Godzilla To Get Record Release
ony Pictures reports that when Godzilla officially opens on Wednesday, May 20, it will be available in 3,310 theaters, which represent 7,363 screens or about 2 million individual seats. That will give Godzilla the largest U.S. release ever, according to Sony, a record formerly held by The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which debuted on 6,190 screens.
Most of the 3,310 theaters showing Godzilla will also participate in a special advance showing of the film, scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, beginning at 7 p.m. across the country. Godzilla, the latest movie from Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich of Independence Day fame, stars Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Hank Azaria and Maria Pitillo.
Broderick Goes For Gadget
odzilla star Matthew Broderick has agreed to play the title role in the upcoming live-action film version of Disney's animated series Inspector Gadget, according to Variety. Gadget is expected to be Disney's major film release for summer 1999, and Broderick will reportedly pull down $5 million for his services.
In the film, Gadget is a human crime fighter who is literally blown to pieces while chasing after a villain, and the beautiful surgeon Brenda must reconstruct his body using robot parts. Not only can Gadget's new legs and arms extend to fantastic lengths, they also conceal lots of cool superhero toys. Gadget will need them to go up against his arch nemesis Claw (played by Rupert Everett of My Best Friend's Wedding fame), who sports a high-tech prosthesis of his own.
Williams Chooses Bicentennial Man
obin Williams, who earned an Oscar earlier this year for his role in Good Will Hunting, has chosen the upcoming SF movie Bicentennial Man as his next project. The movie is based on a short story of the same name by Isaac Asimov and focuses on a robot who longs to become human.
Bicentennial Man will reunite Williams with director Chris Columbus and will be the first time the two have worked together since their 1993 box-office hit Mrs. Doubtfire. According to Entertainment Weekly, if Williams had turned down the film, the starring role would have gone to Tom Hanks. Bicentennial Man is expected to begin shooting this fall.
WB To Launch Invasion On June 8
fter a few false starts, the Steven Spielberg/Harve Bennett animated SF miniseries Invasion America will debut on the WB Network with a two-part premiere on June 8 and 9 at 9 p.m. ET, according to Warner Bros. The series, which had been tentatively scheduled to run in March and which had actually aired in several test markets prior to that, chronicles the adventures of 17-year-old David Carter, who is part human and part alien.
David's father was a member of the Tyrusian race, which is planning to invade the United States, led by the evil Colonel Konrad (voiced by Leonard Nimoy). David's father fought against Konrad earlier and failed, and now it's up to David to save the U.S., and ultimately all of Earth.
Stine Creates Miniseries For ABC
est-selling children's book author R.L. Stine has created an adult horror miniseries for ABC called R.L. Stine's Night Terrors, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series is set in a medical clinic that treats patients who have so-called "night terrors," which include deadly sleep disorders and mind-altering experiences.
The series is being billed by ABC as an "adult horror event" and is being produced by Sanitsky Co. and Parachute Entertainment. Stine is best known for his Goosebumps children's books, which have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide and which rank as the No. 1 children's book series in five countries.
Gaiman To Script Mononoke
eil Gaiman, the creator of DC's popular Sandman comic series, has been signed by Miramax Films to script an English version of the Japanese animated feature film Princess Mononoke, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Mononoke tells the story of a young girl in ancient Japan who is raised by a wolf goddess, and last year it became the highest grossing film in Japan with a box-office take of more than $150 million.
Princess Mononoke was directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and the dubbed version will be released in the United States next year. Gaiman told The Hollywood Reporter that in his script he plans to remain faithful to the story while creating a translation that a non-Japanese audience can follow.
Sci-Fi Unveils Original Lineup
he Sci-Fi Channel has announced an ambitious original programming slate for 1998-99 that includes five regular series, two live TV shows, a miniseries, a special event movie, and a pair of two-hour Sightings specials. The channel will also air all 80 digitally remastered episodes of the original Star Trek series. The lineup includes:
The Series
- Sliders
Begins Monday, June 8, at 9 p.m. ET
Series star Jerry O'Connell will be producing the new season of Sliders and plans to direct several episodes. In this season the explorers will return to the original Earth, only to discover that it has been taken over by a malevolent breed of humans called the Kromaggs. O'Connell's real-life brother Charlie will be joining the cast as Quinn Mallory's brother Colin.
- Welcome to Paradox
Begins Monday, July 13, at 10 p.m. ET
This anthology series, originally titled Betaville, will explore the moral dilemma faced by a generation for which technology grows at a rate exceeding humanity's ability to grasp its implications. The show is based in the near-future city of Betaville, whose seeming perfection masks deeper problems that are visited each episode by a special council.
- Beyond TV
Debut to be announced
The Sci-Fi Channel will tie TV into its Dominion Web site in this live, weekly half-hour series, which is being billed as "experimental interactive entertainment." The first show will feature Mindprobe, a science fiction trivia game that will be played by viewers at home, who are represented on screen by avatars. The game will be run by a computer-generated 3-D host.
- Star Trek
Begins Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m. ET
These special edition Star Trek episodes will air in a 90-minute format that includes commentary on each episode by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. The series will be run in its original order and will incorporate footage that had been edited out of each episode during Star Trek's syndication run in the 1970s. The series will air Monday through Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
- Poltergeist: The Legacy
Begins January 1999
This is the original series from MGM Domestic Television that previously ran on Showtime. The one-hour drama stars Derek deLint and follows the continuing adventures of The Legacy, a group whose members devote themselves to investigating paranormal activity and battling the true evils of the world.
- Farscape
Begins January 1999
This live-action series is being produced by The Jim Henson Company U.K. in association with Hallmark Entertainment. Written by Rockne O'Bannon (Alien Nation, Seaquest DSV, The Twilight Zone), it tells the story of astronaut John Crichton, a man from the present who, during an experimental space mission, is hurled across a thousand galaxies to an alien world. In his quest to return to Earth, he finds himself aboard a starship populated by escaping political prisoners from myriad alien cultures.
The Miniseries
- Invasion Earth
Dec. 6, 7 and 8
This six-hour series stars Fred Ward, Vincent Regan and Maggie O'Neill and takes place in Britain both during World War II and in the present day. It involves the discovery of a clandestine invasion of Earth by multi-dimensional aliens who are out to utterly destroy humankind.
The Movie
- Rod Serling's A Town Has Turned To Dust
Saturday, June 7, at 9 p.m. ET
Based on a teleplay by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, this movie stars Ron Perlman, singer Judy Collins and Stephen Lang. It's a cautionary tale of mob violence and racism set against the backdrop of an environmentally ravaged Earth in the distant future. When a Native American is falsely accused of raping the wife of a miner, a mob of vigilante miners (known as Dwellers) murders him as the local sheriff looks the other way.
Live TV Shows
- Alien Voices
The Lost World, Sunday, July 12
Halloween weekend special
Alien Voices, the acting troupe created by Star Trek alums Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie, will perform a live radio-style drama of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World, as well as several adaptations for Halloween that will include the classic story "The Canterville Ghost." Trek actors Ethan Phillips and Dwight Schultz are part of the troupe.
Sightings Specials
- Sightings: In Depth and Beyond
"Bioperfection: Building a New Human Race," Saturday, June 13, at 7 p.m. ET
"Speaking from the Grave," air date to be announced
These two-hour specials will focus on how humanity may evolve in the next 30 to 50 years and on the scientific and emotional issues related to life after death.
ABC Buys Earth Scum
BC has ordered 13 episodes of a new science fiction sitcom called Earth Scum, according to published reports. The series--which will likely debut as a mid-season replacement--was created by Carsey-Werner, which also produces the hit NBC SF sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.
Mark Addy, the British actor who recently had a starring role in The Full Monty, will play the male lead in Scum. The series is said to be about an alien/human couple who live on another planet.
Will Recall Be Deja Vu For Arnold?
rnold Schwarzenegger is in talks with Dimension Films to star in Total Recall 2, the sequel to the former Mr. Universe's 1990 blockbuster SF movie Total Recall, according to Variety. Screenwriters Ron Shusett and Gary Goldman, who co-wrote the original Total Recall script, are reportedly already at work on the sequel, which will be based on the first movie.
Dimension is also in talks with Star Trek actor/director Jonathan Frakes to direct the film, which could be Frakes' next project after he finishes his work behind the camera for Star Trek IX. Although the first Recall--based on the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"--cost about $80 million, Dimension has said the sequel will cost significantly less to make.
Deep Impact Smashes Box Office
aramount's SF disaster flick Deep Impact premiered over Mother's Day weekend to a whopping box-office take of $41.2 million, which is a new record for a May debut, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The previous record holder was the Warner Bros. movie Twister, which hauled in $41.1 million during Mother's Day weekend in 1996 and went on to gross $242 million domestically.
Although Deep Impact isn't expected to fare nearly as well as Twister over the long run, its strong debut surprised the film industry, which had expected the movie to take in around $30 million. If Deep stays on its present course it will mark the first certifiable hit for Steven Spielberg's high-profile film studio DreamWorks SKG, which co-produced the movie with Paramount.
F&SF Plans Special Film Issue
he normally literarily-inclined Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction will take a critical look at SF movies of the past, present and future in its July issue, which will include commentary by noted authors such as Jonathan Carroll, Ursula K. Le Guin and Pat Cadigan. The issue will feature various authors and columnists offering their views--both funny and serious--on Hollywood's treatment of SF themes, and they will also provide suggestions for future movie releases.
The publishers promise that F&SF will tell readers which nine fantasy novels should be made into films, which six great SF movies could be made without audible explosions in space, and which 10 SF&F movies should never have been made. The special issue will go on sale June 1.
Polygram Options Masque For Cruise
. Paul Wilson reports his book Masque, co-written with Matthew J. Costello, has been optioned by Polygram Films for Tom Cruise's production company Cruise Wagner. Wilson said Cruise Wagner is currently pitching script ideas to Polygram based on the book, which was published in April by Aspect.
Masque centers around Tristan, a "mime" or artificially created human whose mimetic DNA allows him to transform into a perfect genetic copy of another living being. Tristan is one mission away from earning Selfhood, which will give him freedom from the corporate city-states that own and enslave the mimes. But Tristan soon learns that his final mission is just one subplot in an overall mystery that could end in the salvation--or extinction--of an entire race.
Earth Aims To Be Truly Global
tlantis Films and Polygram Entertainment are planning a worldwide marketing campaign to promote Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict outside the United States, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Earth push will begin this fall and is designed to encourage international stations to give the show more attention when it comes to local promotions.
The global marketing plans come on the heels of Earth's success in the United Kingdom, where the show is ranked second only to The X-Files. The London Times has even called Earth "the missing link between Star Trek and The X-Files." Earth is also enjoying success in the United States, where it is currently the highest-rated new first-run hour in syndication.
Star Wars Goes Real-Time
f you're a Star Wars fan who's always wanted to command the rebel forces during the Battle of Hoth, LucasArts Entertainment is about to give you your shot. The company announced it will be releasing Star Wars: Force Commander for the Windows 95 platform later this year, a real-time strategy game set in the Stars Wars universe that includes missions from each of the three movies in the first Star Wars trilogy.
In the game, players can take command of either the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire, working their way through "chapters" that represent a series of ground-based battles on various planets. The timeline of the game parallels the timeline of the movie trilogy, beginning just before the destruction of Alderaan and ending shortly after the battle on and around Endor. The game will feature more than 100 vehicles and personnel from the Star Wars world, including AT-AT and AT-ST walkers, Y-wings and TIE bombers.
LEGO Licenses Star Wars Toys
he LEGO Group has signed a deal with Lucas Licensing Ltd. to produce and sell construction toys based on the upcoming Star Wars prequel movies as well as the original Star Wars film trilogy. LEGO plans to introduce an initial assortment of building sets early next year that will be based on the first trilogy, followed by additional sets based on the three prequels. The first Star Wars prequel is expected to hit theaters in May 1999.
Sci-Fi, Dove Plan Audio Anthologies
he Sci-Fi Channel and Dove Audio plan to produce a series of audio anthologies based on Seeing Ear Theatre, the channel's popular Web site that broadcasts old-style radio dramas on the Internet. As part of the venture, Seeing Ear will be able to use Dove's extensive library to supplement its original audio scripts, classic radio dramas and excerpts of SF authors reading from their own works.
The first Seeing Ear anthology will be available in the fourth quarter of this year, while a co-branded Dove/Sci-Fi Channel classic audio drama will be reissued this summer. The deal marks Sci-Fi's first merchandising agreement based on original online content.
Sony Plans Anime Channel
ony Pictures Entertainment plans to launch a 24-hour satellite animation channel in Japan on June 1, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The channel, called Animax, will air on the Sky PerfecTV satellite service, which has 171 stations and is expected to have 2 million subscribers by fiscal year 2000.
Leading animation firms Toei Animation Co. Ltd., Sunrise Co. Ltd., TMS and Nippon Ad Systems Co. are participating in the project, which Sony says is the first dedicated service for the anime genre. The channel will feature both Japanese and international animation.
