Burton No Fan Of Wonka
im Burton, who will direct Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, told SCI FI Wire that he has no great love for the first film adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's book, 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
"I find [Willy Wonka] odd, because it's overly sweet when it shouldn't be, and it's really dark when it's really weird, so I found it to be almost exactly wrong in some ways," Burton said in an interview.
Burton said that he is awaiting a script before revealing details of his version of the beloved story. But he confirmed earlier reports that he will cast Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. "I love working with him," Burton said. "I've worked with him three times. He's my friend. [He] always surprises [me]. I like these kind of actors [who] don't care how they look. They're just willing, and there's a freedom to that and an excitement that I get from that. [Some] people are like, 'Wait, my light's not right,' or 'I'm not coming out of my trailer until this happens or that.' [People like Depp] are people ready to go."
Warner Brothers plans to release Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005.
Constantine Gets Noirish
eanu Reeves, who stars in the upcoming comic-to-film Constantine, told SCI FI Wire that first-time director Francis Lawrence is giving the movie the right sensibility.
"He's bringing a real film noir sense to it, which I think is really suitable for the character and the story," Reeves said in an interview.
Reeves said that the movie, based on the DC/Vertigo Hellblazer series, is several weeks into production and that he has already filmed in Long Beach, Calif.; downtown Los Angeles; and on the Warner Brothers studio lot in nearby Burbank. But though the movie is based on a comic, Reeves said he's basing his performance on what's in the script. "In terms of referencing the graphic novels, I've sourced them a little bit," he said. "I looked more at the shapes of the drawings and character and kind of just connected to his primal point of view." Reeves added that he's bringing anger to his character, supernatural detective John Constantine.
Should the first film be successful, Reeves is up for a franchise. "We have to make a film, and we have to tell a story," he said. "Certainly through the experience right now, I'm really enjoying the character, and hopefully we'll make a good film that's really going to dictate whether or not we continue telling stories about him, if people respond to the story." Warner Brothers will release Constantine in 2004.
Reeves Offers Constantine Hints
eanu Reeves—who stars in Constantine, based on the DC/Vertigo comic series Hellblazer—told SCI FI Wire that his character is conflicted about his God-given mission on Earth.
Constantine is entering its seventh week of principal photography in Los Angeles under director Francis Lawrence.
Reeves' character, supernatural detective John Constantine, is "a guy who's angry and ambivalent," Reeves said. "There's a line in it: 'God has a plan for all of us. Some people like it, and some people don't.' That's kind of my Constantinian take on it. Some people like it. John Constantine doesn't like it, but he likes it."
Reeves acknowledged that the character and the story are dark, but not so dark as to preclude delivering a piece of commercial entertainment. "Well, we're hoping to make a PG-13 film," he said. "I'm playing a character who is damned, and he's trying to escape hell. He goes to Gabriel [Tilda Swinton] and says, 'Come on, I'm taking demons out of little girls. Who's that for?' Gabriel says, 'Well, you don't believe.' I go, 'I believe, for Christ's sake!' He says, 'No, you don't. You know you don't have faith.' After that [encounter with Gabriel], you see my character with scratches on his back, and he's drinking some whiskey, and he's just made love with a demon. So we're trying to deliver a PG-13 film. My feet are on the floor by the bed, and she's under the covers." Warner Brothers will release Constantine, which also stars Rachel Weisz and Shia LeBeouf, in 2004.
Alias Star Ignores Hype
ennifer Garner, star of ABC's Alias, told TV Guide that she doesn't have time to read the tabloid gossip about her personal life, including her recent breakup with husband Scott Foley and hookup with Alias co-star Michael Vartan.
"Luckily for me, most of the time, I'm here [on the Alias set]," she told the magazine. "It's very easy to live my life here, because this crew has been with me for three years. They really look after me emotionally, as well as taking care of my day-to-day physical needs."
Garner added, "The main thing that starts with [series creator] J.J. [Abrams] and works its way down is a familial atmosphere. It was that way on [Abrams' previous series] Felicity as well. It's why people want to work with him again and again, and it's why he uses actors again and again, because he must believe in this kind of family setting."
Garner added that she's getting used to the glare of publicity. "As far as the photographers at my house, they've chilled out," she said. "Of course, I don't like it. But I wasn't ignorant [of the consequences] when I took the role. And the good so outweighs the bad. What are you going to do?" Alias airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Caine Enters Bat Cave
scar-winning actor Michael Caine has agreed to play the role of Bruce Wayne's trusted butler, Alfred, in the new installment of Warner Brothers' Batman series, Variety reported.
Christian Bale has been cast in the title role. Caine's deal is being finalized, the trade paper reported.
Christopher Nolan is directing, based on David Goyer's script. Batman is expected to start shooting next year for a 2005 release, the trade paper reported.
Timeline Wandered At Start
ichard Donner, director of the upcoming time-travel film Timeline, told SCI FI Wire that the movie wandered the globe for years, searching for a place to shoot.
"We faced what we thought at times were insurmountable problems," Donner said in an interview.
To begin with, Donner said that it took a year to adapt Michael Crichton's best-selling SF novel, about a group of modern-day archaeology students who travel back to 14th-century France to rescue their professor. Then the film had trouble finding a place to shoot. The Dordogne region of France, where the bulk of the movie's medieval action takes place, was too modern and developed. The film's second choice, Wales, had an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease just when the movie was set to go there.
"We went to Germany," Donner said. "This is after scouting all of Europe again. We set up there, had stages in Berlin, had locations. And 9/11 happened, and I didn't want to be a high-profile American film there. And we left. And we came back and then there was going to be a writers' [union] strike [and] an actors' strike, and that was a six months' shutdown. And then we scouted America, and it was too expensive. Then we started in Vancouver, because it was convenient, and went all the way east before we found the right place [in Montreal]. That's two and a half years." Timeline opens Nov. 26.
Rings Actors Nearly Mutiny
ewsweek is reporting this week that the Lord of the Rings cast nearly staged a mini-mutiny against New Line, the studio that financed Peter Jackson's epic trilogy of movies, over the issue of bonuses.
Early this year, the magazine reported, the studio offered some cast members an initial round of bonuses for The Two Towers. But though the movie was a bigger hit than the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, the bonuses were smaller and left far more cast members out in the cold, the magazine reported.
After failing to win assurances from New Line that there would be a more equitable offering in the future, 18 actors reportedly banded together and composed a letter to Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons pleading their case, Newsweek reported.
The actors never sent the letter, ultimately convinced that going over New Line's head to Parsons would harm relations with the studio. Instead, the actors made a "vigorous appeal" to New Line executive vice president Mark Ordesky. The studio eventually struck a more egalitarian deal for both The Two Towers and The Return of the King, paying cast members above and beyond their profit-participation deals and even rewarding the many actors with no deal in place at all, Newsweek reported. Return of the King, the last film in the trilogy, opens Dec. 17.
More Star Wars Changes Due?
he Digital Bits Web site is reporting a rumor that George Lucas plans more changes to his original Star Wars trilogy of films.
Citing anonymous sources, the site reported that the changes will include new special effects, revised and updated shots and scenes and new footage shot with prequel actors Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) and Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor) that would flesh out moments with their characters in the original films.
For example, an aged and scarred Hayden will now appear as Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi, when Luke removes Darth Vader's helmet, the site reported. Among the other rumored changes:
•The original Star Wars movie will restore the moment when Han Solo (Harrison Ford) shoots Greedo first.
•Lucas will revamp the lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) and Vader.
Episode III Reshoots In March
wan McGregor, who reprises the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode III, told SCI FI Wire that he expects to be called for reshoots early next year.
"I think we'll probably have a week of reshoots, which we usually have, maybe in March," McGregor said in an interview. "And then that's it."
McGregor also confirmed producer Rick McCallum's spoiler that the prequel will feature an underwater fight scene. "I've done underwater stuff before," McGregor said. "I like filming underwater, because no one's in your eye line, because you can't see. And it's very quiet and peaceful. Like the Trainspotting underwater sequence was nice to do. It's unusual to find yourself filming underwater, and it's quite an unusual, exciting thing to do." Star Wars: Episode III will be released in 2005.
Normandy Unlocks Star Wars
ucasArts revealed that players of its World War II-themed Secret Weapons Over Normandy video game are in for a surprise when they reach a certain level: unlockable bonus content featuring classic Star Wars vehicles, the GameSpot Web site reported.
Players who complete all 15 missions of the single-player campaigns, well as all 21 of the challenge missions, will unlock two vehicles from the classic Star Wars universe: the Incom T-65 X-wing and the Sienar Fleet Systems TIE Fighter.
The X-wing and TIE Fighter starships will be available in the game's instant action mode, and console players will also be able to pit squadrons of the craft against those of their friends in the split-screen multiplayer mode, the site reported. Secret Weapons Over Normandy is now available in North America for the PC.
Fox Remains Tru
ox Broadcasting Co. has picked up seven additional episodes of the supernatural series Tru Calling, starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer alumna Eliza Dushku, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The back order for Tru Calling brings to 20 the number of episodes the network has picked up for the 20th Century Fox TV/Original TV show, the trade paper reported. The batch of episodes, two short of the standard 22-episode order for a drama series, will run through the end of the season, which for Fox is abbreviated because of post-season baseball coverage in the fall, the trade paper reported.
In Tru Calling, Dushku plays a recent college graduate who answers pleas for help from dead people and relives the previous 24 hours. In its Thursday 8 p.m. timeslot, the show averaged 3.8 million viewers in its most recent outing, the trade paper reported. Created by Jon Harmon Feldman, Tru Calling is executive produced by Feldman, Marty Adelstein, Neal Moritz, Dawn Parouse and R.W. Goodwin.
Mansion Exhibit Opens
CI FI Wire got a sneak preview of The Haunted Mansion—Hollywood, an unusual interactive walk-through attraction themed to Disney's Haunted Mansion movie, connected to the famed El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.
The attraction features 30,000 square feet of exhibits and original movie sets in a tent behind the theater and is available with a special admission ticket to the movie.
Among the attractions:
•Several large set pieces, including the film mansion's foyer, crypt, mausoleum, library and solarium.
•A 10-minute stage show revealing secrets of the movie's visual effects.
•Exhibits of the film's costumes, production design and makeup effects.
•Places where visitors can get photographed against film backdrops, which are then compiled into a digital photo scrapbook.
•Several play areas for children, with games and projects themed to the movie.
The Haunted Mansion—Hollywood is open Nov. 26-Jan. 4, 2004, at the El Capitan Theatre. The Haunted Mansion movie, starring Eddie Murphy, opens Nov. 26.
Jackson, Mya Get Cursed
oshua Jackson (TV's Dawson's Creek) and singer Mya have joined the cast of Wes Craven's off-again, on-again supernatural horror movie Cursed, the Australian Moviehole.net Web site reported.
Jackson takes one of the new male roles in the film, which went on hiatus earlier this summer for a script rewrite before resuming production this fall.
Jackson and Mya join new cast member Portia de Rossi (TV's Arrested Development). The site also reported that former cast members Corey Feldman and Scott Baio, who were making appearances as themselves, have been cut.
Indy IV Gearing Up?
he Indy Experience.com Web site reported rumors that the proposed fourth Indiana Jones movie is moving into preproduction.
According to the fan site, artists have begun work on storyboards and concept artwork, and star Harrison Ford will begin physical training at the start of next year.
The site added that filming of Indy IV will begin sometime in 2004, either in June or late summer, with a release date between May and December of 2005.
Bonham-Carter Joins Wallace
elena Bonham-Carter, who will provide the voice of Lady Tottington in the upcoming stop-motion animated film The Wallace and Gromit Movie, told SCI FI Wire that she catches the eye of Wallace, the cheese-loving master of the resourceful dog, Gromit.
"I'm Wallace's love interest," Bonham-Carter (Planet of the Apes) said in an interview.
Bonham-Carter added, "She's nine inches tall, she's plasticine, and she's like the lady of a manor." Bonham-Carter said that she's recorded one voice session so far of the latest adventure from creator and director Nick Park and U.K. studio Aardman Animations. The Wallace and Gromit Movie is slated for a 2005 release.
U.K. Fantasy Winners Named
rganizers announced the winners of this year's British Fantasy Awards, given by the British Fantasy Society, the Locus Online Web site reported.
The awards were presented Nov. 23 at the British Fantasy Convention (FantasyCon) in Stafford, England. A full list of winners follows.
August Derleth Award (Novel)
•The Scar by China Miéville
Anthology
•Keep Out the Night, Stephen Jones, ed.
Collection
•Ramsey Campbell, Probably: On Horror and Sundry Fantasies by Ramsey Campbell
Short Fiction
•"The Fairy-Feller's Master Stroke" by Mark Chadbourn
Small Press
•PS Publishing
Artist
•Les Edward (aka Edward Miller)
Karl Edward Wagner Award (Special Award)
•Alan Garner
Brandis' Death A Suicide
he Los Angeles County coroner ruled the death of former SeaQuest DSV star Jonathan Brandis a suicide, the Associated Press reported.
Brandis, 27, hanged himself on Nov. 12, the wire service reported.
Brandis started his career in commercials and on television, landing a
recurring role on the soap One Life to Live at age 6. He also made guest appearances on several TV shows, and his film credits included the starring role in 1991's The Neverending
Story 2: The Next Chapter, the AP reported.
Atari Releases Kya
tari announced that Kya: Dark Lineage, its fantasy video game for the PlayStation 2, has shipped to retail outlets nationwide.
The original game centers on Kya, who is on a quest to find her lost brother and aid the oppressed Nativs in their rebellion against the Wolfens, the menacing army of the evil ruler Brazul, with the help of magical powers.
Kya: Dark Lineage features flying action that allows Kya to soar and free-fall at breathtaking speed using powerful air currents, based on real wind physics, the company reported.
Developed by Atari's own Eden Studios, Kya: Dark Lineage carries a suggested retail price of $39.95.
Comics To Film To Comics
C Comics will publish comic adaptations of the upcoming Catwoman and Constantine movies from Warner Brothers, which are already based on DC characters, DC's Dan DiDio told the Comics Continuum Web site.
"It would seem kind of silly not to," DiDio, DC's vice president for publishing, told the site at Wizard World Texas.
DiDio said the creative teams and formats have not been finalized yet. It's possible that the books will contain features and other materials similar to DC's ongoing Smallville comic, based on The WB TV series, which in turn is based on DC's Superman series, the site reported. DC also has comics based on two other television shows, Justice League on Cartoon Network and Teen Titans on Cartoon Network and The WB.
Witchblade Star To Rehab
ancy Butler, the troubled former star of TNT's canceled Witchblade series, was ordered to enter a Florida substance-abuse treatment program after her weekend arrest for disorderly intoxication, the Associated Press reported.
Butler was taken to jail on Nov. 22 after cars had to swerve to avoid hitting her as she wandered in and out of traffic in Delray Beach, Fla., police said.
A Palm Beach County judge ordered that Butler be sent to The Renaissance Institute in Boca Raton while she awaits a Dec. 18 court appearance, the AP reported.
It wasn't Butler's first alcohol-related brush with the law. She previously was arrested Jan. 2 after a fight at her uncle's Hauppauge,
N.Y., home, allegedly involving Butler's father, Joe, the former
drummer for the '60s folk-rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. She was charged with criminal contempt for violating an order of protection and two counts of harassment, the AP reported. In 2002, filming on Witchblade was postponed for nearly three weeks to
await Butler's release from alcohol rehabilitation.
Hellboy Reveres Comic
uillermo del Toro, director of the upcoming Hellboy movie, told the SuicideGirls.com Web site that the movie tries to remain true to Mike Mignola's original comic series.
"The movie is not the comic, but it is the best movie I could make out of that comic," del Toro told the site. "The comic is fantastic. But it's totally dependent on comic-book storytelling. You can juxtapose, freeze-frame a whole page. It's a completely different ball of wax. The comic is a masterpiece, and the movie is definitely reverential of that."
Del Toro, who is currently editing the movie, added that the movie that is both personal and a big spectacle. "Hellboy is the first movie where both ends of the spectrum are combined," said the Mexican-born director, whose previous work includes Cronos and Blade II. "I think it's as big a spectacle as Blade II and at the same time is a very personal movie I've wanted to do for many years. I was lucky enough to do it on my own terms, with Ron Perlman as the star of a $60 million movie [laughs]. Some people ask me how I did it, and I say, 'I don't know. I just stuck by my guns until it got made.' It was a miracle. It has a lot to do with the studio [Sony] that is financing it. They have not only shown tolerance but enjoyment of the stuff I am doing." Hellboy is due for release on April 2, 2004.
Odyssey Features Martin
he 2004 Odyssey Summer Writing Workshop will feature SF author George R.R. Martin as a special writer in residence, organizers announced.
The respected creative-writing workshop for science fiction, fantasy and horror authors takes place June 14-July 23, 2004, on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H.
Martin is the award-winning author of several novels, including the series A Song of Ice and Fire, and short-story collections, including A Song for Lya and Other Stories and Sandkings. Two of his short stories, "Remembering Melody" and "Sandkings," were adapted for television. His story "Nightflyers" was made into a feature film.
The six-week workshop combines an intensive learning and writing experience with in-depth feedback on students' manuscripts. Applications for early admission are due Jan. 30, 2004; regular applications are due April 15.
Briefly Noted
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Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) took home actress of the year honors at the MTV Style Awards in Shanghai, the Associated Press reported. Awards were given out in 37 categories on Nov. 29, and nominees included entertainers and artists from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.
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Composer Michael Giacchino (TV's Alias) will write the music for Disney/Pixar's upcoming computer-animated movie The Incredibles, he said on his official Web site.
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Sony will release its first trailer for Spider-Man 2 on Dec. 17, before screenings of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The trailer will hit the sequel's official Web site two days earlier.
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Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee told the Hollywood North Report Web site that he has filmed a cameo for Sam Raimi's upcoming sequel film Spider-Man 2. "The line that I say is, 'Spider-Man stole that kid's pizzas!'" Lee told the site.
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ComingSoon.net has posted links to the Quicktime version of the new Hellboy trailer. Hellboy, from director Guillermo del Toro and based on Mike Mignola's comic series, opens April 2, 2004.
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show composer Richard Hartley will write the music for Diamond Dead, a black comedy movie about an '80s-style rock band that comes back from the dead, Variety reported. Night of the Living Dead director George Romero will helm and has completed a rewrite of a script by Brian Cooper, who wrote lyrics to songs in the film.
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Working Title Films has posted a teaser trailer for its upcoming Thunderbirds movie, starring Bill Paxton and based on the 1960s British marionette TV show. Thunderbirds, from director Jonathan Frakes, opens Aug. 6, 2004.
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Artists with the prop and physical effects side of Weta, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's New Zealand-based visual effects shop, are already moving on from the Rings films to develop sketches and models of the enormous gorilla and the estimated 30 dinosaurs that will be featured in Jackson's next movie, a remake of the classic 1933 SF movie King Kong, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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Matthew Woodring Stover will write the novelization of the upcoming prequel movie Star Wars: Episode III, the official Web site reported. Del Rey Books (a division of Ballantine Books) is expected to release the hardcover novelization in time for the film's theatrical debut in the summer of 2005.
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The official Hellboy movie Web site has launched a
sweepstakes to win a private screening of the movie for 50.
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The University of Southern California in Los Angeles is in the final stages of approving a minor degree in gaming for the fall of 2004 that will include the study of video-game development and production, the first major research university to do so, the student Daily Trojan newspaper reported.
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Majandra Delfino (Roswell), Nicholas Brendon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Ethan Embry (Freakylinks) have joined the cast of ABC Family's original movie Celeste in the City, a non-SF project.
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Cinescape Online is denying reports that the DVD of The Matrix Revolutions is headed for stores as early as Jan. 6, 2004. A source told the site that it's more likely the DVD will street around April.
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The official Web site has opened for the upcoming live-action Peter Pan movie, which debuts on Christmas Day.
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The official Lord of the Rings movie Web site has posted new video of Miranda Otto talking about her warrior princess character, Eowyn, in the upcoming third installment, The Return of the King, which opens Dec. 17.
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