Perlman: Hellboy Was Heaven
on Perlman, who stars as the title character in the upcoming comic-book adaptation Hellboy, told SCI FI Wire that the finished film exceeded his highest expectations.
"Wow," he said in an interview while promoting the film. "How cool. You know, it's always a pleasure to see a Guillermo del Toro film. It's more so when you're involved in it. It's the most it can be when you're the title character."
Perlman was the first choice to play Hellboy for del Toro, the film's director, and Mike Mignola, creator of the original comic book. Perlman said that he had no trouble identifying with the big red guy. "Let's examine, if you will, what Hellboy does in this film," Perlman said. "He drinks beer. He smokes cigars. He f--ks around with the guys he works with to the point where he drives them up the wall. He's a wiseass. He's a wisecracking dude. He trash-talks the people that he's fighting against for life or death. He's constantly in this kind of mode like, 'Is that all you've got?' There's nothing similar to him [in] me."
In Hellboy, Perlman plays a demon conjured by the Nazis, but raised by a kindly professor to protect the world from evil as an agent of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. For the actor, the character was not only personally gratifying, but also reminiscent of one of his most notable roles: Vincent in the 1980s television series Beauty and the Beast. "It's weird that I got to play the Beast, and it's also weird that I got to play Hellboy," he said. "Although, maybe not so weird, because, you know, there's my whole life, particularly the real early years, growing up, finding a way to manage what I felt was monstrous about myself. ... Grappling with what I thought was monstrous about me was ultimately the most defining thing about who I ended up being in life. And I have a true attraction to the people who are grappling with that problem." Hellboy hits theaters April 2.
Del Toro Raised Own Hellboy
uillermo del Toro, who wrote and directed the upcoming SF film Hellboy, told SCI FI Wire that he included deliberate references to the original comic book created by Mike Mignola, such as the character's affinity for a certain breakfast item.
"The movie is full of nods and winks to the fans, but it's made for anybody to be able to watch it," del Toro said in an interview while promoting the film. "So if you don't notice the pancake joke as an insider, at least you'll notice he's going to swallow 50 pounds of pancakes."
In adapting the film, del Toro wanted to add his own touch to the origin of the red-skinned demon raised by humans to fight evil. "In a silly way, I secretly hope that people will see the movies I make more than once," he said. "I kind of coded who [Hellboy] was in his origin. If you pay attention closely the first time you see him, he is next to a stone statue of a cat. And his father is Broom, but also a sergeant who has a big cigar and says, 'Crap. That's a load of crap.' I said, 'I want to make him the son of those circumstances.'"
One of the director's favorite additions to the character's personality was a large collection of cats in his room. Though the cats were not always cooperative on the set, they were an important element in the film's artistic design, del Toro said. "To me, movies are about little textures, and I love having sort of a moving set," he said. "I felt that it was just so neat to have such a huge guy coexist with these needy little creatures. You know, just rubbing against his chin while he's writing a love letter. It sets him up, and it's not in the comics. ... That's why in this big action sequence, I wanted to put in a box of kittens. He goes, 'Oh, my God. I will destroy the entire train station, but I've got to protect these kittens.'" Hellboy opens in theaters April 2.
Gellar Not In Angel End
arah Michelle Gellar will not be resurrecting Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the finale of The WB spinoff series Angel after all, TV Guide Online reported.
Gellar was reportedly asked to appear in the second-to-last episode, airing May 5, but was working on her upcoming supernatural movie The Grudge while that hour was being shot, the site reported.
Gellar was free to appear in the finale, which airs May 19, but Angel executive producer Joss Whedon told the site that he didn't want the send-off to "revolve around a guest star." "We will deal with the issue of Buffy and how much she means to Angel and Spike, but I want to end the show with the people who've been in the trenches together, the characters who have lived—and occasionally died—together: the regulars."
The May 5 episode will reportedly resolve the Angel-Spike-Buffy triangle, though Gellar won't appear, producers told the site. "Angel and Spike arrive at an understanding. That's all I'll say about that," executive producer Jeffrey Bell told TV Guide. "And without her being involved, Buffy's character has come to some sort of understanding, too."
Angel Fans On The Move
ans of The WB's Angel have paid for a mobile billboard truck to drive around Los Angeles and park at strategic locations to urge the network to save the show from its impending cancellation at the end of the current fifth season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Fans are paying $700 a day to have the truck position itself in front of The Hollywood Reporter, The WB, Paramount (where the show is shot), UPN, HBO and 20th Century Fox, which produces the series, the trade paper reported. The billboard reads: "We will follow Angel to hell ... or another network."
The billboard truck is part of a fan campaign, Saving Angel, which includes postcards and full-page advertisements in Hollywood trade publications.
Theresa Fortier, one of the organizers of the campaign, told the trade paper that fans have raised about $22,000 and that the truck will cruise around for at least another week.
More Spidey 3 Details Here
ony set a May 4, 2007, release date for a proposed third Spider-Man movie and announced that stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will reprise their roles, the Reuters news service reported.
Sam Raimi will again direct, Sony Pictures Entertainment Vice Chairman Jeff Blake told the ShoWest convention for movie theater owners, the wire service reported.
The news comes months before the first sequel film, Spider-Man 2, opens June 30. In Spider-Man 2, the superhero battles a new nemesis, Dr. Otto Octavius, aka Doc Ock (Alfred Molina).
Spidey 2 Crawls Early
ony has moved up the release date of Spider-Man 2 to June 30 from July 2 in a move to maximize box-office receipts over the July 4 holiday weekend, Variety reported.
Sony made the surprise announcement at a ShoWest session promoting the sequel to 2002's action blockbuster, the trade paper reported.
The studio also confirmed its intent to shoot a third installment in the comic-book movie franchise, the trade paper reported.
The original Spider-Man opened over a three-day May weekend with a then-record $114.8 million, the trade paper reported.
Franco Lifts Spidey 2 Veil
ames Franco, who reprises the role of Harry Osborn in Spider-Man 2, told fans at the Wizard World convention in Los Angeles that he has more to do in the upcoming sequel film, according to a report on the Comics Continuum Web site.
"I think I have as great of an arc in this as you could ask for in any movie," Franco reportedly said. Franco appeared with producer Avi Arad of Marvel Studios.
The sequel continues Harry's journey from the end of the first film, where he swears to get revenge on Spider-Man, whom he blames for the death of his father, Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, the site reported. "The first one there was a wonderful setup," Franco said. "Harry's whole life is to get his father's approval, and before he achieves that, his father was taken from him. After that he's kind of, I don't know, half a man. He's troubled. Even if he succeeds in life, he'll never have pure satisfaction, because his father will never be there. So he's a troubled man. Now he has two places to go: Still try to please the ghost of his father by succeeding in business or whatever, also by trying to avenge his death. I guess he goes to some dark places." Spider-Man 2 opens in July.
Marsden Updates Preacher
ames Marsden, who was linked to a proposed Preacher movie, told fans at Wizard World in Los Angeles that the comic-book adaptation is mired in "development hell," according to a report on the Comic Book Resources Web site.
"When you have an independently financed film, it's getting harder to get them made," Marsden told the convention. "We're going to try to go this summer. I kind of wanted to wait another year so I could get more wrinkles and get even more weathered. If there was ever a role that I wanted to do some method acting, this would be it. My wife read every single one of the issues in two days, she was in love with them."
Preacher is based on Garth Ennis' graphic novel about an itinerant cowboy holy man with divine powers. "Almost two years ago I got a phone call from my agent, offering it," Marsden said. "I was like, 'What is Preacher?' They were very vague. So I asked some of my friends, and they're like, 'They offered you Jesse Custer? Preacher? Wow!' I got a couple of the graphic novels, and I was captivated, it was some of the best writing that I'd ever read. I just found it an amazing piece of literature."
Singleton Talks Cage
irector John Singleton told the Comics Continuum to expect an announcement soon about casting in his upcoming comic-book movie Luke Cage.
"I got a couple of people in mind, but it's premature to say," Singleton told the site at Wizard World Los Angeles. "It's going to be announced in probably a week or so who's going to be Cage." The film is set up at Sony, where Singleton and Marvel Studios' Avi Arad first worked to develop the character nine years ago. The script is written by Ben Ramsey, the site reported.
"It's dope. It's dope," Singleton said. "We're working on a new draft, and we should be casting really soon." Singleton told the site that the villain will be Diamondback, the original Hero for Hire comics villain who framed Cage and had him sent to prison. "And I'm trying to get in some of the other characters, like Chemistro and maybe the Wrecking Crew or some of the obscure Marvel villains," Singleton said. Singleton confirmed that Cage will be using his trademark "Sweet Christmas" line in the film. "When I read the script, I [burst] out laughing when he said that," Singleton said. "But he can't wear the yellow shirt, and he can't have the chains. I'm not having that. And it's not like the Richard Corben one, either. I'm doing the movie for one reason, to have him break out of Seagate Prison with his bare hands," Singleton said.
Singleton said he hopes to get production started by late summer for a 2005 release. "It's a fun movie. It's hip. It's so cool," Singleton said. "Imagine if 50 Cent got super powers."
More Vets Join Batman
scar nominee Tom Wilkinson and Rutger Hauer have joined the cast of Warner Brothers' upcoming Batman Begins movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Christopher Nolan is directing the latest installment in the comic-book film franchise.
Wilkinson plays Falcone, one of the leading crime figures in Gotham City, the trade paper reported. Hauer portrays Earle, a business contemporary of Bruce Wayne's murdered father, who has designs on the Wayne corporate empire.
The actors join Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman; Michael Caine as Wayne's trusted butler, Alfred; Katie Holmes as a childhood friend of Wayne's; Liam Neeson as Wayne's mentor, Henri Ducard; Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, a former board member and sidelined employee of Wayne Enterprises; Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon; and Ken Watanabe as the villainous Ra's Al Ghul.
Berry Purrs Over Catwoman
alle Berry, star of the upcoming Catwoman movie, told ESPN Page 3 that she based her performance on previous actresses who had played the role before her.
"It's very much like some of the Catwomen of the past," Berry told the site at the Shane's Inspiration's Third Annual Gala charity benefit. "We tried to touch on some of those great characteristics that those other ladies brought to her and also tried to find some new ones for myself. That was the challenge." Actresses who have assayed the role in the past include Michelle Pfeiffer and Lee Meriwether.
In particular, Berry mentioned Eartha Kitt, who played the famous villain in the 1960s Batman TV series. "I do a little purring," Berry said. "Not nearly like Eartha. Nobody can do that Eartha purr. But there's a little purring going on, my way!"
Berry added, "It was a lot of fun. It's probably the most physically demanding role to date. And even emotionally it turned out to be a real acting job. Yeah, it's a comic-book character. But we fought real hard to bring some gravity to the character, to bring some weight to it and make it realistic, set in the real world." Catwoman is now in post-production with an eye to a July release.
Sky Captain Crunches
he release date for the upcoming SF live-action/animated film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow has already been bumped once, and the production is now farming out post-production visual-effects work to nearly a dozen other F/X houses, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Production sources told the trade paper that the movie is expected to contain 1,500-2,200 visual-effects shots, but as of December, fewer than 500 had been completed by the Canoga Park, Calif., visual-effects shop that houses 65 F/X artists working under director Kerry Conran's watch.
Among those heeding the call for F/X assistance are Computer C.A.F.E., Gray Matter FX, Luma Pictures, the Orphanage, Pacific Title & Art Studios, Pixel Liberation Front, R!OT and Ring of Fire, all of which are working under strict nondisclosure agreements, the trade paper reported. Industrial Light & Magic has been in negotiations to work on the project, the trade paper added.
A Paramount spokeswoman told the trade paper that the studio had always planned to outsource some of the effects work and noted that it was par for the course on a visual-effects-intensive movie.
The dozen facilities now at work on Sky Captain, budgeted at a reported $70 million, have just two months to deliver an estimated 1,000 shots, the trade paper reported. The film is slated for a June 25 release, which was moved from June 11.
Fox Previews SF-Heavy Slate
wentieth Century Fox previewed an SF-heavy summer slate of movies to conventioneers at ShoWest, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Fox unveiled a preview reel that included Roland Emmerich's big-budget disaster picture The Day After Tomorrow, Peter Hewitt's computer-animated/live-action Garfield: The Movie, director Paul Anderson's Alien vs. Predator, and the Isaac Asimov adaptation I, Robot, starring Will Smith and directed by Alex Proyas, among other movies.
The studio screened a 10-minute preview of Tomorrow, the story of the world falling prey to natural calamities. Garfield comic-strip creator Jim Davis, meanwhile, appeared and said, "Finally, after 25 years of doing the strip, Garfield will [have] a venue as big as his ego." Davis introduced the film's live-action stars, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Breckin Meyer, the trade paper reported.
Fox followed with the first-ever showing of footage from Alien vs. Predator, which features the title characters battling it out with a team of archaeologists caught in the middle, the trade paper reported.
The futuristic I, Robot centers on robots who stop obeying their owners and start committing crimes. Smith appeared via a faux satellite feed, then ran across the stage to take his turn at the podium, the trade paper reported. "As an actor, you make a lot of movies, and some of them you shouldn't have made," he told the audience. "I just ran across the stage, because I love this movie. I just saw it for the first time two days ago, and it's brilliant."
Fox also sneaked a few clips from the 2005 animated comedy Robots and closed the day's program by mentioning upcoming projects Fantastic Four, X-Men 3 and movies from James Cameron, Tony and Ridley Scott and George Lucas, the trade paper reported.
Gosnell Up For Scooby 3
aja Gosnell, director of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, said he'd like to direct a third film, but added that uncertainties about the cast could affect the film's fate.
Stars Linda Cardellini (Velma) and Matthew Lillard (Shaggy) have already signed on for a third movie, but Sarah Michelle Gellar (Daphne) and her real-life husband, Freddie Prinze Jr. (Fred), have not.
"If they didn't come back, I think we'd have to address it in the script somehow," Gosnell said in an interview. How would he feel if only some of the actors return? "I can't answer that question now, because I don't have a strong feeling," he said. "I would say that would depend on the script. It would depend on how much time has passed. And it would depend on just how it felt on my gut level. Could I make the movie? Yeah, I'd have a good time, I'd be fine with it on a personal level. As a business decision? That's a totally different question, and I think we'd have to address it."
Gosnell, who helmed both Scooby movies so far, added that he already has ideas for where the third film might take place. "I think ... we do," he said. "Some European location, which I can't divulge. [We'll] continuing globetrotting, yes. Absolutely. We're following in Bond's wake. Scooby Bond." Scooby-Doo 2 opened March 26.
Scooby Reunites Buffy Mates
eth Green, who co-stars in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, told SCI FI Wire that he reunites with his one-time Buffy the Vampire Slayer castmate Sarah Michelle Gellar in the sequel, and that she seemed noticeably happier.
"I'll say this about Sarah," Green said in an interview. "In the last few years, and not so much since the show ended, but just, I think, her getting married and, I think, her gaining a real sense of comfort with who she is as a person, she is much happier."
In Scooby-Doo 2, Green plays Patrick Wisely, a museum curator who catches the eye of Mystery Inc. member Velma (Linda Cardellini). Green shared the screen with Gellar in TV's Buffy for two seasons, from 1997-1999, playing the musician and werewolf Oz. Now, Green said of Gellar, "You can see her just really seeming to radiate a sense of comfort in her own skin. And that's great. I've known her since we were, like, nine years old, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for her. I think she's a real talented actress. I think she's handled herself very gracefully through everything she's had to experience in the last what, six or seven years? And it was great."
Gellar (Daphne) co-stars in Scooby-Doo 2 with her real-life husband, Freddie Prinze Jr. (Fred)—one of the reasons for Gellar's frame of mind, Green said. "Freddie's such a phenomenal influence and such a f--king wonderful guy," he said. "I just love that guy so much. So yeah, that was the big difference that I noticed. But that's not due to the end of Buffy as much as I think it's just due to her kind of getting comfortable as a person." Scooby-Doo 2 opened March 26.
Gellar, Prinze Work Scooby 2
arah Michelle Gellar, who stars in the sequel film Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, told SCI FI Wire that it's been fun working with her real-life husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., on the sequel to their hit 2002 movie.
"It's pretty easy," Gellar said in an interview last year during filming. "I wouldn't recommend it [otherwise]. 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's difficult to live with someone and come to work. And I wouldn't recommend it as actors, except in a situation like this."
Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) reprises the role of Daphne and Prinze again plays Fred in the sequel, which pits the Mystery Inc. gang against several famous monsters from the classic animated TV series on which the films are based. She said that it's easy to work with her husband because "you're doing a big action, fun, cartoon movie. It's not serious. You're 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." Scooby-Doo 2 opened March 26.
Green To Run Toon Series
ctor Seth Green (Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed) will step behind the camera as executive producer of a new animated series for the Cartoon Network, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The cable channel has ordered 20 episodes of the untitled project, a stop-motion cartoon that depicts iconic toys acting out satirical vignettes, the trade paper reported.
"It's like Saturday Night Live with toys instead of actors," Green told the trade paper. "We're ecstatic to be doing it with the Cartoon Network."
Green created and produced the series with Matthew Senreich, editorial director of magazine publisher Wizard Entertainment, the trade paper reported. The series is scheduled to join Cartoon's late-night animation block Adult Swim in October.
Green and Senreich will write the series with Doug Goldstein and Tom Roots, the trade paper reported.
New Body Snatchers Coming
ave Kajganich has been hired to write the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers for Warner Brothers, Variety reported.
Doug Davison and Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment are producing the film, the trade paper reported.
Warner Brothers owns the remake rights after making the 1993 version Body Snatchers, directed by Abel Ferrara. The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers debuted in 1956 and was also remade in 1978.
Kajganich is also writing an update of the 1979 ghost tale The Changeling.
Worlds Mulling New Zealand?
teven Spielberg and Tom Cruise are eyeing New Zealand as a possible location for their proposed War of the Worlds movie, the country's Dominion Post newspaper reported.
Citing anonymous "insiders," the newspaper reported that New Zealand is at the top of the list of possible destinations for the Paramount production, which is rumored to be starting later this year or early next year.
Cruise will produce and star and Spielberg will direct the movie, an adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic SF novel.
Film NZ acting chief executive Louise Baker told the newspaper that she had not "even heard a whisper" about the rumor that New Zealand was in the running as a possible location for the movie. "We do know about lots of things that are happening, and that is not one of them," she said. "It's a long way out, too. If it's not happening till next year, I doubt there is even a script, let alone a budget, let alone where they might be shooting it."
Darabont Boards M:I-3
riter/director Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) has been tapped to write Mission: Impossible 3 for Cruise/Wagner Productions and Paramount Pictures, replacing original writer Robert Towne, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The report confirmed a rumor on Ain't It Cool News.
Towne had begun writing the third installment of the action franchise, but is now focusing on his long-gestating pet project Ask the Dust, the trade paper reported.
Joe Carnahan is directing M:I-3 after David Fincher withdrew this year. Set for release next year, M:I-3 will star Tom Cruise as secret agent Ethan Hunt.
Grieco Fought For Force
ichard Grieco, who stars as the leader of a paranormal task force in the SCI FI Channel original movie Phantom Force, told SCI FI Wire that he choreographed most of his own fight scenes in the film.
"I usually coordinate my own fight scenes just because I've Thai-boxed for so long and I've done so many fight scenes in movies," he said in an interview. "I work with the stunt guys to come up with something that looks realistic. A lot of times they'll get into something that's so elaborate it doesn't look real. When you get a stunt coordinator, and he gets there for one day, all of a sudden he wants to do something, and you're going, 'God, dude. The guy should be dead by now. Let's just come up with something short and sweet.' And that's how it'll be."
Phantom Force is a spinoff of the popular Interceptor Force movies, which earned high ratings for the network in the past. Like its predecessors, the film centers on an elite task of specialists investigating a threat to humankind. This time, however, the threat is paranormal rather than supernatural. Also starring are Tangi Miller and Nigel Bennett, reprising the role he played in IF2: Interceptor Force 2.
Grieco plays Marcus Dupree, a soldier with a special gift who must lead the crew of a submarine in a fight against an ancient supernatural force. "It's almost like Ghostbusters meets C.S.I., but it's not a funny thing," he said. "I mean, it's hard to put it in a reality sense, because this is basically Crime Scene Investigation going into the paranormal. ... I think they start off with a bang as far as this whole thing opening up, and they left it kind of [ambiguous] at the end as far as what's going to happen, which is good." Phantom Force premiered on the SCI FI Channel on March 27 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
NBC Unwraps Mork, Bewitched
s part of its Behind the Camera franchise, NBC is developing TV movies focusing on the behind-the-scenes drama of the classic shows Mork & Mindy and Bewitched, among others, Variety reported.
NBC has previously produced telefilms on Three's Company and Charlie's Angels.
"The franchise has performed quite well for us," NBC longform executive Jeff Gaspin told the trade paper.
Ring 2 Circles Oregon
ortions of the sequel to The Ring, starring Naomi Watts, will be filmed in Oregon, the Associated Press reported.
The Oregon Film and Video Office said the movie would be filmed in Astoria.
Officials say Astoria was chosen because it captured the mood of the supernatural thriller movie. Other films shot all or partly in the coastal town include Goonies and Short Circuit. Production on The Ring 2 is set to begin in May, the AP reported.
Kelly Helms Southland
riter-director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) has written and will direct the comedy-musical SF thriller Southland Tales for Cherry Road Films, Variety reported.
The movie takes place in 2008 during a three-day Los Angeles heat wave leading up to a massive July 4 holiday celebration, the trade paper reported.
Seann William Scott is in negotiations to star in the project, set to begin shooting in July. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Lee, Janeane Garofalo, Tim Blake Nelson, Amy Poehler, Kevin Smith and Ali Larter are also in talks to join the cast, the trade paper reported.
Playtone Options Last Man
laytone Productions has optioned the fantasy spec script Maynard Dils ... Last Man on Earth from writer Mark Blutman and set up the project with Universal Pictures, Variety reported.
The deal includes a rewrite by Blutman. Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman will produce.
The comedy deals with a nerdy guy who receives the blessing and curse of suddenly being irresistible to every woman on the planet, the trade paper reported.
Universal is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Potter Boosts Bloomsbury
ritish publisher Bloomsbury Publishing last year reported another big jump in annual profits, in line with market expectations, due in large part to the Harry Potter series of books, the Reuters news service reported.
Bloomsbury, which has published all five Harry Potter books, announced that pre-tax profits for the year ending last December rose 38 percent to $28.4 million, the wire service reported.
The fifth Harry Potter book, The Order of the Phoenix, was published last June in what was billed as the world's biggest book launch and sold 1.78 million copies in Britain on its first day, the wire service reported.
The sixth book has yet to receive a title or a release date, but author J.K. Rowling told Bloomsbury recently that the novel was coming along well, Chairman Nigel Newton told Reuters.
Smith Hits The Mark
ickelodeon Movies and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment are developing the SF action movie The Mark, a long-gestating project, with Smith starring, Variety reported.
The film was first set up in 1998 by Overbrook and Centropolis at Universal, with a script from Rob Lifield, the trade paper reported. It will now be produced by Nick Movies senior vice president Julia Pistor and Overbrook partners Smith and James Lassiter.
The producers have tapped the writing team of Gregg Chabot and Kevin Peterka (Reign of Fire) to adapt The Mark.
Smith will star as an everyman who discovers a strange mark has transferred to his body from the corpse of a Confederate soldier, which grants him special powers but also gives him the impulse to use it for evil purposes, the trade paper reported.
The Mark will launch first as a feature film and then as an animated TV series on Spike TV, the trade paper reported.
Universal is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
PS2 Drive, Fantasy XI Here
ony released a hard drive for the PlayStation 2 video game console on March 24 that comes bundled with Final Fantasy XI, the Reuters news service reported.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America said the 40 gigabyte hard drive, retailing for $99, would be preloaded with Final Fantasy XI, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that can be played online with other PS2 users and with people on PCs, the news service reported.
Access to the game is free for the first 30 days, after which subscriptions will cost $12.95.
Snicket Books Sell Best
even titles in the Lemony Snicket series of children's books landed in the top 10 of the March 21 New York Times Children's Chapter Book List, Zap2it reported.
That feat was duplicated by the Snicket series on May 5, 2002; Feb. 9, 2003; and April 13, 2003, the site reported.
The March 21 list included The Reptile Room and The Slippery Slope, the site reported.
The first Lemony Snicket book came out in 1999. Each of the 10 titles released so far has reached the best-seller list. The 11th book in the series, The Grim Grotto, is scheduled to hit bookstores this September, the site reported.
The first three books in the series are being adapted as Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, a feature film starring Jim Carrey, which is currently in production.
Mad Trial Spurs Suit
he March 18 episode of SCI FI Channel's original series Mad Mad House featured a "trial" that was the subject of a lawsuit filed last month by a non-profit group established to foster unity among the world's African-based religions.
In the episode, self-styled "voodoo priestess" Ta'Shia Asanti ran the
house's eight residents through a trial game that incorporated elements
related to the practice of voodoo, including earth or soil, honey, feathers and animal organs.
The trial was mentioned in the federal lawsuit filed in February by the National African Religion Congress of Philadelphia against SCI FI, its parent company, Universal Studios, and the show's producers, arguing that the show misrepresents the voodoo religion and casts a bad light on genuine practitioners of voodoo and other African-based religions. The suit specifically singled out the "voodoo trial" as an example of a "portrayal [that] creates an extremely negative image of the Voodoo religion and plays upon a long history of sensationalism, misinformation and bias regarding the Voodoo religion," according to court documents. The suit seeks a court order requiring the producers of Mad Mad House to change their advertising and programming to eliminate all references to voodoo.
The suit argues that Asanti is actually a priestess of "Yemoja in the Ifa tradition," a faith of the Yoruba people of Africa, and not a true voodoo priestess. The lawsuit argues that producers initially approached Gro Mambo Angela Novanyon—who identifies herself as an "internationally recognized high priestess of the Voodoo religion" and a founder of NARC—to appear in Mad Mad House, but she declined—an account SCI FI disputes.
Asanti's official biography says that she has spent 10 years training and studying in the field of African spirituality and, as a Yoruba/Ifa priestess, has embraced the sacred tenets of voodoo and other African-based spiritual traditions.
A spokeswoman for the SCI FI Channel declined to comment on the lawsuit, which is pending. The episode in question aired again on March 23 at 10 p.m ET/PT. A new episode of Mad Mad House aired March 25 at 9 p.m.
Final Dune Sequels Due
evin J. Anderson—the SF author who has co-written six Dune prequel books with Brian Herbert, the son of original Dune author Frank Herbert—told SCI FI Wire that he has just signed a deal with Tor Books to write two final novels intended to conclude the series according to Frank Herbert's recently discovered outlines.
"This wraps up everything we can envision in how the story ends," Anderson said in an interview. "People have honestly been waiting 18 years to get to the end of this story."
The two volumes, entitled Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune, are based on an outline left behind by the elder Herbert before he died. "When we started going through all his notes we found these keys to a safe deposit box, and inside the safe deposit box was Frank Herbert's full and complete outline for what he called Dune Seven," Anderson said. "In it is his giant outline for the grand climax, which wraps up everything in the whole story."
According to Anderson, the novels will resolve a cliffhanger left at the end of Herbert's sixth and final Dune book. "At the end of Chapterhouse Dune you find out that [the oder matres] are actually on the run from something even worse that's coming after them. Kind of one of those 'Oh, s--t' moments. We have to reveal what that is, and we wrap up the whole story. There are tantalizing hints that Frank Herbert sprinkled throughout the books that he wrote, but he's got this tying elements all the way back to his novel Dune, plus his outline of the history of the Butlerian Jihad, which we wrote in our other prequel trilogy. So all the answers will be revealed and all kinds of great mysteries solved."
Anderson and Herbert are also working on a compendium entitled Road to Dune, which will contain lost chapters written by Frank Herbert for the original Dune novel, as well as new stories from Anderson and Brian Herbert. Also included are a few letters that should provide encouragement to aspiring writers. "One other thing we hope to include in the Road to Dune is a stack of the original rejection slips that Dune got," Anderson said. "One of them, I can't remember which publisher, said, 'I might be making the mistake of my career, but I just can't see how anybody would ever read a book like this.'" Road to Dune will be released next fall. The Battle of Corrin, the sixth and final Dune prequel written by Anderson and Herbert, is due in August.
Molina Toons Into Sian
lfred Molina, who will soon be seen as Doc Ock in the live-action film Spider-Man 2, told SCI FI Wire that he's also completed work on an animated feature entitled Sian Ka'an.
"That's a fantasy film set in a mythical world," Molina said in an interview. "It's like a modern-day fable. I'm a good guy."
Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Species) added, "It's got some good people [including Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Placido Domingo and Michelle Rodriguez]. I'm a good guy who has a few bad moments. Ka'an is sort of like a political figure. He starts off very honorable, but then you suddenly start to realize that he's got a whole other agenda going on."
The film is directed by Raul Garcia, a sequence director on Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and an animator on Land Before Time, The Lion King and Tarzan. Molina said that Sian Ka'an was not his first foray into animation voice-over work. "I'd also done an episode of Justice League, but that was just a tiny part [as the character King Gustav]," the actor said. "It was just to get my feet wet. That was good, too, but I'd never really done anything quite like Sian Ka'an. We did it over two days, and it was quite fun." Sian Ka'an will be released in 2005.
Posey Set For Frankenstein
arker Posey has signed on to star in the USA Network drama Frankenstein, an update of Mary Shelley's classic SF novel, Variety reported.
The network gave the green light to a two-hour pilot and four scripts, the trade paper reported.
Martin Scorsese, author Dean Koontz and Flame TV topper Tony Krantz are executive producing. Marcus Nispel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is set to direct the pilot, from a script by Koontz, the trade paper reported.
Posey will play a female cop who unravels the myth of Frankenstein, alongside her partner, through a seemingly standard homicide investigation, the trade paper reported. The series will find doctor Victor Frankenstein and his creature residing in present-day Seattle, having survived the past two centuries through the doctor's genetic tinkering. Casting for Victor, the creature and the partner of Posey's character is still under way, the trade paper reported.
Production is scheduled to begin in May in Toronto. USA will likely bow Frankenstein in the fall. USA Network is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
White Finalists Named
ive finalists have been announced for the James White Award competition for best short story by a non-professional writer, organizers announced.
An international panel of judges made up of professional authors and editors will choose the winner, who will receive the award at Concourse, the 2004 Eastercon, in Blackpool, U.K., April 9-12. The James White Award is named in honor of the Irish science-fiction author. A list of finalists follows.
•"One Sick Vampire" by Tim P. Keating
•"Growing Pains" by Brenden Whelan
•"Lost Things Saved in Boxes" by Deirdre Ruane
•"The Big Dave Special" by Matthew G. Nelson
•"The Tale of Pol Krage" by John Garrison
The White Award judges are Lois McMaster Bujold, David Pringle, Michael Carroll, Peter F. Hamilton and Chris Priest.
SG-1 Game Deal Signed
GM has signed a deal with Austrian video-game publisher JoWooD Productions Software to make games based on the SCI FI Channel original series Stargate SG-1, Variety reported.
MGM's deal with JoWooD gives the publisher license to make a number of games based on Stargate: SG-1 and its upcoming spinoff, Stargate: Atlantis, the trade paper reported.
The worldwide publishing agreement is in its earliest stages, and it's not yet clear when the first games will be released or whether the show's cast and creators will be involved, the trade paper reported.
Brosnan Will Do Bond Again
ierce Brosnan told SCI FI Wire that he is willing to play James Bond in one more film, but that he has not signed for it yet.
"They know where to find me," Brosnan said in an interview. "If it's meant to be, then great. If not, that's fine."
Brosnan's contract was for four films, the last of which was Die Another Day. As development stalls on the 21st 007 adventure, Brosnan remains pessimistic. "There seems to be a certain amount of paralysis that has set in here, paralysis of producers," he said. Should they overcome this paralysis, Brosnan said that his fifth Bond film would definitely be his last.
"I'm 50 years of age now," Brosnan said. "I think there comes a point where you just say I've been there. I've done it. The ones that I've done are very successful. There has been a progression within my work there, an assuredness and confidence. So if there's to be a fifth, then great."
Troopers 2 Due On June 1
tarship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, the straight-to-video sequel to Paul Verhoeven's 1997 hit SF movie, will debut on a special-edition DVD and VHS on June 1, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment announced.
Oscar-winning visual-effects master Phil Tippett makes his directorial debut with the sequel, which will star Kelly Carlson, Ed Lauter, Richard Burgi and Sandrine Holt.
Ed Neumeier, who wrote the first Starship Troopers, also wrote the script for Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation.
Troopers 2 picks up the story where the original film left off, back on the front lines of the battle against the arachnid warrior bugs at the desolated outpost of Zulu Angel. A small group of mobile infantry troopers, led by Gen. Shepherd (Lauter), finds itself taking refuge in an abandoned Federation outpost. There, they discover the last remaining soldier, Capt. Dax (Burgi), who helps them fight off the encroaching arachnids.
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment will also release the original Starship Troopers and Troopers 2 together in a special two-pack DVD set with a suggested price of $36.95.
Bonus features include commentary by Tippett, Neumeier and producer Jon Davison; a visual-effects featurette, From Green Screen to Silver Screen; commentary from visual-effects supervisor Eric Levin; a making-of featurette, Inside the Federation; and interviews with cast and crew.
Eccleston Is Doctor Who
hristopher Eccleston (Shallow Grave) will become the ninth Doctor Who in the upcoming BBC update of the classic SF TV series, the BBC News Web site reported.
The cult BBC show returns next year.
Eccleston, who starred alongside Nicole Kidman in the horror movie The Others, will be the ninth TV Time Lord to control the Tardis in a 13-part series, the BBC News reported. The BBC said the British-born actor would take "a fresh, modern approach," the site reported.
Doctor Who has been played previously by William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann. Doctor Who originally ran for 26 years, from 1963 to 1989, and the new series will be filmed in Cardiff later this year.
Murphy Joins The Pride
ddie Murphy will voice his Shrek character, Donkey, in DreamWorks' upcoming NBC computer-animated series Father of the Pride, Variety reported.
Murphy will reprise the role for one episode of the series, which is set to premiere this fall, the trade paper reported.
Other big names are signed up to supply guest voices, including Lisa Kudrow, Danny DeVito, Matt Lauer, Andy Richter and Christina Applegate, the trade paper reported. Characters based on Vice President Dick Cheney, Barbra Streisand and her husband, James Brolin, also will pop up, though actors will supply those voices. John Goodman, Cheryl Hines, Carl Reiner and Orlando Jones head the vocal cast.
The series centers on a family of white lions who work as performers in the Las Vegas act of illusionists Siegfried and Roy, the trade paper reported. Despite Roy Horn's near-fatal run-in with one of his own animals, both Siegfried and Roy remain major characters in Pride, with actors providing their voices. Both men have given their blessing for the show to continue, DreamWorks principal Jeffrey Katzenberg told the trade paper.
MacLaine, Caine Mull Bewitched
hirley MacLaine and Michael Caine are in talks to join the cast of Bewitched, Columbia Pictures' upcoming big-screen adaptation of the classic 1960s fantasy TV show, Variety reported.
Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell star in the movie. MacLaine would play Endora, meddling mother to witch Samantha (Kidman), a part originally played by Agnes Moorehead. Caine would star as Samantha's father, the trade paper reported.
Red Wagon partners Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher are producing the movie, which begins shooting this summer. Nora Ephron and her sister Delia are co-writing the script.
Italia Winners Named
he 2004 Italia Awards, for best SF published in Italy, were presented on March 13 at Italcon 30/DeepCon 5 in Fiuggi, Italy, organizers announced.
The winners were chosen by a jury of fans and members of World SF Italia. A list of winners follows.
Best Novel
•Clipart by Elisabetta Vernier
Best International Novel
•Inversions by Iain M. Banks
Best Artist
•Giuseppe Festino
Best Comics Artist
•Leo Ortolani
Best Editor
•Silvio Sosio
Best Translator
•Flora Staglianò
Best Short Story
•"Effetto CRX" by Silvio Sosio and Luigi Pachì
Best Essay
•"Enciclopedia della Fantascienza in TV 2" by Aleksandar Mickovic, Marcello Rossi and Nicola Vianello
Best Short Essay
•"Sembrano sapere dove stanno andando. Note su fantascienza americana e diritti umani" by Salvatore Proietti
Best Book Collection
•Urania
Best Magazine
•Corriere della Fantascienza
Best Fanzine
•Alpha Quadrant
Best Web site
•HyperTrek by Luigi Rosa
Best Fan Short Story
•"Modding X treme" by Elisabetta Vernier
Best Fan Short Essay
•"Temponauti e pasticcioni" by Lanfranco Fabriani
Briefly Noted
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Creation Entertainment's 12th Annual Grand Slam SF convention took place March 26-28 at the Pasadena Center in Pasadena, Calif. The convention featured more than 80 celebrities from SF movies and TV shows, including Star Trek, Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville, The Dead Zone, Stargate SG-1 and The Lord of the Rings.
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ABC Family has acquired rerun rights to The WB's Smallville, which will begin its off-network run in the fall, Zap2it reported. The cable channel has rights to the show for several years.
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Warner Brothers has posted a new Web site and trailer for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, which opens June 4.
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Joy Bryant (Antwone Fisher) and Kate Hudson will star in Skeleton Key, a movie about a young woman who begins to experience spooky things in the home of the elderly couple for whom she's caring, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bryant plays the friend and roommate of Hudson's character.
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Alias has tapped Mia Maestro to play Sydney Bristow's (Jennifer Garner) kid sister in at least three episodes, beginning April 25, TV Guide Online reported.
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Lion's Gate has opened a bogus Web site for the Godsend Institute, a cloning clinic that is featured in the upcoming SF movie Godsend, which opens April 30.
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The Ring producers Mike Macari and Neal Edelstein have optioned the rights to Don't Say a Word writer Andrew Klavan's new, untitled supernatural horror script, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Gold Circle Films will finance the horror project, which revolves around a widow and her daughter, who is haunted by her dead father.
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The Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio debuted Howard Shore's score for the three Lord of the Rings films on March 26, featuring 200 performers, including two choirs, a full orchestra and musicians playing Norwegian fiddle, Japanese drums, African flutes and clanking chains, the Associated Press reported. The score will be performed as a live symphonic work in six movements, each corresponding to a book in J.R.R. Tolkien's three novels.
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Nickelodeon Movies has signed up Scarlett Johansson, Alec Baldwin and Jeffrey Tambor for voice work in its animated The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, due Nov. 19 from Paramount, Variety reported. Stephen Hillenburg, creator of the Nickelodeon cable series, will direct.
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The March 19 seventh-season finale of SCI FI Channel's original series Stargate SG-1, "Lost City, Part 2," drew a 2.1 rating (2.56 million viewers), the network announced. The finale sets up SCI FI Channel’s newest original series, Stargate Atlantis, which will debut in July, alongside SG-1's eighth season.
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Ain't It Cool News reported a rumor that writer/director Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) has been hired to draft a script for a proposed third Mission: Impossible movie.
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Zap2it reported that former S Club 7 pop star Hannah Spearritt has joined the cast of Seed of Chucky, the fifth film in the popular horror comedy series.
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Maverick Films has optioned Will Aldis' spec script The Tiny Problems of White People, a comedy about a grieving former sportswriter haunted by the ghost of a man who claims to have written the works of Shakespeare, Variety reported. Rothman and J. Todd Harris will produce, with Paul Rosenberg and Marc Toberoff co-producing.
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The official Star Wars Web site has posted images of the packaging for the upcoming DVD release of the original Star Wars trilogy of films, due Sept. 21.
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UPN will pull Game Over from Wednesdays and will shift it to Fridays, where the network will air a mix of original and repeat episodes from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT, effective immediately, Variety reported. The network will begin airing double episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise on Wednesdays.
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David Cronenberg is attached to helm London Fields, a supernatural thriller movie based on Martin Amis' 1991 novel of the same name, Variety reported. Roberta Hanley and Amis wrote the script, about a psychic woman in a seedy London pub who foresees that one of two men she meets there will ultimately kill her.
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Warner Home Video will distribute Clifford's Really Big Movie, an animated feature film based on the Clifford the Big Red Dog children's book series, in April, Variety reported. The 73-minute movie features the voice of the late John Ritter as Clifford in one of his final performances.
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Producers of ABC's Alias are trying to get guest star Lena Olin to return this season to reprise the role of Irina Derevko, the nefarious mother of spy Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner), E! Online columnist Watch With Kristin reported.
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