Episode I Intro Released
umerous online sources as well as the TV show Access Hollywood have reported that George Lucas has released the opening text for Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
The latest version of the obligatory introductory scroll--made famous in Star Wars with the words "Star Wars - Episode IV"--purportedly reads:
Star Wars
Episode I: The Phantom Menace
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic
Republic. The taxation of trade routes to
outlying star systems is in dispute.
Hoping to resolve the matter with the
blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy
Trade Federation has stopped all shipping
to the small planet of Naboo.
While the Congress of the Republic endlessly
debates this alarming chain of events, the
Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched
two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace,
to settle the conflict..."
Lucas also told Vanity Fair in a recent interview that the new movie focuses on the heyday of the Jedi Knights, who serve as the guardians for peace and justice in the galaxy. Other Episode I tidbits include the news that Anakin Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine--who were bad guys in the original trilogy--are the good guys in this film, and that Anakin won't start down the road to evil until Episode II.
Lucas Says Six Is Enough
tar Wars creator George Lucas said he won't be making any more movies in his epic space adventure film series after the completion of the new trilogy in 2005, according to CNN.
Lucas spilled the beans in the Jan. 4 issue of Vanity Fair, which quoted him as saying "I never had a story for the sequels, for the later ones."
Fans and filmmakers alike have long believed that Lucas planned to create nine movies set in the Star Wars universe, to be filmed as three separate trilogies. However, the 55-year-old director said he will be too old by the time the sixth film is finished to attempt any more.
The first of the new films, Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, will hit theaters on May 21. It will be followed by two sequels that will be released in 2002 and 2005.
Insurrection Wows Foreign Fans
tar Trek: Insurrection took the foreign box office by storm during the New Year's weekend, premiering at No. 1 in both the United Kingdom and Germany, according to Variety.
The ninth flick in the Trek franchise garnered $5.7 million from German moviegoers, while Brits ponied up $4.5 million to see the Jonathan Frakes picture.
Insurrection also set an all-time opening record for the Trek franchise in Australia, where fans bought $1.3 million worth of tickets. Australian trekkers were wooed to theaters in part by Brent Spiner, who went on a publicity tour Down Under in support of the film.
Benford, Cassutt Race To Mars
F authors Gregory Benford and Michael Cassutt are working on a TV film called The Martian Race for Mandalay Television Pictures, according to Variety.
The story centers around the race to launch the first privately funded manned mission to the Red Planet.
The telefilm will reportedly trade heavily on scientific accuracy and will benefit from input by NASA's Mars Exploration office. Meanwhile, Benford's most recent novel, Cosm, is being developed for the silver screen by 20th Century Fox.
HAL Stumps For Apple
pple has recruited the infamous computer HAL 9000 from Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey to serve as a Web spokesbeing.
The red-eyed nemesis from the spaceship Discovery is the star of a TV-style Web-only ad that Apple is running on its Internet site.
The ad was created in QuickTime 3 and can be viewed on Windows or Macintosh machines equipped with the QuickTime plug-in. According to Apple, the ad focuses on the upcoming Year 2000 dilemma and pushes the message that "had IT professionals realized back then that Apple technology was immune to the millennium bug, they might have succumbed to temptation--and saved themselves a bundle in the process."
George Costanza Visits Voyager
ason Alexander, the Tony Award-winning actor who played George Costanza on Seinfeld, will make a guest appearance on an upcoming episode of UPN's Star Trek: Voyager.
Alexander will play Kurros, the charismatic but unscrupulous leader of an alien think tank, a legendary group of beings who solve problems...for a price.
Voyager has to turn to the think tank for help after Captain Janeway and her crew are cornered by a fleet of ruthless bounty hunters. However, Kurros demands Voyager's borg crew member Seven of Nine as compensation for his services, and he won't take no for an answer.
The episode--which is entitled "Think Tank"--went into production on Jan. 7 and will air on UPN this spring.
NBC Enters The Tenth Kingdom
ext season NBC plans to air a 10-hour fantasy miniseries called The Tenth Kingdom, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The saga was scripted by Emmy-winning writer Simon Moore, whose previous credits include Gulliver's Travels.
The Tenth Kingdom tells the story of the Land of Nine Kingdoms, where an evil queen is plotting to usurp the throne, aided by trolls and a wolfman. The show is yet another long-form TV project from Hallmark Entertainment, which has scored big with previous miniseries such as Gulliver, Merlin, Moby Dick and The Odyssey.
Philip K. Dick Noms Announced
he nominees for the 1998 Philip K. Dick Award were announced by the award judges and the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society.
The finalists are:
- 253: The Print Remix by Geoff Ryman
- Lost Pages by Paul Di Filippo
- Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
- Slaughtermatic by Steve Aylett
- The Invisible Country by Paul J. McAuley
The first prize winner and any special citations will be announced on April 2 at the Norwescon 22 convention, which will be held at the Doubletree Hotel Seattle Airport in Seattle, Wash. The award is presented annually for distinguished SF published in paperback original form in the United States.
The Philip K. Dick Award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, while the ceremony is sponsored by the NorthWest Science Fiction Society. The 1998 judges were Jeff Vandermeer, James Alan Gardner, Angus MacDonald, Lance Olsen and Sarah Zettel.
The Oscars Love SF F/X
ix of the seven finalists for Oscar nomination contention in the best visual effects category are SF films, according to Variety.
The Motion Picture Academy announced that the SF films Armageddon, Godzilla, Mighty Joe Young, Small Soldiers, The Truman Show and What Dreams May Come made the short list for the Academy Awards, along with Babe: Pig in the City.
On Feb. 3 the MPA will select three nominees from among these seven films to place on the final Oscar ballot, and the ultimate winner will be announced on March 21. The award itself will be given to the people--up to four per film--responsible for supervising the visual effects of the winning flick.
Disney's Dinos Cost $200 Million
he Walt Disney Co. is working on an animated film called Dinosaurs that could carry a price tag of more than $200 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie is the brainchild of director Paul Verhoeven, who conceived of Dinosaurs while on the set of his 1987 film Robocop, though he is no longer attached to the project.
The film is reportedly about a baby dinosaur born in the Cretaceous era who is separated from his family as an egg. The young dino is raised by lemur monkeys and later goes on to save his species from extinction when an asteroid strikes the Earth.
Briefly Noted
- Many people are confusing the year 2000 with the new millennium, and that bothers SF author Arthur C. Clarke. The writer of 2001: A Space Odyssey recently issued a statement to Reuters that explained "The 21st Century and the Third Millennium do not begin until Jan. 1, 2001."
- The official Star Wars Web site was temporarily hacked on Friday, Jan. 8, although LucasFilm reports no serious mischief was done, according to Cnet.
- Leonard Nimoy has agreed to become the official spokesperson for the SF section of the Big Entertainment Web site, according to PRNewswire.
- Stephen King recently unveiled his official Web site, which is available at www.stephenking.com.
- Harvest Books announced it will publish the Nebula Awards 33 anthology in April in both a hardcover and paperback edition. The volume is being edited by SF author Connie Willis.
- TBS picked up the TV broadcast rights to the Warner Bros. picture Jack Frost, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film will debut on the network in 2001.
- Charmed star Alyssa Milano wed musician Cinjun August Tate during a New Year's Day ceremony held in Louisiana. Milano's Charmed co-stars Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs were on hand to witness the event.
