper reported.
Universal is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Prism Award Winners Named
he 2003 Prism Award winners for science fiction and fantasy romance novels published in 2002 were announced in association with the Romance Writers of America national conference, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site reported.
The Futuristic, Fantasy and Paranormal Chapter of RWA presented the Prism Awards. A full list of winners follows.
Best of the Best
•Contact by Susan Grant
Time Travel
•First Place: The Promise by Dee Davis
•Second Place: Night Secrets by Norah-Jean Perkin
•Third Place: The Sun God's Woman by Sahara Kellys
Futuristic
•First Place: Contact by Susan Grant
•Second Place: Gabriel's Ghost by Megan Sybil Baker
•Third Place: Unchained by C.J. Barry
Fantasy
•First Place: Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon
•Second Place: Enchantment by Kathleen Nance
•Third Place: Thief's Desire by Isabo Kelly
Dark Paranormal
•First Place: Sacrament by Susan Squires
•Second Place: Call of the Moon by Ronda Thompson
•Third Place: Poseidon's Kiss by Gail Crease
Light Paranormal
•First Place: Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon
•Second Place: Alice at Heart by Deborah Smith
•Third Place: Mulligan Stew by Deb Stover
Novella
•First Place: "The Day Her Heart Stood Still" by Susan Grant
•Second Place: "Honor Bound" by Robin Bayne
•Third Place: "Small Magick" by Liddy Midnight
Kingdom Sequels Coming
isney Interactive and Square Enix announced that they will develop two sequel titles to their hit Kingdom Hearts video game.
The companies will develop Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the GameBoy Advance and Kingdom Hearts II for the PlayStation 2.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories will feature Sora, Donald, Goofy and other Disney characters and worlds and is scheduled for release in Japan in 2004, followed by North America and Europe.
Kingdom Hearts II will pick up the story where it ended in the original game, with the return of Sora, Kairi and Riku, along with many Disney characters. No release date has been set for Kingdom Hearts II.
Kingdom Hearts was the top-selling action role-playing game of 2002 in North America and was the first video game to mix Disney characters and worlds with newly introduced characters and environments created in the Square Enix style.
Bremner Chases Chan Around
wen Bremner, who plays Inspector Fix in the upcoming Around the World in 80 Days movie, told SCI FI Wire that he did
many of his own stunts in the adaptation of Jules Verne's classic book.
"Like jumping off of buildings and getting dragged all over the [place]," Bremner said in an interview. "Every time I appear in a scene I get completely destroyed, every time I pop my head up. I got
hammered quite a lot in that film."
Bremner added that Fix is pursuing Passepartout (Jackie Chan) and Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan) on their global journey. "I kind of work for the villain," he said. "I’ve got to stop them from getting around the world in 80 days. I’ve got to try and catch them and bring them home."
Around the World in 80 Days is still seeking U.S. distribution and a release date.
T3 Will Be Back On DVD
arner Home Video announced the Nov. 11 release of DVD and VHS versions of the hit film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
The DVD will feature new footage, a gag reel, an interactive effects lab and commentary from the stars and director, the company said.
Jonathan Mostow directed the sequel film, which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Kristanna Loken and Claire Danes.
The DVD will also include an introduction by Schwarzenegger, a "Skynet Database," a "Terminator Timeline," the HBO First Look featurette, a video-game featurette, storyboards, costume and production designs, posters and trailers. Enhanced features for the DVD-ROM PC include a Terminator 3 game demo and a link to the T3 Web site.
Paramount Takes To Leader
aramount has tapped Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions to develop Take Me to Your Leader, a space-alien comedy film, Variety reported.
The studio is seeking a writer on the project, which is not eyed as a starring vehicle for Sandler, the trade paper reported.
Happy Madison partner Jack Giarraputo will executive produce, with Gold/Miller producing. Paramount began developing the project in 1997, when it acquired a comedy pitch from Marita and Simon Black for Gold/Miller to produce.
The film centers on a NASA janitor who accidentally launches himself into space. After he falls back to Earth and lands in Iowa, he finds everyone believes he's an alien, the trade paper reported.
Csupo Helms Green Monkeys
abor Csupo, one half of the animation production facility Klasky Csupo, will make his directorial debut on Green Monkeys, a live-action/computer-animated feature film based on a comic strip, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Klasky Csupo is producing for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, the trade paper reported.
The film is based on the comic book by Mickey and Betty Parskevas, published by Dan's Papers, about green monkeys who think they are human, the trade paper reported.
Dave Connaughton and John Tozak will write the screenplay, which aims to be the beginning of a potential franchise and will follow the monkeys on their first adventure, the trade paper reported. The film will be produced by Csupo and Arlene Klasky, the Emmy-winning duo best known as producers of Nickelodeon's Rugrats and Wild Thornberrys feature films and television series.
Lara Croft Calling
idos has struck a deal with Vodafone to place content based on its Tomb Raider game franchise on mobile phones in 22 countries, the companies announced.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vodafone has the exclusive mobile content distribution rights for downloadable games and animated screensavers featuring Tomb Raider character Lara Croft.
The content will consist of three Tomb Raider adventure platform games, as well as ringtones, screensavers and wallpapers. The games also include special codes, which reveal tips and hints accessible from a specially created customer Web site.
Each of the three mobile games will consist of 15 levels, plus one training level. The first episode is scheduled for launch this month and is entitled Tomb Raider: The Osiris Codex.
New Lost In Space Due
evin Burns and Jon Jashni's Synthesis Entertainment is teaming with film director John Woo and writer Doug Petrie on a new TV version of the classic 1960s SF series Lost in Space, Variety reported.
Regency and 20th Century Fox TV will produce the show, with Fox TV Studios-based Synthesis and Woo's Terence Chang-headed Lion Rock Productions, the trade paper reported.
Synthesis, a company formed by Burns and Jashni to bring new life to the creations of Irwin Allen, last revived Lost in Space at NBC as a television movie; that project went away following the death of original star Jonathan Harris, the trade paper reported.
Multiple networks have been pitched the project by packaging agency Endeavor, and network insiders said there's been strong response to the idea, the trade paper reported. New Line's recent Lost in Space movie opened well but ultimately tanked.
The new TV Lost in Space will return the show to its roots as a family drama, which is what Allen intended when he penned the original pilot, the trade paper reported. Burns told Variety that the project will be set about 100 years in the future and will feature a relatable, contemporary family at its core.
Penelope Script Optioned
eese Witherspoon's Type A Films has optioned the fantasy spec script Penelope by Leslie Caveny, a modern-day fable about a young woman plagued by a curse, Variety reported.
Witherspoon and Type A president Jennifer Simpson will produce the film, the trade paper reported.
Witherspoon is not attached to star in the movie, which was optioned out of Type A's discretionary fund, the trade paper reported.
Stars Voice EverQuest Game
ony Online Entertainment announced that several genre stars will voice its upcoming Lords of EverQuest video game.
Actors providing voices for the next-generation real-time strategy game include Fairuza Balk (The Craft), Claudia Black (Farscape), Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series), John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of The Rings), Hudson Leick (Xena: Warrior Princess), Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager), Ron Perlman (Hellboy),
Katey Sagal (Futurama), Dwight Schultz (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Cree Summer (A Different World) and Michael T. Weiss (The Pretender).
Inspired by the world of online gaming phenomenon EverQuest, Lords of EverQuest draws gamers to the land of Antonica as they control one of 15 lords and manage massive armies in their quest for domination. Lords of EverQuest is expected to ship to North American retail stores this fall.
It's Jake With Ling
ilm actress Bai Ling (Star Wars: Episode III) told SCI FI Wire that she makes a guest appearance on UPN's new SF series Jake 2.0 this week, playing a femme fatale with a mysterious past.
"My character's name is Mai Ling, almost like mine," the Chinese-born actress said in an interview. "She is a mysterious, sexy ... agent. ... She comes and goes and appears and disappears."
In the episode, entitled "Cater Waiter," Jake Foley (Christopher Gorham) must go under cover as a waiter at an embassy party, at which Foley's handler, Kyle Duarte (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez), finds himself betrayed by former lover and double agent Mai Ling Wong (Ling).
"I thought the relationship between me and Philip's characters, it a little bit reminded me of old Hollywood, like Casablanca," Ling said. She added: "[There's] this intense ... powerful love between those two characters, ... [which is] rarely seen in TV shows. So that's something I like. I feel like, 'Wow, as an actress I can do something.' ... [It's] very romantic and also [has] kind of real emotion of the relationship of my character with the guy. ... She is struggling in her life and [with] the past with ... Philip's character. And they have history. So they love each other, but somehow, they are against each other." Jake 2.0's "Cater Waiter" episode aired Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Briefly Noted
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Warner Brothers has opened a new Web site for its upcoming supernatural horror film Gothika, starring Halle Berry, which opens Nov. 21. The studio also posted a new Web site for its upcoming live-action/animated adventure Looney Tunes: Back in Action, opening Nov. 14.
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The third episode of UPN's third season of Star Trek: Enterprise, which aired on Sept. 24, delivered week-to-week ratings growth in target demographics, the network reported. The ratings represented the series' best ratings performance among women 18-34 since Feb. 19.
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The GameSpot Web site reported that Atari has pulled the plug on a GameCube version of its Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines video game, based on the hit movie. "There simply wasn't enough time to develop the game on all three platforms"—PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube—for release in November, a spokesman told the site.
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Animator Don Bluth said on his official Web site that he's pitching his idea for a $30 million traditional/computer-animated movie based on the classic Dragon's Lair arcade video game.
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The British Independent Film Awards will bestow the Variety UK Personality award on Lord of the Rings star Ian McKellen for his contribution to the British film industry, Zap2it reported.
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Parker Posey joins the cast of New Line Cinema's Blade: Trinity, playing a vampire opposite stars Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The third installment of the Marvel Comics-based franchise is being written and directed by David Goyer.
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Universal has sold the network window for The Hulk to its USA Network and SCI FI Channel siblings, Variety reported. USA gets the first TV runs of Hulk, beginning early in 2006.
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Warner Brothers has confirmed to SCI FI Wire that Gothika, the upcoming supernatural thriller film starring Halle Berry, has been delayed to Nov. 21 from its original opening date of Oct. 24.
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Shaun Cassidy has left CBS' Cold Case to join The WB's upcoming Tarzan series as an executive producer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cassidy is expected to help oversee writing, production and post-production.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl scored multiple nominations for this year's Hollywood Movie of the Year Awards, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Winners will be chosen by fans voting at Yahoo! Movies and Entertainment Tonight's Web site.
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Focus Features has acquired the spec script Land of Pleasant Living, a drama by Mark Lord about a woman who comes face to face with her dead boyfriend's ghost in the form of his little brother, who has grown up to be just like him, Variety reported.
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The IGN FilmForce Web site has posted video about new footage inserted into the upcoming Alien director's cut theatrical release, coming this Halloween.
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The Walt Disney Co. is shutting down its Japan-based Walt Disney Animation unit, which has turned out the theatrical releases Piglet's Big Movie and The Tigger Movie, as well as direct-to-video titles like 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Co., told the New York Times that a proposed sequel to its hit Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl will be the last movie based on a Disney theme park ride. Pirates 2 will follow Haunted Mansion, which opens Nov. 26.
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Michael McKean will join the cast of The WB's Smallville in the role of Daily Planet editor Perry White, TV Guide reported. McKean will guest star in the Oct. 29 episode; Smallville begins a new season on Oct. 1.
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Sony Pictures has opened a new Web site for its upcoming SF horror sequel film Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which opens in 2004. A teaser trailer for the movie began showing in theaters this weekend.
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Regal Entertainment Group, America's biggest theater chain, has set up strict new criteria for arcade video games in the lobbies of its theaters, Variety reported. In response to parents' concerns, arcade games that portray bloodshed, death, violence toward authority figures or graphic violence of any sort; obscene language; or the glorification of illegal activity will no longer be allowed.
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