NASA Opens Kecksburg Docs
ASA has agreed to turn over documents relating to the alleged crash of a UFO in Kecksburg, Pa., in 1965, the SCI FI Channel announced.
The news comes a day after SCI FI said it would pursue legal action against the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to release its records on the incident.
NASA informed Lee Helfrich, attorney for the Channel-sponsored Coalition for Freedom of Information, that it is releasing 36 pages of documents, the Channel said.
The release comes after 10 months of pursuing the records through the Freedom of Information Act. The Department of Defense and the U.S. Army have yet to release any records under similar requests, the Channel said.
"For more than four months we have received no response from NASA, but one day after John Podesta, President Clinton's former chief of staff and member of the Moynihan Commission, and Bonnie Hammer, president of SCI FI Channel, called on government agencies to make public records that are over 25 years old, lo and behold, NASA responds," Helfrich said in a statement.
"I think it's fair to say that we have truly entered the realm of science fiction in Washington, D.C., when it's fair game to disclose the identity of a clandestine CIA agent, but not the records of an unexplained crash in Kecksburg, Pa., that occurred 38 years ago," Podesta said at a news conference this week.
On Dec. 9, 1965, witnesses described seeing a fireball in the sky, a controlled landing and the systematic military recovery of an object. The incident is the subject of the original SCI FI Channel documentary The New Rosell: Kecksburg Exposed, hosted by Bryant Gumbel, which premieres Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Episodes VII-IX Possible?
he Dark Horizons Web site reported a new rumor that a long-hoped-for—and long-denied—third trilogy of Star Wars films may be back on the drawing board.
Citing an anonymous "insider source," the site reported that a sequel trilogy "might happen."
Star Wars creator George Lucas originally told journalists that his plan was to create three trilogies of films: the original one that included the first Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, a prequel trilogy and a sequel trilogy that would pick up the story after the events in Jedi, consisting of Episode VII through IX. Subsequently, Lucas said he never intended to do the sequel trilogy.
But now, the source told Dark Horizons, "apparently there is some talk, even to the point of [Steven] Spielberg—who was interested in doing [Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones] at one point—stepping in for Lucas, who may want to write, but probably won't want to direct." The source added that it's possible Lucas could strike a deal with writer/director Frank Darabont, who is writing the script for the proposed fourth Indiana Jones movie, to write the sequel scripts.
Anakin Talks Episode III
ayden Christensen, who reprises the role of Anakin Skywalker in the upcoming third Star Wars prequel movie, told the BBCi Web site that he appears in virtually every scene of Episode III.
"The character arc is very specific and graduates to the dark side nicely," Christensen told the site.
Christensen added, "It was a great part to play. It's definitely darker in tone, but I turn into Darth Vader, so how could it not be?" The first act of the film has a lot of adventure, featuring Christensen and co-star Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), he added. "There's a nice banter between the two of us," Christensen said. "It has its lighthearted humor. But, as the film progresses, it gets darker and darker." Episode III is now in post-production for a 2005 release.
Indy DVDs Sell Big
he Adventures of Indiana Jones—The Complete DVD Movie Collection appears to be on the road to becoming the best-selling box set in DVD history, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It sold about 600,000 copies in the United States on Oct. 21, its first day of retail release, the trade paper reported.
Total consumer spending on the four-disc box set is estimated to have generated upwards of $28 million within the first 24 hours on store shelves, the trade paper reported.
In the home-video sales cycle, day-one sales and first-weekend sales usually determine how well a DVD release will perform over its retail lifetime, the trade paper reported.
Pirates Wins Hollywood Award
irates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was chosen as the movie of the year at the closing night of the seventh annual Hollywood International Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Stars Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush were picked as best actor and best supporting actor of the year, the trade paper reported.
The winners were chosen via an online Yahoo! Movies and Entertainment Tonight poll. The gala was held Oct. 20 in the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Two Pirates Sequels To Sail?
he proposed sequel to this summer's hit Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl may evolve into two movies, shot back to back a la The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Variety reported.
Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer told the trade paper that it's too soon to discuss such plans.
But sources close to the film told Variety that they are pondering the possibility of back-to-back sequels, and negotiations have begun to secure the cast should the studio pursue that avenue.
Director Gore Verbinski has agreed to direct the Pirates sequel, and Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott are onboard to pen the script, which is not finished. Disney also has commitments from Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley to appear in Pirates 2, which Bruckheimer said still has no start date. The first film grossed more than $300 million at the domestic box office, the trade paper reported.
Angel Star Turns Wicked
ngel good guy David Boreanaz told Zap2it that he indulged his dark side over the summer hiatus, playing the villain in The Crow: Wicked Prayer, the fourth film in the Crow franchise.
"I was a bad guy," Boreanaz told the site. "He was the leader of [this gang called] The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, an ex-con. It was great. I had a lot of fun. It was a hard-paced film. We shot in 23 days. It was not an easy shoot."
Boreanaz played Luc Crash, the leader of a satanic biker gang who murders a young man named Jimmy Cuervo (Edward Furlong) and his girlfriend, Lily (Emmanuelle Chriqui), as part of a ritual to turn Crash into an immortal demon, the site reported.
"He was more than a villain," Boreanaz said. "I liked the dialogue. I liked the setting. I liked the script. I just really liked the role. It was juicy. I like being bad. He's two different guys. He's an ex-con that becomes the Antichrist, so you've got two different roles that you're playing."
Boreanaz added, "From what I hear from the trailer, it looks great. I've seen a little bit of dailies. I'm happy. Dimension Films is happy. It could breathe some good life into a franchise that's been dead for a while." The Crow: Wicked Prayer is slated for a 2004 release.
Zucker Helmed PG-13 Scary
avid Zucker, who directed the SF spoof Scary Movie 3, told SCI FI Wire that he agreed to take over the franchise from the Wayans brothers on the condition that the film's rating be reduced to PG-13 from the R rating of the previous two films.
"The Wayans came up with a brilliant idea of doing an R-rated gross-out, balls-to-the-wall spoof," Zucker said in an interview while promoting the film. "And they did a great job of it. But I would not have been interested in doing that, although I thought what they did was funny."
Zucker, who co-created the Airplane and Naked Gun films, was reluctant to direct Scary Movie 3, but agreed after considering the possibilities presented by the two main horror films parodied in the script. "My first thought was, 'I'm not interested in the slasher genre,'" he said. "That's what I think scary movies are. But then [Miramax co-president Bob Weinstein] said, 'How about doing Signs and The Ring, and then other movies around that?' And that got me thinking. So I went out and saw Signs and The Ring, and that got me excited about it. And it was a chance to return to something that I really like doing, which is the whole spoof genre."
Both films were rated PG-13, another factor that attracted Zucker to the project. "It just happened to work out," he said. "It happened to be that the movies we were spoofing were PG-13. On the other hand, I would not have been the right director to select for this project had the studio wanted to continue the R-rated stuff. I wouldn't have been a good choice for that." Scary Movie 3 opens Oct. 24.
Scary Matrix Fight Dropped
nna Faris, who reprises her role as Cindy Campbell in the SF parody sequel Scary Movie 3, told SCI FI Wire that she trained for a fight scene reminiscent of The Matrix Reloaded that never made it into the final cut of the film.
"I worked really hard on that Matrix fight," she said in an interview. "Any day off, they stuck me in training, which was awful, because I've done enough of these to know that when they put me in training for some elaborate fight sequence, they're going to really cut it down to about 30 seconds of fighting."
According to Faris, the Reloaded elements of the storyline were edited out after testing poorly in advance screenings. "Do you remember the scene in the Matrix where Keanu Reeves flies around a light pole?" Faris said. "It was a whole bunch of that stuff. I fly around a light pole. I puke all over the place. I fight all these little girls. It just wasn't all that funny, I guess. But a lot of work." Scary Movie 3 opens Oct. 24.
War Of The Ring To Ship
ame publisher Sierra is ready to ship Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring, a 3-D real-time strategy game for the PC, the GameSpot Web site reported.
Developed by Battle Realms creator Liquid Entertainment, the game has gone to manufacturing and will ship to stores in early November, just before the Dec. 17 release of the upcoming third Rings movie, The Return of the King.
War of the Ring will let gamers wage war in either single-player or multiplayer modes, the site reported. The game follows a loosely linear timeline taken from Rings' author J.R.R. Tolkien's writings. The game is not inspired by Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies and won't feature the film's actors. The game carries a suggested retail price of $49.99.
Rings Composers Hired
ndian composer A.R. Rahman and a Finnish folk troupe have been commissioned to write songs for a London musical stage version of The Lord of the Rings, the Associated Press reported.
Rahman, a veteran Bollywood songwriter who scored the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced London musical Bombay Dreams, will collaborate with the group Varttina on the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's fantasy trilogy, which has also spawned a hit film series, the AP reported.
"We are recreating Middle-earth and we needed the music that goes with it to be unique," Kevin Wallace, who's producing the West End show, told the AP. "A.R. Rahman writes brilliant melodies with an exotic quality, and we know he will write something which audiences will adore."
Tolkein is thought to have drawn on the Finnish folk epic the Kalevala to create the world of Middle-earth and the story of a hero's quest for a magical ring, the AP reported. The Finnish language inspired the Elvish tongue of Tolkein's trilogy. The Lord of the Rings musical is scheduled to open in London in spring 2005.
Alien Vs. Predator Star Set
anaa Lathan will star in Alien vs. Predator, 20th Century Fox's SF movie that pairs two of the studio's most popular screen monsters in a deathmatch, Variety reported.
Shooting begins Oct. 28 in Prague, and Fox will release the film in August 2004, the trader paper reported.
Paul Anderson is directing from a script he wrote with Shane Salerno.
Lathan will play explorer-adventuress Lex Kline, who leads an expedition to Antarctica to uncover warring alien races, the trade paper reported. Italian actor Raoul Bova, British actor Ewen Bremner and Lance Henriksen also star; Henriksen plays the industrialist who finances the expedition.
Amityville Rises Again
latinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller have been tapped by MGM to mount a remake of the 1979 hit The Amityville Horror, Variety reported.
The Jay Anson book on which Horror was based dealt with the residents of a Long Island suburb who were terrorized by a haunted house, the trade paper reported. The hit film spawned seven sequels.
Bay (director of Armageddon) will produce with Form and Fuller.
Man-Thing Due In August
rtisan Entertainment's Man-Thing has been set for an Aug. 27, 2004, release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film, a collaboration between Marvel Studios and Fierce Entertainment, is based on the Marvel Comics character and recently wrapped production in Sydney after an eight-week shoot, the trade paper reported.
Hans Rodionoff wrote the script, and Brett Leonard directed
Man-Thing, about a vengeful creature born from the evil and injustices perpetrated against man and nature, the trade paper reported. The movie stars Jack Thompson, Rawiri Paratene, Matt Le Nevez, Rachel Taylor and Steve Bastoni.
Love Bug Writers Hired
riting duo Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant have been tapped by Disney to pen the remake of Herbie the Love Bug, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Robert Simonds is producing.
The project has been in development at the studio for years, with various versions penned by the writing team of Blake Snyder and Colby Carr, as well as David Berenbaum, the trade paper reported. It is understood that the studio is scrapping all previous incarnations of the project to pick up the Lennon and Garant take, which puts Herbie in the world of NASCAR, the trade paper reported.
Lennon and Garant are hot off Taxi and Starsky & Hutch, which is in post-production at Warner Brothers and Dimension Films.
Exorcist Harlin Confirmed
ariety confirmed a rumor, first reported on Cinescape Online, that Morgan Creek has tapped Renny Harlin to helm six weeks of reshoots on Exorcist: The Beginning.
Sources told the trade paper that Harlin is due to begin work in mid-November.
Harlin replaces Paul Schrader, who left the movie due to "creative differences," the trade paper reported. Schrader's name will remain on the prequel as director. The film is scheduled for release through Warner Brothers in 2004.
Disney Gives Up Ghosts
isney pulled the plug Oct. 20 on the Ben Affleck fantasy comedy film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past just four weeks before the start of production, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Affleck was set to star as a bachelor who goes to his younger brother's wedding, where he is visited by the ghosts of his past girlfriends, the trade paper reported.
In August, director Betty Thomas came on board to helm the film, and several high-profile castings were close to being finalized, the trade paper reported. Disney declined to comment on the decision, but it is believed that, in addition to the film's expected high cost, Affleck's tarnished image may have been a factor, the trade paper reported. Representatives from Affleck's LivePlanet production company, which is producing the film along with Jon Shestack, could not be reached for comment, the trade paper reported.
MGM Buys Succubus
aredevil director Mark Steven Johnson has struck a deal with MGM for Succubus, a horror film with comic elements, Variety reported.
Johnson will direct the movie after he completes Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage, the trade paper reported.
Succubus deals with a cult of female demons who use their supermodel looks to seduce and steal the souls of men, the trade paper reported. Johnson will produce it with his Horseshoe Bay partner Gary Foster.
Carrey Tops Six Million
imension Films is developing a comedy feature film based on the 1970s TV series The Six Million Dollar Man, starring Jim Carrey and directed by Todd Phillips (Old School), Variety reported.
Phillips will team with his Old School writing partner Scot Armstrong to script a vehicle for Carrey to play the bionic man, the trade paper reported.
Based on the Martin Caidin novel Cyborg that was turned into the Lee Majors ABC drama series, The Six Million Dollar Man has been tinkered with several times as a screen property, the trade paper reported. Dimension owns the book while Universal owns rights to the television series, and while the former has taken the creative lead, Universal has the option to come aboard as co-production partner, the trade paper reported.
Production is slated to start in the fall of 2004, after Carrey and Phillips finish their current projects.
Universal is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Sony Develops Chubbchubbs
ony Pictures Animation is moving forward with plans to turn its Oscar-winning animated short film The Chubbchubbs! into a full-length computer-animated movie, Variety reported.
The studio has hired writers Dan Wilson and Dave Gilbreth to write the script.
Sony's Imageworks division produced the original Chubbchubbs, which was directed by animation supervisor Eric Armstrong (Stuart Little 2). Sony Animation has made no decisions about a director for the feature film version, the trade paper reported.
The story centers on an intergalactic janitor-turned-singer who's unwittingly befriended a race of cute-but-lethal critters, who are called upon to save the universe, the trade paper reported. The film won't be ready for release until 2005 at the earliest. Sony, meanwhile, is readying a second short for release with Sony movies next summer, the trade paper reported.
Dimension Remakes Evil
imension Films has bought the remake rights to the hit Quebecois horror movie Sur le seuil (Evil Words) from Montreal producer Nicole Robert, Variety reported.
Robert will produce the remake with Janick Neveu, as well as Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee and Doug Davison, the trade paper reported.
The original movie tells the story of a novelist who has an uncanny knack for imagining horrific events before they happen. Steven Susco (The Grudge) is already at work on the script.
Sur le seuil was launched by Alliance Atlantic on Oct. 3 and has grossed $988,000 at the box office in Quebec, making it the top-grossing Quebecois thriller of all time, the trade paper reported. Eric Tessier directed, from a screenplay he wrote with Patrick Senecal, adapted from Senecal's novel.
Lightning Struck Passion Set
an Michelini, an assistant director on Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ, told the Associated Press that he was struck by lightning, not once, but twice during filming, according to a report on Zap2it.com.
The crew on the film nicknamed him "Lightning Boy" after the two incidents, which resulted in only minor injuries.
The first time, lightning struck Michelini's umbrella during filming in Matera, Italy, the AP reported. His fingertips were slightly burned.
A few months later, Michelini held the umbrella over himself and star Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus Christ in the film. That time, lightning struck both, although they weren't seriously hurt, the wire service reported.
Passion Gets U.S. Deal
ewmarket has picked up the U.S. distribution of Mel Gibson's controversial movie The Passion of Christ, Variety reported.
Under the deal, Gibson's Icon Productions will retain all rights to Passion, but will rely on Newmarket's distribution apparatus in exchange for a cut of the gross, the trade paper reported.
A source close to Gibson told the trade paper that Icon is mulling a release timed to Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004. Previously, Gibson had been eyeing an Easter release (April 11).
Icon is distributing Passion itself in the United Kingdom and Australia, where it already has its own distribution operations, the trade paper reported.
Nosferatu In Stores Now
osferatu: The Wrath of Malachi, iGames' new horror-action shooter video game, has shipped to stores in time for Halloween, the GameSpot Web site reported.
Developed by the Swedish studio Idol FX, the game carries a suggested retail price of $29.99.
Loosely based on the 1927 silent film Nosferatu, the game follows a young hero who must save his sister from the clutches of a vampire, the site reported. The Wrath of Malachi's gameplay features spooky, gore-filled action, timed missions and an "architectural generator" that creates a unique floor plan for every new game, the site reported.
Israeli Geffen Winners Named
he fifth annual Geffen Awards, for works of Israeli science fiction, were presented Oct. 16 at ICon, Israel's biggest SF convention, in Tel Aviv, the Locus Online Web site reported.
Orson Scott Card presided over the awards ceremony.
Neil Gaiman's American Gods won the award for best fantasy novel, and Stanislaw Lem's Solaris won for best SF novel.
In Israeli categories, Sometimes It's Different by Vered Tuchterman won for best novel, and "All-of-Me" by Guy Hasson won for best short story.
Owen Reigns As Arthur
live Owen—the British heartthrob who plays the title role in producer Jerry Bruckheimer's upcoming King Arthur movie—told the Chicago Sun-Times that the film revises the well-worn myth.
"It's a new take on the whole King Arthur story, unlike anything you've ever seen before," Owen told columnist Cindy Pearlman. He added, "Our version is set earlier than it's usually set. We have it at 500 A.D., as opposed to medieval times. Basically, the Roman empire is crumbling."
Owen plays a half-Roman Arthur. "He's a commander of a crack team of military knights who, at the beginning of the movie, [get] the mission from hell: to go into dangerous, unknown territory and rescue a family as the Saxons are invading by the thousands, and the rebels are out there fighting. Meanwhile, Arthur has always held onto Rome as something he wants to return to and something he reveres, but it keeps changing."
Ultimately, Owen said, the movie is about faith. "His faith is called into question," he said. "It's about how he begins to accept the place where he lives and the people who he's with. He becomes a man of the people." King Arthur, directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), is still in production.
Bionicle Game Ships
lectronic Arts and Lego Interactive announced that they have shipped the Bionicle video game, based on the popular toy line.
The game is designed for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube consoles. A PC version of the game is scheduled for release on Oct. 28.
The Bionicle game takes players to Mata Nui, a paradise island where a shadow has been cast and the six heroes of destiny, called "Toa," have been chosen for the greatest challenge of all. Players assume the roles of the Toa to defeat the shadow of darkness brought by a sinister villain, Makuta, and return Mata Nui to light, the companies said.
The Bionicle game was developed by Argonaut Games and co-published by EA and Lego Interactive.
WB Buys Frequency
roducer Mark Burnett (Survivor) has sold The WB a pilot script for Global Frequency, an hourlong superhero show based on the DC Comics series by Warren Ellis, Variety reported.
Frequency deals with a shadowy figure named Miranda Zero who starts a top-secret worldwide independent defense intelligence organization, the trade paper reported.
John Rogers (The Core) has been tapped to write Global Frequency.
Janssen To Hide And Seek
amke Janssen (X2) will star opposite Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning (Steven Spielberg Presents Taken) in 20th Century Fox's thriller film Hide and Seek, Variety reported.
The movie is currently shooting in New York under the helm of John Polson, an actor (Mission: Impossible 2) who is also known for directing the 2002 Fox thriller Swimfan, the trade paper reported.
Ari Schlossberg wrote the script for Hide, about a young girl (Fanning) who loses her mother at an early age and copes with the death in an unusual and ultimately terrifying way, the trade paper reported.
Albert Hughes (who directed From Hell with his brother, Allen) was to have helmed Hide as his first solo directing job, but walked away over what a studio spokesman billed as creative differences two months ago, the trade paper reported.
Radcliffe Talks Potter Future
aniel Radcliffe, who again plays the title role in the upcoming third Harry Potter movie, told the official Potter Web site that he'll play the boy wizard at least one more time.
"At the moment I am working on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and I will certainly make Goblet of Fire," Radcliffe told the site. "After that? Who knows?"
Radcliffe also compared Azkaban director Alfonso Cuaron with Chris Columbus, who helmed the previous two Potter films. "First of all, I consider myself very lucky to have worked with two great directors on these films," he said. "Chris is without doubt the most energetic director I have ever met. He was amazing in keeping us motivated and in encouraging us every step of the way. Alfonso, on the other hand, directs in a more intense way. The scenes in this film are some of the most passionate and emotional I have ever worked on, and Alfonso's style has been very helpful to me." Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is currently in production, eyeing a 2004 release.
Potter Parts Auctioned
wo parts in the proposed fourth Harry Potter film are to be auctioned off in November at a charity dinner in Scotland, Sky News reported.
The two highest bidders at a dinner for the Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland will win walk-on parts in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which begins filming next April, the site reported.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is a major supporter of charities for multiple sclerosis, the disease that caused her mother's premature death in 1990, the site reported.
The auction will take place Nov. 28 at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, with tickets priced at £175 ($293) each. Guests at the function will also be able to bid for a full-size replica of Dobby the House Elf, signed by Rowling, the site reported.
Studios Eye Funke Fantasies
ollywood studios are eyeing the movie rights to German author Cornelia Funke's fantasy best-sellers The Thief Lord and Inkheart, Variety reported.
Funke's English publisher, Barry Cunningham of the Chickenhouse imprint, is the man who shepherded J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series when he worked at Bloomsbury, the trade paper reported.
David Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter movie franchise, is competing with New Line's Mark Ordesky (The Lord of the Rings) for Inkheart, a trilogy whose first installment was published in the United States last month, the trade paper reported.
Meanwhile, producer Richard Claus (The Little Vampire) is already developing The Thief Lord to direct himself next year, Variety reported. Claus and Warner Brothers have also optioned Funke's Dragonslayer series, which is yet to be translated into an English-language version.
Funke, 45, has written more than 40 books for German children and is a movie buff with thousands of videos and DVDs crammed into her Hamburg cellar, the trade paper reported. Last year's U.S. publication of The Thief Lord, about a gang of parentless children in crumbling Venice, sold half a million copies.
Phenomena Launched
ormer CBS president Jeff Sagansky has launched Phenomena, a new bimonthly magazine dedicated to the exploration of the unexplained, publishers announced.
Mania Entertainment (Cinescape) will publish the magazine, whose first issue is on newsstands now.
"This content has been a passion of mine for some time, and Phenomena presents a forum to let readers in on the latest research and speculation from writers all over the world," Sagansky said in a statement. Simon Cox (the CD-ROM magazine DUAT) will be the editor-in-chief of Phenomena.
The November/December 2003 premiere issue features an article by Cox, Robert Kirby and Sam Parnia examining near-death experiences from a medical point of view.
Regency Bags Bagloria
egency Enterprises has acquired Kirby Atkins' fantasy movie script Bagloria, with Robert Lederman attached to direct and Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal's Tribeca producing, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The script centers on a group of kids who enter a portal in their classroom closet to rescue their teacher in a fantasy world called Bagloria, the trade paper reported.
Lederman is best known as a director of SF television and has directed episodes of The Dead Zone, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the trade paper reported. Atkins has been working on TV episodes of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
L.A. Attacks Arnold Sign
os Angeles officials want a building owner to remove an unauthorized giant mural of California governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, which sprang up a week after the Terminator 3 star won the state's Oct. 7 recall election, the Reuters news service reported.
The city attorney has charged the building's owner, Robert Lusk Davis, with failing to get a permit for a huge ad for the DVD release of Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines.
If convicted, Davis faces up to up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for each of six counts, the wire service reported. The mural, on Cahuenga Boulevard in the L.A. suburb of Studio City, is about 40 feet high and about 100 feet wide. Davis said he would take the case to court before taking down the sign, Reuters reported.
Triple H Up For Conan?
he ArnoldFans.com Web site reported a rumor that John Milius, who is developing the sequel film King Conan: Crown of Iron, is eyeing the professional wrestler Triple H, aka Paul Levesque, to replace California governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role.
"Triple H might be a better and grittier fit" than other replacements for Schwarzenegger, who will likely put his film career on hold for a while, the site reported. "They also like his acting and believe he is the perfect age to show the transition from a younger Conan (flashbacks) and could also play the gray-bearded Conan."
Milius and Triple H are reportedly already working on a new action movie called Journey of the Deadman.
The site also reported that Milius will be doing an NPR radio interview this week and may discuss his decisions regarding the future of King Conan.
New Halo Toys Due
oymaker JoyRide is introducing a new line of action figures themed to the best-selling Halo video game, to be released in November, the GameSpot Web site reported.
The toymaker already makes three action figures inspired by the game: the Master Chief, Cortana and the Warthog 4x4, the site reported.
The new Halo toy series will include both a multiplayer-red and standard-green Master Chief, with assault rifle, rocket launcher and tactical shotgun, the site reported. The series will also include a blue Elite Covenant trooper and a Ghost Covenant hovercraft, which will come with three 3-inch figures of the Master Chief, an Elite and an energy-shield-toting jackal, the site reported.
Mansion Haunts Stores
DK Mediactive and Disney Interactive announced that the Haunted Mansion video game is now in retail stores in North America.
Inspired by the Disney theme-park attraction and timed to coincide with the upcoming November release of Disney's Haunted Mansion movie, the game is available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube systems.
In the game, Zeke Holloway must put 999 unwelcome evil spirits to rest while trying to keep himself from being scared to death, the companies said. Players can navigate through game environments based on both the attraction and the movie, which stars Eddie Murphy and opens Nov. 26.
Electra Tops Monster Island
armen Electra has been cast as herself in the upcoming MTV original movie Monster Island, a satire of classic monster movies, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Electra will play the celebrity host of a fictional MTV beach concert that goes awry when a giant creature crashes the party and flies away with her in its beak, the trade paper reported.
The teen cast tries to rescue her with the help of a mad scientist, who will be played by Adam West, star of the 1960s TV series Batman, the trade paper reported. The cast includes Daniel Letterle, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Harrison, Chelan Simmons, Case Beddow and Joe MacLeod. Monster Island is scheduled to air in the first quarter of 2004.
Charmed Casts Spell
he WB's witch series Charmed is doing well in its sixth season, leading the ratings in key demographics, Variety reported.
In its fall premiere, Charmed was the evening's top-rated program among women aged 12-34 and finished second in its 8 p.m. timeslot among adults aged 18-34, the trade paper reported.
Two weeks later, Charmed did better than everything except baseball for its hour among adults 18-34 and women 12-34, the trade paper reported. The Aaron Spelling series, which leads into the network's new Tarzan, is thriving despite competing against dramas on three other networks Sundays at 8.
Briefly Noted
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The CBBC Newsround Web site reported that Matthew Lewis is expected again to play Neville Longbottom in the upcoming fourth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
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Yahoo! Movies has posted a seven-minute featurette with interviews and clips for the upcoming The Matrix Revolutions, which opens worldwide Nov. 5.
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Maxim reported a rumor that Alias star Jennifer Garner may be up for the role of She-Ra in a proposed new live-action Masters of the Universe movie.
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Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ will open in the United States on Feb. 25, 2004, which is Ash Wednesday on the Christian calendar, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed.
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MSN has posted behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the Battle of Pelennor Fields from the upcoming third Lord of the Rings film, The Return of the King, which opens Dec. 17.
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New Line has posted a teaser trailer for its upcoming SF movie The Butterfly Effect, starring Ashton Kutcher, which opens Jan. 23, 2004.
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TBS Superstation will air a special presentation of The Matrix, with interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and scenes from the upcoming Matrix Revolutions, on Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. During breaks, TBS will present interviews with Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving and Jada Pinkett Smith, as well as producer Joel Silver.
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Warner Brothers has posted sound clips from its upcoming live-action/animated fantasy film Looney Tunes: Back in Action, which opens Nov. 14.
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California governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has a cameo role in billionaire Phil Anschutz's self-financed movie Around the World in 80 Days, could jump start the movie's efforts to find a distributor, Business Week magazine reported. The movie could mark the last time the actor will be seen on the big screen for a while.
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Robert Holdstock's Celtika and Peter S. Beagle's The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances won awards in the French Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for 2004, Locus Online reported. Fabrice Colin's Dreamericana and Jean-Jacques Girardot's "Dedales Virtuels" also won.
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Sigourney Weaver, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and George Carlin will voice characters in Happily N'Ever After, a computer-animated movie from the IDT Media animation unit Digital Production Solutions, BAF Berlin Animation Film and Vanguard Films, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Canadian horror director David Cronenberg (The Fly) will guest star on an upcoming episode of ABC's Alias as a scientist who employs a radical therapy to help Sydney (Jennifer Garner) regain her missing memories, TV Guide reported.
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Fox Home Entertainment will release the first season of the defunct teen-alien series Roswell on DVD this February, TV Guide Online reported.
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A federal court in Illinois has denied Caterpillar Inc.'s bid to stop the release of Disney's straight-to-video sequel film George of the Jungle 2 on charges of trademark infringement, the Reuters news service reported. Caterpillar had objected to scenes in the movie featuring its equipment.
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E! Online columnist Anderson Jones reported that Blair Witch Project co-director Ed Sanchez has just finished his first horror script in five years, Sasquatch, after trying unsuccessfully to get a comedy off the ground.
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Good Boy!, an SF movie about alien talking dogs, opened in sixth place in the Oct. 17 weekend box-office rankings, taking in about $9 million, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
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Lord of the Rings cast member Orlando Bloom (Legolas) will appear on a poster for the Young Adult Library Services Association's 2003 Teen Read Week, Oct. 19-25, New Line Cinema announced. Teen Read Week is a national literacy initiative sponsored by YALSA, a division of the American Library Association, that encourages teenagers to read.
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