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News for: October 10, 2001 - November 5, 2001
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Star Wars Episode II Teaser online |
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The Master, Monday, November 5, 2001 |
The Star Wars official web site has posted a teaser trailer for Episode II: Attack of the Clones! Check it out
NOTE: You may experience slow or difficult connections as demand to see the trailer is very high. |
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source: Star Wars Official |
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Gilmore Girls/Smallville beating Buffy/Roswell |
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The Master, Wednesday, October 31, 2001 |
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The WB is winning the fight for viewers on Tuesday night. In overnight ratings, Gilmore Girls edged out UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer 4.8/7 to 4.4/6. UPN's other WB refugee show, Roswell, has continued to fall since its season premiere and only managed a 2.6/4 rating last night. The WB's Superman series Smallville is not only trouncing its genre competition, but also significantly improving on its Gilmore Girls lead in with a 5.8/8 rating last night. The show also beat both Dharma and Greg (5.4/8) and the first half-hour of the 90-minute Alias premiere repeat (4.6/7 for the whole episode) on ABC. |
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source: Zap2It |
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The One altered for Jet Li |
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The Master, Wednesday, October 31, 2001 |
Glen 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. |
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source: Scifi.com |
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Wolf Lake goes on hiatus |
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The Master, Wednesday, October 31, 2001 |
CBS has placed its low-rated werewolf drama Wolf Lake on hiatus after only four airings. So far, the series only averaged 6.6 million viewers, down 40 percent from what last year's Wednesday-night movie pulled in the 10 p.m. hour last year.
Wolf Lake stars 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. There is no word yet on whether CBS will try the show in another time slot or if it is formally cancelled. |
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source: Variety |
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Lucy Lawless interview |
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The Master, Wednesday, October 31, 2001 |
In an interview with the Sci-Fi Channel's Sci-Fi Wire, Lucy Lawless said 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-part ninth season premiere. "My daughter is a mad X-Files fan," the former Xena: Warrior Princess star said. "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 explained, "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. |
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source: Scifi.com |
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Musical Buffy runs long |
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The Master, Wednesday, October 31, 2001 |
The muscial episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will run eight minutes over its timeslot, according to a post by show creator Joss Whedon on the unofficial Bronze Beta discussion forum.
"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 also said that a soundtrack release is planned for the episode. Whedon 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."
Buffy's musical episode, "Once More With Feeling," airs November 6 at 8 p.m. PT/ET. |
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source: Bronze Beta |
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Witching Hour on TV |
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The Master, Wednesday, October 24, 2001 |
Anne Rice is in talks to adapt her best-selling book The Witching Hour as a television miniseries, according a report on SciFi.com. John Wilder, who wrote the screenplay for Showtime's Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints miniseries, is in line to write the script for The Witching Hour.
Wilder's script for that project turned out to be "the most faithful adaptation of my work I've ever seen," Rice said. "It's even more faithful than the adaptation I did for Interview with the Vampire." Witching Hour follows the 400-year history of a dynasty of witches. |
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source: Scifi.com |
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X-Files delays season premiere |
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The Master, Wednesday, October 24, 2001 |
Fox is delaying the ninth-season premiere of The X-Files to November 11 from November 4. The premiere is being moved to avoid the rescheduled Emmy Awards ceremony and the possible game seven of the World Series, according to the report on Zap2it.com.
The two-part premiere will feature Xena: Warrior Princess star Lucy Lawless and Princess Bride actor Cary Elwes. The second part of the episode will air on November 18. |
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source: Zap2It |
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Hamilton won't do T3 |
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The Master, Monday, October 22, 2001 |
Linda Hamilton says she won't reprise her role of Sarah O'Connor in Terminator 3, which is tentatively scheduled to go into production next summer under the direction of Jonathon Mostow (U-571) and not Hamilton's former husband and the franchise's creator James Cameron.
"I read the script and it didn't take my character in any new directions," Hamilton told the paper. "The film is really about turning the baton over to Sarah's son John, played by Eddie Furlong. It's Eddie's movie - and Arnold's. It was like a no-win situation for me."
Though Hamilton has long been divorced from Cameron, it was his lack of participation that soured her even more on the project. "The best I could hope for was that I wouldn't be compared too unfavorably with myself 10 years ago," she said. "Without Jim breathing the breath of life into the film? No, thank you." |
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source: Zap2It |
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Skip the Demon to return to Angel |
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The Master, Monday, October 22, 2001 |
In "That Vision Thing," the Oct. 1 episode Angel, Angel (David Boreanaz) was forced to free a man imprisoned in a cube of fire in a demon dimension in order to save Cordelia's life.
To do this, he had to fight the jailer -- a horned demon named Skip, played by David Denman (The Replacements). Friendly and personable ("I'm Skip," he said, offering his hand to Angel), Skip didn't want to fight, but he had to do his job (which, he said, is about a 20-minute commute from where he lives). In the end, Angel completed his task, but made sure that Skip was alive when he left.
Despite the brevity of Skip's appearance, he made a strong impression on fans. "People are insane for Skip," says "Angel" executive producer David Greenwalt. "Not since Angel appeared on 'Buffy' have I seen people go wild for a character like this. We're bringing him back for bigger purposes in Episode 11."
"I've never seen that kind of attention on a character. He really embodies the show. Also, we have a new guy doing the special makeup, so he's a really cool demon, which maybe we didn't always achieve before."
With Angel's vampire sire, and former paramour, Darla (Julie Benz), hugely (and inexplicably) pregnant, apparently with Angel's child, Greenwalt may have another use for Skip. "Ultimately, I hope he could become the baby's nanny," he says, not quite seriously. |
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source: Zap2It |
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Final 4 eps of Farscape won't air for months |
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The Master, Monday, October 22, 2001 |
The Sci Fi Channel announced that it is planning to air the last four new season-three episodes of Farscape in March or April 2002, not January 2002 as previously indicated. The fourth season will begin in June 2002.
The Sci Fi Channel has made a 44-episode commitment to Farscape, its highest rated show, for a fourth and fifth season.
Reruns of Farscape's first three seasons currently air Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m. First run episodes will return to Friday's at 9 p.m. when the series resumes. |
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source: Scifi.com |
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Amy Acker interview |
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The Master, Tuesday, October 16, 2001 |
Amy Acker, the newest regular cast member on The WB's Angel, told SCI FI Wire that she doesn't quite understand how she's ended up a genre veteran at the tender age of 24, but she's not complaining. "Most of my film [and TV] work has taken place in the dark world," Acker, who plays Fred.
"I did a movie with an alien [writer-director William Shatner's upcoming Groom Lake]. I did a movie where someone was murdered [The Accident]. I did a TV pilot [Hell House] that didn't get picked up, but it was all about ghosts and a haunted house. So, for some reason, I seem to be drawn to these kinds of parts. So now [on Angel], it's like, 'Oh yeah, there's the demon. He should be there. The guy in the green face? That's perfectly normal.' It's definitely different, though. I was talking to one of my college professors, who called the other day. I was like, 'I think you need to add a class about acting with demons, because no one really taught us that in school.'"
Acker first appeared on Angel last season, turning up in the final four episodes as Winifred "Fred" Burkle, a human who spent five years as an ill-treated "cow" in the demon dimension Pylea. Angel (David Boreanaz), Gunn (J. August Richards), The Host (Andy Hallett) and Wesley (Alexis Denisof) brought Fred back with them after she helped Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), who'd recently been sucked into Pylea. These days, Fred is spending lots of time with the gang at Angel Investigations and has a bit of a crush on Angel.
"I'm thinking that she's going to end up joining the team and helping them," said Acker, who's now a regular on the show. "But it will be kind of a slow process. First, she's got to get out of the hotel and see other people. She's still a little gun-shy after everything that she's been through." |
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source: Scifi.com |
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Fox beats ABC to the tunnel |
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The Master, Tuesday, October 16, 2001 |
Fox is finalizing a deal to air the proposed remake of the 1966 Science Fiction TV series The Time Tunnel, apparently beating out ABC who was also after the remake rights. Fox siblings Regency Television and 20th Century Fox Television are producing the new version of the classic show created by Irwin Allen.
Fox is expected to offer at least a pilot commitment, with a seven-figure penalty attached, according to the report in Variety.
ABC, led by network co-chairman Lloyd Braun, has gone to great lengths to win Time Tunnel for itself, the trade paper reported. Braun took Allen's widow, Sheila, to lunch, and ABC also sent faxes to 20th executives informing them that it was prepared to match and exceed Fox's most recent offer. |
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source: Variety |
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Star Wars comics to be re-released |
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The Master, Tuesday, October 16, 2001 |
Dark Horse will re-release the classic 1970s and '80s Marvel Star Wars comics in large-sized collections: a series of four black-and-white trade paperbacks.
The reprints will cover the entire series run, plus Star Wars Annual numbers 1-3, in the four paperbacks. The Marvel series covered 107 issues from 1977-86 and filled in the story between the films of the classic trilogy. The series features art and writing by Archie Goodwin, David Michelinie, Chris Claremont, Jo Duffy, Carmine Infantino, Al Williamson, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden, Ron Frenz, Tom Palmer and Cynthia Martin.
No release dates have been set. |
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source: StarWars.com |
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Birds of Prey and The WB |
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The Master, Tuesday, October 16, 2001 |
Warner Brothers Television and Tollin/Robbins Productions are developing a new series for The WB based on DC Comics' Birds of Prey series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Prey is an offshoot of the Batman comic series, and centers on a trio of female crimefighters.
Laeta Kalogridis will write the script of the project, which will be executive produced by Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins and Joe Davola. The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Prey could end up as a companion piece for The WB's new Superman series, Smallville, which premieres debuts today.
The WB earlier gave pilot commitments to a young-Tarzan project from producer Laura Ziskin and a drama about the land of Oz, based on the books of L. Frank Baum, according to the Reporter. |
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source: Hollywood Reporter |
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Bana to play Hulk |
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The Master, Tuesday, October 16, 2001 |
Eric Bana has signed to play the the titular character in Ang Lee's adaptation of Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk. Australian Bana started out as a comedian and television host, and is best known for his role as murderer Mark "Chopper" Reid in Chopper, according to the report in Variety.
"He was immensely appealing, and we are lucky to have him to be Bruce Banner," Marvel Studios president Avi Arad told the paper. "He's a fresh face, but he's a veteran performer who has a unique combination of great strength and the most soulful eyes. That is a difficult combination to find." Bana reportedly has option deals on two Hulk sequels. The movie is slated to begin filiming March 2002. |
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source: Variety |
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Genre ratings stumble, still perform for UPN |
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The Master, Thursday, October 11, 2001 |
Monday's episode of Angel stayed the course for The WB, earning a nearly identical 4.3 rating/6 share as it did last week.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer's second episode on UPN earned a 4.9 rating/7 share, a drop from the 6.2 rating/9 share it captured with its season premiere, but still a solid performance. It beat the first hour of its old network's (The WB's) season premiere of Gilmore Girls, which managed a 4.7 rating/7 share for the hour.
Gilmore Girls overall rating for the night was a 5 rating/7 share, gaining significant ground during its second hour against UPN's premiere of Roswell. Roswell only managed a 3.6 rating/5 share, which is a distinct improvement over UPN's average for that timeslot last year. Next week, The WB's new Superman show Smallville will premiere opposite Roswell.
Ratings for Enterprise on Wednesday dipped slightly from last week, with a 6.8 rating/10 share, but it remains the network's strongest show. Its 9pm companion Special Unit 2 continues to falter, losing fully half of Enterprise's audiance with a 3.5 rating/5 share.
A single Neilson rating point represents 1,022,000 US households. Share is the percentage of television sets in use tuned to that program. |
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source: Zap2It |
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ET altered in response to terrorist attacks |
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The Master, Thursday, October 11, 2001 |
The 20th anniversary re-release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial will be altered due to the September 11 terrorist attacks, according to E.T. star Dee Wallace Stone.
Stone told syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith that she had been called in to change a line in the film. "There was some reference to one of the Halloween characters in the film looking like a terrorist, so we're going in to reloop that line," Stone said. She added that the re-release will feature "new footage, from what I understand." |
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source: Scifi Wire |
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Braga defends Enterprise theme song |
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The Master, Thursday, October 11, 2001 |
Enterprise co-creator Brannon Braga told the Calgary Sun that he's aware of some fans' unhappiness with the opening theme song, "Faith of the Heart", by Dianne Warren. "We can't please everybody," Braga told the newspaper. "There are some people who love the song, and there are people who think it's cheesy."
Braga added that some fans have even shown up at the Paramount lot in Los Angeles, waving placards that say "Love Enterprise . Hate the song." "They came with a petition with 1,000 signatures," he said. "But plenty of people find the song very uplifting." His advice to fans who don't like the theme? "Turn the volume down." |
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source: Scifi Wire |
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Cameron-Ringworld rumor dead |
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The Master, Wednesday, October 10, 2001 |
Ain't It Cool News reports that they were contacted by Larry Niven's agent about the recent rumor that James Cameron would produce the movie adaption of Niven's Ringworld novels.
It ain't gonna happen.
According to the report, there "absolutely no deal nor a deal in the planning stages between Larry Niven and James Cameron". |
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source: Ain't It Cool News |
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 I knew that would happen! |
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