Report 23A. This is a digest of recent Sci-Fi- and genre-related news as of 6 February 2001.

News & Notes

Group News:

E-Mail Backlog

Having mailed out 166 packages between Saturday’s and Monday’s trips to the Post Office, we are slowly catching up on the warning messages.  If you are waiting for a response to an e-mail, you should hear from us within a couple of days.

I would also like to use this forum to ask anyone who has been waiting to hear from us for more than a week to e-mail us again. We have been receiving intermittent rejections from a couple of our contacts in Europe; Mirela Car in Croatia. Lars Haugseth in Norway and Ahmed Medin in Turkey.  Also, in the US, we have been unable to contact one of our regular correspondents – Derrick Bradshaw.  If any of you receive this newsletter, please get in touch.

(I know this sounds dumb – if they can’t receive the message, how can they respond?  Well, quite a few ISPs have message forwarding for clients who transfer, so maybe they are getting these newsletters that way.)

TV News:

Witchblade Series Is a Go

TNT's upcoming supernatural series Witchblade is finally slated to begin production Feb. 19 in Toronto. The first episode to film, "Diplopia," will be the third to air when the series premieres in August. Witchblade is based on the Top Cow comic series of the same name.

Toronto will stand in for New York City. Yancy Butler will reprise the lead role of Sara Pezzini from TNT's popular Witchblade movie last year. The cast also includes Anthony Cistaro as Kenneth Irons, Eric Etebari as Ian Nottingham and David Chokachi as Jake McCartey. The series will add several new characters: Gabriel Bowman, a street-smart entrepreneur; Madame Boucher, a character from the comics; Danielle, who is connected to Irons in a love-hate relationship; and Captain Yardley Scott, Sara's boss.

Whedon Signs Big Deal With Fox

Joss Whedon--creator of The WB's hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer--has signed a four-year production deal with the show's producer, 20th Century Fox Television, Variety reported. Under the deal, estimated to be worth more than $20 million, Whedon will create and produce new programming for Fox, while continuing as executive producer on Buffy and its spin-off, Angel, the trade paper reported.

Whedon's new deal doesn't include movies. Whedon becomes a free agent in the feature world as of May 1. He was previously set up at the studio under a four-year, $16 million deal that covered both TV and film, Variety reported.

The trade paper reported that the Fox TV network could pick up a Whedon pilot to be developed for next season. Other networks, including ABC, have also expressed interest in working with Whedon, Variety reported. Fox is currently in contract renewal talks with The WB over Buffy, in which both sides have traded rancorous comments.

Gunmen Is No Spin-off

Tom Braidwood--who plays Frohike in Fox's upcoming series The Lone Gunmen--told TV Guide that his show will be a lot more than just a spin-off of The X-Files. "The way the comedy has been happening, and the direction the show has taken, it's really not a spin-off," Braidwood told the magazine. "It's sort of like what we do in our life when we're not helping out Mulder and Scully. ... And this is what we do, this is our life, which is very different than the X-Files life."

Braidwood appears with Dean Haglund and Bruce Harwood as the titular heroes. "It's really interesting to have to focus on it day in and day out," said Braidwood, who originally joined The X-Files as an assistant director. "If they run the series, and it doesn't get picked up, I'm quite certain I'll simply go back to focusing on directing and producing. But I would probably also make an effort to do auditions."

Braidwood also said he has no problem with the series' attractive new regulars, Zuleikha Robinson and Stephen Snedden, to bolster the core trio. "Us three are really ugly," he said.

Wilson Ready To Leave Nikita

Peta Wilson--star of USA Network's original series La Femme Nikita--told syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith that she's grateful fans lobbied to resurrect the show for a brief fifth season--but added that she's ready to move on. "Those people worked so hard to bring us back, it's a real compliment to the entire cast and crew, but I think Nikita's done," Wilson told the columnists. "As an actress, it's time for me to move on and create something new."

Wilson said the fifth season's eight episodes should satisfy fans. "All the loose ends are tied up, and all the questions are answered," she said. "Maybe now they can let it go."

'Colosseum' in ruins at Pearson

It seems to be a case of thumbs down for Andrew Dice Clay's latest television venture, a proposed one-hour strip [weekly] that would have seen the comedian-actor play a modern-day wiseguy who gets sent back in time to the days of gladiators in ancient Rome. "Colosseum," from Pearson Television, is not going forward, sources said. Pearson will, however, focus on a second one-hour action show that it launched at NATPE: "Lean Angle," starring Antonio Sabato Jr.

Although a Pearson Television spokeswoman would not confirm that "Colosseum" is not moving ahead, sources said it is history -- at least for the 2001 syndication season. Clay was due to star as a hustler who goes back in time to become the head talent booker for the Colosseum. Before going to NATPE with both action hours, Pearson executives made it clear that neither show had a firm go, and production decisions would depend on the reaction of TV station buyers.

Editor’s Note:  Maybe if they had spelled it correctly, then the TV Producers might have taken them a little more seriously.

New seasons of Farscape AND Outer Limits + I-Man Season Finale

The new season of Farscape starts on Friday, March 16th.  Sci-Fi will air a Farscape special that evening, followed by the Third Season opener "Season of Death".  The  episode listed for March 30th is the start of another of the  multi-part episodes for which the series is becoming renowned,  entitled "Self Inflicted Wounds Pt 1: Could'a, Would'a, Should'a".

Starting on Monday, March 19th is the 7th season of The Outer Limits, moving from Showtime to Sci-Fi.  Fortunately, since OL is an anthology show, the fact that Sci-Fi has yet to air any of the sixth season won't make too much difference.

For other shows, Black Scorpion and Jules Verne will continue with new episodes in the expected order.  First Wave and Invisible Man resume new episodes on March 19th as well after a couple of weeks with a repeat and a pre-emption early in the Month.  Invisible Man is a two-parter, which may be the season finale (or not).  That brings the show to a total of 23 hours for the season, including the pilot.  Or there could be a third part the first Monday of April to conclude the season, bringing the season to 22 episodes plus the two-hour pilot movie.

Making Smallville Hip

Longtime genre TV director David Nutter--who will direct the pilot of The WB's upcoming Superman series, Smallville--told RetroVision magazine that he wants to take the venerable franchise and update it. "What I want to do with Smallville is do it in a way that's hip, in a way that's smart, in a way that's fun, and also do it in a way that is compelling storytelling," Nutter said. "The script is fantastic, and I think it's kick-ass, very smart, a lot of fun and very involving for the audience."

Nutter added, "That's another aspect that's important, too: I want to surprise the audience. When you look at something like three alien teen-agers in Roswell, New Mexico, a lot of people are going to laugh it off and not think much of it, but when they actually stopped to watch the pilot, it was surprising to a lot of people. It was touted as one of the top 10 shows of the season. That's what the key is: to try and do something that kind of balances the intelligence and also the emotional quotient to make them both very high."

Nutter said he looks at the series--which tells the story of 15-year-old Clark Kent--as a show about a young man who has a secret. "A lot of young people today can relate to that, because young kids have secrets and things they can't tell other people," Nutter said. "And it's about a young boy who's growing into a man. Clark's abilities are progressing, and they're blossoming in many respects on the show. In the show we're going to introduce Lana Lang, Lex Luthor and a more involved Jonathan and Martha Kent. We're also going to justify the mythology that you've heard about and thought about. There's lots of origin justifying in the pilot. I was really quite proud of the script and where it goes." Smallville debuts in the fall.

Berman: 'Trek' Series 5

Star Trek franchise head Rick Berman says that we may actually see the fifth Trek series hitting the airwaves in fall 2001 after all.

In the latest issue of Star Trek Communicator, Berman dispels recent word that the program may be pushed back another year, saying, "These decisions are currently resting with Paramount, but I think it is pretty certain that the target date is going to be September/October 2001. Obviously, with the impending writer and actors strikes, that could change."

Unless those strikes happen, Berman expects production of the series to begin in the spring.

Obviously, with talk of the series coming so soon, it must have finally been given the okay by Paramount. Regarding this point, Berman says, "Brannon and I have written the script together and have gotten very positive responses from the people at Paramount. We have made some serious revisions and handed in our second draft and the studio is very much behind the project. The question now is where is it going to end up? Who will be in it, etc.? All those fun things!"

Also coming into play now is where the series will turn up: UPN, another TV network or syndicated. Berman says, "I think the final decision on where the series is going to go certainly has had something to do with the delay, but everything is on schedule. With a completed pilot script at this point, we are ahead of the game for launching a show in 2001. There are a great number of business decisions that are being dealt with now that will result in a decision by Paramount as to where they would like to see this series end up. I would think that within the next month or two a decision will be made and we'll be able to get this on a faster track."

He adds, "I would say that there is also a strong possibility the new series could air on UPN."

When asked if the series might go out without "Star Trek" being a part of the title, Berman answers, "I think that there is a definite possibility that we may have a title that does not include the words Star Trek. That may be a sacrilegious thought but we have an idea that may include the need for that."

Berman also noted that the coming series will have a primary starship, though he also says, "We want this show to reflect the tone and beliefs of all the previous Star Trek series, especially The Next Generation, but, at the same time, we feel it is absolutely essential, probably more so than ever before, that this show have a fresh and different tone to it. This show is going to be dramatically different from other Star Trek series that have come before it and we hope we are going to do that successfully within and envelope of the Roddenberry spirit."

 

Movie News: 

Clock Starts On Clockstoppers

Paramount Pictures announced the start of principal photography Jan. 30 in Los Angeles on Clockstoppers, an SF film directed by Jonathan Frakes. The film stars Jesse Bradford, Paula Garces, French Stewart, Michael Biehn, Robin Thomas and Julia Sweeney and is based on a script by J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, from a story by Rob Hedden and Andy Hedden.

Bradford stars as Zak Gibbs, who discovers an odd wristwatch amidst his father's inventions that seems to stop time. But Zak and his friend Francesca (Garces) soon find out they are not alone in "hypertime," and someone else wants the watch.

Universal Developing Giants

Universal Pictures will develop the fantasy epic movie Giants with director Ralph Zondag (Dinosaur) and writer Mark Steilen, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film tells the story of a family cast away on an island inhabited by giants.

Zondag and Steilen will co-produce the project. They partnered on the project after becoming friends through their children, the trade paper reported.

Editor’s Note: Sounds a bit “Gulliver” to me.

Jurassic III Is Darker

Ed Verreaux, production designer on the upcoming Jurassic Park III, told Horror Online that the third installment in the dinosaur film franchise will be darker than its predecessors. "I think it's going to be a little bit darker, a little bit more moody," Verreaux told the site. "Shelly Johnson, the [director of photography], has just really done a great job at photographing [the film]."

The film features Sam Neill, reprising his Jurassic Park role of Dr. Alan Grant, and Téa Leoni, William H. Macy, Michael Jeter and Trevor Morgan. In one scene, "our band of survivors [has] been traipsing across the island, and they come across another Ingen compound," Verreaux said. "And what they find is that the Ingen people have been breeding dinosaurs in a big laboratory."

Verreaux is bringing to bear his experience from the first Jurassic Park film. "That's been a real help for me," he said. "I haven't had to find guys who have to reinvent the wheel. ... It's like, 'We've already done this, we know what this set looks like.' The thing is, we did try and make this look different from I and II. Hopefully, we were able to succeed." Jurassic Park III opens July 14.

Jackson Wants Rings Reality

Peter Jackson, director of the upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy, told E! that he faces a year's worth of post-production now that principal photography has wrapped. The challenge is to keep things real and faithful to J.R.R. Tolkien's original books, he said. "The one thing I've always been consistently going for in the style of the shooting and the performances and the design is to make Middle-Earth feel real and lived-in, and whether it's an elf or a dwarf or a hobbit or a human, I think it's important for us to convey that the character is real and exists at a particular moment in time."

Conveying the reality of the films means pushing the envelope in terms of violence, Jackson said. "It's going to be PG-13. Again, it's part of making it real. The material we've shot would easily give us an R-rated movie if we chose to cut it that way. We haven't shot anything that is disturbing or horrific or nasty. We're just trying to depict battles realistically. But we'll be very circumspect with how we edit the material. We're aiming for the tougher end of a PG-13--we'll try and push the envelope a little bit."

Jackson added, "Real life is quite complex--nothing is ever black and white. And even though we are dealing with good and evil in a very clear-cut way, as Tolkien wrote, we're trying to capture some of the story's complexity. For example, the character of Boromir. He is a fundamentally good person--good at heart--but he does things villains would do. He tries to take the Ring forcibly from Frodo. It's fun to film good people doing bad things, and it makes for a movie that has a little more interest and psychological content."

The other challenge is to keep focus through all three films. "The difficulty is you have to imagine the momentum of the films as a whole," Jackson said. "I always find it's very easy to lock yourself into making a shot feel nice, but lose the big picture. You forget that the camera should move faster, because when you cut it, you want this to be a part of a fast scene. Momentum is a very hard thing to maintain." The first Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring, opens Dec. 19.

Rollerball Amps Up Action

LL Cool J--one of the stars of John McTiernan's upcoming remake of 1975's Rollerball--told syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith that the new movie will amp up the action. "I thought the original film was a cool concept, but this film takes it to new heights, with things that were technologically impossible to do at the time of the first feature," he told the columnists.

He added, "The special effects ... balls flying around 200 miles an hour smashing people's jaws off. ... It's going to be a handful." Cool J stars in the May release with Chris Klein, Jean Reno and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos.

The rapper-turned-actor said he had to learn to ride a motorcycle for the movie and did some of his own stunts, "like jumps on some of the ramps." He sprained his ankle in one scene, and until it healed several days later, "I did scenes where I simply had to stand there," he said.

Editor’s Note:  No surprises there then. No doubt they will manage to either subdue or entirely lose the message of the original movie in a blood-fest of violence and foul language.  I highly recommend anyone who intends to see this movie to watch the original first.  It will make you think and will also act as a good benchmark against which to judge the new version.

The “Alien 5” Rumor Mill Begins to Turn

The British Sunday Express tabloid newspaper reported that Sigourney Weaver will reprise her most famous role, Ellen Ripley, in a fifth Alien movie, according to the Reuters news service. Joss Whedon, creator of The WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and writer of the last Alien film, will reportedly write the fifth movie, which will be released in 2004--the 25th anniversary of the first Alien, the Express reported.

"I've always wanted to do one where we go back to the planet from where the alien originally came, or even get to Earth,'' Weaver told the newspaper. Weaver will reportedly receive £15 million ($22 million) to star in and executive produce the movie, which will be set on Earth for the first time.

However, Sigourney Weaver, through a spokesman, denied that she was going to be paid $22 million to reprise the role of Ellen Ripley in a fifth Alien movie. Variety columnist Michael Fleming reported that no new Alien movie is in the works, and that her quotes came from an old press junket interview. It also appears unlikely that Joss Whedon would pen the script, especially in the light of last week’s report that he had been offered a mid-term contract by Fox for several new TV series.

Millennium The Movie?

Millennium star Lance Henriksen told SFX that series creator Chris Carter wants to make a movie based on Henriksen's Frank Black character. "Chris wants to do a movie based on Millennium," Henriksen said. "Probably not calling it Millennium, but using that character. He's talked about that, and it's in the air."

Henriksen added that he'd love to team up with his old friend, Robert Patrick, on Carter's other gig, The X-Files. Henriksen appeared on the series as Black in a crossover episode a while back. "I'd like to work with Robert Patrick in The X-Files, but nobody's approached me about it," Henriksen said. "I like Robert a lot. We did a film together years ago, but he's a really cool guy. I'd love to go back on The X-Files."

Berman: 'Star Trek X'

Besides talking about the coming fifth Star Trek TV series, Rick Berman has also been chatting about the developing Star Trek X.

In the latest issue of Star Trek Communicator, Berman addresses his previous comments of the Romulans being in the next film, saying, "Well, what I said was that we would be seeing the Romulans in this movie, which we are, but I did not necessarily say that they were going to be our main villains. We are going to be seeing a new race of villains that I am tempted to talk about but I won't just yet. We also have a specific villain that we hope will be every bit as exciting and memorable as Khan. I am very excited with the direction this film is taking."

Regarding how the Romulans will look, Berman adds, "We always like to tweak some of the alien races and I'm sure you can expect a fresh, updated look for the Romulans. We have done it before such as when Denise Crosby played a Romulan and we have her a look that was somewhat unique. I think there will be some surprises as to what the Romulans will look like.

Berman also confirmed that Next Gen cast member Brent Spiner is very much a part of the film's development, saying, "Brent introduced me to John Logan and has served as a co-writer on the story along with John and myself, so he is certainly more involved in the story of this film that he has ever been involved before."

In addition, the franchise head honcho also discussed the possibility of Jonathan Frakes directing the film, saying, "He is still being considered. There has been no discussion at this point on directors but Jonathan is about to start directing another movie called Clockstoppers and I don't know what his schedule is like. We don't know when this movie is actually going to go into production because of the impending Screen Actors Guild strike so there really has not been any discussion about a director yet."

Beyond that, Berman also revealed that Paramount may release the film in 2002, but perhaps earlier in the year rather than its usual Thanksgiving release date.

Odds and Ends: Short items not worthy of an article in their own right.

·        Ted Raimi (Xena: Warrior Princess), brother of Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, will play one-armed doctor Curt Connors, aka The Lizard, in the upcoming film based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, the Comics2Film Web site reported.

·        Kristin Kreuk has been chosen to play the role of Lana Lang in The WB's upcoming Superman series Smallville, according to the Fandom Superman Homepage. Kreuk will also star as Snow White in May on ABC.

·        An online petition to save the horrendous Fox series Freakylinks has not produced the expected results.  The petition, put up by fans (?) of the show, only garnered two signatures in its first week.  Way to go guys!!

·        In the upcoming Voyager episode Q2, John DeLancie's real life son, Keegan DeLancie will play Q's offspring, who is now a teenager and comes to Voyager to visit his godmother, Janeway.

·        FOX will pre-empt The X-Files on Sunday nights in March for the first three episodes of The Lone Gunmen.  FOX has also been running a lot of promos for The Tick, but has not yet said when it will start airing.

·        The ShowBiz Ireland Web site confirmed previous reports that Irish pop star Samantha Mumba would co-star in the upcoming update of The Time Machine, based on H.G. Wells' classic SF novel of the same name. Mumba will share the screen with Jeremy Irons, the site reported.

·        Writer Stephen Gaghan (Traffic) told the New York Times that he has been asked to write the screenplay for a proposed fourth Indiana Jones movie. The paper does not say what happened to the Indy IV script being drafted by M. Night Shyamalan (Unbreakable) for director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford.

·        We are not going to dignify the rumor that a remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory would star depraved rock star Marylin Manson by giving it any real space in this newsletter.  It ain’t gonna happen.

 

Part B Follows Shortly.

Best wishes,

David Gerhard,