Heinlein To Enter Hall Of Fame
obert A. Heinlein, Frederik Pohl, Hal Clement and C.L. Moore will be inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame during the annual Campbell Conference, which will be held July 10 at the University of Kansas Alumni Center in Lawrence, Kan. Each year the Hall of Fame honors four individuals on the basis of their continued excellence and long-time contribution to the science fiction and fantasy field.
The Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society and the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas. The inductees are chosen by the Hall's board of directors, which includes Robin Wayne Bailey, James Gunn, Joe Haldeman, Larry Hopkins, Allison Stein, Keith W. Stokes and Ben Thomas-Morgan.
The John W. Campbell and Theodore T. Sturgeon Memorial Awards will also be announced at the conference.
UPN Adds SF To Lineup
he United Paramount Network will be adding two SF shows to its 1998-99 prime-time schedule, an ensemble series called Mercy Point described as "E.R. in space" and an "intense time travel drama" called Seven Days. UPN has also ordered a fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager but will be dropping The Sentinel from its lineup, though The Sentinel could return as a mid-season replacement.
Mercy Point will air Tuesdays from 9:00-10:00 p.m. and will star Joe Morton as Chief Surgeon Dr. Grote Maxwell, Maria Del Mar as Dr. Haylen Breslauer, Brian McNamara as Aron "AJ" Jurado and Alexandra Wilson as Dr. Dru Breslauer. The series is set in the first state-of-the-art hospital in deep space and depicts the lives of an elite team of medics (called "mednauts") dedicated to serving human and alien species.
Seven Days will air Wednesdays from 8:00-9:00 p.m. and stars Jonathan LaPaglia as Frank Parker, a CIA castoff chosen to travel back in time on a clandestine mission to prevent the assassination of the president and vice president of the United States. The catch is that Parker has just seven days to complete his task. The series will also star Don Franklin as Donovan, Norman Lloyd as Isaac Mentor, Justina Vail as Olga Vukavitch and Nick Searcy as Nate Ramsey.
UPN will also be adding a weekly movie block called "The UPN Way Out There Movie" that will run Thursday nights from 8:00-10:00 p.m. The block will feature 21 original two-hour movies that combine fantasy, science fiction and adventure, with writers, actors and directors such as Arthur C. Clarke, Kate Mulgrew and Corbin Bernsen. The first Way Out There movie will be a remake of the Paramount Pictures film I Married a Monster.
Godzilla's Monster Take: $74 Million
ony's summer blockbuster movie Godzilla roared into theaters with a seven-day opening take of about $74 million, in the process becoming the third-highest-grossing Memorial Day movie of all time, according to Variety. Godzilla brought in $55.5 million in ticket sales over the four-day holiday weekend, falling short of the $90.2 million earned by The Lost World: Jurassic Park over Memorial Day weekend in 1997 and the $56.8 million Mission Impossible earned in 1996.
Although $74 million is an impressive number for any movie, it was far below Sony's expectation of $100 million or more in ticket sales for the monster flick's first week in theaters, and the movie industry is wondering if Godzilla will ultimately turn out to be a flop. With production and marketing costs estimated at about $200 million, Godzilla has a long way to go before it will earn its keep.
X-Files Film Gets 2 Soundtracks
lektra Records will be releasing two soundtracks to the upcoming X-Files feature film, one a non-vocal score by longtime Files music composer Mark Snow and the other an anthology of commissioned songs largely selected by Files creator Chris Carter. The anthology album will feature original tracks by bands such as the Foo Fighters, Better than Ezra, the Cure, Bjork, Filter, Tonic and Ween, as well as cover songs by a variety of groups including X and Aswad & Sting.
The anthology will also feature a hidden track that will offer some tidbits about the X-Files film. Rumor says the track is available 10 minutes and 13 seconds after the final song, and not coincidentally Carter's production company is called Ten Thirteen Productions. Both soundtracks will be available in stores starting June 2, preceding the movie, which debuts June 19.
Impact Makes Lasting Impression
he SF/disaster flick Deep Impact proved it wasn't a one-week wonder at the box office by earning a respectable $23.3 million during its second weekend in theaters, bringing its 10-day total up to $74 million. Variety predicted the film would gross $120 million domestically, which would give co-producers Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks SKG the first certifiable hit of the summer movie season.
Deep Impact continued to make an impression on moviegoers despite mediocre reviews from critics, which bodes well for the film's eventual release on video and TV. At a cost of about $80 million, that means Deep Impact will likely continue to fill the deep pockets of its financiers for months to come.
Buena Vista Hypes Armageddon
uena Vista wowed a packed audience at the Cannes Film Festival with about 50 minutes of footage from its upcoming SF flick Armageddon, according to Variety. The clips were reportedly laden with special effects from the $125 million production, which stars Bruce Willis as an oil driller who's tapped by NASA to blow up an incoming meteor that's about to pummel Earth.
Armageddon director Michael Bay was on hand for the screening and dismissed similarities between his film and the current box-office champ Deep Impact, which is about an incoming comet that's about to pummel Earth. Variety quoted Bay as saying, "At theaters in America, the thing I keep hearing is 'I can't wait to see Armageddon.'"
Dugan Gets Clockstoppers
everly Hills Ninja director Dennis Dugan has agreed to helm Paramount's upcoming SF comedy flick Clockstoppers, according to Variety. The film focuses on a scientist who creates a device that can make people move 25 times faster than those around them.
When his son and another youngster are accidentally sped up by the device, the scientist must find a way to return them to normal. Dugan's other projects have included Brain Donors and Happy Gilmore, as well as stints behind the camera for TV shows such as NYPD Blue, Picket Fences and Chicago Hope.
Amazing Launches With Star Trek
hen Wizards of the Coast relaunches the magazine Amazing Stories in July, it will be with a Star Trek: The Next Generation cover by Bob Eggleton and two pieces of Trek short fiction by authors A.C. Crispin and John Betancourt. Wizards made the announcement on Monday, May 18, after concluding the licensing arrangement with Viacom Consumer Products, the licensing division of Paramount Pictures.
"We feel the inclusion of Star Trek: The Next Generation stories and cover art will allow us to reach a wider audience," said Wendy Noritake, periodicals publisher at Wizards. "The science fiction short story has a long history and we are proud to continue and nurture this tradition."
The premiere issue of the new Amazing will also feature contributions from Ben Bova, James Alan Gardner and Neal Barrett Jr., along with an excerpt from Orson Scott Card's upcoming novel Heartfire. Bruce Sterling will also provide "unique commentary" for Amazing, which will retail for $4.99.
Online Lord Of The Rings Coming
ierra On-Line is at work on a massively multi-player online game called Middle-earth that will be based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Sierra said Middle-earth will use the technology of its online role-playing game The Realm but will allow gamers to play classic Tolkien characters such as elves, dwarves, hobbits and humans.
Middle-earth will be able to support thousands of simultaneous users and is expected to go into beta testing in mid-1999. The game will be set during the Third Age of Tolkien's Middle-earth universe, decades after the adventures of Frodo and the destruction of Sauron.
