Henson Closer To Neverwhere
ristine Belson of Jim Henson Productions told SCI FI Wire that the company is ready to move forward with the feature adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere as soon as they acquire a willing financier.
"We are trying to get Neverwhere made," Belson said. "We have had a frustrating series of stops and starts on that movie. Right now, after being with a financier who we were getting ready to make the movie with, we're now once again looking for financing."
The best-selling fantasy novel, originally written as a miniseries for the BBC, explores the mythical realm of London Below, which exists in the sewers and subway tunnels beneath the city. Canadian director Vincenzo Natali (Cube) has signed on to direct, with screenwriter Matt Drake revising the script originally written by Gaiman. "We're actually just about to go out with a script that no one's seen," she said. "We're going to approach everybody in town and see if they want to finance it."
Belson remains confident that the quality of the story will lure investors once they have a chance to read the script. "It really draws people in," Belson said. "I'm convinced that whoever we get with next is finally going to pull the trigger. So we'll see."
Cordy To Return To Angel?
oss Whedon, co-creator of The WB's vampire series Angel, told the Associated Press that he hopes to bring back former regular cast member Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) sometime this season, even if it's just to wrap up her character's story.
Carpenter left the show at the end of last season, the show's fourth, and her character was left lying in a coma.
"We definitely want to see Charisma again," Whedon told the AP, according to a report on Zap2it.com. "She has an important part to play this season to bring some closure." If things work out, there's a chance viewers could see Cordelia around the midway point of the season, Zap2it reported.
Whedon was less sanguine about a guest appearance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, the former star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which spawned Angel. "I'm not banking on it," Whedon said.
Meanwhile, Angel co-star Alexis Denisof (Wesley) repeated to the AP that he's hopeful that his new wife, Alyson Hannigan, will appear on the show as Willow. "I hope they can talk her into it," Denisof said. "I'll certainly be trying to talk her into it."
Special Rings Tix Scarce
ord of the Rings fans are finding tickets scarce to the Dec. 16 marathon screenings of the Rings trilogy of films, featuring the extended versions of the previous two movies and the debut of the third installment, The Return of the King, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Fans lined up around blocks and jammed online sites last week to buy tickets to New Line Cinema's "Trilogy Tuesday," a day before King officially bows nationally on Dec. 17, the trade paper reported.
The marathon screenings will take place in selected theaters around the country. Demand has proven overwhelming, and tickets sold out in a matter of hours at the 99 U.S. locations that will host the marathon, the trade paper reported.
Tickets, which went on sale Oct. 9, ranged from $25-$49 each and drew so many fans that online ticketing sites became clogged, forcing theaters to open up their box offices to handle the demand for what had been originally designed as an online promotion, the trade paper reported. New Line has no plans to expand the promotion.
New Line also plans separate theatrical bookings of the extended version of the first Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, from Dec. 5-11, followed by the extended version of the second film, The Two Towers, Dec. 12-15.
Gaye Expands Matrix Role
ona Gaye, who stars in the upcoming sequel film The Matrix Revolutions, told SCI FI Wire that her character will have a lot more to do in the third and final installment in the trilogy.
"I get down," Gaye said in an interview at a party celebrating the DVD release of The Matrix Reloaded. "In the second one I'm just kind of crying and saying, 'Please, baby, don't go,' and in this one I'm kind of doing my thing and crawling and digging and shooting and all kinds of stuff. I've got to fight."
Gaye originally replaced pop singer Aaliyah in Reloaded after the young star of Queen of the Damned was killed in a plane crash. It was an emotional decision for Gaye, who is the daughter of the late Motown legend Marvin Gaye, but she doesn't regret it. "It was kind of a bittersweet undertaking," she said. "When they decided to recast, I asked her brother and her mother if they minded if I did it. If they didn't feel comfortable, I wouldn't do it, because I lost my father when I was 9 years old, and if anybody decided to make a movie about him I would want them to come to me. So I just tried to give them that respect. Now I'm really glad I did it." The Matrix Reloaded DVD goes on sale Oct. 14, while The Matrix Revolutions opens in theaters Nov. 5.
Silver Hypes Revolutions
oel Silver, who produced the Matrix trilogy, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming conclusion to the franchise, The Matrix Revolutions, will wrap up the saga in an epic fashion.
"It's the end of the movie, and there's really a resolution and everything," Silver said in an interview while promoting the release of The Matrix Reloaded on DVD. "The battle to save Zion is truly spectacular beyond your wildest dreams. You haven't seen anything like it before in your life. It's just the most spectacular sequence I've ever seen. I guess people say, 'Of course he's going to say that,' but it is really out there. It is fantastic."
While Silver is looking forward to the theatrical release of Revolutions, the end will be bittersweet for the high-profile producer. "Revolutions is a really incredible end of the whole journey," he said. "It's sad, but it's exciting." The Matrix Reloaded DVD hits stores on Oct. 14, while The Matrix Revolutions opens in theaters Nov. 5.
Cavill Up For Superman?
he Superman-V.com fan Web site reported an unsubstantiated rumor that British actor Henry Cavill is under consideration to play the Man of Steel in a proposed fifth Superman movie.
The site reported that the relatively unknown actor told a fan site that he was auditioning for the lead role in the movie, but added that he fears he "may be too young though, ... which is so often the case."
The site added that Cavill was the front-runner among five likely Supermen, including Matthew Bomer, Brendan Fraser, Josh Lucas and Scott Speedman.
Barbarella Goes Forward
creenwriter John August, who wrote two Barbarella spec scripts for producer/star Drew Barrymore, told SCI FI Wire that the project is back on after a hiatus of two years.
"I went through two drafts about two years ago, between the first Charlie's [Angels] and the second Charlie's," August said in an interview. "I got busy, and then Drew got busy, and Laura Ziskin, the other producer, got busy. And we all went our separate ways. So we're just now coming back together and figuring out what we have and what kind of movie we want to make."
August said that he's a fan of the character. "I think Barbarella is a great trippy character, and the story that we're really telling is kind of a fable itself," he said. "This is unbelievably pretentious, but it's sort of like Candide in space, where you have this very naive character who bumbles through everything and ends up changing the world by accident."
August added that this Barbarella will not resemble Roger Vadim's 1968 movie, which starred Jane Fonda. Rather, it will be based on the original French comic books. "We don't have the rights to the original Barbarella [film]," August said. "So not only is it not like the original Barbarella, it's deliberately and legally not very much like the original Barbarella, because we don't have the rights to that movie. [The comics are] Barbarella and the Mirror of Storms and I don't even remember [the other]. What's weird is both those comic books are only in French, so I've only read the translations. You can just say they're based on two untranslated French comic books of Barbarella." Barrymore is still attached to star.
Elf Short On CGI
on Favreau, director of the fantasy comedy film Elf, told SCI FI Wire that he relied heavily on nondigital special effects.
Scenes in which Will Ferrell's human character, Buddy, towered over elves were achieved with forced perspective, while other North Pole characters were created with stop-motion animation.
"I really refrained from using the CGI, the computer-generated animated effects, in the movie as much as I could," Favreau said in an interview. "I never really buy them when I see them in movies. I wanted to give it that nostalgic, low-tech feel."
A scene late in the film does make use of CGI, when the audience sees Santa's sleigh and reindeer fly. Still, Favreau said that he used editing to hide as much of the digital work as possible. "Especially whenever you're animating something that's alive, like a reindeer or a human, [it] always looks fake to me," he said. "So we purposely shot away from the reindeer. They go through shadowy frames and you see them sort of fleetingly going through. We used as little shots as we could of that. This isn't an effects movie. It was more about the people in the sleigh and not the sleigh itself."
In a spoiler for the film's climax, Favreau added that the sleigh ride was more effects-driven in the original script. Favreau ordered a rewrite so that the sleigh now depends on the Christmas spirit of all New Yorkers to propel it. "The original script that I had read, Buddy had been riding on the reindeer and putting magic dust on them," he said. "There was nothing to do with Christmas spirit in the original draft, and it was all very much like an action sequence. And in rewriting the script, it became more about the city coming together and the spirit being elevated. So we sort of took the emphasis off of the reindeer and put it more on what was going on around the park." Elf opens Nov. 7.
Ferrell Vexed Caan In Elf
ill Ferrell, who plays a human raised by elves in the family comedy Elf, told SCI FI Wire that he broke the ice with co-star James Caan by being physically aggressive.
Caan plays the natural father of Ferrell's character, Buddy, who is obsessively happy about Christmas.
"The first time I met him I just put him in a bear hug and yelled, 'Dad!'" Farrell said in an interview. "I think he got really uncomfortable, because I wouldn't let go. I was really lucky that my job in the film was to try to drive him crazy, and I would."
Since Caan's character is a Scrooge-like Christmas skeptic, he had to remain serious no matter how extreme Ferrell became. Ferrell set out to try to break Caan. "I would try to offset anything he could throw at me," Ferrell said. "I knew it was driving him crazy on one level. It's great to see Jimmy in a way that we're not used to seeing him [in a family film], and it adds to the effect."
Ferrell added that the elf costume he wears through most of the film relieved him of a lot of pressure by being comic in itself. "It's always nice to having something like that, especially in the wardrobe area, that immediately helps you become the character," he said. "The elf outfit, I didn't have to try too hard once I got in the tights. It was kind of a perfect visual." Elf opens Nov. 7.
Parade Seeks Arnold To Host
ollywood booster Johnny Grant is inviting Terminator 3 star and newly elected California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to lead the Nov. 30 Hollywood Christmas Parade as grand marshal, the Associated Press reported.
"I hope Arnold can join us again," Grant—known as the "honorary mayor" of Hollywood, Calif.—told the AP. "This would be a wonderful way for the parade spectators to applaud the action hero on his latest accomplishment and a great gift from Arnold to his fans and new constituency."
Schwarzenegger once told Grant about his first night in Hollywood, sitting on a curb, watching the annual holiday parade and wondering if he would ever be successful enough to ride in it, Grant said.
Schwarzenegger's representatives did not return phone calls immediately to the AP seeking comment.
Punisher Wraps
rtisan Entertainment and Marvel Studios on Oct. 15 announced the wrap of principal photography on The Punisher, a feature-film adaptation of the Marvel Comics series about a vigilante.
The film shot for 11 weeks on location in Tampa, Fla.
The Punisher stars Thomas Jane, John Travolta and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, with a supporting cast that includes Roy Scheider, Samantha Mathis, Laura Harring, Will Patton, Ben Foster, James Carpinello, Mark Collie, Eddie Jemison, Russell Andrews, John Pinette and Kevin Nash. The Punisher, which marks the directorial debut of screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh (Armageddon), will be released in North America on April 16, 2004.
Getty Guests On Charmed
althazar Getty begins a guest-starring stint on The WB's Charmed, playing the scion of a family of warlocks, beginning Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, Zap2it.com reported.
Starting with the episode "Love's a Witch," Getty will play Richard Montana, a member of a family that is feuding with another clan, the site reported. Getty is signed for six episodes, with an option for more.
"They just called me up and asked me if I wanted to do it," Getty told the site. "I thought it was a fun, cute little show. It just seemed to make sense. I thought it would be fun, and here I am."
Getty was adamant that he didn't want to wear a costume. "I was very strict at the top," he said. "I didn't want any hats, no black cloaks, nothing like that. Richard's the non-witch witch. That's how I'm playing him, very straightforward and, by the way, I can do this magic stuff."
Richard is also the new love interest of Rose McGowan's Paige, one of three witch sisters (Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano play the other siblings), the site reported. "He's a good guy," Getty said. "He comes from a large, wealthy family, a dysfunctional family. He sees a quality in Rose's character that he finds really compassionate. They just hit it off. There's this connection, where she can talk silly magic stuff, and he gets it. He's from the same world."
McKean Guests On Smallville
ichael McKean (A Mighty Wind, Best in Show) will guest star in an upcoming episode of the WB's Smallville in a role vital to the Superman canon, according to Kryptonsite.
The fan site reported that the comic actor has been cast as future Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White in the fifth episode of season three.
According to the site, White will arrive in Smallville in search of alien stories for a tabloid news show after his promising journalistic career is destroyed by Lionel Luthor (John Glover). In spite of being constantly inebriated, Perry attempts to expose Clark (Tom Welling) when he witnesses him using his powers. Meanwhile, Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) learns that Perry has powerful incriminating evidence of his father's shady past. The episode, entitled Perry, is set to air Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the WB.
Space Colony Ships
ame publisher Gathering has shipped Space Colony, a 3-D building strategy and people simulation game for the PC.
Space Colony invites gamers to establish and build cosmic settlements and manage a dysfunctional crew of 20 characters, while fighting off alien attacks and attempting to make a profit, the company announced.
Developed by Firefly Studios (Stronghold), Space Colony carries a suggested retail price of $39.95.
Jedi Trial Fills In Gap
he upcoming hardcover novel Jedi Trial is one in a LucasBooks series of Clone Wars books that will fill in the years between Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones and the upcoming Episode III, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
A 2004 hardcover, Jedi Trial, will detail an important development that Anakin Skywalker faces in a major battle of the war, the site reported.
The Sluis sector has become a crucial battleground for control of a vital communications center. The forces of Freedom's Sons fight under the flag of the Republic, but they need clone trooper and Jedi reinforcement to hold their ground. Young Padawan Anakin Skywalker is dispatched to Praesitlyn, accompanied by an older Jedi Knight who is almost as headstrong and reckless as he, the site reported.
Jedi Trial, written by David Sherman and Dan Cragg, is scheduled for release in hardcover in November 2004.
The Passion Renamed
el Gibson has renamed The Passion—his controversial film about the last hours in the life of Jesus Christ—as The Passion of Christ to resolve a dispute with a Miramax, which has its own movie titled The Passion in development, Variety reported.
Miramax has already registered the title The Passion for its long-developed adaptation of Jeanette Winterson's novel of the same name, the trade paper reported.
For now, Gibson's title change will only affect U.S. distribution, the trade paper reported. Internationally, Gibson's Icon Productions is looking into whether it can keep the shorter title.
Gibson hopes to have Passion in theaters next Easter, the trade paper reported.
Suit Bulldozes George 2
ulldozer maker Caterpillar Inc. is suing Walt Disney Co. over its upcoming sequel film George of the Jungle 2, alleging that the movie infringes its trademarks, the Reuters news service reported.
In a lawsuit filed Oct. 14 in federal court in Peoria, Ill., Caterpillar alleges that the straight-to-DVD movie casts the company in a bad light, the wire service reported.
In the movie, the jungle man battles an industrialist and his "bulldozing bullies," driving Caterpillar equipment, who are trying to destroy the jungle, the wire service reported.
Disney said that it respected Caterpillar but that the suit was groundless, Reuters reported. George of the Jungle 2 hits stores on Oct. 21.
AICN Honcho Gets Film Deal
arry Knowles, who runs the Ain't It Cool News movie gossip Web site, has struck a deal with Revolution Studios to produce Ghost Town, a comedy movie based on his own pitch, Variety reported.
"I'm not writing it," Knowles wrote on his site after the deal was reported.
Knowles added, "You Talk Backers have taught me that I can't write worth a crap, so that's why Revolution and I agreed to enter into negotiations with a multi-award-winning writer to bring my story to life in such a way as to amaze us all. We should be announcing this writer very soon."
Variety reported that the deal is the first step in what will likely be a multiple-film arrangement with the studio. Knowles will continue to run his site.
Phantastik Winners Named
he winners of this year's Deutscher Phantastik Preis were announced on Oct. 11 at Buchmesse Convent 2003 in Frankfurt, Germany, according to a report on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site.
More than 3,300 mainly German SF fans voted online for the awards. A full list of winners follows.
•Best Novel, National: Die Macht des Elfenfeuers by Monika Felten
•Best First Novel, National: Die dunkle Zeit 1: Schatten ueber Ulldart by Markus Heitz
•Best Novel, International: Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
•Best Short Story: "Numinos" by Michael Marrak
•Best Original Anthology/Collection: Dunkle Sonne by Gerd Frey
•Best Serial: Perry Rhodan
•Author of the Year, National: W.K. Giesa
•Author of the Year, International: J.K. Rowling
•Best Feature Film: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
•Best TV Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
•Best Actress: Sarah Michelle Gellar
•Best Actor: Tobey Maguire
•Best DVD: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, special extended edition
•Best Audio: H.P. Lovecrafts Bibliothek des Schreckens 1
•Best Internet Site, National: Perry Rhodan.net
•Best Internet Site, International: TheOneRing.net
•Honor: Peter Jackson
•Flop: George Lucas
Mirror Haunts Halloween
he Czech PC horror video game The Black Mirror is being released in North America, just in time for Halloween, the GameSpot Web site reported.
The third-person adventure, called Posel Smrti (Death's Messenger) in the Czech Republic, ships on Oct. 16, joining a wave of horror-themed PC titles such as Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi hitting stores this Halloween season, the site reported.
Developed by Future Games and published by The Adventure Co. (Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon), The Black Mirror centers on Samuel Gordon, a 19th-century Englishman, who must return to his haunted home when his estranged father dies. The Black Mirror carries a suggested retail price of $29.99, the site reported.
Perelman To Helm Talisman
adim Perelman (The House of Sand and Fog) is near a deal to direct The Talisman, to be produced by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, based on Stephen King and Peter Straub's 1984 fantasy novel, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Universal Pictures and DreamWorks will co-produce, the trade paper reported.
The Talisman centers on 12-year-old Jack Sawyer, who goes on a quest in both the real world and a parallel world known as the Territories to acquire a talisman that will save the lives of his dying mother and of the queen of the Territories, the trade paper reported. The book marked the first collaboration between King and Straub and spawned the sequel Black House, the trade paper reported.
Spielberg and Kennedy have been developing the project for nearly 20 years, from the time Kennedy was an executive at Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. It has taken on various forms throughout that time and recently was close to being made into a four-hour miniseries at ABC, the trade paper reported. Spielberg will executive produce, with Kennedy producing the movie, to be written by Ehren Kruger (The Ring).
Universal is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Bullet Cast Announced
he cast of the upcoming Stephen King adaptation Riding the Bullet has been announced, according to Fangoria.
The independent feature, to be directed by Mick Garris (The Shining, The Stand) begins shooting in Vancouver next month.
Based on the popular online short story, Riding the Bullet will star Jonathan Jackson (Tuck Everlasting) in the lead role of Alan Parker, a college student who hitchhikes his way home one Halloween night to visit his dying mother. David Arquette (Scream, Eight Legged Freaks) will also star as the driver who gives Parker the ride of his life. Rounding out the rest of the cast is Erika Christensen (Swimfan) as Parker's girlfriend and Charles Durning as Old Man Farmer. The film is set to begin shooting in Vancouver in 2004.
Lucas Fires Up Stealth
osh Lucas will star in Columbia Pictures's upcoming futuristic action film Stealth, to be directed by Rob Cohen (XXX), Variety reported.
Stealth is slated to start shooting Jan. 19 in Australia, Thailand, New Zealand and China.
Designed as a summer tentpole for 2005, Stealth is set in the naval air force of the near future and tells the story of an artificial-intelligence pilot who is brought aboard to learn combat skills from human pilots, when the A.I. pilot begins to have ideas of his own, the trade paper reported. Cohen told Variety that the film will feature more than 800 visual effects, with jets designed in cooperation with Northrop Aviation.
Lucas (Hulk) will play Ben Gannon, the senior pilot in the human wing of the naval air force, the trade paper reported. Cohen penned a rewrite of the original script by W.D. Richter, who is best known to SF fans for directing 1984's The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
Verbinski Boards Pirates 2
ore Verbinski, who helmed this summer's hit Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, has agreed to direct a sequel for Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Variety reported.
Original writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott are also on board for the sequel, the trade paper reported.
Johnny Depp will also reprise his starring role in Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Disney had already made sequel arrangements with key cast such as Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, though it is uncertain which other cast members will return, the trade paper reported. No start date has been set.
Jordan Mulls Monster
olumbia Pictures is in talks with Oscar winner Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) to rewrite and direct its fantasy movie Me and My Monster, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Laura Ziskin (Hulk) and Oscar-winning effects creator Stan Winston (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) are producing, the trade paper reported.
Monster revolves around a young boy who has a friendship with an extraordinary creature, who changes the course of his life, the trade paper reported. Dan Milano and Matthew Huffman wrote the script.
Skin Wins Sunburst
he administrators of the Sunburst Award have announced that the 2003 winner will be Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson, according to a report on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site.
Hopkinson will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and the Sunburst medallion at the launch of her new novel, Salt Roads, in Toronto on Nov. 5.
The award honors the finest novel-length Canadian fantastic literature published during the year 2002. The short list for the award included Talon by Paulette Dubé, Salt Fish Girl by Larissa Lai, Permanence by Karl Schroeder and Dead Man's Gold by Paul Yee, the site reported.
UCSC Gets Heinlein Bequest
he University of California, Santa Cruz's archive of science fiction writer Robert Heinlein received a gift of materials and cash from the estate of Heinlein's late widow valued at $300,000, according to a report on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site.
The latest acquisition includes all of his honors and tributes, including his four Hugo awards, plus artwork and other memorabilia, as well as his extensive working and personal libraries, the site reported.
The donation was accompanied by a grant to establish the position of a Heinlein Scholar at the campus, who will work to organize, document and promote the scholarly use of the archive, housed in the University Library's Special Collections since 1968, the site reported.
William H. Patterson Jr. has been selected by UC Santa Cruz as the campus Heinlein Scholar for 2003-'04. He is founder of the Heinlein Society, a nonprofit educational charity that is dedicated to promoting Heinlein's social legacy, the site reported. Patterson is also the editor/publisher of The Heinlein Journal and co-author of The Martian Named Smith, a critical study of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.
Aiken Takes On Snicket
iam Aiken, who stars in the big-screen adaptation Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, told SCI FI Wire that the film will closely match the tone of the best-selling children's book.
"It's pretty good," Aiken said in an interview while promoting his latest film Good Boy! "I read the script and it's pretty close."
Aiken said he was impressed with the humor in the script and looks forward to the start of filming in November. "It's pretty funny," he said. "It's kind of a dark comedy. It sounds like it's going to be really good.
Aiken plays one of a trio of orphans sent to live with relatives after their parents die in a fire. The young actor said he's not daunted at the prospect of working with A-list co-stars Meryl Streep and Jim Carrey. "I've heard the best about everyone," he said. "I'm blessed to work with anyone, really. What I do is a privilege, and I treat it as such."
The Rock Has Karma
wayne "The Rock" Johnson has signed on to star in New Line Cinema's fantasy film Instant Karma, Variety reported.
The film will blend live action and CGI animation to tell the story of a safecracker, played by Johnson, who dies and is reincarnated as a series of different animals, the trade paper reported.
Pierce Brosnan, Mira Sorvino, David Alan Grier and Eartha Kitt also star in the live-action elements, while Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Gene Wilder and the comedy troupe Broken Lizard provide the voices of the animals. Paul Hernandez will make his feature writing and directing debut on the film, which is budgeted at $70 million. Production is expected to begin in April in New Orleans, the trade paper reported.
Slater Wraps Alone
hristian Slater, who just finished filming the upcoming video-game adaptation Alone in the Dark, told SCI FI Wire that the film will recreate the spooky atmosphere of the game.
"It's loosely based on the game," Slater said in an interview. "I played it a little bit, but I like to say that it scared me too much, so I had to stop. The movie is in a similar type of vein to that."
Slater plays a detective who uncovers an ancient demon-worshiping cult planning to literally raise hell in the 21st century. Fans of the video game will recognize Slater's character from the popular franchise. "I play Edward Carnby, a paranormal investigator" he said. "So it's like a cross between The X-Files and Blade Runner. ... I just had a great time with the character. Really loved it. It was a lot of fun."
Atari (formerly Infogrames) is currently working on a fifth Alone in the Dark game, which will be released in conjunction with the film in the fall of 2004. Slater said that he would love to be involved in making of the game. "I'm a video-game nut," he said. "I'm hoping that I'll be able to do the work in the game as well."
Eragon Film In The Works
ox 2000 has optioned the feature film rights to Eragon, the best-selling fantasy novel from teenage scribe Christopher Paolini, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio is currently looking for a writer to adapt the book. No producers are attached.
The story centers on a boy named Eragon who finds a stone in the forest which turns out to be a dragon's egg. Paolini started writing the book when he was 14 years old and spent a year promoting a self-published version before getting picked up by publisher Alfred A. Knopf, the trade paper reported. The book is currently in third place on the New York Times' children's best-seller list behind Lemony Snicket's The Slippery Slope and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Briefly Noted
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A new teaser trailer has gone live for the upcoming remake of George Romero's classic horror film Dawn of the Dead, which opens March 26.
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Paramount has opened a new Web site for its upcoming time-travel movie Timeline, based on Michael Crichton's novel. The film now carries a Nov. 26 release date.
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Empire Online has posted new images from Antoine Fuqua's upcoming historical drama King Arthur, now in production.
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CBS has asked to see more scripts of its hit supernatural drama Joan of Arcadia, TV Guide Online reported.
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ComingSoon.net reported a rumor that the upcoming third Matrix movie, The Matrix Revolutions, will clock in at just over 128 minutes, about 10 minutes shorter than the previous two installments. Revolutions opens worldwide on Nov. 5.
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Anant Singh's Videovision Entertainment has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Africa's first full-length animated movie, The Legend of the Sky Kingdom, Variety reported. Produced by Zimbabwean filmmakers Philip and Jacqui Cunningham and directed by Roger Hawkin, Legend tells the story of three children who escape slavery to search for the fabled Sky Kingdom.
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The latest version of the official Web site for the upcoming supernatural horror film Gothika has gone live. Gothika, starring Halle Berry, opens Nov. 21.
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Former Star Trek: The Next Generation star Patrick Stewart and his wife of three years, Wendy Neuss Stewart, have filed for legal separation, his publicist confirmed to E! Online.
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Jessica Simpson told Larry King Live substitute host Ryan Seacrest that she has been talking to Sony about starring in a movie based on the 1960s TV series I Dream of Jeannie, according to TV Guide Online.
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A British war hero, said to have been the inspiration behind secret agent James Bond, has died at age 90, British newspapers and the Reuters news service reported. Former Royal Navy Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Dalzel-Job carried out a series of daring exploits during World War II, including some while serving under author Ian Fleming, who created the 007 character.
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New Line Cinema has announced on the official The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Web site that the film's soundtrack will be released Nov. 25. The site also features new interviews with cast members Viggo Mortenson and Karl Urban, as well as director Peter Jackson.
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Former Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast members Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof were married on Oct. 11, according to E! Online. The newlyweds will have a busy first year, as Hannigan has just signed a deal with NBC to star in her own sitcom, while Denisof continues in his role as Wesley Wyndam Price on the WB's Angel.
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Tim Burton will host two special screenings of the stop-motion animated holiday film The Nightmare Before Christmas at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood on Oct. 16, according to Zap2it.com. The film, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, will be screened along with the animated film Vincent and the live-action featurette Frankenweenie, both directed by Burton.
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The Fangoria Web site confirmed a rumor that the sequel to Freddy vs. Jason will feature none other than Bruce Campbell's character, Ash, from the Evil Dead series.
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Taken star Dakota Fanning has signed on to play the daughter of Robert De Niro's character in the upcoming supernatural horror film Hide and Seek.
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The Hellblazer fan site Straight to Hell has posted images from the upcoming comic-book adaptation Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves.
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