Abrams: Superman Still Flies?
.J. Abrams, who wrote the script for Warner Brothers' proposed new Superman movie, told SCI FI Wire that he's optimistic that the much-delayed project will still move forward.
"I'm hopeful," he said in an interview at ABC television's winter press preview, where he was promoting his series, Alias. "It was a blast to [write]. I'm crossing my fingers. I hope they do it, because I'd love to see that movie. I love working with the director, McG, so we'll see what happens. I'd love to make it work."
Abrams said that the future of the project was in the hands of the studio, which has asked for several drafts of the script. "I've been working on it for a year and a half," Abrams said. "So it's gone through many, many iterations."
One major bump in the development process so far has been finding the right actor to play the iconic Man of Steel, Abrams said, adding that the search is ongoing. "There are some candidates," he said, though he would not confirm any possible names.
Abrams Hints Alias' Future
.J. Abrams, creator of ABC's SF spy drama Alias, told SCI FI Wire that the constantly evolving show has more twists in store for the second half of the third season, including the reappearance of guest star Quentin Tarantino.
"We have some storylines that we're working on that could maybe be too extreme," Abrams said in an interview at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Hollywood. "We're trying to be smart about how we do it. But I believe that when you look back at Alias as a series, you'll see many different iterations of the show. And I think the fun in it for me is, I hope it's never so you'll tune in and you'll know exactly what you're going to get. It always feels like this is a very fluid, unexpected place."
Upcoming episodes will feature a guest appearance by actor-director Tarantino, who reprises his role from the first season's two-part episode "The Box I and II." The series will also introduce Isabella Rossellini as the sister of Lena Olin's character, Irina Derevko. Abrams said that Rossellini's character will share a connection with Victor Garber's Jack Bristow and fill a void left by Olin. Abrams is "hopeful" that Olin will also return to the show one day. "[Rossellini's character] definitely serves a similar purpose," Abrams said. "But the character is entirely different, and the storyline is unique. We couldn't have done this story with Lena. In fact, originally I wanted to have them both in the same episode, but we couldn't get Lena."
The Jan. 11 episode revealed that Lauren Reed (Melissa George) is working for the enemies of her husband, Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan), and his former love interest, Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner). Abrams said that it was his plan all along to make the character evil, and that the twist was not a reaction to the widespread animosity toward her from the fans. "We knew this was going to happen," he said. "She went into this year hated, and she's still hated as the one who's getting in between [Sydney and Vaughn]. But we tried as much as possible to draw out her storyline so that you believed, 'Oh, I guess I'm supposed to like her.' So when you finally learned that she was evil, it was satisfying." Alias airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Elektra Eyes Summer Start
arvel executive Kevin Feige told the Comics Continuum Web site that shooting will commence this summer on 20th Century Fox's upcoming Elektra movie to take advantage of star Jennifer Garner's hiatus from her ABC spy show, Alias.
"We've had a number of great writers come in and work on it, and we're talking to directors," Feige told the site about the spinoff of last year's Daredevil movie.
Against whom will Garner's sword-wielding heroine face off? "She doesn't have the sort of spectacular, over-the-top, costumed, made-up mutated villains," Feige said. "She has what we believe to be very scary, very sleek, very organized and very deadly adversaries." He added, "The tone of the film will be fun and adventurous, but the villains always fit their heroes. And Elektra doesn't wear a mask or hide her face. It will be unique villans that I think people will recognize and be very excited to see." Feige said that Elektra's costume will probably be tweaked from the one she wore in Daredevil.
Mark Steven Johnson, who wrote and directed Daredevil, and his producing partner, Gary Foster, will be producers on Elektra, the site reported.
Astin May Helm Fantastic?
he Superhero Hype! Web site reported a rumor that Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin was in the running to direct a movie version of Marvel's Fantastic Four series.
Based on a report on a Brazilian Web site and Brazilian movie magazine, the site reported that Astin had a meeting to discuss shooting the movie.
The site added that Astin is eyeing Rings co-star Orlando Bloom to play the Human Torch and pal George Clooney to play Reed Richards. The site also reported that Clooney's producing partner Steven Soderbergh was another possible candidate to direct Fantastic Four.
Astin directed a short film while completing his role as Sam in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Angel Star Directs Self
avid Boreanaz, star of The WB's Angel, told SCI FI Wire that he came prepared for his debut as a director in the upcoming episode "Soul Purpose," which airs Jan. 21.
"I came in with some really strong ideas and some strong visuals that I wanted to do, and I had a big ... meeting with [executive producer] Jeff Bell," Boreanaz said in an interview at The WB's winter press preview. "A lot of the ideas I wanted to do kind of got, not squashed, but just toned down a bit, because I had to remind myself that I am shooting an Angel show and not this crazy, cinematic, swooping thing," he said with a laugh.
In "Soul Purpose," Boreanaz does double duty as helmer and star in an episode that brings back the character of Lindsey (Christian Kane) and puts Angel in a fever-dream state. Balancing both roles was a challenge, he admitted. "It's pretty crazy, yeah," he said. "You do your work, and there were moments when I was acting in it, and I had the [assistant director] call 'action,' or I would look at a little television monitor while I was setting the shot and rehearsing. So your mind's really all over the place. But I enjoy working like that. The more that's going on, the better for me creatively."
Boreanaz's castmates praised his sure hand and confidence, unusual in a first-time director. Boreanaz was more self-effacing. "All I want to do is fulfill the story, tell the story, and as a director you want to creatively shoot it so that you keep the audience involved rather than removing them, because it can be very easy to do that," he said. "So that was challenging to do that. And I had a good time. I kept within the parameters, and I pushed some buttons, and I shot a lot of low angles. I like low angles." Angel airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Old Friends Visit Angel
oss Whedon, co-creator of The WB's vampire series Angel, told SCI FI Wire to expect familiar faces as the current fifth season winds up, including Andrew (Tom Lenk from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) and the possible return of Connor (Vincent Kartheiser).
Kartheiser's character—the son of Angel (David Boreanaz) and Darla (Julie Benz)—left the series at the end of last season after Angel made a deal with the nefarious law firm of Wolfram & Hart.
Whether Kartheiser returns depends on scheduling and other issues, Whedon said in an interview at the television critics' winter press tour in Hollywood. "We do have every intention of seeing him again and seeing the Connor who did grow up happy, who had everything that he never had and what that person would be like and what it would be like for Angel to deal with him knowing what Connor can never know," Whedon told reporters.
Lenk, whose nerdy character survived the apocalyptic finale of Buffy last spring, will definitely show up in a Slayer-themed episode due in February, Whedon said.
And, as previously reported, Carpenter's Cordelia will return to wrap up her character's storyline in the series' 100th episode, "You're Welcome!" which is schedule for Feb. 4. "That's very much kind of an opportunity to sum up and sort of go, 'Good lord, we've been doing this for a while,'" Whedon said. "And without being sly and postmodern about it and winking at the audience, really using it as a milestone and having her—because she was there at the beginning—come and say, 'Well, where are you now? Where were you when we started, and where are you now and how do you feel about that?'"
One face that definitely won't appear on Angel this season: Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy, Whedon said. "Sarah last year said that she would be interested in coming on the show," he said. "And then this year, she ... said that it felt too soon. And that's something that I actually understand. It's very difficult when you throw something off that's sort of taken over your life and your public persona for years and years and years, ... it's very difficult to just sort of say, 'OK, I'm going to throw that back on on somebody else's show and dive in again.' And I think that's probably what happened."
Whedon added, "I don't know that it's a never. ... It was more just like, 'Now's not the time.' And as writers, we have to go to our own characters and care more about that. And so it isn't ... bad, I don't think. ... I would love to see her on the show, and she's welcome anytime she decides she is ready. But I don't know if that will happen, and with a cast like that, it's not my first priority." Angel returns with new episodes Jan. 14 and airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Whedon: X-Men Gig Possible
uffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon confirmed to SCI FI Wire that he is indeed considering writing a series of X-Men comics for Marvel.
"There is a rumor out there," Whedon said in an interview at the television critics' winter press tour in Hollywood. "It's something that could happen."
Whedon added that he would approach such a project with trepidation, knowing the "legacy" of the decades-old franchise and fervid fan loyalty.
But it wouldn't be Whedon's first foray into comics—he previously wrote the Buffy-related Fray series for Dark Horse—nor would it mark Whedon's first dealings with the venerable X-Men universe. Whedon wrote a draft of a screenplay for the first X-Men movie, which wasn't used. "It was brilliant," Whedon said, with tongue in cheek.
Hitchhiker Stars Set
ritish actors Bill Nighy (Love Actually) and Martin Freeman (TV's The Office) are set to star in the feature-film version of Douglas Adams' SF cult novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the BBCi Films Web site reported.
Nighy told the site that he's been cast as alien planet designer Slartibartfast in the long-gestating adaptation. Freeman will play Arthur Dent, the everyday Earthling thrust into an interplanetary adventure, the site added. (Fangoria, meanwhile, reported that Warwick Davis will also appear.)
"I'm a big fan of the book, and the people who are making it are very cool people, and I think they're going to do a good job," Nighy told the site. "It's a really good script. It's really, really faithful [to the book]. All the jokes are there, and they're big fat jokes. It's wonderful. And with all the technology we have now, it can not only be a big satisfying comedy, but I figure it could be quite exciting as well."
It's Final: King Rules
inal studio box-office figures showed that The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was indeed the top draw at the Jan. 9 weekend box office, despite an early claim that Big Fish had knocked it off its perch.
New Line reported that King took in $14.2 million for the number-one slot, its fourth weekend on top; Big Fish took in $13.8 million, and not the estimated $14.5 million initially reported by Columbia, for second place.
A spokesman for Columbia told the Reuters news service that Big Fish ticket sales on Jan. 11 turned out to be lower than it had assumed when calculating its estimate.
Critics Crown King
he Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won four prizes on Jan. 10 at the ninth annual Critics' Choice Awards, organized by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Reuters reported.
King snagged awards for best picture, director, ensemble cast and composer, the news service reported.
Speaking via satellite from his native New Zealand, where he is working on an extended version of Return of the King for home-video release, director Peter Jackson said he was "absolutely humbled" to win the best picture award, Reuters reported. Jackson paid tribute to the "hard work and friendships" established over the last seven years.
King, Pirates Top F/X Nods
he Visual Effects Society on Jan. 15 announced its nominations for the 2004 VES Awards, Variety reported.
Among the 19 categories, both New Line's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl received eight nods, while Hulk received three nominations.
The Visual Effects Society will also present George Lucas with the organization's first Lifetime Achievement Award. Members of the VES will vote on Feb. 7, with winners announced at the second annual VES Awards ceremony on Feb. 18 at the Hollywood Palladium.
Founded in 1997, the VES is made up of about 900 professional visual-effects artists and technologists.
Hospital Key For ABC
BC will try to pump up its drama slate in the rest of the current season, building on the upcoming supernatural midseason limited series Kingdom Hospital from horrormeister Stephen King and its Sunday night spy show Alias, executives told reporters at the critics' winter press tour in Hollywood.
"Stephen King has had an awful lot of success over the years on ABC, and we really feel this is the best thing he's ever done for us," ABC chairman Lloyd Braun said on a press panel.
Braun added that Alias, now in its third season, provides a "solid beachhead" for the network in its Sunday 9 p.m. timeslot.
Hospital, based in part on a Danish TV series from director Lars von Trier, is a 13-episode, 15-hour miniseries that will begin airing in March. "That does not mean that we would not bring back another 13 episodes next year or the year after that in success, but ... there is a lot to be said for a series that plays out in straight weeks," said Susan Lyne, president of ABC Entertainment. "We think this is going to be real event television."
Anthology Benefits KICK
ardwolf Publishing announced that musician Country Joe McDonald has joined the contributors to god's 15 minutes, the controverial anthology that will benefit SF author Harlan Ellison's KICK Internet Piracy Fund.
Ellison's piece "Ellison on Meth" will also be
published for the first time in the anthology, the publisher said.
God's 15 minutes, edited by punk fiction editor Clifford Meth, features top talent in the comics industry, including Michael Kaluta (The Shadow), George Perez (The Avengers), Joe Kubert (Sgt. Rock), Joe Linsner (Cry for Dawn), Mike Ploog (Ghost Rider), Bill Messner-Loebs (The Maxx), Gene Colan (Blade), Frank Brunner (Dr. Strange), Marie Severin, Dave Cockrum (X-Men), Joe Sinnott (Thor), Herb Trimpe (The Incredible Hulk) and Gray Morrow (Tarzan).
Ellison has been engaged in a legal battle with America Online and others to stop them from posting his works on the Internet without permission.
Reeve, New Guy On Smallville
iles Millar, executive producer of The WB's Smallville, told SCI FI Wire that the show will bring back Christopher Reeve as Dr. Swann and will also introduce a new character, Adam (played by Ian Somerhalder), who will complicate Clark and Lana's relationship as the season wraps up.
Separately, John Glover (Lionel Luthor) told SCI FI Wire that he will be shooting a scene with Reeve in New York this week. Reeve's episode will air April 14.
"When we bring Chris back, it's always a mythology episode," Millar said in an interview at The WB's winter press tour. "He always gives a piece of Clark's [Tom Welling] mythology, ... his destiny. So for us, it's always a big moment when he comes into the show. And I think it basically ... sends Clark into a new direction. And it's something that will actually be going into next season. And it will be signficant. I think it will be every intriguing for people to hear what he has to say and the information he has for Clark."
As for Adam, Millar said, "I think we see the Clark-Lana [Kristin Kreuk] relationship gets a new ripple when we introduce the character of Adam, played by Ian Somerhalder. He comes in for six episodes and really shakes things up in Smallville. And that's worked out really well."
Toward the end of the season, "You also get a new insight into Lionel and Lionel's motivation, and what's sort of driving Lionel and ... his obsession with Clark," Millar said. "We'll answer some of these questions. And we also reach at the end of the season ... a really, I think, cool conclusion. The Lex [Michael Rosenbaum]-Lionel relationship will reach a crescendo and really spin us off into next season in a really cool way." Smallville airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
WB Drops Fearless
ordan Levin, co-chief executive of The WB, confirmed to reporters that the proposed midseason series Fearless has been canceled before it ever reached the air.
The long-delayed series, which starred Rachael Leigh Cook as an undercover FBI agent without the gene for fear, never hit the airwaves, though the pilot was seen by journalists and others.
"We all tried," Levin told reporters at the television critics' winter press tour in Hollywood. "We couldn't find somebody who could figure out a way to crack that concept. And the problems that they had at the beginning, that was a challenging concept. You all saw the pilot. I know there was a lot of criticism about it. We all had those criticisms. Trying to figure out how to make that work was tough, and we couldn't do it."
Depp Among SAG Nominees
he Screen Actors Guild nominated Johnny Depp for best film actor for his performance in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as part of its list of nominees for SAG Awards announced Jan. 15, Variety reported.
SAG also nominated the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for an overall award. The 10th annual Screen Actors Guild awards will air Feb. 22 on TNT at 5 p.m. PT, the trade paper reported. A list of nominees from SF, fantasy and supernatural films and TV series follows.
Film
Actor
•Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Supporting Actor
•Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
Supporting Actress
•Maria Bello, The Cooler
Cast
•The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Television
Actress, Drama
•Jennifer Garner, Alias
Sapphire Nominees Named
he Science Fiction Romance newsletter announced the nominees for the ninth annual Sapphire Award for the Best Science Fiction Romance of the Year, according to a report on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site.
The Sapphire Award recognizes the year's best work in fiction that combines science fiction or fantasy and romance as critical components of the plot. A list of nominees follows.
Novel
•Dance With the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
•Heart Thief by Robin D. Owens
•Skyfall by Catherine Asaro
•The Star Princess by Susan Grant
•Tinker by Wen Spencer
Short Fiction
•"Dark Descent" by Christine Feehan
•"Moonglow" by Catherine Asaro
•"Phantom Lover" by Sherrilyn Kenyon
•"The Star Queen" by Susan Grant
•"Thief of Dreams" by Sheri L. McGathy
David Returns In Riddick
eith David, who reprises his Pitch Black character in the upcoming follow-up movie The Chronicles of Riddick, told SCI FI Wire that he is one of the few characters to reappear from the first film.
"I still play the Imam," he said. "And I'm [one of the] the only characters from Pitch Black that carries over, besides Riddick, of course [and Kyra, who is now grown]. And I think it's going to be wonderful. It's certainly epic in scope, and I haven't seen anything, but the sets were fantastic. They were some of the best sets I've ever seen in my life. ... Pitch Black was very small in comparison. This movie's going to be huge."
Riddick picks up the story a few years after the events of Pitch Black and takes the franchise in an entirely new direction, with a bigger story and a new threat, the Necromongers. Audiences, meanwhile, will catch up with David's character on his home world. "I'm only in New Mecca," David said. "I believe that what happens makes sense, and to me it's important in this sci-fi genre to make senes. Because, you know, a lot of times you'll see these $100 million films with fantastic special effects, but it makes no sense. I believe that this will make some sense."
David admitted that the success of the first film caught him by surprise. "Very surprised," he said. "I know people like things. I have my opinions and my tastes. I just had no idea it would be as big as it is. I didn't think people would dislike it or anything. But it has become a sort of cult thing. So ... I'm pleased as punch to be invited to the party." The Chronicles of Riddick is slated for a June release.
Chase Scares Up Ring 2
aveigh Chase, the young actress who played the evil Samara Morgan in The Ring, told SCI FI Wire that she reprises her ghostly character in the sequel.
"I will [go back to work] soon," Chase said in an interview. "They're going to start filming in March. Unfortunately, I can't say anything about it, [but] it will definitely be horrifying."
Chase added that the producers have not even shown her the script yet. "They're waiting until the last minute [to show me]," she said. "I'm pretty sure I'll get to kill everybody again. That'll be fun." DreamWorks plans to release The Ring 2 on Nov. 10.
Day Is No ID4 2
irector Roland Emmerich told USA Today that his upcoming disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow won't be a rehash of his Independence Day, which had a similarly apocalyptic theme.
"Blowing up buildings is an image you don't want to see anymore," Emmerich told the newspaper, referring to Independence Day's famous White House explosion scene. "The movie is quite different from Independence Day, and I don't want to repeat myself, to be honest. I wanted to make the movie because the mood is so different than Independence Day. I sometimes think the comparison will only hurt it."
Unlike Independence Day, in which aliens invade Earth, The Day After Tomorrow is a nightmare story about what will happen if global warming worsens and world leaders look the other way, Emmerich said. Tornadoes rip apart Los Angeles; a snowstorm buries New Delhi; hail the size of grapefruit batters Tokyo; and in New York City, the temperature swings from sweltering to freezing in one day, the newspaper reported. Dennis Quaid plays a paleoclimatologist trying to save his son (Jake Gyllenhaal) from the new ice age.
"A catastrophe where nature is going wild has a totally different feel to it," Emmerich said. "I read a couple of books, and I said to myself, 'This could happen.' You have to make it as entertaining as possible, but you still want to raise a warning flag." Day After Tomorrow opens Memorial Day weekend.
Fantasy Writer Cady Dies
ack Cady, an award-winning fantasy novelist, died Jan. 14 in his hometown of Port Townsend, Wash., of cancer, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
He was 71.
Cady was best known for his nine published novels, which included The Hauntings of Hood Canal (2001), The Off Season (1996), Street: A Novel (1995) and Inagehi (1993), the newspaper reported.
Cady won several major awards, including the Nebula, Phillip K. Dick Award, World Fantasy Award and Bram Stoker Award. He also taught creative writing at Pacific Lutheran University, where he won a distinguished teaching award in 1992, the newspaper reported.
Cady is survived by his wife of 27 years, writer Carol Orlock; four children from a previous marriage; and two sisters. Orlock asked that remembrances in his name be sent to the Jack Cady Scholarship Fund at Pacific Lutheran University, Development Office, 1010 122nd St. S., Tacoma, WA 98447.
Christensen Rides Bullet
rika Christensen, who co-stars in the feature-film version of Stephen King's e-book Riding the Bullet, told SCI FI Wire that she's eager to see the finished version.
"That's a really tricky and interesting film," Christensen said in an interview while promoting her latest project, The Perfect Score. "It was adapted for the screen by Mick Garris, who directed it for us, too." Garris has directed several King-based films and miniseries, among them Sleepwalkers, The Stand and The Shining.
"The story is actually like a hitchhiking-across-the-country, road-trip kind of story," Christensen said. "In my mind it's about appreciating life and being open to loving people and, of course, there's a lot of really weird stuff that happens in between. It doesn't get really gory, but it gets really freaky. I actually steer clear of all the freaky stuff. My character is a really open, bright, loving person, and Jonathan Jackson plays her boyfriend, who is really closed and dark. And she tries to open him up."
In addition to Christensen, whose previous genre credits include one episode each of 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Pretender and FreakyLinks, Riding the Bullet also features Jackson, David Arquette, Matt Frewer and Barbara Hershey. Riding the Bullet will be released later this year.
Star Wars Battlefront Due
ucasArts will release Star Wars Battlefront, an open-ended multiplayer action game set in the Star Wars universe, for the PlayStation2, Xbox and PC this fall, the official Web site reported.
Gamers can relive the epic battles from the classic and prequel films set in more than 15 environments across 10 planets, including Hoth, Geonosis, Yavin, Tatooine and Naboo, the site reported.
Players can choose more than 20 different soldier types from four factions—Rebel Alliance, Imperial Army, Clone Army and Battle Droids—as well as more than 15 ground and air vehicles, including the AT-ST, X-wing and speeder bike.
Console gamers can battle against 16 players over the Internet or 32 players connected via a local-area network. PC gamers can battle against 32 players over the Internet or 64 via a LAN. The game also supports voice chat through compatible headsets for the PS2 and Xbox console systems, as well as PC, the site reported.
Star Wars Battlefront is published by LucasArts and developed by Pandemic Studios.
Trek Game Mirrors TOS
DK is releasing Star Trek: Shattered Universe, a PlayStation 2 and Xbox video game based on the classic Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," Cinescape Online reported.
The space combat simulation centers on Capt. Sulu and his ship, the Excelsior, which is catapulted into the mirror universe.
Sulu and his crew will encounter the deadly starships of the Terran Empire, as well as the evil doppelgangers of the Enterprise crew. Original Trek series stars George Takei (Sulu) and Walter Koenig (Chekov) will voice their characters, the site reported.
Star Trek: Shattered Universe carries a suggested retail price of $49.99.
SG-1 Earns Highest Rating
CI FI Channel's Jan. 9 return of new
Stargate SG-1 episodes drew a 2.2 rating (2.7 million viewers), the highest rating for an original SCI FI episode of SG-1 to date, the network reported.
The 9 p.m. ET/PT broadcast of "Evolution, Part 2" was also the most-watched original episode of Stargate SG-1 in the series' entire six-and-a-half-season run, the network added.
The episode delivered more viewers than any episode of any original series in SCI FI Channel history.
SCI FI's premiere of the new original series
Codename: Eternity delivered a better-than-expected rating of 1.7 (1.9 million viewers).
Burton Raises Corpse
irector Tim Burton told USA Today that his upcoming stop-motion animated film The Corpse Bride, which he will produce, is in keeping with his desire to laugh at death instead of fearing it.
"Rather than make it this dark, unspoken thing—which is kind of how I grew up—I always liked the idea that it was more a celebration," Burton told the newspaper. "It feels more positive, somehow, and more spiritual and right to me."
The Corpse Bride, made in the same animation style as The Nightmare Before Christmas, is based on an Eastern European folk tale about a man who mistakenly weds a dead body, the newspaper reported.
Touchstone Gets Unique
ouchstone Pictures has picked up Unique, an upcoming graphic novel from Platinum Studios, to serve as a directing vehicle for David Goyer (Blade Trinity), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
David Heyman (Harry Potter) will produce through his Heyday Films, while Platinum's Scott Mitchell Rosenberg (Men in Black) will serve as executive producer, the trade paper reported. Michael Cooney has been tapped to adapt the material.
Unique centers on Jon Geoffries, a man who discovers that Earth has a twin, a parallel world in another dimension. The worlds are closely linked, explaining such phenomena as deja vu and love at first sight, with people having counterparts on both Earths, the trade paper reported. A few people are born "unique," with no doppelgangers, and can travel between worlds. Geoffries is one such person and soon finds himself a target of enemies who want to exploit his connection, the trade paper reported.
The graphic novel, by Dean Motter and Stefano Cardoselli, was brought to Heyman by Heyday's Marc Rosen.
Warner Brings Out Dead
arner Brothers has purchased feature-film rights to Kevin Brockmeier's story "The Brief History of the Dead," which Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Auburn will adapt, Variety reported.
Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) is attached to produce with an eye to direct, the trade paper reported.
"The Brief History of the Dead" ran in the Sept. 8 issue of the New Yorker magazine. The short story is about a blind man who arrives in a new city, telling a story of having traveled across a desert after his death. The other city-dwellers have their own elaborate and remarkable tales of crossing into this strange world, from which inhabitants depart as mysteriously as they entered, the trade paper reported.
The story is also the first chapter of Brockmeier's novel of the same name, which he is now writing. While the book does not have a publisher, his previous novel The Truth About Celia and the short-story collection Things That Fall From the Sky were published by Random House imprint Pantheon, the trade paper reported.
Passion Opening Wide
el Gibson's controversial movie The Passion of the Christ will premiere on 2,000 screens in the United States on Feb. 25—Ash Wednesday—from Gibson's Icon Productions, partnered with Newmarket Films, Variety reported.
That will mark the widest opening ever of a subtitled movie—the film is shot in Latin and Aramaic—as well as the largest dead-language release in the United States, topping the 1,225 screens on which the reissue of Hong Kong actioner Iron Monkey opened in 2001, the trade paper reported.
Exhibitors told the trade paper that demand to see Passion is strong, and major chains said that they have already received inquiries from church groups about purchasing blocks of tickets. Among the exhibitors carrying Passion are AMC and Pacific Theatres. Other chains are still deciding whether to play the movie, the trade paper reported.
Passion has received massive media attention, initially tied to claims that it had anti-Semitic overtones, the trade paper reported. The trailer was released on Jan. 16.
Exorcist IV Details Revealed
he Australian
CaptainHowdy Web site reported new details of the upcoming reshoot of Exorcist: The Beginning, which director Renny Harlin has taken over from original helmer Paul Schrader.
Citing an anonymous "reliable source," the site reported that the reshoots began after Christmas and will wrap in mid-February at Cinecitta studios in Rome, with about 90 percent of the prequel being reshot.
The site added that Morgan Creek confirmed that James D'Arcy and Izabella Scorupco have joined the project and that original stars Gabriel Mann and Clara Beller will no longer be in the movie.
D'Arcy is playing Father Francis under Harlin's direction after Mann already portrayed the role for Schrader. Mann could not return to the movie because of other commitments, forcing Morgan Creek to recast and release Mann, the site reported.
Scorupco's character is new. Bellar's Rachel has been written out of the movie, the site reported. Pop singer Billy Crawford's performance has also reportedly been written out.
Stellan Skarsgard has stayed on as Father Merrin and will complete the reshoots, the site reported.
Exorcist Iraq Tour Site Eyed
.S. troops in Hastra in northern Iraq are prepping the ancient architectural site as a tourist destination, capitalizing on its use in the opening scenes of the 1973 supernatural horror film The Exorcist, Variety reported.
The plan is part of the reconstruction effort by the 101st Airborne Division, the trade paper reported.
The idea took shape after a soldier watched The Exorcist on a portable DVD player and realized that the temples he was guarding were the same that director William Friedkin filmed for the movie.
Friedkin is thrilled with the idea. "I think it's American ingenuity at its finest," he told the trade paper.
Tour guides have already been hired, hotels are open and the Army and local residents held an event last month to celebrate the end of Ramadan and Christmas, the trade paper reported.
Borg Assimilate Vegas
org Invasion 4D, an interactive entertainment at the Las Vegas Hilton, will open March 18, the official StarTrek.com Web site reported.
The multi-million dollar attraction is being billed as the most ambitious 4-D-style ride ever, combining live actors and special effects to create a realistic Star Trek experience.
In Borg Invasion, visitors will tour a futuristic research facility when drones of the Borg Collective attempt to capture and assimilate them using 24th-century cybernetic technology, the site reported. The attraction features sensory effects choreographed with a 3-D film and a live-action Steadicam stereo shot with real-time 3-D onscreen playback.
Visitors will be able to access the attraction at the Hilton via the new Las Vegas monorail.
SCI FI Gets Andromeda
CI FI Channel and Tribune Entertainment Company announced a major program license agreement for the popular weekly SF series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, starring Kevin Sorbo.
SCI FI will present the fifth and final season of Andromeda as an original series, starting next fall, and will also have the rights to the series' first four seasons, the network said.
The Tribune Entertainment deal also includes three seasons, or 66 episodes, of the weekly syndicated series BeastMaster. BeastMaster will begin airing sometime in 2004 exclusively on SCI FI.
SCI FI picked up cable rights for 110 episodes of Andromeda, including all 22 new original episodes of its fifth season. The fourth season will become available to SCI FI beginning in March, when SCI FI starts sharing original episodes with syndication. New original episodes of the fifth season begin airing this fall on the Channel and will air in syndication a week to 10 days after their SCI FI premiere.
Andromeda premiered in 2000 with the highest first-run weekly hour household rating in three years and established itself as the number-one weekly hour three years in a row with men 25-54. This season it ranks a close second in men 25-54. The series is based on work collected from the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's archives. Currently in its fourth season, the series centers on Capt. Dylan Hunt (Sorbo) and the crew of the System Commonwealth vessel Andromeda as they pursue a mission to restore order to the galaxy.
BeastMaster, starring Daniel Goddard and Monika Schnarre, follows the journeys of Dar the BeastMaster (Goddard) in a world where mythical creatures and miraculous powers are real.
House Alts Are For Real
avid "Avocado" Wolfe, one of five "Alts" (named for their alternative lifestyles) chosen to star in the SCI FI Channel's upcoming original reality series Mad Mad House, told SCI FI Wire that the producers were looking to cast five authentic individuals, no matter how bizarre their lifestyles.
"I think that's why this show is really special," the dedicated naturist said in an interview at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Hollywood. "Because the Alts in the show are real people. It's not a game. It's not a show. This is our real life."
Wolfe added, "The commitment level of all the Alts is absolute. Like Art [the modern primitive]. He's tattooed up onto his face. Don [the vampire], he's got real fangs. Fiona lives her witchcraft in public, which is not necessarily the best thing for her career. Although, maybe it will be in the future. And Ta'Shia [the voodoo priestess], too."
Don Henrie, the house's resident vampire, added in an interview that all of the Alts were given respect and allowed to be themselves during the filming. "That was the complete beauty of it," Henrie said. "We didn't have to ham it up or anything like that. This is us. I'm serious. ... I was the most skeptical, because I come from a very controversial background. And I was thinking, all of a sudden it's going to turn into the weird and wacky world of people who drink blood. I've seen that. ... But fortunately it didn't happen that way. It came out to my highest expectations of what good would be."
The 10-episode series, which Henrie described as "a very high-budget Lord of the Flies," features 10 "guests" living in a house together and competing for a $100,000 prize. The five Alts will vote one guest off each week based on their interactions with them and performances in a series of trials based on their various alternative philosophies. Mad Mad House debuts March 4 and will air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Mad Mad House Gets Dark
iona Horne, a practicing Wiccan and one of the five "Alt" stars of the SCI FI Channel's upcoming reality series Mad Mad House, told SCI FI Wire that viewers can expect some fireworks among the house guests.
"Some people will think I'm a bitch, not a witch," Horne said in an interview at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Hollywood. "Really, there were times the dark goddess had to be invoked and challenges had to be faced. And all of us at different times as Alts had to really wield the sword of enlightenment and cut through the crap, and that happened a few times."
Horne and the other Alts—including a vampire, a naturist, a voodoo priestess and a "modern primitive"—put 10 guests through various challenges over the course of 10 weeks to evaluate their tolerance to alternative lifestyles. The last remaining guest received a $100,000 prize.
Horne said that in the end, the experience was more rewarding than any of the participants expected. "There are definitely twists," she said. "The underlying thing about the whole show is that it really does have everything. There's humor. There's drama. There's adventure. There's surprises. There's phenomenal enlightenment, phenomenal transformation. I know it exceeded the expectations of everyone as we embarked on it. Even as we were filming the producers were coming in at certain periods throughout the thing and saying, 'This is unbelievable. This is beyond beyond.'" Mad Mad House debuts March 4 and will air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Leguizamo Voices Iguana
obert Luketic, director of the upcoming Fox/Blue Sky animated film The Iguana Brothers, told SCI FI Wire that Ice Age star John Leguizamo returns to animation in the Latin-themed adventure.
"John Leguizamo's doing the voice [of one brother]," Luketic said in an interview. "It's about two Puerto Rican iguanas that get kidnapped by a rich developer and taken to his apartment in New York, and they have to get back to the island. And just getting across Central Park is an adventure in itself."
The film is loosely based on the children's book by Tony Johnston. Leguizamo became attached through a friend of Luketic's. "I read the book, and the producer of the project sent it to [Leguizamo]," Luketic said. "He liked it and said he wanted to do one of the voices and said, 'Why don't you come on and produce as well?' He had a huge learning experience on Ice Age, and he said he really enjoyed the process."
Luketic plans to approach the film like a regular live-action film, calling on the help of technicians for the mechanics of animation. "I'll have a team of people assisting with movement and more of the technical aspects," he said. "I make visits to [Blue Sky offices in] White Plains as much as I can, but that's something that takes three or four years. It's very much a labor of love, and it's ongoing." No release date is set for The Iguana Brothers.
Episode III Hits Milestone
irector George Lucas turned over the first major action sequence of the upcoming prequel film Star Wars: Episode III to the visual-effects crew at Industrial Light & Magic on Jan. 8, the official Star Wars Web site reported.
The film will open with a thrilling space battle that pits the forces of the Republic against the battleships of the Separatists, the site reported.
ILM has already completed around 23-25 shots, made up of small scenes of short duration, but the turnover of the space battle is significant, the site added. Lucas has edited the scene together with placeholder visual effects, or animatics, forming a sophisticated starting point for the finished shots to be delivered by ILM.
"Very soon now, you'll have the first two reels," Lucas told visual effects supervisor John Knoll. "There are two more scenes to cut." Episode III will contain an estimated 2,000 visual-effects shots, and producer Rick McCallum has set a goal of at least 160 visual-effects shots to be completed by May, the site reported. Episode III is slated for a 2005 release.
Revolutions DVD Due In April
he Matrix Revolutions will be released on DVD and VHS on April 6, Warner Home Video announced.
The DVD will carry a suggested retail price of $29.95; the VHS will be priced for rental, the company said.
The two-disc DVD release will include hours of bonus features, including Revolutions Recalibrated, a behind-the-scenes overview; CG Revolution, an inside look at the making of the creatures and environs; Super Burly Brawl, a crash course on the final Neo/Smith showdown; and Neo Realism: The Evolution of Bullet Time, a closer look at the visual-effects technique, among other features.
Ferrell Up For Bewitched
ouglas Wick, producer of the upcoming Bewitched film, confirmed to SCI FI Wire that Will Ferrell (Elf) is in the running for the role of Darrin.
"We can't say that he's not doing it," Wick said in an interview. Ferrell would take on the role originally played by Dick York and later by Dick Sargent in the popular 1960s fantasy TV series.
The movie will tell the story of how suburban witch Samantha (Nicole Kidman in the role originated by Elizabeth Montgomery) meets her future husband. The movie will feature characters from the TV series, including Endora (originally played by Agnes Moorehead), Wick added. "[And] there's an Uncle Arthur [and] Aunt Clara," he said.
Wick's partner, Lucy Fisher, said in a separate interview that the movie version of Bewitched will also have its share of magical visual effects. "The humor is more character-comedy based, yet there are special effects, and it does have magic, and it does have witchery," Fisher said.
Wick added, "If you think of the predicaments magic can get someone like Darrin into, and then you think of a really fantastic comedic actor, someone very earthbound compared to Nicole's bewitching nature, you just start to get [an idea of] all the stuff you can play with."
Paramount Develops Swan
aramount is developing a live-action film version of The Trumpet of the Swan, E.B. White's final children's book, for Jordan Kerner to produce, Variety reported.
Katie Ford (Miss Congeniality) has been tapped to write the movie, which will include some computer animation, the trade paper reported.
The book, written in 1970, tells the story of a trumpeter swan named Louis who's born without a voice. His father steals a trumpet from a music store to help his son, who travels far from home to right this wrong, finds his voice and woos the swan of his dreams, the trade paper reported.
White also wrote Stuart Little in 1945 and Charlotte's Web in 1952. Paramount-based Kerner has been developing a live-action/CGI adaptation of the latter for the studio since last fall, with Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich) scripting, the trade paper reported.
Ackerman Aids Cinematheque
cience-fiction legend Forrest J. Ackerman made a $153,000 donation to the American Cinematheque to install seat plaques to honor 153 people at Hollywood's Egyptian Theater, Variety reported.
Those selected by Ackerman include family members, friends, authors, SF literary editors, artists and entertainers in the worlds of film, magic and music, the trade paper reported.
The donation is the single largest one to name seats that the Cinematheque has received to date, the trade paper reported. Ackerman will be honored by friends and colleagues at a special Cinematheque tribute set for Feb. 11, which will include a screening of Dead of Night.
Briefly Noted
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The 28th annual Williamson Lectureship takes place March 11 at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, N.M, with the theme is "Space Opera: Then and Now." Jack Williamson will be joined by Robert Silverberg and Frederik Pohl.
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The official Web site for the upcoming vampire movie Van Helsing has posted a new trailer. The movie is slated to open May 7.
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Warner Brothers has staked out some real estate on the Internet for the official Web site of its upcoming Catwoman movie. The site currently features only the logo for the movie, which is due in July.
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FilmJerk reports that Clea Duvall (Carnivāle) and Kadee Strickland have joined the cast of the remake of Takashi Shimizu's Japanese-language horror film The Grudge, which will star Sarah Michelle Gellar.
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Bob Hoskins will play Odin, king of the Norse gods, in New Line Cinema's upcoming sequel film Son of the Mask, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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The Art Directors Guild has tapped Pixar Animation executive creative vice president John Lasseter (director of Toy Story and A Bug's Life) to receive its Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award, Variety reported. The award will be presented at the ADG's eighth annual awards gala Feb. 14 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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A group of SF writers and others have launched the Speculative Literature Foundation, to promote literary quality in speculative fiction. The group plans a $1,000 prize for excellence in short fiction.
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TVshowsonDVD.com posted comments from a chat in which a Fox Home Entertainment executive confirmed that the canceled SF TV series Millenium and Harsh Realm will come out on DVD this year.
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Dark Horizons reported that Ray Winstone is rumored to have signed on to play the new Dark Arts teacher Mad-Eye Moody in the upcoming fourth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
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Dark Horizons reported that Laurence Fishburne is being considered for the small but vital role of Lucius Fox in Batman: Intimidation Game and two subsequent movies. Director Christopher Nolan is also believed to be pursuing Chris Cooper to play Commissioner Gordon, though the actor turned down initial offers.
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The crowd-animation software used in The Lord of the Rings was among the nine innovations being recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences technical awards committee, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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The American Cinematheque will screen Imagination as Disease: The Viral Cinema of David Cronenberg, Jan. 29-Feb. 5, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The tribute to the Canadian director will include screenings of his rarely seen first two experimental features, Stereo and Crimes of the Future, and the seldom-seen Fast Company.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was the top pick among films for the People's Choice award, presented Jan. 11, the Reuters news service reported. Jim Carrey received the award for Bruce Almighty as most popular film comedy, while The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers won most popular movie drama.
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Dennis Johnson, publisher of Red Deer Press of Calgary, Alberta, is announcing a new science-fiction imprint: Robert J. Sawyer Books, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site reported. Sawyer will serve as editor for the line, which will consist of at least three books per year, and he will write introductions for each book released.
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Dark Horizons reported that the upcoming new Batman movie will shoot at Shepperton Studios in Middlesex, England, and will spend six days in London itself, which will double for Gotham City.
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The DVD set of Fox's canceled SF western show Firefly has sold better than expected, which is good news for producers trying to mount a film version of the series, the FireflyMovie.com Web site reported. Chris Buchanan, president of Firefly production company Mutant Enemy, said, "We are getting pretty close on the movie, and hopefully we'll have some 'official' news soon."
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Walt Disney Feature Animation, which is expected to reveal plans to close down its Orlando animation facility, announced a new SF animated film that will be produced at the company's Burbank studios for a 2006 release, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The computer-animated A Day With Wilbur Robinson, adapted from William Joyce's 1990 book, tells the story of boy who creates a time machine.
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