The Schwartz With Brooks Again
el Brooks revealed in a recent interview with Playbill magazine that he is working on a sequel to his 1987 Star Wars spoof, Spaceballs, the Ain't-It-Cool-News Web site reported.
"I'm writing myself back into the Spaceballs sequel that I'm now writing, so you haven't seen the last of my face," Brooks said. "Why another Spaceballs? It wouldn't feel right to have anyone else play Yoghurt, and the first one was the best experience I've had making a movie since Blazing Saddles."
Brooks said that he'd like to have the film in theaters around the same time as George Lucas' upcoming prequel, Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith, which opens May 19, 2005. "Best-case scenario: a week before the new Star Wars opens," he said. "Worst-case scenario: a year after the new Star Wars opens."
Star Wars DVD Has Music Issues?
ans may have discovered a a glitch in John Williams' score soundtrack on the new Star Wars trilogy DVD set that affects music for Episode IV—A New Hope, the IMDB news site reported.
The left and right channels fed to the rear speakers in surround sound are reversed, John Takis, who frequently analyzes film scores for Internet groups, said in postings on the John Williams Fan Network Web site, the IMDB reported.
Takis reportedly found that violins can be heard coming from the right surround-sound speakers and the cellos from the left. "It is essentially a 124-minute audio glitch," Takis wrote on the John Williams fan site. "The sound effects are correctly positioned in the surround channels. It's just the music that's backwards." Takis also takes issue with other aspects of the sound mix for the original movie. "Remember the awesome fanfare version of the Force theme that kicks off the Death Star battle?" he wrote. "Good luck hearing it this time around. It's virtually inaudible."
Super-sized Clone Wars Due
enndy Tartakovsky, producer of the animated Clone Wars series for Cartoon Network, revealed that upcoming episodes of the series will feature longer segments and tie in to the upcoming theatrical feature Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
"We're doing 12-minute episodes this time, as opposed to the three-minute episodes last time," Tartakovsky said. "It really allows us to open up both character development and action."
Tartakovsky added that the five new chapters will relate to information that appears in the traditional opening scroll crawl in Episode III. The shorts will also feature a new character, General Grievous, who will "be the new villain in Episode III." Cartoon Network begins airing the new episodes on March 21, 2005.
Extended King DVD Announced
he extended-edition DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King debuts on Dec. 14, with 50 minutes of footage added, Variety reported.
The 4-hour, 10-minute extended-edition DVD will cost $39.99; a collector's gift set, which includes a fifth DVD with a 52-minute program about the music in the franchise, will cost $79.92, the trade paper reported.
As with the extended editions of the previous two Rings films, the expanded King will include new score music written by Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore, as well as 300 new special-effects shots, the trade paper reported.
The four-disc extended edition also includes multiple audio commentaries by director Peter Jackson and more than 30 members of the cast and crew, as well as hours of programs on the making of the movie and other bonus features, the trade paper reported.
Lost Finds Ratings
fter two airings, the new castaway drama from Alias creator J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof has become one of the highest-rated new shows of the fall television season, the Reuters news service reported.
In its second week, the show about plane-crash survivors marooned on a mysterious tropical island drew 17 million viewers, easily dominating its 8 o'clock hour and ranking as the most watched show all night after CSI: NY, the news service reported. It was number one among teens and men aged 18-49.
The second airing of Lost retained 91 percent of the 18.7 million viewers who tuned in to the show's premiere last week and 96 percent of its debut 18-49 audience, the news service reported. Last week's Lost premiere was the first ABC drama to enter the Nielsen top 10 in 18-49 ratings since The Practice in 2001. Lost airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
BloodRayne 2 Goes Gold
ajesco announced that the video-game sequel BloodRayne 2 has gone gold and is on schedule for release Oct. 12.
In a press release, the company said the game's release will be supported by a joint promotional campaign with cable network MTV, which will host a launch event at the House of Blues in Los Angeles Oct. 21.
The new action-horror game features the return of half-vampire warrior BloodRayne in her most personal battle yet. It will be available on the Xbox, PlayStation2 and PC platforms. A trailer video and game play footage are available at the game's official Web site, BloodRayne2.com.
Roswell Fans Push For Film
ans of the television series Roswell have organized a month-long mailing campaign to gain support for a theatrical version of the teen-alien show which ran for three years on the WB before being canceled in 2002.
Sponsored by the Web site RoswellMovie.net, the effort involves a 30-day blitz in which fans are encouraged to mail out customized postcards, movie tickets and merchandise every day for a month beginning Oct. 1.
Similar campaigns involving the mailing of postcards and bottles of Tabasco sauce—a popular condiment with the aliens on the show—to key network executives is credited with saving Roswell from cancellation in its first and second years. Jodi Moore, one of the organizers of the recent campaign, said in a statement that the goal is to raise awareness among studio executives of the fans' continuing devotion. "The key message is letting those in charge—Fox, the Roswell creators—know that our passion and dedication to the show are still very much alive," Moore said. "They already know that a fan-driven push for a movie is in place, but it is up to us, the fans, to show them how much we want the story to continue, and how much we are willing to work to get it."
New Shatner Film A Hoax
illiam Shatner recently spent time in Riverside, Iowa, filming what residents believed to be a low-budget SF film titled Invasion Iowa, but was, in fact, a new reality show for Spike TV, the Associated Press reported.
"Everything in front of and behind the cameras was faked," Shatner said. "The only thing that was real is the love we have for Riverside."
Shatner has a connection to the city through his role as Capt. Kirk in the Star Trek television series and films. Riverside, which proudly touts itself as the "future birthplace" of Kirk, hosts an annual TrekFest convention celebrating the franchise. Shatner showed several scenes of the fictional movie he'd shot in the town for a crowd of 800 before revealing that it was all an elaborate hoax for a future reality series. To soften the blow, the actor announced that he and his co-producers were donating $100,000 to the city to be used for community projects and collected $12,000 for the Riverside Elementary School Book Fund, the wire service reported.
Mike Hanson, a local who had been hired as an extra in the fictional film, said he and his fellow actors had been suspicious about the project. "It was too cheesy to be real," he said after Shatner's announcement. "If it was really a movie, we'd be more scared of how bad it was." The reality series is set to debut on Spike TV next year.
Doug E. Dug Shark Tale
oug E. Doug told SCI FI Wire that several reasons factored into his decision to provide the voice of Bernie, a Rastafarian jellyfish, in the upcoming animated feature Shark Tale.
"My daughter is two right now, and she's about to turn three," Doug said in an interview. "So that was one part of why I wanted to do it. She's going crazy right now about it. Another part of it was the concept, Ziggy Marley and me playing Rastafarian jellyfish. And I wanted to work with Ziggy [who provides the voice of Bernie's pal, Ernie]."
The wise-cracking Bernie and Ernie are two of the many characters encountered by the film's protagonist, Oscar (Will Smith). Oscar is an ambitious fish who seeks to improve his lot in life, and who gets his chance when he becomes a shark-slaying hero in his hometown, the Reef. In addition to Doug, Marley and Smith, others lending their vocal talents to Shark Tale include Robert De Niro, Renee Zellweger, Jack Black, Martin Scorsese and Angelina Jolie.
Doug added that the film is also visually appealing. "I think the film is a technological marvel," he said. "The way they did the jellyfish, they're more like a vibration than an actual form. I think we look great, and I think the film is really a masterpiece. Watching myself, it was hard to think of that as me. I was really just enjoying the movie. I've seen it three times. The first time I was laughing at the jokes. The second time I really used the opportunity to look at the artwork and the details. And the last time I just followed the plot. It worked for me all three times." Shark Tale swam into theaters on Oct. 1.
Doug Improvised For Shark
oug E. Doug, who stars in the upcoming animated comedy feature Shark Tale, told SCI FI Wire that he and Ziggy Marley were urged to improvise while recording their dialogue as the ever-joking Rastafarian jellyfish Bernie and Ernie.
"We were completely spontaneous," Doug said in an interview. "The directors [Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron and Rob Letterman] and the producers were really encouraging of us to just interpret the script as we chose, particularly because Ziggy had a lot of concern about the Jamaican accents sounding authentic. So we were sort of hired to supply that and to flesh it all out."
Doug added that, for the most part, he and Marley stood side by side while delivering their lines. "Ziggy and I were together in the booth pretty much the whole time," Doug said. "One or two sessions I was by myself, but most of the time we did it together. It was really, really natural between us. We had a very easy rapport, and we were able to express ourselves the way we wanted to, and that was good for the comedy. We both let ourselves be silly, and that comes across." Shark Tale opened Oct. 1.
Grudge A Match For Strickland
aDee Strickland, who co-stars with Sarah Michelle Gellar in the upcoming horror movie The Grudge, told SCI FI Wire that she was a fan of Ju-On, the Japanese film on which the remake is based, but was initially concerned that she might be branded a "scream queen" for playing in two horror movies in a row.
Strickland signed on to The Grudge after completing Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid. "I saw Ju-On before auditioning," Strickland said in an interview at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. "Japan has always been a place where I wanted to be, and the idea to go there to make a movie there was very exciting. But after Anacondas, you do have to think, 'How is this going to be different?'"
Strickland said that she was ultimately won over when she saw footage of The Grudge during production. "This is a very similar genre," Strickland said. "[I said,] 'Can I make this interesting for myself and my audience so that they don't think, 'There's KaDee crying and screaming again'? I had to look at that. But when I saw the movie, I was blown away."
Ju-On director Takashi Shimizu also directed the American remake, which shares the original's Tokyo setting. Strickland plays Susan Williams, one of the intended inhabitants of a house haunted by an evil spirit. Strickland said that unlike her experience on Anacondas, she did not have to deal with any elaborate visual effects during her scenes. "On Anacondas, it was pretty much all effects, but I was alone for a lot of this movie," she said. "That's your safety raft, because your partner isn't there to bounce back and give you behavior, so you have to create that. You have to really cycle out with your imagination."
Strickland said she borrowed from a performance by Jane Fonda to lend Susan the sense of isolation the film required. "I watched Klute, because I think Jane Fonda does one of the most brilliant jobs of really making you believe someone is there in a way that still creeps me out," Strickland said. "Because you know someone is there. That was pretty cool for me." The Grudge opens in theaters Oct. 22.
Strickland Takes On Grudge
aDee Strickland, who co-stars with Sarah Michelle Gellar in the upcoming horror film The Grudge, told SCI FI Wire that she enjoyed working with Japanese writer-director Takashi Shimizu, even though she didn't always understand what he said.
"There was a language barrier, but eventually you really understood [what he was trying to say]," Strickland said in an interview at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. "He's specific down to the way you breathe. He knows what he's trying to create, which was beautiful. At times it kind of felt like a dance."
The Grudge is a remake of Shimizu's own 2003 Japanese film Ju-on, about a murderous ghost that feeds off of rage, and features a cast of expatriate Americans in Tokyo. Strickland, who plays Susan Williams, said that Shimizu directed her to pay closer attention to behavior than to dialogue. "It's movement," she said. "It's breath. It's not about talking and really going through [the feelings], which I loved. I thought it was a fantastic experience, and very challenging. To be crude about it, if you have a room full of people that don't understand your language, their bulls--t meter is going to be much greater. You have to really do your job, and that's what was exciting to me. I really, really wanted to be as clear as I could about the performance, and that's a great way to do it."
Strickland, who recently starred in Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, said that she relied on training she received when she began acting five years ago to attune herself to her character's behavior. "I had a fantastic acting teacher in New York, and she encouraged me to watch movies with the sound off," Strickland said. "If you can understand what the actors are doing without the sound, then that's really creating the character's behavior. This was a way in which my skills could either come up or get squashed, and I wanted to do it better.” The Grudge opens nationwide Oct. 22.
Ledford In The Pink
randy Ledford, who recently joined the cast of SCI FI Channel's original series Andromeda, told SCI FI Wire that she was shocked to hear about the debate among fans prompted by her character's hot pink costume.
Ledford will make her first appearance in the fifth season's third episode, "Phear Phactor Phenom," which airs Oct. 8. "I wish I would have known it would be so controversial," Ledford said in an interview. "I would have put more pink on."
Ledford plays an android built by the ship's irascible engineer, Seamus Harper (Gordon Michael Woolvett). "[Executive producer] Bob Engels had an idea that, 'Wouldn't that be exactly what Harper would do?'" Ledford said. "And, yeah, it seems like that's something someone in Harper's situation would do, just make the perfect female type. And that's what he does. But then I come into my own and become more a part of the whole team. So I can't be steeped in hot pink. For me as an actress, it's not believable. I want people to see me blending in. But in the beginning I think it works really well. Later, I'll have at least three outfits, and my latest outfit, that you'll start to see in episode nine, is kick-ass. It's really great. So you'll see the pink in three or four episodes, but then there are earth tones all throughout the rest of the show." Andromeda airs Fridays at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Ledford Joins Andromeda Cast
randy Ledford told SCI FI Wire that she'll make her Andromeda debut as the powerful and sexy android Doyle in the episode "Phear Phactor Phenom," which will air Oct. 8 on the SCI FI Channel.
"That's the third episode of the [fifth] season," Ledford said in an interview. "Harper [Gordon Michael Woolvett] is reintroduced. The first two episodes were sort of a mystery, and the third one is where we start to see a couple of the old crew from the last season."
Ledford, whose previous credits include roles on the SCI FI Channel original series The Invisible Man and Stargate SG-1, added, "So Dylan [Kevin Sorbo] and Rhade [Steven Bacic] are exploring this new planet that they happen to be on, and they run into Harper, and they meet me. I'm not very distinguishable in the first episode, because Dylan has a lot going on. But I help out. I think that the whole feel of the new season is for everyone to try to become a crew again. And I'm going to be integrated into that, but slowly. It's not like I'm going to get thrown into anyone's face." Andromeda airs Fridays at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Reynolds Hairy For Horror
yan Reynolds, who stars as possessed stepfather George Lutz in the upcoming haunted-house remake The Amityville Horror, told SCI FI Wire that the beard he sports for the role was not inspired by James Brolin's look in the original 1979 film.
"Nothing to do with Brolin or anything else," Reynolds said in an interview on the set. "Just the era, the period, it just felt right. So we kept it."
The actor also wears a beard in the upcoming vampire action sequel Blade III: Trinity, a choice which factored into the look of his Amityville Horror character. "Now I'm a bearded actor," Reynolds said. "I had to do some reshoots for Blade. We picked up a couple of quick shots, so they put me back in a gym and on a facial-hair growth routine. So by the time I reported for duty here, I basically had a beard. And I just thought, 'Well, let's do it.'"
Reynolds said that he purposefully did not rewatch the original film before coming to work on the remake, but it wasn't because he was daunted by the idea of reprising the role originally played by Brolin. "Filling the shoes of James Brolin isn't something I woke up in the morning and thought, 'Wow, that's going to be a daunting task,'" Reynolds said. "I think he's a fantastic actor, but his impression of George Lutz in that movie didn't leave a lasting impression on me, through no fault of his own. Just simply because I don't think the movie left a huge impression on me. The book did. The story did. I think the story is really beautiful and really terrifying. So I think he big shoes to fill were accurately telling the story." The Amityville Horror opens in theaters April 15, 2005.
X3 Writer Hired
imon Kinberg has signed on to write the script for the third film in the X-Men franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Kinberg comes to the project with experience in the genre, having done rewrites for the comic-book adaptations Elektra and Fantastic Four for Marvel Productions and 20th Century Fox.
The story is still being worked out, but Kinberg said he was a fan of the comic-book series and the films it inspired. "I'm a religious reader of the comics, and I loved the first two movies," Kinberg said. "I had a great experience with Fox and Marvel on the other projects, and when they came to me and asked me if I had any interest in X3, I was ecstatic. I grew up on them, and I love these comics, and it's exciting to take a whack at making the third the biggest and best in the trilogy; it's our Return of the King."
Producers are meeting with directors to replace Bryan Singer, who helmed the first X-Men movies. Deals have yet to be worked out for the actors to return, but they are all expected to reprise their roles, the trade paper reported. Production is expected to begin in the summer of 2005.
Hart Takes On Samurai Girl
elissa Joan Hart has signed a deal with manga publisher TOKYOPOP to produce and star in a film based on the Japanese comic book and anime Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School, the company announced.
Dan Gordon (The Hurricane) will write the screenplay, which he describes as Clueless meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The story centers around a twenty-something sushi-bar hostess who discovers she is a reincarnated Samurai warrior and mankind's only hope to save the world from a coven of monsters which hatch every 5,000 years, the company said.
Hart's production company, Hartbreak Films, had been looking for a project with a strong, dynamic female lead when Gordon brought them the script. "Dan took a few weeks reading the material and then delivered a story that had us sitting on the edges of our seats," said executive producer Paula Hart. "It is smart, funny and terribly exciting." TOKYOPOP and Hartbreak Films are now in conversations with potential studio partners for the project.
Amityville Spooked George
elissa George, who stars in the upcoming remake The Amityville Horror, told SCI FI Wire that she didn't have much trouble getting into character when the story called for her to be scared.
"I've been creeped out a lot," George said in an interview on the set. "It was just great to use it in the character. ... And just the thought of her husband literally going crazy at this point and what is going on, I really kind of get into that role to the point where I get quite freaked out. And by the time they call out, 'Action,' I'm ready to deliver."
The Australian actress is best known in the U.S. for her role as Lauren Reed, the duplicitous wife of CIA agent Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan), on the spy drama Alias. In the film, George plays Kathy Lutz, a recently remarried mother of three who moves into a haunted house with her family and begins noticing disturbing changes in her husband, played by Ryan Reynolds.
George admitted she has always been easily scared by horror films, but starring in one is helping her to get over her fears. "They really get me," she said. "Now I'm realizing the whole technique of a horror film. Like, sound is really important and the quiet before the scare is really important. So now I'm getting used to it."
Still, George said she intends to screen the finished film on her own ahead of time, to make sure she isn't too jumpy when she sees it with an audience. "I said to the producers, 'You'd better show me this film before the premiere, because I can't be in the audience of my own film shedding my skin,'" George said. "That's kind of wrong. So I said, 'You'd better prepare me for that.'" The Amityville Horror opens in theaters April 15, 2005.
Atari Unleashes Godzilla.com
tari has launched Godzilla.com, the official Web site for Godzilla: Save the Earth, the upcoming online-enabled monster-on-monster fighting game for Xbox and PlayStation2, the company announced.
The Web site, designed and created by Trademark 5150, contains game-related information, screenshots and movies from the upcoming title, and also serves as the hub for the worldwide Godzilla fan base.
Godzilla.com will also feature original footage, a new 90-second official trailer and an online store where fans can preorder the game. The site will serve as a central hub of information for all worldwide Godzilla merchandise and products from a variety of licensees, including Toho Co., Bandai and Columbia Tri-Star. Godzilla: Save the Earth ships to retail stores Nov. 2.
MGM Suspends 007
GM, which is in the process of being purchased by Sony, has put the development of a new installment of its most important franchise on hold, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio said it decided to delay the 21st Bond movie, originally scheduled for release Nov. 21, 2005, because it has not yet found a director.
The sale of the studio affected the project because executives were unable to do any development during the five months of negotiations, the trade paper reported. There has also been speculation that former Bond star Pierce Brosnan will not return as 007, though MGM did not confirm the rumor. To make its November release date, the project would have to begin filming in January or February of next year, but without a director or star in place, the franchise remains in limbo.
Columbus Gets Slanted
hris Columbus has signed on to develop and direct the fantasy film Slanted and Enchanted for Warner Brothers, Variety reported.
The story, which centers around a pathological liar who returns home to deal with a family illness, is said to have some magical elements similar to the ones Columbus explored in directorial outings Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the trade paper reported.
The script was written by Ben Queen, who previously worked as a television writer and producer on the short-lived futuristic law drama Century City. Queen is currently writing the musical Moxie for Dreamworks and a new television pilot. Slanted and Enchanted will begin production sometime late next year, after Columbus completes work on the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Rent.
ABC To Deliver Baby
BC is developing a four-hour miniseries based on Ira Levin's classic horror novel Rosemary's Baby, Variety reported.
The network recently acquired the television rights to the book—which inspired the 1968 Roman Polanski-directed film starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes—as well as its sequel, Son of Rosemary, the trade paper reported.
Executive producer Barbara Lieberman said that most of the miniseries will be a fairly faithful retelling of the first book, which centers around a young woman who becomes pregnant with Satan's child. The miniseries will also likely pick up the story in the second book as well, when Rosemary's son becomes a teenager. "This is the seminal psychological horror film of all time, and I think it will make a huge television event," Lieberman said. "The title is familiar to younger audiences, but they haven't necessarily seen [it]." ABC plans to air the miniseries in 2005.
Roberts Considering Switch
espite announcing plans to take a leave of absence to concentrate on motherhood, Julia Roberts is in talks to star in the fantasy film Seven-Year Switch, E! Online reported.
Roberts, who is currently pregnant with twins, would play a woman who reaches the seventh year of her relationship and is granted the chance to see what life would have been like had she done things a little differently, the Web site reported.
The film would reunite Roberts with director Mike Nichols, who directed the actress in the upcoming drama Closer. Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher (Bewitched) are producing. The film's start date has not been set, and could be determined by Roberts' schedule, the Web site reported.
U.K. Fantasy Winners Named
rganizers announced the winners of the 2004 British Fantasy Awards, given by the British Fantasy Society, the Locus Online Web site reported.
The awards were presented Sept. 26 at the British Fantasy Convention (FantasyCon) in Walsall, England. A full list of winners follows.
Best Novel (August Derleth Award)
• Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler
Best Short Fiction
• "American Waitress" by Christopher Fowler
Best Anthology
• The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume 14, Stephen Jones, ed.
Best Collection
• Told by the Dead by Ramsey Campbell
Best Artist
• Les Edwards
Best Small Press
• PS Publishing
Karl Edward Wagner Award (Special Award)
• Peter Jackson
UFO Expert Perishes In Crash
arvard professor John E. Mack, M.D., Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Abduction and Passport to the Cosmos, was killed Sept. 27 when he was struck by an automobile in England, sources told SCI FI Wire.
Mack worked with SCI FI Channel on the miniseries Taken and participated in the network-sponsored UFO Abduction Symposium in New York in 2002.
A controversial figure in the field of UFO studies, Mack stunned the world when he published the results of his extensive research involving clients who claimed they had experienced extraterrestrial encounters. He was also a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and founding director of the Program for Extraordinary Experience Research (PEER). Mack's earlier books include A Prince of Our Disorder, a biography of T.E. Lawrence which earned the author a Pulitzer Prize.
Suzuki Adrift With Dimension
imension Films has optioned film rights to Japanese author Koji Suzuki's short story "Adrift" from Kadokawa Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Suzuki wrote the novel on which the hit Japanese horror film Ringu was based. The film spawned several sequels as well as the American remake The Ring, which grossed $250 million worldwide.
"Adrift," which was in the library of Kadokawa Pictures, is the story of a crew of fishermen who come across an abandoned yacht only to discover that it is haunted, the trade paper reported. The studio is in negotiations with Ring producers Neal Edelstein and Mike Macari of Macari/Edelstein Films. Kadokawa's Jennie Lew Tugend and Lauren C. Weissman will also produce.
Midway Ships New Hearts
idway Games announced that Shadow Hearts: Covenant, sequel to the Shadow Hearts role-playing game originally released in 2001, has shipped to retail outlets nationwide exclusively for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant is an RPG set in a fantastical world filled with ancient magic, mystical lore, unspeakable curses and a diabolical plot, the company said in a press release.
The game takes place during World War I, six months after the original Shadow Hearts ended. The main characters, Yuri and Karin, must face a secret society led by Rasputin that seeks to take advantage of the war. The two-disc set includes 40 hours of gameplay and an improved Judgment Ring combat system. The game also features a new magic system where players must build skill sets, strategize gameplay moves, and cast spells with a team of complex characters, each with distinct personalities, attributes and magical abilities, the company said.
Lovecraft Films Honored
urker Films announced that it hosted the 11th annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival at the Hollywood Theater in Portland, Ore., Oct. 1-3.
Lurker Films (formerly Beyond Books) was founded in 1995 by Andrew Migliore to promote films and television shows directly or indirectly inspired by Lovecraft's work.
The festival—a celebration of cinema based on, inspired by, or otherwise loosely affiliated with seminal Gothic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft—will host hundreds of attendees from the U.S. and Canada, the company said in a press release. Five full-length films will be screened: The Resurrected, Dead & Buried, The Crimson Cult, The Last Wave and Quatermass 2. The festival will also feature short films, musical guests, vendors and prize drawings.
Highlander Games Due
Ci Entertainment and Davis Panzer Productions announced they have joined forces to develop the game rights to the Highlander franchise, according to a press release on the SCi Entertainment Web site.
The Highlander series began with the 1986 film starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery as immortal beings fighting to be the last of their kind. The film spawned three sequel films, a long-running television series, several novels and a trading card game.
"There are so many great opportunities with such a rich license as the Highlander franchise," said SCi creative director Patrick O'Luanaigh. "We will be working closely with Peter Davis and Bill Panzer to develop the Highlander universe further. The concept is ideal for a game."
Davis and Panzer noted that they are excited to be working with SCi Entertainment on a video game to coincide with celebration of the 20th anniversary of the franchise in 2006.
Blade CD To Include Short
DVD featuring a new animated short based on the upcoming vampire sequel Blade: Trinity will be packaged with the film's soundtrack, according to the AllHipHop.com Web site.
The three-minute short will feature an animated version of hip-hop artist The RZA, who also scored the film, the Web site reported.
The RZA will fight gold-fanged vampires in a sequence conceptualized by ImajiMation Studios (Blokhedz). The soundtrack will be available in stores Nov. 23rd. Blade: Trinity opens in theaters Dec. 10th.
Darabont Talks M:I3
rank Darabont told SCI FI Wire that he is no longer involved with writing Mission: Impossible 3, but that he enjoyed collaborating with producer-star Tom Cruise.
"I came in and wrote three drafts of the script for Tom," Darabont said in an interview. "On the last draft he and I were working, actually, very closely."
Darabont's involvement ended when original M:I3 director Joe Carnahan left the project over creative differences with Paramount Pictures. Alias creator J.J. Abrams subsequently signed on to direct MI:3. Darabont said that it remains to be seen how much, if any, of his screenplay will be used by Abrams, who has brought on his own team of writers to revise the draft. "Gosh, I hope [they use it]," Darabont said. "I'd hate to think all that effort went to waste. But you never really do know until you're at the premiere."
Darabont said he worked closely with Cruise on his draft. "I had moved my computer and everything over to his place," he said. "I had a room above his garage. I'd work through a set of pages and then literally yell out the window, 'Hey, Cruise, where are you? Come on up!' We'd read through the pages, and I'd get instantaneous feedback on what I was doing. I have to say, Tom is one of the most creative and scary-smart dudes I have ever met and a total ball. That was probably the most fun I've ever had writing."
Carrey Unveils Eternal DVD
im Carrey told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming DVD of his SF movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind will feature deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage of the movie's production, including a fight between himself and director Michel Gondry.
In the end, creative differences were worked out, Carrey said in an interview at the DVD release party. "He's always looking for ways to be original, and I love that," Carrey said. "That's exactly where I want to be and what I want to be doing all the time."
The DVD also includes deleted scenes that didn't make it into the theatrical release, Carrey said. "Not everything you shoot adds to what you're trying to create in the final cut," he said. "The director has to make decisions about what's best for the movie."
Carrey said that he immediately responded to the script for the film and was surprised by how much he was able to add to writer Charlie Kaufman's original ideas. "A Charlie Kaufman script is as close to perfect as you'll ever see, but somehow there's still room in there to add your own stuff and make it work," Carrey said. Carrey, who will also soon be seen in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, added that the DVD will expose the movie to a new audience. "The DVD is a chance for someone in a tiny town that might not have a lot of theaters to see all these other films," Carrey said. The DVD of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind hits stores on Sept. 28.
Platinum Develops SF&F Games
latinum Studios announced that it and Icarus Studios will develop massively multiplayer online games based on Platinum's library of comic characters, to be designed for PCs, wireless and next-generation gaming consoles.
The deal, which was finalized via FOG Studios, Platinum's representative for interactive rights, enables Platinum and Icarus to co-produce games and associated graphic novels and feature-film screenplays.
The first of the properties to be developed are Blood Nation and Atlantis Rising. The theatrical version of Atlantis Rising is being produced by Platinum and Gale Anne Hurd's Valhalla Motion Pictures (Aeon Flux), with Hurd and Platinum principal Scott Mitchell Rosenberg producing.
Atlantis Rising centers on a conflict between the underwater kingdom and the surface world. Blood Nation deals with a team of commandos who infiltrate a nation populated entirely by vampires.
Briefly Noted
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Wizard magazine will host a special midnight screening of the upcoming horror film The Grudge in New York Oct. 19 with special appearances by stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr. Fans can win passes by visiting Fearsmag.com.
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Russia has chosen Timur Bekmambetov's fantasy thriller Nochnoj Dozor (The Night Watch) as its entry in the foreign film category for the 77th Annual Academy Awards, Variety reported.
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The world-premiere trailer of the upcoming animated feature Robots is now available at the Yahoo! Movies Web site. The film, due in March 2005, features the voices of Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, Greg Kinnear and Drew Carey.
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Production has resumed on the SF film Aeon Flux, Variety reported. The production shut down Aug. 21, after star Charlize Theron suffered an injury on the set in Berlin.
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Neil Gaiman, who co-wrote the upcoming fantasy film MirrorMask, has posted new images from the film on his blog.
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Dave Kajganich, who is currently writing the scripts for the horror remakes Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Changeling, has signed on to write the screenplay for a new film adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary, Variety reported.
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Paramount has bought the rights to the SF comedy script Starship Dave, about a seemingly ordinary guy who is actually a spaceship inhabited and operated by tiny aliens, Variety reported. The film, written by Rob Greenberg and Bill Corbett, will be produced by Jon Berg and Todd Komarnicki (Elf) and David Friendly and Marc Turtletaub (The Honeymooners).
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VUGames announced that it will unveil the PC version of the video game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay at the Cyber Games Championship Expo, which runs Oct. 7-10 in San Francisco.
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The Hollywood North Report Web site has posted images from the set of Fantastic Four, including the first glimpses of the film's villain, Victor Von Doom.
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Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg told the UGO Web site that he has been sent the script for the film adaptation of Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel The Watchmen, and that he would love to play the character Rorschach.
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Circle of Confusion and Five Windows Productions are developing a live-action remake of the French animated SF movie Fantastic Planet, Variety reported.
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The O.C. star Mischa Barton has signed on to topline Hexxx, a voodoo-themed supernatural horror movie, for Sony's MGM Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Marc Toberoff's Intellectual Properties Worldwide has acquired movie rights to the long-running comic book Groo the Wanderer, created by Sergio Aragones with Mark Evanier, Variety reported.
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SCI FI Channel will air every episode of Farscape, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET/PT Oct. 1-15, in advance of its upcoming four-hour original miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, which premieres at 9 p.m. Oct. 17.
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