Galactica Wins Peabody

SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica has been honored with the prestigious Peabody Award, which recognizes distinguished achievement in electronic media. It is the first Peabody Award for the network.

The winners of the 65th Annual Peabody Awards were announced April 5 by the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The winners, chosen by the Peabody board as the best in electronic media for 2005, were named in a ceremony in the Peabody Gallery on the University of Georgia Campus and presented at a luncheon hosted by two-time Peabody winner Jon Stewart at New York's Waldof-Astoria Hotel.

The Peabody Board is a 16-member group—made up of television critics, broadcast and cable industry executives and experts in culture and the arts—that judges the entries. Selections are made by the board following review by special screening committees of UGA faculty, students and staff.

"As is the case every year, submissions for consideration by the Peabody Board provide insight into the astonishing array of electronic media productions," said Horace Newcomb, director of the Peabody Awards. "These are the works self-selected by creators and producers as their very best work from the previous calendar year. This year's Peabody Award recipients stand as hallmarks of excellence in news, documentary, comedy, drama, education and public service."

The Peabody Awards, the oldest honor in electronic media, do not recognize categories, nor is there a set number of awards given each year.Grudge 2's Tamblyn Follows Dad

TOKYO—Amber Tamblyn, who stars in the upcoming horror sequel film The Grudge 2, told SCI FI Wire that she's following in the footsteps of her actor father, Russ Tamblyn, who traveled to Japan in the 1960s to shoot the Japanese monster movie War of the Gargantuas, and whose 1963 horror movie The Haunting affected Grudge creator Takashi Shimizu.

"Shimizu-san was a really big, huge fan of The Haunting, which my dad was in," Tamblyn said in an interview between takes on the set of the movie at Toho Studios on April 3. "So when my dad came, he was sort of like [mimes fumbling nervously with her pockets] ... doing all of this with his pockets. It was really cute."

In The Grudge 2, the sequel to 2004's hit ghost movie, Tamblyn plays Aubrey, the younger sister of Sarah Michelle Gellar's Karen from the first movie. Aubrey comes to Tokyo to investigate the mysterious events surrounding her sister's fate. Tamblyn's father and mother are currently in Tokyo for a couple of weeks to spend time with their daughter while she shoots The Grudge 2.

"He just loved it here," Amber said of her father. "This is his fourth trip to Japan. He really loved it, although this time it was a little different, because when they came in, they got in an accident on the way in from the airport, which was like a really bizarre experience. My mother, who had never been here before, was a little traumatized by that. But besides that, he loves Japan. And I told him ... that they were really excited [to meet him], because of War of the Gargantuas. It's like a huge film here. And ... I think they're filming, like, another Godzilla, so every once in a while I'll be sitting outside to get some sun at lunch, and, like, between the two buildings, the two studio buildings, I'll just see this like giant thing being, like, pulled by eight men, this giant, like, Godzilla going through between buildings."

Tamblyn (TV's Joan of Arcadia) is in Japan for about two months to shoot the film. She described her character: "Aubrey [is] Karen's, Sarah Michelle Gellar's, younger sister. And she's sort of always been the underdog in the family and somebody who is not as ambitious or driven as her sister, as Karen's character. So she's sort of always felt like she's had to follow in her sister's footsteps. And even her mother sending her to Japan to figure out what happened to her ... sister—she wants her to figure out where she went and what happened and all this stuff about fire—I think she's even nervous about that, because it's the first time she's ever had to go experience something on her own. And it's something that scares her, because she doesn't know anything about it, and she's really alone in the whole scheme of things."

As for her own experience of Japan? "It's been amazing," Tamblyn said. "I'm actually extending my stay 15 days past wrap so that I can travel. I'd probably move here if I could." The Grudge 2 opens Oct. 13. —Patrick Lee, News EditorGoing From Ring To Grudge

TOKYO—Amber Tamblyn, who stars in the upcoming supernatural horror sequel The Grudge 2, told SCI FI Wire that it's different starring in the English-language, Japanese-flavored movie after her experience in a small role in The Ring, an American remake of a Japanese film. "There is a major difference," Tamblyn said in an interview on the film's set at the famous Toho Studios here, "obviously with what gets lost in translation with working with a Japanese crew and set and working in America. Even though you're ... remaking a horror film that is very big in Japan, there is a difference as far as the actual working-on-set experience. Trying to communicate things, or things that you normally take for granted that you never think about, like asking the cameraman if he wants you to stand on your mark so he can ... check focus: things ... which you generally just do without even thinking about it. Now I have to be, like, 'Help!'"

Like its predecessor film, The Grudge 2 is an American movie produced by Sam Raimi and his Ghost House Pictures, but is being shot entirely in Japan with a Japanese crew and Japanese director Takashi Shimizu, who created the Grudge franchise. "The major difference was that The Ring was a very small part [for me]," Tamblyn said. "It was just an opener. And obviously, ... on this film, we have Shimizu-san, who was the originator of all of these films."

But Tamblyn is no stranger to Japanese horror films. "I'm a huge fan of, like, Daimon, like, The Demon, which is a great film ... [and] which is actually something that Shimizu-san and I talked about when I first got here, because that was a film that he told me to watch, but I had already seen it. That affected him as a child. ... He saw that around the same age as the little boy in the film."

In The Grudge 2, Tamblyn plays a young woman who travels to Tokyo to investigate what happened to her older sister, Karen, who is the character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the first movie. Tamblyn is learning Japanese while she's in Tokyo for about two months to shoot The Grudge 2. And she'll soon be able to compare notes with Gellar, who had a similar experience when she shot the first film in Tokyo two years ago. "Sarah's coming next week [to shoot a few scenes]," Tamblyn said. "But I've been told she's got some advice for me, so I don't know what that'll do at this point. I've had to learn it the hard way [laughs]." —Patrick Lee, News EditorGrudge Cultures Mix Easier

TOKYO—Takashi Shimizu, creator and director of the upcoming sequel The Grudge 2, told SCI FI Wire that he's applying lessons learned shooting the first English-language version of his Japanese horror series back in 2004. Shimizu, who speaks little English, had to learn the American production style when working with stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr in the original American The Grudge, a remake of Shimizu's Ju-On. Like the first Grudge, the sequel is shooting entirely in Tokyo with a Japanese crew and international cast.

"Very small things, but a lot of different things," Shimizu said through a translator during an interview on the sequel's set at Toho Studios in Tokyo earlier this week. "And especially between the actors and [me], I think I'm more careful with them. Because last time, I just didn't know anything about this American actor system. ... The only system I knew was this Japanese system. And since I know what the American system is like now, so that I know how to really ... make it work with them."

That included adhering to Screen Actors Guild rules, such as taking a lunch break and allowing enough time between shooting days, a production spokeswoman told SCI FI Wire. Normal Japanese practice is to shoot as long as it takes and to break only when filming is completed.

Another difference: When SCI FI Wire visited the set of the first Grudge in 2004, Shimizu had only recently learned to use the English word "Action!" to alert the actors that a scene had begun. In Japanese productions, a scene commences immediately once a slate is clapped. This time around, Shimizu regularly used the English terms "Ready! Action!" and "Cut!"—which his production team on occasion pronounced "Cut-toh," in the Japanese fashion.

Amber Tamblyn, who stars in The Grudge 2, said in a separate interview that she is enjoying working with Shimizu, despite the cultural difference. "It's just certain words," Tamblyn said. "Like, when they say 're-set,' that means going on to the next shot. So they'll say, 'OK, we're going to re-set now.' And ... the literal translation of re-set is that you are ... doing it over again. ... So that, for me, I'm always like, 'OK, we're going to do it again.' And then Chiho, the translator, is, 'No, no, no. We're going to the next shot.' It's like, 'Oh, OK.' I always forget that."

But Tamblyn added that Shimizu is refreshingly direct with her and the other American or international actors on the set. "It's really funny," she said. "It's definitely not, I would say, an experience for an actor that needs their ego catered to. Because there's no room to be careful with what you say around actors. Which I think is so amazing. Shimizu-san will come to me, and he'll say: 'That was good, but for some reason, the rehearsal was better.' And I love that. Because ... it's that simple to explain something to you. ... Whereas, in America, you'll have a director who ... will take 45 minutes to explain what they mean."

The Grudge 2 is in the middle of production, with an eye to an Oct. 13 release in the United States. —Patrick Lee, News EditorGrudge 2 Reveals Secrets

TOKYO—Takashi Shimizu, the director of the upcoming horror sequel film The Grudge 2, told SCI FI Wire that the follow-up to 2004's hit film will answer some questions raised in the original movie, including the backstory of the fearsome spirit Kayako (Takako Fuji).

Speaking during a break in filming April 3 on the sequel's set at Tokyo's famed Toho Studios, Shimizu said through a translator: "For The Grudge 2, I was going for this mystery that was never there in Grudge 1, and I think that's going to fulfill the audience. ... There's a secret about Kayako's childhood life, so that's part of the big mystery. And the other mystery is, this grudge will never stop, and it's going to ... spread. And how is it going to get spread? That's another mystery."

The Grudge 2 stars Amber Tamblyn (TV's Joan of Arcadia) as the younger sister of Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who encountered Kayako in the Tokyo house where horrifying atrocities occurred. SCI FI Wire observed the filming of a key scene between Tamblyn's character, Aubrey, and a Tokyo-based Chinese photographer played by Chinese-Canadian Hong Kong action star Edison Chen (Infernal Affairs), making his English-language film debut.

SCI FI Wire also toured sets that included Karen's apartment, recreated from the first movie, as well as a rustic Japanese farmhouse that will be seen in flashbacks to Kayako's childhood.

The sequel will also address the question of what happened to Karen (Gellar is slated to make a brief appearance in the sequel). "The other mystery is, what has happened to Karen, who was the main lead actress in Grudge 1," Shimizu said. "So that's another mystery that you'll find out."

As with the first The Grudge, The Grudge 2 is produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert's Ghost House Pictures and Japanese producer Taka Ichise and is being shot in Japan with a Japanese crew and an international cast. The film marks the sixth time Shimizu has dealt with the Grudge mythology on film and video, including the original Japanese-language Ju-On and its sequel, Ju-On 2. The American Grudge 2, however, will consist of all-new material and won't be a remake of Ju-On 2, Shimizu said.

"The Grudge 1 was a complete remake of Ju-On 1, meaning the storyline was very similar," Shimizu said. "Basically, it's the same. But Grudge 2 is actually different from Ju-On 2, and I don't think I would have accepted this job if it was going to be [the] same storyline. And because it was a different story, you know, my motivation was a bit higher, and I actually enjoy doing this." The Grudge 2, which also stars Arielle Kebbel and Teresa Palmer, is slated to open Oct. 13. —Patrick Lee, News EditorSuperman's Posey Talks Kitty

Parker Posey, who will star opposite Kevin Spacey in Bryan Singer's upcoming Superman Returns, told SCI FI Wire her role as Lex Luthor's girlfriend builds on a similar character in Richard Donner's original Superman movie. At a party for her latest film, Adam & Steve, Posey said in an interview that she gets to wear stylish clothes and carry a Pomeranian pup through most of her Superman scenes as Kitty Kowalski, girlfriend to Spacey's Lex Luthor.

The role is similar to the part of Eve Teschmacher in Donner's movie. "I'm in the Valerie Perrine part from the original movie," Posey said. "She is ... the girlfriend of Lex, and of course, he wants to take over the world."

But the character is less evil than one would expect, Posey said. "He wants to destroy the world, and she doesn't want to," she said. "She [has] much more conscience about the world around her. She is into pretty things and money, but Kitty has a heart. And, yes, she has a change of heart. ... She is torn between materialism and love, but Kitty kind of wakes up. It's cool." Superman Returns opens June 30. —Mike SzymanskiMovie Downloads Debut

Hollywood studios will start selling digital versions of films such as King Kong on the Internet this week, the first time major movies have been available online to own, the Associated Press reported. Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox and MGM will offer some first-run and older titles for download through the Web site Movielink, which is jointly owned by five of the seven major studios. New films will be priced similar to DVDs—between $20 and $30—while older titles will sell for $10 to $20, the news service said.

Some new films will be available online the same day they are released on DVD; most will appear on the site within 45 days. The effort is seen as another step to combat piracy and downloads of studio films, as well as the expected launch of movie download services by major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Amazon.com.

The downloads available on Movielink will include copyright protection software that prevents them from being transferred directly to a laptop or portable device, or burned onto a disc that will play in a DVD player. Copies of the films will only play on a maximum of three different computers, which must be authorized by Movielink, the news service said.

Sony, along with independent distributor Lionsgate, has said that it will also sell films through the CinemaNow site. The only studio not participating in digital downloads is Disney, although the news service said that talks are ongoing.Writing Sparks Masters Of SF

Producers of ABC's upcoming Masters of Science Fiction anthology series told SCI FI Wire that they don't fear any censorship by the network. They said this series will focus more on big-name genre writers rather than directors, unlike their Showtime series Masters of Horror.

"The Masters of Horror series is all about the directors," John W. Hyde of Industry Entertainment, which produces Science Fiction, said in an interview. "They are the stars. In the Masters of Science Fiction, it's really the writers who are the stars. That's the difference between them. We are focusing on the biggest-name science fiction writers."

The series will feature episodes based on writing by such SF masters as Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov. (ABC has given the gree light to 13 one-hour episodes.) Some are original stories; some are adaptations of older classics to attract younger audiences. The first segment, "Watchbird," will begin filming in Vancouver, Canada, in late April, directed by Michael Tolkin (The Rapture) and co-written by Michael Cassutt (who wrote for The Dead Zone and Andromeda) and J. Michael Straczynski (Bablyon 5). "One of the people I'm most excited about who is going to be involved with this [new] series is Stephen Hawking [the professor, writer and black holes expert], and I always thought that I wanted to meet him," Hyde said. "He's a visionary of our time."

Executive producer Keith Addis added that it's unlikely any episodes will run afoul of network censors, as did an episode of Masters of Horror. "We're not pushing the envelope with the language or the graphic images or the sexuality, like the horror genre wants to do," he said. "Those elements aren't important elements in super high-end classic science fiction stories. Isaac Asimov was never really censored. Robert Heinlein never really provoked Bill O'Reilly. Procter & Gamble never really got pissed off at Ray Bradbury. These are really smart guys. Their ideas are bold, and some of these ideas are out there. ABC told us to get as bold as we can get. Will the network be afraid of those ideas? So far they've invited us to be as provocative as the brilliant source material is."

Not all directors are lined up yet, but producer Amorette James from IDT Entertainment said that the producers are considering big-name helmers, as well as young new talent. "We want the group to include the well-established, as well as give an opportunity for new talent to be part of this great franchise," she said. "The buzz on the Horror series is good, so that will help." Could they be approaching superstar names like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas? "From your lips to God's ears," James said. —Mike SzymanskiMiike's Horror Hits DVD

Producers of Showtime's Masters of Horror anthology series told SCI FI Wire that the controversial episode by Japanese director Takashi Miike is on the DVD, unchanged from the way the director made it. The premium cable network cut the episode, "Imprint," from the show's first season because of its graphic subject matter, which includes a corpse-strewn beach and a raucous brothel.

The producers added that they understood Showtime's hesitation to run the bloody one-hour episode. "Now that the government is thinking about examining the standards and practices of premium cable, I can see that Showtime didn't want to go there," said Industry Entertainment's Keith Addis. "They didn't want to pour jet fuel on the fire. If you see the episode, there'll be no doubt in your mind why it wasn't put on the air. You'd probably do the same thing."

Producer Amorette Jones said that there was no way to edit the episode to make it more palatable, nor did producers want to. "We offered the directors creative freedom and to have whatever palette they wanted," she said. "We asked them to go into their far-reaching imagination, and that's what he came up with. We will not edit it."

Mick Garris, who created the series, added: "Miike's work will be on the DVD uninterrupted and unfettered. ... It is really, really strong, and it's unlike anything I've ever seen. ... We want different filmmakers with different visions, whether it's their take on vampires or ghosts. We want their take. We want Tobe Hooper to be like Tobe Hooper and give me a thrill along the way. The idea they won't be censored is what attracted directors of this high caliber in the first place. We won't back down on that." The Masters of Horror DVD is now in stores. —Mike SzymanskiHorror To Live On

It was a dark and stormy night in Hollywood, but the creators of Showtime's Masters of Horror anthology series told SCI FI Wire on April 4 that the mini-horror franchise will likely go on for a third season. A freak storm with two inches of rain pelted the red carpet for the late-night arrival of the greatest horror directors, including Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), William Malone (House on Haunted Hill), John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), Joe Dante (The Howling), Tobe Hooper (Texas Chain Saw Massacre), Mick Garris (The Stand) and Don Coscarelli (Phantasm).

The party kicked off the second season of the series, which also featured contributions from world-class horror directors John Carpenter (Halloween), Dario Argento (Suspiria), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Takashi Miike (Audition) and others. All have contributed an uncensored one-hour horror story that is supposed to be shot within 10 days.

"I believe there will be a season three," said series producer John W. Hyde. "We're working on [season] two right now, and everyone loves doing it, so there will be another. But the biggest problem is scheduling the directors, because they all have feature films. We give them total control, and it takes an average of four to six weeks to complete. Once they finish with principal photography, they can go back to their film and do the editing later."

Mick Garris, who created the idea of Masters of Horror and directed one of the segments himself, said: "This kind of project is unlike anything I've ever experienced before. It's an historic effort. We have expanded the shorts and compressed the features."

Garris said that the one-hour format gives the directors a chance to try something different. "All we ask is that they stay on schedule and on budget. ... John Landis did something scary. Dario's [Argento] is smaller, and Tobe's [Hooper] was on a giant scale. About half of the directors brought their own writers and projects in, and we had scripts from others."

The only issue arose when Showtime cut the episode by the controversial Japanese director Miike, "Imprint," because of its graphic images. The episode, which takes place in a brothel on a mysterious island, could have been edited for TV, but IDT Entertainment executive Amorette Jones said: "It is OK. It just wasn't appropriate for Showtime and will be on the DVD. We're not going to restrict the godfathers of the horror genre. We're not telling them they have to stay within a PG-13 rating. That defeats the purpose."

The April 4 party included actors Angus Scrimm (Phantasm), Doug Jones (Hellboy), Udo Kier (Blood for Dracula), Corbin Bernsen (Psych), Bree Turner (Wedding Planner), Rachel Grant (Die Another Day), Arlene Martel (Star Trek), John Hawkes (Deadwood) and others. The first season of Masters of Horror is now available on DVD; the second season debuts in the fall. —Mike SzymanskiDanika Ripe For Scary Spoof?

Two of the cast members of the upcoming spoof sequel Scary Movie 4 told SCI FI Wire that they realized the franchise could eventually mock their other upcoming supernatural film, called Danika, which is due later this year. Regina Hall and Craig Bierko star in both Scary 4, the latest installment in the satirical franchise, and the upcoming independent film that stars Marisa Tomei as a woman who purports to have precognitive psychic powers. "One day, that would be really funny [to spoof] and see Danika [in a Scary Movie]," Bierko said. "It's a small, dark independent supernatural movie. Marisa Tomei is a woman who may or may not be crazy. You're kind of off balance through the whole movie. ... You don't know if she has the precognitive abilities or she is somehow bats--t insane." The movie was shot over the summer in Maryland, and Bierko plays Tomei's husband.

"They could spoof that movie; it could be spoofed in the next one," gushed Hall, who plays Tomei's psychiatrist and confidante in Danika, which is directed by Ariel Vromen (Jewel of the Sahara) and written by Joshua Leibner. The film is being distributed by Universal Studios, and the movie is now being edited. "It could be a funny movie to spoof, and it's a good psychological thriller."

Hall has appeared in all four of the Scary Movie films, which make fun of different genres. She said that she loved the idea that she could perhaps even spoof a movie she was in.

Meanwhile, Scary Movie 4 director David Zucker, who sees a fifth installment in his future, said he would definitely look at Danika and many other horror films over the next year to figure out if it should be spoofed. Scary Movie 4 opens April 14. Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM. —Mike SzymanskiFaris Coy About Girlfriend

Scary Movie 4 star Anna Faris told SCI FI Wire she has a showdown with the superhero played by Uma Thurman in the upcoming comedy film My Super Ex-Girlfriend, but added that she can't say much more. Billed third in the film credits for Girlfriend, behind Luke Wilson and Thurman, Faris said: "I play the new girlfriend." She wouldn't say if she herself is a superhero. "I don't want to say anything about [my character]."

As for working with Thurman, Faris said that she "was somebody I was really thrilled to be cast in a movie with. ... I was really excited. She's a superhero who uses her powers for good, but she goes a bit insane when he breaks up with her, and we, Luke and I, start dating. So she comes after us."

The superhero romantic comedy is directed by Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) and is expected to be released July 21 as kind of an offshoot of the expected summer superhype from Bryan Singer's Superman Returns.

Faris, who has poked fun at horror movies in all four of the Scary Movie films, said Super Ex-Girlfriend should be viewed as more than just a send-up of the superhero genre. "It's about girls and jealousy," Faris said. And, no, Thurman didn't make Faris dye her hair: "I'm blond. I'm blond. ... but, you know, we have some physical stuff together, so that was intimidating. But I think I held my own." Faris said she feels the wrath of Thurman's character, who can fly, burn things with her eyes, spin into a tornado and throw people around like rag dolls. "She's not happy with my character."

In the fight scenes, Faris did some stunts and wire work herself while battling the athletic Kill Bill actress. "I've done some wire work, and I think I held my own with Uma," Faris said. "I mean, I'm pretty good, but I was fighting Uma Thurman, after all. Anyway, I held my own." —Mike SzymanskiDa Vinci Wins Lawsuit

Best-selling thriller The Da Vinci Code did not steal ideas from two authors' nonfiction book, a British judge ruled on April 7, Variety reported.

In London, High Court judge Peter Smith rejected a copyright-infringement claim by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, who alleged that Dan Brown's blockbuster "appropriated the architecture" of their 1982 book.

A film based on the book and starring Tom Hanks opens May 19.

"It would be quite wrong if fictional writers were to have their writings pored over in the way The Da Vinci Code has been pored over in this case by authors of pretend historical books to make an allegation of infringement of copyright," Smith said in his 71-page ruling, the trade paper reported.

Brown said he was looking forward to focusing on his next novel. "I'm pleased with today's outcome, not only from a personal standpoint but also as a novelist," Brown said in a statement.Da Vinci Sells In Paperback

More than 500,000 copies of Dan Brown's historical thriller The Da Vinci Code have sold in its first week of paperback release, and an initial printing of 5 million has been upped to 6 million, publisher Anchor Books told the Associated Press. Russell Perreault, vice president and director of publicity for Anchor and Vintage Books—the paperback imprints of Random House—said the weekly sales were the highest in memory for a paperback, the news service reported.

Anchor has given the book unusually aggressive promotion for a paperback, selling it everywhere from gas stations to military bases. Laurence J. Kirshbaum, the longtime head of the Time Warner Book Group and now a literary agent, said there hasn't been so much demand for a paperback since Jaws in the 1970s. "Unborn babies must be reading Da Vinci," Kirshbaum told the news service. "Who else on this planet is left?"

Brown's book has already sold more than 40 million copies worldwide in hardcover, and continues to sell well three years after publication, helped in part by an endless series of controversies, most recently a copyright lawsuit in London. A decision is expected Friday in the case filed by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who claim that The Da Vinci Code "appropriated the architecture" of their 1982 nonfiction work, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, now a best-seller itself thanks in part to the publicity brought on by the lawsuit, the news service said.

The Da Vinci paperback came out March 28 in anticipation of the May 19 release of Ron Howard's film adaptation, which stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Jean Reno.Aja Looks Into The Mirror

The Hills Have Eyes director Alex Aja has committed to next direct Into the Mirror, a horror thriller to be fully financed by New Regency, Variety reported.

Marc Sternberg, Alexandra Milchan, Aja and his partner, Gregory Levesseur, will produce the movie, which begins shooting in the fall.

Aja and Levesseur will rework a script by Jim Uhls and Joe Gangemi, which just got a polish by Kieran and Michelle Mulroney.

The movie turns on "the idea ... that the worst aspects of a human being begin the first time he looks at himself in a mirror," Aja told the trade paper.Letter Gets Attention

Australian SF/F author Sean Williams, whose 2004 novel The Crooked Letter became the first fantasy book to win both the Aurealis and Ditmar awards, told SCI FI Wire that his inspiration came from his childhood and a former partner. "I spent far too much time then worrying about religion—and still do today—so all that speculation has gone into this book," Williams said in an interview. "My partner at the time was Swedish, hence the references to Stockholm and Europe. ... The cityscape occupying half the book is a response not only to my everyday world and my love for such landscapes, but also to disaster novels like John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, which I read every year or so."

The Crooked Letter is the first of four Books of the Cataclysm. In it, twins Seth and Hadrian Castillo travel to Europe, not expecting the end of the world to follow them. But Seth's murder sets those events in action. Seth's spirit goes to the Second Realm, a literally inside-out place full of hideous monsters. Hadrian, meanwhile, remains in the First Realm of the living, and their psychic link draws the two realms together, precipitating a world-warping cataclysm that the alien Yod hopes will let him conquer both realms.

Williams said he is often asked about the significance of the title, which is revealed in the fourth book, The Devoured Earth. He did not give it away, saying only that the title also refers to the letter Y, which is the first letter in Yod's name.

The Crooked Letter is 550 pages long, and Williams' previous book, The Resurrected Man, checked in at 529 pages. Some might think the books are wordy, but Letter won both the Aurealis and the Ditmar in Australia. "The Aurealis is judged by a panel of peers, while the Ditmar is a popular vote, so that tells me that the book has hit the right note on both fronts," he said. Besides, he added, "the huge landscape of this series demands, I think, a big word count. There'd be no possible way to capture it otherwise. Sometimes I wonder if The Crooked Letter might be too short, rather than the other way around!"

The second book, The Blood Debt, will be released in America in October. "Given that the world of Hadrian and Seth undergoes some pretty radical changes at the end of The Crooked Letter, there will be a whole new world to explore in book two, with new characters joining the existing mix," Williams said. "To my eyes, anyway, this book has everything: adventure, romance, magic, an interesting setting and, most importantly, zeppelins." —Lee BarnathanCold Fear Heads For Film

Avatar Films and Sekretagent Productions have optioned the big-screen rights to the SF survival horror video game Cold Fear from developer Darkworks and publisher Ubisoft, Variety reported.

It's an unusual license, since Cold Fear didn't sell well to gamers. But producers are betting that the scary atmosphere and compelling story—about a Coast Guard officer trying to reconnect with his daughter adrift on a whaling ship infested with aliens—will translate well as a horror film.

Avatar's Mo Ramchandani and Jorg Ihle, along with Sekretagent's Corey May and Dooma Wendschuh, are aboard to produce in some capacity. The producers are looking to attach a director before pitching studios.Hugo A Feast For Martin

New York Times best-selling, multiple award-winning author George R.R. Martin, whose novel A Feast for Crows just earned him his 17th Hugo Award nomination, told SCI FI Wire that he was very pleased to hear that he'd been nominated again. "I've been there a few times before, but it's still a thrill," Martin said in an interview. "It's a distinguished list, so I'm glad to be a part of it."

A Feast for Crows is Martin's third nomination for Best Novel. "The Song of Ice and Fire is my magnum opus," Martin said. "[A Feast for Crows, the fourth volume] took a little longer [to write] than the others. It took me five years, ... so it was effectively three years late. Part of it is that the story had grown so large that I was juggling a lot of plot, a lot of characters. It was hard to fit them all into the pages that I had, and I wound up dividing the book into two books. ... But the books have been very popular, and I'm very gratified by that. It's an ambitious series. I have to say it's not easy to write. Maybe that's why I'm slowing down a little."

Although Martin says J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert E. Howard had "an enormous impact" on him in his youth, he didn't set out to write an epic fantasy. "To a certain extent, I don't know where it came from," Martin said. "In 1991 ... I'd been working on a science-fiction novel called Avalon that I'd been writing for some time, when suddenly the first chapter of A Game of Thrones came to me. I didn't know where it had come from, I didn't know what it was, but I did know that I had to write it. So I put Avalon aside, and I wrote this chapter that was not part of the book that I was writing. Then, ... I wrote the second chapter and ... the third chapter. And at a certain point, I sat down and drew a map. .... By that time, I realized that I certainly had a novel. And pretty soon I realized I had more than one novel. Initially, I sold it as a trilogy, but as Tolkien has said about Lord of the Rings: 'The tale grew in the telling.'"

The Song of Ice and Fire series has been lauded by critics and fans for its rich characterization, and it's clear Martin puts a lot of effort into making his characters seem very real. "Humanity interests me. I agree with what Faulkner said in his Nobel acceptance speech, that the human heart in conflict with itself [is] the only thing worth writing about. And I think that informs all genres, whether you're writing a mainstream novel like Faulkner did, or you're writing science fiction and fantasy, or a mystery story, or a romance, ... it still comes down to the human heart in conflict with itself," Martin said. "Human beings are complex. I think that's the one thing I've learned as I write. We contain within ourselves heroes and villains. We are capable of very courageous acts, very cowardly acts, ... are capable of being altruistic, capable of being selfish—and it's all wrapped up in the same person; it's only in fiction that you see these cardboard characters who are [good or] evil all the time. ... I'm more interested in real human beings." —John Joseph AdamsWilson In A Spin Over Hugo

SF author Robert Charles Wilson, whose novel Spin just earned him his fifth Hugo Award nomination, told SCI FI Wire that what makes the Hugo Award special is its long history. "Ever since I first picked up a science-fiction paperback (probably around 1965), I've been aware that the finer specimens often came with the words 'Hugo Award Winner' blazoned on the cover. The list of previous winners includes names and novels that were iconic for me," Wilson said in an interview. "As a middle-aged writer, I try to maintain a judicious emotional equilibrium about having made the roster of nominees. But my inner 16-year-old is deeply impressed and occasionally comes out to preen."

The news that he'd been nominated arrived in an e-mail from the convention committee, along with the warning that he couldn't share the news until it was officially announced, Wilson said. "[That] made for a week of unexplained, spontaneous grinning," he added.

Wilson wouldn't dream of predicting the Best Novel category's final outcome, but said that, in his opinion, this year's nominees are all award-worthy. "In fact, they make a great argument for the continuing vigor and relevance of SF and fantasy as literature. And they're all fun to read. The mix of veteran and newbie writers is interesting, too," Wilson said.

Spin is Wilson's fourth novel to be nominated for a Hugo. "Spin is a large-scale story, a little difficult to summarize, but it opens in the near future, when the stars inexplicably vanish from the night sky. What follows takes place over about 40 years on Earth ... or 4 billion, depending on how you look at it," Wilson said.

Science fiction makes an interesting pact with its readers, Wilson said. "We often write about events and technologies that are implausible or even impossible. I don't expect the Earth to be temporally dislocated by extraterrestrial forces, any more than H.G. Wells expected a basement tinkerer in 1896 to invent a time machine. But the time traveler in the Wells novel was immediately thrust into the forefront of what was known and could be imagined within the best (and most controversial) science of the time—evolution, the long-term geology of the Earth, the fate of the human species," Wilson said. "People who describe SF as 'limited only by the imagination' may forget that we use scientific plausibility as an artistic constraint, like the five-seven-five syllable count of a haiku."

Wilson is currently working on a sequel to Spin, tentatively titled Axis. Also in progress is a 20,000-word novella called Julian, which will be available in early 2007 as a signed chapbook from PS Publishing. "I expect Julian, which takes place in a post-collapse 22nd-century America, will eventually balloon into a full-scale novel," Wilson said.

Spin was recently released in paperback, and a free e-book version is now available to registered members of this year's Worldcon. —John Joseph AdamsWB Gets Heart Shaped Box

Warner Brothers has bought the screen rights to Heart Shaped Box, a yet-to-be-published thriller novel written by Joe Hill, the son of horror-fiction master Stephen King, Variety reported. Akiva Goldsman (producer of Constantine and writer of A Beautiful Mind and the upcoming The Da Vinci Code) will produce. The studio is expected to announce a writer soon.

The story revolves around a singer obsessed with the occult who buys a ghost on eBay in the form of a man's burial suit. He's ultimately forced to confront both the ghost and the demons of his own past, the trade paper said.

Hill is an award-winning short-story writer who previously published the anthology 20th Century Ghosts. Heart Shaped Box is his first novel. William Morrow/HarperCollins are set to publish it next year.DreamWorks Buys Punk Farm

DreamWorks Animation has picked up the film rights to Jarrett J. Krosoczka's popular children's book Punk Farm, with plans to turn it into a music-driven, computer-animated feature, Variety reported. The script will be adapted by Jim Hecht (Ice Age: The Meltdown).

The book revolves around a group of farm animals who have one goal in mind: to become an underground rock band. Together, a sheep, a chicken, a pig, a goat and a cow journey to perform at the first-ever animal music fest, Livestock.

The film project was developed by producer Kevin Messick (A Lot Like Love) and Hecht, who pitched the project to DreamWorks head Jeffrey Katzenberg. Messick will take an executive-producing credit on Punk Farm and share a story credit with Hecht. "We both loved the idea of this group of farm animals with the rebellious spirit of punk rock," Messick told the trade paper.Lee Auditions Superheroes

Comic-book creator Stan Lee, producer of SCI FI Channel's upcoming reality series Who Wants to Be a Superhero?, told SCI FI Wire that he was quite impressed with the imagination of the potential superheroes who showed up to audition in Hollywood, Calif., on April 4. About 120 contestants braved a torrential rainstorm to try out at the Sunset Gower Studios, but the weather didn't stop Monkey Lady, Bubble Man or Ice Bitch. "I defend the environment and can imprison you in icicles," said the white-haired woman with "IB" on her chest, who is really Lisa McLaughlin from Sherman Oaks, Calif. "I teach those who are teachable and punish those who are not."

In Who Wants to Be a Superhero?, a group of people dressed in costumes of their own design will take part in a series of weekly challenges. At the conclusion of each episode, Lee will appear and, much like Donald Trump on NBC's The Apprentice, dismiss one of the contestants. The winning contestant will have his character immortalized in a comic book to be published by Lee's Pow! Entertainment.

Lee shook hands with all the contestants, stopping to hear a ditty by Accordion Man—who looked a bit like Grandpa from The Munsters—and he talked to a few along the way. "I feel safe with you here," he told a Ninja. "I look forward to seeing more of you," he said to the scantily dressed Robot Girl. One masked guy in a too-tight yellow leotard with his hairy stomach hanging out said, "I'm such a big fan of yours!" Lee shook his hand and deadpanned, "And I admire your taste."

Hula-Hoop Girl (aka Anah Reichenbach) walked three blocks in her silvery outfit to the audition. "I read a lot of comic books, and Stan Lee is the guy," said the professional hula-hoop champ. "My power is to tele-transport, but my powers are erratic in prisons or insane asylums." One guy demonstrated how he could encase himself in a giant pink bubble, and another escorted his superhero rottweiler. The lineup also included a ballerina, a guy balancing a sword on his head, a rock star, a mouse man and a green-faced, loud-mouthed youth calling himself Slimeball. The six-week, one-hour show was seeking contestants through April 7. —Mike SzymanskiSilent Hill PSP Comic Is Here

Wilson Cheng, product marketing manager of the just-released interactive animated comic The Silent Hill Experience, told SCI FI Wire that the PSP story will feature a new narrative. Konami has shipped The Silent Hill Experience, which includes content from all of the four Silent Hill video games, as well as elements from the upcoming Silent Hill movie. "This is a brand new story for Silent Hill," Cheng said in an interview.

The Silent Hill Experience features two comics by longtime Silent Hill writer Scott Ciencin. The first is "The Hunger," a new original comic exclusive to The Silent Hill Experience, with words by Ciencin and illustrations by Steve Perkins and Alex Shibao. The second is the previously released five-issue series Silent Hill: Dying Inside, also written by Ciencin. Each comic lasts about 15 minutes and uses 2-D and 3-D hand-drawn art with animated transitions.

The Silent Hill Experience is not a traditional game for the PSP, and the interactive UMD is packed with exclusive features to keep gamers engaged. The title also offers a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming movie.

"When we first developed the concept for The Silent Hill Experience, we wanted to include as much content as possible," Cheng said. "From comics, music and even interviews with the feature film, we packed as much as we could into this product. There are over two hours of content on this UMD. The music composer for Silent Hill, Akira Yamaoka, also selected some favorite tracks. Of course we wanted to add even more trailers from the games, artwork, etc., but given the space limitations on the disc itself, we had to make some tough decisions on what didn't make the cut." The Silent Hill movie hits theaters April 21. —Casey LynchSmallville Faces Lawsuit

A federal judge in Los Angeles has found that Smallville may be infringing on the copyrights held by the widow and daughter of Jerome Siegel, who created the Superboy character for DC Comics, Variety reported. The March 23 summary judgment also found that Joanne Siegel and Laura Siegel Larson had successfully recaptured the Superboy rights as of Nov. 17, 2004.

The ruling now throws into question the ownership of Smallville episodes that have run since that date. The judge denied a request by the defendants—Time Warner, Warner Brothers and DC Comics—for a ruling that Smallville did not infringe on the Superboy copyrights. Warner Brothers said in response that it "respectfully disagrees" with the rulings and will pursue an appeal, the trade paper said.

Still to be resolved is the question of whether Smallville—now in its fifth season—is actually infringing on the Superboy copyright. No trial date has been set in the suit, which was filed in 2004, the trade paper reported.Cannes Has SF Debuts

The 59th annual Cannes Film Festival will include a screening of the upcoming superhero sequel X-Men: The Last Stand and the premiere of The Fountain, both starring Hugh Jackman. X-Men will have its domestic opening on May 26, which falls during the festival's second week. The Fountain, from director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), doesn't yet have a release date.

The festival will open on May 17 with Ron Howard's upcoming adaption The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Jean Reno. Also screening during the festival is Over the Hedge, the latest computer-animated feature from DreamWorks, featuring the voices of Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling and Steve Carell as talking animals struggling against suburban sprawl.MacLeod Earns World Praise

SF author Ken MacLeod, whose novel Learning the World just earned him his third Hugo Award nomination, told SCI FI Wire that this is the third award the book has been shortlisted for this year. "The others are the BSFA [British Science Fiction Association] Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. All of these [shortlists] are very gratifying to be on, and in all of them the competition is very good company to be in," MacLeod said in an interview.

MacLeod says he's read (and publicly enthused about) fellow nominees Accelerando and Old Man's War, but he hasn't read Spin or George R.R. Martin's series, so he couldn't comment on them. "As to who will get the big rocket and who will get the lapel pins," MacLeod said, referring to the Hugo tradition of giving the rocket-shaped award to the winners and lapel pins to the losers, "it's all [in] the lap of the gods—or [the] fans. I'm well proud of my rocket pins."

Learning the World smashes together two well-used tropes: the generation starship and first contact, MacLeod said. "[It takes place] in a setting that's more common in scientific speculation than in SF—a slower-than-light human expansion through an apparently uninhabited galaxy. It has an original take on some aspects of these. And its heroine is a blogger," he said.

MacLeod is known for creating science-fiction-based societies that have logical political and economic systems, but building the world of Learning the World took some time, he said. "Designing the aliens was easy (once my wife had suggested wings!) compared to imagining the society on the starship. I decided that I could do without yet another argument about economic systems, so I made it capitalism with a twist: it has a heinously complex social contract which has evolved over generations of generation ships, so that nobody can end up destitute or owning the whole ship. It's quite consciously inspired by the ideas of the Victorian liberal futurist Winwood Reade, who said in effect that human progress would continue, and people would actually become better, but very slowly. As an SF premise that's quite wild, and definitely under-used. In my other novels I've had wars and revolutions and singularities, but in the long Victorian view, these are just kinks on the curve. It's an interesting perspective to adopt." —John Joseph AdamsSony Hosts MMO Fan Event

Sony Online Entertainment, publisher of the massively multiplayer online games EverQuest II, Star Wars Galaxies, The Matrix Online and PlanetSide, will bring players together in Atlanta for its three-day Fan Faire event beginning April 6, the company announced. Attendees will have the chance to participate in a number of panel discussions and game-themed live events. Sony will also offer sneak peeks of upcoming games for the PC and PSP systems.

The event, held at Atlanta's Mariott Marquis hotel, will also feature an appearance by Red Sox pitcher and EverQuest II fan Curt Schilling, a banquet dinner and costume contest, live online tournaments and a real-life scavenger hunt.Superhero! Spoofs Comics

Director David Zucker told SCI FI Wire that he is working with Scary Movie 4 co-writer Craig Mazin on a superhero spoof film, Superhero!, which will not only poke fun at the conventions of the comic-book hero, but also continue the very rigid rules of spoof he has set up for his series of funny films. "We've got two sets of rules we're following," Zucker said with a laugh. "It's not easy. There's a vast body of work with superhero movies, and Mazin and I compiled a list of a dozen or so characteristics of all these movies."

For one thing, a superhero can't tell his love interest his real identity, Zucker said. "They can never reveal who he is, and so you have a bunch of these cliches in a genre of people where they share enough characteristics they can be in this superhero world," he said.

The trick is to adhere to what Mazin called "the bible of movie spoofs," which Zucker put together after making Airplane!, Top Secret! and the Naked Gun movies. The 15 rules include not referring to a film that's too obscure, avoiding dated references and avoiding building any of the plot's key points into a joke. As for the superhero spoof film, it won't feature a bizarre one-joke super power and won't refer to any existing superheroes. "We'll make up our own guy with our own super powers," Zucker said. "It will be an original thing, but people will be comfortable in that superhero world. It can't be a joke power, because you can't sustain it. We have a lot of rules you have to follow. If it's a joke power, it's a joke one time and can't continue to be funny. These will have to be real powers. I love the fact that Spider-Man got bitten by something and that gave him super powers. We're watching every movie that came out, and it's a genre that's ripe. Look at all the similarities in ... X-Men, Batman, Fantastic Four, Superman. All of them have common stories. I think there's something funny there, too."

Superhero! is planned for release in 2007 by Dimension Films, which distributed the Scary Movie franchise. —Mike SzymanskiScalzi Honored by Noms

SF author John Scalzi, whose novel Old Man's War just earned him both his first Hugo Award nomination and a nomination for the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer, told SCI FI Wire that he's happy and honored to receive the nominations. "It's difficult to say which of the two I'm happier about, because they both address different aspects of the SF writing experience," Scalzi said in an interview. "What's knee-wobbling is to have been nominated for both in the same year, which has only legitimately happened once before in the history of the Hugos and the Campbells [R.A. MacAvoy also was nominated for both, for her novel Tea With the Black Dragon, in 1984]. This is not the best analogy, perhaps, but I think being nominated for the best-novel Hugo and the Campbell Award in the same year is rather a bit like spontaneously coughing up a live frog. It's not what you expect to do; indeed, it's not something anyone expects to do. But once you do it, you have to admit it's a hell of a conversation starter."

Scalzi thinks very highly of his competition. "I'm an unabashed Charlie Stross fan, and Accelerando is my favorite book of his. Likewise, Spin is Robert Charles Wilson's best novel, and when you consider he's written three Hugo-nominated novels before this one, that's not a small matter," Scalzi said. "Ken MacLeod writes the way most people dream they could, and Learning the World is arguably his best novel, too. And as for George R.R. Martin, anyone whose book debuts at number one on the New York Times best-seller list is a force to be reckoned with."

Old Man's War follows the late-life adventures of John Perry, a 75-year-old retiree from Earth who joins the Colonial Defense Force to fight for humanity out there in the stars. Although Scalzi feels his book deserves to be on the ballot, he's not optimistic about its chances. "Any assessment of the Hugo field that does not involve huffing airplane glue finds Old Man's War in the position of underdog. But it is a good book, and people seem to like it, so who knows?" Scalzi said. "If George Mason University's basketball team can make the Final Four, maybe I have a chance at the Hugo. But let's put it this way: I would like to win that rocketship, but there are far worse things in the world than having Stross, Wilson, MacLeod or Martin walk up to that podium instead of me."

Scalzi and fellow nominees Robert Charles Wilson and Charles Stross will distribute their Hugo-nominated novels as free electronic texts to 2006 Hugo and Campbell voters (for information on how to receive a copy, visit Scalzi's Web site). —John Joseph AdamsCrashers Director Gets RIPD

Phil Hay, who wrote the recent feature version of Aeon Flux, told Chud.com that he and partner Matt Manfredi are writing an adaptation of the comic book RIPD, to be directed by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers). "It's kind of about a spectral police force," Hay told the site. "It's very much a Ghostbusters or Men in Black vibe. It's an action comedy, very heavy on the comedy. That process has been really great, and I think it's going to be a good movie. Dobkin is incredibly good at this stuff."

Hay didn't indicate when the film will go into production, but said that he and Manfredi are "trying to get it out there as soon as we can." In the meantime, Hay is working on a Christmas film starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti first.

Also in the works is a horror film called Parasyte, which has The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu attached. Hay told the site that the project hasn't moved forward in a while. "I'm not exactly sure what direction he's planning to go with it," Hay said. "I certainly think it can be a very interesting and cool movie. The version we wrote was definitely in the Tremors vibe. It was very much a horror-comedy. I don't know if that's [Shimizu's] direction, or if it's going to be more straight horror this time around."Jackson Joins 1408

Samuel L. Jackson has been added to the cast of 1408, a big-screen adaptation of a short story by Stephen King, Variety reported. The Dimension Films production, also starring John Cusack, is set to begin shooting in the summer.

Based on a work from King's short-story collection Everything's Eventual, the film centers on a debunker of paranormal occurrences who encounters real terror when he checks into the notorious room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. Mikael Hafstrom (Derailed) has been tapped to direct, with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura producing. Matt Greenberg (Reign of Fire) wrote the first draft of the screenplay, which has been rewritten by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Agent Cody Banks). Jumper Trio Cast

Thomas Sturridge, Teresa Palmer and Jamie Bell are set to star in New Regency's upcoming SF adventure Jumper, based on Steven Gould's 1992 novel, Variety reported.

Planned as a trilogy, Jumper will be directed by Doug Liman and produced by Lucas Foster and Simon Kinberg, the creative team behind Regency's summer hit Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Jim Uhls (Fight Club) is rewriting the screenplay, originally adapted by David Goyer (Batman Begins). Filming will begin this spring in Montreal.

The book follows a 17-year-old boy (Sturridge) who discovers he has the ability to teleport. He first uses his special power to escape his abusive father, and then puts his ability to use robbing banks before becoming entangled with terrorists and law enforcement, the trade paper reported. Kattan Finds Inner Penguin

Comic actor Chris Kattan told SCI FI Wire he watched the Academy Award-winning documentary March of the Penguins to help figure out his voice for the penguin he's playing in the upcoming animated comedy Foodfight! The former Saturday Night Live comedian said he took the role very seriously and studied the cool birds before he took the role in the movie. It also stars Charlie Sheen as a dog, Eva Longoria as Lady X and Tony Longo as a moose.

"I don't know, it helps to see what the real creatures are like," Kattan said in an interview at the premiere of his upcoming indie film with Parker Posey (Adam & Steve).

"How else did I find my inner penguin?" Kattan asked. "I ate a lot of Klondike bars and sat in a very cold pool for a long time. No, truly, I watched March of the Penguins and got some insight into my character." Kattan plays Polar Penguin, one of the birds who doesn't like the cold. "I personally don't really mind being that cold," he added.

Foodfight! is scheduled to come out in 2007 and also stars the voices of Hilary and Haylie Duff, Wayne Brady and Greg Ellis. Lawrence Kasanoff directed; he also produced the Mortal Kombat video games. —Mike SzymanskiCharmed Changed Cast's Lives

The cast and crew of The WB's Charmed told SCI FI Wire that they've married, divorced, had babies and bought houses over the last eight years of the series, which concludes in May. "I bought and sold three houses," star Rose McGowan (Paige), who is also a big Hollywood memorabilia collector, said in an interview on the show's set at Paramount Studios. "I own the original RKO letters, and I bought the big top-hat entrance to the 1930s Brown Derby. I couldn't have afforded any of that if it weren't for the show. Also, I spent about $150,000 on vet bills for my Boston terrier. I love her, but I couldn't have saved her if it weren't for the show. Actually, when I first got on the show, all I asked for was 'Please, God, let me make enough money to get my hair done two times a week.' And I got that, too."

Holly Marie Combs (Piper) said that she bought her first house, married a key grip she met on the show and had her first child in 2004. "We've shared a lot together," Combs said. "We're very much family, and we are entwined in each other's lives."

Speaking on a set that represented the attic of the house that the three Halliwell sisters share, Combs and McGowan teased each other about who is the worst at answering the other's e-mail messages and talked about the emotions they are going through as they near the final episode.

Alyssa Milano, who was married and divorced over the course of the series, said she wells up with tears every time she thinks about the final scene, which is the wedding of her character, Phoebe. "On the last day, everyone will be there," she said. "It's a really weird thing, and I haven't been able to articulate it no matter how many times I have had a conversation about it. You don't want to reminisce too much, because that's when the sorrow crawls all over your body and you want to lie down and crawl into the fetal position."

Brian Krause (Leo) said: "I've said goodbye 20 times in the last eight years. ... When I started the show, I was married and I had a 2-year-old, and now here I am: I have a 10-year-old, and I'm divorced. I now have the ability to kind of stop and ask myself what I want to do with my life now. Financially it has been amazing."

Krause talked about the toll on the crew, too. "You're here with the crew 60 or 70 hours a week, and I don't even know how people wash their clothes or what. They work their butts off, and I don't know how they do it. ... I mean, it has to take a toll. I mean, you're not there, and you come home at night, and there's money, but there needs to be more with your family."

Executive producer Brad Kern said that his son was born during the show and is 6 now. "I'm proud to say that I try very hard to be as much a part of his life as possible, but it was a 70- or 80-hour work week, six or seven days a week—he was born two years into the show—and now I want to spend six months with him," he said. "I told my agent not to call me. I've turned the answering machine off. I have six months to kind of catch up with my family and see where my creative juices lay and see what opportunities are out there for me." The final episode will air May 21. —Mike SzymanskiHutcherson Talks Terabithia

Josh Hutcherson told SCI FI Wire that, as a fan of Katherine Paterson's fantasy novel Bridge to Terabithia, he's excited to be starring in the big-screen adaptation that's currently shooting in New Zealand. Bridge to Terabithia follows two young outsiders, Jess (Hutcherson) and Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), whose imaginary getaway world becomes real.

"It's such a great story," Hutcherson (Zathura, The Polar Express) said in an e-mail interview from New Zealand while promoting the DVD release of his most recent film, the coming-of-age romance Little Manhattan. "I was most excited to see how they were going to make Terabithia come to life. I wasn't sure if they were going to let it all be in our imagination and we would just talk about it, or if they were really going to create it. They really are creating it. Some of it will be CGI, done by [special-effects house] Weta, and some of it is really there. I can't wait to see it all finished."

Hutcherson went on to note that he likes Jess as a character, and is eager to explore how Jess uses his adventures in Terabithia to deal with his troubles in the real world. "He's a bit of an outsider and gets picked on a lot because he's not just like all the other boys," Hutcherson said. "He likes art more than anything, and I think that because of that they think he's strange. Also, how much he changes throughout the story, ... I like being able to bring that to life."

Bridge to Terabithia also stars Robert Patrick (T2) and Zooey Deschanel (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), and it is being directed by Gabor Csupo, who makes his feature-directing debut after creating and producing such animated fare as The Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. The film will be released on Feb. 16, 2007. —Ian SpellingTroopers Back In Comics

Comic-book writer Tony Lee told SCI FI Wire that Markosia Comics is publishing his Starship Troopers: Blaze of Glory, a four-issue miniseries based on Robert A. Heinlein's classic SF novel Starship Troopers. "[When] Mongoose Publishing [was] creating a Starship Troopers miniatures game, [they] decided to release some [comic] books [set in the same world as the Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles television series] to add 'flavor,'" Lee said in an interview. "I wrote three graphic novels in the Blaze of Glory trilogy, but due to printing issues, only the first, Alamo Bay, was ever finished. Fast-forward a year, and I suggest to Rich Emms of Markosia ... that they should enter into talks to serialize the books as a 12-part series, and myself and [artist Sam Hart] would re-edit [the] pages to fit a four-part schedule for each book. Mongoose and Sony [who control the rights] agreed, and here we are!"

The miniseries is not an adaptation of the book, but rather is set in the same world as Heinlein's classic, featuring a few characters from the novel in cameo roles. "We have Zim and Carmen in issue number one," Lee said. "Later issues have Zander and Rico in passing. We really didn't want to use the well-known characters [as focal points of the storyline]. [But] one of the things we were allowed, however, was to use [Sgt.] Zim. Part of the backplot (and indeed the third book, now issues nine through 12) is [about] how Zim's getting busted to private is related to [protagonist] Will Tanner and [his unit,] Tamari's Tigers. That took a lot of waiting for Sony to agree!"

Although some of the artwork—especially the bugs—look to be very influenced by director Paul Verhoeven's 1997 Starship Troopers film adaptation, Lee said that the movie didn't inspire the comics. "[The inspiration was really] the [television] series Roughnecks, which was an amalgamation of the ... film and book," he said. "For source material, however, it was [the novel]. I wanted the book and the graphic novel to be as close as possible."

Lee hinted at the possibility the comic could develop into an ongoing series. "When I did [the original Alamo Bay graphic novel] with Mongoose, I had a definitive ending in mind, and we hit it," he said. "That said, it was always open for extra episodes. I've already mentioned to Markosia that, if the numbers are good and they want to continue, I've got several more stories in me. Perhaps we'll change troops. Maybe we'll look more at the flight crews."

Starship Troopers: Blaze of Glory: Alamo Bay number one debuted at the New York Comic-Con at the end of February. Issue number two is due to ship in April. —John Joseph AdamsFreddy Vs. Jason Vs. Carpenter?

Robert Englund, who originated the character of Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, told horror Web site www.pitofhorror.com that talks are underway with Halloween writer/director John Carpenter for a sequel to 2003's Freddy vs. Jason, with the addition of Halloween's Michael Myers.

In an interview with the site, Englund said that he already has ideas for the plot and would like to sit down with actress Jamie Lee Curtis and producer Jeff Katz to discuss them. "My idea would of course have to take place before Jamie Lee is killed in Halloween VIII," he said. "Almost as if Freddy vs. Jason vs. Michael Myers happened in the 90s or something, kind of like Aliens goes to Springwood or something. Bring back Jamie Lee's daughter, Jamie Lloyd, and maybe she could have some sort of goth expertise that would make it to where these guys couldn't stand a chance. I'd love to give Jamie Lee something to sink her teeth into as an actress. Throw away the pills, throw away the cigarettes, throw away the little bottles of vodka."

Englund also confirmed that a prequel to Nightmare on Elm Street is in the works, to be directed by John McNaughton (Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer). "I think it should go the C.S.I. route and be sort of like a docu-drama that shows his crimes against the children," Englund said. "Then you cast two of the greatest character actors you can find to play the lawyers that get him off. Then, of course, it leads up to Freddy being burned alive."BRIEFLY NOTED

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