Angel Celebrates 100th
he cast and crew of The WB's Angel commemorated the show's 100th episode, now in production, on Dec. 4 with a cake and ceremony on the Wolfram & Hart set in Los Angeles.
The episode will also mark the return of former cast member Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) to wrap up her character's storyline; Carpenter, who left the series at the end of last season, showed up on the set with her new infant son in arms.
Guests included Joss Whedon, who co-created the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff with David Greenwalt, and stars David Boreanaz, James Marsters, Alexis Denisof, J. August Richards, Amy Acker, Andy Hallett, Mercedes McNab, Sarah Thompson and Christian Kane, who returns after a lengthy hiatus to reprise the character of ousted evil Wolfram & Hart lawyer Lindsey McDonald. All enjoyed a huge white cake with "Angel 100" etched in blood-red icing.
"The idea of the show was redemption, and what it takes to win back a life when you've misused yours terribly," Whedon told the gathered crowd on Stage 5 at Paramount Pictures, where the show is filmed. "It's gone through a lot of different permutations. A lot of characters. A lot of different styles. But ultimately that has never left. Angel, to me, is so important, because it's about how an adult faces what they've done with their life, goes forward with it, overcomes it. These are things that have a great deal of meaning to me. Plus, awesome fights. And, you know, if I have any message for Americans, [it's that] you can solve problems through fisticuffs." Angel airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Whedon Previews Firefly DVD
he upcoming DVD set of Joss Whedon's canceled Firefly TV space western will feature three previously unaired episodes, and Whedon offered Science Fiction Weekly a preview.
"One brings back the character of Saffron [Christina Hendricks] we had in 'Our Mrs. Reynolds,' who we loved very much, for a caper episode," Whedon told SFW. "One is kind of a dark episode from Mal [Nathan Fillion] and Zoe's [Gina Torres] war days. And one of the episodes is them defending a whorehouse. And you can never have enough episodes about people defending a whorehouse."
Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) added that the DVD, which includes all of the truncated series' episodes, will run widescreen and in the order they were intended, not the order in which they aired on the Fox TV network. "The show was always built to try and surprise, to try and let people think they know where they are going and then head in the opposite direction," Whedon said. "That's kind of my theory of TV. [The new episodes] fit in the canon, and one of them has a very important plot point that was never seen. But apart from that they are just more of Firefly." The Firefly DVD set is slated for a Dec. 9 release.
King Premieres In N.Z.
bout 100,000 ecstatic fans welcomed The Lord of the Rings film director Peter Jackson to New Zealand's capital of Wellington on Dec. 1 for the world premiere of the last of his Lord of the Rings films, The Return of the King, Reuters reported.
Jackson led the movie's stars for three miles through central Wellington, flanked by characters clad in armor and on black horses, the news service reported.
Amid drifts of ticker tape thrown by fans, Jackson and cast members were besieged by crowds 10 deep as they made their way up the 510-yard red carpet to the city's historic Empire Theater, Reuters reported. Stars attending the premiere included Liv Tyler, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood. Return of the King opens Dec. 17.
Walsh, Jackson Talk Kong
ord of the Rings co-writer Fran Walsh, who will also co-write Rings director Peter Jackson's upcoming King Kong remake, told SCI FI Wire that the movie will derive heavily from the original 1933 Kong.
"We're in the stage right now where anything's possible," Walsh said in an interview about what she calls the "big hairy ape" movie, which she and Jackson will write with their Rings writing partner Philippa Boyens.
Walsh added, "It's definitely [set in the] 1930s, which is a fascinating era in human history. Pete was inspired by the original, so ... the landmarks of that story are going to hold true. [Kong's] going to New York. He's going to climb the Empire State Building. All of these things, you know?" Will he be attacked by biplanes, as in the original film? "Don't know," Walsh said with a laugh.
Walsh added that Rings co-star Andy Serkis (Gollum) is being eyed to play the giant ape. "Yes, as far as I know, hopefully, Kong will be Andy for sure," Walsh said.
For his part, Jackson said in a separate interview with SCI FI Wire that he believes the time is right for a Kong remake. "It's always been unfinished business for us, and it's always been a project that I've wanted to make, because I'm a big fan of the first film. It's my favorite movie. ... I think there's a legitimate reason to do it again now, because that I think the young generation now, meaning the teenagers, basically, are the first generation that aren't interested in looking at black-and-white movies. ... We've reached the point where King Kong isn't going to really get watched anymore by young kids. It's done. And I just feel that it's a good time to remake it with technology and try to retain the heart of the original film."
Serkis Confirms Kong Talk
ord of the Rings star Andy Serkis confirmed in a SCIFI.COM chat that he's talked with Rings director Peter Jackson about playing the title role in Jackson's upcoming remake of the classic SF movie King Kong, though nothing is set.
In response to a question from SCI FI Wire in the Dec. 2 chat, Serkis said, "At the moment nothing is confirmed. But I would give anything to work with Peter again. And we've talked."
Serkis, who provided the voice and movements for the computer-animated character Gollum in the Rings films, would likely do the same for Kong. Serkis added that other Rings stars may work with Jackson again. "He's expressed a desire to work with a lot of the cast again," Serkis said.
Serkis' talents will be on view in the upcoming last Rings film, The Return of the King, which opens Dec. 17.
Jackson Mulls Hobbit Film
ord of the Rings director Peter Jackson told the Australian news.com.au Web site that he is now interested in helming a movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.
Jackson said that Rings studio New Line Cinema had yet to speak to him about The Hobbit and added there were some difficulties related to the rights for the book.
But, Jackson said, "certainly if they want to talk to me about it, I'd be keen. It would be wonderful to complete the set of films." The Hobbit, which Tolkien published in 1937 before starting on The Lord of the Rings, is a children's story about Bilbo Baggins' first encounter with Gandalf, Gollum and the One Ring.
Lord of the Rings executive producer Mark Ordesky confirmed to the site that "there could be a movie about The Hobbit. Enough said." Before that, however, Jackson will have to complete work on his upcoming remake of the classic SF movie King Kong.
Singer Begins X-Men 3 Talks
irector Bryan Singer has begun negotiations to helm a third X-Men movie for 20th Century Fox, Variety reported.
Singer also signed a deal to develop projects he'll direct and produce for the studio.
Fox production president Hutch Parker told the trade paper that the effort to mount another film in the hugely popular X-Men series is in its early stages.
Mounting a second X-Men sequel will be a more pricey undertaking than the last effort. The cast members made deals for the original film and an option for one sequel. The studio will have to broker new deals for returning cast members, the trade paper reported.
Fish Stars Were Matched Set
wan McGregor, who plays the young Edward Bloom in the upcoming fantasy film Big Fish, told SCI FI Wire that he shared the same physical and voice training as Albert Finney, who plays an older version of the same character.
In the film, old Edward (Finney) tells stories of his youthful adventures, and McGregor enacts those flashbacks.
"We worked with the same voice coach, and I think the fact that we had the same voice does an awful lot of work for it," McGregor said in an interview. "We learned to fish together. We were taught how to fly-fish together just so we could do that similarly."
McGregor added that he did not specifically study Finney's dailies. "To play the younger version, there was very little copying or studying Albert's stuff going on," he said. "It was so lovely to get to know Albert that that was enough. [Director] Tim [Burton] didn't demand any more."
In a separate interview, Finney complimented McGregor's work. "I think Ewan's very good," Finney said. "I think he's engaging as an actor. He's very honest and direct, and he seems to have a very good time. I think he's a joy as a young man, so I was delighted that he was playing it."
For Finney, the physical resemblance was a surprise. "They say we look alike," he said. "The [producers] had two photographs when they were casting the film, one of mine in [the film] Tom Jones and one of Ewan now. So they thought we looked alike." Big Fish opens Dec. 10 in limited release, expanding to more theaters on Dec. 25 and Jan. 9, 2004.
Big Fish Messes With Truth
im Burton, director of the fantasy film Big Fish, told SCI FI Wire that he liked the way the film explored different levels of reality.
The film stars Billy Crudup as a man who has listened to his father's (Albert Finney) tall tales his whole life and wants to know the truth.
"This story was interesting to me, because [of] the themes of what's real and what's not real," Burton said in an interview. "I've always been interested in [that], because I've always felt what some people call 'unreality' can feel real to somebody else. What I liked about this story was that [we see] what's unreal, what's real and, in the end, it's all kind of real."
Burton added that the film is about basic emotions, even though its tales feature giants, witches and werewolves. "I always treat it as kind of an emotional detective story," he said. "Really, it's about that unique relationship that parents and children have, no matter what age they are. If the parent's one way, the child is almost the opposite. It's a fairly common dynamic, and you just bring up all this stuff that's hard to put into words. I felt the film for me was a way to explore that." Big Fish opens Dec. 10 in limited release, expanding to more theaters on Dec. 25 and Jan. 9.
Fish's Carter Hags Out
elena Bonham Carter, who appears in the upcoming fantasy film Big Fish, told SCI FI Wire she enjoyed the chance to play an old witch.
"I have a perverse pleasure, particularly in this profession, which is so ageist," Bonham-Carter said in an interview. "It's so anti-wrinkle, to then become a witch and have people just pile all [the makeup] on, I love that."
But Bonham Carter added that the lengthy makeup sessions tried her patience. "It took five hours," she said. "I didn't love that. That was hideous."
During shooting, Bonham Carter was pregnant with director Tim Burton's child. When the makeup process became too much to handle, she was able to rely on Burton's intervention. "I had morning sickness, so all those fumes and the makeup and the rubber, it was hideous," she said. "I was in a really bad mood. But luckily, because I sleep with the director, he scheduled me so I only had to do it two nights." Big Fish opens Dec. 10 in limited release, expanding wider on Dec. 25 and Jan. 9.
McGregor Is Valiant
wan McGregor will voice the title character in Valiant, a computer-animated fantasy movie from the producer of Shrek, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film, currently in production, tells the story of a wood pigeon named Valiant, who overcomes his small size to become a hero in Great Britain's Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service during World War II, the trade paper reported.
Joining McGregor are Ben Kingsley, Jim Broadbent, Rupert Everett, Hugh Laurie, John Hurt and Ricky Gervais, the trade paper reported.
John H. Williams (Shrek) will produce, and Disney will release the film in North America.
McGregor Mulls James Bond
wan McGregor told the Toronto Star that he hasn't had any official talks about taking over the James Bond franchise, as rumored—but that he hasn't ruled it out, either, according to a report on the ComingSoon.net Web site.
"I think ... it might take a bigger man to turn it down," McGregor (Star Wars: Episode III) reportedly told the newspaper.
"There has been talk of it, but not with the people that matter," McGregor said. "I believe Pierce [Brosnan] is either doing his last [Bond film], or he's doing one more. It's interesting. It's a fun thing to talk about when it's not really even on the cards. In the same respects, I'm not sure what would happen if it cropped up. You'd have to really think about it. I think you'd have to really think about it in the same way that I did with the Star Wars films. I really thought about it and spoke to people I knew and in the end I just wanted to do it more and more, the closer it got."
JMS: More B5 Coming?
abylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski told fans on a message board that he's working on a follow-up to the popular SF series, according to a report on the Dark Horizons Web site.
Straczynski remained coy about the project, saying only that he'd have more news next month.
"On the B5 front, there has been something of rather substantial proportion that's finally gone from talk to money, such that I'm now working frantically to meet some deadlines," Straczynski posted. "But there's nothing I can say about this until after January 15th, probably closer to the end of that month."
Straczynski added, "The only thing I can say is that phase one of the new project is a go, hence the furious writing schedule at this end of things, which is why I've been silent until deciding to kick up some dust on the political discussion. I've been writing my little brains out. I wouldn't go on about something in this way if it wasn't a significant development."
Cooper Returns To Alias
radley Cooper, who played Will Tippin in ABC's Alias, told Zap2it that his character returns in an upcoming episode, but in a very different light.
Cooper's character has been in witness protection for two years in Wisconsin, and Cooper is no longer a regular cast member, the actor told the site.
"Sydney [Jennifer Garner] needs information to figure out who she was for two years, and Will has a piece of information that could help her figure out what the hell happened," Cooper said. "So she has to go and get Will out of witness protection to help her find something out. So they go on a mission together."
Cooper says fans should prepare themselves for a very different Will Tippin. "He's a foreman for a construction company," he said. "Big change. He's incognito. He's wearing the big boots. He's not sporting the flannel. He's sporting the long undies. He looks much different, though. He shaved his head for one thing, just clipped it with the clippers."
Cooper says he and his castmates are friends and keep in touch, but "I hadn't seen the crew in eight months, and that was great," he said. "I'm still shooting. I've got three days left. It's been phenomenal. It's a big episode, so I get to work every day, which is great." Alias airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Color Him Hellboy
uillermo del Toro, director of the upcoming Hellboy movie, told fans at Wizard World Texas that he wanted to capture the look of Mike Mignola's comic with the film's color palette, according to a report on the Comics Continuum Web site.
"I prepared a document with frames from Mike's comic and color-coded what colors went into his comic," del Toro told the convention. "And we basically said, 'That's the color palette of this movie.'"
Del Toro (Blade II) said that the nights have a gold look to them. "It was something I tried on Blade, and I liked," he said. "The rest of the palette of the sets, the clothes and all that is coded to the comic to make the red pop out. Because there's only one guy that is red. One of the stark, beautiful things in the comics is that when you have a blue panel with blues and greens, and then there's Hellboy."
Del Toro added that color correction will be important. "Red is the wildest color," he said. "Hellboy [can] go ... pink, and it can go orange. And you have to have it consistently be red. And that's really hard. The skin tone for this movie is really hard."
For his part, Hellboy creator Mignola pronounced del Toro successful. "When you see Hellboy walking through a completely snowed-in cemetery, and then there's a red guy," Mignola said, nodding.
Dimension Morphs Into Hyde
imension Films has acquired film rights to Steve Niles' Hyde, a comic-book proposal that re-imagines Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde horror story, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Mike Fleiss is producing the movie, which, like the comic, will take another run at Stevenson's 1886 tale The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Niles wrote a proposal for a comic book with his take on the tale, which Dimension liked. The comic will be published by IDW Publishing next year, the trade paper reported. No writer has yet been tapped to adapt it.
Niles has already set up 30 Days of Night at Columbia Pictures, with Sam Raimi attached to produce; Criminal Macabre at MGM; and Wake the Dead at Dimension, which X2 co-writer Michael Dougherty is adapting, the trade paper reported.
Graham Headlines Samantha
eather Graham, James Purefoy and Andy Serkis have been tapped to star in the independent supernatural movie Samantha's Child, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
David Hemmings also was working on the project when he died unexpectedly on Dec. 3.
The film, which is shooting in Romania, centers on Samantha (Graham), who goes to a fertility clinic and is unknowingly impregnated with the devil's DNA. Purefoy plays Samantha's husband; Serkis (Gollum in The Lord of the Rings) portrays a rugged priest who tries to stop Samantha from having the devil's child, the trade paper reported.
English commercial director Simon Fellows helms the movie.
Taito Resurrects Invaders
apanese game machine maker Taito Corp. said on Dec. 5 that it plans to restart sales of the arcade game Space Invaders in the United States, almost 25 years after the game first appeared in video arcades, the Reuters news service reported.
The game, in which a fleet of invading aliens tries to take over Earth, was developed in 1978.
Taito aims to sell 10,000 of the stand-alone game machines at $2,772 a unit, the wire service reported. The game will remain the same in this latest offering, but one play will now cost 50 cents, compared with 25 cents a generation ago.
French SF Writer Wul Dies
rench writer Pierre Pairault, who wrote SF as Stefan Wul, died Nov. 26 at the age of 81, Locus Online reported.
A dental surgeon by trade, Wul published 11 SF novels between 1956 and 1959 that achieved cult status.
Wul's 1957 novel Le Temple du Passe was the only work translated into English, as 1973's The Temple of the Past. Two others are well-known from their adaptations as animated films: Oms en Serie (1957), which gave birth to Rene Laloux's La Planete Sauvage (aka Fantastic Planet, 1973), with graphics by Roland Topor, and L'Orphelin de Perdide (1958), which inspired Les Maitres du Temps (1982), also directed by Laloux, with graphics by Jean "Moebius" Giraud, the site reported.
Wul wrote one more SF novel, Noo, in 1977, and retired from dental surgery in 1989. He remained a presence on the French SF scene, and his books were often reprinted, with an edition of his complete works published in 1997, the site reported.
SCI FI Casts Dead Lawyers
CI FI Channel has signed Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham and Sean Patrick Flanery to star in Dead Lawyers, an hour-long pilot for a supernatural drama series.
Flanery (The Dead Zone) stars as lawyer Jimmy Quinn, who awakens after he dies to discover that he must undo injustices he committed during his life before he can reach the afterlife. Abraham (Amadeus) co-stars as Thomas Whitelaw, Jimmy's afterlife mentor.
Dead Lawyers begins filming in Toronto in early December. Paris Barclay directs. The pilot is a production of the Zanuck Company, in association with Sony Pictures Television. Dean Zanuck, Harrison Zanuck, Lili Fini Zanuck and Richard Zanuck will executive produce the pilot, which is written by co-executive producer Christopher Murphey.
USA Orders 4400 Pilot
SA Network has give the green light to The 4400, an SF pilot for a drama series, from executive producers Francis Ford Coppola, Rene Echevarria (Dark Angel) and Maira Suro (Platinum), Variety reported.
The pilot marks the first foray into cable for Echevarria and Suro.
The 4400 centers on 4,400 missing people who are returned to Earth after being abducted by UFOs, with no memory of their experiences. Each has been gone anywhere from a few months to several decades, but hasn't aged a day, the trade paper reported.
USA has ordered the pilot plus five episodes of the hourlong show, which is created and written by Scott Peters (The Outer Limits), the trade paper reported. Viacom Productions and Renegade 83 are producing. Peters also will produce.
USA will likely premiere the series next summer. Production on the pilot starts in February, but no casting has yet been set, the trade paper reported.
USA is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Davies Reveals Who Changes
ussell T. Davies, the producer who is reviving Doctor Who for the BBC, told the British TV Times that the new Doctor's companion will be different from those in the original series.
"A screaming girly companion is unacceptable now," he told the magazine. "I don't mean in terms of women's rights. Dramatically, we've got Buffy the Vampire Slayer now, so a screaming girly companion would be laughed out of the room."
Davies also revealed that the new series won't rely on old monsters.
"I love the Daleks, but I wouldn't load the series with lots of old monsters. We want to make brand new ones," Davies said.
Fantasy XI Wins Accolade
quare Enix U.S.A. announced that its Final Fantasy XI video game was named best online game at Spike TV's first annual Video Game Awards.
The winners were announced Dec. 2 at an awards ceremony in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Final Fantasy XI was selected for the interactive entertainment industry's top online game honor by gaming industry experts, the network's editorial board and public opinion via Spike TV's Web site, Square announced.
Microsoft's Halo: Combat Evolved, meanwhile, took home the honor for best PC game, and the upcoming 2004 Xbox title Halo 2 was named most anticipated game, the Reuters news service reported.
Galactica Premieres In L.A.
ore than 500 guests joined cast and crew of the SCI FI Channel's upcoming original miniseries Battlestar Galactica at the show's premiere screening in Hollywood on Dec. 2.
The first two hours of the four-hour miniseries screened at the Directors Guild of America to an audience that included stars Edward James Olmos (Adama), Mary McDonnell (Laura Roslin), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), Tricia Helfer (Number Six), Grace Park (Boomer), Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) and others, as well as director Michael Rymer and executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick.
"We love it," SCI FI Channel president Bonnie Hammer told the assembled guests. "We hope you're going to love it, too."
After the screening, Olmos told SCI FI Wire that it was the first time he'd viewed a finished cut of the show. "I enjoyed it, and sometimes that's hard for me to say," Olmos said candidly. "It's really exciting, much more so than I had hoped." Olmos added that the miniseries is likely to appeal to viewers eager for a strong rendition of the familiar story. "The integrity of the piece is very strong," he said.
The premiere was co-sponsored by Adelphia. Battlestar Galactica debuts on SCI FI at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Dec. 8.
Bedford Has A Premonition
d Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz's production company Bedford Falls has acquired the spec script Premonition, by Jon Glascoe, Variety reported.
The movie tells the story of an acutely agoraphobic man who finds he can see into the future, the trade paper reported.
Herskovitz and Zwick will produce with Alliance Atlantis; it is a potential directing vehicle for Herskovitz, the trade paper reported.
Hellraiser Crossover Stalled
oug Bradley, best known as Pinhead in the Hellraiser series of movies, told the CelluloidSchockers.com Web site that a proposed Halloween/Hellraiser crossover movie is stalled—but added that franchise creators Cliver Barker and John Carpenter were at one point ready to move forward.
Bradley told the site that Hellraiser's Barker and Halloween's Carpenter were ready to sign an agreement until producer Bob Weinstein told Barker that he was no longer interested, the site reported.
Barker was to have written the script and Carpenter was to have directed the movie, which would have pit Michael Myers against the Cenobites.
Affleck Cashes His Paycheck
en Affleck, who stars in the upcoming SF movie Paycheck, told SCI FI Wire that the film departs from the Philip K. Dick short story upon which it is based.
"We've taken some liberties with it, obviously, and updated it," Affleck said in an interview. "But it's great. It's fun. We have this really great, strong story and a really strong script."
In Paycheck, Affleck plays Michael Jennings, a computer expert in the future, who is hired for a top-secret project. At the end of it, he has his memory erased, only to discover that he is now a hunted man. Using only a handful of clues, he must try to reconstruct his whereabouts for the last three years before it's too late. Hong Kong action director John Woo directs Affleck and co-star Uma Thurman.
"You get a guy like John Woo, you know he's going to elevate it," Affleck said. "It's really a relief for me, as opposed to working for somebody where you're not sure. I loved [Woo's early films] The Killer and Hard Boiled and those movies, since they've kind of changed the American independent movie scene in the early '90s. I was, like, a 20-year-old film geek at my house. I had the Hard Boiled poster. So this is a big deal for me." Paycheck opens Dec. 25.
Episode III Post Gears Up
ost-production on Star Wars: Episode III is gearing up, with an eye to a first cut of the film by January, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
Eventually, hundreds of artists and technicians will assemble at Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic effects house to complete an estimated 2,000 visual effects shots for the prequel.
Editors Roger Barton and Ben Burtt are piecing together the first cut of Episode III, while ILM artists are closely examining the "previsualized" sequences provided by the animatics department from Skywalker Ranch, the site reported.
At this stage of post-production, director George Lucas meets weekly with visual effects supervisor John Knoll and animation supervisor Rob Coleman, along with key members of their teams, to review digital models before concentrated work begins.
"Right now, we've got about 18 or 19 people," producer Rick McCallum told the site. "We've probably got 150 [digital] vehicles, objects and model work done and painted. George comes down to ILM every Thursday, and we spend a couple of hours going through all the models. We started our matte department; we've got three matte painters that are working on five set backgrounds." Episode III is slated for release in the spring of 2005.
Star Wars: Battlefront Due
ucasArts confirmed to the GameSpot Web site that it plans to release a Star Wars-themed Battlefield 1942-style online action video game next year.
Currently called Star Wars: Battlefront, the game will feature online multiplayer war action similar to Battlefield 1942, but set in the Star Wars universe, the site reported.
LucasArts told GameSpot that the game will be available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. The studio declined to reveal any other details on the game.
Gutierrez On The Rise
ebastian Gutierrez (writer of Gothika) has signed on to direct Rise, a supernatural film that he also wrote, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Senator International will produce, alongside Greg Shapiro of Kingsgate Films, the trade paper reported.
Rise centers on a young female reporter who wakes up in a morgue to discover that she is no longer among the living. She vows revenge against those responsible for putting her there and hunts them down, the trade paper reported. Casting for the lead will start immediately.
Rise marks Gutierrez's third outing as a writer-director. He earlier handled Judas Kiss and the HBO "Creature Feature" She Creature, the trade paper reported.
Gibson: Wait On Passion
el Gibson has told bishops and cardinals to wait for a special Vatican screening of his controversial film about Jesus, The Passion of Christ, the Reuters news service reported.
The select audience had hoped to screen The Passion on Dec. 2 as part of a convention on spirituality in film, the news service reported.
But Gibson's Icon Production company told organizers in an e-mail on Dec. 1 that the actor-director was still working on the final version of the movie and asked them to wait because "the film is only weeks away from being finished," Reuters reported.
Organizers of the religious film festival said that Gibson's company had promised a private screening for Vatican officials and religious experts before it is due to open in the United States on Feb. 25, 2004.
Lords Of EverQuest Ships
ony Online Entertainment announced that its fantasy real-time strategy game Lords of EverQuest has shipped to U.S. and Canadian retailers.
Lords of EverQuest, the latest installment in the popular franchise, carries a suggested retail price of $49.99.
Lords of EverQuest is set in the rich fantasy universe of EverQuest and features an intricate plot centered around the fabled Lost Age. The title delivers more than 75 hours of single-player gameplay, the company said. With Sony's SOEGames.net service, Lords of EverQuest offers free online multiplayer matches.
Joan Paves Wonder Way
ryan Fuller, co-creator and co-executive producer of the upcoming fantasy Fox TV series Wonderfalls, told SCI FI Wire that he welcomes comparisons between his series and the CBS hit show Joan of Arcadia.
"I actually think that Joan of Arcadia very much paves the way for us," Fuller said in an interview. "Joan of Arcadia is sort of dealing with the same subject matter, but from a different perspective."
Wonderfalls stars Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye Tyler, an underachieving 20-something Niagara Falls trinket shop worker who is thrown for a loop when objects suddenly start talking to her, instructing her to take part in the affairs of others. In Joan of Arcadia, Amber Tamblyn plays Joan Girardi, a young woman to whom God speaks through people she meets on the street.
"Joan of Arcadia is such a great show in and of itself, and the shows definitely do have things in common," said Fuller, a veteran of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Showtime's Dead Like Me. "So it's definitely very satisfying to see that show so well-received. We've actually talked internally about how much fun it would be to have a crossover episode in which Jaye met Joan." Fox will launch Wonderfalls as a midseason replacement in early 2004, most likely in January.
King Hospitalized In Maine
orrormeister Stephen King entered a Maine hospital on Nov. 23 to be treated for pneumonia, underwent a surgical procedure and is now recovering, his official Web site reported.
King was expected to remain hospitalized at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for several days, but is expected to make a full recovery, the site reported.
King was diagnosed with pneumonia in the right lung before his recent trip to New York, where he received a National Book Award medal. His condition worsened on his return to his home in Bangor, and the pneumonia spread to the other lung, the site reported. King was diagnosed with pleural effusion and underwent a thoracotomy, a procedure to drain fluid from the lung, on Nov. 25. The procedure succeeded in removing fluid and scar tissue from the right lung.
King was reported to be conscious and in good spirits and happy to be able to breathe deeply again. King has requested no flowers and no visitors except family.
Duchovny: X-Files Lives
he X-Files star David Duchovny, writing as a guest reviewer for the Razor gaming Web site, said that a second X-Files movie is in the works, with shooting to begin possibly next year.
Duchovny also voices Mulder in the upcoming PlayStation 2/Xbox video game The X-Files: Resist or Serve, with his longtime co-star, Gillian Anderson, voicing Scully.
"I'm proud of The X-Files, and I'm very pleased to see how the video game will help extend the life of the series," Duchovny wrote. "We're also working to put together the next X-Files movie. I'd imagine we'd get into shooting in the next year or so, depending on when the script is written."
In the meantime, Duchovny said, the new video game title is the next best thing. "I think people will like the game as much as the show, because we all enjoy mysteries where everyone thinks that there's just one final answer that'll be uncovered at the end," he said. "Plus, games are an acting challenge for their favorite stars, who want to be tools for the people shaping the product. With TV and movies, actors have more control over the performance." The X-Files: Resist or Serve will be available Feb. 18, 2004, with a suggested retail price of $49.99.
Briefly Noted
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The novel Traficants de llegendes by Catalan author Jordi Font-Agustí won first prize in the UPC Science Fiction Competition, sponsored by the board of trustees of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) in Spain.
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British actor David Hemmings, who co-starred in the 1960s cult classic SF film Barbarella, died suddenly Dec. 3 at the age of 62, his agent told the Reuters news service. Hemmings was in Romania on the set of the film Samantha's Child.
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Mel Gibson's Icon Productions company has staked out a Web site for Gibson's upcoming controversial religious-themed movie The Passion of Christ, which opens Feb. 25, 2004.
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The Alien Quadrilogy matched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Special Extended with two of the top honors for special editions on Dec. 2 at the 2003 DVD Exclusive Awards, Variety reported.
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TheForce.net is reporting a rumor that Fox has told retailers to expect DVD versions of the classic Star Wars trilogy of films on Nov. 4, 2004.
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The DVD/VHS release of X2 pulled in a heroic $107 million in its first five days of release, Variety reported. About 6 million units sold last week.
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Albert Nozaki, the Academy Award-nominated film art director whose credits include the The Ten Commandments and The War of the Worlds, died Nov. 16 of complications of pneumonia in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was 91.
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Marguerite McClure Bradbury, wife of SF author Ray Bradbury for 56 years, died Nov. 24 in Los Angeles, according to a message posted on Bradbury's official Web site.
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