TNT Abandoning Crusade?
he recent rumors about TNT abandoning the Babylon 5 spin-off series Crusade may be accurate.
In a post on Compuserve, Crusade creator J. Michael Straczynski noted that TNT "is not SF-friendly in terms of really getting what SF is about" and that "a new, more SF friendly venue is being explored."
While there is no official word on the status of the series, Straczynski hinted that Crusade owner Warner Bros. may offer the show to the Sci-Fi Channel. Straczynski also told fans that, contrary to some reports, Crusade had not been canceled and that such a decision could only be made by Warner Bros., not TNT.
Fox Cancels Brimstone
t appears that Fox has canceled its Friday night supernatural series Brimstone, though reports about the show's fate have been confused.
Various online sources have been posting news about Brimstone's demise for several days, though Fox has since gone on record denying the rumors.
However, according to the official Brimstone online bulletin board, the news is true. Co-executive producer Ethan Reiff posted a message to the board that read "Hate to say it but we have been cancelled. Very busy here at the moment, bidding fond farewells and trying to return lots of phone calls, but we will be back to post as many specific replies as we can."
Cyrus Voris, another of the show's co-executive producers, posted another note that read "The last couple of episodes kick serious ass and will tie up a couple of emotional threads of the show before its untimely farewell." At this point it appears that there are four unaired episodes of Brimstone remaining, and that Fox will be running at least some of those in February.
Earth: Final Conflict Renewed
he syndicated SF series Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict has been renewed for two more seasons, according to Alliance Atlantis Communications and Tribune Entertainment, the two companies that produce the show.
The deal guarantees a third and fourth season for the one-hour actioner, which is currently available in 80 percent of the United States as well as on the CTV Network in Canada.
"Gene Roddenberry's name is synonymous with success, and it's obvious that the show properly carries the torch in carrying on his legacy of producing riveting sci-fi programming that delivers results," said Dick Askin, the president and CEO of Tribune. Final Conflict was conceived by Roddenberry years ago but it was not until after his death that the show was put into production.
Final Conflict is one of Roddenberry's so-called "lost" projects that was resurrected by his widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who serves as an executive producer for the series.
Star Wars Named No. 1 SF Film
ccording to a recent poll conducted by Sci-Fi Entertainment Magazine, fans think Star Wars is the No. 1 SF film of all time.
That was the verdict reached after Sci-Fi Entertainment--the official magazine of the Sci-Fi Channel--tallied more than 20,000 votes in an attempt to determine the "Top 100 Sci-Fi Films."
Rounding out the top 10 after Star Wars came Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Empire Strikes Back, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Aliens, Return of the Jedi, Alien and Forbidden Planet. The complete list of 100 films will be available on the Sci-Fi Channel's Dominion Web site on Feb. 1 and will also be published in the April issue of Sci-Fi Entertainment.
Davidtz Joins Bicentennial Man
chindler's List actress Embeth Davidtz has joined the cast of the upcoming Robin Williams SF flick Bicentennial Man, according to Variety.
Davidtz, whose credits also include Fallen, The Gingerbread Man and Army of Darkness, will play two roles in the film, which is based on the Isaac Asimov story of the same name.
The movie is about an android (Williams) who takes on human qualities during the two hundred years he spends as the servant of a human family. Davidtz will play both a young woman that Williams takes care of as well as that woman's granddaughter.
De Palma Headed To Mars?
ission Impossible Director Brian De Palma may take the helm of Disney's upcoming SF thriller Mission to Mars, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
If the deal goes through, De Palma would replace Gore Verbinski, who recently left the project due to creative and budgetary differences.
Mars tells the story of two missions sent to the Red Planet, the first a research craft that disappears mysteriously and the second a rescue party. If De Palma agrees to take on the project, filming could reportedly start as soon as June.
Artisan Buys Witch Project
rtisan Entertainment picked up the worldwide rights to the independent horror film The Blair Witch Project after a screening at the Sundance Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is about three students who mysteriously disappear while shooting a documentary in Blair, Md., about a local witch myth, leaving behind only their self-made movie as a testament to what occurred.
Artisan reportedly paid between $1 million and $2.5 million for the flick, which starred Heather Donahue, Michael Williams and Joshua Leonard. Gregg Hale and Robin Cowie produced the film, while Kevin Foxe and Bob Eick served as executive producers.
At last year's Sundance Festival Artisan bought the rights to the independent SF film Pi, which was shot for $60,000 and went on to gross $3.5 million domestically.
Jones Joins Eastwood In Space Cowboys
ommy Lee Jones has signed on to star alongside Clint Eastwood in the outer-space action flick Space Cowboys, according to Variety.
The film is about four aging astronauts who are recruited by NASA to fix a malfunctioning satellite that was launched back in the 1960s.
Although the former space jocks are well beyond their prime, NASA desperately needs one of them for his expertise, but he won't go unless he can bring his buddies along for the ride. Eastwood will also direct the Warner Bros. film, which begins shooting in June.
Nimoy, De Lancie Perform For Bige.com
lien Voices, the acting troupe headed by Star Trek alums Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie, has agreed to create a series of live Internet programming events for the retail Web site bige.com.
The online shows will take place at unscheduled intervals and will feature Nimoy and crew as "'alien voices' interrupting a normal Internet transmission to communicate with the people of Earth."
Bige.com said the events will be reminiscent of the early days of radio, when Orson Welles performed live on-air dramas such as The War of the Worlds. Recently bige.com signed Nimoy to be the official spokesperson for the site's science fiction section.
Fantasy Encyclopedia Wins Eaton Award
he Encyclopedia of Fantasy--published by St. Martin's Press and edited by John Clute and John Grant--won the Eaton Award as the outstanding critical study of science fiction and fantasy published during the years 1997 and 1998.
The award was presented on Jan. 17 during the 20th Annual J. Lloyd Eaton Conference on Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, which was held in Riverside, Calif.
The Eaton Conference is one of the oldest and most prestigious academic conferences devoted to fantastic literature. Previous winners of the Eaton Award include such notables as Peter Nicholls and Clute--who were honored for The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction--Brian W. Aldiss, John Brosnan and H. Bruce Franklin.
1998 BSFA Awards Short List Announced
he British Science Fiction Association has released the short list for the 1998 BSFA Awards.
The awards will be presented on Sunday, April 4, at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, U.K. The short list includes:
- Best Novel
- To Hold Infinity by John Meaney
- The Cassini Division by Ken MacLeod
- The Extremes by Christopher Priest
- Inversions by Iain M. Banks
- Queen City Jazz by Kathleen Ann Goonan
- Best Short Fiction
- "The First Annual Performance Arts Festival at the Slaughter Rock Battlefield" by Thomas M. Disch (Interzone 131)
- "La Cenerentola" by Gwyneth Jones (Interzone 136)
- "Shift Change" by Timons Esaias (Interzone 137)
- "The Day Before They Came" by Mary Soon Lee (Interzone 133)
- "Vulpheous" by Eric Brown (Interzone 129)
- Best Artwork
- The Gardens of Saturn by Dominic Harman (cover Interzone 137)
- Front Cover Focus 34 by Colin Odell
- Back Cover Focus 34 by Colin Odell
- Jedella Ghost by Dominic Harman (cover Interzone 135)
- Lord Prestimion by Jim Burns (cover Interzone 138)
The BSFA Awards have been presented annually since the 1960s.
The short list is determined by the membership of the BSFA, while the winners are voted upon by both the BSFA and the membership of Eastercon, the annual British National Science Fiction Convention.
Briefly Noted
- The X-Files' David Duchovny has been nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award in the Best Actor in a Drama category, his co-star Gillian Anderson received a nomination for Best Actress in a Drama, and 3rd Rock from the Sun's cast earned a nod for Best Ensemble in a Comedy.
- The Sci-Fi Channel has picked up nine additional episodes of the new SF series Farscape, bringing the show's first season commitment up to 22 episodes. Farscape will make its Sci-Fi debut on March 19 at 8 p.m. ET.
- Aussiecon Three, the 57th World Science Fiction Convention, announced that Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski will be attending the con as a special guest.
- Rhino Home Video said it will release three new Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes--Wild, Wild World of Batwomen, Beginning of the End and The Crawling Hand--to home video on March 16.
- Disney plans to release A Bug's Life to home video on April 20 with four different box designs, both sets of the movie's much talked about "outtakes" and the short film Geri's Game made by Bug's producer Pixar.
- ABC has canceled its under-performing series Cupid after just 15 episodes, according to Variety.
- Nicholas J. Corea, a writer, producer and director who worked on TV shows such as The Incredible Hulk and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, died Jan. 17 at the age of 55, according to Variety.
- Showtime Networks Inc. picked up 28 episodes of the SF Internet series WhirlGirl and will begin airing the show on its Web site in February. Showtime also has an option to develop WhirlGirl for TV and other Internet formats.
- The Truman Show's Peter Weir is one of five nominees for the 51st annual Directors Guild of America award, given for outstanding achievement in feature film direction.
- The hit SF film The Truman Show earned three Golden Globe Awards in the motion picture category, including the best actor honor for Jim Carrey, best supporting actor for Ed Harris and best original score for Burkhard Dallwitz and Philip Glass.
