Universal Optioning Watchmen
niversal Pictures is in the process of optioning the film rights to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen, with X-Men writer David Hayter on board to adapt it for the big screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The news is the strongest sign that an on-again, off-again Watchmen movie is back on track. The 1986 comic series was one of the first to reinvent the superhero genre, detailing a widespread conspiracy involving the behind-the-scenes lives of a team of heroes.
Lawrence Gordon (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) holds the rights to the DC Comics series and is producing, the trade paper reported. Hayter also wrote drafts of The Scorpion King, The Hulk and The Chronicles of Riddick (aka Pitch Black 2).
Terry Gilliam (Brazil) had hoped to develop a Watchmen film in 1989, but the project never came to fruition, the trade paper reported.
Buffy Faces Music On UPN
t's not easy bringing your title character back to life and setting up shop on a new network, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer is trying to strike a balance, executive producer Marti Noxon told SCI FI Wire.
"We're in sort of a dark space with Buffy, but I think we're doing a lot of funny stuff too. We're trying to find that balance between farce and humor and some of the darker issues that we're going into this year," she said in an interview. "I think we're striking a pretty good balance so far. The villains help that, because they're a little bit lighter this season. At least they are for now," Noxon added, referring to the nerdish villains who've sworn to take over Sunnydale, played by Danny Strong, Adam Busch and Tom Lenk.
Noxon added, "The thing is, [Buffy creator] Joss [Whedon] is really smart, and he is the one who came up with the idea for them, and they're just a very different direction. So it's like we're not trying to top last year's run, you know, trying to top a god. We're just going in a really different direction, and our characters are a little more relatable."
According to Noxon, UPN has been thrilled with the direction the show has been going. "You know, it's really fun for them, because they were sort of fans of the show before the show was their show," she said. "So they're very enthusiastic, and they really enjoy watching and participating in the process. They've been great."
After being resurrected from the dead, Buffy and the gang will literally face the music in the upcoming Nov. 6 episode, "Once More with Feeling," a musical installment with original songs written by Whedon. Cast members do their own singing and dancing in the episode, which airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Musical Buffy Runs Long
uffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told fans on the unofficial Bronze Beta message board that the highly anticipated musical episode of his UPN show will run about eight minutes long in its initial broadcast—the only time it will air with the added footage.
"Tuesday night [Nov. 6] is the ONLY TIME the show will be broadcast in its entirety," Whedon posted on Oct. 31. "It will run again, but deep cuts will have to be made—UPN are gods for letting us run (a total of eight minutes) long, but they can't do it on the rerun too."
Whedon added that he plans to put out a soundtrack to the episode, for which he wrote all the lyrics and music to be performed by the regular Buffy cast. "We're definitely going to put one out, but it may take a while cuz of contract bull$@&%, MAN it's been a nightmare trying to set that up," Whedon posted. "I'm hoping to have a place at BuffUPN for people to log on and click if they're interested in buying it." The episode, "Once More with Feeling," airs at 8 p.m. PT/ET.
Potter Premiere To Be Webcast
he official Warner Bros. site will Webcast the live world premiere of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in London at 3 p.m. local time Nov. 4.
The star-studded premiere in London's Leicester Square will feature Potter creator J.K. Rowling, star Daniel Radcliffe and director Chris Columbus, among others.
The film, based on the first of Rowling's best-selling Potter books, opens in North America and the United Kingdom on Nov. 16.
EA Conjures Potter Game
ame publisher Electronic Arts will release a video game based on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in mid-November, coinciding with the Nov. 16 release of the feature film based on J.K. Rowling's best-seller, the Reuters news service reported.
"We are very excited about it," EA senior vice president Bruce McMillan told the news service. "We expect it to be the Christmas number one computer and video game."
The PC game will cover Harry's first year at Hogwarts and feature a Quidditch match, Reuters reported. Game makers worked closely with Potter author Rowling on the game.
Potter Length Defended
irector Chris Columbus defended the two-and-a-half hour running time of his upcoming Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in an interview with Time magazine.
The film is based on the first of J.K. Rowling's best-selling children's novels.
"My mantra has been, kids are reading a 700-page book," Columbus told the magazine. "They can sit through a two-and-a-half-hour movie. Instead of trying to overtake the readers' imagination, we've just given them the best possible version of the book, which means steeping it in reality. ... I wanted kids to feel that if they actually took that train, Hogwarts would be waiting for them." Potter opens Nov. 16.
U.K. Rates Potter PG
reat Britain's film classification board has given Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone a PG rating, meaning that unaccompanied children of any age may see the movie, the Associated Press reported.
The British Board of Film Classification said that the 152-minute film passed with no cuts necessary, the wire service reported.
The movie—which is called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the United Kingdom—contains material that will not disturb a child aged 8 or older, the board said. Potter, based on the first of J.K. Rowling's best-selling children's novels, is set for release in North America and Great Britain on Nov. 16.
Warrior Wanders To Warner
arner Bros. has optioned Wandering Warrior, a children's martial-arts fantasy film set in 19th-century China, Variety reported.
The movie is based on a young-adult novel by Chinese author Da Chen, described as Harry Potter in the world of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the trade paper reported.
The book tells the story of a boy raised by monks and trained to fight a mortal enemy, who has a surprising identity. Random House will publish the book next year.
Warner plans to produce the film in Chinese as the first co-production of Warner's nascent Hong Kong arm, the trade paper reported. Ellen Eliasoph, who runs the arm, is now shopping for a writer and director. The film is tentatively slated for a 2003 release, a year after Warner releases Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in China, the trade paper reported.
K Packs Theaters
-Pax topped the box-office rankings in its debut, taking in about $17.5 million for the weekend of Oct. 26, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
The Kevin Spacey movie was among several genre films that finished in the top 10 for the weekend.
Thirteen Ghosts came in second place, taking in about $15.7 million. From Hell took third in its second weekend of release, with about $6.1 million for the weekend and a total of about $20.8 million after 10 days of release.
Bones, the Snoop Dogg ghost story, opened in ninth place, scaring up about $3 million in 847 theaters.
Lawless Talks X-Files Role
ucy Lawless told SCI FI Wire that she was quite familiar with The X-Files before signing on to play Shannon McMahon, a figure from Agent Doggett's (Robert
Patrick) past who offers up information about Scully's (Gillian Anderson) baby in "Nothing Important Happened Today," the two-parter that will kick off the show's ninth season on Nov. 11.
"My daughter is a mad X-Files fan," the former Xena: Warrior Princess star said in an interview. "I obviously knew it was a huge cult show. And I'd watched it. I actually based Xena, in the beginning, on Mulder [David Duchovny]."
Lawless expands on that bombshell, explaining, "I know it makes no sense now, because, of course, a character takes on a life of its own. But I wanted to underplay everything and have Xena be dark and mysterious. Of course, the show took over and [Xena] became a whole other animal. They had to keep reining me back during my [X-Files] episodes, because I was going, 'Where's the blood? Who do you want me to kick first?' And there was just none of that. The X-Files is just a whole different style of acting. So it was a real learning curve for me, but they were tremendously generous and [are] just wonderful people."
Though she has moved on from Xena, Lawless is still dealing with the fallout caused by the show's two-part finale, "A Friend in Need," which saw the main character not just killed, but brutally beaten and then decapitated. Many fans decried Xena's fate and felt betrayed by Lawless and series writer-producer Rob Tapert, who also directed the episodes and is Lawless' husband. "I'm proud of the work we did," Lawless said. "It was a job well
done. We worked like dogs to the very end. We never gave less than 100 percent every day. So while I'm proud of Xena for so very many reasons, you never really want to hurt people. And I see that it actually hurt people that the show ended that way and that Xena was killed."
The cable network Oxygen will air a director's cut of "A Friend in Need"
as a two-hour movie at 9 p.m. ET on Nov. 3, a version supplemented by 16 minutes of previously unseen footage. Following the movie, Oxygen will run a 10-minute segment of its animated series X-Chromosome, then an encore presentation of Lawless' life-after-Xena interview from its Pure Oxygen program.
Toy Story 3 Is In Works
im Allen told syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith that a third installment in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story franchise is in the works.
"Everyone wants to do it," Allen (Buzz Lightyear) told the columnists. "It's all about personalities." Allen co-starred with Tom Hanks in the first two computer-animated hit films.
Meanwhile, Allen reported that work is progressing on The Santa Clause II, the sequel to his 1994 holiday film. Clause II is slated to begin shooting in January or February 2002. "It's gotta go in the winter," Allen said. "We need a lot of snow. We're going back to the North Pole in a really big way."
Episode II Trailer Won't Spoil
ucasfilm spokesman Jim Ward told The Hollywood Reporter that the teaser trailer for Star Wars: Episode II—The Attack of the Clones is designed to generate buzz without spoiling the movie.
The trailer hit theaters Nov. 2, attached to prints of Disney/Pixar's Monsters, Inc.
"In creating the first trailer, we just wanted to create something that people can have fun with and give them as much as you can in 60 seconds, without giving too much away," Ward told the trade paper.
TheForce.net fan Web site, meanwhile, reported that the trailer should be available for download on the official Star Wars Web site as soon as Nov. 5, when it will also be released to local television stations. The trailer is reportedly silent, except for Darth Vader's familiar breathing.
Episode II Trailer Due Nov. 2
he official teaser trailer for Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones debuted in theaters on Nov. 2, attached to prints of Disney/Pixar's Monsters, Inc., the official Star Wars Web site announced.
The trailer will unspool in the United States and Canada.
"I have great respect for Pixar and deep admiration for John Lasseter and his team," director George Lucas told the site. "I'm thrilled to be able to show audiences their first glimpse of Episode II with Monsters, Inc. It gives me an immense sense of pride to see our companies working together."
Neeson Possesses Exorcist IV
iam Neeson (Star Wars: Episode I) is set to star in the upcoming fourth installment of the Exorcist franchise, a prequel that has yet to be titled, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
John Frankenheimer is directing the film for Morgan Creek Productions; shooting is slated to start in the spring in the United States, United Kingdom and Africa, the trade paper reported.
The Exorcist prequel tells the story of Father Merrin (Neeson) and his first encounter with the devil while doing missionary work in post-World War II Africa, the trade paper reported. William Wisher adapted the prequel based on William Peter Blatty's original Exorcist novel, and best-selling author Caleb Carr (The Alienist) rewrote the script.
Trek: Nemesis Rewritten?
he SyFy Portal Web site reported a rumor that production on Star Trek: Nemesis has been delayed due to script rewrites necessitated by the events of Sept. 11.
John Logan was reportedly working on a rewrite that altered key events to avoid reminding viewers of the terrorist attacks on the United States.
Though the site had no details of the rewrites, it speculated that one change may involve a supposed terrorist attack on the Romulan Senate.
Stewart Projects Pushed Back
atrick Stewart told the British Impact magazine that his two upcoming films—Star Trek: Nemesis and X-Men 2—have both had their start dates pushed back, according to a report on the Dark Horizons Web site.
"There's no start date for X-Men 2 yet," Stewart reportedly told the magazine.
Stewart added, "That was due to start in January or February, and I guess it's fortunate that it's no, given that Star Trek X got pushed back too. What I'm hearing now is July/August of 2002. It's a little frustrating, because I was looking forward to doing those films back to back, where I would have a solid six-month block when I was working and not available for other things. I'm actively trying to balance my theater work with my other projects."
Stewart is set to reprise the role of Charles Xavier in X-Men 2 and Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in Trek X.
Dredd Budgets Hinted
roducer Jason Kingsley told the Comics2Film Web site that two upcoming Judge Dredd films will be budgeted at a modest $15 million each.
Kingsley, chief executive officer of Rebellion, said the films will be collaborations between his production company and Shoreline Entertainment.
The films—Judge Dredd: Dredd Reckoning and Judge Dredd: Possession—are slated to be filmed back to back and represent what is hoped to be a complete relaunch of the Judge Dredd franchise, unrelated to the Hollywood film starring Sylvester Stallone, the site reported. The films are based on the U.K. comic series.
Powerpuff DVD Infected
hree computer programs on the latest Powerpuff Girls DVD have been infected by the "FunLove" virus, CNET News.com and MSNBC reported.
Warner Bros. confirmed for the news sites that the "Meet the Beat Alls" disc has been recalled because the DVD spreads the "FunLove" computer virus to any PC that installs the supplemental software.
The virus only affects PCs that load the disc, not DVD players, the sites reported. A Warner representative said the virus had somehow infected the DVD's master at the company that duplicates the discs, but Warner did not know how many discs had been affected and whether other DVDs might carry the virus as well. All copies of the disc have been destroyed, and copies sent out to press and retailers have been recalled, the sites reported.
Jane, Sizemore Get Dream Jobs
homas Jane and Tom Sizemore will join the cast of Dreamcatcher, Castle Rock's Lawrence Kasdan-directed adaptation of the Stephen King SF best-seller of the same name, Variety reported.
They join Morgan Freeman in the cast of the film, about a quartet of childhood friends who come together to thwart an alien invasion.
Jane will play Dr. Henry Devlin, one of the friends, the trade paper reported. Sizemore (Red Planet) will play a military officer who is a protege of Freeman's character, a vengeful general.
Freeman Catches Dream
organ Freeman will star in Dreamcatcher, a feature film based on Stephen King's best-selling SF novel of the same name, to be directed by Lawrence Kasdan for Castle Rock, Variety reported.
William Goldman (Hearts in Atlantis) wrote the script, which Kasdan rewrote.
The film tells the story of a quartet of childhood pals who come together as adults to battle extraterrestrials and an evil Army colonel (Freeman), the trade paper reported. Industrial Light & Magic will provide visual effects for the movie.
Duncan Up For Kingpin?
he IGN FilmForce Web site reported a rumor that Michael Clarke Duncan is being
considered for the role of The Kingpin in the upcoming feature film based on Marvel Comics' Daredevil series.
The Dark Horizons site also reported the rumor.
Citing an anonymous source, IGN reported that Duncan (Planet of the Apes) is one of several actors under consideration for the role of the villain.
Daredevil Cast Rumors Fly
he IGN FilmForce Web site reported rumors that Penelope Cruz has met with director Mark Steven Johnson about a role in the upcoming Daredevil movie.
Citing an anonymous source, the site reported that Cruz has expressed strong interest in the role of Elektra in the film, which is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.
Lucy Liu, Angie Harmon, Jessica Alba, Natalie Portman, Claire Forlani and Bridget Moynahan are also rumored to be under consideration for the role of Daredevil's love interest.
Filmmakers are also mulling Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) for the role of the villainous Kingpin, though Coltrane has not been approached, the site reported. Daredevil will reportedly begin shooting in Los Angeles on March 20, 2002.
Slamdance Names SF Winners
he Slamdance Film Festival has announced the winners of its first Sci Fi Screenplay Competition, Variety reported.
Awards were given to the top three feature-film and short scripts by first-time filmmakers.
J.A. McEvoy's The Pixelated Man took first place, Robots Never Die by David Van Hooser got second place, and The Cassini Effect by Charles Hall and Kara McCourt won third in the feature-film category. Among short films, Recalling Sam by Christopher and Donald Barr won first, Actortraz by Bryan Deats took second, and Hungry by Stacia Saint Owens claimed third, the trade paper reported.
Honorees will receive cash, SF prizes and a first-look opportunity for development at The SCI FI Channel. Select scenes from the SF screenplays will be showcased at the monthly Slamdance reading series, Nov. 12 at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, Calif.
Rings In Home Stretch
ark Ordesky, executive producer of Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings films, told E! Online that filmmakers are putting the finishing touches on the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, which opens Dec. 19.
Ordesky spent a month in London recording the trilogy's score with composer Howard Shore and director Jackson, the site reported.
Since then, Ordseky has been shuttling among New Zealand, Los Angeles and New York to finish the movie. "I'm supervising the final mix and finalizing the special-effects shots," he told the site. "We're also working on color timing, where Peter goes through every reel of the movie and makes sure the colors are precisely as he wants them. Flesh tones, sky, grass—everything is checked. Once he approves, we generate a check print, which is like a template. So when we mass-produce release prints, lab technicians all over the world can check each print to make sure it conforms to Peter's wishes."
Meanwhile, the site reported that Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) will miss the Dec. 10 world premiere of Fellowship in London, as she's due to give birth to her first child. Other screenings will be held in New York, to benefit a World Trade Center charity, and in Los Angeles, to benefit the American Film Institute, the site reported. New Zealand gets its own premiere in Wellington on Dec. 19, with most of the stars, including Elijah Wood, in attendance.
E.T. Alterations Detailed
he Chicago Tribune reported many of the changes being made to Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for its upcoming DVD release—some in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, according to a report on the Dark Horizons Web site.
In particular, the re-edited version deletes a line in which Elliott's mother (Dee Wallace Stone) tells her child on Halloween, "No, you're not going as a terrorist," the paper reported. Other changes:
•Rifles held by policeman as the kids fly overhead on their bikes have been replaced with cell phones.
•Deleted scenes of Elliot and E.T. sharing a bathtub, E.T. cracking open a beer and government agents approaching Elliot's house have been restored.
•Computer graphics will enhance the animatronic E.T.'s movements.
Blade 2 Trailer Imminent?
he IGN FilmForce Web site reported rumors that the first trailer for Blade 2 may be attached to prints of New Line's first Lord of the Rings film in December.
The trailer would need to be completed quickly to make it onto the first film's reel, the site reported.
The studio is also reportedly considering attaching a teaser trailer for Final Destination 2 to the first Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring.
The site also reported that no decision has been made on whether to subtitle Blade 2 Bloodhunt or Bloodlust, or some variation.
Carrey Starring In Ghost Tale
im Carrey will star in an untitled supernatural comedy film for Universal and Jersey Films, written and to be directed by Gary Ross (Pleasantville), Variety reported.
The film is slated to begin production in March and will be released for Christmas 2002. It will be set in New York, where it will be partially shot, the trade paper reported.
Carrey will play a widower whose wife returns to haunt him when he falls for a much younger woman, Variety reported. The film is a co-production between Jersey Films and Ross' Larger Than Life Productions. "It's a rich, lush romantic comedy about renewal and rebirth, and setting it in New York and getting to shoot it there was important to us, for obvious reasons," Ross told the trade paper. "I don't usually write projects for specific actors, but now that we've gotten close with Jim, I can honestly say I couldn't imagine anybody else for the part. He's as brilliant a comedian as he is a gifted actor. This comedy is tonally similar to other films I've written, and the hope is to be both funny and poignant. Jim's depth makes all that possible."
Osment Kin Joins Spy Kids 2
mily Osment—younger sister of A.I. Artificial Intelligence star Haley Joel Osment—and Matt O'Leary, 14, will star in Spy Kids 2, Dimension's sequel to its hit children's film, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
Osment will play the female lead, Gerti Giggles, who, along with her brother, is a world-class spy. In other casting news, Christopher McDonald will play the president of the United States in the sequel.
Robert Rodriguez, who came up with the original Spy Kids, will also direct the sequel, tentatively titled Island of Lost Dreams.
Dream Factory Optioned
roducer John H. Williams (Shrek) and his Vanguard Films have optioned the film rights to The Dream Factory, a children's fantasy picture book written by Bjorn Sortland and illustrated by Lars Elling, Variety reported.
The Dream Factory tells the story of two children who disappear from their uncle's attic on Christmas Eve and follow Charlie Chaplin to the sets of various classic films, the trade paper reported.
Shrek was similarly based on a children's picture book, written by William Steig, Variety reported.
Elvira Spoofs Horror Films
assandra Peterson—better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark—told TV Guide Online that her upcoming film, Elvira's Haunted Hills, spoofs horror movies.
"My movie's kind of good-bad," Peterson told the site. "It's a parody of the old gothic horror films of the early '60s, particularly the Roger Corman/Hammer [Studios] films that starred Vincent Price. I like to hope that what Austin Powers was to '60s spy movies, this is to the early-'60s gothic films that I grew up with."
Peterson will co-star with Richard O'Brien, who played Riff-Raff in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but the two won't be sharing a duet together. "I wrote the film before I knew Richard was going to be in it," she said. "Actually, who we had in mind—and who we had—was Richard Chamberlain. But another project came up for him at the last minute, and at the very last minute, Richard O'Brien came in. By then, the script was already done, and, try as we did to see if we could put [a musical number] together, it just really didn't work. When you see his character, you'll understand—it's hard to imagine him singing."
Ferryman Prologue Online
enre author Christopher Golden (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has posted the prologue to his upcoming supernatural horror book The Ferryman on his official Web site.
Golden writes Buffy novelizations and comics and also contributes to other genre series.
In November, Golden will see the release of his book Buffy: The Lost Slayer, Book Four: Original Sins and his comic Jade: Redemption No. 1. The Ferryman will be published in the spring of 2002.
The One Changed For Li
len Morgan, who co-wrote and produced the upcoming SF thriller film The One with partner and director James Wong, told SCI FI Wire that the duo had to drastically revamp the movie when Hong Kong action star Jet Li stepped in for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
"The structure is actually ... the same," Morgan said in an onset interview last spring. "[But] The Rock would have dialogue like that [holds fingers five inches apart]. Jet's is that [fingers one inch apart]."
Wong added, "The other thing is that, with Jet, you have the opportunity to deal with ... more philosophical, Eastern thinking. ... Not truly Buddhist thoughts, but sort of leaning that way, about [the] circle and life and how things come around. And of course, the action sequences are completely changed, because you have Jet. It's not just a martial-arts movie. It's sort of a hybrid."
Li plays several roles in the story, about a man who travels among multiple dimensions to kill alternate versions of himself in a bid to gain supernatural power. "Obviously, people are going to look at this and say, 'Oh, yeah, this is going to be Matrix-like, in that there's a martial-arts element and science fiction combined,'" Wong said. "But I think the story is very different. ... We're trying to do a movie that, even though it's fantastic, ... all the action and everything ... is grounded, I believe, in what a super-Olympian could accomplish.
Morgan added, "Our sense has always been that, if you're going to have Jet Li fight himself, it takes place here, in our world, in whatever city. ... We don't go to a fantastic world. ... We go to different universes for a bit in this, but it's designed to be like Close Encounters or something—bring that here." The One opens Nov. 2.
Cage Out Of Ghost Rider
host Rider writer David Goyer told the Comics2Film Web site that it's unlikely Nicolas Cage will star in the film adaptation of Marvel Comics' series of the same name.
Cage recently signed to appear in another comic-book adaptation, Constantine.
"I think that Cage is definitely out of Ghost Rider," Goyer told the site. "The whole thing has been a huge disappointment. We were ready to go, and then a slew of stupid complications ground things to a halt."
Goyer is writing and producing the film, and Stephen Norrington (Blade) was attached to direct and Cage to star. But in August, Norrington announced that he was going to helm Tick-Tock before Ghost Rider, creating a scheduling conflict with Cage, who has apparently moved on, the site reported.
Goyer, meanwhile, is adaptating Neil Gaiman's Murder Mysteries, which he expects to finish by the end of the year. Goyer is set to direct that film, the site reported.
Campbell Reveals Ho-Tep Hints
ruce Campbell revealed to Prevue Magazine a few new details of his upcoming satirical supernatural movie Bubba Ho-Tep.
"I play a 65-year-old ex-Elvis Presley impersonator who has cancer on his penis," the popular genre actor told the site.
Campbell added, "The movie takes place in a rest home in Florida, where this mummy is sucking the souls of the old people at night. I team up with Ossie Davis, who plays an old guy who thinks he's Jack Kennedy. He thinks his enemies dyed him black and are keeping part of his brain in the White House. We team up and kick the mummy's ass!"
Soderbergh To Helm Solaris
teven Soderbergh will direct Solaris, a remake of the 1972 Russian SF classic based in turn on Stanislaw Lem's Russian SF novel of the same name, Variety reported.
Solaris will be the first project of Soderbergh's new directors' company, the trade paper reported.
Fox and James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment had originally intended to remake the movie, but Soderbergh instead appears to be taking charge. The director is also writing the script. Fox would likely take foreign distribution rights on the picture, with USA Films handling domestic distribution if a deal is struck between USA and Soderbergh's company, the trade paper reported.
Solaris tells the story of a mission to rescue scientists on a space station bedeviled by mysterious visions.
Hunter Due For Xbox
igital Mayhem, a division of Interplay Entertainment Corp., will ship the supernatural video game Hunter: The Reckoning on March 15, 2002, for the Xbox gaming platform.
Hunter: The Reckoning is based on the characters and situations of the role-playing games Hunter: The Reckoning and World of Darkness, created by White Wolf Publishing.
In Hunter, a mysterious force has imbued a few humans with the knowledge of a pervasive evil and the power to fight it. Players can assume the role of one of four Hunter characters—dark creatures in human form—in either single-player or multiplayer modes. The game features soundtrack music by the industrial rock band Coma.
Final Spidey Scene Shot In L.A.
am Raimi shot the final scene for his upcoming Spider-Man movie on Oct. 28, with Los Angeles standing in for New York, the Coming Attractions Web site reported.
An L.A. street was dressed to appear as New York, with several extras backing a fight between Spidey and the Green Goblin, the site reported.
The SpiderManHype Web site, meanwhile, reported that Raimi himself makes a brief appearance in the final scene, as a man standing on a corner talking on a cell phone.
Xena Fans Raise Charity Funds
ena: Warrior Princess fans are selling copies of a special-edition Starship Charity Monopoly game, autographed by Xena star Lucy Lawless, to benefit the Starship Foundation in Lawless' native New Zealand.
The fan-run Sword and Staff group is selling the games for $100 U.S. for Starship, which benefits the Children's Hospital of New Zealand.
Sword and Staff is also raising money for the Red Cross and the Twin Towers Fund, benefiting the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
CBS Pulls Wolf Lake
BS has placed its low-rated werewolf drama Wolf Lake on hiatus after four airings, Variety reported.
The Big Ticket/CBS Productions series averaged only 6.6 million viewers, down 40 percent from what the network's Wednesday-night movie pulled in the 10 p.m. hour last year, the trade paper reported.
Wolf Lake starred Lou Diamond Phillips in a story about a small town where residents can morph into wolves. After picking up the series, CBS reworked the show's original pilot, making a number of tweaks, the trade paper reported.
Beck Fleshed Out Ghosts
teve Beck, who directed the current horror film 13 Ghosts, told SCI FI Wire that he worked closely with production designer Sean Hargreaves to develop an individual persona for each of the titular ghosts.
"What we tried to do with them initially was to instantaneously build a bit of backstory to the ghost when you saw them," Beck said in an interview while promoting the film. "So you didn't have to go through a lot of explanation within the history of the ghost."
13 Ghosts is about a family that find itself trapped in a dream house made of glass, along with 12 very angry spirits. Each of the spirits is given a specific name, but the stories behind their gruesome deaths are only alluded to in the film. "It's a question of trying to provide the fans with extra information that they can sort of take when they go to the theatrical experience, ... something that we just didn't have time to do in the context of the running time," Beck said.
Due to storytelling constraints, Beck and his team found it necessary to rely on visual cues to explain each ghost's history. "For example, you can tell that the Pilgrimess is in stocks, and she's covered up in cobwebs," he said. "And if you listen to her in the film, you can hear how she was taken out into the middle of the woods and left to rot for her sins. So you kind of see right there."
Beck added, "A bit of their anguish is built within the sort of auditory signature of each ghost. So if you kind of go through the film you actually start listening to the various scenes where there's empty hallways and points of view. If you listen to what's going on, you can tell which ghost that is. So we tried to apply as much character whenever it was possible."
Beck hopes that these visual and aural clues will entice viewers enough to see the film more than once. "If people are smart, they'll go back and see it and say, 'Oh, now I get it,'" he said. 13 Ghosts is now playing.
Hu Casts Spell on Scorpion King
ctress Kelly Hu told SCI FI Wire that her character in the upcoming Mummy Returns prequel, The Scorpion King, is the title character's love interest.
She plays Cassandra, a sorceress and paramour of the title character played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. "I work with snakes, and I foretell the future, and then there's some kick-ass stuff at the end," Hu said in an interview.
The film tells the origins of the character The Rock played in the prologue sequence in Returns and promises to have similar special-effects processes, Hu said. "We did some green-screen stuff, because we had to build the entire city of Gommorah, and we did some special-effects stuff," she said. "I did this really cool thing called cyberscan, where they scan your whole body and your head and everything, and then they do dolls of us."
Hu and The Rock are joined by Michael Clarke Duncan and Summer Altice for director Chuck Russell. The Scorpion King opens in April 2002.
Paul On The Case In Tracker
ormer Highlander TV series star Adrian Paul told SCI FI Wire that his new syndicated SF show Tracker has the same budget as his old series, but that inflation has had its effect.
Paul stars in and executive produces the series, which debuted last week.
Paul said in an interview that Tracker is budgeted at $1.1 million per episode, the same as Highlander. But, he added, "Remember, Highlander was five to 10 years ago. We have that type of budget, so it's a little less, in a way." Paul hopes to find a co-production partner and to raise the budget by selling the show to more markets. He said that any extra money will "probably go into things like stunts and just giving a little bit more to the show. Right now, we're shooting in Toronto, and we shoot interiors a lot. We want to try and give the show a much more exterior, Chicago type of feel."
In Tracker Paul plays Cole, an alien who chases 218 of his species to Earth. The pilot episode offered a chance for Joanie Laurer, formerly Chyna of the World Wrestling Federation, a chance to make her non-wrestling debut. "Even though I did 3rd Rock From the Sun and many, many guest appearances on other shows, because I had to use the name Chyna, I guess some people don't consider that acting," Laurer told SCI FI Wire. "Doing something like Tracker, I had to put my acting skills to use, because I had to play an alien in a human body, and there's a lot of visuals as far as my look and my body movement and how my voice was when I spoke. You have to put all that together. I don't think the objective was to do wrestling. It was about an alien, and as far as I know, aliens don't wrestle. We're not doing Chyna; we're doing Joanie, and that meant I can still pack a good punch, but I'm not going to put him in a headlock."
New Futurama Takes On SF
avid X. Cohen, executive producer of Fox's animated series Futurama, told SCI FI
Wire that the show will feature several special episodes with SF tie-ins in its upcoming new season.
"We actually have in one episode [Star Trek stars] William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Walter Koenig all guest-starring," Cohen said in an interview. "For me and most of the other writers on the show—probably all of them— ... we're shaking with glee and excitement at the prospect of this episode." The episode is scheduled to run later in the season.
Cohen added that the Dec. 9 season premiere will involve time travel—a first for Futurama. "A disaster sends the Planet Express crew to 1947, where they crash-land in Roswell, N.M., and are taken to be a terrifying UFO by the locals," he said. "It's a period piece, which we've seldom done before. I think [the episode] is unbelievably great. We're just really, really happy with it."
Alien star Sigourney Weaver will appear in a Valentine's Day episode. "She plays the new personality software installed in the Planet Express ship, and Bender rapidly falls in love with it," Cohen said. "He has a whirlwind romance with the ship, which was a very big challenge for our animators, because one of the participants of the romance was about ten
thousand times bigger than the other one."
Cohen also believes the long-awaited "X-Mas" episode will finally make it to the air. Last year, Fox deemed it "inappropriate" for 7 p.m. viewing and put it on the shelf. This year, Fox is planning on running it in a later timeslot.
Knight To Ride Again?
avid Hasselhoff told SCI FI Wire that his pre-Baywatch character, Michael Knight, may return to television in a new Knight Rider series.
Tentatively titled Super Knight Rider 3000, according to the Internet Movie Database, Hasselhoff said in an interview, "Knight Rider's coming along great. We're very, very close to putting the whole deal together."
Hasselhoff declined to detail how K.I.T.T. or any other elements of the show might be updated with modern special effects technology. "We have not gotten to that point yet, but we're just about to close negotiations with a major studio, and I really can't talk about it. I don't want to jinx it." The original Knight Rider debuted in 1982 and spawned a 1991 TV movie, also starring Hasselhoff.
Briefly Noted
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The Dark Horizons Web site reported a rumor that Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson will go back to New Line Cinema for more money to reshoot parts of the second and third Rings films if the first one, The Fellowship of the Ring, does well at the box office. Fellowship opens Dec. 19.
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The official Web site has opened for the time-travel comedy Black Knight.
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Steve Buscemi (Monsters, Inc.) has signed on to the sequel Spy Kids 2, Variety reported.
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Michael York has signed on to reprise the role of Basil Exposition in the upcoming sequel film Austin Powers in Goldmember, Variety reported.
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Star Trek stars William Shatner, Denise Crosby, John De Lancie, Wil Wheaton, LeVar Burton, Robert
Picardo, Roxann Dawson and Armin Shimerman will beam into an alternate universe—NBC's game show Weakest Link, where they will compete in a themed episode airing Nov. 26, Zentertainment reported.
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Viewers may vote for their favorite episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files, which will air on the FX cable network in marathons Nov. 21-25.
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The official Spider-Man Web site has posted an image of the new poster for Sam Raimi's upcoming movie, replacing one that was removed because it featured images of the World Trade Center.
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The BBC/Sky News reported that star Daniel Radcliffe's voice broke during the filming of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. A 13-year-old named Joe Sowerbutts was reportedly brought in to dub Radcliffe's lines for two scenes in the film, as well as in Potter video games.
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Clive Barker is developing a horror film pitch based on his McFarlane Toys line of action figures, Tortured Souls, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Barker has reportedly been sending studio executives the action figures themselves as part of his pitch.
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The IGN FilmForce Web site has posted a new poster for John McTiernan's upcoming remake of Rollerball. The film opens in February.
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The Fandango Web site will sell advance tickets to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, starting Nov. 1. The film opens Nov. 16.
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The Coming Attractions Web site reported that producer Kenneth Kokin (The Usual Suspects) is developing an SF film entitled The Silver Cord with writer Ron Hurley. The movie tells the story of a man who gets drafted into the Vietnam War, whose ESP abilities are used for covert operations. Kokin is aiming to direct the film, with Tobey McGuire and Ryan Phillipe possibly attached to star, the site reported.
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The WB's new Superman series, Smallville, retained 90 percent of hits sizeable premiere audience in its second airing last week, Variety reported. The second episode was the top show in its hour among men 18-34 and placed second with women 18-34, the trade paper reported. The WB has ordered a full season of the series.
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D.J. Qualls (Road Trip) will join the cast of the SF thriller film Core, joining Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank in the Jon Amiel-directed Paramount movie, Variety reported.
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A new teaser trailer has been posted for the upcoming giant-spider movie Eight-Legged Freaks. No release date has been set for the movie.
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Warner Bros. is developing a sequel to this year's hit film Cats and Dogs, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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Sobini Films will develop Sword of Hercules, a fantasy film based on a spec script by writer Sam Bernard, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film tells the story of a prince who sets out on a journey with a mercenary and a beautiful pickpocket to find Hercules so that he can help save the world from a barbarian horde, the trade paper reported.
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The Dark Horizons Web site reported that shooting of the upcoming Daredevil movie will commence in Los Angeles on March 20, 2002.
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