Matrix Reports Big Bucks
he unprecedented Nov. 5 simultaneous worldwide release of The Matrix Revolutions in 96 countries reaped a total of $43.1 million in first-day grosses, Variety reported.
That included $24.3 million from 3,502 screens in the United States, making it the second-biggest Wednesday opening ever, the trade paper reported. The opening ranked No. 12 on the overall opening-day list.
Given its print count, around 8,000, observers had expected the debut day to reach a slightly higher level, the trade paper reported. Most box-office watchers are figuring on a five-day domestic take in excess of $100 million. The previous film, The Matrix Reloaded, scooped up $134.3 million over four days, the trade paper reported.
Matrix Opens Big
espite mixed reviews, the third and final installment in the Matrix trilogy debuted to sold-out theaters upon its simultaneous worldwide release on Nov. 5, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"The worldwide day-and-date openings look to be a huge success," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at Warner Brothers.
The largest day-and-date hour-to-hour feature film release in history, The Matrix Revolutions went out with a record 18,013 prints in 96 countries, including 18 Imax prints. Fellman told the trade paper that the film sold out in 48 North American Imax houses by 11 a.m.
Warner Brothers could only provide solid figures for the first showings in Japan and Australia. In Japan, Revolutions unspooled at 11 p.m. local time and grossed an estimated $1.5 million from 900 prints from the first show, while the 456 prints in Australia earned an estimated $465,000 for the first 1 a.m. screening, the trade paper reported.
Wachowski Defends Matrix Idea
n a legal statement acquired by The Smoking Gun Web site, Matrix co-creator Larry Wachowski declared that he and his brother Andy came up with the idea for the film prior to his 1993 marriage to his ex-wife, Thea Bloom, thus preventing her from receiving any of the profits from the lucrative film franchise.
Wachowski and Bloom divorced in December of 2002 and have been in settlement talks since then. In the statement, the filmmaker says, "I am certain that my brother and I created the Matrix trilogy before my marriage."
This contradicts an early statement on July 16, which Wachowski now says is "inacurate in this regard." The declaration also references a writing deal with Warner Brothers which was negotiated 10 days before his marriage and would prevent Bloom from a share in the proceeds from future projects, including Plastic Man and V for Vendetta.
Watson Hints At Matrix 4
layton Watson, who reprises the role of The Kid in the Matrix Revolutions, revealed to EW.com that there were indeed rumblings of further Matrix adventures, though producer Joel Silver has categorically denied that a further sequel will happen.
"I've been told not to say anything," Watson told the site. "At one point it was, 'Look, if there's a [Matrix] 4, 5 and 6, then it's you and Jada [Pinkett Smith].' And I'd say to the boys [directors Larry and Andy Wachowski], 'Are we starting?' And they'd say, 'Don't f--king go there, kid.'"
Asked recently about a possible fourth film, Silver told SCI FI Wire, "It will never happen."
For his part, Watson said, "At this stage, it's very doubtful that there'll be a continuation of the saga. But maybe in another five years or so." Revolutions opened worldwide on Nov. 5.
Marsden Eyes X3
ames Marsden, who played Scott Summers/Cyclops in X-Men and X2, told SCI FI Wire that X3 is in the works and that the producers have expressed interest in his reprising the character.
"I know that there's an outline, a treatment out there, for the third one," Marsden said in an interview. "I don't know what's in it or what the story is."
Marsden said that during his interactions with "big, die-hard X-Men fans," they expressed interest in seeing the Dark Phoenix saga from the comic books depicted on the big screen. "[It's] when Jean Grey [Famke Janssen] turns into Dark Phoenix," the actor said. "So I interviewed some of these fans, and they'd very much like that to happen. I guess that would include me a lot, because she'd become super cosmic and evil. So that would be an interesting dichotomy, to have Hugh Jackman [Wolverine] and [me] team up to stop her."
Alert fans may have caught some foreshadowing of the Dark Phoenix storyline in X2. But will that form the basis of X3? "I don't know," Marsden said. "I don't know if that's the real comic-book story or not, or, if it is, if they're going to use it," he said. "Jean definitely does continue to evolve after the second movie, and I'd like to see us get into that relationship a bit more. And I'd like to see them get into a relationship between Cyclops and Wolverine a little bit more [too]."
Marsden added that he's still eager to play the title character in director Rachel Talalay's proposed film adaptation of the Preacher comic book series.
McKellen Speaks Out At BIFAs
ir Ian McKellen, who received the British Independent Film award for Variety U.K. Personality in a ceremony in London on Nov. 4, had strong words for the British film industry in his acceptance speech, according to British newspaper The Evening Standard.
McKellen, who appeared as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Magneto in X-Men and X2, criticised his country's film industry for its timidity, lack of ambition and failure to recognize the wealth of technical and artistic talent in Britain, the paper reported.
After accepting the award from his Lord of the Rings co-star Orlando Bloom, McKellen said, "Why are we happy in Britain to settle for small, independent films? ... Why wasn't a great film like Lord of the Rings made in this country?" The British Independent Film awards, now in their sixth year, honor the best in British filmmaking.
Deschanel High On Elf
ooey Deschanel, who plays Will Ferrell's love interest in the fantasy film Elf, told SCI FI Wire that she is a department store elf who finds it easy to love Ferrell's character, Buddy, a human raised by elves.
"He is awfully sweet," Deschanel said in an interview. "What a sweet guy. Who wouldn't [love him]? He's like Don Quixote, a pure innocent."
Deschanel added that she has a chance to sing in the film and over the end credits, drawing on her musical-theater training. "I've been singing forever," she said. "I started out doing musicals. So I think that's part of the reason why they gave me the part."
In a separate interview, Mary Steenburgen, who plays James Caan's wife in Elf, told SCI FI Wire that her character accepts Buddy, in contrast to Caan, who plays Buddy's biological father. "Her function is the opposite of Jimmy Caan's, who's sort of the Scrooge, if you will, of the piece," Steenburgen said. "[My character] is the person that looks at Buddy and instantly gets the pure spirit and appreciates him. So I fall in love more quickly than most people do with him."
Steenburgen admitted that she succumbed to family pressure to accept the role. "I basically told my manager that I would do this movie before I read the script," she said. "I heard that there was going to be a movie called Elf with Will Ferrell in the title role. If I had dared to show my face around my four teenagers saying that I had turned down a movie like this, they would have never spoken to me again. So I just said, 'Clearly, I have to do that, or they'll kill me.' Everybody in our house was a Will Ferrell fan, including [husband] Ted [Danson] and myself. So I didn't really care what the part was. The part was secondary to just being a part of it." Elf opened Nov. 7.
Newhart Gets Small In Elf
ob Newhart, who plays an elf in the fantasy comedy Elf, told SCI FI Wire that he had to adjust his performance to accommodate the trick photography that makes him appear tiny.
Newhart's adopted son, a human played by Will Ferrell, appears to tower over him and the other elves thanks to perspective photography.
"It made for an interesting day, because I was here, and Will would be nine feet away from me," Newhart said in an interview. "So when I was talking to Will, I was actually talking to an X on the wall, and he was talking to an X on the wall to make it look like we were talking to each other. That took some getting used to, because as an actor, you generally want to see the other actor's face."
Gradually, Newhart got used to the awkward camera setups. "It became easier as each day went along. The boards in the floor had to be aligned in such a way that it looked like I was standing right next to him when I was standing actually 10 feet away. It was very clever, [but] it's very technical."
Newhart was sure the film would work when he saw dailies of the perspective scenes. "We had first shot Will sitting on my lap, which was really accomplished by me sitting in the chair and Will sitting sideways in another chair the same size and a small child underneath Will whose little feet were sticking out. So we had to coordinate my writhing in pain with his feet. And then we saw the dailies of it, and we all got hysterical. It was the funniest thing we'd ever seen." Elf opened Nov. 7.
Nemo DVD Swims Past Spidey
inding Nemo set a record for the most DVD and VHS units sold in one day during its first 24 hours of retail release, breaking the record set last year by Spider-Man, according to Variety.
The computer-animated feature from Pixar and Disney sold about 8 million copies on Nov. 4, which exceeds Spider-Man's total by about a million, the trade paper reported.
The studio shipped 25 million copies but already has ordered more, figuring some stores might run out as early as this weekend, Bob Chapek, president of Disney home entertainment, told the trade paper.
DVDs accounted for about 90 percent of sales. Total sales for Finding Nemo could rival the 32 million VHS copies that Disney's The Lion King sold in its initial video release in the 1990s, the trade paper said. Finding Nemo has earned $339.2 million to date in its theatrical release, making it the top-grossing film of 2003.
Howard Helming Da Vinci
scar-winning director Ron Howard told SCI FI Wire that he will helm a film adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling thriller novel The Da Vinci Code.
Howard added in an interview that he will commence the movie after his next, Cinderella Man. "We're just beginning to work on that script," Howard said in an interview.
The Da Vinci Code tells the story of a cryptographer and a symbologist investigating a murder in the Louvre. The clues lead to secrets of Western history, including the Holy Grail.
Howard said that he is very early in the process and anticipated the challenges of adapting such a story. "It's dealing with the timeline, visualizing it," he said.
Moore Parts Carnivale Veil
onald D. Moore, co-executive producer of HBO's supernatural drama series Carnivale, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming final first-season episodes will answer some questions raised by the offbeat show—but not all of them.
"By the end of the first season you're going to understand a lot more about 'Management,'" Moore said in an interview. "You'll know who's running the carnival." The show deals with the strange performers in a Depression-era traveling freak show.
Moore—who is also executive producer of the SCI FI Channel's upcoming original miniseries Battlestar Galactica—added that audiences will understand more about Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl) and Brother Justin (Clancy Brown) and why they are connected. "Even though those two characters aren't going to meet in the first season—which is a non-traditional way, that the hero and the villain aren't going to meet year one at all—you're going to understand that they're both players in a much larger story," Moore said.
Moore added, "People aren't in the carnivale by accident. You'll start to go, 'Oh my God, that guy is connected to the backstory, and that guy isn't.' You'll start to see that Brother Justin is on an arc, on a climb to power, and that Ben is trying to grapple with a role he didn't want, but was born into. That's where you'll be by the end of the first season. You'll start to understand where it's all going. But it's not really going to answer every single question." Carnivale airs Sunday nights at 9 ET/PT on HBO.
Potter Hexes Grotter
Dutch appeals court upheld a ban on the Dutch publication of a Russian novel judges said copied J.K. Rowling's best-selling Harry Potter books, the Reuters news service reported.
The Amsterdam appeals court said the similarities between Dmitry Yemets' Tanya Grotter and the Magic Double Bass and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) were too close and upheld the view that the book infringed Rowling's copyright, the news service reported.
"The impression left by the Tanya Grotter story is too similar in many essential aspects to be regarded as an independent creation," the court said in a written ruling.
Byblos, publisher of the Dutch translation of the Tanya Grotter book, acknowledged the novel was based on Harry Potter, saying it should be considered not as plagiarism but as a "polemic that quotes from Harry Potter," the news service reported. The court also rejected Byblos' contention that Harry Potter could not be considered a brand name.
Rowling and Time Warner won an injunction from the Amsterdam district court in April to block publication of 7,000 copies of a Dutch translation of Yemets' book.
WB Halts Tarzan Mid-Swing
he WB has halted production on its new fall drama Tarzan after eight episodes, the Futon Critic Web site reported.
The show will remain on the network's schedule for the remainder of November sweeps period, as three installments have yet to air, the site reported.
WB executives will decide the show's fate after seeing the numbers for those episodes. Through its five airings this season, Tarzan has averaged a disappointing 3.9 million viewers overall, the site reported.
UPN Uploads More Jake 2.0
PN has given a full-season pickup to the struggling freshman series Jake 2.0, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The critically praised show has earned mediocre ratings in its post-Enterprise slot on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, but it has been on a rebound lately, following a dip during the baseball postseason, the trade paper reported.
The high-tech action adventure stars Christopher Gorham as a computer expert who gains super powers when he is infected with microscopic robots called nanites.
Meanwhile, the news is not so good for the WB's much-hyped Tarzan. The trade paper reported that cancellation is imminent for the modernized version of the Edgar Rice Burroughs tale starring former Calvin Klein underwear model Travis Fimmel.
Cast Rides The Bullet
onathan Jackson, David Arquette, Barbara Hershey and Erika Christensen will head the cast of Riding the Bullet, the film adaptation of Stephen King's supernatural e-book of the same name, Variety reported.
Brad Krevoy's Motion Picture Corp. of America is producing the movie, to be helmed by writer-director Mick Garris (The Stand).
The story takes place on Halloween in 1969, when college student Alan Parker (Jackson), distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend (Christensen), fails a suicide attempt and is then picked up by a mysterious driver (Arquette) while hitchhiking through rural Maine to visit his ailing mother (Hershey). Production starts this month in Vancouver, B.C.
Underworld 2 Bites Deeper
en Wiseman, director of this year's hit vampire movie Underworld, told the Moviehole Web site that the upcoming sequel will dig deeper into the movie's werewolves-vs.-bloodsuckers mythology.
"This time we can expect more history about the vampires and the werewolves, which we weren't able to do in the first one," Wiseman told the site. "There's going to be a bit of actual battle in the medieval times between the werewolves and vampires, with, like, armor-clad vampires on horses, kind of like Braveheart."
Wiseman added, "It'll play out a bit like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where the first 10 to 15 minutes of the film will be a prequel. We're going to really dive into the Dark Ages, and then center some more on the modern day."
Wiseman said the many of the first film's cast, which was headed by Wiseman's real-life fiancee, Kate Beckinsale, will return. "But also new cast, too," he said. "It's in early development, so of course we have no idea whom, but yeah, some new people will be involved."
Cipes Scratches Nigel
reg Cipes, a voice actor who plays a talking tiger in Disney's upcoming computer-animated film The Nigel Project, told SCI FI Wire that recording sessions have just begun for the film.
"I've done the scratch voice [track], so what they do is they take the scratch and they start animating," Cipes said in an interview.
Cipes' character, Tanji, is a young tiger who lives in a New York zoo, where the animals speak when humans are not around. Tanji gets into a fight with his family and through mishaps ends up lost in the jungle, awaiting rescue.
Having seen some of the initial character designs, Cipes said, "They look like real animals, but it's got that Disney quality to it, where it looks like there's humans behind it, humans within the face." Cipes will also sing in the film. "I can't even talk about the song exactly, but it's like this kid, he's all alone in the wild, and he's singing out to his parents in the world. [His] life's spinning around, he doesn't know what the heck's going on, what decisions that he made to put him in this place. It's a pretty famous song, too." The Nigel Project is scheduled for 2005 and co-stars Nicolas Cage and Dan Castellaneta.
Spawn Game Rises
pawn: Armageddon, a video game based on Todd McFarlane's comic creation, is slated for release this month for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox, Namco Hometek Inc. and Todd McFarlane Productions announced.
The game will feature the character of Mammon, known by many Spawn fans for his mysterious appearances in past comic-book issues.
Spawn: Armageddon is a 3-D action/adventure game that will give players access to his superhuman strength, hand-to-hand combat techniques, arsenal of weaponry, hell powers and living symbiotic costume, the companies said. Caught in the battle of good vs. evil, he struggles to break free from the controlling influences of heaven and hell.
New Darkness Comics Due
ynamic Forces announced that it has acquired the license for the rights to produce merchandise and comic books based on Sam Raimi's camp horror classic Army of Darkness, the third film of the director's Evil Dead trilogy, the Newsarama Web site message board reported.
Dynamic Forces will be actively seeking to make new comic projects based on Army of Darkness, and is looking into the breadth the license allows in material, the site reported.
The license allows for Dynamic Forces to produce trading cards, lithographs, acetate lithos, wall scrolls, hardcovers, limited-edition bookends and full-size head bust statues featuring images and characters from the film, the site reported. In addition, the company is also looking into producing a hardcover collection of the 1993 Dark Horse miniseries, illustrated by John Bolton.
Shrinking Grows In March
rian Grazer, producer of an update of the classic SF movie The Incredible Shrinking Man, told SCI FI Wire that the film begins shooting in March, with Eddie Murphy as the title character.
The film has been long in development, but Grazer credits writers Ben Garant and Tom Lennon with bringing the final touch that made the script ready to shoot.
"[They] had a genius idea as to what the occupation of the guy should be," Grazer said in an interview. "He's going to be a Las Vegas magician. It's so great, because what happens is he's that bigger-than-life [persona]. It's Eddie with an attitude. It's not happy Eddie. It's Eddie with his edgy attitude, being like David Copperfield or David Blaine. ... But he's somehow been relegated to do the day show, like babysitting kids. And he's pissed."
When Murphy's character begins shrinking, "the audience believed that that was part of the show," Grazer said. "So you get to have a reality where everyone's going, 'He shrunk himself, screw him. You're on Leno? Bullsh-t. You shrunk yourself. You're promoting yourself.' And he's going, 'Get me out of here.'" The Incredible Shrinking Man is slated for release in 2005.
Watts Circles Ring 2
ustralian actress Naomi Watts told SCI FI Wire that she's set to reprise her role as Rachel Keller in the upcoming sequel to 2002's supernatural horror hit The Ring.
"I think it will be happening next year," Watts said in an interview.
Watts added that the sequel, The Ring 2, will not be based on the Japanese sequel to the original Japanese film Ringu, on which the first Ring was based. "I haven't read it yet," Watts said. "But I think it's quite different."
Watts also talked more about her possible lead role in Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's remake of the classic SF movie King Kong. "I've met Peter Jackson, and I just thought he was the most incredible man," Watts said. "He works with his wife [writer-producer Fran Walsh], and he's obviously made such an incredible number of films."
Watts added, "The King Kong story is a beautiful, romantic, simple story. I've seen both [previous] versions, and they're obviously quite different. But I think Peter Jackson would take it into a whole new realm. But I haven't read anything yet."
As for the prospect of stepping into the shoes of Fay Wray and Jessica Lange, Kong's two previous leading ladies, Watts said, "The hand of King Kong. It's kind of scary and exciting, too. But we'll see. The ink hasn't even hit the paper yet."
Fantasy Press Founder Dies
F author and publisher Lloyd Arthur Eshbach died on Oct. 29th in Myerstown, Pa., at the age of 93, according to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Eshbach's writing career began in 1929, when his first story appeared in Science and Wonder Stories. He also wrote several novels, including the Gates of Lucifer tetralogy.
After two attempts at magazine publishing in the 1930s, Eshbach founded Fantasy Press in 1946. Fantasy Press lasted for 15 years, publishing the works of authors such as John W. Campbell, L. Sprague DeCamp, E.E. "Doc" Smith, Jack Williamson and Stanley Weinbaum. The publisher also produced Of Worlds Beyond, a collection of essays on SF writing and the first nonfiction treatment of the genre. In 1983, Eshbach wrote a memoir of his experience in publishing, Over My Shoulder: Reflections of a Science Fiction Era. He is survived by one son, five grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
Cat Speaks To Kids
rian Grazer, producer of Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, told SCI FI Wire that the film brings a heightened reality to problems that will be accessible to kids.
"Whereas The Grinch was an adventure in a fantasy world, The Cat in the Hat is sort of Edward Scissorhands meets Home Alone," Grazer said in an interview.
Grazer added, "It's sort of like that, because it's a relatable world. But it's a limited color palette, and the neighborhood is specific. Of course [director] Bo Welch did the first couple Batmans with Tim Burton and actually Edward Scissorhands as well," as a production designer.
In Cat in the Hat, two children find themselves home alone, but not allowed to go into certain rooms or to use their Game Boys or other high-tech gadgets, Grazer said. "So they're bored out of their minds," he added. "How are they going to have fun? They absolutely don't think it's possible. And the Cat comes in as a catalyst and changes their world." The Cat in the Hat opens Nov. 21.
Cat Game Ships
he video game based on the upcoming Universal feature film adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat has shipped to retailers for PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance platforms, the GameSpot Web site reported.
Developed by VU Games, The Cat in the Hat will carry a suggested retail price of $29.99.
The game will follow the adventures of the titular Cat as he helps a young boy travel through a surreal dimension. Mike Myers, who plays the Cat in the film, will also voice the character in the game. The Cat in the Hat will feature a mix of characters from the original Dr. Seuss book, like the Fish and Things 1 and 2, and some new gameplay elements, including the Cat's ability to use his umbrella to fly and his hat as a shield, the site reported.
Watts Talked Kong
aomi Watts confirmed to TV Guide Online that she has spoken with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson about starring in his upcoming King Kong remake.
"I've always admired him, even before The Lord of the Rings," the Australian actress told the site.
Watts (The Ring) added, "The King Kong story is so iconic. There's something really simple, beautiful and heartbreaking about it, and he would take it to a whole new level."
Alien Quadrilogy Hatches
ox will release a nine-disc set of the four Alien movies on DVD in the Alien Quadrilogy collection, available Dec. 2.
The collection will feature never-before-available versions of each movie, plus a bonus disc.
The collection will include 45 hours of never-before-seen footage, in addition to the original theatrical releases of each of the four films in the franchise: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. The set will also feature alternate versions of each film—including the new Alien director's cut now in theaters—as well as director commentaries, screen tests, production footage and other features.
The box set carries a suggested retail price of $99.98.
Fantasy X-2 Gets Early Release
quare Enix announced that Final Fantasy X-2 will ship to North American retailers for the PlayStation 2 on Nov. 18, several weeks earlier than originally scheduled.
Final Fantasy X-2 is the first female-led game in the best-selling franchise's history and is the sequel to Final Fantasy X.
Final Fantasy X-2 will be available at a suggested retail price of $49.99.
Fraser Still Up For Superman
rendan Fraser told SCI FI Wire that he is still in the running for the coveted title role in Warner Brothers' upcoming Superman film, based on the DC Comics character.
"I'm interested," Fraser said in an interview while promoting his latest film, Looney Tunes: Back In Action. "I have been approached about it. It is a possibility. It really comes down to, I think, decisions made [at the] studio level way up on high."
Fraser is one of several young Hollywood actors whose names have been linked with the role in the much-anticipated but much-delayed project, the fifth movie to feature the Man of Steel.
Fraser said that he is also taking into consideration the drawbacks of playing the iconic superhero. "Whoever it is who plays that role is historically forever more known as that character," he said. "I mean, that's a superhero who isn't masked, and he's also of a duplicitous nature. It's Clark Kent and Superman. So I've read the script for it. It's very good. We'll see. Stay tuned. No pun intended." Looney Tunes: Back in Action opens Nov. 14.
Silver Mulls V For Vendetta
atrix writers/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski have drafted a script for a movie based on Alan Moore's classic graphic novel V for Vendetta, producer Joel Silver told the C.H.U.D. Web site.
"They wrote a script for me ... years ago, and they've talked about producing it with me and bringing somebody in to direct it that they like," Silver told the site.
V for Vendetta, from the author of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, takes place in an alternate future in which Germany has won World War II and a vigilante named "V" stalks the streets of London trying to free a fascist England. "I'd love to work with them forever, whatever they want to do," Silver said of the Wachowskis.
Evil: Apocalypse Wraps
eremy Bolt, producer of Paul W.S. Anderson's upcoming sequel film Resident Evil: Apocalypse, told The Hollywood Reporter that the movie is based on the video-game sequel Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
The Impact Pictures movie wrapped principal photography on Halloween in Toronto.
"We're taking the world of the first movie and colliding it head-on with the world of the game, specifically Resident Evil 3: Nemesis," Bolt told the trade paper. "All the action is above ground in an evacuated Raccoon City. The deadly T-virus is out, and the Umbrella Corp. has sealed the city." Resident Evil: Apocalypse is slated for a September 2004 release.
Villain Rights Optioned
ew Line Cinema has optioned Neil Zawacki's book How to Be a Villain for Mandeville Films to produce, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The book is a tongue-in-cheek guide to joining the forces of darkness and offers advice on such issues as whether to invest in winged monkeys or ninja warriors and where to locate your evil hideout, the trade paper reported.
A writer has yet to be hired for the film adaptation, which will center on a loser who sets his sights on becoming a supervillain, the trade paper reported.
Bear Team Re-Ups
rother Bear directors Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker and producer Chuck Williams have signed an exclusive deal to make their next toon feature for Walt Disney Feature Animation, Variety reported.
Williams will produce and Blaise and Walker will helm the as-yet-unnamed movie.
All three have been key contributors to Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida since it opened in 1989, though Bear marks their feature-film debut.
Graveyard Says Boo!
oo!, a low-budget horror film written and to be directed by Cinescape editor Anthony C. Ferrante, will be the first feature of Graveyard Filmworks, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Producer David E. Allen and his Kismet Entertainment Group launched Graveyard as a specialty horror division that will produce a series of low-budget horror movies, the trade paper reported.
Boo! concerns a group of college kids who get trapped in a haunted hospital on Halloween night, the trade paper reported.
Graveyard also is gearing up three other movies:
•Servant of the Dark, a supernatural psychological thriller written by Anthony Valletta and to be directed by Allen.
•Cemetery Gates, a creature feature about an escaped mutated experimental animal written by Brian Patrick O'Toole, with the director to be determined.
•A project in development, to be directed by Dagen Merrill.
In addition, the sequel to Kismet's cult hit film Dog Soldiers, titled Dog Soldiers: Fresh Meat, will be shot under the Graveyard Filmworks banner, though with a significantly bigger budget than the other Graveyard movies, which will each have budgets of about $1 million, the trade paper reported.
SpongeBob Game Here
HQ and Nickelodeon announced the North American release of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, a video game based on the hit Nickolodeon animated series.
SpongeBob is designed for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and GameBoy Advance.
In SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, the evil Plankton has set in motion his diabolical plot to take over the world, and the fate of Bikini Bottom is in the hands of SpongeBob, Patrick and Sandy, who are all playable characters. The game features 50 levels in 10 3-D worlds.
Tribune Gets Strange
ribune Entertainment has teamed with Daniel Baldwin for The Strange Detective, a cop series with a supernatural twist, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The tentatively titled series centers on a San Francisco detective who survives a plunge off the Golden Gate bridge, but begins to experience "rips in time," with visions of events that have occurred in the places he visits, the trade paper reported.
The project was originally developed for syndication, but is now being targeted for cable distribution, the trade paper reported.
The idea for the show was brought to Tribune by Neil Russell, Dennis Hackin and Joseph Stinson, with Russell serving as executive producer and Hackin and Stinson as consultants, the trade paper reported. Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, who work on Tribune's Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, have been tapped as writers and co-executive producers.
Briefly Noted
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A new teaser trailer has gone live for Shrek 2, the upcoming sequel to the hit computer-animated film, which opens May 21, 2004.
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Scary Movie 3 writer Craig Mazin has signed a first-look deal with Dimension Films to adapt Opus from Berkeley Breathed's Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip Bloom County, as well as the sequel Scary Movie 4, Variety reported. Mazin also adapted Harvey, a new screen version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play that was the basis for the 1950 Jimmy Stewart film.
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Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg declared Nov. 7 "Elf Day" in New York City, recognizing New Line Cinema's fantasy movie Elf, which shot partially in New York, the studio announced. The movie held its world premiere in the city on Nov. 2 and opened everywhere on Nov. 7.
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A teaser trailer for the upcoming third Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, will hit theaters, attached to prints of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, on Nov. 14.
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The latest poster for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is now online at the film's official Web site. The third installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy opens in theaters on Dec. 17.
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In conjunction with the simultaneous worldwide opening of The Matrix Revolutions, Warner Brothers arranged for all of the screens in New York City's Times Square to have the green digital code from The Matrix rain down at exactly 8:50 a.m. Nov. 5.
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Fox has posted a new Web site and teaser trailer for its upcoming SF disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow. From Independence Day director Roland Emmerich, Day stars Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sela Ward and Emmy Rossum and opens May 28, 2004.
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Commercial director Noam Murro has signed on to direct the upcoming horror sequel The Ring 2, Reuters reported. It will be the first feature for Murro, who received a nomination from the Directors Guild of America earlier this year for outstanding directing in commercials.
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Brian Grazer, producer of The Cat in the Hat, told SCI FI Wire that he intends to make a sequel, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. Grazer added that members of the cast of the first Cat are signed to reprise their roles.
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new trailer has gone live for the upcoming live-action Peter Pan movie, starring Jason Isaacs, which opens Christmas Day.
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Twentieth Century Fox Films has acquired Latin American rights to the animated Mexican feature film Magos y Gigantes (Wizards and Giants), Variety reported. The movie doesn't have U.S. distribution yet.
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