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News for: January 17, 2001 - January 31, 2001
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Shadow Attack by JMS! |
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by
Crowe, Wednesday, January 31, 2001 |
Seeing as how we have plenty of Sci-Fi fans, and in paticular, B5, I got a laugh out of this from Cinescape and thought you would too. Here is what was posted:
Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski is taking to task recent comments made about the future of B5 by series star Bruce Boxleitner.
Yesterday, Eon Magazine quoted the actor as giving his opinion that the future of the franchise is not controlled by JMS, saying, "No, it's not even in his hands. He doesn't even own it. Its not his property anymore - [the show] was taken away from him a year before we ended."
Checking in with the site, JMS responded to this comment as follows:
"Bruce should talk about what Bruce knows, which is acting. He is not privy to my deals and never has been. WB could not take the show away from me in ownership because I never OWNED B5 to begin with. NO producer of a TV show owns the show. (I'm omitting people like Aaron Spelling because he is able to finance the shows and thus partly owns them.) The studios that provide the deficit financing own the shows. Fox, not Chris Carter, owns X-FILES. Paramount owns STAR TREK lock, stock and nacelles, in all of its incarnations. This is the case with virtually EVERY TV series ever made. WB owned B5, and they owned CRUSADE. They could not take from me something I never had.
"I would hope that you would correct this misstatement by Bruce at your earliest convenience.
"Joe Straczynski"
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source: Cinescape |
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Matrix plans around Strike |
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Crowe, Wednesday, January 31, 2001 |
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Cinescape posted some good news about the Shooting plans for the "Matrix" sequels. They plan on shooting for 12 weeks in Oakland, CA and then letting the FX boys do their job giving the strike time to play out. Hopefully this won't last too long, otherwise some great films will be delayed, including Matrix 2! |
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source: Cinescape |
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Whedon's new deal's got some bite! |
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Crowe, Wednesday, January 31, 2001 |
Cinescape reported that Joss Whedon signed a new contract in the 8 figure range! That's quite a bit of loot. Here is what Cinescape said:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon has signed an eight-figure, multi-year production deal with 20th Century Fox Television.
According to Variety, in a deal that may be worth well over $20M, Whedon will continue to create and produce new TV programs for Fox while remaining on Buffy and Angel. In addition, the continuing success of those two shows will also serve to keep the money coming into Whedon, beyond this current deal.
However, this new deal does not cover Whedon's potential feature film projects. Though a part of his previous deal with Fox, Whedon now becomes a feature film free agent as of May 1st.
Though no details were revealed, Whedon does have plans for more television shows. Regarding this new deal to do so, the trade quotes him as saying, "It's just the place where I want to make shows, and I have a lot more to make, so I'm wicked psyched."
In addition, though it may only be rhetorical, the trade reports that an unnamed TV pilot by Whedon has a very good chance to be picked up within the next month. With word that the ABC TV network is hot for Whedon programming, that may be where it lands.
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source: Cinescape |
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FASA calls it quits |
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Crowe, Friday, January 26, 2001 |
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FASA Corporation, Game Maker of popular games like Shadowrun and Battletech are officially shutting down. Though some of it's games will live on under the helm of Wizkids LLC, this is truely the end of an era in gaming. Read the press release Here! |
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source: FASA |
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Farmer to receive Grand Master Award |
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The Master, Thursday, January 25, 2001 |
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has announced that Philip José Farmer will receive its Grand Master Award at the Nebula Awards Banquet in Los Angeles on April 28.
The Grand Master is the highest honor SFWA bestows, and is voted upon by all former Presidents and current members of the Board of Directors.
Previous winners of the illustrious honor include Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, Andre Norton, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Frederik Pohl, Jack Vance, Poul Anderson, and Brian Aldiss.
Speculative Vision extends its congratulations to Farmer, and its appreciation for an outstanding body of work that has well earned him this recognition.
Final Nebula Award nominees will be announced in March 2001. |
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source: SFWA |
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JLA is a go |
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The Master, Wednesday, January 24, 2001 |
Its official: the Cartoon Network has announced that they have ordered 26 episodes of the Justice League America animated series.
The series will feature Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter. Aquaman is notably left out, but previous rumors suggest that the character may appear in guest spots.
The basic premise will be like that of the numerous comic series that have had the same title in that the JLA will called upon to battle against allied villains, supernatural creatures and other powerful forces of evil determined to usurp authority over the world and to destroy the Justice League.
Bruce Timm (Batman: TAS, Batman Beyond) will be in charge of the series, which is great news for fans. Jean MacCurdy, president of Warner Bros. Animation describes Timm, saying, "I can think of no one more appropriate or qualified to bring the JLA superheroes to life than Bruce Timm. As he so brilliantly demonstrated with Batman and Superman, he is passionate about creating an entertaining and dynamic series that will thrill the legions of JLA fans everywhere, as well as introduce a whole new generation of fans to these classic characters as they come together in a brand new series."
Timm himself is quoted as saying, "After working on the Superman and Batman series for the last several years, Justice League is a great opportunity to develop those characters a step further and bring more of the iconic DC Comics superheroes to life. I am looking forward to exploring whole new realms of the superhero world."
The Justice League series will be launched within the Cartoon Channel's regular Toonami block of programming by this Fall.
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source: Cinescape |
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Sci Fi Channel courting Straczynski |
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The Master, Wednesday, January 24, 2001 |
Scifi.com has confirmed that the Sci Fi Channel has opened discussions with Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and producer Douglas Netter about possible future TV projects.
Specifics about the nature of the projects were not provided, but the report indicates they may include made-for-television movies or a new series.
Sci Fi has previously said it is happy with the performance of its widescreen Babylon 5 reruns. Straczynski is also the creative force behind City of Dreams, an original audio drama anthology series for Scifi.com's Seeing Ear Theatre.
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source: Scifi.com |
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Geller threatens to quit if Buffy changes networks |
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The Master, Tuesday, January 23, 2001 |
Sarah Michelle Geller is threatening to walk if Buffy the Vampire Slayer moves to another network. The rumors of a potential move have been reported here for quite some time, fueled by disputes over how much the WB pays Fox for the show. Geller didn't mince any words when talking to E! Online, saying "I will stay on Buffy if, and only if, Buffy stays on the WB. And you know what? Print that. My bosses are going to kill me, but print that. I want them to know."
Gellar says she feels she wouldn't have any loyalty to another network, and moving the show would crush Buffy fans who have tuned into the WB religiously every week.
"The WB has been so supportive, such a great network over the past four years. It feels like home. I don't want the show to move, because I feel that we belong on the WB. It's where our fans are," she says. "If Buffy leaves the WB, I'm out."
Buffy publicists refused to comment on Gellar's ultimatum, but WB chief executive Jamie Kellner recently made a statement about the matter at the Television Critics Association meeting in Pasadena, California. Kellner said he was willing to pay the show's producers every penny the network makes to keep the drama series; however, he said the network would refuse to go beyond that.
"We will take all the revenue we can generate with Buffy, and we'll give it to you in a giant wheelbarrow," he said. "And if that's not enough, then take it to somebody else. You've demonstrated you're not the kind of partner we should be doing business with."
Kellner said the WB was willing to kick in 50 percent more in licensing fees to 20th Century Fox Television. He also said Buffy will likely stay on the WB because, ultimately, the network is the best place demographically for the show to retain its legion of female fans.
ABC is also interested in picking up the show. Now in its fifth season, Buffy's ratings have made the show more expensive to produce, with the drama series now going for about $1 million per episode. However, that figure could double as ABC or Fox makes a play for the show and its advertiser's dream of die-hard young teenage fans.
E! Online reports that another source Fox has been considering moving Buffy to a bigger network because the WB cannot, or will not, pay enough to cover the stars' skyrocketing salaries.
Fox TV boss Sandy Grushnow says it's possible Buffy could end up on the Fox network, but it's his company's goal to reach a deal to keep the show on the WB. After all, he says, recalling Kellner's remarks, "They don't have wheelbarrows at the WB...They have Mercedes."
In related news, now that it has enough seasons under its belt, reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will be appearing in syndication come this fall. The step marks an important move for any series, and to its actors who will receive residuals from sydicated runs. |
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source: E! Online |
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Sci Fi Channel launches new production company |
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The Master, Monday, January 22, 2001 |
The Sci Fi Channel announced the creation of Exposure Studios, a new production entity aimed at developing Science Fiction projects by new filmmakers. Established during the successful Exposure Film Festival in New York, Exposure Studios is committed to finding promising new filmmakers and giving them the opportunity to write and direct SF movies.
Sci Fi kicked off the company at the Sundance and Slamdance film festivals in Park City, Utah, Jan. 18-28. Attendees are encouraged to apply in person and online at the Exposure booth inside the Interactive Lounge, hosted by ShowBiz Data. Interested filmmakers may also submit applications to Exposure Studios at http://www.scifi.com/exposure/submit/.
Exposure Studios is based at the the networks Sci Fi Lab in Los Angeles. Exposure will commission films between three and ten minutes in length from independent and student filmmakers from different artistic fields and from Exposure series alumni. The films will have their world television premiere on Sci Fi's short-film series, Exposure. The movies will also be streamed over the channel's website.
Participating filmmakers will also be granted meetings with development executives and agents, allowed to shadow directors of existing Sci Fi original series, and will be given access to industry mentors and guidance. |
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source: Scifi.com |
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More shooting ahead for EpII |
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The Master, Monday, January 22, 2001 |
George Lucas will shoot additional footage for Star Wars: Episode II at least three more times, according to producer Rick McCallum. "George really crafts the film in the editing room, so we always put several weeks of additional shooting into the post-production schedule," McCallum told the official Star Wars web site. "That way George can add scenes as he edits the film."
McCallum added, "There are three additional shoots in the current schedule. We have a few days in front of blue screen in March, which will most likely take place in England, since most of our Australian crew is currently working on other productions. Later in the year, we plan to return to Australia for the final round of shooting." |
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source: Star Wars Official |
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More retooling of Roswell |
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The Master, Monday, January 22, 2001 |
The WB almost cancelled Roswell, then in an effort to attract more male and genre viewers, this year the show has switched to a harder Science Fiction focused storyline with less of the Dawson's Creek style teen drama that characterized the show's first year. Looks like things are changing again.
In an interview with SciFi.com's Sci Fi Wire, co-executive producer Ronald D. Moore said the second half of this season will see a return to the dramatic focus of year one, but still preserve the stronger Science Fiction elements we've seen so far this year.
"The network had wanted a stronger Sci-Fi component, and had made that clear in the middle of last season, ... but we never really wanted ... to lose contact with the human elements of the show, which is what, I think, attracts everyone to the series," Moore said. "Even though the Sci-Fi plot lines have moved to the forefront, ... you see that all the emotional storylines are still there, and that we're playing on a lot of the character development from last season."
Moore added, "As we approach the second half of the season, we see those elements step forward [and] the plot and the Sci-Fi elements retreating into the background. ... We've never seen it as an either/or proposition. ... It's just the rhythm of the show.
On what's to come, Moore said, "We have some rather big surprises in store for the viewers in terms of what happens among the regular cast. Revelations about their back story, where they came from, how they were created on Earth. There are deeper surprises within the group: How they interact, the relationships that form, the relationships that will be broken. The Max-Liz-Tess triangle will be a big component in the run to the end of the season. All the character relationships will. ... Michael and Maria are headed for a turn, as are Isabel and Max. Things about the show in the second half of the season to watch are very much the relationships among the characters. That's where we're concentrating. That's where things will happen, as opposed to a great external threat. ...We have a direction for [Kyle and Tess], the kind of storyline where Kyle decides to make his play for Tess, and then discovers something he didn't expect." And there will be a new enemy, Moore added. "Yes, ... there will. But not until the very end."
The prospects for a third season of the show remain unclear. "Everything is just an open question," Moore said. "It's not a sure thing. We hope we get a third season. The ratings are strong, the network is happy with the show, the fan reaction has been great. ... It depends on whether there's a strike or not. ... There are just a lot of open questions." |
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source: Scifi.com |
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Genre stars shut out at Golden Globes |
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The Master, Monday, January 22, 2001 |
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In a huge disappointment for genre fans, Sarah Michelle Geller (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Jessica Alba (Dark Angel) lost the Golden Globe award for best actress in a television drama to Sela Ward (Once and Again). Ward also won the 2000 Emmy Award. |
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This could be "The One" |
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Crowe, Friday, January 19, 2001 |
Jet Li's work is awesome. And a new one with a Science Fiction twist with the atomic Jet Li. Cinescape posted this:
Delroy Lindo (Gone in 60 Seconds) and Jason Statham (Snatch) have both signed on to Revolution Studios' The One, which will star Jet Li. The film will tell the story of a man (Li) who encounters a murderous other-dimensional version of himself crossing planes of reality to kill all his own copies.
According to Variety, Lindo and Statham will play interdimensional agents whose task is to stop anyone from traversing dimensions, let alone killing.
The film, which is scheduled to ramp up production on January 29th in L.A., will be directed by James Wong, who will also produce with Glen Morgan and Steve Chasman. Morgan and Wong also wrote the film's script.
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source: Cinescape |
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Extra Extra! |
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Crowe, Friday, January 19, 2001 |
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Fandom, who recently acquired Cinescape, btw, has a great write up by Jack Ruby who's an extra on spidey! Go Read it here! |
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source: Fandom |
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Wicked Cool |
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by
Crowe, Friday, January 19, 2001 |
Here's a nice bit from Cinescape I'm looking forward too. Posted at Cinescape:
Franchise hungry Columbia Pictures has not only snagged the
feature film rights to Todd McFarlane's Spawn, but they've also placed the film on the fast track.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the studio picked up the rights to the comic book property for producer Don Murphy and his AngryFilms production shingle, which just wrapped the adaptation of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell. No specifics of the deal were revealed beyond that point.
In addition, the trade is reporting that McFarlane is currently at work on a horror based script for the film, which may or may not be the Se7en-like treatment of the character often mentioned by the Spawn creator.
Previously, New Line Cinema held the feature film rights to Spawn but let it languish ultimately putting the Spawn 2 project into turnaround with the rights reverting back to McFarlane
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source: Cinescape |
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Gibson as the Prisoner |
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The Master, Friday, January 19, 2001 |
TV Guide Online is reporting a rumor that Mel Gibson may be in line to play the lead role of Number 6 in a proposed movie based on the 1960s sci-fi series The Prisoner. Writer Christopher McQuarrie and director Simon West are also reportedly attached to the possible project.
TV Guide indicates that Gibson and Patrick McGoohan, the star of the original series, became friendly while filming Braveheart. Nevertheless, TV Guide acknowledges that Gibson is booked solid for the forseeable future, and no other casting has been mentioned, raising doubts about the validity of the rumor.
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source: TV Guide |
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NBC orders pilot of Anne Rice series |
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The Master, Thursday, January 18, 2001 |
Variety reports that NBC has ordered a pilot for Angels, an hour-long series from horror novelist Anne Rice. Details about the proposed series were not provided.
Rice is best known for her Vampire Chronicles series of novels. Queen of the Damned, based on her bestseller and sequel to the hit Interview with the Vampire, is currently in production.
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source: Variety |
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Nova will cameo in Apes |
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The Master, Thursday, January 18, 2001 |
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Variety reports that Linda Harrison will have a cameo role in Tim Burton's upcoming remake of Planet of the Apes. Harrison was Nova, Charlton Heston's mute love interest in the original film. |
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source: Variety |
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Pern on TV |
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The Master, Thursday, January 18, 2001 |
In an interview with Sci Fi Wire, Ronald D. Moore--a longtime Star Trek writer and now co-executive producer of Roswell--said that he has pitched The WB a show based on Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series of novels. Moore said he wrote the first script for the proposed show and that he is awaiting a go-ahead from the network for either fall or mid-season next year. Timing depends in part on upcoming writers' and actors' strikes this year. The proposed series is being developed by Fox Regency.
"We're just waiting to see if it will be picked up or not," Moore said. "The script was very well received. It's a project I've been thinking about for a long time. Now it's just a question of yes or no. I hope to hear about that really soon." Moore said the series would be a live-action show, but that no one has been cast yet. "It's a series that I had read back when I was in college, and it always stuck in my mind as an interesting world, a different slice of sci-fi that hadn't been explored," Moore said. "It has a huge following. ... The characters stuck with me through the years. ... I remember the mental images that always stuck with me. It seems at this point in time that it's a show you can do on TV because of the technology."
Moore's series is not related to a previous Dragonriders series that was in development at Alliance Atlantis Entertainment and Zyntopo Teo. Alliance reportedly dropped its option to develop the series last March. Moore said it's unlikely he'll make use of any of the ideas developed for that series, including the elaborate computer models for flying dragons. "We won't use the old stuff," Moore said. "We will start up doing our own thing."
Fans will be pleased to her that Moore says Anne McCaffrey will have a say in the show. "She has a big proprietary concern about her dragons," Moore said. "I talked with her and met her years ago ... in Ireland through mutual friends. ... She's a lovely lady. ... She'll have no formal involvement, but it's her series. She's the creator, and she'll definitely be involved." |
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source: Scifi.com |
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Geller will be in Scooby after all |
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The Master, Wednesday, January 17, 2001 |
Rumors that Sarah Michelle Gellar wouldn't be in the upcoming Scooby Doo movie appear to have been premature. Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-producer Doug Petrie confirmed to the BBC Buffy web site that Geller would play Daphne to boyfriend Freddie Prinze Jr.'s Fred. Petrie said they are working out a schedule so Geller can spend time shooting her series and the movie.
Geller's involvement could mean the end of the use of the nickname "The Scooby Gang" for Buffy and pals on the TV show. "We can't use it any more," explained Petrie, "She is literally part of the Scooby Gang in what I'm sure will be a hit motion picture, so we're screwed with that!" |
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source: BBC |
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 I knew that would happen! |
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