News

News Archive

Message Board

Wallpaper

Art Submisson

News Submission

Links

Webmasters

Contact

Star Wars Knowledge and Other Movie News Archive

February 22, 2000

Singer Relaunches 'Galactica': Bryan Singer isn't just solely focusing his attention on X-Men 2. He's also spearheading a relaunch of the Battlestar Galactica TV series. According to Variety columnist Michael Fleming, Singer has struck a deal with USA Studios to reinvent the '70s TV series. Singer will also act as an executive producer of the program along with his X-Men partner Tom DeSanto. Beyond that, as long as it doesn't clash with his X-Men 2 duties, the helmer is planning to direct the pilot episode as well. While talking to Fleming, Singer stated his intentions for this new Galactica, saying, "The lesson I learned on X-Men is to have a healthy respect for the fan base of sci-fi fantasy franchises, and I'm confident that the Galactica brand is a sleeping giant. It was a show I watched during its initial run, from the pilot to the final episode. The essence and the brand name is quite potent in a climate where there's a great deficit of scifi programming." USA Television Production Group president David Kissinger sounds almost shocked regarding Singer's involvement in the project, saying, "I never dreamed a filmmaker of Bryan's stature would be enough of a hardcore fan that he saw this as a franchise that could be reinvented. In the initial meeting, I was wary that he might be just another feature guy looking to slap his name on a TV project, but it was immediately clear this wasn't so. He's got a whole mythology and arc for the series already worked out." "We'll shop it right away with the goal of having it in a prime time slot on a network, but it's possible that we might be able to do a dual window scenario with the SciFi Channel," Kissinger adds. "With Bryan's vision and a brand name which has international appeal, we're optimistic we'll be able to make it on the grand scale he imagines. The visual imagery he's talking about is unprecedented in its effects and scope." Word has it that the recent problems with the Confessions of a Dangerous Mind project are what allowed Singer to direct some of his energy towards this newly forged Galactica project. Meanwhile, X-Men 2 is firmly in place to start up production in early 2002 with a holiday 2002 release date planned.

Fraser Talks 'Mummy 2': Once again, Brendan Fraser is talking about the coming The Mummy Returns, saying that it may be better than the first film. While talking to Cinescape Online's Cin City columnist Cindy Pearlman, Fraser was asked if the coming sequel is as good as the first film or just an attempt to milk bucks out of the fans. Fraser answered, "I will go out on a limb here and say it's mo' better. The party line in Hollywood, when you do a sequel, is to try and remake the first one. But we didn't do that. We took what was so successful in the first one, and we upped the ante." Regarding working with The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), sorta, Fraser says, "He's a myth. He's a legend. He's a very scary guy. He plays the Scorpion King. Actually, I have yet to meet him. He was cyber-scanned onto a bug body...He did all of his scenes in Morocco before we got there. But it's funny the effect he has on people. Even the guys on camels in Morocco knew who he was. Everybody knows the Rock, I guess."

February 21, 2000

Rhys-Davies Talks 'Rings': Once again, John Rhys-Davies is commenting on the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, in which he takes on the role of Gimli the dwarf. While talking to Empire Online, the actor spoke enthusiastically about working on the films, saying, "'It's going to be the biggest film series of all time. The casting, present company excepted, is remarkable, just extraordinary. You look at each of these people and think 'I know exactly who that is'." Regarding director Peter Jackson, Rhys-Davies gushes, "I've never met or worked with a director with a more comprehensive artillery of qualities for a big project like this than Peter Jackson. Someone should give him a medal pretty damn quickly."

Weaver Talks 'Alien 5': Yes, Sigourney Weaver has also heard those rumors that she had signed on board a fifth Alien film with a paycheck of $22M. While talking to Syndicated columnist, Liz Smith, Weaver cleared the air on the matter once and for all, saying, "I was interested to read that I was doing it for a phenomenal amount of money. Unfortunately, it wasn't true. At least the sum. And I haven't really talked to Fox about making another. People come up to me on the street saying 'Hey, Alien 5! Great, when's it gonna happen?' And I go, 'Wait, wait, wait a minute!'"

Classic Moment: "In striving for utopian order, Star Wars' Empire does indeed want to turn people into machines. The stormtroopers are pawns, not people, and Vader eliminates without compunction any subordinates who fail to 'function' properly. With intended irony, the Imperials are humans acting like machines, while Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio are machines displaying such human traits as loyalty, concern, pride, and joy."

February 19, 2000

An Eye Towards 'SW3'?: Though work progresses on the coming Star Wars: Episode II, is the production thinking at all in design terms about the third and last production in the saga? In answering the latest question to the Star Wars website's Lucasfilm Jedi Council, Doug Chiang commented, "We are always conscious of how the new designs will be integrated into the entire Star Wars universe. Because we are only working on one part of a six-part series, the designs need to evolve with the characters and the story in a convincing matter. There needs to be some logic in the designing process to make the series visually cohesive."

'Trek' 5 Set For Fall 2001?: In a follow-up to recent comments made by Rick Berman, word has it that the fifth Star Trek TV series is now locked into the UPN TV network's fall 2001 season. According to financial network On24's media analyst Rick Ellis, Viacom announced the fifth series status while discussing their fourth-quarter earnings. Ellis reports, "They did officially say, yes, there was going to be a next Star Trek series in the fall. They were a little vague on what it is going to be, but one of the things that came out in the press conference this morning was that there was going to be a next Star Trek." In addition, Viacom also addressed any concerns that UPN might be going belly up any time soon, reporting that "they were generally happy about [UPN]. They seemed to think it was going to be around for a while. There were some questions about it, but it looks like they've managed to secure enough deals [that] UPN is going to be around for a couple more years." Previously, Star Trek franchise bigshot Rick Berman revealed that the fifth series would most likely have a fall 2001 launch and that production might be ramping up prior to the threatened writers and actors strikes.

'X-Files', Too: Besides talking up his new Lone Gunmen series, Chris Carter also commented briefly on the future of The X-Files. While talking to Ian Spelling's Insider Trek & Sci Fi, Carter spoke of a ninth season, saying, "My preference is to do The X-Files next year if we can find a way to do it right, to make it creatively interesting for ourselves. I think the stories are out there to be told, but when you get to the ninth year of a show you need resources to keep doing the same good work. The costs go up. "So my preference is do The X-Files next year, but there are things that need to be hammered out between all the participants in the process."

Bruce Campbell As Elvis: It really isn't all that hard to imagine Bruce Campbell taking on the role of Elvis Presley, but now add a conflict with ancient evil power and see where that leaves you. According to syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck, Stacy Jenel Smith and Stephanie DuBois, Campbell is set to star in an one strange sounding indie production called Bubba Ho-Tepp, which is scheduled to start shooting next month. The film will tell the story of how Elvis traded places years ago with an Elvis imitator, resulting in the death being the impersonator. Now, years later, the king lives in an old folks home where nobody believes that he's Elvis. As luck would have it, though, Elvis must unite the old folks to do battle with an ancient force of evil, thus the film's title.

Carter: Mulder's Return: Chris Carter is talking about next week's episode of The X-Files, which will see the return of David Duchovny to the series. While talking to TV Guide Online, Carter hinted at what we can expect to see happen on the February 25th episode, saying, "We will figure out what's happened to Mulder — to an extent. There will be a most shocking discovery, one we think cannot be happening — but it is." Regarding the eighth season's finale, Carter, once again, that the coming two-parter "will be a cliffhanger either for next season, if we return, or for the movie." Carter also let drop that the delivery of her baby will be "a subject of serious consequence."

February 15, 2000

Digitally Screening 'SW2': How many theaters will digitally screen the coming Star Wars: Episode II? Producer Rick McCallum isn't sure, yet. In answer to a question in the Star Wars official website's Lucasfilm Jedi Council regarding digital screenings, McCallum posted the following response: "For the digital projection of Episode I done in four theaters last year, the movie was physically delivered on disc as opposed to delivery via satellite. "We were pleased with the results, and clearly the audiences were as well. We're hopeful that we can increase the number of digital showings for Episode II because there are so many advantages. The main advantage is the quality of the presentation and the fact that, unlike physical film, the 100th showing will look every bit as good as the first showing. There are also other benefits, which include the cost of distribution and the cost of manufacturing thousands of reels of film. There's a huge positive environmental impact along with that, as well. "Whether the movie crosses over high-speed data lines, arrives via satellite, on physical disc media, or some combination of the three -- I think that's still up in the air. It will be interesting to see how it plays out while considering both cost and security factors."

Feldman Talks 'Goonies 2': Corey Feldman has confirmed that something is up with the rumored Goonies 2 project. While talking to Fandom.com's Smilin' Jack Ruby, Feldman revealed, "There is a script in development...If that sequel happens I’ll be a part of it." Regarding rumors that he might be in Warner Bros. developing Lost Boys sequel, Lost Girls, Feldman says, "As far as I know, that’s just rumor."

February 14, 2000

'Indy 4' Start In 2002?: Is the seemingly limbo locked Indiana Jones 4 project going to finally ramp up production in spring 2002? That's what the CG talking head news website Ananova is claiming. The site is reporting that Harrison Ford will command a paycheck in the £15M range to reprise the title role in the production. The site also says, "Spielberg has been discussing a spectacular farewell to Indiana movie with Ford to going into production next spring." An unnamed "senior source" is quoted by the site regarding the project, saying, "Steven thinks Harrison is worth every cent. The film would bring a classic end to the series...The guest star list Steven has planned is amazing with Connery, his wife Kate Capshaw and Karen Allen who was in the first Jones movie."

Jensen Talks 'X-Men 2': Stunt coordinator Gary Jensen has been in talks to do such for the coming X-Men sequel. Gary Jensen, who handled that task for the first film, spoke to Empire Online regarding what he knew so far about the second film, saying, "We’re waiting to get a good script going at the moment. I can imagine there’ll be more fantasy, but also trying to make it look more real. I know that if Bryan [Singer] does it again he’ll want to do it very realistically." Jensen also added what he'd like to see as well as what he expect in the next film, saying, "My one daughter wanted to see Beast. He’s my favourite character, but all the characters are so great in their own little way. I would like to bring them all into it but I don’t know how you could make a movie that long...I know that when work starts on X-Men 2, there’ll be PLENTY of preparation because we’re going to try to surpass what was done before. It’ll be tough, but I’m looking forward to it. In the film business there’s nothing you can’t do, it just takes time and money."

Jensen Talks 'X-Men 2': Stunt coordinator Gary Jensen has been in talks to do such for the coming X-Men sequel. Gary Jensen, who handled that task for the first film, spoke to Empire Online regarding what he knew so far about the second film, saying, "We’re waiting to get a good script going at the moment. I can imagine there’ll be more fantasy, but also trying to make it look more real. I know that if Bryan [Singer] does it again he’ll want to do it very realistically." Jensen also added what he'd like to see as well as what he expect in the next film, saying, "My one daughter wanted to see Beast. He’s my favourite character, but all the characters are so great in their own little way. I would like to bring them all into it but I don’t know how you could make a movie that long...I know that when work starts on X-Men 2, there’ll be PLENTY of preparation because we’re going to try to surpass what was done before. It’ll be tough, but I’m looking forward to it. In the film business there’s nothing you can’t do, it just takes time and money."

February 12, 2000

Lucas Pushing?: Is George Lucas pushing ILM to surpass the level of special effects work we saw in Phantom Menace? Yes. In a new posting to the official Star Wars website's Lucasfilm Jedi Council, the question is directed towards Episode II's pre-visualization effects supervisor David Dozoretz as to if Lucas is pushing him or ILM in general for the coming film, or are they sticking to previously created techniques that they have mastered. Dozoretz answers, "We never 'stick' to any technique previously used, because we're always looking for better and faster ways to do things. But we did establish a lot of fantastic techniques and procedures for Episode I. I'd say that we're building on those techniques. "And without question, George is greatly pushing us and ILM to new levels. He really is amazing that way -- each time we think he can't push it any more, he raises the bar to a new level. It's exhilarating to work in that environment."

Gish Talks 'X-Files': Annabeth Gish is quite happy about joining the cast of The X-Files in a role that may become regular should the program go into a ninth season. While talking to Ian Spelling for his syndicated Inside Trek & Sci Fi column, Gish talks about getting the role of FBI agent Monica Reyes, saying, "I don't think you could be a citizen of this country and not at least know about The X-Files. I had watched the show for the first two or three seasons, even though I'm not much of a television watcher...So this was kind of a surprise when I heard about it, but it was a welcome one. The X-Files is obviously such a high-caliber show. I jumped at the chance." Regarding her role, Gish says, "Reyes has a bent for spirituality. In the context of a science-oriented show like The X-Files, I get to bring in spirit dialogue. It's wonderful for me, because it's a nice intersection of a professional interest and a personal interest. "I like to meditate. I'm very curious about religions. Being able to bring that into The X-Files is really exciting. "As far as the dialogue, though, I had to fire up some new brain synapses to get the technical jargon going." Gish' debut episode also features the return of David Duchovny. On that point, Gish says, "I didn't have scenes with him, per se." The February 25th episode won't be her sole appearance on the show this year, as Gish reveals, "I'll be doing four episodes this season. I'm in episodes 14, 17, 21 and 22, and if the show does in fact return next year, then I'll be back for more." Heading off any potential negative rumors, Gish also notes that her character was not created as a replacement for a potentially departing Gillian Anderson, saying, "And it has nothing to do with replacing Gillian. Chris even made a statement about that. It's just adding another color to the palette - Reyes is just another layer...It feels like a good fit."

'Star Trek X': Besides talking to Star Trek: The Magazine (via Voyager's Delights) about the coming fifth Star Trek TV series, Rick Berman also touched upon the developing Star Trek X movie. As far as the development side of the film, Berman says, "It's going extremely well. As to the whole process of rewrites and budgeting and the schedule, and Patrick Stewart's projects in the near future and the two strikes, as to when we're going to get started on it is up in the air. My guess would be, assuming that there is not an extended strike, that it will probably start shooting in the late summer or early fall." As for when the film might hit theaters, he says, "Release dates are things that the distribution and marketing people at Paramount go to great lengths to figure out. It has to do with the releases of other films and a lot of elements that I try to stay away from, so, will they hold it for fall 2002, Thanksgiving? it's possible. Will they release it earlier in 2002? - it'll probably be ready for that, assuming there's no lengthy strike. So it could be spring, summer, who knows." Berman also talks very positively about scribe John Logan, saying, "I've never had as delightful an experience. John's a wonderful writer, he is a very, very bright man, and he's also incredibly well versed with Star Trek. He knows far more about Star Trek than I do; every episode, of all four series, he's chapter-and-verse aware of. It's been a great experience working with him on this...We've been working on the first draft for the last month or two, and it's coming along beautifully I'm very, very happy with it."

Weisz Talks 'Mummy 2': Rachel Weisz is back for the coming The Mummy Returns and, briefly talking about her take on the production... and beyond. Regarding the addition of WWF wrestler Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) to the cast, Weisz revealed to the Calgary Sun that she had absolutely no contact with him, saying, "I did meet the makeup artist who met The Rock...That's as close as I got to him, but it must have been quite an experience to meet him in the flesh...People who did were still swooning months later." Regarding her participation in a possible third Mummy movie, Weisz says, "If there is, it will be without me...I loved doing The Mummy Returns because it was like a wonderful family reunion. And my character has really evolved, so it was also quite challenging. But twice is definitely enough."

'Hulk', Not 'T3': Ang Lee has revealed that he was offered the directing gig for the developing Terminator 3 movie...and that he turned it down for the Hulk movie. While talking to E! Online's Anderson Jones, Lee is said to have explained his reason for taking greenskin over the T3 citing "originality." Lee also told Jones that the Hulk movie project had "more depth, more feeling" than a third Terminator was likely to have.

'Hannibal' Sets Records: As expected, Hannibal took the weekend's box office top spot with a huge estimated $58M. In the process, the film set two records and came close to a third one. According to the trades, the film set a record for the biggest opening ever for an R-rated film, bumping last summer's Scary Movie, which at that time took in $42.3M. In addition, the film took the top spot as MGM's largest opening film, which had previously been held by The World is Not Enough, which took in $35.5M on its 1999 opening weekend. The other record that Hannibal sort of came close to was the largest opening of a film over a three day weekend. Hannibal now sits in second place after Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, which had an opening weekend of $64.8M. Meanwhile, all the other films in the theaters were dwarfed by the Hannibal take. Jennifer Lopez' The Wedding Planner stayed in the number two spot with considerably less money than the top spot holder with an additional $7.8M, followed by Saving Silverman with $7.4M. In addition, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon continues to stay strong and building on to its recently gained title of the most successful foreign language film ever on American screens with an additional $5.1M.

February 8, 2000

'Mummy Returns' Sooner: Universal Pictures is showing how much confidence they have in the coming The Mummy Returns by pushing the film's release date up. According to the trades, Universal has moved the film from its previous release date of May 11th to one week earlier on the 4th. This changes the dynamic of the release completely from being a sole release on a given weekend to going up against a number of other features hitting theaters on the 4th, including Crazy/Beautiful starring Kristen Dunst, the musical Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor and Miramax's long wrapped Texas Rangers. In addition, the only big picture scheduled to hit screens after Mummy Returns' release is DreamWorks' Shrek on May 18th as well as the likely true threat of Disney's Pearl Harbor on May 25th. While talking to Variety, Universal's distribution honcho Nikki Rocco spoke of taking on the other films that weekend, saying, "Mummy is a big gun, and when you're a big gun you choose your date and let others adjust to you." Rocco adds, "In 1999, the summer movie season really got its start the first weekend in May. So we've decided to launch this year's summer movie season that same weekend with The Mummy Returns. We've got the goods, and one more week of summer playing time will be a great bonus for us."

'Matrix' Training: Keanu Reeves has been talking about the training he must endure for the back-to-back Matrix sequels projects. While talking to Empire Online, Reeves spoke of the demands upon him and the rest of the cast, saying, "I'm there Monday through Friday from nine-thirty to five. Basically, you come in in the morning and work with the Hong Kong action team, the fight choreographers. You come in in the morning and you stretch for about an hour and a half. And then you kick, you go through a series of exercises that you do every day. And then after that you go into specialized training: every person gets another person to work with…and you go through whatever particular training you need for the fights. And then after that, generally, we do choreography, which is learning the fights, and then we do wire work."

'X-Men 2' Casting?: There's already been word of the X-Men 2 production ramping up production in in the latter part of 2001, but even more evidence seems to have turned up now. According to the casting website Castingyou.com, casting information for "X-Men II" is coming soon. (Thanks to Mark for the info!)

February 6, 2000

'Indiana Jones 4' Scribe?: It sounds like Unbreakable writer-director M. Night Shyamalan may have passed on writing Indiana Jones 4. But, it seems that Spielberg, Lucas and Ford may have their eye on another high profile scribe. Now, it hasn't officially been determined that Shyamalan has truly passed on the project, but a brief mention in the New York Times suggests that the Indy trio are once again seeking someone to write the fourth Indy movie. The paper reports that Traffic scribe Stephen Gaghan has been approached for the writing gig. Here's how the paper mentions it: "One day last week he had three things happen to him: Paramount Pictures gave approval for his next movie, Abandon, a thriller based on his own script, which he will also direct; he received a nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for his Traffic screenplay; and he received a call asking if he was interested in writing the screenplay for the next Indiana Jones movie." As the paper notes, and Variety confirms, Gaghan was been given the greenlight for his directing debut on Abandon, a suspense thriller starring Katie Holmes from Paramount. There's no word on when production will start.

'SW2' Toy Sneak Peeks: The official Star Wars website has posted some glimpses of the amazing facial work that will be a part of the Episode II licensed figures next year. During the coming 98th annual American International Toy Fair arrives in New York City, Hasbro and Lucas Licensing will be unveiling a number of very lifelike detailed busts made of Episode II characters.

Astin Talks 'Rings': Sean Astin is still in awe of his year long gig on the Lord of the Rings project. While talking to Popcorn, Astin spoke of the project, saying, "New Zealand is one of the last unspoiled splendours on the face of the Earth, so we were working in Middle Earth - with the green lush forests and the rolling hills and the fjords and the snow-capped [Southern] Alps...It was amazing, absolutely amazing...helicopting to the top of these mountains or working on an active volcano for six weeks - it was pretty spectacular." Astin also notes the he was most impressed by the films' scope, saying, "What Peter Jackson has tried to accomplish - and what he has accomplished - [is] on a scale that is so massive that it's staggering." He carefully adds, "I hope it lives up to the hype."

'Alien 5' Debunked: Recent word of a developing fifth Alien movie is, once again, not true. Recently, a UK tabloid reported that Sigourney Weaver had signed on to star in a fifth film, which would be written by Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon. Now, according to Variety columnist Michael Fleming, a spokesperson for Sigourney Weaver has shot down the story saying that, at this time, there is no fifth movie in the works and that the quotes from the actress came from an old press junket. Fox is also declaring the rumor false, according to many sources.

Richards: No 'Troopers 2': Though Denise Richards is open to doing a sequel to 1997's Starship Troopers, she really doubts one will ever happen. While talking to SCIFI.COM, Richards spoke of the chances of a sequel, saying, "I don't think they will. It's been so long. I don't think they will do it." Regarding Troopers helmer, Paul Verhoeven, she adds, "He's a good maniac. I hope one day I do another movie with him. I really admire him as a director. He's so passionate. And he is a wild madman when he wants something, and I admire that. He's great."

February 2, 2000

Jackson Talks 'Rings': The Lord of the Rings shoot has wrapped, but director Peter Jackson still has loads of work to do. Now, in an interview on E! Online's regular monthly Lord of the Rings reports, the helmer talks a bit about the project's challenges. Here are some of the points he touched upon: Bringing the books to film... "In the case of this film, I've got not just the screenplay to go on but Tolkien's books. They paint a very vivid picture of the characters and the environment they live in, which makes my job as a director much easier. I can shut my eyes and imagine the movie playing in my head, just as millions of readers around the world have shut their eyes and imagined all the events from the books playing like a movie. So, when you come to filming scenes, you feel you already know the characters, which gives you an incredible head start...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." The actors... "The one intangible thing I always get pleasantly surprised by is when the cast come on board and bring their own interpretations to their roles. It's always much better than what you could imagine...When you're planning and writing a script that has 20 major characters, you have to think of what each character is thinking at that time and what would motivate a line of dialogue. You've actually got to play the role of 20 people during that process. But when you film the scenes, you can let that go, because each of those 20 characters is in one person's hands. "It means I can come on set and Elijah [Wood], John [Rhys-Davies] or Viggo [Mortensen] comes up to me and says, "Well, look, I've been thinking about this, and I really think that at this point my character would be doing this or that." And I'll say, "Yeah, that's a great idea, I would never have thought of that." There's too much for me to think about, but they have a responsibility just for that one character. That level of input is incredibly valuable. "Viggo's performance seems to be one of the highlights of the film. All the cast are wonderful, but Viggo has embraced the character of Aragorn so thoroughly it's difficult to imagine the two being separate now. I'm not sure he even lives in a house anymore." The Ring... "I'm forever grappling to think of imaginative ways to show how evil the Ring is. And ultimately it can only ever be conveyed through shots of the Ring and shots of people and their faces and their eyes when they are encountering it. It's a challenge to make each character's encounter different. Some fall prey to the Ring a little faster than others. Music will be a huge factor here...[We've] almost given it a personality. Obviously, we have other villains--the Orcs, the Uruk-hai, Saruman, the Wargs, the Balrog--but all of them are secondary to Sauron, who is represented in the film, more than anything, by this tiny little ring." The Rating... "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."

groovywallpaper.com

Desktop at the Movies

The Babe Shack

Yoda World