DS9 Approaches Final Frontier
he seventh and final season of the syndicated series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has gone into production, according to Paramount.
As previously reported in Science Fiction Weekly, actress Nicole de Boer will be joining the show in the role of Ezri Dax, a "young, exotic Starfleet ensign" who will become the new host of the 300-year-old Dax symbiont.
"The new character of Ezri Dax should add an intriguing element to this final season," said series creator/executive producer Rick Berman. "Her unexpected struggle to cope with seven newly acquired identities should bring us some fascinating story arcs, as well as a great deal of humor."
The final season of DS9 will begin with the episode "Images in the Sand," which was written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler and which will air the week of Sept. 28. In the episode, Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) will receive a vision from the Prophets--who were believed to be dead--that will lead him to the discovery of a long-held family secret.
Doohan Launches Sci-Fi Cafe
hris Doohan, the son of famed Star Trek actor James Doohan, plans to launch a science fiction-themed restaurant called Sci-Fi Cafe in Seattle, Wash., in March 1999.
The opening will mark the start of a Sci-Fi Cafe chain that will soon be followed by additional eateries in Las Vegas, Nev., New York, N.Y., and Los Angeles, Calif.
Doohan said each of the cafes will be designed like "an intergalactic space station with an alien zoo inside," populated by animatronic extraterrestrials and other oddities. Visitors will literally beam up to their seats courtesy of special effects, and there will be ample opportunity to buy SF merchandise.
The cafes will cost between $5 million and $7 million each, and Doohan said they are fully funded. A variety of celebrities have either invested in the project or endorsed it, including James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig and Majel Barrett Roddenberry from Star Trek, as well as actors from both Stars Wars and Battlestar Galactica.
Despite the SF theme, the younger Doohan said the restaurants plan to feature great food as their primary attraction, with an average dinner entre costing a modest $8-$12. Unlike other major themed restaurant chains, Doohan said all of the Sci-Fi Cafes will be different from one another
SF Celebs Gather For Murder
F actors Walter Koenig, George Takei, Grace Lee Whitney, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Bill Mumy and Wil Wheaton will guest star in an upcoming episode of Diagnosis Murder, tentatively scheduled to air on Oct. 29.
The installment is titled "Alienated" and deals with a mysterious encounter that Dr. Jesse Travis (played by series regular Charlie Schlatter) has while vacationing in the California wilderness.
The episode is being directed by Bruce Seth Green, whose credits include Babylon 5 and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It was written by David Bennett Carren and J. Larry Carroll, the supervising producers for Diagnosis Murder and former producers for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
As if "Alienated" didn't already have enough SF ties, composer Joel Goldsmith will be writing the score for the episode. Goldsmith served as co-composer on Star Trek: First Contact and also received an Emmy nomination for his work on Stargate SG-1.
Diagnosis Murder stars Dick Van Dyke, Barry Van Dyke, Victoria Rowell and Schlatter. It airs Thursdays on CBS at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Twilight Zone Coming To DVD
anasonic DVD Publishing has acquired all 156 episodes of Rod Serling's famous SF TV series The Twilight Zone for worldwide DVD release.
The enhanced DVDs will include "non-syndicated episodes not seen in years and incredibly rare footage provided by Serling himself," as well as a 1959 interview of Serling by Mike Wallace, voice-over commentary by Zone authority Marc Scott Zicree, and more.
Panasonic said it will release the first two Zone DVD collections--Treasures of the Twilight Zone and More Treasures of the Twilight Zone--on Sept. 21. The DVDs will carry a suggested retail price of $24.95.
New Line Expands Lost In Space
hen New Line Cinema releases Lost in Space on DVD this October, it will be giving consumers more than just a splashy SF film starring William Hurt and Mimi Rogers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Lost DVD will include not only the feature film but also New Line's entire Lost promotional Web site, as well as games and a copy of the movie screenplay.
Viewers with DVD-equipped computers will even be able to update some of the interactive components included on the disk by visiting the Lost Web site. Despite the extras, New Line is pricing the DVD at the standard retail price of $24.95.
Eastwood Rounds Up Space Cowboys
lint Eastwood plans to produce, direct and star in the upcoming Warner Bros. SF movie Space Cowboys, according to Variety.
The film is based on a script by Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner about a group of retired Air Force pilots who are recalled to duty in order to fly the space shuttle.
Eastwood is reportedly interested in bringing Jack Nicholson and Sean Connery onboard the film as his co-stars. He will likely begin shooting the project after he wraps up work on his current film, True Crime, which is now in postproduction.
Space Ghost Trading Moltar?
ci-Fi Wire has learned that Space Ghost, the amiable host of the Cartoon Network's hip talk show Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, plans to trade his arch nemesis-turned-director Moltar to a Japanese baseball team.
Rumor has it that Space Ghost has agreed to swap Moltar--who will likely play an outfield position--for two professional ballplayers, a bag of cats and a dog called Rags.
Sci-Fi Wire has further learned that Space Ghost intends to name Rags the new director of Coast to Coast during the upcoming episode "Chinatown," which will air sometime in the next few weeks. Zorak, Space Ghost's band leader, is reportedly composing a song entitled "Goodbye to you my molten friend" in honor of the occasion.
Hollywood Heavies Join Rings
he recently announced live-action movie trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic saga The Lord of the Rings is already attracting a lot of attention in Hollywood.
Variety reports that "a gang of grizzled Hollywood veterans" are putting their weight behind the film, including Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne from New Line, co-chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein from Miramax, independent producer Saul Zaentz, and Wingnut Films' Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.
As previously announced in Sci-Fi Wire, Jackson will be directing the films, but now comes word that he will also co-write and produce the trilogy with his partner Walsh, and his company Weta Digital will be handling the special effects. New Line is backing the trilogy with $130 million, not including a $10 million payment to Miramax for the movie rights to both Rings and Tolkien's famous precursor novel, The Hobbit.
The Weinsteins will still have a hand in the project, serving as executive producers for all three films. Miramax and Zaentz will also receive a back-end cut from the films, while Zaentz still holds most of his rights to the franchise.
Meanwhile, Jackson and Walsh are already at work on the scripts, and they plan to have preliminary drafts of all three completed by the end of the year. The project is slated to begin filming in New Zealand in May 1999, with a tentative release date of Christmas 2000 for the first film. Although no casting has been done, Rings will likely feature newcomers in the lead roles, with name actors relegated to secondary and cameo appearances.
Warner Announces Merlin Mystery
hen Warner Aspect published The Merlin Mystery by Jonathan Gunson and Marten Coombe on Sept. 7, it marked the start of a worldwide contest whose grand prize includes $100,000.
Readers will have to search the book for clues in order to find the spell of alchemy, which will allow them to claim the "wand of Merlin" as well as the cash.
The wand is an integral part of the The Merlin Mystery, which tells the story of a band of wizards who gathered at Stonehenge to prevent evil sorcerers from destroying the world. The wizards--including Merlin, Blaise and Kells--forged a gold and silver wand powerful enough to stop the sorcerers, but the wand was lost during a terrible battle.
The Merlin Mystery will be released simultaneously in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and Holland. The contest will run until Warner receives the correct solution or until Dec. 31, 2001.
Blade Strikes At The Box Office
ew Line Cinema's effects-laden vampire action flick Blade brought in an estimated $17 million during its debut weekend, beating out Saving Private Ryan for the No. 1 position at the box office.
Blade went on to earn more than $11 million in its second week of release, enough to top the box office once again.
The powerful performance of Blade put it among the top 10 openers of all time for the month of August, alongside New Line's Spawn and Mortal Kombat. The film, directed by Stephen Norrington and starring Wesley Snipes, is based on the Marvel Comic book series of the same name.
Briefly Noted
- Fox will release Dr. Dolittle to home video on Oct. 13, followed by The X-Files: Fight the Future on Nov. 24. Both videos will carry a retail price of $19.98.
- Armageddon earned $2.6 million during its debut weekend in Italy, making it the highest-grossing English-langauge film ever to open in that country.
- Akira Kurosawa, the legendary Japanese film director whose work directly influenced American movie classics such as George Lucas's Star Wars, died Sunday, Sept. 6, at his home in Tokyo. He was 88.
- Jeffrey Willerth, the actor beneath the Kosh suit on Babylon 5, tells us that viewers can see a picture of him sans encounter suit at http://www.kosh.org/.
- The Cartoon Network has reportedly picked up the computer-generated SF cartoon ReBoot, which originally aired on ABC. The network is expected to issue a formal press release about the acquisition later this month.
- Starship Troopers frontliner Casper Van Dien has signed on to star opposite Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's upcoming movie Sleepy Hollow, based on Washington Irving's classic story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
- The Sci-Fi Channel will take a look at the history and development of anime when it airs the special Masters of Fantasy: The Anime Filmmakers on Sept. 12.
- In August, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release The Planet of the Apes Collector's Edition, a fully restored and THX-certified video version of the classic 1968 movie.
- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright recently revealed that the character Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess is one of her role models.
