23 October 2000

Will Smith has been talking MIB2 and Independence Day 2 to TV Guide Online. Re MIB2, Smith told the site: "The whole gang is back!... Oh and how they bring Tommy's character back! ... I can't let it out, but it's so brilliant." It has been confirmed Jones has signed on for the sequel. However, thing aren't as certain for the ID4 sequel, with Smith saying: "We've been talking about it... when you've got a movie that made that kind of money, rest assured somebody is talking about a sequel."

Also talking to TV Guide Online, Edward Furlong has confirmed that he is currently in negotiations to reprise the role of John Connor in the upcoming Terminator 3. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be returning to the franchise, however the creator, James Cameron, has said he's not interested in directing the third film.

John Travolta, while doing the publicity for his latest flick, Lucky Numbers, admitted he is going ahead with a sequel to Battlefield: Earth despite the original movie receiving appalling reviews. Speaking at a press conference, Travolta said, "Sure. Yeah. The bottom line is that I feel really good about it. Here I was taking big chances, breaking a new genre...The book stood for something classic and this [sequel] hopefully will too". When asked about the reviews and poor box-office response he replied, "I am so thrilled, believe it or not, at the outcome because I didn't believe I could get it done...When I felt better about everything was when George Lucas and Quentin Tarantino and a lot of people that I felt knew what they were doing, saw it and thought it was a great piece of science fiction".

Rob Tapert, producer/creator of Xena: Warrior Princess, told Cinescape.com that the sixth season of the show will be its last. "Xena has been a labor of love for everyone associated with it and we've been unusually lucky in having had the freedom to explore anything we've ever wanted to try -- from high-action dramas to slapstick comedies to musicals. We're excited about the shows we're currently producing and we hope to deliver some of the best episodes we've ever done. Having said that, all of us on the show feel it will be time to move on to new creative challenges at end of this season. We have been blessed with tremendously loyal fans all over the world and we look forward to bringing them new and exciting programs in the future."

A deal is being negotiated for the video game rights to the upcoming film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings between New Line Cinema and Electronic Arts. Variety reported that the license fee is in excess of $10 million, making it one of the most expensive ever.

Trailers have been posted on the net for two upcoming sci fi/horror movies:

The official site of the upcoming Schwarzenegger movie about cloning, The Sixth Day, has released the second trailer, while Entertainment Tonight have posted a trailer for Wes Craven's taken on the classic vampire story, Dracula 2000.

The unofficial Harry Potter movie site (http://harrypotter.eqrealm.com/news/101300a.html) is reporting that Tom Felton (The Borrowers) will play Harry's nemesis Draco Malfoy and that Alan Rickman will indeed play Professor Snape, though no official announcement about that casting has been made. However, John Cleese has confirmed he'll be playing the character of Nick the Nearly Headless Ghost in the "Harry Potter" movie during a lecture at Cornell University.

16 October 2000

HarperCollins Children's Books has launched a Narnia website to celebrate the 50th anniversary of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The site offers info on the Narnia books and the author, illustrated guides to the magical lands and the characters, and a number of interactive games. The site can be found at: www.narnia.com

David Duchovny has turned down a role in Star Wars Episode 3?!! That's the word straight from the actor's mouth, according to an article on Empire Online. Apparently George Lucas rang the actor to personally offer him the part. Duchovny says of his declining the part: "I'm a fan of Star Wars, but I'm not sure of having the time to act in it...I've got tons of projects in production after the X-Files series". Duchovny also talked about his role in the upcoming scifi movie Evolution during a online chat, saying "It's a comedy about aliens...I play a Professor who is charged with saving the world from agressive aliens". For the full article, visit Empire Online

More Star Wars news: Australian fans will be the first to see an "unofficial Episode 2 trailer" at the upcoming Force Three and a Half convention, to be held in Melbourne and Sydney in mid-October. For more details about the convention, visit the official convention website

WAMC Entertainment have optioned the film and TV rights to Stephen King’s The Eyes of the Dragon and are proposing turning the fantasy book into an animated feature. The budget for the film is around $45 million and a screenplay for the project is due for completion early next year.

The Popcorn UK website is reporting that Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-Man movie currently in development, has confirmed John Malkovich has signed onto the role of the Green Goblin. Raimi has also reportedly stated that he's close to casting Alicia Witt (Urban Legend) in the role of Peter Parker's girlfriend, Mary Jane.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer Love Hewitt is to play the devil in the upcoming movie The Devil and Daniel Webster, a supernatural movie that based on Stephen Vincent Benet's story of the devil battling it out with publisher Daniel Webster (to be played by Anthony Hopkins), in a battle for the soul of writer Jabez Stone (Alec Baldwin). Baldwin will also direct the film.

9 October 2000

Hodder and Stoughton, Stephen King’s UK publishers, are running a short story competition. Stories up to 3000 words are eligible to enter the competition, with the winning entry to be picked by Stephen King for publishing in the paperback edition of his On Writing book. The winner will also get to meet King. More details are available from the Hodder & Stoughton website

The Executive Producer of the X-Files, Frank Spotnitz, spoke to the Palm Beach Post about the upcoming season of the show. Discussions centred around:

• Scully's pregnancy: "It could've been Mulder. There is a very violent debate whether that would be a good plot development. Other things I've heard is that somehow it's an alien pregnancy. And there was an episode last season where Scully was in the company of Cigarette Smoking Man and she was unconscious and woke up in a bedroom. Those are the three scenarios."
• Doggett (Mulder's replacement): "Most X-Files fans love Mulder and they love Mulder with Scully. It's quite natural that when you've loved a character and actor to feel resistance to a new guy coming in. No matter how wonderful the new actor and character is, it's a hard sell to the audience. Plus, Scully doesn't like him. I suspect he'll win her over. Robert Patrick is a hard actor not to like.
• Is Cancerman really dead? "He sure looked dead to me. (William B. Davis) is not under contract anymore."
• Another movie? "Will the audience still be there for a movie series? I don't know."

More X-files news: On his official website, Lone Gunman Dean Haglund (Langly), talks about the new spin-off show entitled The Lone Gunmen. "It will be the three Lone Gunmen, hence the title of the show," Haglund said. "It will be more government conspiracy plots and less genetic-alien-hybrid, take-over-Earth, odd-fat-sucking-vampires plot lines. Chris Carter and all the gang will be writing [and] producing, and lots of the old crew from Millennium and X-Files will be there too." The show is to start shooting 12 episodes in October at the original X-Files studios in Vancouver. The pilot will air in the US in early 2001.

Claudia Black (Farscape) has announced to fans on the Sci-Fi Channel message boards that she has signed up to play the part of the vampire Pandora in The Queen of the Damned movie - the follow up to Interview With a Vampire. Her message:

Hello there beautiful people! We are all suffering from post Olympic syndrome after a surprisingly exciting fortnight of sport and entertainment. I am officially very proud to be an aussie (aussie aussie, oi,oi,oi!!!)

My reason for posting today is to let you know that I have been cast to play Vampire Pandora in the sequel to Interview With a Vampire.

For those of you who have read Anne Rice's books,be prepared for some filmic licence and adaptation, if you know what I mean.While being losely called the sequel,The Queen of the Damned is not the book which directly follows interview and will not star Tom Cruise nor Brad Pitt.

I do not post this bit of news to boast, rather to recognize the enormous support I have received from you all on the BB and thank you for it as I feel You have instilled me with a confidence which has pushed me forward.

For those of you who out of loyalty went to support Pitch Black I can at least promise this time that although Pandora is a small support role, she will not be knocked off early!

Love and light to you all and thanks again for your continued support not only of Farscape but also of all the people who are bringing it to you.

Your chick with gun,
Claudia

Hong Kong action movie star, Michelle Yeoh, has told Cinescape Online she has been in talks with Steven Spielberg to co-star in the fourth Indiana Jones movie. She said: "We had a couple of meetings, and we did talk about [Indy 4]. He [Spielberg] is one guy who has a passion for filmmaking. He's inspiring. And I love the Indiana Jones films. Would I be interested? Of course I'm going to jump up and say, 'Yes, please!'"

Mariah Carey has reportedly been offered the leading role in the Wonder Woman movie currently in development. In the past, Sandra Bullock, Catherine Zeta Jones and Shannon Elizabeth have all been linked with the role. The UK's Daily Star quotes a "friend" of Carey's as saying: "She's delighted to have been offered the role of Wonder Woman. She likes fun films as she has a great sense of humour, so a role like this would suit her better than a serious one."

3 October 2000

Both Robert Jordan's UK publisher, Orbit as well as his US publisher Tor, report that the manuscript for Winter's Heart - Book Nine of The Wheel of Time series has been delivered and that they are on schedule to publish the book in November.

J. Michael Straczynski - the creator, executive producer, and writer of Babylon 5 - will soon be writing Amazing Spider-Man for Marvel Comics'. His first issue is expected to be out around April 2001.

Lance Henriksen has recently told TV Guide Online that Chris Carter is still considering a movie version of the TV series Millennium. Henriksen is open to the idea of returning as psychic FBI guy Frank Black. Meanwhile, Henriksen will be appearing in the fantasy feature The Lost Voyage, as a salvage operator who finds a ship that vanished and has now reappeared.

In an interview with Fandom.Com, Brannon Braga, former executive producer of Star Trek: Voyager, talked about about the new Trek series. While not mentioning specifics, Braga commented: "It’s going to be quintessential Star Trek. It hopefully will rekindle the adventure and thrill of the franchise, and at the same time reinvent it... We’ve got to do something that at once recaptures the heart and soul of Star Trek while at the same time reinvents Star Trek to make it different and fresh and bring it into the 21st century."

For the full interview, visit: Fandom.Com

Anne McCaffrey has completed The Skies of Pern, the 16th installment in her best-selling Dragonriders of Pern novel series, according to publisher Del Rey Books. The book is expected to be released in the US on April 3, 2001. The book continues the saga of the dragonriders after they've moved the Red Star. McCaffrey has plans for more novels that will continue the Pern story into a time when the Thread has ceased falling for good. McCaffrey's son Todd is also working on a dragonriders book that takes place in a past era of Pern.

UK's The Big Breakfast reported that Madonna had signed on for a role in the upcoming film version of the Brit sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf. The report was later debunked by BBC Radio One which categorically denied the rumoured casting, though actor Craig Charles (Lister) mentioned "some big names were connected to the film" along with the return of all the regulars.

A Star Wars Episode II rumour, reported by The Force website, suggests that a new character named Zam Wesell will feature in the film. The character is believed to be a bounty hunter and is to be played by Australian actress Leeanna Walsman.

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