Fans Rally For Angel
ans of The WB's soon-to-be-canceled vampire series Angel organized a rally March 31 in front of the network's offices in Burbank, Calif., to lobby for renewal of the show.
The rally, organized by the Saving Angel Web site, took place starting at 3 p.m. at The WB Ranch, 411 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, Calif., the site said.
The rally is only the latest activity in a campaign to save the show. Other efforts have included raising more than $30,000 for advertisements in industry trade papers and the rental of a mobile billboard, as well as the mailing of thousands of postcards and e-mails to network officials and others.
Silverberg Named Grand Master
F author and editor Robert Silverberg has received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced.
Silverberg, a past president of SFWA, will be recognized at the Nebula Awards ceremony on April 17 in Seattle, the SFWA announced.
The award is named for the SF writer who died in 2002.
Duchovny Confirms X-Files 2
ormer The X-Files star David Duchovny told reporters that creator Chris Carter and series writer Frank Spotnitz are working on a script for a second X-Files movie.
"They have an idea, which they like, and they keep threatening to tell me," Duchovny said in a news conference to promote his next film, Connie and Carla. "They're going to tell me soon. They're just setting about writing it now, so we'll be doing it in the next year."
From the pieces he's heard of the idea, Duchovny said that The X-Files 2 would function like a stand-alone episode of the series, with a major guest star. "Apparently, what Chris and Frank have is a great X-File idea with [room for] another actor or actress who can really score in a really great thriller/sci-fi role," he said. "I hope that takes the [film] towards the fans, but also towards new fans."
Duchovny did not address the involvement of Agents Scully (Gillian Anderson) or Doggett (Robert Patrick) in the proposed sequel film. But he assured fans that Mulder would remain unchanged. "Mulder is Mulder," Duchovny said. "That's one of the things I learned fighting for the last three or four years on the show, trying to change the guy or give him a French accent one day. The nature of the character, and what I eventually learned to love about him, is he's set. The great thing about Mulder is we know what he's going to do: what he likes, what he loves and what he hates. We're just going to play with that, I'm sure."
Wonderfalls Tries Thursday
ox's critically praised but ratings-challenged fantasy series Wonderfalls aired an original episode at 9 p.m. ET/PT on April 1 as a tryout for a new Thursday timeslot, Zap2it reported.
"Now is the time for all good fans to come to the aid of our show," co-creator Todd Holland (with Bryan Fuller) told the site. "This is the moment of truth. Those ratings numbers will mean everything to us."
The test airing is a one-shot deal, the site reported. "They're doing a bit of a night switch without officially moving us, to test the waters," Holland said.
Wonderfalls, which stars Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye Tyler, an overeducated, underemployed and disaffected gift-shop clerk in Niagara Falls, has been struggling in its current 9 p.m. Friday timeslot, which executive producer Tim Minear jokingly referred to as the "death slot" in a letter appealing to fans to continue watching.
But a repeat of the Wonderfalls premiere performed better when it aired on a Thursday (March 18), following Tru Calling.
Molina High On Spidey 2
lfred Molina, who plays the
villainous Doc Ock in the upcoming film Spider-Man 2, told SCI FI Wire that during
production he sensed no pressure among the cast and crew to top the original film, which was a
critical and financial success upon its release in 2002.
"I suppose there must have been a pressure at some levels," Molina said in an interview. "I'm
sure the producers and the studio feel the pressure a lot more than anyone else."
Molina added, "The only pressure I
felt was to do my job as best I could and to fulfill the character demands in the best way I
could. Obviously, one is always aware what's going on and how big this project is. At one
point over the summer we were occupying, I think, eight soundstages at Sony. That's a huge,
huge amount of production. But in terms of how it's going to do at the box office, that's
really a burden that the producers and the studio bear much more than anyone else. The rest of
us just worried about doing our specific jobs as best we could and making as strong a
Spider-Man film as possible."
The actor, whose previous genre
credits include Raiders of the Lost Ark and Species, said that he's got a "good
feeling" about how Spider-Man 2 is coming together. "I suspect that it's very, very
good," he said. "The bits that I saw while we were shooting felt terrific. Some of the
assemblies we looked at of the big sequences were very exciting, very detailed. I think that
[director] Sam [Raimi] wanted to push the envelope a little bit in terms of the effects and
also in terms of the storylines. He wanted this film to be more complex, more involved and
more detailed so that the audience has a more satisfying experience." Spider-Man 2
opens on June 30.
Toy 3 May Hit Theaters
alt Disney Co. studio chief Dick Cook told Reuters that he was leaning toward making the third installment of Toy Story, Pixar Animation Studios Inc. 's 1995 hit, as a feature film rather than a straight-to-home-video project in a few years, the wire service reported.
Pixar and Disney plan to part ways after two more films together, but Disney retains the rights to make the sequels to the movies they have already produced, including the two Toy Story movies.
Pixar, which has said sequel rights were a sore point that helped torpedo contract extension talks, could take part in Toy Story 3, but has said it was unlikely to do so, Reuters reported.
"My hunch is big screen," Dick Cook, the studio chairman, told Reuters in an interview. But he said that no decision had been made and that the movie was a few years or more away. "We are nowhere on it right now," he said.
Moore Opens Hatch On Galactica
onald D. Moore, executive producer
of SCI FI Channel's upcoming series Battlestar Galactica, told SCI FI Wire that Richard
Hatch, star of the original Battlestar Galactica series, is in final negotiations to
make a guest appearance as a Nelson Mandela-like character in an episode of the new show.
"It's a character who's been held prisoner," Moore said in an interveiw. "We established in
the miniseries that there was a ship of prisoners that are along in the ragtag
fleet."
Moore added, "Somewhere in that group
of prisoners is a character who's been essentially a prisoner of conscience, who's been in
jail going on 20 years. It's possible the character could recur, but that is to be
determined."
Moore acknowledged that Hatch had
been critical of his and SCI FI's efforts to mount a new version of Battlestar
Galactica, but the executive producer explained that he did not take it personally and did
not hold a grudge against Hatch. "I can only say that from my perspective I've maintained all
along that I was hoping that there would come a time when we would be able to incorporate some
members of the original cast into the show," Moore said. "I remember saying that before the
miniseries had ever even aired. I never personally held anything against him for what he said
about the miniseries or the direction of the show. He was entitled to his opinion. He felt
passionately they should have done a coninuation and he fought long and hard for it.
Ultimately, it didn't work out."
Hatch and Moore eventually met at a
Battlestar Galactica convention, which paved the way to the actor's upcoming appearance
on the show. "We had a good chat, I liked him and we got along well," Moore said. "We said
that after the miniseries aired and the show got picked up we'd talk again. So I contacted him
shortly after we got the pickup to series and said, 'OK, we're making the series and I've got
a role in mind for you. I think you'll like it and it'll be something important on the show.
Let's talk.' He was open to that. He came in. We had a meeting, and it went very well." If all
goes according to plan, Hatch will shoot his episode in May; Battlestar Galactica will
debut first quarter of 2005.
Hatch To Appear on Galactica
ichard Hatch, who played Capt.
Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica series, confirmed to SCI FI Wire that he is
in final negotiations to make a guest appearance as a different character in at least one
episode of SCI FI Channel's upcoming Battlestar Galactica series.
The news may surprise some fans, as Hatch had publicly taken SCI FI and the new show's
producers to task for re-imagining the concept rather than continuing the old show.
"There are very talented, gifted
people involved in this version of Battlestar," Hatch said in an interview. "I guess
for five years I'd carried on a campaign to bring back the show, because I thought it had
legs. I thought it had a huge fan support and following all over the world, having traveled
the world with the Battlestar novels and comic books. Basically, I've been involved in
ways to bring the show back and, not only that, but to bring it back in a shape and a form and
a way that fans would love and support and yet would also bring it into the
future."
The actor added, "I do not see a
competition between old show and new show. To me, the original show is a classic and it always
will be. The new show is the decision that the network decided to make, and I've always told
everybody I'd never do a cameo on any show. A cameo tells me that somebody just wants to use
your name, but they're not interested in you as an actor. I've said, on any show, if they
offered me a challenging, wonderful role to play, why would I not as an artist, as an actor,
love to play it?"
Hatch went on to explain that he
subsequently spoke with Battlestar Galactica executive producer Ronald D. Moore at a
Battlestar Galactica 25th anniversary event. "I thought he was a very intelligent, very
creative, very talented man, really down to earth," Hatch said of Moore. "I enjoyed my
conversations with him. We discussed that if SCI FI did pick up the series he might be
interested in talking to me about coming on and guest starring on the show. I said, 'Ron, if
it was something that would really challenge me as an actor it would be a win-win
circumstance, meaning something I'd love doing and would add value to the show, that I would
be open to discussing.'"
The miniseries aired last December
and was a major ratings success, and Moore then reached out to Hatch. According to Hatch,
Moore has cast him in a "Nelson Mandela kind of role," a man who "challenges the
powers that be." Hatch expects to shoot the episode, likely the third show of the season,
beginning in May. Asked if he would appear on a recurring basis, Hatch responded, "I think the
way they set it up is that it's a guest star role that could have a life depending on
circumstances. There's been no determination made on that." Battlestar Galactica will
debut in early 2005 on SCI FI.
Finding Drama In Hellboy
elma Blair, who plays firestarter Liz Sherman in the upcoming Dark Horse Comics adaptation Hellboy, told SCI FI Wire that it was difficult for her to portray a serious, dramatic character after appearing in so many comedic films.
"Liz doesn't really have any funny [moments]," she said in an interview while promoting the film. "She's just this presence, this kind of dramatic presence. And this is also so different for me, because she's so still. I mean, she really doesn't need to do a lot, because she's kind of this ideal of Hellboy that keeps things going."
Director Guillermo del Toro picked up on Blair's frustration with the dramatic elements, she said. He helped her work through the more challenging scenes, but not without a little good-natured ribbing. "I didn't have the real ability to do two things at once in this movie," she said. "Like say a line and actually give the look he wanted, apparently. And if I did have to do that, I don't know what happened or if I was so tired or what was going on or my long hair—the wig pulling on my brain—but I'd go cross-eyed. ... And he would just say, 'Oh, my God. Monkey Brain, Monkey Brain.' ... It really stuck. Monkey Brain, which just is embarrassing. And I'm sure the job offers are going to come pouring in for a cross-eyed idiot."
For Blair, the easiest aspect of the character to portray was her love story with Hellboy, played by Ron Perlman. "It was a bit humbling to go, 'OK, well, I'm here to be this ideal, and I'm a really shut-down woman,' which was important—especially for the story—to go on," Blair said. "Yeah, it wasn't so hard, although I tend to eat a lot of sugar and get really spastic. So it was just Monkey Brain had to settle down." Hellboy opened April 2.
Del Toro Previews Hellboy DVD
ellboy only opened on April 2, but director Guillermo del Toro told SCI FI Wire that he's already thinking ahead to
the DVD.
"I can now say this safely: With Hellboy there are at least 20 minutes of scenes that
were cut for rhythm, for length, but they are very, very nice," del Toro said in an interview.
"So, in this case, we are going to put them back in [for the DVD]."
Del Toro added, "So we are going to
have an extended edition of Hellboy coming out at the end of the year that will be longer than
two hours. But quite frankly, I think an action-adventure movie shouldn't be longer than two
hours in a theater. So it will be an extended cut. If you feel a scene is strong enough to be
there, that's the way to integrate it."
Reeves Stars In Scanner
eanu Reeves will star in A Scanner Darkly, based on a Philip K. Dick novel, for Warner Independent Pictures, Variety reported.
Richard Linklater (School of Rock) is in talks to direct, the trade paper reported. George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh's Section 8 will produce.
A Scanner Darkly will employ the same technology Linklater used in Waking Life: It will be shot live-action, then animated, the trade paper reported.
The story takes place in the future, where undercover agents change their faces along with their identities. Reeves plays one such officer, and his liberal ingestion of the drug Substance D causes him to develop a split personality, the trade paper reported.
Black Joins King Kong
ack Black has joined Naomi Watts in Peter Jackson's upcoming King Kong remake, Variety reported.
Black will play Carl Denham, the struggling showman and movie producer who captures the great ape on his native Skull Island and then brings him back to New York as a freak show attraction, the trade paper reported. Universal Pictures will release Kong on Dec. 14, 2005.
Jackson returned to his native New Zealand to start preproduction on Kong after The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King picked up 11 Academy Awards, the trade paper reported. In a statement, he said, "I've been wanting to work with Jack Black ever since I saw him in High Fidelity. I have no doubt Jack will make [Carl Denham] a truly memorable character."
Watts will play Ann Darrow, the beautiful actress with whom King Kong falls in love, the trade paper reported.
Universal is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Pirates Scribe On Indy IV?
he Moviehole.net Web site reported a rumor that Australian screenwriter Stuart Beattie has been hired to rework the fourth Indiana Jones movie.
Citing an anonymous source, the site reported that Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) was taking over where writer-director Frank Darabont left off.
Beattie is reportedly currently at work on a rewrite of Darabont's draft script, and the film might still be ready for a release sometime in 2005.
Enterprise Gets Limited Renewal?
PN will green-light a fourth season of
Star Trek: Enterprise, but will only give the struggling SF series a 12-episode commitment,
according to a rumor on the SyFy Portal Web site.
Citing two sources, SyFy Portal added that Enterprise could earn another 12-episode
order if the ratings for the initial dozen episodes merit it.
The site noted that the retooled
Enterprise, bolstered by heightened action and the Xindi arc, has performed reasonably well
against such stiff competition as the Fox juggernaut American Idol and The WB's popular
Smallville. SyFy Portal noted that it was still unclear whether or not longtime
Trek executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga would continue to run the show if it
does return. A final announcement about the fate of Enterprise is expected within the next two
weeks.
Century City Abandoned
BS has canceled its SF legal series
Century City, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The show lasted just four episodes.
Century City, which starred Hector
Elizondo, Nestor Carbonell, Eric Schaeffer and Viola Davis, followed the goings-on at a major Los
Angeles law film in the year 2030. The show debuted to dismal ratings and was routinely trounced by
timeslot competitor American Idol. Its last episode, which aired March 30, attracted only
7.7 million viewers, finishing fourth for the hour. The Hollywood Reporter noted that CBS will
replace Century City with The Guardian, the show the network displaced to make room for
Century City.
Rock Gears Up For Spy Hunter
wayne Johnson, aka the Rock, told
SCI FI Wire that his upcoming project, Spy Hunter, will be a serious take on the 1983
Bally Midway game.
"It's like what Mission: Impossible was for Tom Cruise," Johnson said in an interview
while promoting his latest film, the April 2 release Walking Tall. Johnson will star in
Spy Hunter as Alec Sects, an ex-fighter pilot who chases bad guys in an elaborately
designed vehicle.
Johnson revealed that plans are already
in development for the car he will use in Spy Hunter. "I was just up in the room and
there was this awesome secretive meeting," he said. "We took out all the concepts [of] what it
looks like. It's this awesome car GM is making. [It] breaks off into a boat, into a
three-wheeler and into a motorcycle. It's really incredible."
Spy Hunter is being written by
Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (2 Fast, 2 Furious), but Johnson said that a director has
yet to be chosen. "Probably within 10 days," he said. Johnson also reported that the music,
which was borrowed from Henry Mancini's theme for the television series Peter Gunn, would
return as well, though in a modified version. "It won't be done over and over," Johnson said,
referring to the repetitive loop that played in the game. "It has to be part of the movie, sure,
but a contemporary version of that." Spy Hunter is set for a summer 2005 release by
Universal Pictures. Universal is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns
SCIFI.COM.
3001 Coming Soon
aturday Night Live regular
Maya Rudolph and Dax Shepard of Punk'd are closing in on co-starring roles opposite
Luke Wilson in 3001, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Beavis and Butt-head creator Mike Judge will direct the SF comedy.
According to the trade paper,
3001 follows Joe Bowers (Wilson), a regular Joe who is picked for a top-secret
hibernation program that results in him waking up 10 centuries later in a society so
dumbed-down that he is the smartest man on Earth. Shepard would play Wilson's court-appointed
lawyer, while Rudolph would essay the role of a prostitute. Judge co-wrote the 3001
script and will be stepping back behind the camera for the first time since directing
Office Space. Twentieth Century Fox will release 3001 in 2005.
Dynamite Does Darkness
he Evil Dead horror saga will
continue with Army of Darkness #1, a comic book created by Dynamite Entertainment and
set to be published this summer by Devil's Due, according to Cinescape.com.
The Web site reported that the comic would feature the talents of writer Andy Hartnell
(Danger Girl) and artist Nick Bradshaw, and added that Ben Templesmith, J. Scott
Campbell and Marc Silvestri would be among the artists creating six different
covers.
Army of Darkness #1 picks up
after the events of the Sam Raimi film Army of Darkness, according to
Cinescape.com, with Ash taking advantage of the opportunity to "do over" the moment he
uttered the magic words that shuttled him and the evil dead back to the future. Ultimately,
Ash will return to the cabin in the woods where he first encountered the dead. Army of
Darkness #1 will retail for $2.99 and ship in July.
Knowles Co-producing Mars
arry Knowles, creator of the
Ain't It Cool News Web site, will co-produce the upcoming SF movie Princess of
Mars for Paramount Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Knowles will join a production team that already includes director Robert Rodriguez, his wife
Elizabeth Avellan, Jim Jacks and Sean Daniel.
A Princess of Mars was the
first of 11 books in Edgar Rice Burroughs' seminal Martian Tales series that chronicled
the adventures of adventurer John Carter. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Knowles,
in his 2002 autobiography, described Martian Tales as one of the literary world's
properties most deserving of a big-screen treatment. Paramount plans a 2006 release for
Princess of Mars, which Rodriguez will direct after completing his current project,
Sin City.
Raimi Feels The Grudge
ed Raimi told SCI FI Wire that he's just
wrapped work on The Grudge, an upcoming remake of the popular Japanese horror film Ju-on:
The Grudge.
"I play this character called Alex, who is the head of a nursing home in Tokyo, where Sarah Michelle
Gellar temps," Raimi, a genre favorite, said in an interview. "She's a student and she temps at this
place, and I send her off to this home where a woman dies."
Raimi added, "It's a terrifying story about
angry ghosts in Tokyo and what happens to a bunch of Americans when they are confonted with this
horror. It's a very good story and, interestingly, it's told in this Japanese style, which is that
everybody suffers. Everybody suffers in a Japanese horror film. In American horror films, in
Halloween, for example, there's that morality system where P.J. Soles sleeps with her
boyfriend and then Michael Myers comes and kills her. In this film, the innocent and the guilty
suffer. There is no distinction. I don't know if it's a philosophical thing they have in the East,
but it's quite unique."
Raimi went on to note that unlike The
Ring, a remake of the Japanese hit Ringu that was "completely rewritten and re-done for
American audiences," The Grudge has not been entirely rewritten from the original Japanese.
"It, of course, is in English and stars American actors," Raimi said. "But the story is the Japanese
story." The Grudge, which also stars Jason Behr, Clea DuVall and Bill Pullman, will be
released later this year.
Van Helsing Takes GameBoy Stab
ivendi Universal Games announced yesterday
that it would release a GameBoy Advance version of Van Helsing on May 7, the same day that
the Stephen Sommers action-adventure-monster movie opens nationwide.
Vivendi Universal Games had previously announced the May 7 release of Van Helsing Xbox and
PlayStation 2 games.
In the game, players take control of monster
hunter Van Helsing (played in the film by Hugh Jackman) as he hunts down Dracula and his wives, the
Frankenstein Monster, Mr. Hyde and The Wolf Man, among others. The story unfolds across 10 levels in
Transylvania, and players can choose from an arsenal of weapons that includes pistols, tojo blades, a
crossbow and Van Helsing's signature grappling hook.
"Van Helsing for Nintendo's GameBoy
Advance offers players a wild adventure filled with frightening creatures, furious combat and daring
escapes," Luc Vanhal, North American president and COO of Vivendi Universal Games, said in a
statement. "With legendary characters like Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster as well as
action-packed hand-to-hand combat, Van Helsing is a must-have for fans of handheld action
gaming." The game has been rated "T" for teen and will be available at the suggested retail price of
$29.99
Giving Voice To EverQuest II
ony Online Entertainment's upcoming online
role-playing game EverQuest II will boast a brand-new voice-over component, according to the
GameSpot Web site.
The site noted that the game's full-audio speech capability for its non-player characters is a first
for online role-playing games, which previously only featured silent characters that interacted with
players by sending text chat messages.
EverQuest II, which will include more
than 130 hours of dialogue, is set in a universe parallel to that of the original EverQuest,
which was launched in 1999 and emerged as one of the earliest and most influential graphical online
role-playing games. The EverQuest II story unfolds 500 years after EverQuest, and
players can create their own characters that then interact with hundreds of creatures across barren
deserts, bustling cities and dense forests. According to the Sony Online Entertainment Web site,
EverQuest II will launch later this year.
Troopers 2 Attacks In June
olumbia TriStar Home Entertainment
announced that it would release Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation on June 1.
The film is a direct-to-video and DVD sequel to the 1997 Paul Verhoeven SF film Starship
Troopers.
Starship Troopers 2 marks the
directorial debut of Phil Tippett, visual effects supervisor on the first film, and it was written by
Edward Neumeier, who scripted the original adventure based on the Robert A. Heinlein story. In the
new film, Capt. Dax (Richard Burgi) leads a small group of Troopers against parasitic Bugs that can
control humans.
According to Columbia TriStar Home
Entertainment, the Starship Troopers 2 DVD will include such bonus material as audio
commentary from Tippett, Neumeier and producer Jon Davison, a behind-the-scenes featurette about the
visual effects, and production stills. Burgi is best known for his role as Detective James Ellison on the
SF series The Sentinel.
AVP To Remain A Creature Feature
he makeup and creature effects in the
upcoming SF film Alien vs. Predator will follow in the footsteps of the original
Alien and Predator features, Amalgamated Dynamics partners Alec Gillis and Tom
Woodruff told fans attending last weekend's Creation Entertainment Grand Slam Sci-Fi Summit.
"The previous films have always been very tactile and kind of close quarters, and AVP
will be no different," said Gillis, who created the makeup and creature effects for Alien
Resurrection and Starship Troopers, among other SF films.
Though Gillis and Woodruff indicated
that AVP will utilize computer-generated effects, they also noted that the film will
retain the same visceral edge as its predecessors. "The first couple of movies [there] was
basically a guy in a suit," said Woodruff, who wore alien suits in Alien 3 and Alien
Resurrection and plays the lead alien in AVP. "Now, on this film, we have more
opportunities to do more with facial hydraulics as well as a completely hydraulic version of the
alien." Alien vs. Predator is slated to be released on August 13, 2004.
Matrix To Publish Starshatter
atrix Games announced today that it
will publish Starshatter, a new space combat simulator game, this summer.
The game is currently in development at Destroyer Studios.
According to Matrix Games,
Starshatter combines fighter and starship combat in a single game. Players can earn
rewards and promotions on the way to commanding a complete escort of warships or a massive fleet
carrier with three wings of fighters. The game features extensive mod support, a built-in
mission editor and a free 3-D modeling program, thereby enabling players to design their own
weapons, galaxies, missions and ships.
"When we spot a superior game, we do
our best to bring the developers on board," David Heath, director of operations at Matrix Games,
said in a statement. "We're very glad to have a chance to work with Destroyer Studios.
Starshatter is set to raise the bar in a number of areas and we look forward to helping
it succeed."
Walter Mitty Lives Again
he on-again, off-again remake of
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is on again, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The trade paper noted that Jim Carrey still retains a first-look option to star in the project,
but that DreamWorks and director Steven Spielberg are no longer involved, thus clearing the way
for Paramount Pictures to move forward on its own.
"Given the short window that Paramount
had the rights for, Steven did not want to stand in the way of the project getting made," said
producer John Goldwyn, the son of Samuel Goldwyn Sr., producer of the original 1947 Walter
Mitty. "He was very gracious about it. This doesn't mean that DreamWorks won't get involved
in some capacity further down the line."
Danny Kaye starred in the original
production as Mitty, a daydreamer who fancies himself living out fantastic adventures. The film,
however, was funnier and more romantic than the James Thurber short story on which it was based.
"The goal [of the remake] is to go back to the short story and capture not only the content but
the original spirit," Goldwyn said. The Hollywood Reporter added that Richard LaGravenese
(The Fisher King) is in discussions to script the remake.
Psychonauts A No-Go For Now
icrosoft has terminated its agreement
to distribute the upcoming Xbox game Psychonauts, according to the GameSpot Web
site.
"Microsoft Game Studios has made the decision to end its publishing agreement with [developer]
Double Fine for the upcoming Xbox game Psychonauts," Microsoft said in a statement.
According to GameSpot, Microsoft
gave no explanation for its decision, but quoted the company as saying it was "supporting"
Double Fine's search for a new publisher. Introduced at E3 in 2002, Psychonauts tracks
the adventures of a young would-be psi-spy who earns merit badges for invading people's minds.
GameSpot added that efforts to reach Tim Schafer, Psychonauts designer and Double
Fine chief, were so far unsuccessful.
Ruff Wins Tiptree Award
att Ruff has won the 2003 James
Tiptree Jr. Award for his novel Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls, it was
announced yesterday by the James Tiptree Jr. Literary Award Council.
Ruff will be presented with his award, $1,000 and other prizes at WisCon 28, to be held Memorial
Day weekend in Madison, Wis.
The novel focuses on Andy Gage, a
28-year-old with multiple-personality disorder. His many personalities, or souls, as he calls
them, reside in the house inside his head. The stability of Gage's house is threatened when he
meets Penny Driver, a young woman who's not aware that she has multiple
personalities.
The James Tiptree Jr. Award was created
in 1991 to honor Alice Sheldon, who wrote under the pseudonym James Tiptree Jr. and helped
break down gender barriers in the literary field. The Tiptree Award is presented annually to a
work that explores and expands gender roles in SF and fantasy.
Arthur Reinvents Knight
ugh Dancy, who plays Galahad in Jerry Bruckheimer's production of King Arthur, told SCI FI Wire that he sought a more realistic portrayal of his knight character.
"I was working with a blank canvas," Dancy said in an interview. "I will be the definitive Galahad for years to come."
Dancy said that he avoided the more traditional romantic portrayals of Arthur's knights. "There was no element of charm in my performance at all," he said.
Arthur, directed by Antoine Fuqua, supposedly tells a more historically accurate version of the Arthurian legend. Dancy said of the epic battles, "They recreated kilometers' worth of Hadrian's Wall, and pretty much that entire space was taken up by Saxons, knights, you name it," he said.
Dancy added that the armor worn in the battle scenes was tailor-made for each actor. "The armor was very heavy, but it's so brilliantly made that it's like wearing a suit that's been tailored for you," he said. "It's incredible how they do it." Buena Vista Pictures will release King Arthur on July 7.
Smith Delays Ranger Danger
evin Smith, who is developing the original SF comedy movie Ranger Danger and the Danger Rangers, told SCI FI Wire that the project has been delayed, along with other projects, now that he has accepted the job helming The Green Hornet.
"Fletch got pushed back for after Green Hornet and then after that we'll get to Ranger Danger sooner or later," Smith said in an interview.
Smith added that he wanted more practice making a big-budget movie before tackling the proposed space opera. "It'll probably be nice to work up to Ranger Danger a little more," he said. "I think Green Hornet is a nice rehearsal for it, because Ranger Danger is a big-budget sci-fi movie. But it'd be nice to try out a big-budget movie before that so I don't f--k up my own."
Scott Mosier, Smith's longtime producer, added that the writer-director is ready to handle big-budget projects. "Any time you start spending money, working on stages a lot [with] all the CGI and stuff like that, it's all just a matter of taking the experience and allowing it to get bigger without getting overwhelmed," Mosier said in a separate interview.
Kingdom Drops And Moves
BC is moving its struggling Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital to 9 p.m. ET/PT Thursdays from its current Wednesday timeslot, starting in April, Reuters reported.
The supernatural series has seen its ratings drop in the four weeks since its premiere.
The highly promoted 13-part drama from horrormeister King was touted by ABC as a key to its midseason comeback strategy, and top executives of ABC's parent, The Walt Disney Co., have been under fire from shareholders who claim they have mismanaged the company, the news service reported.
After a promising two-hour debut March 3, the thriller has declined steadily in both overall audience and the key demographic of viewers aged 18 to 49, Reuters reported. Last week, the show averaged just 5.6 million viewers overall and a meager 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic, down 57 percent in both categories from its premiere.
ABC plans to air a fifth episode of Kingdom Hospital on a Wednesday (March 31) before moving the show to its new Thursday berth the following week, opposite CBS' C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation and NBC's The Apprentice.
Pooh Suit Thrown Out
California Superior Court judge has thrown out a lawsuit against Walt Disney Co. over hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from the Winnie the Pooh franchise, Disney's lawyer Daniel Petrocelli told the Reuters news service.
"It is all over," Petrocelli told the news service. "After 13 years the Winnie the Pooh case is finally over."
Stephen Slesinger Inc., the family firm with U.S. merchandising rights to the honey-loving bear, had argued that Disney reneged on promises to pay royalties on video cassettes and short-changed it on other items, Reuters reported. Disney denied the charges, but warned that losing the case could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a hearing last month, Disney asked Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles McCoy, who took over last October, to throw out the case, accusing Slesinger of stealing evidence, the news service reported. Slesinger had denied those charges.
"The court has dismissed the Slesinger's lawsuit with prejudice," Petrocelli reportedly said. Slesinger's lawyer was not immediately available for comment, Reuters reported.
Resident Evil: Outbreak Here
apcom announced the North American release of Resident Evil: Outbreak for PlayStation 2, the GameSpot Web site reported.
Capcom is marking the release of the first online Resident Evil title with promotional activities April 1-3, including releasing hordes of "zombies" of all shapes, sizes and professions along the streets of Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, the site reported.
Fans of the series are also invited to an April 2 launch event at the Metreon PlayStation store in San Francisco.
Asteroids Record Stands
Portland, Ore., man tried and failed to top a 22-year-old record playing the 1980s arcade game Asteroids when his machine malfunctioned after 27 hours of play, the GameSpot Web site reported.
Bill Carlton was gunning for Scott Safran's 1982 Asteroids world record of 41 million points at the Ground Kontrol Arcade in Portland, the site reported.
Carlton had notched up some 12.7 million points when the aging arcade machine malfunctioned. Walter Day, editor of Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records, told the site that Carlton would have needed to play for at least two more days to beat Safran's score.
Range Stars Not Cowed
oseanne, who voices a talking cow in the animated film Home on the Range, told SCI FI Wire that she was called in to bring humor to the character, Maggie.
Maggie bucks social tradition by leading cows on a quest to capture a cowboy. "I think they needed the big, brassy, funny character," Roseanne said in an interview. "They just needed my kind of funny."
Jennifer Tilly, who plays Maggie's compatriot, Grace, told SCI FI Wire that she initially tried to sound like a cow, but realized she needed to have a more human voice. "I was experimenting with having her laugh, like 'Moo hoo hoo hoo,'" Tilly said in a separate interview. "Then I [realized] that's just stupid. I went back to the drawing board, and ... thought I'd do sort of a New Age voice. So I tried to sound a little bit like my yoga teacher."
Randy Quaid, who plays cowboy Alameda Sling, told SCI FI Wire he learned to yodel for his role. Slim has the power to entrance cows with his yodeling. "I got the yodeling good enough where I could start it, and then the real yodelers would come in and finish it off," Quaid said. Home on the Range opened April 2.
Warner Raises Up Giant
arner Brothers has optioned the feature film rights to the U.K. fantasy novel The Giants and the Joneses for Harry Potter producer David Heyman to produce, Variety reported.
The book, by best-selling children's author Julia Donaldson, is a reverse Jack and the Beanstalk story, about a young girl giant who kidnaps three children and hides them in her giant's playhouse in the sky, the trade paper reported.
No screenwriter is yet attached, but Heyman wants to fast-track the movie into production via his WB-based production banner Heyday, the trade paper reported. The novel will be published in the U.K. in August by Egmont.
Shiban To Run Frankenstein
ormer The X-Files executive producer John Shiban has been tapped to serve as show runner/executive producer of USA Network's upcoming drama Frankenstein, Variety reported.
Martin Scorsese, author Dean Koontz and Flame TV head Tony Krantz are also executive producers. Koontz wrote the pilot script, which will be directed by Texas Chainsaw Massacre helmer Marcus Nispel, the trade paper reported.
Shiban has also executive produced UPN's Star Trek: Enterprise and Fox's The Lone Gunmen.
In the update of Mary Shelley's classic SF novel, Parker Posey plays a homicide detective, one of two who uncover the secret of Frankenstein's monster while on a routine investigation. Casting is still under way for the other lead roles, the trade paper reported.
USA Network is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Briefly Noted
-
Blair Brown (Altered States,
Space Cowboys) has joined the cast of The WB's upcoming Dark Shadows remake,
according to The Hollywood Reporter. Brown will play Elizabeth Collins
Stoddard.
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The thriller Gothika debuted as the
nation's second-best-renting and -selling DVD, earning an estimated $9.15 million in gross rental
revenue during its first five days in stores, according to VideoScan and Video Store
magazine.
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Carla Gugino has joined the cast of
director Robert Rodriguez' Sin City, according to Variety. Gugino previously
co-starred in the Rodriguez-directed Spy Kids films.
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Oscar winner Adrien Brody is in talks
to join the previously announced Naomi Watts and Jack Black in director Peter Jackson's remake
of King Kong, according to Variety. The trade paper said Brody is Jackson's choice
to play Jack Driscoll, who tries to save Ann Darrow (Watts) from the big ape's
clutches.
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Star Trek: The Next Generation cast member Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) told fans at Boston's United Fan Convention that there won't be another Next Gen movie, IGN FilmForce reported. "It's over. There's not going to be another one," Sirtis said.
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Alias co-executive producer Jesse Alexander has signed an overall deal with the show's producer, Touchstone TV, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Under the one-year pact, which has an option for a second, Alexander will continue to work on J.J. Abrams' spy drama for ABC.
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Firefly star Gina Torres (Zoe) told fans at the Sci-Fi Grand Slam convention in Pasadena, Calif., that creator Joss Whedon wants to get Angel star David Boreanaz into the upcoming feature-film version of Firefly, Serenity, Dark Horizons reported. She also confirmed that Ron Glass (Shepherd Book) will definitely be in the movie.
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Dark Horizons reported that Philip Seymour Hoffman will play the villain in the upcoming Mission: Impossible III and that Scarlett Johansson and Carrie-Anne Moss have both been contacted for roles.
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Disney has picked up Ruprecht, a broad fantasy comedy movie pitch about Santa Claus' former partner, by The Simpsons writers/executive producers Josh Weinstein and Bill Oakley, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Visual-effects house Rhythm & Hues (The Chronicles of Riddick) has landed the role as lead effects studio on Disney's and Walden Media's upcoming fantasy epic film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, based on C.S. Lewis' beloved classic books, Variety reported. R&H is expected to create more than 700 shots for the movie, which will start shooting this summer in New Zealand for release next year.
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Novice producers Lisa Marie Butkiewicz and Steve Delaportas have secured movie rights to British author G.P. Taylor's fantasy novel Shadowmancer, Variety reported. Taylor is a former punk rock promoter-turned-policeman-turned-vicar, who wrote an 18th-century ghost story about three children's battle against an evil vicar.
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