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News for: September 26, 2000 - October 10, 2000



Interview with 7 Days producer Thomas Ropelewski
by The Master, Tuesday, October 10, 2000
Scifi Wire has posted an interview with Thomas Ropelewski, Executive Producer of the two year old UPN series 7 Days.

7 Days is about a top-secret government project in which a time traveller "back-steps" in time seven days to fix some serious problem. The technology for this remarkable feat is courtesy of alien technology obtained from UFOs.

On the upcoming season, Ropelewski says the show will focus more on the show's characters. "One of the things we learned in the second season is how flexible and malleable the style of storytelling in the show actually is," Ropelewski told the Wire. "Last year I would say was about experimentation in storytelling. We would jump genres. ... The third season is going to be more about characters and exploring our family of characters and their interactions."

The show will also get a new character, Andrew "Hooter" Owsley, a boy computer genius played by Kevin Christy. "He'll start at about episode five or six," Ropelewski said. He'll "bring a different kind of dynamic to the show, because he's this puppy dog in this high-technology toy store. ... Frank Parker is his hero. ... [Owsley is] filled with energy. ... And he needs a little guidance and training, and Parker will try to guide him."

Ropelewski told the wire that the show has become a story about morals. "What the show has ... become is ... sort of like a Groundhog Day, where the questions it asks are, 'What would you do if you could live last week over again?' ... I think some of the best 7 Days episodes we've done are about moral choices. And I think it's probably the only show on the air that traffics in irony. ... Why [do] those small things that you change have huge significance that you don't even know about when they first happen?"

Things to expect in the third season: Donovan (Don Franklin), will act on his career frustration; Olga (Justina Vail) will deal with her attraction to Parker (Jonathan LaPaglia); Ramsey (Nick Searcy) may find himself in charge of the "Back-Step" program; and Talmadge (Alan Scarfe) may have to deal with a nervous breakdown. The third season may also see the return of a time traveller from the future who was featured prominently in last season's finale.

Despite a solid and entertaining cast, including a Saturn Award for Vail, and decent writing, 7 Days has struggled for an audiance during its first two seasons. Like many of UPN's series, the show consistently lands near the bottom of the weekly ratings. With recent upheavals at the troubled UPN, the long term life of 7 Days, which serves as the lead in for the now-in-its-last-season Star Trek: Voyager, remains questionable.
source: Scifi.com


Raimi confirms Malkovich
by The Master, Monday, October 9, 2000
Sam Raimi has confirmed that John Malkovich will be playing the Green Goblin in the upcoming Spiderman, according to a report by Popcorn.co.uk. Raimi also dispelled recent rumors that Malkovich would pull out of the project due to schedule conflicts like Nicolas Cage did.

Popcorn also indicated that James Franco, who lost the part of the title character to Tobey Maquire, may play Harry Osborn, the Green Goblin's son.
source: Popcorn


Petition drive to save Cleopatra 2525
by The Master, Sunday, October 8, 2000
News submitted by: Vanessa Suen
Cleopatra 2525 was recently placed on "indefinite hiatus", and Bruce Campbell has since confirmed that its its companion "Back to Back Action" show Jack of All Trades has been cancelled, adding to the doubts about Cleo's future revival.

Fans of Cleopatra 2525 who don't feel the show was given an adequate opportunity to develop have started an online petition to save the show. As of this writing, 770 signatures have alredy been collected. The petition is being printed and forwarded in 500 name batches to the shows producers, Studios USA and Renaissance Pictures.

If you want to show your support for Cleopatra 2525, sign the petition at PetitionOnline.com.

The Unofficial Cleopatra 2525 Website provides more details about the petition effort.
source: Unofficial Cleopatra 2525 Website


Queen of Swords premiere halted by court
by The Master, Friday, October 6, 2000
A Los Angeles Superior Court ruling has delayed the premiere of Paramount's new syndicated action show, Queen of Swords, a fantasy-action show set in the 19th century.

The ruling is the result of a lawsuit over who gets "created by" credit. Writer Linda Lukens claims the show is identical to a 1977 script she penned.

According to the report by Mothership.com, Paramount is to "refrain from airing further episodes of Queen of Swords until Lukens is credited as creator."
source: Mothership.com


Scooby Doo movie planned
by The Master, Friday, October 6, 2000
James Gunn's live action Scooby Doo project is forging ahead. "The script is on the second draft," Gunn told Popcorn. "It just went into Warner Bros two weeks ago." He went on to say, "it looks like it's going to happen, there's a lot of momentum behind the film."

Mike Myers previously expressed interest in the movie, but has since dropped out. Gunn also dispelled rumours that British actor Rhys Ifans would play Shaggy. "That's a false rumour," Gunn said.

Gunn promises fans spectacular special effects. "I've been looking at the special effects, the way we're going to deal with Scooby Doo. I promise it will be the most interesting special effects anyone has ever seen."

In a separate interview with Mothership.com about his upcoming superhero spoof The Specials, Gunn again confirmed the movie's status. "It looks like it's going to get made," Gunn said. "It's going to be awesome. I love the script. It's actually a lot like The Specials. It's about a group of outcasts and in the way The Specials takes superheroes and delves into their personal lives I do the same thing with the Mystery, Inc. gang. I'm a fan of the old cartoon and I'm pleased with the script, so I think others will be pleased too. Plus, I kill Scrappy. Everyone seems to be happy about that."

Hmmm...the death of Scrappy Doo. Happy indeed!
source: Popcorn


Dark Angel scores big for Fox
by The Master, Thursday, October 5, 2000
Fox's Dark Angel attracted 17.3 million viewers, giving the network its largest Tuesday audience ever for regular programming. Despite the strong rating figures, critic and fan reaction to the pilot has been mixed.



Apes gets rewrite
by The Master, Thursday, October 5, 2000
Variety reports that Larry Konner and Mark Rosenthal (Mighty Joe Young, The Prisoner), have been brought on board to do a rewrite of the Planet of the Apes script. According to the report, they will only "tweak" Bill Broyles' existing script, not completely rewrite it.
source: Variety


Anderson to direct Resident Evil
by The Master, Thursday, October 5, 2000
Paul Anderson (Event Horizon, Soldier) will direct Resident Evil from his own script, according to Cinescape Online.

The movie is based on the wildly popular video game and will tell the story of a special military unit sent in to destroy an out of control super-computer. On the way to the computer, the group must battle and destroy a legion of scientists and security people who have been mutated into flesh-eating zombies. The film is budgeted at $40M and is scheduled to start shooting in January in London. The movie should be in theaters for Halloween 2001.
source: Cinescape


Mariah Carey and Wonder Woman
by The Master, Wednesday, October 4, 2000
Popcorn is reporting a story from the UK's Daily Star that Mariah Carey has been offered the role of Wonder Woman by Joel Silver.

A "friend" of Carey's reported told the newspaper "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."

Sandra Bullock has previously been most closely tied to the role, with Catherine Zeta Jones and Shannon Elizabeth's names also being brought up at various times.

source: Popcorn


Winona Ryder gets star
by The Master, Wednesday, October 4, 2000
Winona Ryder will receive a much deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ryder has appeared in numerous Science Fiction and Fantasy movies during the course of her career, including Alien: Resurrection, Edward Scissorhands and the upcoming thriller Lost Souls.
source: Scifi.com


Going, Going, Gone
by The Master, Wednesday, October 4, 2000
Sothebys and Amazon.com have teamed up for a massive online auction of over 500 Science Fiction collectibles, memorabilia, and books, including a large number of Star Trek items. Various other suppliers are offering items through the action.

An autographed replica of the Enterprise (STTOS) commissioning plaque has already received a $6,500.00 bid (as of this writing), and a 1976 Mego Romulan 8" Action Figure is up to $1,400.00.

Book collectors will find many hard to find gems in the various book and manuscript offerings. Examples include a first edition of Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat, a signed Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson, Frank Herbert's 1956 Dragon in the Sea, and a signed 475 copy limited edition The Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card.

US bidders should be sure to read the fine print on any items offered directly by Southbys. These carry very steep shipping charges, with the biggest markup being for single items. For example, a single mint on card action figure of Jadzia Dax, autographed by Terry Farrel has a shipping fee of $50.33. A 13 episode boxed set of significantly larger and heavier Deep Space Nine videocassettes are a relative bargain with a shipping fee of $58.29.
source: Amazon.com


Star Trek TMP re-rated
by The Master, Monday, October 2, 2000
The upcoming "Director's Edition" of Star Trek: The Motion Picture has received a PG (Parental Guidence) rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. The official Star Trek website reports that new footage and special effects prompted the rating bump from the kid-safe G (General Audiance) rating the movie received when it was originally released in 1979.

The Director's Edition is scheduled for U.S. release in 2001.
source: Star Trek Official


LeVar Burton wins lifetime achievement award
by The Master, Monday, October 2, 2000
LeVar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award at the the Literacy in Media Awards. The award, honoring excellence in the depiction of literacy issues in film, television and radio, was presented by the Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles for Burton's 18 seasons of work promoting literacy on PBS' Reading Rainbow.

Our congratulations to Mr. Burton for this well deserved recognition.
source: Star Trek Official


Official Dungeons and Dragons movie site now online
by The Master, Friday, September 29, 2000
News submitted by: Michael Martinez
Check out http://www.seednd.com/ if you're interested in what the official Web site looks like.

As of this writing there isn't much content, but the trailer is expected to be released any day now, according to several other Web sites. Fans are invited to sign up for an email newsletter (which, so far, hasn't posted anything). There is a "humble" and an "enchanted" (requires plugins) version of the Web site.

DnDmovie.Com has unofficial trailer footage and is reporting that the trailer should start appearing in theaters in October.

Actress Thora Birch, who plays the Empress in the movie, has reportedly said that she rides a dragon in the movie, but there will be no scantily clad women.

source: DND Official Movie Site


Crow fans boycott
by The Master, Thursday, September 28, 2000
News that The Crow: Salvation is being shopped to cable TV did not sit well with some fans. Crowfans.com is calling for a general boycott of Miramax to protest and demand that the movie be released in theatres.

Miramax' test screening of The Crow: Salvation in Spokane Washington went poorly, which raised the possibility of a cable, or possibly video, release instead. Crowfans.com blames the poor test screening on poor promotion efforts by Miramaz, and a lack of publicity for the screening.

source: crowfans.com


Lucas Strikes Back
by The Master, Thursday, September 28, 2000
Purported storyboards for Star Wars: Episode II have been floating around of late, and LucasFilm isn't happy about it.

Naboo Online posted the storyboards on their website, and Aldera.net (aka The University of Aldera) posted links to the images with short descriptions of what they showed. Both sites promptly received "cease and desist" letters from LucasFilm. Aldera.net in particular expressed surprize at the action since they had not posted the actual storyboards. Nevertheless, both sites quickly capitulated and removed the information.

In addition to posting the cease and desist letter for fans to read, Aldera.net reports that they had a telephone conversation with David Anderman, Associate Director of Business Affairs for LucasFilm and sender of the letter, and were advised that "many more [letters] will be sent out today".

The speedy legal threat regarding these storyboards may indicate that they were authentic leaks instead of the fakes most fans thought them to be.
source: Aldera.net


The Rock is King
by The Master, Wednesday, September 27, 2000
Professional wrestler The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), has grappled his way to a $5.5 million deal with Universal to play the title role in The Scorpion King, the third installment in the movie series spawned by 1999's hit The Mummy. Johnson is playing the character in The Mummy Returns, now shooting in London.

The Scorpion King, noted as a prequel to The Mummy Returns, will begin shooting in mid-March, according to Variety. The movie is set in ancient Egypt and tells the story of a peasant whose town is plundered by a marauding army from the north, led by a violent warrior out to rule Egypt. Johnson will play the peasant, who attempts to exact revenge for his flattened village by joining up with a band of outlaws.

The Scorpion King is slated for release either Christmas 2001 or summer 2002, while The Mummy returns will be in theaters May 2001.
source: Variety


Scifi channel adding west coast feed
by The Master, Wednesday, September 27, 2000
The Scifi Channel has announced that it will start airing its shows in Pacific Time starting October 23. The new feed will be available to viewers in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and other western US TV markets. Currently, west coast viewers received the eastern feed, meaning that all shows are on three hours early. The cable network did not indicate if it will continue to show back-to-back repeats of its prime time lineup each evening, a practice which made prime time shows available on the west coast in similar time slots, or replace the repeats with different shows.

In related news, Scifi.com reports that the cable network's second quarter prime time ratings improved 14 percent over 1999's figures, garnering a 0.8 household rating. While still small by broadcast network standards, it is a record for the Scifi Channel. The network's "Friday Prime" block of original series this summer, which includes the red hot series Farscape and Lexx averaged a 1.2 household rating. For comparison, during the 1999-2000 season, Buffy the Vampire Slayer averaged a 1.8 rating, and its season debut earlier this week, with its much hyped lure of a visit from Dracula, sucked up a 3.5 rating and its best performance since January 1999. (Buffy ratings provided by zap2it.com)
source: Scifi.com


Tara surprise in store for Buffy fans
by The Master, Tuesday, September 26, 2000
Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans will learn a big secret about Willow's (Alyson Hannigan) girlfriend Tara (Amber Benson) during November sweeps. Executive producer Marti Noxon told TV Guide that there's a "very strong possibility" she could be a demon the likes of which Sunnydale has never seen.

"There definitely is a secret and we're going to explore what that is in episode 6, which Joss Whedon is directing and writing as we speak," said Noxon, adding that fans of the good witch "should be" concerned.

The love relationship between Willow and Tara has been a hit with fans of the show, but the WB has placed strict restrictions on how the relationship can be shown. "I think that basically they want to draw the line at any real physical intimacy," Noxon said, "so we have to be crafty in the way that we show their relationship. I think that in some ways the concerns that the network has about them being intimate doesn't really feel like it's hindering us because we can show romance without having to show the bada-bing bada-boom."
source: TV Guide


Brannon Braga interview
by The Master, Tuesday, September 26, 2000
Fandom.com's interview with Brannon Braga, former Executive Producer of Star Trek: Voyager, is short on details for the proposed new Trek series, but offers some insights on the project and dispels at least one rumor.

Several Trek fan sites have recently reported that there will be no pilot episode for the new series. Braga replies, "I’ve told you, at the very least, that we are writing the pilot, and that we are deeply immersed in the pilot script." In fact, that is a key reason Braga relinquished the helm of Voyager. Braga says, "Ken Biller has taken over Voyager officially. I did a script for him, and a story for him, but at some point I had to step away to work full-time on the new show, on the pilot, which Rick Berman and I have been working on diligently for the past month. It’s very exciting."

Braga remains evasive on what the series will be about. "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. I said it before, we don’t to plop a new crew on a new ship and title it 'Star Trek: Intrepid'. 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. We think we’ve found a way to do that. This concept for the series is something Rick and I talked about almost two years ago, and we’ve been developing it for a very, very long time, very, very carefully, along with Paramount Pictures. I am happy to say that although it’s taken a very long time to get going, we have not rushed this at all. By the time this thing gets on the air it will have been two, two-and-a-half years in the making, and that is a blessing. This series is an important step in the franchise’s future, and you don’t want to just rush it out."

The fate of UPN factors into the status of the project, with Braga stating, "we don’t know what is happening with UPN. We still have to finish this pilot, and turn it into the studio and get notes, and rewrite it. We have to figure out where we are going to sell it. I have to imagine it will be several months before we make any kind of announcement about the show’s premise or storyline."

source: Fandom.com




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