Paramount Working On New Trek Series?
aramount is reportedly at work on a new Star Trek series called Flight Academy that's designed to both reinvigorate the Trek franchise and get rid of older, costlier cast members.
Rumor has it that Trek veterans Brannon Braga and Rick Berman are scripting a two-hour pilot for the series--featuring young, unknown actors--which could be used as the basis for a new movie.
Mr. Showbiz columnist Jeffrey Wells reports that Patrick Stewart's huge paychecks and demanding ways are two major reasons why Paramount is going for a younger, hotter Trek crew. According to Wells, Stewart pulled in $14 million for his starring role in Star Trek: Insurrection, a film that cost $65 million but only made $71 million during its U.S. domestic run.
Stewart also reportedly used clauses granting him director and script approval on the film to try and push the movie in directions no one else wanted to go. Wells says a "well-connected producer" told him that Stewart earned the nickname "the beast" during shooting because of his difficult demands.
Paramount publicist Blaise Noto told Wells that rumors of Stewart being dropped from future Trek films are "unfounded." However, Paramount has already hinted that Trek is due for some major changes sometime soon, and it's not clear if Stewart fits into those plans.
Critics Hate Wild Wild West
ill Smith's latest would-be blockbuster film Wild Wild West opened on June 30 to harsh reviews from critics.
Reviewers are panning the Western science fantasy flick--an adaptation of the 1960s TV series of the same name--for its low humor, dull script and heavy reliance on special effects.
Variety's Tod McCarthy said of the film, "Some very talented people stub their collective toes quite elaborately and expensively in Wild Wild West." Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan said the film is "as clumsy and top-heavy as the 80-foot-high mechanical tarantula that is its prize special effect."
Worse still, at a budget that's reportedly in excess of $160 million, Wild Wild West will have to really wow folks down home on the ranch if it hopes to make any money this summer. In the film's favor is the fact that West star Will Smith is known for making big bucks at the box office with effects-laden movies like Independence Day and Men in Black.
Anderson Pens Fantastic Voyage Novel
F author Kevin J. Anderson has signed a six-figure deal with Signet Books to write a novel based on the Academy Award-winning 1966 film Fantastic Voyage.
The movie, which was novelized by Isaac Asimov, told the story of a group of scientists who were miniaturized and sent into a human body.
Anderson says that he will use the same concept, but his book Microcosm will feature a new team of characters who will investigate "astonishing microscopic landscapes." In their first adventure, members of the tiny Team Proteus are sent to explore the seemingly lifeless body of an alien visitor.
Anderson plans to have the novel completed before the end of the year and hopes to write more Fantastic Voyage stories after that.
Fox Nixes U.K. Menace Marathon
wentieth Century Fox has told theaters in the United Kingdom that they can't run screenings of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 24-hour marathon sessions.
According to Variety, three U.K. theater chains had obtained permission from local authorities to show the film around the clock.
However, Variety says Fox and LucasFilm are afraid that the early morning showings will not sell out, so they nixed the idea. The theaters are still planning to begin showing The Phantom Menace at 12:01 a.m. on July 15, the film's opening day in England.
Phantom Thieves Sentenced
hree Wisconsin men who stole a 35mm print of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace have been sentenced to five days in jail, according to E! Online.
The men reportedly pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft for snatching the 40-pound Phantom reel off a projector at the State Theater in Menomonie, Wis., on May 22.
In addition to the jail time, the men were fined $7,400, and they will each have to serve 20 hours of community service. They were also placed on probation for two years.
The $7,400 will be given to the theater owner as compensation for the screenings that had to be canceled due to the loss of the film. A fourth man who was allegedly involved in the theft will be sentenced on July 12.
Superman May Finally Fly At Warner
creenwriter Bill Wisher has been hired to pen a new version of the oft-delayed Warner Bros. film Superman, according to Variety.
The deal may be a sign that Warner is finally getting ready to go forward with the big-budget project, which has been grounded due to ongoing script problems.
It's thought that Nicolas Cage is still interested in headlining the picture, but that Tim Burton--who at one time had agreed to direct the Man of Steel--has left the film for good.
Wisher is best known to SF fans as the man who co-wrote Terminator 2: Judgment Day with powerhouse writer/director James Cameron.
Berry, Romijn-Stamos Join X-Men
alle Berry has been cast as Storm and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos has been signed to play Mystique in Bryan Singer's upcoming X-Men film.
Variety reported these latest additions to the X-Men crew, which already features Ian McKellen as Magneto, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Dougray Scott as Wolverine and Anna Paquin as Rogue.
Storm is a mutant superhero who can control the weather, an ability that allows her to perform nifty tricks like flying and hurling lighting bolts. Mystique is an evil character who has blue skin and who can mimic the appearance of anyone she sees.
Crusade Fans Fight For Their Show
group of fans calling themselves the "Crusade for Crusade" raised $6,000 in order to place ads in Sci-Fi Entertainment and Daily Variety in an effort to save the Babylon 5 spinoff series Crusade.
Crusade was originally planned as a five-year show much like B5, but TNT decided it would only air 13 episodes of the program, which it is now billing as a "limited series."
The Crusade for Crusade members are hoping their ads will both attract new members to their cause and also convince a TV network to pick up the show for a second season. Crusade debuted on TNT in early June to reasonably solid Nielsen ratings, but it has since lost some of its audience.
For more information, visit the Crusade for Crusade Web site.
Imposter Grows At Dimension
irector Gary Fleder's 40-minute short movie Imposter was supposed to be part of Dimension Films' anthology flick Alien Love Triangle, but the studio thinks it's too good for that.
So Dimension signed Fleder to turn Imposter into a full-fledged feature in its own right, with shooting scheduled to begin in November, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie stars Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe, Vincent D'Onofrio and Tony Shalhoub in a story about a futuristic war between humans and an alien race. Sinise plays a human engineer who builds a weapon that can end the conflict, but his ingenuity sparks suspicions that he may be an alien imposter.
Imposter was to be the second of three film segments in Alien Love Triangle, and it's unclear now where that project stands. Director Danny Boyle has already filmed the first segment, but plans for the third have yet to be set.
Columbia To Unleash Mechagodzilla, Mothra
olumbia TriStar Home Video plans to release Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Rebirth of Mothra and Rebirth of Mothra II to VHS on August 3.
According to Columbia, this will be the first time the three spinoff Godzilla films have been seen on video in North America.
The Mechagodzilla movie features a giant nuclear-powered robotic Godzilla, sheathed in a synthetic diamond shield, that was created to rid Japan of the real Godzilla once and for all. The Mothra flicks showcase their moth-monster namesake battling first a three-headed behemoth named Desghidorah and then a garbage-eating giant called Degehra.
Eastwood Rounds Up Last Cowboys
lint Eastwood is finalizing the cast for the upcoming film Space Cowboys, which he will star in and direct for Warner Bros.
Joining Eastwood and his co-star Tommy Lee Jones are James Garner, James Cromwell, Donald Sutherland, William Devane and Marcia Gaye Harden, according to Variety.
Eastwood, Jones and Garner will play former hotshot Air Force pilots who are recruited by NASA in their waning years to fly a critical space shuttle mission. It seems a satellite launched back in the '60s is causing problems, and only Eastwood's character can remedy the situation.
However, Eastwood won't fly the mission unless NASA agrees to take along his old pals. Shooting on the film begins later this month.
Hightman Headed To Atlantis
creenwriter Jason Hightman sold an SF script called Triton to a group of filmmakers who include Mark Canton, Akiva Goldsman, Alan Riche and Tony Ludwig.
Hightman told Variety the story is "kind of Michael Crichton science fused with Tom Clancy military."
Not much is known about the script, other than that it centers around the lost continent of Atlantis. Two years ago Hightman made headlines when he sold his first script World War III to Columbia Pictures for a deal that was potentially worth $1.3 million.
Briefly Noted
- MGM executives have put John McTiernan's upcoming remake of Rollerball on the fast track, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Nicolas Cage has reportedly been offered the lead role.
- Rumor has it that Disney's feature film version of Inspector Gadget has been cut down to 81 minutes after the movie received negative reactions during test screenings.
- Silva Screen Records plans to release a two-CD music set called Close Encounters: The Essential John Williams Film Music Collection. The set will feature some of Williams' most famous movie scores, including tracks from Close Encounters, the Star Wars trilogy and more.
- Precedence Entertainment will release the Babylon 5 collectible card game War Without End in September. War is a two-player, streamlined version of Precedence's main B5 card game that's designed as an entry-level gateway for new players.
