Black Talks New Farscape
laudia Black, who plays alien warrior Aeryn Sun in the upcoming SCI FI Channel four-hour miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, told SCI FI Wire that she came back to the role she'd played during the four seasons of the series with a new perspective.
"Different things were expected of Aeryn this time," Black said in a recent interview. "She was endowed with a different bag of dilemmas. And it wasn't an Aeryn that I recognized. And from the beginning, ... different producers and directors would say, 'This is what we want Aeryn to be. This is who she is. This is what we see happening to her.' And so, once I finally sort of worked out taking all that on board and trying to work out what to do with her, she just opened up."
Peacekeeper Wars picks up the story from Farscape's series finale, in which Black's character agreed to marry astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) just before the two were seemingly killed by an alien ship. Black said that the show's producers, expecting a fifth season, had always intended to bring the couple back. "There was at least another year or two left of that arc of us and the world of Farscape," Black said. "For it to have stopped when it did, it brought additional attention to the show when it was canceled. So the miniseries has upped its value in doing another four hours of television based on that momentum. ... There were so many elements of the story that they needed to service for the fans to finish off this particular part of the story arc."
Now that the show's creators have a chance to tie up loose ends, Black said that they are looking ahead to a possible theatrical film. "They'd always talked about movies," she said. "Doing a miniseries was always just a compromise to finish it off. ... There was a theatrical release in mind." Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars will air on the SCI FI Channel for two nights, beginning Oct. 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
King DVD Scenes Revealed
avid Wenham, who played Faramir in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming special extended-edition DVD of The Return of the King will feature deleted scenes that further develop his character.
"It sort of shows that Faramir is probably the strongest member of the family," he said in an interview. "[There's] a scene with Denethor and Faramir where they talk about the ring of power, and Faramir is accused by his father of not being up to it by not actually taking the ring. And Faramir says, 'You don't know the power of this ring, and if Boromir had taken it, you wouldn't have known your son.'"
In another scene, which takes place in the houses of healing, the love story between Faramir and Eowyn (Miranda Otto) is further developed. "The other scene that I think is wonderful to have in the extended cut is the houses of healing," Wenham said. "To give the audience [the chance] to see Eowyn and Faramir come together. ... You sort of get the result. So it was implicit, the fact that something had happened since the last time you saw these two characters. So the audience gets the opportunity to see exactly what happened in the houses of healing." The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King special edition will be released in the fall.
Gruffudd Feeling Fantastic
oan Gruffudd—who will play Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie—told SCI FI Wire that he wasn't familiar with the comic book on which the film is based, but was attracted to the characters and their unique situation when he read the script.
"I think the beginning of the story is us as real people, our friendship," Gruffudd said in an interview. "They are real people. You can associate with them. They're just in this incredible situation."
Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd (pronounced YO-an GRIF-fith) is part of a cast that includes Michael Chiklis (The Shield) as the Thing, Jessica Alba (Dark Angel) as the Invisible Woman, Chris Evans as the Human Torch and Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck) as Dr. Doom. Gruffudd said that he believes the filmmakers were looking for a certain quality when they cast the roles. "I'm a mathematical genius," he joked. Then, he added, "We're sort of down-to-earth people, and I think that's the main attraction of these characters."
Gruffudd, who last appeared as Lancelot in King Arthur, is currently preparing for the film, which begins shooting in Vancouver, B.C., this month, by familiarizing himself with the comic books and learning all of the technical jargon he'll have to know as the brainy team leader. "[There's] a lot of that," he said. "Which I will make quite interesting for you all."
McMahon Plays Four's Doom
ustralian actor Julian McMahon (TV's Nip/Tuck) will play the villainous Dr. Doom in Fox's upcoming Fantastic Four movie, Variety reported.
Tim Story directs the film adaptation of the Marvel Comics franchise, which goes into production this month in Vancouver, B.C., for a July 1, 2005, release.
McMahon will play Doom, a crazed scientific genius who hides his scarred face behind a metal mask, the trade paper reported. He stars opposite Michael Chiklis (the Thing), Jessica Alba (the Invisible Woman), Ioan Gruffud (Reed Richards) and Chris Evans (the Human Torch). Simon Kinberg wrote the script, the trade paper reported.
Carell Gets Smart
teve Carell (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy) will star as bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in Warner Brothers' upcoming movie Get Smart, a remake of the 1960s spy-spoof TV show, which starred Don Adams, Variety reported.
Screenwriter Steve Koren (Bruce Almighty, which featured Carell) will tailor Get Smart to the comic actor, the trade paper reported.
Warner has been trying for several years to make a film of the secret-agent comedy, created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. Will Ferrell was attached last year, but he has been so busy that the project languished, the trade paper reported.
Welling Offered Superman?
he Superman-V.com fan Web site reported a rumor that newly hired Superman movie director Bryan Singer has offered the title role to Tom Welling, star of The WB's Smallville.
Citing an anonymous source, the site added that Welling is believed to be reluctant to take on the role.
The site added that the offer is on the table for two movies. The site reported that Singer also spoke with Eddie Cibrian (TV's Third Watch) and Christopher Douglas (Passions) about the role, but offered it only to Welling.
There is as yet no official word on casting for the proposed film.
Fox Boots Bryan Singer
n the wake of director Bryan Singer's decision to forgo a third X-Men film for Fox in favor of a proposed Superman movie for Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox has terminated its production deal with Singer, and Warner has signed him up, Variety reported.
In addition to Superman, Singer has signed on to helm Warner's Logan's Run remake, the trade paper reported. Fox reportedly asked Singer to vacate his offices on the Fox lot in Century City, Calif.
Insiders told the trade paper that Singer's Warner deal is not an expensive one, because Singer only develops projects he plans on shooting and is not the sort of producer who develops numerous projects or demands a hefty discretionary fund.
The third X-Men movie is now in limbo, but insiders told Variety that Singer would be happy to be involved with the movie, even if only as a producer, though that's Fox's call.
Fiennes Is Voldemort
alph Fiennes (The English Patient) has signed on to portray the wicked warlock Lord Voldemort in the upcoming fourth Harry Potter movie, The Goblet of Fire, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film will mark the first time audiences will see the evil wizard in the flesh, though he has appeared in various incarnations in the previous three films.
Filming has been under way on Goblet since June 25, mainly with star Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) and co-stars Rupert Grint (Ron) and Emma Watson (Hermione). Fiennes has not yet filmed any scenes, the trade paper reported.
Other additions to the cast include Brendan Gleeson (The Village) as Potter's new defense against the dark arts teacher, Mad-Eye Moody, and Miranda Richardson (Sleepy Hollow) as Rita Skeeter, a gossip columnist for a magical newspaper, the trade paper reported. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral), is scheduled for release in November 2005.
White House Slams Team?
he White House is rumored to be angry with Paramount for its upcoming satirical movie Team America: World Police, a marionette film about an anti-terrorist squad, from the creators of TV's South Park, the Drudge Report Web site reported.
"I really do not think terrorism is funny, and I would suggest Paramount give respect to those fighting and sacrificing to keep America safe," an anonymous senior adviser to President Bush reportedly told the site.
Team America is set for release two weeks before the November presidential election and is entering post-production with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the site reported. A trailer is already on the Internet. The adviser fumed after seeing the movie's Web site and trailer, Drudge reported: "This is just unconscionable. Not funny."
But, Parker responded, "Bush is not even in the film," the site reported. "I would ask that people wait and see it before passing a judgment."
Law Flies With Paltrow In Sky
ude Law, star of the upcoming SF movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, told SCI FI Wire that he and co-star Gwyneth Paltrow found themselves at ease as a result of having worked together previously in 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley.
"Yeah, it [was] a lot of fun," Law said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego. "We worked together first five years ago and got on very well and stayed in contact."
Law plays the title character in Sky Captain, about an invasion of giant robots in a mythical 1930s New York. He signed on to Sky Captain first and said that Paltrow was the only actress considered for the female lead role of intrepid reporter Polly Perkins. "When I first got involved with this, I don't seem to remember any other name coming up, and it just seemed that she was perfect," he said. "And she was as enthusiastic about the script and about the visual references that were sort of put to her and jumped on board. And we had a lot of fun."
Law and Paltrow's familiarity came in handy during production, in which the actors had to perform almost completely in front of blue screens, with limited sets. The movie's elaborate environments, effects and action sequences were all added in with computer animation in post-production. "It's very easy working with Gwyneth, because she gets [it]," Law said. "If she says she gets something, she gets it immediately and there's no messing about. ... She'll be there. She'll turn up. She'll do the job. She's great fun to be around. And I think once we all got a taste of [Polly's and Sky Captain's] relationship, we all kept just kind of feeding it with ideas about how they could continue bickering and what they could bicker about."
Law and Paltrow also worked up a lot of the on-screen couple's relationship while spending days shooting dialogue scenes in the mock cockpit of Sky Captain's P-40 Warhawk airplane. "As you sat in a cockpit all day with nothing to do, you start talking about their backstory and how they met and how the first argument started," Law said. "And so it has a lot of good banter, and a lot of that was on screen." Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, directed by Kerry Conran, opens Sept. 17.
Weisz Jumps In Fountain
achel Weisz (Constantine) will star opposite Hugh Jackman in the upcoming SF epic movie The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Weisz steps into the role that Cate Blanchett was originally going to play when Brad Pitt was still involved. A November start date is planned, the trade paper reported.
The top-secret story reportedly follows one man's journey in the present as well as 500 years into the past and future, while dealing with the themes of love, death and immortality. Aronofsky wrote the screenplay with Ari Handel and is producing via his Protozoa Pictures production company; Handel is president of Protozoa. Protozoa partner Eric Watson is also producing. Regency Enterprises and Warner Brothers are co-financing, the trade paper reported.
Daleks Return In Who
hey were out, now they're back in: The BBC announced that Doctor Who's archenemies, the Daleks, will appear after all in the upcoming updated TV series slated for 2005.
The announcement comes after the network resolved a dispute with the estate of SF writer Terry Nation, who created the mechanical menaces, the BBC reported.
The BBC said an agreement had been reached ensuring that the Daleks will return when the new Doctor Who comes back to British airwaves, with Christopher Eccleston in the lead role.
There have been protracted negotiations between the BBC and Nation's estate since it was announced Doctor Who was coming back 14 years after it was canceled. The talks broke down, with the BBC saying at the time that no agreement could be reached over editorial control and that producers had already created another villain.
Murphy Admired Sin City Trio
rittany Murphy, who plays Shellie in the upcoming comic-book movie Sin City, told SCI FI Wire that she enjoyed working with the film's three directors: Robert Rodriguez and graphic-novel author Frank Miller, who co-directed, and Quentin Tarantino, who served as a guest director.
"I loved it, because Robert and Quentin are like two little kids in the sandbox," Murphy said in an interview. "They're adorable together, and they all feed off of each other and have the most interesting ideas. They're all in the same book, just on different pages, and they all coincide."
Murphy's Shellie is a waitress linking the film's three stories, which are based on Miller's comic. "It's like they're writing separate pages in one chapter," Murphy said of the three helmers. She added: "Frank was sort of the Yoda of everyone with information, because Robert worked off of Frank's comic books and drawings for his storyboard. His storyboard was literally Frank Miller's everything. He went picture for picture from the book."
Murphy added that she admired the symbiotic relationship between Rodriguez and Tarantino. "Robert and Quentin have had this thing for years, where Robert will do music for Quentin, and he pays him a dollar, and Quentin will learn how to work on Robert's form of digital camera for a dollar. They each pay each other a dollar. It's quite cute." Dimension Films will release Sin City in 2005.
Murphy Visits Sin City
rittany Murphy, who recently wrapped production on the upcoming comic-book movie Sin City, told SCI FI Wire that the adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel is told in three installments.
"It's not three separate films, but three vignettes, three stories," Murphy said in an interview. "I open up 'The Big Fat Kill.'"
Murphy said that she plays Shellie, the only character who appears in all three vignettes. "There's always got to be a local watering hole, and she's the waitress at the local watering hole," the actress said. "It's written in a wonderful Howard Hawks sort of noir-esque manner, so that many decades sort of mix together. It's shot in black and white, with some splashes of color. There's a lot of green-screen work that we did. I was in a scene with Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke, and I've never met Bruce Willis in my life. I did it on a green scene! But I worked with Benicio Del Toro, who's playing Jackie Boy, and Clive Owen's playing Dwight. I worked with both of them."
Murphy also sang the praises of Robert Rodriguez, who wrote and, with Miller, co-directed Sin City. "Robert's a dream to work with, an absolute dreamboat," Murphy said. "He has the greatest environment. His wife, Elizabeth [Avellan], actually was inspired by Holly Hunter's character in Broadcast News and decided to produce. So Elizabeth produces his films. Everyone brings their children to work. He has a compound in Austin, where his whole family lives, and he built a Harry Potter-like house so that his children won't have to leave or don't want to leave! With these Slip-and-Slides and hidden doors, it's extraordinary. And the people that he's been working with for years, that started out as a P.A. [production assistant], are now his editors. He's really an extraordinary man." Sin City—which also features Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Marley Shelton, Bruce Willis, Carla Gugino and Michael Clarke Duncan—will be released in 2005.
Murphy Has Happy Feet
rittany Murphy told SCI FI Wire that she's enjoying the process of voicing a singing penguin in the upcoming animated fantasy musical film Happy Feet.
"Happy Feet is a blast, and it's still going on," Murphy said in an interview. "I just did some recording sessions for it, about a week ago."
In the computer-animated film, Murphy voices Gloria, a penguin with a beautiful voice, opposite Elijah Wood, who voices Mumble, a penguin who can't sing and is ostracized for it. "I'm not sure how much I can bring up the story at this point," Murphy said. "Savion Glover is tapping [dancing] in the film for Elijah's character. I play Gloria, who's the female love interest. And I sing. Basically, all the penguins have a heart song, and that's part of their mating ritual. And the music runs the gamut from the Beatles to modern-day hip-hop, all songs that we already know."
Murphy, who also voices Luanne on the long-running animated television series King of the Hill, politely declined to reveal what song she performs in Happy Feet. "It's a secret," she said. "Gloria's heart song isn't quite revealed until towards the end, until the tapping helps her find it, until Elijah starts tapping, and that leads to it."
But Murphy added that, unlike many other animated features in which the stars don't actually meet until the premiere, she and Wood exchanged dialogue in a recording booth. "Elijah and I did everything together," she said. "It was wonderful. We were able to do every scene together. And then when we came back in [for re-recording], we requested that we please be together. He's a ball to work with." Happy Feet, which is directed by George Miller (Babe), will be released in 2006.
Hatch Embraces New Galactica
ichard Hatch, who will guest-star in SCI FI Channel's upcoming original series Battlestar Galactica, told fans that it was difficult for him to give up his idea to continue the original series, in which he starred.
Hatch played Apollo in the original Galactica in the 1970s and had mounted a one-man campaign to revive the original show, with many of the original actors. "It was very difficult to accept the reimagining, but I have nothing personal against any of the actors or the crew or the producers or the writers [of the new series]," Hatch told an audience at Comic-Con International in San Diego. "When they decided to go a different way, I was angry and as hurt as anybody. And finally, when they did the show, it was obvious to me that there were some very good elements. But it was very difficult not being biased and prejudiced as somebody who loved the original show, being able to even see this show through objective eyes. So I didn't want to unfairly judge it. And I watched it several times. And once I could get past the bias and look at it for what it was and not what it wasn't, ... I found interesting ideas. I found some interesting characters."
Hatch previously turned down a cameo role in the four-hour Galactica miniseries, which aired last December. But executive producer Ron Moore approached him again when the network gave the new series a green light. "I'm very, very proud that they actually invited me to come on," Hatch said. "[Moore] said, 'I don't know if you're willing to do this, but we would love to have you come on and play a role and guest-star on the show, and it could be a continuing role.' I was very, very impressed when I sat down and talked with him."
In several episodes of the new series, Hatch will play a "Nelson-Mandela-style political prisoner," fulfilling many of his hopes for the original series. "They're getting into the core stories," he said. "Core challenges about surviving, struggling, dealing with your issues, and that's what I wanted so much from the original show." But Hatch added that he has not given up his quest to continue the original series. "[Although] we're not getting the continuation at this time, hopefully, maybe sooner than later, a movie. Maybe a miniseries, something to resolve the original show. That's what I hope." The new Battlestar Galactica series will premiere in January 2005.
Remaking Dark Water
alter Salles, who is directing the English-language remake of the Japanese supernatural film Dark Water, told SCI FI Wire that the remake focuses on the human story behind the horror.
The original Dark Water, directed by Hideo Nakata (Ringu and The Ring 2), told the story of a mother and daughter who move into a new apartment during a custody battle and find water dripping from the ceiling, ghostly visions and a mysterious red bag. "I think it's really about urban solitude more than anything else," Salles said in an interview. "More about the inner demons that we carry with us."
Salles, the Brazilian-born director of Central Station and The Motorcycle Diaries, said that he chose the remake as a way to break into the English-language market without compromising his sensibility. "I've been thinking of doing an English-speaking film for some time," he said. "I had some projects in development for many years. Here was the possibility to work with such extraordinary actors and actresses, [such] as Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Tim Roth and Pete Postlethwaite. The screenplay was very interesting. But more than that, it was a mother-and-daughter relationship, and that interested me for very personal reasons." Touchstone Pictures has not set a release date for Dark Water.
White Award Entries Sought
udges are now accepting entries in the 2005 James White Award short-story competition, with the winner to be honored in Glasgow, Scotland, at the 2005 World Science Fiction Convention.
Named after the Irish SF author, the James White Award is an international short-story competition.
The competition is open to non-professional writers from all over the world who may submit up to four original science fiction or fantasy short stories of between 2,000 and 4,000 words each. The winning story will take home a trophy and cash prize and will be published in Interzone, the European SF magazine.
Doohan Honored In Hollywood
weekend of events will honor original Star Trek star James Doohan (Scotty) in Los Angeles in August, culminating in the dedication of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, organizers announced.
Billed as "Beam Me Up Scotty … One Last Time, The James Doohan Farewell Star Trek Convention and Tribute," the events take place Aug. 27–30 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel.
Doohan was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and the convention will mark his final public appearance. Doohan will share the convention stage with castmates William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, George Takei, Grace Lee Whitney and Majel Barrett Roddenberry. A James Doohan Tribute Banquet and Roast will benefit the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation.
On Aug. 31 at 10:30 a.m., Doohan will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in front of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
Cruise Seeks M:I 3 Helmer
om Cruise, who stars in and is producing Mission: Impossible 3, told SCI FI Wire that he is still seeking a new director to replace Joe Carnahan, who left the project abruptly last month.
"The director for Mission is just something I'm looking at right now," Cruise said at a press conference to promote his upcoming film Collateral. "I'm just evaluating and taking time."
Carnahan (Narc) quit in July, citing "creative differences." Since then, a couple of directors have popped up as possible replacements. Cinescape reported on July 20 that Alias creator J.J. Abrams was in line for the job. Variety, meanwhile, reported on July 29 that Brett Ratner (Red Dragon) was under consideration.
But Cruise deflected questions about specific directors. "I'm looking at everything right now is what I'm doing," he said. "I'm now just kind of putting it on hold and promoting Collateral and just evaluating." Mission: Impossible 3 is still scheduled for a June 29, 2005, release from Paramount Pictures.
AvP Completes The Circle
ance Henriksen, who plays billionaire industrialist Charles Bishop Weyland in the upcoming franchise-hybrid film Alien vs. Predator, told SCI FI Wire that the role brought him full circle, back to the roles he played in Aliens and Alien 3.
"For me it's like a cycle, like a closure for that character," he said in an interview. "Not that they couldn't bring me back down the road. I mean, they did it, obviously. But this is a prequel."
In the Alien films, Henriksen played two identical androids. In Alien vs. Predator, he plays the founder of the company that will eventually produce them. For Henriksen, being on the set of the new film, which was shot in Prague, felt very familiar. "When I walked on the set and saw the alien and the predator, I was back immediately," he said. "I remember being in London shooting that thing. It was instantaneous."
Henriksen said he is aware of the expectations put on the film by fans of both franchises, but he is confident that they will be satisfied. "I don't think that anything people are hoping for is going to be missed," he said. "And we've gone even further than that. The biggest disappointment would be, of course, if you failed it. But it's not going to happen." Alien vs. Predator opens Aug. 13.
Favreau: Zathura Fills Need
on Favreau told SCI FI Wire that he chose to direct Zathura, a big-screen adaptation of the Chris Van Allsburg children's book, because it fulfills a need in him to make a family-friendly, positive movie.
"I think right now, because the world is so ass-backwards and things are up in the air, because everything is so complicated and it's tense to watch the world, people want things that will inspire hope, especially for young people," Favreau said in an interview. "I can't imagine what it would be like to grow up now, and I have two young kids. So for me to tell a fairy tale, to tell a story like this, or like Elf, is a very noble endeavor right now in my life. That's part of the appeal."
Zathura, the SF follow-up to 1995's Jumanji, deals with a board game that blasts a house and its occupants into space. "The other appeal is I'm shooting the movie here, at Sony, in Los Angeles," Favreau added. "I'm a big proponent of keeping work in Los Angeles. I live in Santa Monica [Calif.], so that's nice. And it's also a very effects-heavy movie. I'm taking on a challenge. I did it somewhat in Elf, but I'm trying to do Zathura so that it feels like a throwback to the movies I grew up watching. So instead of having wall-to-wall [computer animation], we're shooting miniature spaceships. It'll look a lot more like the first Star Wars movie than the latest ones."
Oscar-winning creature maker Stan Winston has been tapped to design Zathura's Zyborgs, which Favreau likened to lizard pirates in space. And just as the spaceships will be realized with miniatures, robots will be actors in constumes. "As Orson Welles said, 'It's like playing with a big train set,'" Favreau said. "You have all these toys and all these enthusiastic people, and whatever comes out of my imagination appears before me. Having kids star in it is fun, because I have a new perspective on them, based on being a dad now. You've got to go with what inspires you, and right now this is the type of project that inspires me." Zathura, which will star Tim Robbins, is in preproduction now, with an eye toward a 2005 release.
Sommers Here In A Flash
riter/director Stephen Sommers (Van Helsing) and his producing partner Bob Ducsay have landed the rights to the venerable SF franchise Flash Gordon and will make a movie based on the iconic comic-book superhero for Universal Pictures, Variety reported.
Sommers, creator of the Mummy films, is producing with an eye toward writing the script.
Flash Gordon dates back to 1934, when it was created by Alex Raymond, and for decades after appeared in movie serials, animated films, TV shows and a 1980 feature helmed by Mike Hodges, the trade paper reported. The Hearst Corp.'s King Features Syndicate controls the property, and its liaison to Hollywood, Rick Karo, will produce, along with Sommers and Ducsay, the trade paper reported.
The legendary intergalactic adventurer; his female companion, Dale Arden; and scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov will also reappear in comic books to be distributed by Top Cow, whose film executive Spike Selden will executive produce the movie with former Davis Entertainment executive Adam Coplan, the trade paper reported. Sommers is expected to serve as a creative consultant on the comic books.
Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Dragonshard Announced
tari announced the development of Dragonshard, a Dungeons & Dragons real-time strategy game for the PC, the GameSpot Web site reported.
Atari is partnering with Liquid Entertainment (The Lord of The Rings: War of the Ring) to create the game, which is set for release in spring 2005.
Set in Eberron, a Dungeons & Dragons realm recently created by D&D license owners Wizards of the Coast, Dragonshard will make use of traditional role-playing game elements, the site reported. The game will deal with three factions battling for control of Eberron.
Theron Readies Aeon
harlize Theron, who will play the title SF superhero in Aeon Flux, told SCI FI Wire that she is currently rehearsing with director Karyn Kusama and her co-stars in the live-action movie, which is based on the animated MTV series.
Shooting begins in mid-August, but Theron is still getting to know the character, she said in an interview. "I've just spent five days with the director and the cast, so we're still sort of working that out," Theron said. "It's not just a special-[effects movie]. It's a love story, of course, so those are the things that kind of get me going."
Aeon Flux is set 1,000 years in the future, when disease has wiped out most of humanity. The title character is a secret agent with unclear motives. The animated version of the character could peform incredible acrobatics, so Theron is undergoing extensive physical training. "I'm doing four to five hours a day of gymnastics and capoeira [a Brazilian martial art], things like that," she said.
Theron, who wears short black hair for the movie, added that she welcomed the chance to shed her traditional blond-bombshell look. "It's a tool," she said. "It's something that really helps me, so it's as important for me [as it is] to do research. If I feel that I need to physically go through a transformation to play a character, it's something that helps me, so why wouldn't I do it? And it's always a great excuse to cut your hair off and change it. If it doesn't look good, you can always say, 'Well, it's for a part.'"
The Oscar winner (for Monster) added that she doesn't fear following up with a genre movie, though fellow winner Halle Berry got a lot of criticism for doing Catwoman. "A lot of other people seem to be very pressured by it, because the question seems to be coming up quite a bit," she said. "I think that whether or not you win awards, at the end of the day, you have to realize that you can't please everybody. And not everybody's going to love this film. Not everybody's going to love the other films that I do. So the pressure for me is just to find material that I truly feel as an actor is something that keeps me on my toes and makes me grow as an actor, where I don't become lazy and just kind of do the easy stuff." MTV Films and Paramount Pictures are producing Aeon Flux for a 2005 release.
Moss Talks M:I 3
arrie-Anne Moss, star of the upcoming Mission: Impossible 3, told SCI FI Wire that she was not expecting director Joe Carnahan's recent departure from the third installment of the series.
"It was surprising, but things happen," said Moss, speaking at the press day for her upcoming film Suspect Zero. "I mean, nothing is really that surprising in Hollywood, I think."
Moss said that she could not disclose many details about her character in M:I 3, but added that she accepted the role despite trepidations about returning to another action franchise after her turn in the Matrix series. "I'm just not supposed to talk too much about the character, but I play the girl," Moss said. "I had said after The Matrix that I would never make an action film again, and then I got offered Mission: Impossible, and I just had to say yes. It just felt like the right thing to do. I think things just kind of come your way, and you make your choices. But it's very different than Trinity. I might have had a few moments when [I] was like, 'What am I doing in another action film?' But life is interesting. Never say never."
Moss added that she prefers emotional rather than physical challenges in the scripts she accepts these days. "It's so hard physically," Moss said. "I mean, it took me years to physically recover [from the Matrix films], truly. But I'd like to have my challenges be emotional as an actor. I love that. Physically I've gone there bigtime." Moss said that she welcomes the physical challenges with less enthusiasm than she once did. "It's hard to learn new things, because when you're doing an action movie there's usually something that they are doing that's new. This time I'm learning some things, and I can't tell you what I'm learning, but I'm learning a couple of things that I hadn't learned before." Mission: Impossible 3, starring Tom Cruise, is eyeing a June 2005 release.
Behr: Grudge Translates Well
ason Behr, who plays the boyfriend of Sarah Michelle Gellar's character in the upcoming horror remake The Grudge, told SCI FI Wire that the new version remains true to the spirit of the original Japanese film, Ju-On.
"The Grudge, I think, [is] the best of both worlds, because it doesn't lose any of that Japanese sensibility," he said in an interview. "It definitely has a different flavor, in that way that Ju-On was very unique. But The Grudge is that with American actors in Japan telling that story. It's pretty terrifying."
The Grudge was filmed in Tokyo under the direction of Takashi Shimizu, who also directed the original Ju-On. Though Shimizu and the rest of the crew spoke little English, Behr said that he didn't have too much trouble with the language barrier on the set. "With the obstacles we had at the beginning, the whole language barrier, [it was amazing] being able to overcome those and still make the movie that we made," he said. "Shimizu was a friendly guy. He's got a wicked sense of humor, one that doesn't often need translation."
Behr (TV's Roswell) added that it helped that he and Gellar had previously established a working relationship when he guest-starred in a second-season episode of Gellar's television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "Working with her on Buffy, I don't know how long ago, and then coming back to work together again, it was great to have a friend in Japan," he said. "She hasn't changed a whole lot. She's still the same person that I knew way back when." The Grudge, which is in post-production, is slated for release Oct. 22.
Shepard Lands Zathura
ax Shepard told SCI FI Wire that he has just landed a role in Zathura, Jon Favreau's upcoming SF follow-up to 1995's fantasy movie Jumanji. Shepard will play an astronaut in the movie, about a board game that blasts a house and its occupants into space.
"I'll be the only adult in it besides Tim Robbins," Shepard said in an interview.
Shepard added that he landed the role because of his ability to improvise in the audition. "Jon Favreau ... loves improv, so he'll read with you and just throw you curve balls and see what you do with it," he said.
Favreau plans to take advantage of improv when working with the film's cast of children, Shepard said. "I think [a kids' movie] is almost the best opportunity [for improv], because you have these kids who are going to be playing it by the book," he said. "The more you can screw with them, [the more you can] get something organic and real out of them."
In other Zathura casting, Variety reported that 11-year-old Josh Hutcherson and 7-year-old Jonah Bobo have been cast as the two young brothers in the movie. The movie is slated to go into production this summer, with a 2005 release date.
Lillard: Scooby 3 Is Dead
atthew Lillard, who played Shaggy in the two live-action Scooby-Doo films, told SCI FI Wire that there is no hope for a third installment.
"There will be no Scooby 3," Lillard said in an interview.
Lillard blamed the film's disappointing box-office performance. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed made more than $80 million at the U.S. box office, but that fell far short of the original Scooby-Doo's $154 million haul. "The second one didn't do as well as it was expected to do, and I completely hold that to Warner Brothers' fault," Lillard said. "I think Warner Brothers made a mistake releasing it at the time they did [March 2004]. I think the movie's much better than the first movie, and I honestly thought it was going to do ridiculously good box office. But we had a bad timeslot. We had 13 movies open up in two weeks after we opened up. I mean, it did well, but it didn't do great, and it needed to do great."
Enterprise Spoilers Revealed
roduction has wrapped on "Storm Front," the initial fourth-season episode of UPN's Star Trek: Enterprise, the official StarTrek.com Web site reported.
The two-part episode, written by new co-executive producer and show runner Manny Coto, picks up the cliffhanger from the end of last season, when the Enterprise arrived back on Earth and viewers glimpsed what appeared to be an alien Nazi.
In spoilers for the season premiere, the site reported that Enterprise has landed in an alternate past on Earth, in which the Temporal Cold War has altered the events of World War II, and the Nazis, with alien help, have conquered the eastern portion of the United States. The episode features guest stars John Fleck as Silik and Matt Winston as Daniels. The episode also introduces a new species of Temporal Cold War aliens: the Na'kuhl. Other guest stars include Golden Brooks (UPN's Girlfriends) and Joe Maruzzo and Steven R. Schirripa from The Sopranos.
Henson Options Fantasy Books
he Jim Henson Co. has bought up film rights to four fantasy books for movies mainly aimed at adult audiences, Variety reported.
Henson used a recently secured round of financing from a group of private investors in England, the trade paper reported. The books are listed below.
•The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer, a futuristic tale in which a boy grows up as the clone of a powerful drug lord and dictator of Opium, a country that lies between the United States and Mexico.
•Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, by Holly Black, a dark tale about a 16-year-old girl who moves to her childhood home in New Jersey with her rock star mother, only to discover that she's a faerie and her life is in danger when she finds herself in the middle of a power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms.
•The Tattooed Map, by Barbara Hodgson, a supernatural tale about a woman who discovers while on a trip around Morocco that a map-shaped tattoo that only she can see is appearing on her hand. When she disappears, her traveling companion must try to find her and unravel the mystery.
•The Uncle Wiggly stories, a collection of 36 tales about a wise rabbit and his woodland animal and human friends.
Blade's Biel Nails It
essica Biel, star of the upcoming vampire sequel film Blade: Trinity, told SCI FI Wire that she got so good shooting a longbow for her role as a vampire hunter that she accidentally shot out a $300,000 camera lens with an arrow in a stunt gone awry.
"The archery training was some of the hardest training I did," Biel said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego. "It was muscles that you don't even know you use in your back. You have to be really relaxed and really focused. It was hard. It was really, really difficult."
David Goyer, who wrote and directed Blade: Trinity, told SCI FI Wire that the stunt was designed to offer a camera's-eye view of Biel's shooting an arrow. "We've got this camera aimed at her," he said. "She had learned how to shoot the arrow very well. She was 30 or 40 feet away, but she was also up in the air three stories. And all the crew were behind safety [glass]. The only thing that was uncovered was literally a 2-inch-by-2-inch thing right in front of the lens. We said, 'Aim for the camera!' And BAM! Right down the lens, into the housing and into the camera. Destroyed a $300,000 camera. We caught it on film, and we're going to put it on the DVD."
"Are you?" Biel said. "Oh, God."
"It's in slow motion," Goyer said. "She shoots, looks badass and everything like that. There's this pause, and then she's like, 'YEAAAAH!' It was just right in the lens! It embedded like 8 inches."
In the movie, Biel plays a member of a team of young, elite vampire hunters who come to the aid of Blade, played by Wesley Snipes. Blade: Trinity opens Dec. 10.
Tru's Men Are Calling
on Harmon Feldman, creator and executive producer of Fox's paranormal TV series Tru Calling, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming second season sees Tru Davies (Eliza Dushku) getting a new love interest and Jack Harper (Jason Priestley) becoming the show's resident villain.
In the show, Davies rewinds time in order to save lives; Harper uses a similar ability to ensure that those fated to die actually breathe their last breath. "I think it just heightens [everything]," Harmon said in an interview. "Tru knows that every week there is going to be an additional obstacle in the form of Jack Harper."
Feldman added, "What I think is interesting is that as the season progresses there will be
times that they will be forced to switch sides or work with each other, despite Tru's distaste
for that. What we're trying hard to do is keep that relationship very unpredictable. I think are some nice surprises for both of those characters and their interactions with each other as we get into season two."
Tru's previous boyfriend, Luc (Matthew Bomer), died at the end of season one. Feldman revealed that
a new character, Jensen (Eric Christian Olsen), will be introduced early in season two and
could evolve into a love interest for Tru. Jensen and Tru will make each other's acquaintance
at the medical school they'll both attend. "Let's just say that every romance has more than meets the eye," Feldman said. "Tru and Jensen will go down a very interesting path. When we first see her she is, I think, a little hesitant, following the death of Luc, to dive into anything. But she's going to find herself with more than she bargained for." Tru Calling will begin its second season Nov. 4 on Fox and will air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Glover Finds Reality In Earthsea
anny Glover, star of SCI FI Channel's upcoming original miniseries Earthsea, told SCI FI Wire that he sought to ground his character, the master wizard Ogion, in the real world.
"So much of what we consider to be the fantasy world resides in our own spirit, in our own hearts and in our own mind," Glover said at the network's fall press preview in Los Angeles. "I tried to bring certain values. What's inherent in this story are enormous values and ideals: values around one's use of one's gift and the use of one's gift for the betterment of the world or the values that deal with responsibility. And all those things are important values that go beyond the fantasy world."
Glover co-stars with Shawn Ashmore (X-Men) and Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) in the miniseries, based on the first two of Ursula K. Le Guin's trilogy of fantasy novels. Though new to the genre of fantasy, veteran actor Glover said that he didn't find it difficult to find his way into the story. "I don't find it very difficult to find a way to center the character and to center the character in this world," he said. "We wish we would have powers that would alter the way things happen in our lives and in our own world. So I didn't find it very difficult to understand that and to be at home with that in certain ways."
Earthsea comes from Emmy-Award-winning executive producer Robert Halmi Sr. (Merlin), with Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction) and Kevin Kelly Brown (Roswell). The four-hour Earthsea will premiere as a two-night television event in December.
Lucas Eyes Singapore Toon Shop
eorge Lucas' Lucasfilm announced the formation of an animation facility in Singapore, with plans to produce a slate of computer-animated films, Variety reported.
Lucasfilm Animation Singapore becomes Lucas' second such facility, after Lucasfilm Animation in California, the trade paper reported.
The new studio, which will open by spring, will produce digitally animated films, television and games, the trade paper reported. Over the years, Lucasfilm has been looking to enter the animation arena, especially as the same tools used to create high-end visual effects at Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic are increasingly used to create animated hits, such as Finding Nemo and Shrek 2 at other studios, the trade paper reported.
Strange To Storm America
ritish publisher Bloomsbury, which produced the U.K. versions of the Harry Potter books, will roll out its upcoming fantasy novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell in Britain, the United States and Germany in the fall, the Reuters news service reported.
The 800-page, footnote-laden novel is being touted as Harry Potter for grownups.
Strange & Norrell by Susanna Clarke will be the first Bloomsbury book to receive a coordinated rollout in all three countries, starting in September, Reuters reported. The rights have also been sold to publishers in at least 28 other countries, from Brazil to Croatia.
Clarke's book, which took 10 years to write, takes place in an alternate Britain during the early 1800s. The title characters are employed as sorcerers in the war against Napoleon and pursue the legendary magician the Raven King, the news service reported.
Corbet Rescues T-Birds
rady Corbet, who stars as Alan Tracy in the SF family film Thuderbirds, told SCI FI Wire that he had a passing familiarity with the 1960s British marionette TV series on which the live-action movie is based.
"I'm a bit of an insomniac, and it comes on at like 3 a.m. on Tech TV, so it was always on my periphery," Corbet, who turns 16 this month, said in an interview. "I've probably seen it in the past three years, but I've always known what it was, and people always kind of made jokes about all of it. But I don't think I'd ever seen an entire episode. Maybe one entire episode or two."
In Thunderbirds, directed by Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: First Contact), Corbet plays the youngest of five sons of billionaire former astronaut Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton), who runs the top-secret, island-based, rocket-powered International Rescue. Corbet said that Frakes' interpretation of the TV show appealed to him, because it maintained a degree of scientific plausibility. "It's not wacky and crazy,
Corbet said. "It's something I appreciate, and it's something that, as a kid, it totally captured my imagination. I loved Jim Henson, I loved The Muppets. I grew up with Labyrinth and all that, so to me it's not massively different than that." Thunderbirds, from Universal Pictures, is now playing. Universal Pictures is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Monsters Party On
arner Brothers and Basil Iwanyk's Thunder Road Productions will produce a live-action film adaptation of the 1967 Rankin & Bass animated special Mad Monster Party, Variety reported.
John Pardee and Joey Murphy will write the script, in which Baron Von Frankenstein calls together all of cinema's classic monsters for a conference and announces that he's turning over their leadership to his clueless nephew, the trade paper reported.
Warners optioned the property from Canal Plus. The original program was a production of Embassy Pictures. Chris Peters and Jackie Gilardi, who brought the project to Thunder Road, will produce with Iwanyk, the trade paper reported.
More Matrix Games Due
arry and Andy Wachowski, directors of the Matrix movies, are working on a sequel to their Enter the Matrix video game, due for the Xbox in 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Quoting one of the Wachowskis' two agents, Laurence Mattis, the newspaper reported that the brothers have also been busy producing a multiplayer online video game that will debut later this year.
The Wachowskis are also mulling a film version of V for Vendetta, based on Alan Moore's graphic novel, which is set in a futuristic London and deals with a vigilante who plots a revolution against a totalitarian government, the newspaper reported.
SF Traveler Rights Bought
niversal Pictures has bought the film rights to first-time author John Twelvehawks' SF novel The Traveler, which Doubleday is due to publish next June, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It is the first volume in a trilogy.
The Traveler is a reinterpretation of history as an ongoing struggle between so-called "Travelers," who see beyond the everyday, and the "Tabulas," who don't believe in such things, the trade paper reported. The story revolves around two brothers and a young woman who tries to protect them from the Tabulas. Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Briefly Noted
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Pixar Animation Studios and THQ Inc. announced an exclusive multi-property publishing agreement granting THQ the interactive rights to four upcoming Pixar animated feature films.
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Undeterred by Catwoman's disappointing U.S. box-office performance, star Halle Berry told reporters at the movie's German premiere that she's "really hoping to do another Catwoman," the Associated Press reported.
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The 30th Deauville Festival of American Film in France will honor George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, Variety reported. The festival, which runs Sept. 3-12, will present Lucas' remastered cut of his 1971 THX 1138, as well as American Graffiti and the original 1977 Star Wars.
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The family of late Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams will appear as extras in the upcoming movie version of the beloved series, the Zap2it Web site reported. Douglas' mother, sisters, brother and daughter will appear in the scene in which Earth learns of its impending destruction.
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Matt Dillon has signed to star opposite Michael Keaton and Lindsay Lohan in Disney's upcoming fantasy film Herbie: Fully Loaded, Variety reported.
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ComingSoon.net shot down a rumor that Eric Bana (Hulk) was being cast as James Bond in MGM's and Eon Productions' upcoming 21st 007 film.
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The Comics Continuum Web site reported that longtime genre actor Michael Ironside (Total Recall) will play Gen. Sam Lane, the father of Lois Lane (Erica Durance), in The WB's Smallville next season.
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E! Online reported a rumor that Daredevil stars Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell will make cameo appearances in the upcoming spinoff movie Elektra, which stars Jennifer Garner. The site's columnist Ted Casablanca cited anonymous sources on Elektra's Vancouver, B.C., set.
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A federal judge has barred the manufacture and distribution of a program designed to make perfect copies of video-game discs, a games industry trade group told the Reuters news service. The Entertainment Software Association said Judge Richard Owen of the federal court in southern New York issued the injunction against developer 321 Studios and its Games X Copy software.
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Alias has tapped Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett to play the show's new CIA director in the upcoming fourth season, TV Guide Online reported.
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Warner Brothers has posted a teaser trailer for its upcoming Batman Begins movie, which opens next year.
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Paramount has posted a new trailer for its upcoming marionette movie Team America: World Police, from the creative team behind South Park. Team America opens Oct. 15.
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Jason Shaw, one of the stars of The WB's discarded Dark Shadows update, has signed a one-year talent holding deal with John Wells Productions, Zap2it reported. Shaw played Joe Haskell in the Dark Shadows pilot that Wells (The West Wing) unsuccessfully developed for The WB this spring.
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Philip Baker Hall, Jesse James and Chloe Moretz have joined the cast of the MGM-Dimension-based Amityville Horror, which begins shooting Aug. 2, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Hall has signed on for the role of Father McNamara, while James and Moretz are taking on the roles of the family's children, Chelsea and Billy.
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Donald Duck, who celebrates his 70th birthday this year, will receive the 2,257th star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. The star will be unveiled on Aug. 9 at 10:30 a.m. at 6840 Hollywood Blvd., in front of the Disney Store/El Capitan Theatre.
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Square Enix announced that it will screen a special preview edition of its upcoming video Final Fantasy VII Advent Children at the 61st Venice International Film Festival, Sept. 1-11, in Venice, Italy. Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is a direct-to-DVD computer-animated sequel to the best-selling Final Fantasy VII video game for PlayStation.
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