Angel Gets The Stake
he WB confirmed over the weekend that it will cancel its vampire series Angel at the end of its current fifth season.
The network made the announcement in a note on its official Web site.
"For the last seven years Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have been cornerstones of our network," The WB said. "The sum total of the work done on those shows has produced some of the proudest moments in our history. Like some of the great series that are leaving the air this year, including Frasier and Friends, the cast, crew, writers and producers of Angel deserve to be able to wrap up the series in a way befitting a classic television series, and that is why we went to [series co-creator] Joss [Whedon] to let him know that this would be the last year of the series on The WB."
The WB added that it had discussed airing special Angel movie events next year, an idea that is still on the table. "In a perfect world, all of these details would be completed before this information went to the press so that we could be definitive about the show's ongoing future," the network said. "But in any case, we did not want to contemplate this being the last year of Angel without giving the show the option of crafting their own destiny for this character and for this series. David Boreanaz continues to be one of the finest, classiest and friendliest actors we have had the pleasure to work with, and we hope that the relationship furthers from here. The same can be said for all the actors and producers on the show."
The WB's announcement followed a report on Zap2it that Whedon had visited the Paramount lot in Los Angeles on Feb. 13, where he informed the cast and crew of the network's decision.
On Feb. 18, Angel aired an innovative episode, "Smile Time," written and directed by Ben Edlund (The Tick). Based on an idea by Whedon, the episode transforms Boreanaz's vampire character into a Muppet-like puppet. Angel airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Fans Rally To Save Angel
ore than 46,000 fans of The WB's canceled vampire series Angel have signed an online petition to keep the show alive.
"By signing this petition, we are saying that we support the show and want Angel to continue," the petition reads.
Fans have also put together a Web site, SupportAngel.org, to save the series.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Angel fans will convene this weekend at a previously planned charity ball, the Wolfram & Hart Annual Revue, to celebrate the series in Los Angeles.
Angel Doubtful For UPN
oss Whedon, co-creator of The WB's canceled vampire series Angel, told TV Guide Online that he doubts the series could move to UPN next year, much as its predecessor show Buffy the Vampire Slayer did after the frog network staked it.
"We've talked about the possibility, but it's a long shot," Whedon told the site. A UPN spokeswoman had no comment for TV Guide, but an Angel insider told the site that executives at Angel's production studio Twentieth Century Fox are putting together a proposal for UPN.
Whedon, meanwhile, reiterated that he'd love to have Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar make a guest appearance in the Angel series finale, though Gellar has already said she's not interested in appearing on Angel this season. "We'll put out some feelers [again] to see if there's some interest there," Whedon told the site. "We'd certainly love to have her." Gellar is currently in Tokyo shooting The Grudge, a supernatural horror film.
Hounsou Haunts Constantine
jimon Hounsou, who plays a character named Midnite opposite Keanu Reeves in the upcoming Constantine movie, told SCI FI Wire that Midnite is a witch doctor who helps Reeves' supernatural detective.
"He definitely is human and with a great sensibility to the spiritual world," Hounsou (Tomb Raider 2) said in an interview on the set of the movie in Compton, Calif., last December.
Reeves plays John Constantine, a haunted character who is dying of cancer, based on the hero of DC/Vertigo's Hellblazer comic series. In the scene being shot at the Angeles Abbey Memorial Park, Midnite brings Constantine to his storehouse of supernatural artifacts, including statues, what appears to be the True Cross and the electric chair from Sing Sing.
"Midnite ... definitely [has] much more of a business approach to Constantine, his longtime friend and longtime partner," Hounsou added. "He's completely distanced himself from that world and become completely neutral in society, where everything is really about business for him, and he takes no sides in the fight against evil. And he's just there to accommodate the good and the bad."
Housou said that acting with Reeves has been exciting. "He's done so much, and this time on this picture, working with him firsthand, it's quite a nice surprise," he said. "I realize how actually he's a very talented man, and ... he's so anal about the work. The guy has received some criticism, good and bad, but working with him, you have a great affinity for the kind of generosity that he has with the work and with people that [are a] part of this picture. He definitely is a very simple man and somewhat maybe misunderstood, because he's just very reclusive, very private." Constantine opens in September.
Reeves Defends Constantine
eanu Reeves, who plays the title character in the upcoming supernatural thriller film Constantine, told SCI FI Wire that the movie is faithful to the spirit of the DC/Vertigo comic series Hellblazer, on which it is based.
That's despite the fact that the film moves the action to Los Angeles from London and transforms the main character, supernatural detective John Constantine, into a dark-haired American from a blond British guy.
"I think that's about the only change we've made," Reeves said in an interview during a break in filming at a cemetery in Compton, Calif. He added that the filmmakers, including director Francis Lawrence, considered the changes carefully. "We spoke about it, but it seemed in terms of the platform that we were using, which became Los Angeles—the world in terms of heaven, hell and Los Angeles—seemed to be attractive and make sense. And we're kind of doing a hard-boiled kind of take on the piece. So we kind of went this way instead of a more gothic aspect.
"It's serious and, hopefully, funny at the same time," Reeves added. "Again, going back to that hard-boiled motif, Constantine in this film is in a hospital and he finds out he's dying of lung cancer, lights a cigarette up inside the doctor's office. She says, 'That's a good idea.' He gets into an elevator and this character comes by, and the elevator door's closing, and the person says, 'Going down?' And he says, 'Not if I can help it.' The next scene is, he's in bed with a half-breed demon, drinking whiskey with scratches on his back, and the scene ends with her tail kind of swishing underneath the sheets, laughing, going, 'Lung cancer? Hah. That's funny, John.' So hopefully we have the spirit of ... I call it the Constantinian factor. I'm always asking, 'Is that Constantinian enough?' I think I need more Constantine in my Constantine." The movie opens in September.
Bowman To Helm Elektra
ox and Regency Enterprises are negotiating with Rob Bowman (The X-Files) to direct Elektra, a Daredevil spinoff that will star Jennifer Garner, Variety reported.
Horseshoe Bay partners Mark Steven Johnson and Gary Foster are producing with Marvel's Avi Arad, with a May production start planned, the trade paper reported.
The plot of Elektra will draw heavily from the graphic novels The Elektra Assassin and The Elektra Saga, as she battles the Hand, an organization of killers that trained her and then betrayed her, the trade paper reported.
Bowman last helmed the SF movie Reign of Fire. He will direct an Elektra script by Zak Penn that fits into Garner's hiatus from her ABC series Alias. Garner recently completed the fantasy comedy 13 Going on 30.
Episode III Villain Unmasked
tar Wars: Episode III producer Rick McCallum told the official Star Wars Web site that fans will get a glimpse of the prequel's new enemy, Gen. Grievous, in an upcoming episode of the animated Star Wars: Clone Wars series.
"In Attack of the Clones, we saw that former Jedi Count Dooku was the political leader behind the Separatists' movement and instigator of the Clone Wars," McCallum told the site. "In Episode III, we'll meet Gen. Grievous, the military leader of all the Separatist armies. He's part alien and part robot. Grievous is a master strategist and the greatest hand-to-hand Jedi killer the galaxy has ever known."
In Chapter 20 of the Clone Wars series, the finale set to air April 8, a group of Jedi Knights is being decimated by a seemingly indestructible new enemy. By episode's end, the Jedi and viewers both will understand the power of Gen. Grievous, the site reported. Ten new episodes of Star Wars: Clone Wars begin on March 26.
'Skywalker' Wine Debuts
ilmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas have collaborated on a new release: a $30 Chardonnay made at Coppola's winery from grapes grown at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in Northern California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
A $40 Merlot is due out this summer.
The Chardonnay is on sale only at Niebaum-Coppola Estate Vineyards and Winery in Rutherford and at the winery's official Web site. The bottling is going fast, much of it to movie buffs, Niebaum-Coppola's Scott McLeod told the newspaper. Only 320 cases of 2002 Skywalker Ranch Viandante del Cielo Marin County Chardonnay and 350 cases of 2002 Skywalker Ranch Viandante del Cielo Marin County Merlot were made; as of Feb. 20, the Chardonnay was sold out on the Web site. Viandante del Cielo means "sky walker" in Italian, the newspaper reported.
Coppola and Lucas have been friends for decades and collaborated most famously on the 1973 film American Graffiti, which Coppola produced and Lucas co-wrote and directed, the newspaper reported.
Disney Buys The Muppets
he Walt Disney Co. announced that it has acquired the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House properties from The Jim Henson Co., according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but sources told the trade paper that the value of the deal was about $60 million in cash, plus ongoing revenue participation for Henson, which is owned by the five adult children of the company's late founder, Jim Henson.
The deal includes a nonexclusive production and consulting agreement with the Henson company, under which Henson is expected to develop potential new programming featuring the Muppets and preschool-targeted Bear, which already runs on the Disney Channel, the trade paper reported.
The deal gives Disney control of such Muppet characters as Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Animal, as well as the Muppets film and TV library, which included the 1970s Muppet Show syndicated series and numerous movies. The Henson-created Muppet characters associated with PBS' long-running Sesame Street series, including Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Elmo, were sold off two years ago to Sesame Street producer Sesame Workshop, the trade paper reported.
Deglamorizing Arthur
elsh actor Ioan Gruffudd, who will play Lancelot in Jerry Bruckheimer's upcoming King Arthur movie, told the New York Daily News that the film deglamorizes the Camelot myth.
"It focuses on seven guys given this mission from hell to capture a young boy who the pope has deemed to be next in line for the throne," Gruffudd told the newspaper. "It's a real portrayal of this sixth-century time period, definitely not a glamorized Hollywood version of it."
Gruffudd (whose name is pronounced Yo-wan Griffith) stars with Clive Owen as Arthur and Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean) as Guinevere. Antoine Fuqua directs.
"We had two weeks of boot camp where we choreographed the fights, went horseback riding every day and did weight training," Gruffudd said. "I laugh when I think about all of us riding these horses, acting very butch and masculine, and then, when the camera stopped rolling, we would say, 'Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run into you back there. Are you OK? Did I hurt you?'" King Arthur gallops into theaters July 7.
SF Museum Names Director
xperience Science Fiction, the Seattle SF museum scheduled to open this summer, announced that it has named former NASA engineer Donna Shirley as its director.
Shirley will oversee the creative, programs and operations teams at the museum.
A science-fiction fan since age 11, Shirley has more than 40 years of experience in aerospace and civil systems engineering, including 30 years in management. She retired from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she managed the billion-dollar Mars Exploration Program, in August 1998. That position capped a 32-year JPL career, during which she worked on missions to every planet except Pluto. Prior to becoming manager of the Mars program, Shirley managed the team that built Sojourner, the microrover that landed with Mars Pathfinder on the surface of Mars on July 4, 1997.
Founded by Microsoft billionaire Paul G. Allen and located next to the Experience Music Project in Seattle, ESF will provide exhibit experiences intended to inspire appreciation of science fiction's history, creativity and contributions, while at the same time recognizing notable science fiction creators and their creations, the museum said.
F/X Awards Fete King, Lucas
he Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King took home four golden Melies Moon Man trophies Feb. 18 at the second annual Visual Effects Society Awards at the Hollywood Palladium, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film industry's digital-effects artists also celebrated the career of director George Lucas, who received VES' inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from director James Cameron, the trade paper reported.
Cameron cited Lucas' film-industry-changing cinematic innovations—such as digital desktop editing, digital cinematography, digital exhibition and digital effects—before presenting the career award to Industrial Light & Magic's head honcho, the trade paper reported.
King won awards for models and miniatures, character animation for Gollum and performance by an actor (Sean Astin), in addition to best visual effects in a visual-effects-driven motion picture.
The Matrix Reloaded captured two wins for visual-effects photography and best single visual effect of the year for its trailer-top crash sequence.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl won practical effects in service to a visual effects picture and outstanding matte painting, the trade paper reported. Finding Nemo won best character animation in an animated movie.
Television winners included HBO's Carnivale, USA Network's Helen of Troy, The WB Network's Smallville, SCI FI Channel's Battlestar Galactica and UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Rings Music To Debut
scar-winning film composer Howard Shore will conduct the North American debut performance of his Lord of the Rings Symphony: Six Movements for Orchestra and Chorus on Feb. 23 at the
Montreal Highlights Festival, New Line Cinema announced.
The debut performance at Montreal's Salle Wilfried-Pelletier Place des Arts Concert Hall launches the North American and international tour of the symphonic work and represents its first-ever performance outside of New Zealand.
Shore spent four years writing the music for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy, from which The Lord of the
Rings Symphony: Six Movements for Orchestra and Chorus is drawn. The concert will feature 200 performers on stage, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, adult and boy choruses from Montreal and numerous instrumental and vocal soloists.
After its North American premiere, the work will tour cities in 2004 and 2005, including London, Sydney, Amsterdam, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Seville, among others.
Shore's music for the final Rings film, The Return of the King, was nominated for Oscars for best original score and best original song ("Into the West").
Rings Wins BAFTAs
he Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won the best film award Feb. 15 at the BAFTAs, the British film industry's biggest awards ceremony, in London, the Reuters news service reported.
In a sweep that prefigures its Oscar chances, Return of the King scooped up four BAFTAs.
Jackson, who brought J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece to life, told the audience after receiving the Best Film award: "Wow! This is so fantastic," Reuters reported. "We were a bunch of Kiwis and some Aussies down in New Zealand making this film with American money. But we were always very much aware that we were looking after one of Britain's most loved books."
Separately, Return of the King took top honors at the 54th annual ACE Eddie Awards on Feb. 15 in Los Angeles, honoring film editing, Variety reported. King, which was edited by Jamie Selkirk, took the award for best feature film/drama.
The day before, King was named best period or fantasy film at the 8th annual Art Directors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
AIAS Finalists Named
he Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) has announced finalists for this year's Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the GameSpot Web site reported.
The Academy will present awards in 36 craft, console, computer and online categories at a ceremony in Las Vegas on March 4. Electronic Arts leads with 29 finalists; Ubisoft has 23 and SCEA has 21, the site reported.
The nominations for the prestigious overall game of the year award follow.
•Command & Conquer: Generals (EA)
•Call of Duty (Activision)
•Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (Rockstar)
•Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Ubisoft)
•Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (SCEA)
•Rise of Nations (Microsoft)
•SSX 3 (EA)
•Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (LucasArts)
•The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo)
Gellar Talks Scooby 2
arah Michelle Gellar, who reprises the role of Daphne in the upcoming Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, told SCI FI Wire that she's acting with new husband Freddie Prinze Jr. (Fred), but doesn't take the role home at night.
"We often play cartoon at home, yes," she joked during an interview on the film's Vancouver, B.C., set last summer. "No, it's pretty easy. I wouldn't recommend it. I think working with your partner is incredibly difficult, no matter what industry you're in, whether you're both writers for a similar magazine or whatever job you are."
It makes it easier that Gellar is working on another Scooby movie, she added. "It's difficult to live with someone and come to work. And I wouldn't recommend it as actors, except in a situation like this," she said. "You're doing a big action, fun, cartoon movie. It's not serious. ... I'm not at home at night going, 'How ever will I say my one line tomorrow?' It's a little bit easier and freer, so it's a very positive experience, but I don't think you'll ever be seeing the big drama story between us."
In the sequel to 2002's hit film, based on the long-running animated TV series, the Mystery Inc. gang confronts a masked villain who is plotting to take over Coolsville with a machine that recreates classic foes, like the Pterodactyl Ghost, the Black Knight Ghost and others. The Scooby gang, including Velma (Linda Cardellini) and Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), is joined by guest stars Seth Green and Alicia Silverstone.
Gellar, star of TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, said it was fun to share the stage again with former Buffy co-star Green. "It's great," she said. "If I had my druthers I'd work with Seth on every project. ... He's an amazing comedian, he's an incredibly gifted comedian, but he's also a really giving comedian. A lot of times when you get people that are so incredibly innately funny, it's about them. They're funny. And what Seth does is tries to make everything funny. It's not just him. He'll be the first one to come to you and say, 'I have this great idea for this line. And you should do this in this part.'" Scooby-Doo 2 opens March 26.
Velma Reveals Scooby Secrets
inda Cardellini, who reprises the role of Velma in the upcoming sequel film Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, revealed a secret about her trademark orange turtleneck sweaters in an interview with SCI FI Wire.
"I'm allergic to wool," Cardellini confided during a break in filming on the movie's Vancouver, B.C., set last summer. "They had to make it out of cashmere. It's a luxurious Velma Dinkley sweater."
That's not all that's different this time around for Cardellini's brainy character. "I think in this movie I'm more secure with my friendships and with Mystery Inc., because in the last movie, she was having struggles as to where she fit in the group," she said. "And now she's secure with where she is in the group, and she's secure with almost everything in her life. She smart about everything. She's got great intuition. But the one thing that she's really off base on are relationships with the opposite sex."
That's where Scooby-Doo 2 guest star Seth Green comes in. He plays a curator who catches Velma's eye. "That becomes Velma's arc throughout Scooby 2: ... her relationship with a character played by Seth Green. He plays a character named Patrick Wisely, who's a curator at the Coolsville museum. The Coolsonian. And she's sort of gaga whenever she's around him."
Cardellini expressed admiration for the veteran character actor. "I'd heard so many great stories about him, too, and I was like, they can't all possibly be true," she said. "And I think they are. He's really such a nice guy. So easy to work with. And fun. We play Scrabble a lot in our off time." Scooby-Doo 2 opens March 26.
Time Machine Travels To TV?
he DreamWorks SKG Fansite reported a rumor that a TV miniseries is in the works based on the 2002 Time Machine movie.
Citing anonymous sources, the site reported that Time Machine executive producer Arnold Leibovit is in talks with The David Wolper Organization and Warner Brothers to continue the story as a multipart miniseries and a possible TV series.
Warner and DreamWorks jointly distributed The Time Machine, based on H.G. Wells' classic SF novel. Directed by Wells' great-grandson Simon Wells, The Time Machine starred Guy Pearce and Samantha Mumba.
Besson Warms To Ice?
he IESB.net Web site reported a rumor that The Fifth Element director Luc Besson's next project is a movie version of the 1968 French SF novel La Nuit des Temps (The Ice People).
It is described as a retelling of the classic Romeo and Juliet story with an SF twist.
The story centers on the discovery of two 900,000-year-old humans frozen and preserved in the ice of Antarctica, who are resurrected. The site reported that production is slated to begin in August.
Favreau Eyes Zathura
on Favreau (Elf) is in talks to direct Zathura, the follow-up to the hit supernatural film Jumanji at Columbia Pictures, Variety reported.
The sequel to the 1995 blockbuster has had a long history at Columbia, where it went through numerous directors, and the studio spent many millions to develop script drafts that were eventually scrapped, the trade paper reported.
The final script was ultimately crafted by David Koepp (Spider-Man). With a director aboard, Sony will finally be on track to launch its long-sought-after sequel.
In the original Jumanji, a board game set in the jungle became terrifyingly real. Zathura, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg, will be set within the confines of an intergalactic board game, the trade paper reported.
Gibson Recognizes Pattern
F author William Gibson told The Philadelphia Inquirer that his current novel, Pattern Recognition, represents a departure, as it's set in the present, not the dystopic future of his cyberpunk novels, such as Neuromancer.
"It started as an attempt to prove that I could write a book set right now that would feel very much like the rest of my stuff," Gibson told the newspaper from his home in Vancouver, B.C.
The novel centers on Cayce Pollard, a "cool-hunter" who ferrets out developing consumer trends, the newspaper reported. "The dire thing that multinational globalization seems to be doing is reducing the amount of genuine stuff in the world and replacing it with imitation genuine stuff," Gibson said. But, he added, "In my own life I'm much more gleefully complicit than Cayce would ever be happy being. I don't mind the extent to which William Gibson is a brand as well as being me. It makes for an interesting life." Pattern Recognition is now available in paperback.
Games To Carry FBI Label
he FBI will affix anti-piracy warning labels to all video games, starting this year, the GameSpot Web site reported.
The label will read: "The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000."
The warning label will also be affixed to every new videotape, CD, DVD and game released in America, the site reported. The labeling program was announced at a joint press conference by the FBI, the Entertainment Software Association and other entertainment lobbies, the site reported.
X-Files Vet Goes Dark
he X-Files veteran helmer Rob Bowman has signed up to direct The WB's new version of the vampire soap opera Dark Shadows, Variety reported.
In addition to directing The X-Files episodes and feature film, Bowman has also directed episodes of The Lone Gunmen, MANTIS and VR5.
Dark Shadows, based on the cult 1960s soap, comes from Warner Brothers TV and John Wells Productions. Wells, Dan Curtis and Mark Verheiden executive produce, the trade paper reported.
Eragon To Fly In Film
ox 2000 has set Peter Buchman to write a movie adaptation of Eragon, Christopher Paolini's best-selling fantasy novel about a youth whose discovery of a dragon egg leads him to become a knight and battle an evil king, Variety reported.
Buchman wrote the script for Jurassic Park III and is writing The War Magician as a directing vehicle for Peter Weir, the trade paper reported.
Eragon, which the studio bought late last year, has become a publishing phenomenon, partly because its author is only 17, the trade paper reported.
The medieval-set tale revolves around a farm boy who learns he is the last of a breed of benevolent Dragon Riders, whose magical powers derived from their bond with the beasts.
Sony Opens Season
ony Pictures Animation has given the green light to the computer-animated movie Open Season, featuring the voices of Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher and Debra Messing, Variety reported.
The comedy is planned for a 2006 release, the trade paper reported.
Open Season tells the story of a 900-pound domesticated grizzly bear named Boog (Lawrence) and a scrawny, one-horned mule deer named Elliot (Kutcher) who are stranded together in the woods during hunting season. It's up to the duo to rally all the other forest animals and turn the tables on the hunters. Messing will voice a forest ranger who rescued Boog as a cub and raised him, the trade paper reported.
Open Season is inspired by the humor of syndicated cartoonist Steve Moore (In the Bleachers), who will executive produce with John Carls, the trade paper reported. Jill Culton will direct, with Anthony Stacchi as co-director.
Waters To Direct Sebastian
ark Waters is in talks to direct the fantasy film Will Sebastian for Warner Brothers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Written by David Hubbard, Sebastian tells the story of a guy who lives his life out of sequence and the woman with whom he's destined to fall in love, the trade paper reported.
Waters directed Walt Disney Studios' summer sleeper hit Freaky Friday, which grossed more than $110 million, the trade paper reported. Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe are producing through their 1492 Pictures.
L.A. Fantasy Concert Set
quare Enix announced that it will present the first symphony concert featuring music from its Final Fantasy video game series in the United States on May 10 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
The performance will feature the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
The concert will take place during the week of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the largest interactive entertainment trade show in the United States.
Smith Kicks Into Hornet
iramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein has hired Kevin Smith (Jersey Girl) to write and direct a new movie based on the classic superhero franchise The Green Hornet, Variety reported.
Smith expects to have a script ready in time to begin shooting scenes of the masked Hornet and his kung-fu-fighting chauffeur, Kato, by late summer, the trade paper reported.
The venerable character was created by Fran Striker and George Trendle for a radio serial that launched in 1936, Variety reported.
The story centers on Britt Reid, the millionaire publisher of the Daily Sentinel, who moonlights as a masked crime fighter. The serial was adapted as a live-action 1966 TV series that starred Van Williams and introduced Bruce Lee to U.S. audiences.
Phillips Slips On Jacket
ackenzie Phillips has signed on for a supporting role in the Mandalay Pictures/Section Eight SF movie The Jacket, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Warner Independent Pictures is distributing, with John Maybury directing, the trade paper reported. The film is shooting in Glasgow, Scotland, with Peter Guber, Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney producing.
Written by Massy Tadjedin, Jacket centers on a soldier convicted of murder who, during his treatment in a psychiatric hospital, begins to believe that he is traveling through time, the trade paper reported. Through his time travel, he searches for a woman he met as a child and is fated to love.
Phillips plays a nurse at the psychiatric hospital. She replaces Anne Lambton, who dropped out because of illness. Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley star in Jacket, with Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kelly Lynch and Brad Renfro rounding out the cast, the trade paper reported.
007 Games Ships
lectronic Arts announced that it has shipped James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, its fifth video game based on the spy franchise.
The title is available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and GameBoy Advance.
Everything or Nothing, from veteran Bond screenwriter Bruce Feirstein, features the voices of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, John Cleese, Richard "Jaws" Kiel, Heidi Klum, Mya and Shannon Elizabeth.
The real-time, cinematic action-adventure game features both action and driving levels, and the PlayStation 2 version adds online play. Everything or Nothing was developed by EA Redwood Shores and EA Canada and carries a suggested retail price of $49.95 for the console versions and $29.95 for the GameBoy Advance version.
Vatican Entreated On Passion
prominent Jewish leader urged the Vatican to instruct Catholics that Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion of the Christ is "Mel's gospel" and not Rome's gospel, the Reuters news service reported.
Many Jews have expressed great concern that the film, which is based on gospel accounts but also on the visions of a 19th-century mystical nun, may inflame anti-Semitism and set back Jewish-Catholic dialogue, the news service reported.
In an interview with Reuters Television after he met Vatican officials, Abraham Foxman, U.S. director of the Anti-Defamation League, an independent Jewish advocacy group, said the film portrayed Jews as bloodthirsty and vengeful. He also challenged Gibson to add a postscript to the film and tell audiences it should not be seen as anti-Jewish, Reuters reported.
Foxman met several Vatican officials and urged them to instruct bishops around the world to issue statements locally telling their faithful that the film is an artistic work and not a pure portrayal of gospel accounts, the news service reported. The Passion opens Feb. 25.
Red Dwarf Film Hinted
ritish actor Chris Barrie, one of the stars of the cult TV series Red Dwarf, told fans on the U.K. Sun Web site that he will reprise his character, Arnold J. Rimmer, in the upcoming movie based on the show.
"I don't know when we're going to start filming, but I do know that Doug Naylor—the writer and director—has gone over to Australia to do some preproduction work on it," Barrie said in an online chat. "A Red Dwarf movie is definitely going to happen and feature the cast of the television show."
Barrie added, "They went down the road of looking at Hollywood stars to play us, but I think if they did that, it wouldn't be the same. If you got four box-office names involved, it would end up being a movie about those stars and not about Red Dwarf. So all power to Doug and the boys for holding out for us. I'm just worried about how long I can play a 28-year-old for!"
Barrie said the movie will tell the story from the early days, starting with Lister's growing up in Liverpool and Rimmer's joining the Space Corps. "We've got to bring on new viewers as well as keeping the old fans happy," he said. "It's a difficult brief, but the script that I read, quite a long time ago, did that well. As for plot line, I think I've given away too much already. It starts afresh, but saying anything more than that would probably ruin it."
Turner Rolls Into Goddess
irector Ismail Merchant has hired Tina Turner to play the Hindu goddess Shakti in his upcoming fantasy film The Goddess, Variety reported.
The movie will star Matthew Modine and a group of Bollywood actors, the trade paper reported.
Turner, who recently converted to Buddhism, has spent two weeks touring India to familiarize herself with Indian culture for her role, Merchant told the trade paper. The 63-year-old pop diva went to the southern state of Kerala, where she saw Hindu pujas (prayers) and the way Indians live, Merchant added.
The movie is about the power of women. Shakti gives people energy to survive, the trade paper reported. Merchant said shooting for the film, which will have songs in Sanskrit and English, will begin early next year.
Davalos Grows In Riddick
lexa Davalos, who plays Kyra opposite Vin Diesel in the upcoming SF movie The Chronicles of Riddick, told SCI FI Wire that she plays the grown-up version of Jack, the girl who masqueraded as a boy in Riddick's predecessor film, Pitch Black.
"I think she's grown up and really come to fight for herself and understand herself a bit more," Davalos said in an interview. "I think she's evolved quite a bit, and yet has a lot of Jack inside of her."
Riddick picks up the story of the characters from Pitch Black five years later. The fugitive Riddick (Diesel) encounters Kyra/Jack in the Slam, an underground prison on the planet Crematoria. The role required a lot of physical action from Davalos (best known to SF fans as Gwen from The WB's vampire TV series Angel).
"Lots of stunt work," Davalos said. "Lots of fighting. Lots of weapons. ... Kyra actually carries a very small knife in her mouth, which has been a large part of my training process, actually being able to maneuver this very sharp object in my mouth."
Davalos added that her character and Riddick retain their bond from the first movie. "There's a lot going on between Kyra and Riddick," she said. "A lot. There's definitely a bond. There's all sorts of things. She really looks up to him. She really, in a sense, wants to be him in many ways." Riddick opens June 11.
Tapping Directs SG-1 Ep
manda Tapping, who plays Maj. Samantha Carter on SCI FI Channel's original series Stargate SG-1, told SCI FI Wire that she directed the upcoming episode "Resurrection," based on a story by co-star Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson).
"I loved the experience of directing," Tapping said in an interview. "I can't say enough about how I want to do it again."
"Resurrection" is a complex episode with three main story threads: Teal'c (Christopher Judge) and Jackson defuse a bomb. A shrewd and murderous scientist taunts the team. And, finally, Jackson reaches out to Anna, a Goa'uld-human hybrid created by the unrepentant scientist.
Tapping credits cast and crew for helping her make a dialogue-driven show as visually interesting as possible. "They were phenomenal," Tapping said. "Rick [Anderson] wasn't in the episode, but Michael and Christopher were. They and our guest cast were great. Part of the reason I was able to shoot the show the way I wanted was because I knew our crew was behind me. Every day they were saying, 'What do you need? What do you need? We're here for you 110 percent.' The camera department, I pushed them to the limit, especially our Steadicam operator. But everyone is so talented I knew I could try to push the envelope." Tapping's episode debuts at 9 p.m. ET/PT Feb. 27 on SCI FI.
Murray Joins Wax Cast
had Michael Murray (TV's One Tree Hill) will join the cast of House of Wax, a remake from Dark Castle Entertainment and Warner Brothers/Village Roadshow Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis and Susan Levin are producing.
Wax is a remake of the 1953 classic horror film House of Wax 3-D, which starred Vincent Price and was directed by Andre de Toth, the trade paper reported. The new version will focus on a group of teens who fall prey to demented killers who have a penchant for encasing their victims in wax. The film, written by Chad and Carey Hayes, will shoot in Australia.
Briefly Noted
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The official Star Wars Web site has posted behind-the-scenes video of the making of the upcoming prequel film Star Wars: Episode III.
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Dark Horizons reported that a final script has been handed in for a proposed Mission: Impossible III movie at Paramount. Philip Seymour Hoffman is reportedly under consideration for one of the two villains.
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Lightning Entertainment has acquired international distribution rights to Honey Creek Pictures' teen horror movie Dead Scared from Lantern Lane Entertainment, Variety reported. Written and directed by Rolfe Kanefsky, the film concerns five college kids trapped in a haunted mansion who become possessed by the demonic spirit of an evil professor.
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Disney has set Angela Robinson to direct Herbie: Fully Loaded, a Tom Lennon and Robert Ben Garant-scripted film that puts the famed Volkswagen in the world of NASCAR racing, Variety reported. The movie is based on the 1968 fantasy film The Love Bug.
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Morgan Freeman has joined the cast of Warner Brothers' fifth Batman movie, playing Lucius Fox, the head of Wayne Enterprises, Variety reported. The trade paper, meanwhile, backed off a report that Liam Neeson will play the villain, Ra's al Ghul, saying instead that he will play Ducard, a mentor to Bruce Wayne.
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Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ will open with 4,000 prints, up from the approximately 2,500 previously announced, to respond to anticipated high demand to see the controversial movie, Variety reported.
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Showtime Networks has acquired the first and second seasons of the international Emmy Award-winning children's fantasy series The Magician's House and the seven-episode thriller Strange from the BBC Sales Co., Variety reported. Both series will make their U.S. debuts on Showtime multiplex channels this year.
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Paramount Home Entertainment will commemorate the release of its Star Trek: Voyager DVD sets and the current Mars missions by showing its support for space exploration at a celebration at the California Science Center's Air and Space Gallery in Los Angeles at 6 p.m. Feb. 19. The studio will present a Voyager DVD plaque to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to salute the Mars landings.
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Eon Productions, which produces the James Bond film franchise, told the Empire Online Web site that Pierce Brosnan
remains the company's choice to play 007 in any upcoming film, rebutting widespread rumors that he was being fired. "For now, Pierce Brosnan is our James Bond," an Eon spokeswoman told the site.
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TV Barn reported that NBC is slotting DreamWorks' upcoming computer-animated sitcom Father of the Pride in the Thursday 8 p.m. timeslot soon to be vacated by Friends. Pride centers on a family of lions who perform in the act of Las Vegas magicians Siegfried and Roy.
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Dark Horizons has posted links to images from Terry Gilliam's upcoming fantasy movie The Brothers Grimm, which opens later this year.
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Sherman Hemsley (The Jeffersons) will lend his voice to the title character in Fox's pilot for an updated version of the classic TV series Mister Ed, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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