Silver Wants Wonder Genesis Film

Uber-producer Joel Silver (the Matrix trilogy) told SCI FI Wire that he's now thinking his on-again, off-again Wonder Woman feature film should tell the superhero's origins.

"I thought for a while that I didn't want to do a genesis story of Wonder Woman," Silver said in a group interview in Long Beach, Calif., on April 18 while promoting his next film, Speed Racer. "And so the first few drafts I created weren't genesis stories. And I don't know, maybe after I saw Spider-Man or whatever, I thought that it should be a genesis story. And then I had to kind of go back to the drawing board, because I had a version that the studio wanted to make that was not a genesis story."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon turned in one script for a Wonder Woman movie before leaving the project last year. Writers Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland, whose original spec script was purchased by Warner Brothers, are currently working on a new draft. Jennison and Strickland's script was set in World War II, but Silver said that he doesn't want to do a period story. Wonder Woman is based on the long-running DC Comics franchise about an Amazonian superhero.

"I just think it should be a genesis story, and I've got to find a way to tell it," Silver said. "Because whenever I got into the stuff, you know, Paradise Island and stuff, it was kind of goofy. But I've got to find a way to do it where it's effective. I mean, I thought some of the stuff they did in 300 was great. I don't know if I want to make it that way, but, I mean, I think there's a way to do this where the audience is going to accept it. But I've got to figure it out."

As for Jennison and Strickland's screenplay, Silver said: "It was a good script. They wrote a good script, and I liked it. But I think that I don't want to make that movie that way. I want it to be a contemporary story."

Silver described the project as being "tabled for a while now," but added that he is still determined to find a way to make it work. "It's sitting there, and when I figure out a way to do it, I'll do it," he said. --Cindy WhiteDark Knight Trailer Unveiled

Fans at New York Comic Con previewed a new trailer for The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's latest chapter in the Batman saga, which featured a new look at Harvey "Two-Face" Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and the Joker (the late Heath Ledger) putting the moves on Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, replacing Katie Holmes).

The new trailer, which clocked in at slightly more than two minutes, also featured Dawes facilitating the first meeting between Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and Dent and the Joker addressing a gathering of Gotham's criminal leaders. Toward the end, Dent gives Wayne an ominous warning: "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

Paul Levitz, DC Comics president, introduced the trailer as a surprise during a panel for The Incredible Hulk on April 19 and just before the surprise unveiling of a new Speed Racer trailer.

The trailer will hit theaters in a couple of weeks. The Dark Knight opens July 18. --Gordon HolmesDel Toro Signs To Helm Hobbit

As expected, Guillermo del Toro has signed on to direct New Line-MGM's upcoming The Hobbit and its sequel for executive producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, Variety reported.

The announcement--which had been rumored for several weeks--came on the afternoon of April 24 from Jackson and Walsh, New Line president Toby Emmerich and Mary Parent, newly named chief of MGM's Worldwide Motion Picture Group.

Del Toro will move to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Jackson and his Wingnut and Weta production teams. He'll direct the two films back to back, with the sequel dealing with the 60-year period between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, the first installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Like Rings, The Hobbit is based on a book by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Del Toro won't leave for New Zealand immediately, as he's still in post-production on Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which is due July 11.

The official signing of del Toro comes four months after New Line settled a lawsuit with Jackson over profits from The Lord of the Rings and announced that it had agreed with MGM to turn Tolkien's book into two live-action films. Sam Raimi had been perceived as the initial front-runner as director, but Del Toro had emerged in recent months as the likely candidate.

Though no screenplay deal's been set, it's expected that the Rings scripting team of Jackson, Walsh and Philippa Boyens will collaborate with del Toro.

With del Toro blocking out four years for the project, it's likely that the studios are aiming at starting shooting next year and releasing the films in late 2011 and 2012.

(Del Toro talked with TheOneRing.net about the movie.)Hellboy II Changes Everything

Guillermo del Toro, writer/director of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, told SCI FI Wire that the four years since the last movie allowed him to change up the themes, mythology and characters for the sequel.

"I allowed myself to explore a different type of aesthetic and literary feeling for this movie," del Toro said in an interview last week at New York Comic Con. "The first one was cult, and this one feels more Old World and a little more folklore and mythology. In the aesthetics, I think, people are going to notice how much more free the worlds and the creatures in this movie are."

Hellboy II: The Golden Army centers on a war that erupts between humankind and the imaginary realm when their ancient truce is shattered. Hellboy and his team from the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.) must travel between the worlds to stop the impending disaster.

Based on an original story by del Toro and Hellboy comic-book creator Mike Mignola, Hellboy II also departs from the published comics in favor of an original storyline. "I see adapting or doing a different take on material like marrying a widow," del Toro said about the first film. "You have to respect the late husband's memory, but at some point you get in bed, and you have to do what you have to do. Mike and I always agreed on that. What is great in this movie is that we both dreamt up together a completely new mythology that is not in the comic books. He may use [it] in the comic books now, but we came up with it independently."

Del Toro added that the cast members brought a new perspective to their characters. "First of all, each one is different," del Toro said. "Like Doug [Jones] finally got to do the Abe Sapien voice [voiced by David Hyde Pierce in the first film], and he has grown enormously as an actor. Selma [Blair] had a lot more to do in this one as Liz. She was essentially in the moping stage in the first movie and was kind of snapping out of it. Now she is fully out of it and very much in charge in so many scenes and narrative lines in the movie. And Ron [Perlman] is Ron, and he's always fun to be with. His Hellboy feels a little sloppier in this one. He's more careless and cocky, and it has consequences." Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens in theaters July 11. --Tara BennettDel Toro: Hellboy III Would Be It

Guillermo del Toro, writer/director of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, told SCI FI Wire that he would like to do a third film if the upcoming sequel does well, but no more.

"If there was ever a third one, I would really make sure that we at least sign a contract that there is no more," del Toro said in an interview at New York Comic Con last week. "No prequels and no sequels: nothing. If that happens, then there is a third one we have planned, and the seeds are planted in this film."

Hellboy II: The Golden Army departs from Mike Mignola's comic books, with an original story that centers on a fantastical realm based on mythology created by Mignola and del Toro together.

If a third installment becomes a reality, del Toro said the story would shift back to the pulp mythology of the original comic-book series. "The idea for me is to bring back the Nazis characters, but bring them back in a way they would operate now," del Toro said. "Meaning, what public face would the Nazis have in 2009/2010? How rich would they be? How in charge could they be? It's not this group of freakies that hide in the sewers, but people that are incredibly rich."

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens in theaters July 11. --Tara BennettJones Is Hellboy's Featured Creature

Doug Jones, who reprises the role of amphibious Abe Sapien in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, told SCI FI Wire that he plays two other creatures in Guillermo del Toro's fantasy sequel: the Chamberlain and the Angel of Death.

As for Sapien, the blue-skinned agent of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Jones said: "It was like visiting an old friend again."

"Our language is already there, but the challenge of playing Abe Sapien this time was finding so many new colors to him that I had never explored before," Jones said in an interview last week at New York Comic Con. "In the first film, he was written as the one-note intellect and clairvoyant, and we're done. This time, he's still that, but he has an emotional life, with insecurities and vulnerabilities that you didn't know of."

Sapien also gets a love interest this time around: Princess Nuala, played by Anna Walton. "That awakens something in him that he never knew was there: a heart," Jones said. "It's a major plot point that might affect his decision-making."

Jones, a frequent creature performer in del Toro's films (including Pan's Labyrinth and Chronos), also puts on heavy makeup and costumes to play new creatures.

"It's creepy and beautiful at the same time," Jones said of the elaborate Angel of Death. "But I knew he/she--it's a very androgynous character--immediately. It was like an angel that was in all of her glory and created for a very specific purpose, [but] had been waiting to realize that purpose. She hasn't been able to fulfill it all these years and is faded and cracked and looks kind of creepy now and doesn't realize she looks creepy. She thinks she is still beautiful. When the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense comes to her for help, you meet her as this creepy thing, but yet she has a nurturing, helpful side to her. She's one of those characters that makes you feel both things. I love characters like that! They keep me working as an actor and the audience guessing." Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens in theaters July 1. --Tara BennettBlair Kicks Ass In Hellboy II

Selma Blair, who reprises the role of firestarter Liz Sherman in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army, told SCI FI Wire that her character is much more active in the sequel.

"The first time around, my character was stuck and sad," Blair said in an interview on April 19 at New York Comic Con. "I was just wanted Liz to kick some ass!"

In Hellboy II, the pyrokinetic Sherman is now a full-time agent of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.) and in a romantic (albeit shaky) relationship with Hellboy (Ron Perlman).

"We are introduced to Liz immediately as a much stronger character," Blair said. "She's with Hellboy, and she is more sure of her powers and using them. She's much more a part of the story as a force in the B.P.R.D. instead of someone that isn't willing to be there."

In the four years between films, Blair said she was looking forward to exploring a more mature Sherman. "I was just excited for Liz to grow up and for the years to pass and to have her relationship with Hellboy. Anything was an improvement to get into the storyline for my character. I'm just so excited!" Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens in theaters July 11. --Tara BennettDel Toro Reveals Hellboy Secrets

Guillermo del Toro, writer and director of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, told fans at New York Comic Con that the long-awaited sequel was even more challenging to bring to life than the first movie.

"For me, it was much more difficult to shoot this one than the first one, because, obviously, I have disgustingly gained weight, and I'm older," del Toro joked in a panel at the comic convention on April 19. "The first movie was ambitious, and we got it to be the size it got to be at $66 million. ... This one we knew we wanted to be two [to] three times bigger. I wrote some really crazy scenes that were being dropped, and when the time came for us not to drop any more, we still cut back with an $85 million budget. I had to make it compete with other movies this summer that are costing two or three times more, so that took a toll on my gonads."

Aside from del Toro, the panel also featured cast members Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Selma Blair (Liz Sherman), Doug Jones (Abe Sapien) and Luke Goss (Prince Nuada), along with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.

In the spirited hour, the panel screened the extended trailer and answered audience questions about the production of the film. Del Toro explained that Hellboy II features an original story created by him and Mignola that catches up with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.) team. That team now includes Johann Krauss, a disembodied ectoplasmic spirit who survives in a containment suit.

The character is physically played by John Alexander, but del Toro revealed a surprising choice for the character's voice. "We looked for a voice of Johann everywhere," he said. "I originally thought of an actual German actor to play him, but, unfortunately, the German actor we tried, his vocal quality exactly matched, no matter what we did, the hissing effects of Johann's mechanical mouth and bulbs. So it sounded like a prolonged stomach cramp or fart. I kept looking for someone, and on one good day I had an insane idea that fortunately came to fruition. I contacted Seth McFarland [Family Guy], and he is now the voice of Johann."

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens in theaters July 11. --Tara BennettLost's End Is In Sight

Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, executive producers of ABC's Lost, told reporters they know how the hit series will end when the show, now in its fourth season, finally finishes its run at the end of season six in 2010.

"The last scene has definitely been determined," Lindelof said in a conference call on April 17. "There would have to be some major shift in both our mindsets to back off that. That's what we've been working towards for a couple years now, even before the end date was announced. Now that the end date is announced, we're able to determine at what speed we're working. ... So we've got both pieces of bread that are eventually going to make the sandwich that is the remaining two seasons of the show, and now it's the matter of how much mayo we want to put on."

Lost returns to finish out its fourth season this month, and the producers have said they will do only two more seasons after that. In this season, which was interrupted by the writers' strike, viewers got their first glimpse of the Flight 815 survivors once they leave the island.

"We view the show as a mosaic, [and] we're putting tiles in all over the mosaic," Cuse said. "And when the mosaic is complete, Lost will be complete. And obviously we put tiles in the present and the past. And with the flash-forwards, now we're putting them in the future. But it's entirely possible as we move into future seasons that that notion of what is the past, what is the future and what is the present on the show could change. So in other words, it's somewhat dependent from what point of view we are telling the stories. I don't think we have any hard-and-fast rules about what we must or must not do. In fact, we approach it and say, 'Hey, this is the narrative we're going to be telling in this season of the show. What is the best storytelling method to tell that story?'"

But is there a chance there may be more Lost in store in the form of a sequel once that last scene finally plays out? "Oh, God," Cuse said with a chuckle. "We're so focused on just trying to finish telling this story. I mean, we're really planning that when Lost has ended that we're not holding [anything] back. We feel that would do a disservice to the audience. We want the conclusion at the end of season six to be the end of the story. So that's how we're planning."

Season five will most likely premiere at the end of January in 2009, Lindelof said. But fans may be able to get a glimpse of what the future holds both online and at Comic-Con International in San Diego this July.

"We're beginning discussions about what we're going to do between seasons, and we have the kernel of a cool idea," Cuse said. "But, yeah, we loved Find815[.com], and we hope to do a similar thing where there is an online prologue that will lead into season five and hopefully generate some excitement and interest in what that season is going to be."

The producers are also discussing what they might do at Comic-Con, Lindelof said. "Which will be probably before any of that stuff leading into the season, but might be tied into it," he said. "Last year we showed the Orchid [orientation] video, which is going to pay off in a big way in the season finale this year. So we would love to do something similar. Give the Comic-Con fans an exclusive look at something." Lost resumes its fourth season with all-new episodes on April 24 in its new timeslot, Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The season-four finale is set for May 29. --Kathie HuddlestonFox: Lost Is Back With A Bang

Matthew Fox, who plays Dr. Jack Shephard on ABC's Lost, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming final five episodes of the fourth season will be packed with action, a few surprises and a change for his character.

"You won't believe what happens in the next five episodes," Fox said in a group interview on April 18 while promoting his upcoming film, Speed Racer. "The show is building to its climax of the year, and it's a lot of things happening. It's big, and it's going to be good."

Fox added that things may change for his character, who has appeared in "flash-forwards" as an emotional wreck. "Jack's a frickin' mess in the future," Fox said. "So that's been not pleasant, to revisit that. It's never fun to put yourself into a place where you're suicidal and really, really messed up and desperate. So, yeah, he's really gotten to the rock bottom, but I understand why we're taking him there, and there will be a turn in there where he begins to sort of build towards a redemption. And taking him to the very pit of despair is going to make, I think, that more rewarding."

Lost has been on a break during the fourth season, which was interrupted by the writers' strike. "I think it's been a good year for us," Fox said. "The strike, obviously, was difficult, just because we were really on a roll through [episode] eight, then we took this break. But I think everybody was really excited to get back to it."

Now that the strike is over, the cast and crew have had to film several episodes at once in order to finish the season on schedule. "It's been, you know, chaotic," Fox said. "I mean, you know, as it always is this time of year for us. I mean, we're doing many shows [at once]. I think we're shooting three episodes simultaneously, essentially. So it's like anywhere between two and three units working at the same time and going back and forth between them and shooting things very out of sequence, which you always do, but I think when you're covering three episodes, it's a lot. But it's great. I mean, it's really great."

Lost returns with the first of its new episodes on April 24 in its new timeslot, Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT. --Cindy WhiteJohnson: Planet Due In Late '09

Dwayne Johnson, who voices the lead character in the upcoming animated SF comedy Planet 51, told SCI FI Wire that the movie is like a "reverse E.T." and is now looking at a fall 2009 release.

The film, developed at New Line Cinema, is now with Warner Brothers, Johnson (Get Smart) said in an interview on April 24. "I think it's going to be released next November. [The voices are] myself, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel ... [and] Justin Long as well."

The movie--from Joe Stillman, the writer of the Shrek movies--features Johnson as the voice of astronaut Capt. Charles "Chuck" Baker, leader of an expedition to the title world, which is inhabited by green creatures who fear an alien invasion.

"I go on their planet, and I'm actually the alien," Johnson said, adding: "Of course, I befriend a little boy [to try to] get back to my spaceship. It's really great."

The film marks Johnson's first foray into animation. "It was a lot of fun to get in there and find his voice," he said. "But the character's great, and I had a great time. We still have some more voice-overs to do, but I'm really excited about that."

The film also reunites Johnson with his Southland Tales co-star Scott. The two share scenes together, "but we laid down our stuff ... separately," Johnson said.

Planet 51 is produced by Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios. Jorge Blanco is directing, with Javier Abad and Marcos Martinez co-directing. --Patrick Lee, News EditorTarget Markets Speed 'Mockumentary'

Joel Silver, producer of the Wachowski brothers' upcoming Speed Racer movie, told SCI FI Wire that Target stores will carry a 20-minute stand-alone documentary film about the fictional Racer family tied to the film's release.

"There's a short film that's going to be sold at Target starting right before the movie opens, which is a mock documentary about the Racer family, which was really great," Silver said in an interview while promoting the film. "It's a 20-minute documentary about the Racer family, with all the cast as the characters, not as the actors. It's a mockumentary, and it's great. And that'll be lengthened for the DVD."

Silver said that one of the appeals of making a PG film was the chance to create a massive line of toys and games based on the franchise. His previous collaborations with the Wachowskis on the three Matrix films and the dystopian drama V for Vendetta (directed by James McTeigue) were all rated R and didn't offer the wealth of merchandising opportunities that Speed Racer does.

"I always had a desire to make a picture with all that stuff," Silver said. "I walked into a Toys R Us a few days ago, and the entire store was just incredibly full of Speed Racer material. It was like Lion King or a Disney movie, and I've never had that before. And this morning my son had a cereal box that says Speed Racer. I mean, all that. I mean, McDonald's Happy Meals. I've never had that before, and that's all a part of what we are trying to do. We're trying to make a big, fun, family movie that everybody can appreciate."

Speed Racer opens May 9. --Cindy WhiteDinklage Joins Narnia Family

Peter Dinklage, who appears in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian as Trumpkin the dwarf, told SCI FI Wire that it was easier than expected to join the hit film franchise.

"A lot of the actors and crew had worked on the first one, so you are entering into a family, but everyone welcomed me with open arms," Dinklage said in an interview at New York Comic Con last week. "It was a nine-month shoot. Sometimes you go and do movies for a few weeks or a month, and you are out and on to the next thing or your own life. But this becomes your life. Nine months is most of [a] year, so I saw these people more than my wife!"

In Prince Caspian, Trumpkin has lived through the destruction of Narnia and becomes a cynical survivor with little faith that the Pevensie children can restore his world to order. Due to some structural changes in the screenplay, his role is actually larger in the film than in the book.

"I love the books, but the adaptation that Andrew Adamson and the other writers did is my blueprint," Dinklage (TV's Threshold) said. "I think the greatest film adaptations of books are very different from the books and [are] their own entity. When things are too faithful to the books, it's sort of like why make the movie when you can read the book? What I like about this is they tweaked things here and there and changed things, and maybe I'm speaking because they expanded my character quite a bit," he added with tongue in cheek.

Asked if he shared much screen time with fellow little-person actor Warwick Davis (Nikabrik), Dinklage said, "Not really. Warwick and I would talk about that on-set when we would briefly run into each other, that we wanted more scenes together. There is a bit at the beginning and some smatterings throughout, but we definitely could have had more scenes together." The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian opens May 16. --Tara BennettYoung Indy's Flanery Has History

Sean Patrick Flanery, who gained fame as the title character in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, told SCI FI Wire that he looks back upon his experiences on the 1990s TV show as the world's greatest history lesson.

Flanery spent three seasons playing the adolescent version of the intrepid adventurer in three-dozen-plus George-Lucas-produced episodes and made-for-television movies, now collected as The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. The show was filmed on locations all around the world and featured Indy interacting with real-life historical figures.

"It was probably more of a history lesson for me than anybody else, because I got the stacks of research material," Flanery said in an interview while promoting the April 29 release of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Years of Change, a 10-disc set that includes seven feature-length movies, educational documentaries and interactive games and timelines. "I went to high school and university and everything else, and I learned more within that [time] of shooting Young Indy about history than I ever would have at university."

The Years of Change is the third and final collection of Young Indy DVDs, and it includes "Masks of Evil," in which Indy heads to Transylvania and takes on Vlad the Impaler and his army of the living dead; the jazz-themed "Mystery of the Blues," with Indy encountering musician Sidney Bechet, gangster Al Capone and a youthful Eliot Ness; and "Hollywood Follies," in which Indy works with film directors Erich von Stroheim and John Ford.

"I love 'em, man," Flanery said. "I mean, I really do. It's one of those things that ... it holds up. I don't cringe when I see it again. It's one of those things I think I'm going to be proud of until the day I die. I really love these. Jeffrey Wright played Sidney Bechet [in 'Mystery of the Blues'], and he's gone on to have a very well-respected, great career. That was one of the few we shot stateside. We shot that in Wilmington, N.C., and had a ball doing it. That's absolutely one of my favorites."

Flanery, who went on to star in such films as Powder and such TV series as The Dead Zone, added: "Having said that, you know, I'd be hard-pressed to name any [Young Indy episode] that I really didn't have fun shooting and that I really don't like the final product on. And I'm not saying that just to promote it. I really believe that. I really like them." --Ian SpellingZurer Is Demons' New Angel

Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer has nabbed the female lead opposite Tom Hanks in Columbia Pictures' Da Vinci Code prequel Angels & Demons, Variety reported.

Ewan McGregor is in talks to join the thriller, which is based on the Dan Brown best-seller. McGregor is set to take on the role of a powerful Vatican insider who assists Hanks' Robert Langdon.

In the prequel, Langdon once again finds himself entangled with powerful forces with ancient roots: the Illuminati--the most powerful underground organization in history--and the Catholic Church. Zurer will play Vittoria Vetra, an Italian scientist who joins forces with Langdon. Ron Howard is directing from an Akiva Goldsman script.Second 007 Crash Injures Stuntmen

A stuntman was seriously injured in a car crash while filming an action sequence for Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond movie, on a famously winding lakeside road in northern Italy, the Associated Press reported. It was the second auto accident on the movie in four days.

The London-based production company told the AP that an experienced stunt driver of an Alfa Romeo car remained hospitalized in serious condition following the accident on April 23. A second stunt driver in the same car also was injured, but less seriously.

Filming by the second unit of Quantum of Solace will be suspended while the accident is investigated, the statement said. It noted that neither director Marc Forster, Daniel Craig nor any other cast members were at the location when the accident occurred.

The Alfa Romeo crashed into a wall during a chase sequence involving a truck and Bond's Aston Martin along the Gardesana, a curvy, two-lane lakeside road with gorgeous panoramas and many tunnels, the AP reported.

The accident was the second on the Bond set in four days, after a $250,000 Aston Martin being delivered to the set skidded off the road in heavy rain and landed in Lake Garda on April 19. No one was injured, and the car was later fished from the lake.Locus Finalists Announced

Finalists have been announced for this year's Locus Awards, which are presented to the winners of Locus magazine's annual readers' poll. Winners will be announced on June 21 during the Science Fiction Museum's Hall of Fame weekend in Seattle. A complete list of finalists follows.

SF Novel: The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman, Brasyl by Ian McDonald, Halting State by Charles Stross, Spook Country by William Gibson, The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Fantasy Novel: Endless Things by John Crowley, Making Money by Terry Pratchett, Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe, Territory by Emma Bull, Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay

Young-Adult Book: Extras by Scott Westerfeld, The H-Bomb Girl by Stephen Baxter, Magic's Child by Justine Larbalestier, Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin, Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

First Novel: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce, Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak

Novella: "After the Siege" by Cory Doctorow, "All Seated on the Ground" by Connie Willis, "Memorare" by Gene Wolfe, "Muse of Fire" by Dan Simmons, "Stars Seen Through Stone" by Lucius Shepard

Novelette: "Dark Integers" by Greg Egan, "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang, "Trunk and Disorderly" by Charles Stross, "We Never Talk About My Brother" by Peter S. Beagle, "The Witch's Headstone" by Neil Gaiman

Short Story: "The Last and Only, or Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French" by Peter S. Beagle, "Last Contact" by Stephen Baxter, "A Small Room in Koboldtown" by Michael Swanwick, "Tideline" by Elizabeth Bear, "Who's Afraid of Wolf 359?" by Ken MacLeod

Collection: The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick, The Jack Vance Treasury by Jack Vance, Overclocked by Cory Doctorow, Things Will Never Be the Same by Howard Waldrop, The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories by Connie Willis

Anthology: The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, eds.; The Coyote Road, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, eds.; The New Space Opera, Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan, eds.; The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror 2007: Twentieth Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, eds.; The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed.

Nonfiction: Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Jeff Prucher, ed.; Breakfast in the Ruins by Barry N. Malzberg; The Country You Have Never Seen by Joanna Russ; Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines From 1970 to 1980 by Mike Ashley; Shadows of the New Sun: Wolfe on Writing/Writers on Wolfe by Peter Wright

Art Book: The Arrival by Shaun Tan; Dreamscape: The Best of Imaginary Realism, Claus Brusen and Marcel Salome, eds.; Emshwiller: Infinity x Two, Luis Ortiz, ed.; Mervyn Peake: The Man and His Art, compiled by Sebastian Peake and Alison Eldred, edited by G. Peter Winnington; Spectrum 14: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner, eds.

Editor: Ellen Datlow, Gardner Dozois, David G. Hartwell, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Gordon Van Gelder --John Joseph AdamsAutograph Session Kicks Off Nebulas

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will host a mass autographing session on April 25 at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown in Austin, Texas, to kick off the 2008 Nebula Awards weekend.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled to run from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Those taking part include this year's Damon Knight Grand Master honoree Michael Moorcock, as well as current Nebula nominees Nancy Kress, Joe Haldeman and Jack McDevitt.

Other authors scheduled to sign include Joe R. Lansdale, Steven Gould, Walter Jon Williams and Connie Willis. A complete list of participating authors is available on SFWA's Web site.Hurd: Hulk Needed Norton

Gale Anne Hurd, producer of the upcoming Marvel reboot movie The Incredible Hulk, told SCI FI Wire that finding the right Bruce Banner was a key element in bringing the Hulk back to theaters: Edward Norton.

"We didn't have to go back and do an origin story," Hurd said in an interview last week at New York Comic Con. "We had the opportunity to continue and do a story where Bruce Banner is already the Hulk. So we asked, 'Who is Bruce Banner?'"

The answer was simple, Hurd added. "He's a scientist," she said. "He can't outrun you or outfight you. He's on the run and trying to find a cure, but he does have the Hulk inside him."

That led to Norton, who plays the conflicted hero. "He's a very smart guy, a Yale graduate," Hurd said of the actor. "He plays duality better than anyone out there today. From Primal Fear to Fight Club, he kind of defines that duality. So he's the quintessential Bruce Banner."

With Norton on board, Hurd said they then chose a clear villain who would propel the story more clearly than in Ang Lee's earlier Hulk movie. "One thing that was important was to have a villain who was not only equal to the Hulk, but who actually makes Hulk an underdog," Hurd said. "We did that with Abomination. He's bigger, he's stronger, he's mean!" The Incredible Hulk opens June 13. --Tara BennettSpeed's Sarandon A Real Mother

Susan Sarandon, who stars as Mom Racer in the Wachowski brothers' upcoming anime adaptation Speed Racer, told SCI FI Wire that her mothering instincts kicked in while the film was in production.

"I'm kind of like a very hippie Martha Stewart," Sarandon said in an interview while promoting the film. "It took me a long time not to mother the guys that I was with completely. I'm the oldest of nine, and so I was conditioned. I just always had a baby on my hip, and I love family and I love bringing people together. It's quite selfish, because I'm really shy, and so it helps me integrate. Last night we were all in my room. It's just a natural thing, and if it's not happening, I feel really alienated somehow, because it's always been like that, from the very beginning of my career and in everything that I've ever done. I just like making group things happen."

Mom Racer serves much the same function in the film, providing a nurturing environment and bringing the Racer family together when things get tough. Sarandon also felt that it was part of her job to lend an emotional reality to the elaborate digital environments the characters inhabit.

"I had the [human] element," Sarandon said. "I wasn't sure if it would show up, because there's so much going on around you that it was really up to their planning to make sure that they could stop everything for two seconds to get that. I didn't understand that the little bit I'm in the movie would take all those months. They said, 'We really want that to be a part of the story. It's important to us.' You can be acting up a storm and bring all kinds of values to something, [but] if the director decides not to show it, then that's that." Speed Racer opens May 2. --Cindy White Fox Rebooting The Fury

Fox 2000 has tapped Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman to write a re-imagining of Brian De Palma's 1978 supernatural thriller The Fury, Variety reported.

The new version will center on a young man with heightened kinetic powers who is abducted by the government in order to take advantage of his special gifts.

The original, starring Kirk Douglas and John Cassavetes and released by 20th Century Fox, was based on John Farris' 1976 novel of the same name.

Newcomers McGreevy and Shipman penned the spec Of Every Wickedness, about America's first known serial killer, which landed on the industry's Black List of the hottest unproduced spec scripts and garnered the duo a lot of attention.Favor Brings Dresden Back

Best-selling fantasy author Jim Butcher told SCI FI Wire that his latest Dresden Files novel, Small Favor, continues several ongoing storylines and gets involved in a couple of new ones during the course of the investigation.

"It's the 10th book of the series, in which I plan to write a total of 20, more or less," Butcher said in an interview. "Once all the 'case' books are written, I plan to cap the whole thing off in a big old apocalyptic trilogy. I mean, come on. Who doesn't love apocalyptic trilogies?"

Harry Dresden, wizard at large, has in the course of his investigations incurred a debt to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, Butcher said. "He owes the big bad queen of the wicked faeries two favors, and in this story she shows up to collect on one of them," he said. "Harry finds himself subject to attack by the minions of Mab's enemy, Titania, the Queen of the Summer Court, as well as in danger of being wiped out by friendly fire in the course of a case he would much rather went unsolved--the kidnapping of Chicago crime boss John Marcone. Throw in a couple of holy knights, a cult of demon warriors and the Billy Goats Gruff, and it's looking like a long week for poor Harry."

Faeries, in the Dresden Files books, "ain't no pixie-dust-spilling, friendly, cutely animated little Tinker Bells," Butcher said. "They're the faeries of the Grimms' tales, the original, gruesome ones, and even the friendliest among them can be lethally dangerous in the right circumstances. Harry finds himself maneuvered into becoming a pawn in the continual war between the two major powers of Faerie, the Summer and Winter Courts, and, as always, it takes everything he has to survive the situation without abandoning the true victims of the matter."

Butcher is currently at work on the first four-issue Dresden Files graphic novel for Dabel Brothers, an original prequel story set a few days before the events of the first book in the series, Storm Front. Following the publication of the prequel graphic novel, Dabel Brothers will publish adaptations of the Dresden Files novels. --John Joseph AdamsCaspian Game Has New Scenes

Disney Interactive Studios announced that the upcoming video game based on the sequel film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian will feature two original scenes filmed exclusively for the game.

The scenes link the previous Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, with Prince Caspian, with Dr. Cornelius (Vincent Grass) telling Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) the story of how Narnia fell to the Telmarines hundreds of years earlier.

The scenes were shot on the film's set in Prague during principal photography for the movie and feature dialogue revealing plot points based on the events of the game and film and C.S. Lewis' original book, which is the basis for both. The live-action scenes were directed by Andrew Adamson, who also helmed the sequel film. The two original scenes are part of 18 live-action moments in the game, including 16 excerpts from the movie.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian video game will be available for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the Wii, the PlayStation 2 and the PC. A separate Nintendo DS version will also be available.

The movie opens May 16.Miller Is Kings' Queen

After an extensive search, Allison Miller has landed the female lead in NBC's upcoming drama series Kings, a contemporary take on the story of King David, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The story centers on David Shepherd (Christopher Egan), a pure-hearted young warrior who joins the court of the charismatic and authoritative King Silas (Ian McShane). The two-hour pilot will be directed by Francis Lawrence.

Miller will play Michelle Benjamin, Silas' daughter, who falls in love with David. (NBC is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.)Hulk Sets Up Avengers

Gale Anne Hurd and Kevin Feige, producers of the upcoming reboot of The Incredible Hulk, told SCI FI Wire that elements in the film lay the clear groundwork for a film adaptation of Marvel's character crossover saga The Avengers.

"It's nice to be able to let things evolve, and we set things up with this film," Hurd said in an interview last week at New York Comic Con. "We have Tim Blake Nelson playing Dr. Samuel Sterns, and anyone who is a fan of the comic books knows that Samuel Sterns turns into the Leader, so there is an opportunity to explore that. It's in this film, but for people who aren't aware of that, it's not confusing."

At the Incredible Hulk panel at New York Comic Con, the filmmakers also confirmed rumors that Robert Downey Jr., who stars in Marvel's Iron Man, may appear in Hulk; they showed a scene between William Hurt's Gen. Ross and Downey's Tony Stark at a bar.

With the announcement in 2005 that Marvel Studios would produce their own films based on their comic-book properties, it opened up the door for Marvel character crossovers, which is the premise of The Avengers. "I can definitely say that part of the fun of doing all these characters in-house now, the ones we have the rights to, is all about being able to bring something that has never been on screen before, which is the Marvel universe, " Feige said. "Any comic-book reader knows that you can flip through any given issue of a comic and not know who to expect popping into a panel. That's part of the fun of what Stan [Lee] and Jack [Kirby] did so many years ago, by intertwining these characters. We haven't had that ability until now."

Marvel Studios currently has Zak Penn attached as the writer for The Avengers, which is slated for a 2010 release. The Incredible Hulk opens June 13. --Tara BennettKeeping The Hulk Villain Human

Tim Roth, who plays the Hulk's nemesis Emil Blonsky in the upcoming The Incredible Hulk, told SCI FI Wire that it was important that he create a human character that would be reflected in Abomination, the computer-generated uber-villain that he becomes.

"We talked about that from the beginning, before we even ended up in front of a camera," Roth said in an interview last week at New York Comic Con. "[Blonsky] has a real problem with authority, even within the military, which is where he operates."

In the film, Blonsky plays a soldier in the U.S. Army Special Forces who volunteers to expose himself to the same gamma rays that turned Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) into the monstrous Hulk. The exposure turns Blonsky into the violent monster Abomination.

"We were looking for things that could carry right through to the actual monster at the very end, so there is a real echo," Roth said about the character's evolution. "You can see Blonsky in the Abomination. I talked a lot to the CG animators about how I'd like to him to operate and function. It's good." The Incredible Hulk opens June 13. --Tara BennettSpeed's Ricci Is A Real Doll

Christina Ricci, who plays Trixie in the Wachowski brothers' upcoming live-action Speed Racer, told SCI FI Wire that it's appropriate she's finally playing a role based on an anime character, because she's so often been compared to one.

"I have big eyes and a small chin," Ricci said in an interview while promoting the film. "People have told me that I looked like [an] anime [character] for a long time, and so after a while you're like, 'OK, fine.' ... I wanted to work with the Wachowskis, and I've been hearing about Speed Racer for the past 10 years, and people have said for a really long time that I should play Trixie and that I look like Trixie. So I thought, 'Awesome. I'll go in and read for this.'"

Trixie is the childhood sweetheart and grown-up love interest of race-car driver Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch). As part of the Racer family team, she guides Speed through his races from above in her pink helicopter.

Ricci appreciated that her character could be stylish and feminine, while at the same time holding her own with the guys in the action scenes.

"I enjoyed it immensely," Ricci said. "[I wore] a lot of pink. Pink and red, which is kind of awesome. I liked her clips and her makeup. It was really fun. It's fun to play someone who's a little bit cartoonish. They dressed me up like a doll, but then they let me go and fight people and race cars and fly a helicopter."

The only thing Ricci would have changed about the film, she said, was that she'd have liked to have even more action scenes.

"I would've loved to have done more action stuff, but that's just me wanting to have fun," Ricci said. "It was something that I loved, because that really is the sort of ultimate feminist thing, where you can be as girlie as you want to be, but you're still as capable and as able to do everything that the boys can do. But I still want more. Yes." Speed Racer opens May 2. --Cindy WhiteIron Game Uses Film's F/X

Sega's upcoming Iron Man video game makes use of visual-effects assets developed for the upcoming movie, Sega product marketing manager Logan Parr told SCI FI Wire at New York Comic Con over the weekend.

"Working with Marvel, we are utilizing the assets that are used in the movie," Parr said. "The Iron Man suit is based on the model that was used by [Industrial Light & Magic] for doing the special effects for the movie."

The game--which features the voices and likenesses of the film's stars Robert Downey Jr., Shaun Toub and Jeff Bridges--takes the story beyond the upcoming movie, directed by Jon Favreau.

"The gameplay is about a third of the movie," Parr said. "The other two-thirds we go into the rich Marvel universe, especially the Iron Man comic books. And we give fans a treat by seeing some of the bosses you've read about in the comic books, as well some of the enemy organizations who've been stealing some of Tony Stark's weapons."

The game has already gotten an endorsement from an important player. "Stan Lee has been checking out the game, making sure that it was coming along great," Parr said. "He had great things to say about the game."

Iron Man: The Video Game will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii and PCs on May 2, the day the film opens. --Gordon HolmesWeird Turns 85 In April

Stephen Segal, editorial and creative director of Weird Tales magazine, told SCI FI Wire that it is celebrating its 85th anniversary this month with issue number 349.

The anniversary issue features legendary fantasy author Michael Moorcock's new Elric novella, "Black Petals," in which the angst-ridden Emperor of Melniboné journeys into cursed ruins to find a dark flower that might cure his unique condition, Segal said in an interview. The issue also features stories from Sarah Monette, Tanith Lee and others.

Also in the issue is a feature, "The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years." "Not just writers, mind you: artists, filmmakers, songwriters, stage performers and more," Segal said. "The sneak peek on our Web site has been highly controversial so far. Apparently, quite a few of the honorees are weirder choices than people were expecting! But we'd received a lot of creative and unexpected suggestions from readers while compiling the list, and we hope it'll really make visible the threads that connect Lovecraftian and horrific-SF weird with the likes of David Lynch, Kara Walker, Cirque du Soleil and Warren Zevon."

Weird Tales is the place where two storytelling concepts meet: speculative and alternative. "In 1923, when the magazine was founded, those two ideas amounted to the same thing," Segal said. "Weird Tales was explicitly launched as a vehicle for writers trying to publish stories that were so bizarre and far out, other magazines refused to buy them--and those stories fell into two categories: tales of supernatural occurrences and tales of future worlds. The phrase 'science fiction' wouldn't be coined for several years yet, but right from the start, the editors of Weird Tales were not only publishing it, they [also] understood perfectly well that it was just the newest face of the fantastic literary tradition that stretched from Homer to Shakespeare to Shelley and Poe and Verne."

Segal added: "Today, the overall fantasy-horror-sci-fi aesthetic is such a giant, omnipresent cultural force--from Hollywood to video games to the whole freaking Internet--that Weird Tales' mission of bizarre storytelling means we not only have to offer an alternative to realistic fiction, we also have to offer a more sublime alternative to the familiar, obvious sorts of speculative fiction." --John Joseph AdamsHalf-Blood Game Due This Year

Electronic Arts' Casual Entertainment label and Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment announced the release later this year of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a video game tied to the movie of the same name. Like the film, the game is based on the sixth volume in J.K. Rowling's best-selling franchise.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was.

Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses, and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information.

In the game, players return to Hogwarts to help Harry survive his sixth year by engaging in wizard duels, mixing and brewing magical ingredients in potions class and taking to the air to lead the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory. Players may get sidetracked by Ron's romantic entanglements as they journey toward a dramatic climax and discover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince.

Developed by EA Bright Light Studio, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is scheduled for release in time for the movie launch this fall for the Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS, PC, Macintosh and mobile devices.Leterrier: No Hulk Dispute

Louis Leterrier, director of the upcoming The Incredible Hulk, downplayed to SCI FI Wire reports of a creative rift in the post-production phase between actor/screenwriter Edward Norton (who plays Bruce Banner) and Marvel Studios.

"It's so unsettling, because it's not true," Leterrier said in an interview on April 19 at New York Comic Con. "Listen, when you have problems [on a film], you learn what to do. Everyone comes to an agreement where everyone agrees to say it was one thing or it was another thing. But [this controversy] is not a real thing, so I am saying one thing and [producer] Kevin [Feige] will say another thing, because it's a non-issue."

Entertainment blogger Nikki Finke first reported that Norton and Marvel clashed over the film's tone and direction. Not so, Leterrier said. "Edward is working on the movie, and we are working here," he said. "It's a non-issue. You know what's real is that it gives that woman, Nikki Finke, too much power, and everybody is falling into what she is saying. It's sad and weird."

For her part, Finke told SCI FI Wire: "I stand by my story, which sources inside both studios (Marvel and Universal) confirmed for me, as well as sources close to Norton."

Asked if he found it difficult to work with Norton, Leterrier said "No." "For example, I never, ever heard about the [rumored] Edward Norton problems [with director Tony Kaye] on American History X," he said. "That movie was amazing, and in France we just judged the movie. I speak to Edward every day. I can show you my iPhone, which has Edward Norton written all over it. We speak daily. He is very proud of the movie and is very involved. I wish he was here."

Norton was notably absent from the Hulk panel at New York Comic Con, which featured Leterrier, Feige, producer Gale Anne Hurd and co-star Tim Roth. "It's a shame, because he was doing something else, but I wish he was here so we could say, 'Look at us. We are proud of this.'"

Norton is credited as a writer on The Incredible Hulk, and Leterrier commended his contributions. "Zak Penn, the first screenwriter, and myself are crazy comic-book fans, so we were like, 'Do this character and that character!'" Leterrier said. "But Edward knows the movie business and audiences very well, so he said there were things we didn't need and said, 'Take this character out and this character out; streamline the story.' That's where he really helped us at the end of the day, and also his dialogue is amazing. Really, everybody was thrilled, and he's a true collaborator. Every day he asked, 'Can we do this? And can we do that?' But with all the action scenes, he said, 'That's all your deal.' He wanted true, deep characters; that was the only thing he said when we first met. He said, 'If I do this movie, I want Hulk to be as exciting as Bruce Banner.'"

At the Hulk panel, Leterrier screened the first footage of the film since the trailer debuted, and he admitted to feeling the stress. "There is stress every day," the director said. "Today is actually the peak of stress, because this event can make or break you. It's very daunting, but at some point you have to remove yourself from the world and concentrate on what you know best, what you think you know best and what you think people can appreciate. But when you have a strong base, it's like high flying with a net, and the net is the comic book. If you are true to the comic book, people should like it. And I have to be honest: I didn't have another agenda other than truly making a good movie for the fans and for those that don't know the Hulk." The Incredible Hulk opens June 13. (Universal is distributing the movie and is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.) --Tara BennettSpeed Surprises Hirsch

Emile Hirsch, who stars as the title character in the upcoming anime adaptation Speed Racer, told SCI FI Wire that he had an idea what the film would look like ahead of time, but that the finished film's striking visuals still took him by surprise.

"It was so much more, because when you're on the green screen, you have to substitute it with your imagination," Hirsch said in a group interview in Long Beach, Calif., last week. "The Wachowski brothers just have that much crazier of an imagination than I do. Maybe they have that particular visual crazy gift. So the wildest thing I could imagine pales in comparison to what they had already imagined and managed to put on screen, which is kind of part of their genius, that they just are able to do that."

Brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski, the writing and directing team behind the Matrix trilogy, created the auto-racing-centered world of Speed Racer using a combination of green-screen and live-action elements. Hirsch said that the lack of scenery was a challenge, but that he relied on the directors and special-effects supervisors to guide his performance.

"Luckily, green's my favorite color," Hirsch (Into the Wild) joked. "No, I really do like green, but you ground yourself by constantly looking at the images of what the background is going to be. That was really one of the most helpful parts. I'd go up to John Gaeta, the special-effects expert, and he'd open up his laptop, and he'd be like, 'OK, this is your environment.' I'd go, 'OK, perfect.' So then when I'm out there looking at the green screen, I'm pretending cars are coming. And there's a couple seconds where you're like, 'God, this is a little weird. This is kind of crazy.' Then I'm like, 'Well, that's what this is.'"

For the race scenes, Hirsch spent 20 days working in the small cockpit of Speed's Mach 5 race car, which was mounted on a moving platform. Those scenes proved to be some of the most difficult of the shoot, but Hirsch learned to use that to his advantage.

"It was very, very challenging being on this thing called the gimbal," he said. "It would throw you around, give you whiplash, and they'd tie you down, and it would be hot, and you would sit in it for a couple hours and wet your pants and all that. No, you wouldn't wet your pants, but you're literally strapped into this thing, and it is just thrashing you about. You know, you use it so all those scenes in the movie where I'm angry or really determined, I'm genuinely angry. I'm just upset at being in it. I'm claustrophobic in it. I'm just ready to rip something apart. I'm just like [mimes driving], 'Grrr!' Whereas, if I was having an amazing experience in a gimbal that was really comfortable, I'd be, like, smiling. ... [It] wouldn't be as convincing." Speed Racer opens May 2. --Cindy White Caspian Is Faithful To Book

Mark Johnson, producer of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming sequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will remain very faithful to author C.S. Lewis' original book.

"I've produced a lot of movies that are based on books, from The Natural to My Dog Skip to even The Notebook, and we have made big changes in all of them to adapt them to film," Johnson said in a group interview on April 19 at New York Comic Con. "But I think that it's clear with The Chronicles of Narnia that you just can't tamper with them that way. They are too important to too many people."

Fortunately, Lewis' book is written almost cinematically, Johnson said. "You make changes at your own risk," he added. "I think with The Lion, the Witch, we were very faithful to the book, so faithful, in fact, that when we made up scenes--for instance, the scene on the frozen river--people would say, 'I'm so glad you kept that scene in from the book.' ... Of course, it's not in the book!"

Johnson admitted the filmmakers did make a few tweaks to Prince Caspian to adapt it for the big screen. "The big change we did in Prince Caspian is a structural one," he said. "If you remember, in the book the story of Caspian is told in flashback by Trumpkin [Peter Dinklage] to the four Pevensie kids. We rearranged that. At one point, we have three parallel stories that take us though the first 45 minutes." The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian opens May 16. --Tara BennettGuess Who's A Voice In WALL-E?

Jim Morris, producer of Disney/Pixar's upcoming animated film WALL•E, unveiled new footage from the movie to fans at New York Comic Con over the weekend, offering the first glimpse of the character M-O and revealing that Alien star Sigourney Weaver will voice a role.

Weaver will voice the computer of the starship Axiom. "We kind of geeked out at the thought of having a little wink to Alien," Morris said in a panel. "Instead of fighting Mother, Sigourney has become Mother."

New footage showed the character of M-O, an anal-retentive cleaning droid. In the clip, WALL•E, a cube-shaped robot, sneaks aboard the Axiom, one of the luxury liners that has transported the human race off the planet Earth. WALL•E takes offense at M-O's attempts to clean him.

All told, Morris showed four clips from the movie to the Comic Con audience. The first was an extended version of a scene originally screened at last summer's Comic-Con International, in which WALL•E meets his robotic romantic interest, EVE.

A second clip showed WALL•E rescuing EVE from a sandstorm by taking her to his trailer home, where he shows off his collection of oddities: an egg beater, a Rubik's Cube, bubble wrap and a Betamax copy of the musical film Hello Dolly.

In the final footage, EVE places WALL•E in an escape pod. While inside, the Weaver-voiced computer informs him that his pod has accidentally been programmed to self-destruct. WALL•E opens June 27. --Gordon HolmesFox Renews Connor Chronicles

Fox has green-lighted a second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, picking up 13 new episodes of the SF series, Variety reported. The report confirmed a rumor first posted on TV Guide over the weekend.

Warner Brothers TV, which produces the show, had already started staffing a second season, the trade paper reported.

Fox has also been developing potential companion series, and, in meetings with advertisers, executives have discussed several potential scheduling scenarios that include the show.

Sarah Connor was one of the season's most successful new shows, averaging a 4.4 rating/10 share among adults 18-49, as well as 10.5 million viewers overall, the trade paper reported.

The series, a spinoff of the Terminator film franchise, revolves around a woman and her son battling futuristic robots. Lena Headey stars as Sarah Connor; Thomas Dekker plays her son, John; Richard T. Jones stars as FBI agent James Ellison; and Summer Glau plays Cameron.Bloodgood Back In T4

Moon Bloodgood (NBC's Journeyman) is in final negotiations for the female lead in McG's Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, the fourth movie in the SF franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Bloodgood will star alongside Christian Bale, Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin in the sequel, which is being produced by Halcyon Co. and set for a Warner Brothers release in the summer of 2009.

Bloodgood will play a no-nonsense and battle-hardened member of the resistance. Principal photography is set to begin May 5.

Bloodgood starred in the short-lived NBC time-travel series Journeyman and is shooting Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Diary Part Of Cloverfield DVD

T.J. Miller, who played Hud in the J.J. Abrams-produced monster movie Cloverfield, told SCI FI Wire that he filmed the cast and crew during the lighter moments of downtime for a video diary that will be included as a bonus feature on the upcoming DVD release.

"I did a very long video diary for the DVD, and it's pretty fun," Miller said in a telephone interview last week. "It's kind of behind-the-scenes stuff, and it's us while we were filming. I'm a comedian, so I did a lot of funny, fun stuff in the video diary, and they included a lot of it."

Cloverfield was filmed as if it were shot through the lens of a video camera operated by Miller's character. With no formal training as a cameraman prior to filming, Miller had to develop his technical skills while shooting about a third of the movie (the rest was shot by professional camera operators).

"I learned that you take a lot of care in your shot compositions," Miller said. "And I also learned that it's really strange to be acting while you're filming, because I would be thinking about things like headroom and zooming in and out. I also had to be present in the movie. I had to sort of be reacting to everything, and we were improvising a lot of our reactions, so it seemed real."

Improvisation was one aspect of the role Miller was prepared for. As a stand-up comedian and a former member of Second City in Chicago, Miller was able to think on his feet and inject some humor into the film.

"It definitely helped," Miller said of his comedy background. "They allowed me to sort of be the funny part of that film and provide the comic relief. That was the thing that I always feel, like, is missing from those films. You've got all these different reactions. You've got girls crying and guys going like, 'OK, we've got to figure out a way out of the city.' But you never really have somebody who, I think, is kind of like me, saying, 'Hey, guys!' You know? And just screaming a lot and basically just being very afraid of the situation and trying to awkwardly make things better." Cloverfield will be released on DVD April 22. --Cindy WhiteSCI FI/Virgin Announces Superbia

SCI FI/Virgin Comics, the year-old joint venture between SCI FI Channel and Virgin Comics, announced the imprint's second title, Superbia, which will hit retailers in the summer.

The comic series is described as "the Justice League meets Wisteria Lane" and centers on Woodshire Village, a planned community for superheroes and their spouses, girlfriends and domestic partners.

Superbia is created and written by Lisa Klink and Jordan Gorfinkle.

SCI FI/Virgin's first title, The Stranded by Mike Carey, has been a must-read for comic-book fans since July. The Stranded collection will be available later this summer at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders and other booksellers. Marvel To Do Ender Comic

Marvel Comics announced that it will publish a comic-book series based on Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game book series under the publisher's "Best-Selling Authors" line.

The first limited series installment will be adapted by comic-book and animation writer Chris Yost, drawn by Pasqual Ferry and overseen by Card himself. The series will debut in comic stores in the fall.

"Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow are my most popular novels, and for many years I've withheld them from adaptation until the conditions were exactly right," Card said in a statement. "I've worked with Marvel for several years now, beginning with the Ultimate Iron Man series, and I trust them to do superb work. They understand the stories; they know how to translate them into graphic-novel form; and nobody has higher standards of professionalism. In short, now is the time, and Marvel is the publisher to bring Ender and Bean to life in the visual media."

The comic series will mark the first visualization of Card's best-selling SF epic, in which the world's most gifted children are taken to Battle School to prepare them for the fight of their lives and to save humanity from its greatest threat. It is the tale of Ender Wiggin, a young boy who will rise up to be the greatest warrior and leader that the human race has ever known.

Meanwhile, Tor Books, Card's publisher for more than 25 years, announced the publication of a new Ender novel, Ender in Exile, in late 2008. Ender in Exile is a direct sequel to Ender's Game; it follows Ender Wiggin and his sister Valentine on their journey to Earth's first colony world.Paper Is Urban Fantasy

Ekaterina Sedia, editor of the anthology Paper Cities, told SCI FI Wire that the book's subtitle, "An Anthology of Urban Fantasy," perfectly describes the contents, if the term is taken literally.

"[It contains] stories about magic taking place in cities, real and imaginary, modern and archaic," Sedia said in an interview.

The book was conceived as the reaction to the recent shift of the meaning of "urban fantasy," Sedia said. "Suddenly, instead of including writers such as Charles de Lint, Emma Bull and China Miéville, it became primarily about paranormal romances involving vampires or shape-shifters or psychic detectives," she said. "As much as I love a good shape-shifter/paranormal-investigator story, I feel that urban fantasy includes much more than that. The book was a reaction against this narrowing of meaning."

The book's writers impressed Sedia with the diversity and scope of their stories and the inventive liberties they took with the concept. "For example, Forrest Aguirre took a medieval hamlet as his city, while others opted for underwater cities (Kaaron Warren), futuristic cities (Darin Bradley and Jenn Reese) and modern cities (Mark Teppo and David Schwartz)," Sedia said. "There are cities that live on people's skin (Catherynne M. Valente) [which is available online] and in which it rains vinegar (Steve Berman). There are places which are phantasmagoric and familiar at the same time (Vylar Kaftan and Paul Meloy). In the fantastic cities, we have Jay Lake's gritty City Imperishable, [which] crushes the humanity of its inhabitants, and Cat Rambo's Tabat, the quintessential fantasy city brimming with life and trade and complete with underground catacombs."

The same variety is seen in magic, Sedia said. "There's magic of touch, of consumed soul, of sleepwalking, of e-mail spam, of words on skin and so on," she said. "There is certainly plenty to surprise and delight anyone, whether you're looking for a more traditional fantasy or something experimental."

Sedia, who was born and raised in Moscow, is currently working on her next anthology, Russian Winters, for Prime Books. Her most recent novel is the critically acclaimed The Secret History of Moscow, and her next, The Alchemy of Stone, will be available in July. --John Joseph AdamsLee And Virgin To Create Heroes

Spider-Man creator Stan Lee announced a partnership with Virgin Comics as a writer and editor to oversee the creation of a new universe of superhero characters.

The new universe will be unveiled in early 2009 and will launch as a series of 10 graphic novels linked to a series of online animated shorts.

The new universe will center on a team of 10 superheroes of various backgrounds and origins. As the team evolves, readers will learn that not all of the heroes are what they seem. There will be infighting, abuses of power and internal struggles that will challenge the heroes, who may find that the real villains are themselves.

Lee is a former editor in chief at Marvel Comics and trained some of the industry's most influential creative talents under a system called the "Marvel Method."Moonlight Looks To Year Two

Joel Silver, executive producer of the CBS vampire drama Moonlight, told SCI FI Wire that he and the writers are already working on stories for a hoped-for second season and that he will be pitching CBS next week to win renewal.

"We're hopeful," Silver said in a group interview on April 18 while promoting his latest film, Speed Racer. "I mean, the next episode goes on next Friday night, which is a really great episode. It starts out, Mick [Alex O'Loughlin] is still human, but then he has to go back to being a vampire. And I have three more really strong episodes. And I hope that it does come back, because we have a whole plan for next year that's fantastic."

CBS will announce its fall lineup in May at its annual upfront presentation to advertisers in New York. Before then, Silver and the writing staff are planning to meet with the network and make their case for season two for the show, which has earned solid if unspectacular ratings.

"Well, we're going to go in, as a matter of fact, next week for a pitch meeting to tell them what we're going to do next year," Silver said. "And then that, coupled with the ratings, we'll know what happens." Moonlight returns with the first of four new episodes on April 25 in its regular timeslot, Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. --Cindy White Spirit Trailer Recalls Sin

Legendary comic author and now filmmaker Frank Miller unveiled a new trailer for his upcoming film The Spirit--recalling the style and look of Sin City, which he co-directed with Robert Rodriguez--at New York Comic Con on April 19.

The teaser trailer, shot in black and white, featured the title crime crusader making his way across a cat-filled room to answer a ringing phone. After a brief conversation, he dons his trademark suit and red tie (the only color in the piece) and takes off across the rooftops of a snowy city.

Miller also explained to fans why he chose Gabriel Macht to star in the movie, which is based on Will Eisner's classic comic strip. "I wanted from the beginning to have a less-known actor to play the title character, because I wanted you to experience him first as the Spirit," Miller said. "And Gabriel's got a long and terrific career ahead of him, but right now he's my matinee idol."

Miller added: "Hollywood produces a great many terrific male actors; however, it produces very few men. And in order to get someone with the stature and heroism, we had to look long and hard, and Gabriel is able to fill the trench coat just fine."

Asked about the progress of a proposed Sin City sequel, Miller said: "I've written part two of what I see as a trilogy of Sin City. The stories are planned and mostly drawn, and the script for number two is finished."

Miller appeared at New York Comic Con with his Spirit leading lady Eva Mendes and producers Deborah Del Prete and Michael Uslan.

The Spirit is eyeing a Jan. 16, 2009, release. --Gordon HolmesJones: Surfer Only A Rumor

Doug Jones, who played the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, told fans at New York Comic Con that a spinoff movie centering on his character is only a rumor at this point.

"I don't have any information that you haven't read on the Internet," Jones said April 19 on a panel for his upcoming sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army, in which he reprises the role of Abe Sapien.

"As it stands with a franchise-type character like that, I did sign a three-picture deal, so I have two more pictures where they have the option to use me, and I hope they do," Jones added. "I've heard the same rumors about [Babylon 5 creator] J. Michael Straczynski writing a script, and I hope that's true. Let's hope we see the Silver Surfer in his own movie real soon."

In the meantime Jones plays three characters in Hellboy II: the amphibious Sapien, the Chamberlain and the Angel of Death. Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens in theaters July 1. --Tara BennettChan Would Do More Kingdom

Jackie Chan, who stars in last weekend's number-one movie, The Forbidden Kingdom, told reporters that he's eager to do a sequel. Chan played multiple roles in the fantasy martial-arts film, including Drunken Master of the Immortals and an elderly pawnshop keeper named Old Hop. Jet Li also plays a dual role as the serious Silent Monk and the comical Monkey King.

"OK, I would do [another, but] that depends on the box office," Chan said in a news conference before the film opened last Friday. "If the box office is good, the next one will be Forbidden Drunken Master," he added, with tongue in cheek. (Forbidden Kingdom topped the April 18 weekend box office.)

Chan is no stranger to sequels, having appeared in three Rush Hour movies, among others. "Yeah, another one, just like Rush Hour," he said. "After Rush Hour 1 [I thought,] 'My career: finished! Boom!' [Then it was a] big hit! Then, Rush Hour 2. Boom! Rush Hour 3. Now, Rush Hour 4 [is coming up] for me. [Then] Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights, and what's next? Shanghai Dawn! For Forbidden Kingdom, what will it be? Forbidden what? Return to Forbidden Kingdom?"

At that, Chan smiled. Forbidden Kingdom is now playing. --Mike SzymanskiSCI FI Orders New Ghost, Truth

SCI FI Channel has ordered new episodes of its hit reality series Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth.

Ghost Hunters, currently airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, has been picked up for 13 more episodes as part of its fourth season, and Destination Truth will return this fall with seven episodes as part of its second season.

Ghost Hunters is enjoying record-high ratings. In 2008, new episodes of Ghost Hunters and its spinoff, Ghost Hunters International, will culminate in the third annual Ghost Hunters Live on Halloween night.

In the second season of Destination Truth, adventurer and truth seeker Josh Gates takes viewers off the map in his search for answers to some the world’s most notorious unexplained mysteries. The series brought 1 million new viewers to SCI FI during its six-week first-season run last summer and scored double-digit gains this year with the first six episodes of season two.BRIEFLY NOTED

A new remake of the classic British SF TV series Blake's 7 could soon return to U.K. television screens, Sky One revealed to the BBC; the satellite channel has given the green light to the development of two 60-minute scripts for a "potential event series" based on the show, about a gang of rebels fighting an evil federation that rules the galaxy.

Blade star Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison on April 24 for failing to file tax returns, the maximum penalty, the Associated Press reported.

A new poster has gone live for The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's upcoming Batman sequel film, which opens July 18.

io9 reported that director Wolfgang Petersen has left the long-developing film adaptation of Orson Scott Card's classic SF novel Ender's Game.

ComingSoon.net has linked to a sneak-peek video from the upcoming superhero movie Hancock, which aired on American Idol on April 24 and was subsequently posted on YouTube.com.

Rose McGowan has dyed her black hair blond to play the title role in Robert Rodriguez's proposed remake of Barbarella, Variety reported.

Transformers star Megan Fox, 21, was named the world's sexiest woman by FHM Online's reader poll to choose the 100 Sexiest Women in the World for 2008, the Reuters news service reported.

ScreenGeeks.com reported that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Nana Visitor will play Pamela Voorhees, the mother of Jason Voorhees, in the remake of Friday the 13th.

SuperheroHype! reported that Paramount will screen Iron Man a day early, starting at 8 p.m. on May 1, in advance of the official May 2 release date; a spokesman for Paramount told SCI FI Wire that there's no official announcement about such early screenings but that some theaters may begin preview screenings on Thursday evening so that they end after midnight, technically making them Friday screenings.

MGM beat out several suitors, including Disney and DreamWorks, to buy the Zookeeper script from Jay Scherick and David Ronn, according to The Hollywood Reporter; the story centers on a zoo full of animals who break their code of silence to help a down-on-his-luck zookeeper get the woman of his dreams by introducing the secret mating habits of their species.

Gateworld.net has posted a trailer for the upcoming straight-to-DVD movie Stargate Continuum, which drops on July 29.

Empire Online has posted a video feature on the creatures in Hellboy II: The Golden Army.