Cameron Taking Fox To Mars
irector James Cameron is developing two SF TV programs for Fox, including a miniseries based on Kim Stanley Robinson's award-winning Mars Trilogy and a new weekly drama.
According to Variety, Fox is hoping to have the Mars miniseries completed by early 2000, and there is also the potential for Mars to receive its own spin-off show.
Fox has also given Cameron a 13-episode commitment on a new SF series slated to debut next fall. Although several ideas have been discussed, Variety reports that Fox is most interested in a drama about a genetically engineered woman who has extraordinary physical powers.
X-Files Debut Tops Ratings
he X-Files started its sixth season on Sunday, Nov. 8, with strong ratings, finishing No. 1 among adults aged 18-49 in preliminary Nielsen results, according to published reports.
Altogether nearly 20 million Files fans watched their favorite show, a healthy cut above last season's average viewership of 17.6 million.
The news was not all good for Fox, however, as its wunderkind series was actually down 27 percent in the 18-49 demographic from its premiere performance a year ago. Worse still, last year 27.3 million of the faithful tuned in to trust no one during the season opener, a whopping 36 percent more than the sixth season debut managed.
Star Wars Posters Closely Guarded
romotional posters for the upcoming film Star Wars: Episode I were being closely watched when they rolled off the presses in Los Angeles, Calif., Variety reported.
According to the trade paper, a representative from either Fox or Lucasfilm was on hand at all times to make sure no stray posters found their way into unauthorized hands.
The posters were also reportedly produced with a special five-color process to prevent counterfeiting, and they include a Fox logo that changes color when exposed to a black light. As an added precaution, posters that did not meet quality standards were immediately torn up.
The one-sheet promos, which feature a young man standing against a desert backdrop, should appear in theaters on Nov. 20, the same day the first Episode I trailer is due to be released.
Corman Plans Black Scorpion Movie
-movie king Roger Corman plans to combine two segments of his superhero series Black Scorpion to create a full-fledged movie destined for theatrical release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Corman will reportedly spend $20 million of his own money on the venture, which stars Michelle Lintel as a campy action hero in a drama reminiscent of the old Batman TV series.
Black Scorpion started out as two made-for-cable movies that aired as part of Showtime's Roger Corman Presents series. Corman is currently shooting the final installments of a 22-episode Black Scorpion TV series that he hopes to sell in a package deal.
Polygram Plans Total Recall Push
olygram Television has big plans for its new TV series Total Recall 2070, which it hopes to launch as a syndicated mid-season replacement in January 2000.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Polygram decided not to push the show for a fall debut--when most series kick off their new seasons--because that market is inundated with one-hour weekly dramas.
Instead, Polygram is planning a major promotional blitz for a time when most networks are revamping their lineups following the all-important November sweeps. Total Recall 2070 will make its cable debut on Showtime in March 1999.
Byrne May Play Devil
abriel Byrne is finalizing a deal to play the devil in Beacon Communications' upcoming film End of Days, according to Variety.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has already agreed to star in the picture, which is about a Manhattan cop who must prevent Satan from taking an earthly bride.
End of Days is being directed by Peter Hyams from a script written by Andrew Marlowe. It will be distributed in North America by Universal.
Charnas Sells Conqueror's Child
F author Suzy McKee Charnas sold The Conqueror's Child, the fourth and final novel in her acclaimed Holdfast series, to Tor Books for hardcover publication in May 1999.
"I looked back at this sequence of books, begun in 1974 with the publication of my first novel [Motherlines], and thought with some surprise, well look at that--a sort of 'life-work,' if you consider 25 years in SF as a 'life,'" Charnas said.
"The Holdfast books form a futurist, feminist epic recounting the descent of a barbarized remnant of America into sexist savagery, the renewal of hope and courage in fugitive slaves through contact with a society of amazon women, and the costs and rewards and continuing change wrought by the effort to create a society in which the standard of human behavior is not male but female," Charnas explained.
The Conqueror's Child centers around Alldera, an escaped "fem" who returns to the Holdfast where she had been kept as a slave by men. In a brief but bitter war, the fems turn the tables on their former masters. Years later Alldera's daughter, Sorrel Holdfaster, brings a male child over the mountains to the woman-run land. This adds fuel to continuing political ferment among the Free Fems, and it also plays into the hand of Daya, the scheming pet-fem who was once Alldera's lover and is now her enemy.
The series began with Motherlines and was followed by Walk to the End of the World and The Furies. The Furies is still in print from Tor, while Motherlines and End of the World will be published as an omnibus by Tor's Orb imprint in 1999.
Seattle Withdraws Worldcon Bid
he Seattle in 2002 World Science Fiction Convention Bid Committee has withdrawn its bid to host the 2002 Worldcon in downtown Seattle, Wash.
Committee chairperson Patrick Porter said, "The bid committee has been unable to obtain a reservation for the Washington State Trade and Convention Center due to unexplained resistance on the part of local hotel management to commit the necessary room nights."
The withdrawal means that the bid will likely fall to Seattle's only rival, the San Francisco in 2002 Worldcon Bid Committee, though technically there is still time for other fan organizations to file competing bids. San Francisco chair Kevin Standlee issued a statement that read in part, "While we are obviously relieved to see such a powerful opponent leave the field, we are also saddened by the loss, and regret that we will now never know what the choice of the voters would have been."
San Francisco has also announced that pre-supporting members of the Seattle bid can apply the value of their memberships toward a pre-supporting membership in the San Francisco in 2002 bid. The Worldcon is the annual gathering of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary body.
Psygnosis To Launch SF DVD Game
ame publisher Psygnosis announced it will be releasing its first game on DVD in spring 1999, an SF action adventure called Lander.
Lander challenges players to pilot four different spaceships throughout 30 missions as they travel the solar system in search of the secret to a mysterious alien artifact.
"Lander is an exemplary title that shows off all the bells and whistles of the advanced technology used today in the entertainment business," said Harry Vitelli, vice president of marketing for Psygnosis US. "The highly realistic intro sequences and in-game video tie the storyline together beautifully with seamless, futuristic gameplay."
Lander will feature MPEG-2 full-motion video, Dolby Digital 5.1 channel music, movies and trailers that can be played on a standard DVD player, and a full audio track that can be played from the game CD. It will also include several multiplayer options that will allow up to 16 gamers to square off against one another at one time.
Blizzard Conquers Stellar Forces
lizzard Entertainment reports that it has settled its lawsuit with Microstar Software, the company that produced and sold an unauthorized add-on for Blizzard's best-selling SF game StarCraft.
According to Blizzard, Microstar has agreed to immediately cease sales and distribution of the expansion pack, called Stellar Forces, and it will destroy all remaining copies in its inventory.
"We regret our decision to release the product and any harm to the Blizzard label or StarCraft franchise that our actions may have caused," Microstar president Stephen Benedict said. As part of the settlement, Microstar has agreed to pay Blizzard an undisclosed sum of money.
Briefly Noted
- LucasFilm is offering Net surfers a sneak peek at the new Star Wars: Episode I promotional poster on the official Star Wars Web site.
- On Sunday, Nov. 15, IBM debuted a series of commercial spots that tie-in its e-commerce services with Paramount's new Star Trek film Star Trek: Insurrection.
- Jeffrey Tambor has signed on to star in the upcoming movie Muppets from Space, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
- Godzilla crushed the competition during its home video debut, capturing the top spot in the rental market with $8.04 million in sales for the week ending Nov. 8.
