Whedon: Buffy Lives In Comics
oss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, told fans on the Whedonesque.com fan Web site that he will be continuing the story of the Slayer in a series of Dark Horse comics, which he will write. "Speaking of Dark Horse Comics, they are starting a new Buffy comic, and as I understand it, it will take place after the end of Buffy and Angel and be canon in the Buffy world. And I understand it that way 'cause I'M WRITING IT. I'm kicking off the book with a four-issue arc that finds Buffy—you guessed it—living in Italy with The Immortal. ...Then I'll be overseeing the book more closely, to make sure it remains true."
Whedon also said that he's still working on a TV movie featuring the character of Spike (played by James Marsters). "The infamous Spike movie. Still haven't finalized anything, but I feel that very soon I'll be able to go to James and say something a lot more interesting than 'Wouldn't it be cool if ... .' 'Course, I just hope he's free some time this decade. See how my peeps is all actifying!" Marsters currently has a recurring role in The WB's Smallville.
Whedon, an avowed fan of comics, is no stranger to that world, having authored the Buffy-related Fray series for Dark Horse and the Astonishing X-Men series for Marvel.
Fox OKs Terminator Pilot
ox has committed to a pilot for a Terminator-themed TV show tentatively titled The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Variety reported. Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar's C2 Pictures, which produced Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, has struck a deal wiith Warner Brothers Television and writer Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds) for the series, which will focus on Sarah Connor and her savior son, John Connor, the trade paper reported.
Fox declined to comment to the trade paper about the project, which attracted serious interest from several networks.
Friedman is aboard to write the pilot and serve as executive producer-show runner of the series, which would take place in the fictional time frame between the second and third Terminator movies. Vajna and Kassar will serve as executive producers, with C2 senior vice president of development James Middleton also producing.
Meanwhile, Vajna confirmed to Variety that C2 is in "the final phases of development" of a fourth Terminator movie, and the series will have a link to what's being envisioned as a new feature trilogy.
Linda Hamilton, who played Sarah Connor in the first two Terminator movies, is not expected to be involved in the show. And because the series will be focused on the Connor family, it's not anticipated that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played the title character in the films, would be a regular part of the series either.
Middleton said the series will explore what happened to Sarah Connor after the end of T2, when the character went on the run.
Hellboy Toons Develop
DT Entertainment has licensed the animation rights to Hellboy from Revolution Studios and is starting production on a direct-to-DVD feature film and series, Variety reported.
IDT, a telecom giant that has moved into digital animation in recent years mainly via acquisitions, is in talks with a cable network to debut the series in late 2006 or early 2007. The animated movie, which will be distributed on DVD by IDT-owned Anchor Bay, will likely see release in 2007, the trade paper reported. Both projects will be animated in a traditional 2-D style, not computer animation.
Talent from the 2004 hit Hellboy movie, including Ron Perlman and Selma Blair, will do voice work for the animated feature and series. Film helmer Guillermo del Toro and comic-book creator Mike Mignola will consult as creative producers.
The projects are being produced in Los Angeles by the animation house Film Roman, which IDT bought in 2003. Disney Animation veteran Tad Stones will be supervising director.
Revolution is also developing a live-action Hellboy sequel film, and IDT will likely attempt to tie some of its properties into the unscheduled release to take advantage of the marketing push.
Leung Identifies With Potter
atie Leung, who plays Cho Chang in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, told SCI FI Wire that she plays the boy wizard's first crush, but feels like she has more in common with Harry himself. "I can identify with Harry in a way, because I've really come out of my shell through working on this film," the Scottish actress said in a news conference in London. "I've had such an enjoyable experience. Before all this happened I was like a typical schoolgirl and really, really shy at school, and being in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has brought out so much confidence in me. I'm more outspoken, more outgoing, and that has been the greatest achievement for me."
In the fourth movie based on J.K. Rowling's best-selling books, Leung plays Cho, who bewitches a shy Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe). Potter faces dragons and other daunting tasks during the course of the movie, but with Cho faced one of his greatest challenges ever: plucking up enough courage to ask the girl of his dreams to Hogwart's Yule Ball.
Leung is not the only newcomer in the film series. Stanislav Ianevski makes his first appearance, playing Viktor Krum, one of Harry's rivals for the Triwizard Cup. "For me particularly, being in this movie is a very big thing," Ianevski said. "I'm from Bulgaria, which is not a very big country, and it's not very well known around the world. Harry Potter means a lot to the country, and because of this role, I've been praised as a little hero over there."
Ianevski added: "I thought I would feel like a new schoolboy in a new school entering the Harry Potter world. But we [the newcomers] were extremely warmly welcomed, and we got to know each other really soon. We went into the really difficult maze scene right at the beginning of shooting; then [the movie] became part of my life straightaway, and I've really enjoyed the experience." Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opens Nov. 18.
Potter IV Game Materializes
lectronic Arts and Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment announced the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a video game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS, GameBoy Advance and PC, based on the upcoming movie of the same name and J.K. Rowling's best-selling book. The Goblet of Fire game allows players to experience moments from the movie and master magic in cooperative play with up to two other players.
In the Goblet of Fire game, Harry is mysteriously selected as the fourth competitor in the dangerous Triwizard Tournament and must confront a fire-breathing dragon, rescue friends from the icy depths of the Black Lake and navigate the twisting mysteries of a vast, enchanted maze. Players will experience other adventures of the movie, from the Quidditch World Cup campsite to the ultimate duel with Lord Voldemort himself.
Ralph Fiennes, who plays Lord Voldemort in the movie, lends his voice and likeness to the game as well.
The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire video game was developed at EA's UK studio and carries a suggested retail price of $24.99 to $39.99.
The Goblet of Fire movie hits theaters on Nov. 18.
Star Wars Game, DVD Earn Big
he DVD of Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith and the related Star Wars Battlefront II video game combined took in about $210 million in their first week of release, Lucasfilm and Fox reported to Variety.
The companies did not break out sales of the DVD and video game separately. They also didn't break out sales for North America and other territories where the titles were simultaneously released last week, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Latin America, the trade paper reported.
Lucasfilm said sales were nearly double expectations in some territories, and Battlefront II is on pace to surpass last year's Battlefront to become the biggest video game in the Star Wars franchise.
Lee Talks X-Men 3 Cameo
omic-book creator and producer Stan Lee told SCI FI Wire he has finished shooting a cameo role in Brett Ratner's upcoming third X-Men film—and it involves him saying a word that can't be printed on a family Web site. Lee, who credits himself as the co-creator of several Marvel Comics superheroes, has made cameo appearances in many of the movies made from those creations, including Spider-Man and Fantastic Four.
In X3, Lee said, "It's not one of my biggest roles, I'm a little embarrassed to say. I'm a guy in the suburbs watering the lawn with a hose, and the water, as you can imagine, is coming out of the hose and going down on the lawn. Then one that has power to move things mentally"—Jean Grey, played by Famke Janssen—"she's driving, and she gestures at my house, and all of sudden the water goes up instead of down. And remember Sunset Boulevard, where Gloria Swanson says, 'I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille'? Well, it's supposed to be a big closeup of my face. And I say, 'What the f--k?' And every time I say it, [director] Brett Ratner said, 'Make it lower, Stan.' And at the end, I whisper it. So I don't know if it will come out at all."
Having Lee's profanity too audible could jeopardize the sequel's rating, so it's unclear whether audiences will be able to hear him in the final cut. Indeed, Lee said, "what really bothers me is if the movie is three seconds too long, I'm not sure that it will make the cut. Even if they don't hear me, my lips are definitely saying it. But that's what Brett Ratner told me to say. I just do these cameos, and I'm a slave to what they tell me to do."
The third installment in the X-Men franchise is scheduled for a May 26, 2006, release.
Galactica Offered On Demand
BC Universal struck a deal with DirecTV to allow viewers to pay to watch and download reruns of its shows hours after they air, including SCI FI Channel's Battlestar Galactica.
NBC will charge 99 cents per episode to access such series as Surface. The news coincides with a similar announcement from CBS and Comcast and follows a widely reported deal between ABC and Apple's iPod.
NBC's deal with DirecTV, which will offer the programs free of commercials, will cover not only NBC shows such as the Law & Order series, but also a few shows on its cable networks, including USA Network. The NBC-DirecTV programming will be available only to subscribers who purchase the new DirecTV Plus Interactive DVR, which will begin rolling out in stores and online during the next few months. NBC Universal owns SCIFI.COM.
Sky High DVD Exposes Stunts
ichael Angarano, one of the stars of the superhero fantasy film Sky High, told SCI FI Wire that the movie's upcoming DVD release will allow viewers to see that he didn't quite accomplish his biggest stunt: crashing into a wall. "I never quite nailed it," Angarano said with a laugh. "It was the most depressing part of reliving the experience of the film when they sent me the DVD and all the extras. I looked like such a girl trying to do that stunt."
The DVD includes a featurette titled "Breaking Down the Walls: The Stunts of Sky High," which offers an often funny look behind the scenes. Angarano plays a guy who's trying to enhance his super powers at a high school of teen superheroes. "If you look real close—if you pause it in the right place—you can see me trip," Angarano said. "My toe would hit the part that wasn't Styrofoam. They told me that I would have a lot of practice and be able to do it a bunch of times. But then when it came to doing it, they only had two walls, and one of them was for the take."
Angarano admitted that he had very little experience with special effects, computer graphics or stunt work. "If I were supposed to be looking like I'm throwing someone 50 feet in the air, I would have to be actually throwing someone who's on a wire, and look like I'm doing it," he said. "And if I was supposed to be flying, I would be the one who is 50 feet up in the air."
The DVD is being released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment on Nov. 29 and also contains bloopers, an alternate opening and other featurettes with co-stars Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Steven Strait, Bruce Campbell, Kevin McDonald, Cloris Leachman, Dave Foley, Lynda Carter and Danielle Panabaker.
Boll To Go Postal
ilmmaker Uwe Boll told SCI FI Wire that he intends to adapt the controversial video game Postal for the movies and is working closely with the game's creators to keep all of the game's wacky, shocking and political elements. Boll described Postal as an SF/horror film that includes fun and politics. Boll is collaborating with game creators Vince Desi and Steve Wik from Running With Scissors. "Postal is one script that I have done on my own, but I did talk to the main guys, Steve and Vince, about bringing together all three of the games," Boll said in an interview.
Now in its third edition, Postal is often referred to as one of the most controversial video games ever made and was cited by Sen. Joe Lieberman as an example of moral bankruptcy in entertainment. The game follows a nameless Postal Dude, who lives in a trailer in Arizona and has to battle enemies like killer attack cats, mad cow-infected Tourette's-afflicted zombies and demon midgets who look like Gary Coleman. Along with scantily clad women, the game also features a Taliban Training Camp that shows Osama bin Laden based in Tucson. "It's edgy and political," Boll said. "No major company would touch this. You have to make fun of everything and have no limits."
Gary Coleman is the only person cast in the film so far, but Boll is working on other casting choices as he completes the script. He expects to begin shooting in Arizona in 2006 and 2007.
No Sequels For Boll
irector Uwe Boll told SCI FI Wire that he doubts he'll do sequels to the many video-game-inspired movies he's directed, except for one for BloodRayne. Boll has the rights to Far Cry, Hunter: The Reckoning, Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead.
"Last year we only had Resident Evil 2 come out as a video-game movie, and this year there are a lot of them, but these movies will only become more mainstream, have better plots and have better actors," Boll said.
Boll developed a sequel to House of the Dead for a while, but the sequel, House of the Dead 2: Dead Aim, wound up being completed by director Michael Hurst . "I'm not involved with the sequel, but it is more expansive than what I developed," Boll said. "I want to see it , and if it's good, that's good for the first one, and they can package the DVDs together. I'm waiting for Michael to send me a copy."
Boll said that the only sequel he would consider would be for BloodRayne. "I have the right to a sequel for BloodRayne, and there are many possibilities," he said. "I'd love to see her wash up on the shore 100 years later and end up in the Wild West, and then later go to World War II or something like that."
Boll's In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale wrapped recently in Vancouver, B.C., and stars Jason Statham, Ron Perlman, Ray Liotta, Leelee Sobieski, Burt Reynolds and Kristanna Loken. Loken also stars in Bloodrayne with Udo Kier, Michael Madsen, Michael Pare, Ben Kingsley and Meat Loaf.
Transylvania Infused BloodRayne
he cast and director of BloodRayne told SCI FI Wire that the movie shot in the Transylvania region of Romania, the fabled home of Europe's vampires and the perfect location for a movie about bloodsuckers. The movie, a prequel to the BloodRayne video-game series, is set in 18th-century Romania and stars Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) as a half-human, half-vampire warrior. The Transylvania region is the storied home of Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler, the brutal medieval nobleman who was author Bram Stoker's model for his character of Dracula.
"We were in the oldest inhabited village, which still existed when Vlad lived," Loken said in an interview. "The feel of the place and the original architecture really helped with the movie."
Director Uwe Boll said it was necessary to move the production to Romania. "There's a feeling you get in the real Transylvania, where Dracula's history is real," he said. "We needed big old castles without power lines in the skyline. We had it there."
Michael Madsen, who plays one of a vampire hunter from the Brimstone Society in BloodRayne, said his sons were fascinated with the area's history. "You can't buy a set like that," he said. "There were a lot of people living poorly there, and that was terrible. And there's so much history, a lot of history to see, and it has to have an effect on you."
BloodRayne also features Udo Kier, who is no stranger to vampire films, having appeared in Shadow of the Vampire, Blade, Modern Vampires and Andy Warhol's Dracula. In BloodRayne, he plays a monk, not one of the undead. "I have worked in Romania before," he said. "We did Modigliani there, and it is important to go there to see some history. If you were doing the same thing here in the studio backlot, the cobblestones would be plastic, but there it is the real thing. There is a five-star hotel to stay at and eat, and if you stay there and eat, you can work there fine."
Michael Pare portrays a butcher in the film. "I can't think of a better place to have filmed this movie," he said. "The people welcomed us and treated us well, but there's nothing more powerful than walking those streets with the history there."
Romania provided more than atmosphere and history, however; several cast members also brought home pets. Michelle Rodriguez brought back a cat. Loken, Madsen and Boll each brought back a dog. "They're all over the place," Madsen said. "They are just running around, and I found one, and fed it, and it came into my trailer. After it attacked me, I made friends with it, and I couldn't leave it behind and brought him home. But I tell you, you can take the dog out of Romania, but you can't take Romania out of the dog. He farts terribly. He's a great dog, he just needs a plug up his ass." BloodRayne also stars Ben Kingsley, Meat Loaf, Billy Zane and Geraldine Chaplin. It opens nationwide on Jan. 6, 2006.
BloodRayne Was Too Bloody
we Boll, director of the upcoming vampire movie BloodRayne, told SCI FI Wire that his initial cut was so bloody it earned an NC-17 rating and had to be recut for its theatrical release. But, Boll added in an interview, the original cut will eventually find its way onto DVD.
BloodRayne, which is based on a video game, will carry an R rating when it hits movie theaters on Jan. 6, 2006. The Motion Picture Association of America ordered Boll to cut several particularly graphic scenes, the director said.
"We will have the original version released shortly after on DVD, but we had to take out the parts where we were cutting people in half," Boll said. "We did some really, really good effects and things I've never before seen in movies, and many of those effects stay in, but some of the most shocking things have been taken out, and that's OK, because it takes you out of the movie."
Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) plays the title character, a half-human half-vampire warrior. She admitted that a few of the scenes made her sick. "I remember one time looking at myself [in a mirror] and only seeing my blue eyes and all the rest red," she said in a separate interview. "It was after a scene where I wiped out half a dozen people and sucked the blood out of them. We had blood made out of powdered chocolate. We had a gore unit. I was disturbed at my own reflection. I think the part that really turned my stomach was when I stabbed this guy through the eye and blood comes through."
That moment was cut from the movie, as was a scene that freaked out Loken's co-star, Michael Madsen, who has seen his own share of gruesome deaths as a cast member of Sin City, Kill Bill, Species II, TV's Frankenstein and Reservoir Dogs. "There's one scene that I was disturbed by, and that was when this guy gets chopped in half and people are still stabbing him," Madsen said. "Yeah, I was a little disturbed by that." A disappointed Boll added: "We had to cut that scene, too." BloodRayne also stars Ben Kingsley, Udo Kier, Meat Loaf, Billy Zane, Matthew Davis and Michael Pare.
Loken Lived Large In Dungeon
ristanna Loken, who stars in the upcoming video-game movie In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, told SCI FI Wire that she learned to make use of her large frame for the film's stunts from action choreographer Tony (Siu-Tung) Ching (House of Flying Daggers). Loken plays Elora opposite co-stars Jason Statham, Ron Perlman, Ray Liotta, Leelee Sobieski and Burt Reynolds in the medieval fantasy film, based on the Dungeon Siege video-game series. The movie recently wrapped production in Vancouver, Canada.
Ching, who does not speak English, worked closely to train Loken, who also trained hard for a lot of physical stunts as the blond TX in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. "It was grueling training," Loken said in an interview. "I didn't know what was in store. I used muscles I've never used before."
Loken said her wire training for Dungeon Siege was the most taxing thing she'd ever done. "My legs were aching, and I was completely [black and] blue from the ropes," she said. "You don't know it, but if you're on a wire, it hurts. It hurts brutally. It's not like [being] on a bungee rope. It's like a metal thing digging into you, and it hurts."
Loken added that she learned how to use weapons. But she said her 6-foot stature, normally a disadvantage, worked to her benefit in Dungeon Siege. "They used to say they didn't know how to cast me, because I'm taller than the father character or have a deep voice," Loken, a former model, said. "Now I'm comfortable with my physicality, and I can handle weapons. Maybe I was a warrior in a past life, I don't know."
Dungeon Siege is Loken's second film with director Uwe Boll; she previously starred in Boll's vampire game-to-movie BloodRayne. For Dungeon, she had to change her look. "I'm a 6-foot Viking, so I wasn't sure how I could disguise myself," Loken said. "But I [look] a lot different from BloodRayne, because I have dreadlocks and live in trees. My hair is different. My look is different." Dungeon Siege is scheduled for a late 2006 release date.
Horror Guild Awards Presented
he International Horror Guild Awards for works from 2004 were presented at the World Fantasy Convention in Madison, Wis., on Nov. 3. The awards recognize achievements in the field of horror and dark fantasy. A complete list of winners follows.
Novel: The Overnight by Ramsey Campbell
First Novel: The Ghost Writer by John Harwood
Long Fiction: Viator by Lucius Shepard
Mid-Length Fiction: "Flat Diane" by Daniel Abraham
Short Fiction: "A Pace of Change" by Don Tumasonis
Collection: The Wavering Knife by Brian Evenson
Anthology: Acquainted With the Night, Barbara and Christopher Roden, eds.
Non-Fiction: A Serious Life by D.M. Mitchell
Art (tie): Darrel Anderson and Rick Berry
Film: Shaun of the Dead
Television: Lost
Illustrated Narrative: The Bug Boy by Hideshi Hino
Periodical: The Third Alternative
Gahan Wilson was the recipient of the previously announced Living Legend Award.
Shue Counts On Number 23
ew Line has tapped Elisabeth Shue to star opposite Jim Carrey in the supernatural thriller The Number 23, directed by Joel Schumacher, Variety reported.
Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm will produce the film, written by Fernley Phillips. Carrey will portray a man who becomes obsessed and haunted upon reading a book that seems to be about his life but ends with a murder. The number 23 is woven throughout the plot, the trade paper reported.
Reed Hits SF Milestone
ive-time Hugo Award-nominated author Robert Reed told SCI FI Wire that his upcoming short story "The Cure," which appears in the December 2005 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, is the 50th story of his to grace the magazine's pages since he originally broke in with his debut sale in 1987. "I love F&SF," Reed said in an interview. "It was my first magazine when I was learning to be a writer. My first story was rejected by [former F&SF editor] Ed Ferman, as were my next 20 or 30. But I sold to Ed before any other magazine took me, and then I sold to [Kristine Kathryn Rusch], and now to Gordon [Van Gelder]. I'd like to think that when Ed was selling the magazine to Gordon, he said, 'And you get Reed along with my office chair.'"
Despite the milestone, Reed said that he doesn't feel all that prolific. "Here's the deal," he said. "A prolific writer sits at the word processor for eight or 12 hours every day, and he/she requires a minimal amount of time to produce professional-grade stories. By contrast, my actual writing time is about three hours a day, five days a week, and I try to finish four reasonable pages. I'll work on a draft until it acquires too many fatal mutations, and then I set it aside, sometimes for several months. My big advantage is practice. I have been selling stories for less than 20 years, but I've been writing them for more than three decades. I have taught myself a lot of stuff. I can smell when the story has gone bad, and I think I do a fair job of scrapping those things that will never succeed. Also, I sell almost everything I write, which helps maintain that 'prolific' label."
About "The Cure," Reed said: "[It's] an example of a story that sits in my head for a long time, perhaps more than a year, but then the writing is relatively quick and easy. I was watching The Daily Show, and a joke neatly paralleled my thinking about the story. Boom and 'The Cure' was ready. The actual writing was a straightforward job: one big twist, two parts cynicism. That's the basic recipe."
Reed's new short fiction collection, The Cuckoo's Boys, was just published by Golden Gryphon and is available now.
Kaye Harvests Reaper
ony Kaye (American History X) will helm the supernatural thriller Reaper, which he will shoot with a mix of high-definition video and film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film centers on a tortured man who is visited on his deathbed by the title character, a "messenger of death," who offers a chance at eternal life and time to find the man's kidnapped daughter, the trade paper reported.
"The film will be shot as two journeys," Kaye told the trade paper. The lead character's path will be shot on HD video, and the title character's shot on film. The "trapped souls" in the film's dark netherworld will be portrayed in black and white, with a multilayered soundscape.
Casting for the two leads in the $20 million-range project hasn't been finalized, though an announcement had been expected late last week.
Stiller Toplines Museum
en Stiller will star in the supernatural comedy A Night at the Museum for 20th Century Fox, Variety reported. The studio is readying the family film as its major entrant for next year's holiday season, the trade paper reported.
Stiller will play a night security guard at the Museum of Natural History who unwittingly unleashes a curse that brings to life the bugs and animals on display.
Shawn Levy (Cheaper by the Dozen) will direct. Levy has also helmed The Pink Panther, which Sony has slated for a Feb. 10, 2006, release.
Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant wrote the script; Scott Frank did a rewrite.
Threshold To Try Tuesdays
BS is moving its SF drama Threshold to Tuesdays at 10 p.m., ET/PT, following The Amazing Race, from its current Friday timeslot, Variety reported. Close to Home, which currently occupies that timeslot, will move to Threshold's old timeslot, following Ghost Whisperer, at 9 p.m. Fridays.
Threshold moves to Tuesdays on Nov. 22 and 29. (The Tuesday slot is pre-empted on Nov. 8 for a two-hour Race and on Nov. 15 for the Country Music Awards.) If all goes well, the show will move in permanently, the trade paper reported.
Threshold has performed decently, but not tremendously, in the ratings. Executives reportedly feel that the SF thriller could potentially hold on to more Race fans than those of Whisperer, who skew more female.
Threshold stars Carla Gugino as the head of a super-secret government team trying to contain an alien infection.
Dimension Bites Into Castlevania
imension Films has closed a North American distribution deal on Castlevania, the previously announced movie based on the Konami vampire video-game franchise, Variety reported. Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) will adapt and direct.
The studio closed a deal at 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 7 with Crystal Sky Pictures' Steven Paul and Benedict Carver, who'd just bought rights from the video-game maker, the trade paper reported.
Dimension's Bob Weinstein, Richard Saperstein, Michael Cole and Matt Stein crashed a private dinner party on Nov. 4 that Crystal Sky organized so Anderson could meet overseas buyers. By dessert, Crystal Sky altered its plan to broker the domestic rights deal later. Weinstein had a Saturday meeting with Anderson, and production head Saperstein led an eight-hour marathon negotiating session with Crystal Sky's Carver that culminated in the late-night deal, the trade paper reported.
Anderson is also writing and will produce Resident Evil 3.
Roberson Eyes High Adventure
F author Chris Roberson told SCI FI Wire that he will edit a new multi-genre anthology called Adventure, Vol. 1, which harkens back to the pulp magazines of the early 20th century. "In the early pulps, you could find stories of all types right next to each other: westerns next to mysteries next to historical adventures next to horror," Roberson said in an interview. "As a reader with fairly catholic tastes, I find that appealing. I like more than just one flavor of ice cream and more than one flavor of story, too. In Adventure, I wanted to assemble an anthology that reflected my own reading tastes. I invited our contributors to write any genre of story they liked, so long as it had a healthy dose of adventure."
Adventure marks a departure for its publisher, MonkeyBrain Books, a small press established in 2003 by Roberson, which previously focused exclusively on nonfiction genre studies. "Starting this fall we're expanding into other areas as well," Roberson said. "Nonfiction genre studies will always be a big part of the MonkeyBrain lineup, but going forward we're going to be doing fiction, art books and other genre-related offerings. Adventure, Vol. 1 is our first fiction title, and we'll be following up with a short-story collection by Kim Newman and a novel by Rudy Rucker in 2006."
The inspiration for Adventure ranges from such golden-age pulps as the original Adventure, All Story and Argosy magazines to more modern influences, such as Michael Chabon's McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales and McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories. "There have been other anthologies in the last few years that have taken a similar cross-genre approach, with stories equal parts action and literary," Roberson said. "Things like Jay Lake's and David Moles' All Star Zeppelin Stories or the first two issues of the Lou Anders-edited Argosy Magazine. As I point out in the introduction to Adventure, Vol. 1, maybe it's just 'steam-engine time' and there will be other iterations of sophisticated pulp yet to come!"
Roberson is the Sidewise Award-winning author of "O One" and has also been nominated for the World Fantasy Award and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His novel Here, There & Everywhere was published by Pyr earlier this year, and forthcoming titles include The Voyage of Night Shining White and Paragaea: A Planetary Romance.
World Fantasy Winners Named
he 2005 World Fantasy Awards for works published in 2004 were presented at the World Fantasy Convention in Madison, Wis., on Nov. 6. The awards recognize achievements in works of fantasy. A list of winners follows.
Novel: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Novella: "The Growlimb" by Michael Shea
Short Fiction: "Singing My Sister Down" by Margo Lanagan
Anthology (tie): Acquainted With the Night, Barbara and Christopher Roden, eds., and Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, Sheree R. Thomas, ed.
Collection: Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
Artist: John Picacio
Special Award, Professional: S.T. Joshi (for scholarship)
Special Award, Non-Professional: Robert Morgan (for Sarob Press)
Life Achievement (tie): Carol Emshwiller and Tom Doherty
New Line Bags SantaKid
ew Line has tapped Seth Bass and Jonathan Tolins to pen the holiday fantasy film SantaKid and set up the family comedy with David Kirschner and Corey Sienega, Variety reported.
The film, based on James Patterson's children's book, centers on the 10-year-old daughter of the billionaire who's acquired ownership of Santa Claus. After the girl receives an imperfect doll as a gift, she sets out to save Santa and make Christmas more perfect, the trade paper reported.
It's the second teaming of Tolins and Bass with producers Kirschner and Sienega on a New Line project, following production of The Martian Child, based on a short story by SF author David Gerrold. Martian is directed by Menno Meyjes and stars Sophie Okonedo, Oliver Platt and John Cusack.
Creature Comes To Life
old Circle Films has bought Greg Erb and Jason Oremland's fantasy comedy film pitch Creature Feature, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The story centers on Kevin Ackerman, a 13-year-old budding filmmaker, who has made dozens of low-budget horror films featuring his monster props. After he finds and uses a mysterious old camera, the monsters spring to life, the trade paper reported.
Craig Mazin is producing. Paul Brooks will oversee for Gold Circle Films.
Lost Podcasts To Begin
ABC announced that it will launch the first official Lost podcast series on Nov. 8. The first podcast will be available on ABC.com's official Lost Web site and future podcasts will be available on both ABC.com and Apple's iTunes, the network said.
The first podcast will feature Josh Holloway (Sawyer) and Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) offering insights into filming raft scenes. Creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse will discuss the first season, music and the upcoming episode "Abandoned," which airs on Nov. 9.
Each week throughout the November sweeps, Lost cast members will tease the week's upcoming episode and answer fan questions. Lost airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Drawn Third Season Ordered
omedy Central has picked up a third season of its animated reality series Drawn Together with a 14-episode order, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Drawn Together features cartoon characters from various genres of animation living together under one roof. The third season will premiere during the fourth quarter of 2006. The first three episodes of the show's second season, which debuted Oct. 19, have averaged 2.1 million total viewers and a 1.3 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, the trade paper reported.
Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser are the creators, writers and executive producers of Drawn, based on characters developed by Silverstein, Jeser and Jordan Young.
Tides Rises With Help
anadian SF writer Scott Mackay told SCI FI Wire that he dedicated his new novel Tides to his agent, Joshua Bilmes, because he believed in it when no one else did. "I dedicated this particular book to Joshua, because he's always believed it's one of my best," Mackay said in an interview. "Originally, a number of publishers passed on it, but despite this, Joshua still believed in it. The book sat for a number of years, but every so often, Joshua would mention it. Finally I went back to it, and I began to see what he meant. I changed a few things, in particularly one of the minor characterizations, polished the entire manuscript a number of times, then gave it back to Joshua. He sent it to Lou Anders at Pyr, and we had our sale."
Mackay said that Tides remains special to both Bilmes and himself. "His unflagging belief in the book deserves not only a dedication but also my eternal thanks," he said.
In Tides, two intelligent species from the continents Paras and Ortok encounter each other for the first time on their planet. Paras is lush, hospitable and culturally kind and honest. Ortok is exactly the opposite: bleak, volcanic and culturally cruel and deceitful. "The honest protagonist finds that he can lie after all," Mackay said. "The deceitful antagonist realizes he's willing to sacrifice a lot for the truth. I believe that this is one of the more interesting and compelling aspects of the book. In other words, a book that tells a story is entertaining, but a book that tells a story and has a theme tends to be entertaining and fulfilling."
Some might want to read today's people and countries into the book, but Mackay said that he did not write it that way. "The diametrically opposed creeds of Paras and Ortok could indeed be construed as political comment ... in today's terrorist climate," he said. "But just as there is no black and white in terms of today's political situations, so there is no black and white when it comes to the honesty and deceit in the world I've created, and that's the main theme in Tides."
Next up for Mackay is Phytosphere, which tells the story of a futuristic Earth plunged into darkness by a light-blocking sphere that develops around the planet.
Panda Cast Rounds Out
ustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Ian McShane are set to join Jack Black as voices in DreamWorks Animation's upcoming computer-animated martial-arts comedy film Kung Fu Panda, Variety reported. Lucy Liu is also in talks to star in the movie, which will be released in May 2008. Black stars as Po the Panda, the laziest of all the animals in the Valley of Peace. With powerful enemies at the gates, all hope is pinned on a martial-arts hero to rise to save the day. When Po unwittingly shows up in the midst of the martial-arts competition, the masters are shocked to see that this unmotivated panda bears the mark of the Chosen One, the trade paper reported.
Hoffman will voice the role of Shifu, the by-the-book, tough-as-nails kung fu master whose task it is to transform Po into a fighter. Chan will lend his voice to Master Monkey, a strong, agile and dedicated kung fu warrior, who serves as a daily reminder to Po of everything he is not.
Liu will be the voice of Master Viper, another of Po's teachers. McShane will voice the villainous Tai Lung, a powerful snow leopard, intent on destroying the Valley of Peace.
Kung Fu Panda is being directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne.
Sticky Gets Fingaz On Blade
ctor/rapper Kirk Jones, aka Sticky Fingaz, will star in Spike's upcoming Blade TV series, an adaptation of the comic book-turned-movie franchise, Zap2It reported. Jones was last seen as a soldier in F/X's Over There and will play the title role of the half-vampire, half-human warrior.
David S. Goyer, who wrote all three Blade films and directed the last one, Blade: Trinity, is co-writing the pilot and will serve as an executive producer on the TV show.
Jones will be joined in the cast by Jill Wagner, Neil Jackson, Jessica Gower and Nelson Lee. Goyer is writing the pilot with comic-book scribe Geoff Johns; the two have previously worked together on the Justice Society of America comic for DC Comics. Peter O'Fallon (House) will direct the pilot, which is scheduled for a June 2006 premiere.
RoboCop Remake Assembling?
.H.U.D. reported a rumor that a remake of 1987's SF satire RoboCop may be in the works. Citing an anonymous source, the site reported that producer Michael De Luca (Zathura, the Blade movies) and Sony are behind the rumored remake.
Paul Verhoeven directed the original movie, which starred Peter Weller as the cop-turned-crimefighting cyborg in a futuristic Detroit. The film spun off three sequels and a TV series.
More RoboCop Rumors Surface
oviehole.net reported that it has confirmed the rumor posted by C.H.U.D. that a RoboCop remake film is in the works.
Citing its own anonymous source, Moviehole reported that the remake will center on a young police officer who's resurrected as a robot on the police payroll and that the movie is in the talking stages at Sony's Screen Gems.
Masterson Chases A Manticore
hase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) told SCI FI Wire that she'll join fellow Trek veteran Robert Beltran (Star Trek: Voyager) and Heather Donahue (Steven Spielberg Presents Taken) in the upcoming SCI FI Channel original movie Manticore. "Manticore is set in present-day Iraq, and it's striking how realistic the location and action looks," Masterson said in an interview. "I play a driven, bratty reporter who is convinced there are weapons of mass destruction in an off-limits area."
Masterson added: "Risking our lives, I convince my partner to go with me to find them, so we can break the story and boost my career. It turns out that the weapon of mass destruction is a 2,000-year-old creature, brought back to life. It's terrifying: half-lion, half-dragon. An army platoon, led by characters played by Robert Beltran and Heather Donahue, comes to rescue us."
Masterson—who also hosts an SF-oriented radio interview program on Thefandom.com—said that she enjoyed shooting Manticore on location in Bulgaria and was impressed by the production team, including director Tripp Reed. "Working in Bulgaria was a fabulous experience," Masterson said. "It's an extremely passionate country, I think, because they were so oppressed for so long, and the people are very genuine. I'd worked with the producer, Phil Roth, several years ago, and I'd found his production values and special effects to be really strong. Even when I wasn't working, I stuck around to see it all happen live. I think viewers are in for a treat. Also, Tripp Reed is a director to watch. He works equally well with actors as with the camera and technical effects, which I appreciated." Manticore debuts on SCI FI at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Nov. 26.
Potter IV Earns PG-13 Rating
s anticipated, the fourth Harry Potter film, which takes a darker and more mature turn, has earned a PG-13 rating in the United States, compared with the PG rating for the first three films in the franchise, Variety reported. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire similarly earned tougher ratings overseas.
The film, based on J.K. Rowling's fourth Potter novel, is targeting an older audience as its characters enter puberty at Hogwarts.
As a result, Warner Brothers isn't making media buys promoting the movie during morning children's TV shows, a practice it began to curb with the previous film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. At the same time, the studio is increasing its MTV campaign, both domestically and overseas, hoping to lure more teens, the trade paper reported.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opens Nov. 18.
Haunting Helmer Believes
ourtney Solomon, writer/director of the upcoming ghost story An American Haunting, told SCI FI Wire that he really believes in the ghost stories behind the movie, concerning the so-called Bell Witch of Tennessee. Solomon screened the movie, which stars Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek, at the American Film Institute's 2005 Festival. "This is one of the most famous cases of ghosts documented in American history," Solomon said. "Even Andrew Jackson wrote about it when he went to meet the Bell Witch in Tennessee and validated the accounts from the family."
American Haunting details the accounts of John Bell (Sutherland) and his family, who were cursed by a woman in town who was thought to be a witch after a monetary dispute. Bell's daughter was subsequently terrorized by a spirit that levitated her off the ground and slapped her in front of multiple witnesses. Professors and religious leaders came to the house and heard disembodied voices between 1817 and 1821.
Solomon based his film on a 1997 novel, The Bell Witch: An American Haunting, which offers a theory that the ghost stories masked the truth that the girl was being molested by her father. Another theory said the Bell family home was built on ancient Indian burial grounds, Solomon said.
At the AFI Festival, Solomon was joined by actors Rachel Hurd-Wood and James D'Arcy, who are also in the movie. "I was a little bit concerned to take another genre role like this after playing Father Francis in Exorcist: The Beginning not too long ago," D'Arcy said. "I never thought I'd be doing movies like this, but then there's the chance to work with Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek of course."
Solomon's movie offers some rational explanations for the haunting. But, he added: "I believe in these things." An American Haunting is expected to be released in early 2006.
Blackthorne To Play Dresden
CI FI Channel has cast Paul Blackthorne (24) as Chicago-based wizard and detective Harry Dresden in its upcoming TV movie The Dresden Files. David Carson (Star Trek: Generations) has been tapped to direct the two-hour backdoor pilot, which will commence production in Toronto later this month, with plans for a summer 2006 premiere, the network said. Blackthorne is perhaps best known as the villainous Stephen Saunders on Fox's 24.
The Dresden Files is based on the best-selling series of novels by Jim Butcher. It is being produced by Lions Gate Television, in association with Nicolas Cage's Saturn Films. Hans Beimler (Profiler) and Robert Wolfe (The 4400) will serve as executive producers alongside Cage, his Saturn Films partner, Norm Golightly, and Morgan Gendel. Beimler and Wolfe wrote the script.
The Dresden Files centers on Dresden, a private eye with extraordinary abilities. Where others see typical crimes of assault, kidnapping and murder, he sees otherworldly forces at work.
Cortese Ate Up Locusts
an Cortese, who stars in the upcoming SCI FI original movie Locusts: The 8th Plague, told SCI FI Wire that he was most intrigued with the project because the story isn't out of the realm of possibility. "I like SF and I like the escapism of it, but what was attractive to me about Locusts is that it's not asking the audience to suspend disbelief too much," Cortese said in an interview. "You watch it and you go, 'That could possibly happen.'"
Cortese co-stars with Julie Benz (Angel), David Keith (Path of Destruction) and Jeff Fahey (The Lawnmower Man) in Locusts, which was written by D.R. Rosen and directed by Ian Gilmour. In the movie, an eco-activist (Cortese) and his fiancee, a U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher (Benz), work with a team of government agents led by Kirk B.R. Woller as they race to stop a breed of mutant locusts that's devouring crops and cattle and seems ready to hunt a new prey: humans.
"These bio-engineered locusts were designed to eat the bugs off of crops rather than eat the crops themselves," Cortese said. "As it turns out, they also end up eating anything that eats the crops. So you're dealing with carnivorous locusts, and the fun ensues after that. My character is a pain-in-the-ass hero. He's a guy who's caught between a rock and hard place, and he's trying to save the day. David Keith and Jeff Fahey own the company that created these locusts, and I actually worked there with them and knew they were doing some testing like this. I told them it was the wrong thing to do and quit, so even though we don't get along and are at odds, we have to try to come together in the end to do the right thing and fight the locusts." Locusts: The 8th Plague premieres Nov. 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
McMahon Has A Premonition
ulian McMahon (Fantastic Four) is joining Sandra Bullock in Premonition, a supernatural film that will mark the Hollywood directorial debut of Germany's Mennan Yapo, Variety reported.
The Bill Kelly script revolves around a woman who has a premonition that her husband will die in a car crash and sets out to prevent it.
The film will be produced by Ashok Amritraj, Jon Jashni, Adam Shankman, Jennifer Gibgot and Sunil Perkash. Andrew Sugerman is executive-producing.
Path Of Neo Site Opens
tari announced the launch of the official Web site for its game The Matrix: Path of Neo, licensed by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment.
The site provides Matrix fans an in-depth look at the game, based on the SF movie franchise, including screenshots, trailers, character profiles, news updates, fan kits and other information.
The site also includes behind-the-scenes features such as concept art and information about the development of The Matrix: Path of Neo from game developer Shiny Entertainment.
The Matrix: Path of Neo marks the second collaboration of Atari and its Shiny Entertainment development studio; the Wachowski brothers, creators of the Matrix trilogy; Joel Silver, producer of the trilogy; and Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment.
The Matrix: Path of Neo is available for the PlayStation 2, the Xbox and the PC.
Liman Jumps To Jumper
oug Liman will direct Jumper, an adaptation of the Steven Gould SF novel about a teenager who discovers he can teleport from one place to another, Variety reported. Arnon Milchan's New Regency company will finance the film, which is envisioned as the first in a three-picture adventure trilogy.
Fight Club writer Jim Uhls will rewrite a script by David S. Goyer (TV's Threshold). Production will begin in the spring.
Halloween Producer Killed
oustapha Akkad, the Syrian-born filmmaker best known to horror fans as the executive producer of the Halloween films, was among those who died as a result of this week's terrorist bomb attacks on hotels in Jordan, Arab television stations and the Reuters news service reported.
Akkad, a resident of Los Angeles, died in hospital on Nov. 11 from wounds sustained in the bombings in Amman on Nov. 9. Akkad had been staying in one of three luxury hotels hit by suicide bombers on Nov. 9, killing at least 56 people, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya said, according to Reuters. His daughter was killed immediately in one of the blasts.
In addition to Halloween, Akkad directed a 1976 English-language movie about the Prophet Mohammad starring Anthony Quinn, The Message.
Seeker Filled With Signs
F author Jack McDevitt told SCI FI Wire that his new book, Seeker, contains numerous symbols, which he leaves for the readers to interpret. For example, Seeker's protagonist, antiquarian Alex Benedict, discovers a cup from the long-lost ship Seeker and sets out to find the ship. The cup is a symbol, but McDevitt doesn't say of what.
"Symbolic writing is necessary to make fiction work," he said in an interview. "The reason is that a novelist or short story writer is not simply delivering a narrative, but (s)he is creating an experience for the reader. When a character becomes jealous, the reader, ideally, feels the emotion. That can't be accomplished simply by telling the reader that Character A is jealous. And this is where the symbol comes in."
To illustrate his point, McDevitt referred to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. "When the Spirit and Scrooge stand outside the Cratchits' house on Christmas Eve, Scrooge asks whether [Tiny] Tim will live. Dickens could have had the Spirit reply, 'No, it's not going to happen.' But that doesn't carry sufficient impact. So he uses symbols to appeal to the reader's senses: 'I see an empty chair, and a crutch by the fire.'"
Seeker features the same heroes from his 2004 release Polaris: Benedict and pilot Chase Kolpath, who narrates Seeker. Like many authors, McDevitt has placed a chapter of the book on his Web site; however, unlike most, McDevitt has placed Chapter 14 for all to read instead of the usual opening chapter. His reason: "I hoped that it would convey the spirit of the novel. It struck me as a section which could be enjoyed without having the general setup."
McDevitt's next book will be titled Odyssey, the fifth Academy novel. In it, a drive is on to cut off funding for interstellar exploration because there is no profit to be made. Meanwhile, there are strange lights in the sky. And 22 light-years from Earth, physicists are building a hyper-accelerator that they hope will give them a glimpse of what was going on before the Big Bang.
Briefly Noted
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Australian actress Jess Gower has joined the cast of Spike's Blade TV series, Moviehole.net reported.
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Steven Spielberg told a class at the University of Southern California film school that he is working with writers on the script to a fourth Jurassic Park movie, which will include a sequence in which motorcycles try to outrun a pack of 'raptors, the Development Hell Web site reported.
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Sean Connery has been selected by the American Film Institute to receive the 34th AFI Life Achievement Award, to be presented at a gala tribute in Los Angeles on June 8, 2006.
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Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie led the field of People's Choice Award contenders with three nominations each, the Reuters news service reported.
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A new Web site has gone live for the upcoming Superman Returns film, which opens next June.
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The official Aeon Flux Web site has been updated with new features, including an interactive comic book, to promote the upcoming Charlize Theron SF movie, which opens Dec. 2.
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Dark Horizons reported that Star Wars star Hayden Christensen is in talks to join Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon in the fantasy film Penelope, about a young woman born with the face of a pig who must break a family curse and find true love.
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TV Guide Online's "Ask Ausiello" column reported that The WB is mulling a spinoff of its Smallville series centering on the character of Aquaman.
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The first installment of CBS' miniseries Category 7: The End of the World propelled the network to another double weekly victory, extending the network's winning string to seven weeks in total viewers and four in adults 18-49, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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NBC will broadcast an unedited four-minute sequence of never-before-seen footage from Peter Jackson's upcoming King Kong movie during the airing of Shrek starting at 7 p.m. ET on Nov. 27, less than three weeks before the film hits theaters on Dec. 14.
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Queso Grande Productions announced that it has joined with Seraphim Films and Aint It Cool Productions to produce 2gether 4ever, a movie about a teen girl and her relationship with high school, parents and a ghost.
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The DVD of Serenity, Joss Whedon's SF western movie, will hit stores on Dec. 20, with a suggested retail price of $29.98.
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IGN FilmForce reported a rumor that Marvel may be considering Will Smith to star in its proposed movie version of Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
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A fan has posted images of Uma Thurman in her costume for the upcoming superhero comedy film Super Ex-Girlfriend.
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A new image of a key villain from Spider-Man 3 has been posted on SCI FI Wire's Photo Gallery page.
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The Skeleton Key star Kate Hudson is suing several tabloid publications for printing pictures that she claims falsely implied she had an eating disorder, the Reuters news service reported.
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Mission: Impossible 3 star Tom Cruise fired his publicist, Lee Anne DeVette, who also happens to be his sister, and has hired veteran PR executive Paul Bloch to take over; the move follows months of bad publicity in which Cruise found himself the butt of late-night jokes, news services reported.
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Constantin Film and Davis Films are reteaming to produce Resident Evil: Afterlife, the third installment in the SF/horror franchise based on the apocalyptic video game, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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