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Science Fiction & Fantasy News & Gossip Archives - December 2000 | ||
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Talking to the official Star Wars magazine, George Lucas revealed that Star Wars: Episode II will be darker than its predecessor. The upcoming film will deal with Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader. Lucas said "The whole point is--and the reason I started the story where I did--is that Anakin is a normal, good kid. And how does somebody who is normal and good turn bad? What are the qualities--what is it that we all have within us--that will turn us bad?" He added: "It's definitely getting a little bit more intense," Lucas said. "The next one will probably be the darkest of all of them. You can read the transcript from the interview with George Lucas at the Fort Tusken website It seems that actress Angelina Jolie did most of her own stunts for her role as Lara Croft in the soon-to-be-released Tomb Raider movie. Stunt co-ordinator, Simon Crane, told USA Today that "We've done a couple of sequences that involve stunts you won't have seen a woman do before, and basically she is doing almost all of these stunts herself. We did a bungee-jumping sequence, and she went through three months' training to be able to do it. She's just done all these somersaults for another sequence. I was very impressed". The Coming Attractions website has reported that Kirsten Dunst (Interview with the Vampire) will be playing the role of Mary Jane Watson, the love interest to Peter Parker, in the upcoming Spider-Man movie. Alicia Witt had been previously favored to take the part. M. Night Shyamalan (Unbreakable) has told the Empire Online website that he's still talking with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford about drafting the script for a proposed fourth Indiana Jones movie. He said: "They were asking me to write it, and I've been talking to them about it. We're just in the very early stages of it, and I don't know what will happen to it at the end of the day." Shyamalan added, "There's a lot of people who have to come together to make it happen, and it's complicated. But it's very exciting, and I'm very honored to be in that group of people and to even be thinking about that." Artisan Entertainment is currently considering a proposal to develop a tv show from the Thor comic series. Marvel executive, Rick Ungar, told the Comics Continuum website that a decision may be made very soon on the show. Ungar also told the site that the upcoming Mutant X tv show will not be based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. Instead, it will have an original storyline, dealing with a secret government project to create new mutants who develop unexpected superpowers, and the efforts of the government to track them down. Courtney Solomon, producer/director of the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie, has discussed plans for two proposed sequels with Sci Fi Wire. Soloman said: "In the second one, the characters actually progress to a different level. Also ... I can show much more of the world in the second one...". According to Soloman, cast of Dungeons & Dragons have already signed on for the two sequels. The Coming Attractions website has reported a rumor that Benjamin Bratt (Red Planet) is keen to join the cast of The Matrix 2. Bratt has apparently told reporters at a press briefing for his upcoming film, Miss Congeniality, that he has been talking with the movie's directors about a part in the sequel. Bratt reportedly said he has a decent martial arts background that he could use in the sequel, which is expected to begin filming in Australia early in 2001. The website Dark Horizons has reported that Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar is trying to withdraw from the live-action movie of the cartoon Scooby-Doo. Apparently Gellar split up with Scooby co-star and real-life partner Freddie Prinze Jr. and doesn't want to work with her ex-beau. Reports were that Prinze and Gellar had agreed to take on the roles of Fred and Daphne. Another rumour from the Dark Horizons website is that Catherine Zeta-Jones will be the latest Bond girl in movie number 20, Beyond the Ice. Kevin Spacey is reported to be playing the main villain in the movie. The new Bond film will film in Alaska, Ireland, the UK and Washington DC, and is expected to be released in 2002. Ex-Star Trek writer, Ronald D Moore, has provided a few clues to the new Star Trek series and the latest movie during an interview with Space.com. When asked about the idea of a civilian based Trek series he responded, "... feeling always was that Star Trek really was about Starfleet in one way, shape or form." He seemed to confirm rumours that the new series would be based around the formation of the Federation, and also confirmed that plans had been developed to combine elements of the various Treks. Regarding the long lasting rumor that Data might be killed off in the next film, Moore says, "You never know. Leonard Nimoy wanted to die in Star Trek II, so they killed him. And then he decided he wanted to come back. It’s really hard to say...I haven’t spoken with Brent, so I don’t know how serious he feels about it, and how seriously they want to do that, and what the studio’s feelings are." The American Broadcasting Corporation is considering turning the 1996 Schwarzenegger film, Eraser, into a weekly TV series. ABC network has signed with Warner Bros. Television to produce the show. The series will follow a special agent as he "erases" people from society to protect them. Entertainment Weekly has revealed the list of dinosaurs which will make appearances in the latest Jurassic Park flick. If you're an avid fan of dinosaurs, these names might mean something to you: Apatosaurus, Spinosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Compsognathus, Pachycephalosaurus, Pterosaur, and Ankylosaurus. The teaser trailer for the Tomb Raider movie has been posted on the official site. Check out Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft! James Marsters (Spike from Buffy) is rumoured to be considering leaving the vampire series. He is apparently on the verge of signing a big movie deal, and once this happens, he will be exiting Buffy for a movie career. According to Variety mag, Disney is considering producing a movie about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The movie - outlined by David Franzoni, who wrote a draft of Gladiator - would be a grittier story than previous ones, a la Braveheart. Congratulations to Voyager author Greg Bear, who won the second annual Endeavour Award for his science fiction novel Darwin's Radio. The Award is presented for a science fiction or fantasy novel by a writer from the Pacific Northwest USA. Bear has previously won the Endeavour for his novel Dinosaur Summer. Swancon 2000 have announced the nominations for the Ditmar 2000 Awards.
Among the nominations were the following voyager authors: Congratulations and best of luck to all the nominees. More news on the next Star Trek movie. Paramount Pictures have officially confirmed that screenwriter John Logan would write the screenplay for the 10th Star Trek film, and that Rick Berman, Executive Producer of Star Trek: The Next Generation, will produce the film. Paramount also confirmed the casting of Patrick Stewart as Capt Jean-Luc Picard and Brent Spiner as Data. Meanwhile, Rick Berman has provided some more details on the flick, saying that Data will have some interesting things happen to him, although there has been no discussion of killing of Data. Berman added that the movie will feature the greatest villian since Khan, and that the Romulans will be the major nasty aliens. The movie is expected to be released some time in 2002. For more news see the official Star Trek website. Jada Pinkett Smith confirmed that she will appear in the upcoming sequel to The Matrix, while talking to Oprah. Smith didn't discuss the details of her role, except to say that she'll have some fight scenes. Smith was previously reported to be considering the role of Niobi, a ship captain and the love interest of Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). It seems that there are many conflicting rumours doing the rounds about just who will play the female terminator in T3. The Aint it Cool website has reported that WWF champ Chyna, who has appeared in several episodes of Third Rock from the Sun, is in the running for the role, while Variety mag is reporting today that actress Famke Janssen (X-Men) is the frontrunner to play the terminator villian. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the producer of Homicide: Life on the Street, Tom Fontana, is to develop a fantasy drama for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The drama is reported as being "in the spirit of Lost Horizon and Fantasy Island". |
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