DiCaprio Bringing Akira To Life

Leonardo DiCaprio is teaming up with Warner Brothers to produce a live-action film based on the Japanese manga and anime film Akira, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Ruairi Robinson has been hired to direct what would ideally be a two-part epic. The film would mark the first full-length feature for Robinson, whose animated SF comedy short Fifty Percent Grey was nominated for an Oscar. Gary Whitta is writing the adaptation, which DiCaprio will produce through his production company, Appian Way.

Akira originated in 1988 as a manga and then as an animated film co-written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. The story was set in a neon-lit futuristic post-nuclear-war "New Tokyo" in 2019, where a teen biker-gang member is subjected to a government experiment which unleashes his latent powers. The gang's leader must find a way to stop the ensuing swath of destruction.

Akira has long been in development at the company, with producers Jon Peters and Basil Iwanyk involved at various times, as well as directors Stephen Norrington and Pitof. The rights lapsed but Warner managed to acquire them again for Robinson, who came to the studio with a vision of a two-part adaptation.

The new story moves the action to "New Manhattan," a city rebuilt by the Japanese. The studio is eyeing a summer 2009 release for the first movie.Wolverine Adds Monaghan

Dominic Monaghan and Daniel Henney are the latest mutants to join the cast of Twentieth Century Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Variety reported.

Monaghan will play Barnell, a mysterious character from Wolverine's past who has the ability to manipulate energy and electricity. Henney will portray Agent Zero, a member of the Weapon X program and an expert tracker with lethal marksman skills.

Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Wolverine in the X-Men spinoff. The cast also includes Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Taylor Kitsch, will.i.am, Lynn Collins and Ryan Reynolds.

The film is currently shooting in New Zealand, Australia and New Orleans. Gavin Hood is directing from a David Benioff screenplay, which chronicles the origins of the titular hero.Reynolds, Others Join Wolverine

Twentieth Century Fox has added three more superheroes to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, with Ryan Reynolds set to play Deadpool, Friday Night Lights regular Taylor Kitsch to star as Gambit and hip-hop artist will.i.am joining the cast as John Wraith, Variety reported.

The news confirmed Web reports from IESB.net, Ain't It Cool News, Superhero Hype! and other sites.

Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston and Lynn Collins round out the cast as Victor Creed/Sabretooth, Col. William Stryker and Kayla Silver Fox, the trade paper reported..

Hugh Jackman reprises the role of Wolverine in the X-Men spinoff, which Gavin Hood is shooting in New Zealand, Australia and New Orleans. The movie bows May 1, 2009.

David Benioff penned the script, which would reveal the origins of the Wolverine character and introduce other mutants not yet seen in the X-Men franchise.

Marvel has been eyeing the possibility of casting Reynolds as Deadpool, an assassin with self-healing powers, for some time, with the idea of spinning off the character into his own film series should the character prove popular among moviegoers.

Fox and Marvel have also long wanted to add the card-throwing character of Gambit to the X-Men franchise but could never find a way to give him enough screen time among the many other mutants that have appeared in each film.

Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am will play Wraith, a mutant who has the power to teleport and is another test subject of the Weapon X program that created Wolverine and other mercenaries. It would be his first film role.Law, Depp Confirmed In Parnassus

Confirming a rumor on Ain't It Cool News, the Reuters news service reported that Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell will appear as Heath Ledger's character in the unfinished film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

The news service cited Law's spokeswoman for its report.

The three actors will each play the role of Tony in the fantasy film, which Ledger had been filming at the time of his death in January.

It was not immediately clear how the role will be reconstructed for three actors.

Shooting for the movie, directed by Terry Gilliam, had just finished in London and had moved to Vancouver, Canada, when it was suspended on the news of Ledger's death.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is described as a fantastical morality tale about a traveling theater company that can control the imagination of others.New Death Is More Homage

Jason Statham, who stars in the upcoming SF-action film Death Race, told SCI FI Wire that the film is an homage to, rather than a remake of, the Roger Corman-produced Paul Bartel-directed 1975 cult classic Death Race 2000.

"It's fantastic fun," Statham said in an interview while promoting his latest film, The Bank Job. "It's more of [an] homage to the Corman film. It's not really a direct remake. I suppose it's very different. There's a great story to it, and I think it'll do really well. [Director] Paul Anderson was a dream to work with, and I'm really excited about seeing it."

Death Race retains little from the original movie, save for the central auto race. The movie is described as being set in a future version of America, where a prisoner (Statham) who is weeks away from being released is forced by his warden (Joan Allen) to compete in a brutal, deadly car race.

"It's [got] a big budget," Statham said about the film. "It's a great, great, fun film. I'm working with people of immense caliber. I've got Joan Allen there, who I'm doing scenes with. I've got Ian McShane. To be able to work with people like that, it just gets better and better."

Statham added that the role required unusual discipline from him. "I knuckled down quite immensely for that," he said. "I didn't have a drink for about five months, and for a Brit that's quite unusual."

The movie offers plenty for the auto enthusiast. "The cars in this are really killer," Statham said. "They've got ejector seats, and they spray out oil and napalm, and they've got rocket launchers. The story is it's a race to the death, and all the inmates in the prison build these cars." Death Race opens Sept. 26. It is being released by Universal, which is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM. --Ian SpellingSignal Star Bites Into Vamps

A.J. Bowen, who stars in the new SF movie The Signal, told SCI FI Wire that he is producing an independent vampire film called Maidenhead.

"We shot it in Austin over the summer, and it's a black-and-white movie sort of like The Twilight Zone," Bowen said in an interview. "It's a counterculture film, like Repo Man."

The film stars veteran character actor Michael Parks (Kill Bill) in a story that Bowen described as a classic horror film. "It's about a lonely, creepy guy [Bowen] who's taking care of his bedridden father [Parks], but his bedridden father just happens to be a vampire, too," Bowen said. "The guy ends up finding his soul through the process. ... We were lucky to get Michael Parks to play our vampire. That was pretty cool."

Bowen formed a production company, Normaltown, and produced the script, written by a friend, and recast the young girl who played the same part in an earlier short-film version, which made it into a few film festivals.

Bowen looked for inspiration to the original Twilight Zone and Hammer vampire films, Eraserhead and The Third Man. "It's heavily influenced by the masters we've admired so much in this genre: [David] Cronenberg, [David] Lynch and [Alfred] Hitchcock," he said.

Bowen said that he hopes Maidenhead will be ready for release later this year. The Signal opened Feb. 22. --Mike SzymanskiMoonlight Show Runner Exits

Moonlight show runner and executive producer Chip Johannessen has exited the CBS series, leaving executive producer Joel Silver and the show's remaining writing staff to work on the four remaining episodes of the season without an official head writer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Johannessen is not the first show runner to depart the CBS vampire drama. His predecessor, David Greenwalt, left the series last summer prior to its fall debut. The producers are not expected to name a new showrunner for the four-episode order, but will do so if CBS picks up the series for a second season.

Moonlight has shown promise on Fridays and was the only CBS freshman series kept on the air throughout the strike. The last new episode aired on Jan. 18. The network has not announced when it will return for the final four episodes.Sewell Enters Eleventh Hour

British actor Rufus Sewell (The Illusionist) is set as the lead in Jerry Bruckheimer's new CBS drama project Eleventh Hour, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The project, based on the British limited SF series, centers on Jacob Hood (played by Patrick Stewart in the original series), a special science adviser to the government who, along with his feisty female bodyguard, saves people from the worst abuses of science.

Feature writer-director Mick Davis penned the script for the American version, which is set in the U.S. CSI executive producer Danny Cannon, who directed the pilot for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and is credited with creating the hit franchise's distinctive look, will direct the pilot.Final Destination 4 Finds Victims

New Line has tapped Shantel VanSanten, Bobby Campo and Hayley Webb as the stars of Final Destination 4, Variety reported. Nick Zano, Krista Allen and Andy Fiscella round out the cast.

David Richard Ellis, who helmed the second installment, will direct the horror-thriller. As with the previous films, the fourth one centers on a teenager who receives a premonition of disaster and saves a group of potential victims. But death continues to stalk those who have escaped it. Ellis, who staged a massive freeway accident in the second film, will stick with the theme of automotive mayhem in the form of a race-car crash this time around. Eric Bress, who wrote the second film, penned the screenplay.

New Line is shooting the latest chapter, budgeted at $43 million, in 3-D. The previous three Final Destination films have grossed more than $150 million at the domestic box office. Principal photography begins this month in New Orleans.

VanSanten recently finished production on Roland Joffe's Finding t.A.T.u. alongside Timothy Hutton, Mischa Barton and Anton Yelchin.

Campo's credits include the UPN series South Beach.

Webb appeared in the TV series Shark and Close to Home.Stolen Child Film Moves Forward

Amazon.com is moving ahead with plans to produce its first movie, The Stolen Child, based on the fantasy novel by Keith Donahue, Variety reported. The Seattle-based online bookseller optioned the film rights to the book in late 2006 and has since set up the property at Twentieth Century Fox, with Marc Platt attached to produce with Amazon.

Ron Nyswaner, who penned the scripts for Philadelphia and The Painted Veil, had begun adapting the book before the strike, but now that it's over, Amazon is dusting off The Stolen Child again. Donahue's debut novel revolves around a man who was kidnapped by hobgoblins as a boy and replaced by a look-alike imposter. The book follows both versions of the character as they struggle through their new lives and environments.

Fox is financing the production, with Amazon agreeing to heavily push the film across its stable of Web sites (which include film database IMDb), which attracted 59 million visitors in January, according to comScore MediaMetrix. In December, that number was more than 65 million, according to Variety.

The company's previous entertainment ventures include 2006's Amazon Fishbowl, an online talk show hosted by Bill Maher that booked authors, musicians and filmmakers as guests to promote products sold on the site and a series of short films through its "Amazon Theater," produced by Ridley and Tony Scott. Amazon has also acquired the Los Angeles-based Without a Box, which helps filmmakers submit their pics to festivals, and launched the digital distribution service Unbox and the self-publishing offering CreateSpace.SCI FI Launches Online Poll

The SCI FI Channel-backed Visions for Tomorrow campaign has partnered with DirecTV to launch a new online poll, "Top Things to Read, Watch, See, and Do to Save The World," the network announced.

The poll provides the opportunity for individuals to get involved, spark a discussion and ultimately vote for the most powerful works of science-fiction television, film and literature, while identifying the courses of action that can make a difference.

"The goal of SCI FI's Visions for Tomorrow is to empower individuals to positively impact our future," said SCI FI Channel president Dave Howe in a statement. "By exploring the genre's greatest works of film, television and literature, SCI FI intends to issue a call to action for us all to embrace science fiction as a catalyst for change."

To participate in the poll, fans can visit www.scifi.com/visions from now until Monday, March 31, 2008, and vote for films, television programs, works of literature and the most important things they believe individuals can do to save the world. SCI FI will tally the votes and announce the fan-created list in April. At the same time, SCI FI will release its official top-10 lists of film, television and literature created by a blue-ribbon panel of jurors from SCI FI and the Visions for Tomorrow advisory board. Fans will then be able to compare and contrast the lists side by side to enhance the dialogue.

SCI FI's Visions for Tomorrow is a multiplatform, pro-social campaign using the power of science fiction to inspire individuals, organizations, corporations and policymakers to meet the growing challenges of the future and advance the idea that individuals can effect positive change. Guided by an advisory board of 19 of the world's most relevant visionaries and innovators in science, technology, design, journalism, film, television, business, government and futures studies, the campaign utilizes public service announcements, educational curricula and an interactive Web site to impact the future.Aliens Game Details Revealed

Sega, publisher of the first-person shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines, revealed details about the upcoming game based on the popular film franchise. The game will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows-based PC platforms in late 2008.

In Aliens: Colonial Marines, players are part of a United States Colonial Marine squad and must prepare to face an alien assault more intense and horrific than ever before. Driven by an original story penned by writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, Aliens: Colonial Marines will retain the atmospheric look and feel of the original films while leveraging next-generation technology to create a new interactive Aliens experience.

As an elite member of the Colonial Marines, players will have access to a range of weaponry, including pulse rifles and flamethrowers, based on the technology seen in the Alien films. The game also features claustrophobic environments, a brooding soundtrack and a multitude of surprises and shocks. Players will battle against menacing alien hordes in detailed levels that include the stark interiors of the abandoned ship Sulaco and unique environments created specifically for the game.

Aliens: Colonial Marines will feature a story-driven single-player mode and a new-four player co-op mode allowing players to share the chilling experience with three friends. In co-op mode, each player will assume the persona of a United States Colonial Marine and have a distinct role to play in the completion of every mission. Additionally, more multiplayer modes will be revealed later in the year that will complete the Aliens video game experience.2012 Goes To Sony

Sony Pictures Entertainment has emerged as the winner in a heated bidding war over Roland Emmerich's next directing project, 2012, Variety reported. The studio has committed to release the film as a summer tentpole in 2009. Production will begin in late summer or early fall, and the deal is a signal that studios are open to flashy packages after the resolution of the writers' strike.

The deal came on the same day that Emmerich pitched his vision and his budget projections for the film, which he scripted with 10,000 B.C. co-writer Harald Kloser. The studios were then invited to pitch Emmerich and his CAA reps on how they would market the picture.

Sources told the trade paper that several studios bid on the project, while some shied away from a price tag that could hit $200 million.

The title refers to the apocryphal date that the world is supposed to end, and it frames an ensemble disaster epic akin to The Day After Tomorrow, the blockbuster that Emmerich sold in a similar spec sale and which turned into a global hit for Fox.

10,000 B.C., from Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures, opens March 7.Paramount Surrenders To Blu-ray

Paramount has become the final Hollywood studio to adopt Sony's Blu-ray format exclusively, discontinuing its support for HD DVD, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In a statement issued on Feb. 20, Paramount Home Entertainment announced that the company is "pleased that the industry is moving to a single high-definition format, as we believe it is in the best interest of the consumer."

The studio did not release any further details about prospective titles or release dates.

The decision comes a day after Toshiba announced that it is ceasing the development, manufacture and marketing of HD DVD players by the end of March. Within hours of that announcement, Universal Studios Home Entertainment cast its lot with Blu-ray, leaving only Paramount as the lone holdout in its exclusive support of HD DVD.

Ironically, Universal had been exclusive with HD DVD since the format's launch in April 2006, while Paramount had initially supported both HD DVD and Blu-ray. Paramount and DreamWorks switched to HD DVD in August, reportedly after receiving a $150 million payment from the format's supporters for "promotional consideration."

The four other majors committed to Blu-ray are Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (along with its distributed MGM Home Entertainment label), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video (including distributed labels New Line Home Entertainment, BBC Video and HBO Video). Mini-major Lionsgate also has been an exclusive Blu-ray backer since the start.Columbia Picks Up The Boys

Columbia Pictures has acquired the rights to indie comic book The Boys and will develop a feature adaptation along with producer Neal H. Moritz and his Sony-based Original Film banner, Variety reported.

Created by Garth Ennis (Preacher) and Darick Robertson, the contemporary-set comic-book series follows a CIA squad, known informally as "the boys," whose job it is to keep watch on the proliferation of superheroes and, if necessary, intimidate or eliminate them.

Moritz characterized the series as an original take on the superhero genre. "Rather than begin with a romantic idea of superheroes out to save the world, The Boys imagines a world in which superheroes really exist, with all of the flaws that real people have," he told the trade paper. "The boys are there to make sure that people with superhuman powers don't get out of line."

The comic book is published by Dynamite Entertainment. Kickstart Comic Art Studios initially optioned the rights and will co-produce the film along with Moritz and NightSky Entertainment's Ken F. Levin.Fincher To Explore Black Hole

David Fincher (Zodiac) is attached to direct the feature adaptation of Charles Burns' graphic novel Black Hole for Paramount Pictures and MTV Films, Variety reported.

Burns wrote and illustrated the 12-issue comic-book series over a 10-year period, after which it was collected as a graphic novel. The story kicks off when a sexually transmitted "bug" is passed from teenager to teenager.

Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman were tapped to adapt the screenplay in March of 2006. Fincher replaces Alexandre Aja, who was previously attached to direct.Universal Teams With Hasbro

Universal Pictures and Hasbro have announced a six-year strategic partnership to produce at least four feature films based on some of Hasbro's best-known game and toy brands, including Monopoly; Candy Land; Clue; Ouija; Battleship; Magic, the Gathering; and Stretch Armstrong, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Hasbro will partner exclusively with Universal for feature films, with the exception of Transformers and G.I. Joe, which are already at DreamWorks and Paramount.

The first film emerging from the deal will be released in 2010 or 2011, and Universal will release at least one film a year after that. Hasbro is co-financing script development with Universal and has the option of co-funding production of the films. Hasbro will retain all merchandising rights to the brands, and the companies will share in consumer products revenue generated by the movies.

Shmuger said Universal and Hasbro still are working out which brand will be the first project developed, but sources said it's likely to be Monopoly or Ouija. Hasbro COO Brian Goldner said Michael Bay and his Platinum Dune production company are signed on as producers for a Ouija project, and David Berenbaum has signed on to write a draft of a script. He said Hasbro is in negotiations with Ridley Scott on Monopoly.

Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.com.Pirates Director Gets Animated

Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski will direct his first animated feature and team with filmmaker Graham King to produce the project, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The action-adventure film, based on an undisclosed idea developed by Verbinski's Blind Wink Productions and producer John B. Carls, has a projected budget in the $100 million range and a targeted 2010 release. Screenwriter John Logan (Sweeney Todd) is in talks to write the script with future sequels in mind.

"Gore had been talking to John about writing it and was looking for a producing partner," King told the trade paper. "John has worked with me before (on Martin Scorsese's The Aviator) and said, 'Why don't you talk to Graham?'"

King is financing the untitled film's development. Warner Brothers (which has a first-look deal with King) or another studio could come on board the project after the script is completed, he said.

Verbinski is now assembling a team of designers for the project, including visual-effects specialist Mark "Crash" McCreery and head of story and storyboard artist James Ward Byrkit, both of whom worked with him on the Pirates films. Co-producer David Shannon will also serve as a conceptual artist on the project. The filmmakers will decide whether to build out their own animation unit or go to an established animation house after they see a finished script. Portal Named Game of the Year

Valve's highly acclaimed PC puzzle game Portal was named game of the year at the Game Developers Choice Awards on Feb. 21, Variety reported. It also won prizes for innovation and best game design. The short but intricate game, released as part of the Orange Box collection, requires players to work their way through a series of rooms using a gun that lets them enter a wall at one point and exit at any other.

The only other game to win multiple awards was 2K's BioShock, another critical favorite from 2007. It took honors in audio, visual art and writing. The SF first-person shooter Crysis, published by Electronic Arts, was honored for best technology, while Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass took home the award for best hand-held game. The life simulation game Flow, released by Sony Computer Entertainment, was named best downloadable game.

The award winners are determined by a poll of game designers and honored at a ceremony during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.Exclusive Signal Clips Now Live

SCI FI Wire has posted exclusive clips from the upcoming SF horror film The Signal.

The movie, which was well-received at Sundance last year, begins with a garbled signal that comes through telephones and televisions and causes people to kill each other at random. The movie was released Feb. 22 by Magnolia Pictures. 300 Leads Saturn Nominations

Zack Snyder's 300 led the field of nominees announced Feb. 20 for the 34th annual Saturn Awards, with 10 nominations by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix followed with nine nominations, and Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street got eight nods.

In television, ABC's Lost dominated, with seven nominations. Showtime's Dexter received five nods, and NBC's Heroes scored four.

The organization also announced two special awards to be given this year: Writer/director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) will receive the coveted George Pal Memorial Award, and author Tim Lucas has been selected to receive a special achievement award for his 2007 book Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark, a critical study of the film work of the director.

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is a nonprofit organization devoted to honoring, recognizing and promoting genre entertainment. It was founded in 1972 by film historian Donald A. Reed.

The Saturn Awards show will take place on June 24 in Universal City, Calif. A full list of nominees can be found here.2012 Catches Studio Interest

Multiple studios are vying for director Roland Emmerich's next SF movie, 2012, an apocalyptic spec script written by Emmerich and Harald Kloser, who also collaborated on the upcoming 10,000 B.C., Variety reported.

Studio chiefs who read the script were reportedly interested enough to meet with Emmerich and his representatives on Feb. 13 to hear his budget projection and creative aspirations, the trade paper reported.

After that, studios will bid on what is essentially a green-lighted film, one that Emmerich intends to direct next and have ready for a summer 2009 release, barring a prolonged Screen Actors Guild strike.

10,000 B.C., from Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures, opens on March 7.Dark Knight Toys Unveiled

Mattel unveiled its lineup of action figures, vehicles and role-play toys based on the upcoming Warner Brothers Batman sequel, The Dark Knight, at the American International Toy Fair in New York City on Feb. 17.

Inspired by the storyline for the Chris Nolan movie, the toy line features younger-skewing role-play toys such as the "Rapid Fire Utility Belt With Cape" and the "Wayne Tech Mega Cape Accessory," which expands into wings at a touch.

Mattel is appealing to older collectors with its set of 20 5.5-inch action figures inspired by the sequel. A Mattel spokesman told SCI FI Wire that there are three main styles of figures: ones inspired by villains from the comics, including Deathstroke and Firefly; a Power Tech assortment of Batman with new gear, lights and effects; and a "Movie Masters" set that is sculpted by Four Horseman Studios.

Those figures will include the Joker, Batman in his new suit (which he receives in the middle of the movie), Batman in his old suit, Two-Face, a Joker henchman and Scarecrow from Batman Begins.

The figures will also feature small props from the film in "evidence bags" corresponding to each character. The Dark Knight toys will hit stores on May 5; The Dark Knight opens in theaters July 18. --Tara BennettNoctem Gives Away Horror

Michael Knost, editor and publisher of the new online horror magazine Noctem Aeternus, told SCI FI Wire that the magazine will be published on a quarterly basis and will be given away for free via e-mail.

"I wanted to make this project something to help readers introduce fiction reading to children and teens; therefore, I wanted to make it available to all fiction readers at no cost," Knost said in an interview.

After working in broadcasting and marketing for more than 20 years, Knost said that he was confident advertising would pay for the venture if he could build a large enough circulation. "Since there are no huge postage and printing costs, we look at paying the contributors a good wage," he said.

The first issue features fiction by and an interview with award-winning author Ramsey Campbell, as well as fiction by rising stars such as Cherie Priest and Charles Coleman Finlay. "Charles Coleman Finlay hammers our senses with a story of a father struggling to do what he knows is right while protecting his sons after an alien event causes infected humans to become breeding vessels of a horrific nature," Knost said. "However, the real horror is realized with the decisions the father is forced to make when he realizes his sons have become infected."

Knost said that he's looking for stories that pull him away from the words he's reading and draw him directly into the tale. "Fiction is a theater-of-the-mind medium," he said. "No visual media can generate the images or emotion the human mind can produce. ... We're not interested in blood and guts for the sake of having blood and guts. We want horror. We look more for a cerebral story where the characters are painstakingly developed to the point [that] subtle horror grows with the reader."

Issue number one of Noctem Aeternus is available now by signing up for a free subscription at the magazine's Web site. --John Joseph AdamsGrammer Scrooged Again

Kelsey Grammer will reprise the role of Ebenezer Scrooge for the independent satire An American Carol, directed by Scary Movie 4 helmer David Zucker, Variety reported.

Grammer previously played Charles Dickens' miserly grouch in the NBC-Hallmark production of A Christmas Carol in 2004. In the new movie, he will play a modern-day Ebenezer.

An American Carol lampoons contemporary American culture, particularly Hollywood. Zucker penned the screenplay along with Myrna Sokoloff. Production is scheduled to start Feb. 28 in Los Angeles.Speed Toys Unveiled

Mattel unveiled a line of vehicles and costume toys based on the Wachowski brothers' upcoming Speed Racer movie at the American International Toy Fair in New York on Feb. 16.

Nick Karamanos, Mattel's director of products, told SCI FI Wire that directors Andy and Larry Wachowski gave the company's development team unprecedented access to the upcoming film.

"We were able to look at the scripts early, and when they were going through the early animatics and wireframes, they actually shipped them to us so we could take a look at what they were conceiving in terms of races and the way the cars move," Karamanos said in an interview. "None of us could really conceive of how the cars are going to jump or stunt or battle, so we'd get the [images] when they were building a set for the look. That early inspiration became the Sky Jump Track Set, so it's been a phenomenal collaboration."

Considered to be Hot Wheels' most elaborate track set to date, the Hot Wheels Speed Racer Sky Jump Track Set replicates the film's final climactic Grand Prix race. Several cars can race through any one of the set's many tracks before being launched in the air for the death-defying Sky Jump. The set comes with an exclusive Mach 6 vehicle and has a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Other notable Speed Racer toys include the Speed Racer Battle Morph Mach 6, the Speed Racer 1/64th Scale Vehicle Assortment and the Speed Racer Race-A-Round Sound Helmet.

The majority of the Speed Racer toys will be released in March. The Speed Racer movie is slated for a May 9 release. ---Gordon HolmesSignal Had Three Helmers

The three directors who combined efforts to put together The Signal told SCI FI Wire they were on the brink of one-upping each other when it came to their special effects and killings.

Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry and David Bruckner, friends from the University of Georgia, masterminded a plan to direct one segment each of the story, about a garbled signal that comes through telephones and televisions and causes people to kill each other at random. After receiving praise at the Sundance Film Festival last year, the movie is being released Feb. 22 by Magnolia Pictures.

"We knew that you'd get three different views of the apocalypse from three different perspectives," Bush said. "I think that was really something that set us free."

Bruckner added: "We were resources for each other. We were tag-team directors. We had a tight schedule, so basically one of us [was] directing a scene, and one of us would have to do another segment in the same location, because they overlap the way they do. One of us would be shooting, and the third guy would be prepping the scene, working with an actor, and we'd get it shot, high five and move on to the next scene."

Gentry said that the three also worked together. "We also all three edited together," he said. "We were crew for each other."

The directors did have some conflicts, Bruckner said. "We tried to have respect for each other's visions, but that doesn't mean there weren't times when you didn't step into each other's project and whisper into each other's ear. ... Early on we spent a lot of time arguing."

Gentry laughed. "I totally disagree with everything he said. I can't believe you said that in an interview."

Their competition came when dealing with how many car crashes or burning people they would have in their scenes or what kind of weapons the "signalized" people would kill each other with.

"Yeah, there was healthy competition among us," Gentry said. "Especially when making a horror movie, you're talking about the kills, you're talking about the weaponry. There was a huge competition."

Their lead actor and longtime friend A.J. Bowen said working with all three was like a dysfunctional family. "I'm not a child of divorce, but I imagine it would be the same," he said. "They went out of their way to have the same voice, and I'm sure they went off and chewed each other's asses out, but not on set." The Signal also stars Anessa Ramsey, Scott Poythress and Matt Stanton. --Mike SzymanskiKnight Wins Ratings Race

NBC's two-hour Knight Rider movie topped the Feb. 17 TV ratings among young adults and scored the best demographics for a movie on television in nearly three years, Variety reported.

The good ratings increase the likelihood that the peacock network will green-light a series based on the backdoor pilot, an update of and sequel to the 1980s TV series of the same name.

Preliminary Nielsen ratings showed that Knight Rider averaged a strong 5.0 rating/12 share among adults 18-49 and drew 12.7 million viewers overall from 9 to 11 p.m., building gradually from start to finish.

No movie on television has fared better in the demographic since ABC's Their Eyes Were Watching God in March 2005.

Knight Rider starred Justin Bruening, Deanna Russo, Sydney Tamiia Poitier and Bruce Davison and is considered a strong candidate to return in some form next season, with NBC announcing its 2008-'09 series selections in May, the trade paper reported. (NBC is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.)Kreuk Hits The Street

Smallville's Kristin Kreuk will join Michael Clarke Duncan, Chris Klein and Rick Yune as stars of a new film version of Street Fighter, based on the Capcom video game, Variety reported.

Hyde Park Entertainment and Capcom will produce the movie, which 20th Century Fox will distribute. It is set to begin shooting in March in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Vancouver.

Kreuk will star as martial artist Chun-Li. Duncan will play Balrog, while Klein is stepping into the role of Nash. Yune is taking on the mystical Gen.

Rounding out the cast are Moon Bloodgood, Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas, Singapore's Edmund Chen and Hong Kong film star Cheng Pei Pei. Producers are still casting the film's villain, Bison.

Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die) is directing from a script by Voltron writer Justin Marks. Hong Kong fight choreographer Dion Lam (The Matrix) is handling the extreme fight sequences.

Universal made a movie version of Street Fighter in 1994, which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia.Twilight Cast Fills Out

Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser and Nikki Reed will have joined the cast of Summit Entertainment's vampire movie Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's hit book series, Variety reported.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have already signed on, joining Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz as members of the bloodsucking Cullen family.

Catherine Hardwicke is directing the script by Melissa Rosenberg.

The story revolves around Bella Swan (Stewart), a 17-year-old who moves to a small town in Washington to live with her father and becomes drawn to Edward Cullen (Pattinson), a pale, mysterious classmate who seems determined to push her away. She learns he is a vampire.

The first Twilight book has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and has spawned two sequels, New Moon and Eclipse.Guns Wiped From Indy Trailer

Ain't It Cool News has pointed out tweaks to the U.S. version of the teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to remove guns from one scene.

At the 40-second point in the U.S. version of the trailer, which was released last week, Indy (Harrison Ford) and his sidekick, played by Ray Winstone, are surrounded by uniformed men, some with guns.

But in an international version of the trailer (on the site of the U.K. tabloid The Sun), there are more men and more guns.

Fans of director Steven Spielberg recall that he removed guns from some shots in a digitally remastered version of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial a few years back. But AICN speculates the tweaks to the U.S. Indy trailer may have come at the behest of the Motion Picture Association of America to make the trailer more suitable for families.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens May 22.Bram Stoker Nominees Announced

Nominees have been announced for this year's Bram Stoker Awards, which recognize superior achievement in horror writing. The award, named for the author of the seminal horror work Dracula, is presented annually by the Horror Writers Association. Winners will be announced March 29 at the World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City. A complete list of nominees follows.

Novel: The Guardener's Tale by Bruce Boston, Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill, The Missing by Sarah Langan, The Terror by Dan Simmons, The Witch's Trinity by Erika Mailman

First Novel: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill, I Will Rise by Michael Calvillo, The Memory Tree by John R. Little, The Hollower by Mary SanGiovanni

Long Fiction: "Afterward, There Will Be a Hallway" by Gary Braunbeck; "Almost the Last Story by Almost the Last Man" by Scott Edelman; "General Slocum's Gold" by Nicholas Kaufmann; "The Tenth Muse" by William Browning Spencer; "An Apiary of White Bees" by Lee Thomas

Short Fiction: "The Death Wagon Rolls on by" by C. Dean Andersson, "Letting Go" by John Everson, "The Teacher" by Paul G. Tremblay, "There's No Light Between Floors" by Paul G. Tremblay, "Closet Dreams" by Lisa Tuttle, "The Gentle Brush of Wings" by David Niall Wilson

Anthology: Five Strokes to Midnight, Gary Braunbeck and Hank Schwaeble, eds.; Inferno, Ellen Datlow, ed.; Dark Delicacies 2: Fear, Del Howison and Jeff Gelb, eds.; Midnight Premiere, Tom Piccirilli, ed.; At Ease With the Dead, Barbara and Christopher Roden, eds.

Collection: Proverbs for Monsters by Michael A. Arnzen, The Imago Sequence by Laird Barron, Old Devil Moon by Christopher Fowler, 5 Stories by Peter Straub, Defining Moments by David Niall Wilson

Nonfiction: Encyclopedia Horrifica by Joshua Gee; The Portable Obituary: How the Famous, Rich, and Powerful Really Died by Michael Largo; The Cryptopedia: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange & Downright Bizarre by Jonathan Maberry and David F. Kramer; Storytellers Unplugged by Joe Nassise and David Niall Wilson

Poetry: Being Full of Light, Insubstantial by Linda Addison; Heresy by Charlee Jacob; Vectors: A Week in the Death of a Planet by Charlee Jacob and Marge Simon; Phantasmapedia by Mark McLaughlin; Ossuary by JoSelle Vanderhooft --John Joseph AdamsMaster Comes To Screen

Mikhail Bulgakov's supernatural novel The Master and Margarita is being adapted for the screen by Stone Village Pictures and producer Scott Steindorff, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Los Angeles-based production company has optioned the late Russian writer's once-banned book, an inspiration for the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," about Satan's return to Earth.

Master and Margarita begins in pre-World War II Moscow, where the devil appears as a mysterious man who insinuates himself into a literary crowd. Amid a series of deaths and disappearances, the devil brings together the title characters, a despairing novelist and his devoted but married lover. The story shifts to the setting of the master's rejected novel, Jerusalem in the time of Pontius Pilate, and then to a supernatural world where satanic forces have taken over Margarita's life.

Roman Polanski adapted the novel in the late 1980s and was set to direct it before Warner Brothers reportedly pulled the plug because of budgetary concerns. The book was adapted into a Russian TV miniseries in 2005.

Bulgakov finished the book shortly before his death in 1940, but in part because of its allusions to Stalin's regime, it was banned until a two-part censored version was published in 1966 and 1967. BRIEFLY NOTED

Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings) will join Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt in Universal's upcoming remake of The Wolf Man in the role of Detective Aberline, Variety reported. The film begins shooting in London next month for release on Feb. 13, 2009.

A sneak peek of shockingly vivid new content from the upcoming SF thriller Doomsday will go live Friday, Feb. 22, at approximately 1 p.m. PT on the film's official Web site. Additional footage and information will be released on Monday, Feb. 25, following its debut over the weekend at the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in Chicago. The film, directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent), opens March 14.

ABC has confirmed that it is moving Lost back one hour from its current timeslot on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT to 10 p.m., beginning April 24. The final five episodes of the season will air in that spot following Grey's Anatomy. The move bumps midseason series Eli Stone, which did not appear on the network's spring schedule. ABC has not announced whether the show will return.

Spike Jonze, director of Where The Wild Things Are, issued a statement about an unauthorized clip recently posted to the Web: "That was a very early test with the sole purpose of just getting some footage to Ben, our vfx [visual effects] supervisor, to see if our vfx plan for the faces would work," Jonze said. "The clip doesn't look or feel anything like the movie, the 'Wild Thing' suit is a very early, cringy prototype, and the boy is a friend of ours, Griffin, who we had used in a Yeah Yeah Yeahs video we shot a few weeks before. We love him, but he is not in the [actual] film. ... Oh, and that is not a wolf suit; it's a lamb suit we bought on the Internet."

A new trailer has gone live for M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming SF movie The Happening. It has been linked through SCI FI Wire's Trailers page.

Timothy Harris (Space Jam) is writing the screenplay for Imagi Studios' upcoming computer-animated feature film AstroBoy, the producers announced.

Herb Gains, producer of Zack Snyder's Watchmen movie, wrote about the movie's wrap on the official production blog.

Shock Till You Drop reported that Feast writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton signed a deal with the Weinstein Co. to pen the upcoming Hellraiser remake.

IESB.net reported a rumor that Lynn Collins (Bug) will play Silver Fox, the love interest in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and confirmed a JoBlo.com report that Danny Huston (30 Days of Night) will play a young version of William Stryker, previously played by Brian Cox in X2.

Ain't It Cool News reported a rumor that Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell would all step in to complete parts of the late Heath Ledger's role in Terry Gilliam's upcoming fantasy film The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, which was shooting at the time of Ledger's death last month.

Steve Gerber, the comic-book writer and creator whose signature character was the alienated, cigar-chomping Howard the Duck, died last week in Las Vegas from complications of pulmonary fibrosis, the Associated Press reported; he was 60.