Arnold Back On Terminator Track
rnold Schwarzenegger is in talks to reprise his role as a nearly indestructible cyborg for a third Terminator film, which is in development at Fox, according to Variety.
James Cameron will likely write and produce the on-again, off-again project, and there is a chance he may also decide to direct the film.
Previously both Cameron--who wrote and directed the first two Terminator films--and Schwarzenegger had distanced themselves from the movie, which has been bogged down in legal battles for several years. However, now that Terminator 3 is in Fox's hands, the project is reportedly moving forward rapidly.
Toho Will Resurrect Godzilla
ust three years after killing off Tokyo's favorite radioactive lizard, the Toho Co. said it plans to resurrect Godzilla, the most famous giant monster of all time.
According to Variety, Toho plans to release a new Godzilla film in December 1999, tentatively titled Godzilla Millennium.
Toho said it made its decision in part due to the recent release of the Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich version of Godzilla, which was a box-office bomb in the United States. "The shape of the American version of Godzilla was so different from the Japanese version that there was a clamor among fans and company officials to create a Godzilla unique to Japan," Variety quoted a Toho spokesperson as saying.
Godzilla has been featured in 22 films since he made his debut in 1954, though 1995's Godzilla vs. Destroyer--in which the Toho Terror finally met his match--was originally going to be the last produced by Japanese movie studios.
Insurrection Lands $22.4 Million
tar Trek: Insurrection took the top spot at the box office for the weekend of Dec. 11 when it earned an estimated $22.4 million in its first three days of release.
That was the third largest opening for a Trek film ever, behind only Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Generations.
Despite mixed reviews from fans and critics, Insurrection should continue to do well in theaters since there are few movies out that target Trek's predominantly male audience. Insurrection is the ninth film in the Trek film franchise and the third to star the cast of the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Fox Developing Banzai Series
ox Broadcasting is developing a TV series based on the 1984 movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, according to Variety.
Fox has ordered a script for the project, an hour-long comedic show that could debut as early as next fall.
Buckaroo Banzai, which featured such notables as Peter Weller, Ellen Barkin and Jeff Goldblum, has long been a cult hit with SF fans. The movie told the story of Buckaroo Banzai, a legendary figure whose many talents included rock 'n' roll, neurosurgery and fighting interdimensional aliens.
Sci-Fi Acquires 3 More Shows
he Sci-Fi Channel has picked up the off-network rights to three more SF TV series, Dark Skies, The Visitor and The Burning Zone.
The shows will begin airing on the channel on Jan. 3, 1999, as part of a Sunday night programming block that will run from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.
Dark Skies is set in the turbulent 1960s and follows the story of John Loengard (Eric Close), a man who inadvertently learns of a secret government agency called Majestic-12 that researches and covers up alien activity on Earth. The series premiered on NBC in 1997.
The Visitor, created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, tells the story of a man (John Corbett) who disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle 50 years ago and who has now returned to save humanity from annihilation. The Visitor debuted on Fox in 1997.
The Burning Zone ran on UPN in 1997 and followed a special task force whose job was to combat a deadly virus that could kill millions of people in a matter of minutes. The ensemble cast included Michael Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Tamlyn Tomita and James Black.
USA To Air Verne Miniseries
SA Network has finalized a development deal with Hallmark Entertainment to create a four-hour miniseries based on Jules Verne's classic SF book Journey to the Center of the Earth.
The cable company is hoping to capitalize on the success of Moby Dick, an earlier miniseries produced by Hallmark that scored big ratings for USA.
The Verne miniseries will follow the adventures of two men who set out to find a rich socialite's husband in New Zealand and instead discover a netherworld beyond imagination. During their journey they come across such wonders as a tribe of people who are half human and half dinosaur, and an unusual plant that yields an all-healing medication.
USA Network is owned by the USA Networks company, which also owns The Sci-Fi Channel.
Dark Shadows Returns To Sci-Fi
he Sci-Fi Channel plans to return Dark Shadows to its programming lineup with back-to-back episodes that will air Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. ET, starting Jan. 4, 1999.
The supernatural soap opera originally ran on ABC from 1966-1971, during which time a staggering 1,225 episodes were produced.
The series stars Jonathan Frid as a vampire named Barnabas Collins who presides over a mansion in Collinsport, Maine, which is home to werewolves, witches, ghosts and other monsters. Dark Shadows began its first run on the Sci-Fi Channel when the station made its debut in September 1992, and the series remained in the lineup until 1997.
Sci-Fi UK Leaving Scandinavia, Benelux
he Sci-Fi Channel UK has confirmed that it plans to withdraw its broadcasting service from Scandinavia and Benelux starting Jan. 1, 1999.
Although the channel reached an estimated 300,000 homes in the two markets, the English-language service never found its niche with local broadcasters.
The company made the decision to end service in the two regions so it can devote its time and resources to developing its core markets. "Sci-Fi is fully aware that its viewers in Scandinavia and Benelux will be disappointed at the loss of Sci-Fi, and would like to take this opportunity to thank viewers and partners in these regions for their loyalty and support," a company press release stated.
Ralston Revisits Mysterious Island
pecial-effects maven Ken Ralston plans to make his directorial debut on a remake of the classic SF flick Mysterious Island, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is in development at Sony Pictures Imageworks, where Ralston had been planning to helm the big-screen version of Dinotopia before that project fell victim to budget concerns.
Mysterious Island is based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name and first hit theaters in 1929, showcasing stop-motion effects created by Ralston and Ray Harryhausen. It's a story about a group of Confederate prison escapees who steal an observation balloon and end up landing on an uncharted island populated by giant animals.
Ralston has earned five Oscar awards in the visual effects category, including a statuette for his work on Return of the Jedi.
Rhino Brings Alien Voices To Video
hino Home Video announced that it will release two of the live, radio-style TV shows that were performed by the Alien Voices acting troupe on the Sci-Fi Channel.
The two videos--H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World--will hit stores on Jan. 26, 1999, and will carry a retail price of $14.98.
Alien Voices, founded by Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie, is a troupe that features former Star Trek actors who perform radio-style dramatizations of classic science fiction stories. Both of these Alien Voices specials were broadcast live on TV as well as simultaneously on radio and over the Internet.
MGM Howls For Blood
GM plans to bring Annette Curtis Klause's young adult werewolf saga Blood and Chocolate to the silver screen, according to Variety.
The flick will be helmed by the husband-and-wife team of Larry Williams and Leslie Libman, who have numerous music videos, commercials and TV shows to their credit but who have never tackled a feature film.
Blood and Chocolate centers around a teenage werewolf who is mourning the death of her father and who has also become bored with her fellow lycanthropes. Things become more complicated when she falls in love with a human boy, and a supernatural version of Romeo and Juliet ensues.
Overseas Markets Mixed On SF
F films have been getting a mixed reaction at the overseas box office, where Armageddon soared to the fourth best opening ever in Japan while What Dreams May Come floundered in Germany.
Moviegoers of all nationalities have been swarming to see A Bug's Life, but Lost in Space has had both ups and downs, according to published reports.
To date, Armageddon has earned $241 million in foreign theaters and may break the $300 million barrier soon. The X-Files is up to $98.4 million abroad, but What Dreams May Come has taken in just $15.2 million.
Other overseas earnings include $41.7 million for Blade and $52.7 million for Lost in Space. The Truman Show recently passed the $112 million mark, and Antz is up to $60.6 million.
Briefly Noted
- Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox announced that Stars Wars: Episode 1 will debut in the United Kingdom on July 16, 1999.
- John Travolta may begin work on the film adaptation of L. Ron Hubbard's SF novel Battlefield Earth as early as this summer, according to Variety.
- The Sci-Fi Channel's broadcast of the six-hour miniseries Invasion Earth averaged a 1.6 household rating in the Nielsens, nearly doubling the channel's recent prime-time average rating of 0.9.
- Universal Studios Home Video is planning to film a direct-to-video sequel to the 1996 fantasy film Dragonheart, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
- Actress Linda Hamilton has filed for a divorce from Oscar-winning director James Cameron, according to published reports. The two, who previously worked together on both Terminator films, were married on June 24, 1997.
- ABC will move Cupid to the Thursday, 9 p.m., timeslot beginning Jan. 7, 1999. The series currently airs Saturdays at 10 p.m.
- Disney and Pixar released a new set of outtakes for the hit animated film A Bug's Life on Dec. 18. The first set of made-up "bloopers" has been running at the end of the film and has proved popular with audiences.
