July News

JULY 2K1

JULY 31: Knight Rider Feature: David Hasselhoff, aka Michael Knight, told the popcorn website that as of Friday the deal for the new feature had been made. He is planning to do it a little like the Matrix, who isn't. Hasselhoff has talked to William Daniels and got him to return as the voice of K.I.T.T. and... the late Edward Mulhare, who played Devin Miles, will be returning as a halogram. Hasselhoff credits much of this comeback to the fans in the UK.

JULY 31: Rush Hour 2, Not So Regal: Thanks to New Line's greed, Regal Cinema will not be premiering the new Rush Hour 2 sequel anytime soon. New Line Cinema has demanded a higher percentage of the box office receipts. Last minute negotiations can happen, but it is believed that Regal is sticking to its guns about this. Good for them.

JULY 31: Trek 10: Patrick Stewart told fans of the franchise at a convention in England, that they were hoping to start production on 'Star Trek: Nemesis' around October of this year.

JULY 31: Salem's Lot: TNT is planning a four-hour mini-series remake of Steven Kings 'Salem's Lot'. Scribe Peter Filardi (flatliners) will script the new mini-series while Mark Wolper will produce. His last gig was 'the Mists of Avalon'.

JULY 31: the Mask 2: The sequel is still being talked about a year since it was announced. Jim Carrey is unlikely to return since his asking fee is basically the entire films budget. This will likely end up being a direct to video picture, but could hit theatres as well. The script is being guarded, as if anyone cares, and the film still has no director or lead attached to it.

JULY 31: Timeline, Go: Micheal Crichton's novel 'Timeline' turned feature is nearly ready to begin production. Richard Donner will direct the film and Gerard Butler will star with two other leads who are being cast now. Butler has been onboard for a month or so now.

JULY 31: Spawn 2: The first draft of the sequel has been completed by writer Steve Niles. It is now in the hands of Todd McFarlane.

JULY 31: Tomlinson Images: I have uploaded a few photos of Katie Tomlinson, who will star in the upcoming Timothy Hines feature, 'War of the Worlds'. CLICK HERE for the Katie Image Page. And HERE for the War Main page

JULY 31: Jeremiah: Showtime will begin another Sci-Fi series on its pay per view network. Showtime has ordered 20 episodes of the MGM based series which will star 90210's Luck Perry. Perry will also executive produce the series as it begins airing next year and direct at least one episode. Based on the novel series by Belgian author Hermann Huppen, ``Jeremiah'' is set in a future post-apocalyptic world, where, almost a decade before, a virus wiped out the world's adult population sparing only those who hadn't reached puberty. Malcolm-Jamal Warner (the cosby show) will co-star in Jeremiah.

JULY 31: C.H.U.D. DVD: The new Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller DVD is out. C.H.U.D. for short. The quality of the DVD is outstanding. I enjoyed seeing the picture again, and the number of supporting actors early in their careers is a really neat thing too. Haven't seen it? It is worth it.

JULY 31: The Lost World: Well, the two weeks have passed and I again contacted reps at New Line Cinema for the series. Official word on the series will not be decided until this Thursday. The series still hunts for independent financing. There is a rumor that production is scheduled to begin August 13, but it still has to be finalized and appropriated to the series. More news on the series, as and if I get it.

JULY 31: Revenge For Bond: In a new rumor involving the new finished script Bond goes Bonkers with anger aimed on revenge. He finds out his parents were murders and his father had been an agent and... he had taken over his father's OO' number. We also learn that Q kept this information from James Bond and that his father may still be alive. It was written for Sean Connery to return as Bonds Father, but... with the relationship between Connery and the Brocolli family it is unlikely it will happen.

JULY 31: See Ya Doctor: Not Sci-Fi or action but a hell of a series. Another actor is leaving the hit series 'ER' after this season. This time it will be Eric LaSalle. The actor finishes up his 3 year $27M contract in May. La Salle is 39 years old, and ready to move on with his career in the directing/producing gig.

JULY 30: Tron 2.0: Writer/Director Steven Lisberger says he recorded over four hours of commentary for the upcoming Anniversary Edition DVD. And... the DVD will include the 30 second deleted love scene and a documentary that charting the creation of the film and other extras.

JULY 30: Matrix: Coming Soon is reporting that Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Luke Perry has scored a role in the upcoming sequels.

JULY 30: Bond 20: Another NON-American director has reached the top of the directing crop for the upcoming James Bond film. The spy feature is slated to begin shooting in early 2002. This will be Pierce Brosnan's fourth film. There is constant talk of replacing him, but the first three bond films have gross over $1,000,000,000 dollars worldwide.

JULY 30: X-Files is Lawless: Lucy Lawless has signed on to appear in the X-Files this season in a multi-episode story arc. She will appear in the first two episodes of the season and could return for more. X-Files premieres on Fox November 4th.

JULY 30: Aeon Flux Goes Live: The writer/director team of Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi have at least 3 sci-fi projects in work. One of them is a live action feature of 'Aeon Flux'. The other two films are 'Parasyte' based on Japanese anime and 'Gateway to the Gods'. This one is said to be a Ghostbusters like film where the Greek Gods come to life in New York and wreck havok. (thanks Joan)

JULY 30: Bugs: From Prey's Barry Caldwell and the writing directing team of Hay & Manfredi comes BUGS. It's a movie about fate and circumstance; about how everything you do affects everyone around you, making them do perhaps one little thing differently . . .this chain of events weaves it's way through the whole movie, breaking people up, bringing people together, getting people fired, killed, etc. It all starts with a little boy killing a bug. It's much what you call an 'art film'. It is jokingly called it "Magnolia, without a budget. (thanks Joan)

JULY 30: Apes #1: It was expected to happen. Only Jurassic Park 3 stood in its way from the top spot as Tim Burton's 'Planet of the Apes' drew a mere $69.6M for the three day weekend. JP3 was a distant second with $22.5M.

JULY 30: Jurassic Park 3: The twelve day total for JP3 since its opening is up to $124.8M. It's expected to finish up in the states with about $185M. It did have a 56% drop off, but that was due to the release of 'Apes', and not a problem with the picture itself. A fourth installment is extremely possible now.

JULY 30: Rush Hour 2: Planet of the Apes will have a small battle at the box office this coming weekend as the Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker film 'Rush Hour 2' speeds into theatres.

JULY 30: Lightsaber? Hey I own that!: The ever-vigilant Star Wars mastermind, who's fiercely protective of his movies and oversees all aspects of their marketing, is taking a medical-instruments maker to task for calling its newest gizmos, energy-beam-related surgical devices, "Light Sabers." In the suit, Lucasfilm claims Minrad's use of the Light Saber name would not only dilute the value of the trademark and potentially cost the filmmaker millions of dollars but could dupe consumers into thinking Lucas endorsed the gadgets. While we're guessing most parents aren't really going to go out and buy their kids a laser-guided scalpel, Lucasfilm is dead-set on deep-sixing the device. The company wants the court to issue a cease-and-desist order preventing Minrad's use of the Light Saber moniker. Hey, That's my term! So, he must own the words 'Falcon', 'Princess', 'blaster', 'deathstar' and so on. Oh... my... God!... He owns the English language. 'We're Doomed'.

JULY 30: Darksiders: Action sci-fi feature about an FBI special vampire ops. They don't seek out vampires - they ARE vampires. Spec sent to Graham and Rosenzweig to produce. Purchases by New Line. Actual production dates have yet to be decided. (Joan again, thanks)

JULY 30: Angel Casting: Amy Acker, who played the Librarian Fred, in the final episode will return this season as a new cast member. Angel rescued Fred from the Demon world at the conclusion of last season.

JULY 30: Free Willy, He Doesn't Like It: Keiko, the killer whale in the movie 'Free Willy' is reluctant to join any pods Iceland. His caretaker says Keiko enjoys human companionship and will likely remain in captivity for the rest of his life.

JULY 30: Agent Reyes not Gay: Producers for the X-Files have decided that Annabeth Gish's character, Agent Reyes, is not going to be gay after all. They had dropped hints during last season that she might be. It's just baggage they didn't want to deal with. They have more ideas they are excited about without adding this to the show.

JULY 30: Alias vs X-Files: In a stupid move ABC will premiere Alias on Sundays at 9pm, opposite of Fox's 'the X-Files'.

JULY 29: Dogstar: The Keannu Reeves band, 'DOGSTAR' performed a show at Sunset Station Casino here in Henderson, Nevada. You can't really tell now where Las Vegas ends and Henderson begins. Reeves must be taking some time between shoots to do a few gigs with the band. Tickets for the show, at the pool side arena (it is really nice) were $21.

JULY 29: Enterprise 13: Scott Backula told the New York Daily news that there are only 13 episodes of the new series ordered at this time. When asked about the longevity of being a starship captain Backula says, "If we get through the first 13 ordered episodes I'll be happy. If this works out hopefully this gif would be at least a two year job."

JULY 29: AOL & Microsoft Go to War: Microsoft and AOL are jockeying for prominent placement on the screens that first greet consumers when they turn on their computers in an effort to boost growth in their services. Computer makers are being drawn into the battle raging between rivals Microsoft Corp. and AOL Time Warner Inc. as both companies pitch deals to PC makers to gain prominent placement of their icons on computer screens. Microsoft's MSN Internet service provider, which says it has about 6.5 million subscribers, has gone on an aggressive mission to woo subscribers from market leader AOL, which has 30 million subscribers, after AOL raised the price of its unlimited Internet service to $23.90 from $21.95. "My concern is that we need to have a better understanding of these contractual relationships between AOL and manufacturers to see if they are unfairly leveraging their financial contributions to shape the operating system in a way that discriminates against potential competitors,'' said Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy, a Washington DC consumer advocacy group. Microsoft may be bad, But AOL SUCKS!

JULY 29: Shrek on XboX: In the first public showing of one exclusive Xbox title, Microsoft games evangelist Seamus Blackley played "Shrek'', a game based on the hit animated movie from DreamWorks studios. Microsoft said the Xbox is still on track for a November launch in North America, with an expected 4.5 million to 6 million units to ship through next June 30, the end of the company's 2002 fiscal year. Online gaming, which will be supported on the Xbox with a built-in fast Internet connection, was scheduled to be introduced in the first half of next year.

JULY 29: Silicon Graphic Cuts: The much overpriced computer manufacturer 'Silicon Graphics Inc.' will be cutting jobs from 6000 to 4500 in the near future. They did not meet their expectation on orders. Well, imagine that! All these companies with bullshit reports of EXPECTED earnings, and not meeting them. What a load of shit... Oh, hey everyone my company will make $2,000,000,000 this year... I swear, really, honest engine - rigggghhhht. Is it true? HP to cut another 6.5%, Qualcomm to cut jobs, JDS Uniphase losses $50B cuts 16000 jobs, Nortel Networks cuts jobs, VeriSign cuts jobs, Sapient warns of third quarter loss. The list is long but distinguished.

JULY 28: Dreamcast Price Drop: Sega has announced a price cut for whatever new Dreamcast units are left on the shelf. It also appears that Sega will be working with Nintendo to create games for the upcoming Nintendo Game Cube. Don't be surprised if Sonic the Hedgehog appears with Mario in an new game. Sega drops the Dreamcast prices to $79.99 with new titles releasing for $19.99. Sega has about 30 more games slated for this year and that will be about it. All of this begins on August 14th. Around Christmas you can expect the Dreamcast to drop down to $49.99. Oh yeah, buy your kid a video game unit that Sega is no longer going to support. Nice gift Grandma!

JULY 28: Pirate Copies: Pirated copies of 'American Pie 2' are making their rounds on the internet already before the films release. If your trading these videos in the newgroups, don't be stupid enough to post that you have it. Big Brother is watching.

JULY 28: From Seven to District: Ex-Seven Days star Jonathan LaPaglia wasn't un-employed very long as he has signed to come aboard second year, Washington based series 'the District'. LaPaglia will play an East Coast cop partnered with Temple Page (played by Sean Patrick Thomas)

JULY 28: News Corp Owns Chris Craft: The FCC has approved News Corps purchase of Chris-Craft Industries. News Corp., which owns the Fox network and 23 stations, proposed acquiring Chris-Craft, the owner of 10 stations, almost a year ago for about $5.35 billion. The company expects to close the transaction within a week.

JULY 27: Tomlinson Interview Posted: I have posted the interview with Katie Tomlinson in the War of the Worlds section of the site. CLICK HERE for the War of the Worlds section. Click on the interview link... CLICK HERE to go directly to the interview... She's young, beautiful and excited about her first big project. She tells fans about her work on the picture, and what she has going for the future.

JULY 27: Iron Fist: In an official press release the director of 'the Big Hit', Kirk Wong will helm the Marvel project. John Turman (buck rogers) penned the script that Wong will use for the film. Production is slated to begin near the end of this year or early 2002.

JULY 27: Blade 2: Bloodhunt: New Line Cinema is expecting to release the Blade sequel on March 22, 2002.

JULY 27: Tremors 3: The direct to video feature has cast and crew bios up at the website Stampede Entertainment.

JULY 27: Freedom A No-Show: Got an email today concerning UPN"s Freedom. Looks like the summer will not find UPN airing the missing episodes from 'Freedom' and 'Level Nine'. The UPN cancelled series will simply fade into the sunset with unaired episodes. Shit! However the R.M.A. website will be posting images for the unaired episodes, which were shown in Brazil.

JULY 27: Baywatch Send-off: The syndicated juggernaut Baywatch may be returning in a two-hour telefilm. David Hasselhoff is rumored to be reuniting the old 'Baywatch' cast in what will be an official send off for the series which give the characters a proper signing off. Actors from the old show have been offered the chance to return. (dark horizons)

JULY 27: Rollerball Update: Marketing problems weren't the only reason for Rollerball being pushed back til early 2002. MGM may have done so that the film can be re-cut to earn a PG-13 rating over the gory R it received. Plus the film did poorly with test audiences.

JULY 27: Submariner: Coming Soon is reporting that Daniel Day Lewis is interested in the upcoming role of 'Submariner'. However, no casting, scripting, director or production dates have been announced.

JULY 27: Rambo IV: Looks like Stallone isn't keen on Seagal taking on the role he made famous. Sly is apparently ready to do a fourth film. Miramax's Bob Weistein says a fourth film in the series will be re-scripted this summer. The budget is expected to be around $50M. The script is likely to involve Rambo going after drug dealers in an American government building. (IMDb)

JULY 27: New Tron DVD: A twentieth anniversary DVD is scheduled for the original Disney picture, TRON. It is scheduled to hit shelves January 15, 2002 and will have deleted scenes and commentary. Also scheduled are a new Video game to go with the new feature in development. The script is currently on its third rewrite.

JULY 27: Starsky & Hutch: On Regis a few days ago Vince Vaughn mentioned that he and Ben Stiller may be doing a feature film based on the TV series 'Starsky & Hutch'. I hope this is an action flick and not some stupid comedy film.

JULY 27: Riker Moves On: In the upcoming Star Trek 10 film, Commander William T. Riker will be finally accepting his own command as Captain of the U.S.S. Titan and new Wife Deanna Troi will join him. Dr. Crusher moves to Starfleet. Worf and Geordi will remain on the Enterprise with the aging Picard.

JULY 27: Enterprise: Beside have Lavar Burton directing a few episodes, Voyagers Robert Duncan McNeil (tom paris) will be directing a few episodes himself this upcoming season.

JULY 27: Witchblade: TNT will be airing the entire limited edition series on August 26th from noon til 11pm. Good time to record the entire series if you missed it.

JULY 26: Tomlinson Interview: I interviewed Ms. Katie Tomlinson over the phone yesterday and a representative from War of the Worlds will be sending along some more photos of the actress. Ms. Tomlinson's character will have more screen time than any other character, as she plays a foreign correspondent who is strong will yet vulnerable. At one point in the story she will have to walk through a sea of dead bodies to save her life. Some of her scenes are depicted in the storyboards in the War of the Worlds section.

JULY 26: Wahlberg Signed: Hollywood One on One has reported that 'Planet of the Apes' star Mark Wahlberg is signed for the sequel. So whether or not Burton is onboard as Wahlberg told the Sci-Fi Channel the actor will be.

JULY 26: Shaq T: Lakers star Shaquille O'neal told Access Hollywood that he has been approached for a role in the upcoming Terminator 3 feature. Shaq says he has the script to T3 at home. Man I hope this guy is not going to be part of Terminator 3.

JULY 26: No Diesel in T3: Dark Horizons is reporting that Vin Diesel has NOT been approached about the Terminator 3 role yet, despite rumors (that it help start) that he is onboard. Dark Horizons was one of the sites reporting he was onboard. Hey, it's all about rumor.

JULY 26: Hulk Re-write: David Hayter's script for the Hulk wasn't quite good enough, so Ang Lee's production partner James Shamus is working on the script using Hayter's finished draft as an outline. Lee wants more psychological elements and themes added and that's what James is injecting into the script.

JULY 26: Mutant X Ready: The new marvel comics series is set to premiere in syndication the week of Oct. 1st. The series has been sold to 93% of the country so far, which includes 95 of the top 100 markets. Mutant X will run in 146 markets. Mutant X tells the story of mutants with superhuman abilities who have been bred by the government and are now the subject of a massive manhunt. According to Tribune's official description of the show, Mutant X is a core group of powerful mutants led by the brilliant and mysterious multimillionaire Adam (John Shea), who strive to help other new mutants master their abilities and protect them from those who would harm them. The Genetic Security Agency, meanwhile, is the secret intelligence service under the command of Mason Eckhart (Tom McCamus), whose mandate is to keep the existence of these anomalies and the research that produced them hidden from the public. (scifi wire)

JULY 26: the Punisher: Kevin Feige, of Marvel Studios, has told the comics continuum that the Punisher script is complete and they are very happy with it. The Punisher and Iron Fist are likely to be the next two projects to go out from their Artisan deal. Both projects are still in negotiations for someone to helm the projects.

JULY 25: Apes II: Mark Wahlberg has told the Sci-Fi Wire that he would love to do a sequel to 'Planet of the Apes', but only if Burton was attached. Right. Apes opens in theatres July 27th.

JULY 25: No Fear: Daredevil, the Man With No Fear, looks like it could begin production sometime this year. The script is being written by Mark Steven Johnson. As for who will star... the job is wide open. Names being thrown around include, Edward Norton, Guy Pearce, and Matt Damon. This feature has hardly been talked about virtually coming out of development hell to the fast track. The Daredevil script is much more character driven then other comic films have been.

JULY 25: Hatching Galactica: Richard Hatch, who played Apollo in the 70's series, is ready to be part of the new series being done by the team that brought you 'the X-Men'. Only they haven't asked him yet, though many of the original cast members have been talked to. For some reason Hatch continues to push his version, 'the Second Coming', as a series. There is really no way two Galactica series are going to be greenlighted. Especially when both series would involve original cast members and a new talent of young people.

JULY 25: Enterprise Script Submissions: The long standing policy of accepting script submissions from fans has been suspended indefinitely for the new series 'Enterprise'. Legal reasons have forced Paramount to curtail the unique policy which got trek writers 'Ron Moore' and 'Mike Sussman' their start with the franchise. (section 31)

JULY 25: No Star Wars, Thank You: Tricon Global Restuarants, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, has learned its lesson and has said they are NOT interested in sponsoring next years 'Star Wars: Episode II'. They did sponsor a huge campaign for Episode One and lost their ass on the deal.

JULY 25: Cadillac Reloaded: Cadillac is providing Matrix Reloaded with some prototype vehicles. One of the vehicles, a CTS Sedan, doesn't go into production until later this year and the public gets the vehicle in 2002. Also being used with be a new Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle.

JULY 25: Wolf Lake: CBS has announced a September 12th release date for the premiere of the Lou Diamond Phillips series 'Wolf Lake'.

JULY 25: Frakes Out: Doesn't look like Jonathan Frakes will get a chance to helm the latest and last Trek film using the Next Generation cast. According to Variety magazine Laura Croft Producer, Stuart Baird has been signed to direct Star Trek X.

JULY 24: Wolf Lake: Mia Kirshner has joined the cast of the already troubled CBS series 'Wolf Lake'. Lou Diamond Phillips stars in the new series about a small town which can morph into wolves. Phillips character will now be a law officer rather than government official. Wolf Lake will air Wednesday at 10pm in the fall. Wednesday should be great as you can watch 'Enterprise', 'Special Unit 2', and 'Wolf Lake'.

JULY 24: the Dead Zone: The UPN series starring 'Anthony Michael Hall', is still on the networks spring schedule. A UPN representative denied reports from the Sci-Fi Wire that the show was now in limbo. The pilot movie was the best rated genre pilot ever for UPN during test audience showings.

JULY 24: Time Machine: Simon Wells is back on the project and taken over post-production and editing of the film and will receive sole directorial credit. Stan Winston worked on the film creating the Morlocks.

JULY 24: Fathom Goes Live: The Fathom comic book was originally being developed as an animated feature will now be a live action film. The feature film is being developed at 20th Century Fox and as yet has no producer attached.

JULY 24: Teen Titans: The DC comic book 'Teen Titans' looks headed to the big screen under the banner 'Akiva Goldman's Weed Road Pictures'. There is no word on which characters will be in the film, but it looks unlikely that Robin/Nightwing would be included since his attachment to the 'Batman' franchise.

JULY 24: Final Destination 2: The new film sequel now has a director in David Ellis. Ellis recently finished up second director duties on Matrix Reloaded. He has worked as second unit director on 34 films and provided stunt work on 52 films. This will be his directorial debut.

JULY 23: Goonies 2: Richard Donner has stated now that everyone is coming back for the sequel. And of course we will see a set of new young actors mixing with the original stars. 'Goonies never say die!'

JULY 23: Andromeda Long Term: Series creator Robert Hewitt Wolfe told fans at the San Diego Con that Tribune Entertainment has guaranteed 'Andromeda' for at least a five year fun. Wolfe told fans it hasn't been officially announced by Tribune but he was announcing it here.

JULY 23: Chronicle Scares up Ratings: The Sci-Fi Channel original series 'the Chronicle' debuted in the Saturday 9pm timeslot, and scored the channel's highest rating ever for that slot. The limited edition series earned a 1.6 rating.

JULY 23: Samurai Jack: Powerpuff Girls creator Genndy Tartakovsky told the Sci-Fi Wire that his latest animated series 'Samurai Jack' will differ from his earlier works. "It combines a lot of familiar elements--SF, action, mythology--into one unique and, hopefully, very entertaining show. Says the Tart'... "The series, which the Cartoon Network will debut on Aug. 10 with a 90-minute premiere movie, follows the adventures of Samurai Jack (voiced by Futurama's Phil La Marr), a warrior determined to find a time portal that will take him back home after an evil shape-shifting wizard named Aku (voiced by Mako) sends him deep into the future. As he struggles to find the portal, Jack will encounter assorted aliens and robots, not to mention Aku himself, all of whom he'll fight tooth, nail and sword. New episodes of Samurai Jack will air Mondays at 7 p.m. ET, beginning Aug. 13. The Cartoon Network has committed to three 13-episode seasons of Samurai Jack.

JULY 23: Farscape Feature?: Series creator Rockne S. O'Bannon is still talking about taking his series to the big screen. Says O'Bannon, "It's an issue of where to fit it in the production. Do we do it during the FARSCAPE hiatus?" However scheduling is not the only obstacle standing in the way of a potential FARSCAPE feature. The question of where to place the film within the series' continuity also poses a challenge. "Creating a movie based on a television series that's still on the air is really tough to do because where do you put it?" asks O'Bannon. Regardless, O�Bannon assures that the odds of the series eventually hitting the big screen are relatively high: "The bets are that it�ll happen once the series has wrapped." (cinescape online)

JULY 23: X-Men 2: In the next film fans will find out more about Wolverine, declares directing Bryan Singer. The story idea has been mapped out and the script is being written from that.

JULY 23: Another Beetle Gone: George Harrison has admitted that he expects to die soon from the cancer he has been battling for a while now.

JULY 23: Alias is commercial Free: The new ABC series, not getting good press of late on AICN, is planning to air its first episode commercial free on September 30. The lone sponsor of the episode will be Nokia. Rather than commercials is likely to be product placement throughout the episode. If that is the way they go with it, it is said to be very organic. (background stuff).

JULY 23: Jurassic Park Scores: Universal's Jurassic Park III has grossed $50.3M over the three days week and $80M for the first five days of its opening. Impressive as hell... Jurrasic Park make $50.2M in its debut, while Jurassic Park II grossed $72.1M in its opening. JP3 was done with a budget of about $90M.

JULY 23: Fox Family Final: Disney is expect to announce the purchase of the 'Fox Family Worldwide' for an estimated whopping $5.3B.

JULY 23: The Kingdom: Stephen King is making his debut his new weekly series, 'the Kingdom', for the fall 2002/2003 season. The series will begin with a two-hour premiere and then 13 one-hour installments. The new series will air on ABC television. The new show will include "shocking and frightening tales'' centered on a haunted hospital built over an ancient graveyard. This has been a passion of Kings for a while and he will write the two-hour premiere as well as possibly the entire 13 episodes. The actual direction of the show beyond the pilot has yet to be determined.

JULY 23: Travolting Money: When Travolta was nearly down and out in Hollywood, the actor made the film, 'Look Who's Talking' in Vancouver Canada. The picture went on the make $450M world wide. The film did little to boost Travolta's dying image, which was revived in 'Pulp Fiction' years later. However that one movie did something special for his bank account. Through his profit sharing agreement to do the film John Travolta did make a cool $150M in cash. The actor has now become a household name again and recently starred in Swordfish with Hugh Jackman and Halle, look at my breasts, Berry. The film was a success. The actor plans to act into his 80's, he loves acting so much. Picture him returning to television in his sixties as a school teacher with a new group of... sweathogs.

JULY 22: Goonies 2, A Go: Movie Hole is reporting that Richard Donner has confirmed that Goonies 2 is a go. Currently two writers are humming a way on the script, and if it's good production could begin within six months to a year.

JULY 22: Highlander 5: Seems like that is how many sequels of the original 'Highlander' there have been. It must be due to the horribility of the sequels compared to the first film. And yet comes word that a fifth Highlander feature is being talked about. Miramax has contacted William Panzer and Peter Davis about coming up with a fifth idea. Panzer would like to make a more... Raiders of the Lost Ark type adventure feeling out of it. No more please! (scifi matrix)

JULY 22: Alien Agent: This new movie was mentioned a few months back, but now has a director. Producer Maurice Smith went out and hired himself director Roger Christian who did 'Battlefield Earth'. The Dolph Lundgren picture will be shot on location in Nova Scotia, Canada. Smith is planning to shot many features there.

JULY 22: No More Monkeying Around: Planet of the Apes is taking it down to the wire with the digital effects, scoring and last minute re-shoots. They were already going to be down to the wire before the delays that have put them four days behind schedule. This delay has caused some idiots to already roast the film without even seeing anything. The previews have been incredible like they were for Jurassic Park III.

JULY 22: Katie Tomlinson: I got an email from some fans wanting to see more images of War of the Worlds actress Katie Tomlinson. I forwarded the request to Mr. Hines and well... I should have some images coming in soon from a Timothy Hines representative.

JULY 21: Universal on Demand: Universal Pictures has signed a deal with 'In Demand' for 'Video on Demand'. The are the first studio to sign with a pay-per-view cable service. Movies-on-demand services enable cable subscribers to see movies when they want with the click of a remote control. Hollywood studios have been reluctant to license the rights of their movies to cable companies amid fears it will alienate video store owners such as Blockbuster Inc., which comprise a big portion of their revenues. According to the Los Angeles Times, citing sources close to the negotiations, Universal has agreed to release its movies to In Demand for video-on-demand services 45 to 60 days after their availability for rental.

JULY 21: Disney to Buy Fox: The Walt Disney Co. is expected to buy the Fox Family Worldwide Inc., a set of children's cable channels, for a mere $3.3B from Rupert Murdoch's New Corp Ltd. As part of the deal, Disney will assume a $2B debt and this would generate positive cash for Murdoch, who is after a Direct TV.

JULY 21: Lowe is Bonding: In a recent Post poll fans had a chance to vote for who would be the best new Bond, James Bond. In a surprising vote tally, the winner was West Wing's 'Rob Lowe'. During an interview with Pat O'Brien Lowe was shown the results of the poll and was surprised. Rob Lowe said he would welcome the opportunity to play James Bond. And when you take a moment to think about it... Lowe would be an excellent fit the shoes of Pierce Brosnan after this next feature, with or without the accent. No one associated with the franchise has ever mentioned Lowe as even a remote possibility for the role.

JULY 21: A Ring Job: Partridge Family star David Cassidy (mirror master in the Flash) was given a Cassidy Family crest ring by his late father, Jack Cassidy - who also gave rings to his other sons and his brother. Suddenly they find out that the late Jack Cassidy's ring is missing and so is Patrick Cassidy's ring. A website has been opened devoted to the mystery, as the family is desperate to have locate the rings. Click Here for the website.

JULY 21: A.I. Killer Words: Spielberg's epic 'A.I.' was predicted to earn a mere $250M at the box office before its release. However, poor word of mouth has killed the picture at the box office. The $100M movie will be lucky to finish up with $80M. The picture is likely to break $90M in Japan. Rather than spend $6 for an early show and $10+ for a night show on what might be a mediocre movie, fans would rather wait for the DVD release. This years biggest bombs have been 'Tomb Raider', 'A.I.' and 'Pearl Harbor'. Pearl Harbor, I thought was an excellent film.

JULY 20: T3 Effects: the Dark Horizons website is reporting that Stan Winston believes he will be involved in the upcoming Terminator 3 film. But the picture is still in the early stages and the final script has yet to be locked in.

JULY 20: Roswell: Katherine Heigle's character Isabel will be making some exterior changes this third season on UPN. Isabel will cut her blonde hair and dye it brown, and her character will get a love interest which may lead to marriage. Isabel will develop from the total serious side to one that has a flirty, fun loving, and joyous side too. Roswell premieres on the UPN with season three airing on Oct. 16.

JULY 20: Backula To Direct?: Scott Backula, Captain Archer of the new Enterprise series, says he would like to write and direct a few episodes of the series once the series gets on its feet. This is nothing new considering the number of Trek actors who have gotten into the directing side of the franchise.

JULY 20: Ghost World Showing: Select genre fans attending the San Diego Comic Con got to view a sneak preview of 'Ghosts of Mars' from John Carpenter last night. The film opens at select theatres today and expands to more on August 3 before going into a full release. (cinescape)

JULY 20: Dark Angel Problems: Everyone involved with the series realizes that Dark Angel must see a raise ratings by one or two points this second season to see a third. One problem is that Dark Angel owns the 18 to 24 demographic and has relocated its timeslot from the Tuesday at 9pm slot to a Friday night at 8pm slot. Friday is the largest underwatched night on television, especially by the younger 18 -24 watchers. This season with co-creator Charles Eglee more comfortable with the genre, Cameron is planning to push the envelope and make it more of a science fiction show. Dark Angel season two premieres on Fox, Friday at 8pm, on Sept. 21.

JULY 20: Old Sci-Fi Costs To High: Many are asking why the sci-fi channel isn't showing all the old sci-fi series mixed with the new material they have. Well, Bonnie Hammer of the Sci-Fi Channel says "every old series can't be The Twilight Zone. There just aren't that many good ones out there. And some of them are far too expensive for us.'' This may be why we haven't seen some series like 'Werewolf' and 'Nowhere Man' on the network and so many of the rights to shows they dropped the rights to. Shows no longer available on the sci-fi channel that are fan favorites which include, 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Buck Rogers', 'War of the Worlds', 'Logan's Run' and many others are gone.

JULY 20: Witchblade: Renewal news is due out within the next month on the TNT series, 'Witchblade'. Ratings started strong, and have continued to decline each week.

JULY 20: Tracker Flyer: See the flyer that was used at a recent convention to promote the new television series coming to syndication this fall. Tracker stars Adrian Paul and Amy Price Francis. Click Here for full flyer.

JULY 20: Janssen Out: X-men co-star Famke Janssen has left the Men In Black 2 project due to an... illness in the family, after just one day of filming. She was to play the lead villain in the film. Lara Flynn Boyle has already signed on to replace him. She will now play the evil alien bombshell, Serleena. (cinescape online)

JULY 20: Li Chan: Revolution Studios has signed Jet Li and Jackie Chan to star together in an upcoming film that is to begin production in the fall of 2002. The title has yet to be decided. The script will be penned by scribe Robert Mark Kamen. Chan has four films in work, and Li one. (variety columnist Michael Fleming)

JULY 20: Rambo 4: Stallone has sworn off the Rambo thing claiming he's just to old to do them anymore. Miramax is considering bringing in old guy 'Steven Seagal' to take over the Franchise. (dark horizons)

JULY 20: Jurassic Park 3: I decided to take in JP3 today. It started horrible having to sit through four commercials, one being a just terrible Pepsi video with Brittany Spears. Six previews later I was presented with a wonderful feature film. Jurassic Park 3 was easy on the basic story and packed with adventure. Having Sam Neil back was great! Laura Dern had a very small roll, but Tea Leoni and William H. Macy carried off their roles splendidly. Winston's work on the dino's for this film were incredible as well. What can I say... See this film over the weekend. This movie is nothing more than advertised. Nothing but true entertainment value to the extreme. I think you and the entire family will like this film. The first day, Wednesday, gross for JP3 was an impressive $19M. See it, see it, see it. Those trying to give it bad reviews obviously didn't see the film I watched.

JULY 20: USA Fabulous: The USA Network will pay more than $20M for the network broadcast rights in 2004 for the sleeper hit Vin Diesel feature, the Deal for Fast and the Furious allows USA multiple runs of the movie for five years. With the package they also get the rights to direct to video features Beethoven 4 and the Jim Belushi feature 'K-9 P.I.'

JULY 20: Mummy Rights: It was expected that Turner cable networks would have wrapped up the broadcast rights to the Mummy Returns from Universal. But it hasn't happened just yet and now reports are that other networks have now joined the bidding to its rights.

JULY 19: Lost World Status: I spoke with a representative at New Line Cinema for 'the Lost World'. The series is NOT currently in production as another site has posted. Lost World is in the stand-by mode and hunting for U.S. Funding. They do have things in the works but nothing that is very positive at this time. New Line is expecting a final decision within the next two weeks.

JULY 19: War of the Worlds: Got an email from director Timothy Hines that included his latest press release. You can CLICK HERE to locate the latest press release. If you just want the short of it... Katie Tomlinson (the fugitive series) has been hired for a major female in the feature beating out over 900 other actresses. Casting and negotiations continue for the other roles. Rather than just use in-house SFX from Magic Dragon Effects, Hines has decided to go with Foundation Effects for a major part of the films effects. Hines has decided to use miniatures in lieu of CGI with many of the shots.

JULY 19: Tracker Update: I found a great email in my basket from Grant Rosenberg, co-executive producer, of the new series 'Tracker'. The series official website is under construction at http://www.trackertv.com . They have also cast the female co-lead to Adrian Paul. She is non other than, Amy Price Francis. More to come soon.

JULY 19: Diesel is Terminated: AICN is confirming that Vin Diesel is onboard as the vicious new terminator that will face the T800 Arnie. He says the script is awesome and he gets to play the bad ass.

JULY 19: Trek X Spoilers: As suspected the evil Romulan clone, Commander Shinzon, is the clone of Jean Luc Picard. (but looks like Sean Connery). So we get a Picard clone in Trek X and... we get a mental slow Data prototype, K9, robot created by Soong who (who looks like Data). And... Data dies saving the Enterprise, kinda he does but with his engrams in the less advanced model. Is he Data? (section 31)

JULY 19: Dark Angel Changes: James Cameron and Charles Eglee have decided the series needs some changes in season 2. The series is going Bio-punk with a host of new genetically altered characters called 'Trans-humans'. While doing this they will try to stay true to the series ideas. Nana Visitor will return from the first season too. Dark Angels new season begins Sept 21st on Fox. For those of you who enjoyed the series as it was have to understand that the ratings for most of the series were on the low end of the 6's. A rating that won't work for the cost per episode. Ratings must be better for a third season.

JULY 19: The Last Warrior: There is now a Sci-Fi Novel online for your reading pleasure. 'The Last Warrior' by your truly and father. The first five chapters are available for download. A decimated Earth, Strip Mining, War, and an alien race who wants the few remaining humans. The Last Warrior will do what he can to protect the human race, and Earth. CLICK HERE for the Warrior Page. It isn't very often you can get a novel online for free.

JULY 19: Dark Angel Feature?: James Cameron believes Dark Angel would translate well onto the big screen. Says Cameron... "If we have continued success with the series, I think there is a good possibility we might want to make a film from it, absolutely. I think we've got to see where the series goes. If we grow our fan base and stay at least where we are and/or grow from where we are, I'd think, yeah, that'd be a very good possibility." (scifi wire)

JULY 19: Super Crossovers: Series co-creator Alfred Gohge wants young superman to get some crossovers from other DC Comic Superheroes and possibly some Matrix style wirework if the series get beyond its 13 episode commitment. However, don't ever expect to see the young Superman fly. Leap a quarter of mile maybe in a single bound, but no putting the arms in front of his face and fly into the night.

JULY 19: Buffy Cross-Over: the Frog may be really pissed off about Buffy heading over to UPN and refuses to allow cross-overs with Angel, which is still on the WB. However UPN Prez Dean Valentine has no problem with the Buffy/Angel cross-overs. Says Valentine... "We are totally okay with it. If it's something that Joss wants to do, we certainly have no problem with it. We think whatever is right for the show and for the audience, above all, which has come to look at these shows, in some way, as joined. We don't want the audience to feel cheated or that the competitiveness between the WB or UPN is standing in the way of their right to their show. It's clearly going to depend on the WB, not on us. We won't stand in the way of it."

JULY 19: Episode 2 Release: Star Wars Episode 2 will not be released globally on the same date like 'Lord of the Rings' will. Apparently it is just way to hard. For episode one, France had to wait nearly five months to see the disappointing film.

JULY 17: Enterprise Tour: Sci-Fi Wire got a tour of the new Enterpise series sets and the following information is from scifi.com

The bridge is narrower and deeper than previous starship incarnations, with steel pipe railings, corrugated steel floors and tan metal walls covered with instrument display panels and contemporary-looking track lighting overhead. The captain's chair resembles the driver's seat of a Porsche, with computer-screen readouts in the arms. Work stations feature flat-panel "plasma screen" computer displays and readouts, keypads, knobs and levers. The helm features an actual steering wheel and joystick control; the science station features a viewport similar to that used by Spock on the original series. At the rear of the bridge is the "situation room"--a flat computer-screen table with black leather bucket-seat chairs, where strategic meetings are held.

Corridors of the ship have pipes running overhead and light panels in the walls at floor level; doors open mechanically and are set into step-over hatches, as in a modern warship or submarine. The floors are textured metal, not carpet; the overall feel is that of a large naval vessel of the future.

The engine room, surrounded at mid-level by catwalks, houses the warp engine, a horizontal cylinder with pulsing lights that suggests a huge turbine. The armory resembles the torpedo room in a submarine; ranks of huge metal projectiles, or missiles, line the walls and sit in two cradles. To launch the missiles, which are the predecessors of photon torpedoes, crewmen must open a hatch and slide the missile into a launch tube. Enterprise launches Sept. 26. Directly from the Sci-Fi Wire.

JULY 17: Special Unit 2: The Enterprise series cohort on Wednesday's will premiere Oct 3 at 9pm with a one hour episode.

JULY 17: Carter for Two More: Chris Carter has inked a deal with Fox that would keep him on board the X-Files for this 8th season and a 9th should it happen. This season is suppose to help set it up if Anderson doesn't hang around for the X-Files to star Patrick, and Gish along with other new actors.

JULY 17: Mummy Worth $200M: The Mummy Returns has broken the $200M mark in the U.S. It was also the first film this year to break the $200M mark overseas. $400M... Excellent! It was a great sequel.

JULY 17: X-Files 4: Season 4 of the X-Files will hit streets on November 13th with an SRP of $112.48.

JULY 17: Buffy & Roswell Dates: Buffy opens on October 9th with a two-hour telefilm which will have Buffy resurrected from the grave. Roswell will premiere on Oct 16 in its regular 9pm slot, after Buffy.

JULY 17: Justice League: The animated 90 minute pilot titled 'Secret Origins' will air as expected on November 17, but the series will settle into its 30 min. time slot on Monday, Nov. 19 at 8:30pm. Fans who missed the episode or want to see it again can catch Mondays episode the following Friday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 8:30pm. (comics continuum)

JULY 17: Buffy Excited: Sarah Michelle Gellar is excited and nervous with her series moving from the WB to UPN this coming season. For UPN is a been a boon. Picking up Buffy and Roswell help UPN bring in companies like the Gap, and Maybelline. The overall audience for UPN should compete or put the network above the WB with Buffy, Roswell, Special Unit 2 and most anticipated series this fall, 'Enterprise'.

JULY 17: Mutant X: The new series which has been at war with Fox over X-Men similarity appears to have an official air date in October. The new series will be syndicated, so you'll need to check your local listings for the official air dates in your area. (mutant x official site)

JULY 17: Robocop PD Pt1: I watched the first part of the mini-series last night. I enjoyed the first movie, which is said to be less violent than the other three films. A storyline and character set up for the final six hours. However, the Sci-Fi Channel screwed up the audio during the broadcast just like the did with the premiere of 'Dune'. The sound was horrible. And... of course being on the SFC meant that the movie was FLOODED with commercial breaks. I wonder just many minutes were cut to make room for them. As for the movie, I did catch some shots from the series used for Robocop's flashbacks. For a telefilm, I enjoyed it. Robocop going postal on the Skull was incredible.

JULY 17: Ninja Turtles: With Kevin Eastman buying out Peter Laird's interest in the Turtles his old partner would not be participating creatively in any of the future turtle projects. Also noted by Eastman is that the female turtle, Venus DeMilo, will never ever appear in the franchise again. Only, and only if history of the turtle project was to come about and she had to be mentioned. Shredder of course will be back, along with April and Casey. As for the TV CGI project in work none of the original voices are planned. He is thinking of bringing in some fresh voices for the series. I hope his ideas and writing is better than the trash 'Heavy Metal 2000' that Eastman dumped on fans last year. It was horrible.

JULY 17: Protected CD's: Consumers are buying music CD's which cannot be recorded by computer to a buyers favorite portable media. The CD's give no warning or notice. Is this the next media on tap for Video? Is it fair to the public? The product that does it is from Macrovision Inc. The software they are using is called 'SafeAudio'. Macrovision

JULY 17: Earthlink Fucks Customers too: Earthlink has raised its month dues from $19.99 per month to $21.99 as of July for new customers and in August for current residence. Gee what great guys. Wouldn't you rather pay $40 per month for access ten times or more faster than a 56K (or less) hook-up for $22. No dialing in and your on line all the time. A simple program like 'BlackIce Defender' is a wonderful firewall for cable or DSL modems. Go cable!!! Fuck AOL and Earthlink!

JULY 17: World Chronicle: Did you catch the Sci-Fi Channel's 'the Chronicle'? I found it extremely likable. Near the same side as 'Special Unit 2' on UPN. Even with the reduced budget for the SFC to pick it up, the series is extremely well done. Photography for the series reminds me of the style used with 'the Invisible Man'. I will watch further episodes to see how it goes.

JULY 17: Sci-Fi 2000 Fonts Change: The A-Z area of the Sci-Fi Fonts area has been changed. I received a few emails from users having trouble getting the alpha links to show up. The frames have been changed with links on top and bottom of the site in order to give visitors access to all the links. Enjoy.

JULY 16: Time Machine Trouble: Anyone remember all the directors working on the flop 'Supernova'? Dreamworks may have the same type trouble with the Time Machine since Simon Wells departed the project and much of the filming had to be redone. Making the expected Christmas Day release seems unlikely. What is worse is... with all these major problems will the film be worth pay to see regardless of when it's released. Looks like studios should be wary of any director named Simon.

JULY 16: Jurassic Rights: Will there be a fourth or fifth film for the Jurassic franchise. How the new film does will tell, but Universal has the rights for 3 more Jurassic films.

JULY 16: JP4?: If it happens Joe Johnston says it will not be on the island and it doesn't look like there is much chance of Sam Neil's character returning.

JULY 16: Batman Beyond?: Been wondering what's up with this one since Warner decided if it happens Batman Year One would get the greenlight? Well, This live action feature was to be directed by Boaz Yakin. According to him Warner Brothers has a few Batman projects on the burner and they are kinda cool on the Batman Beyond thing right now. The first script has been turned in on the project, and he owes them a second rewrite but is waiting to see what happens. (comics continuum)

JULY 16: Sliders and Stargate: I have added a VideoCD cover label for Sliders and a CDR label for Stargate SG-1. See them all... New series, and old. More are always in work. Getting images is always the hardest part.

JULY 16: Robocop Primed and Ready: Tonight is the night for the long awaited U.S. premiere of Robocop: Prime Directives on the Sci-Fi Channel at 9pm. Get that VCR hot!!!

JULY 16: Don Johnson very Sexual: Ex Miami Vice and Nash Bridges star Don Johnson has been accused of sexual assault in a San Francisco Mas Sake Sushi Bar. Apparently while there in January Mr. Johnson was interested some Tuna with his sushi. This... bimbo reports that after approaching the actor he asked her if he could touch her. Thinking he meant a hug said yes and Johnson grabbed her Tuna Taco (genitalia). O.K., sure. This will likely be settled out of court.

JULY 16: Final Disappointment: Final Fantasy only managed number 4 at the box office this weekend with $11.5M. In some respects, Americans just aren't ready for so much animation features in their movie diet, like Japan is. Animation is gaining ground here in the states, but we still need it in moderation. The film opened this passed 'Wednesday' and has taken in $19.1 for the five day total.

JULY 16: A.I. RIP: The Steven Spielberg saga is continuing its box office plummet dropping to number nine over the weekend. It is following the same spiralling hell that ate up Tomb Raider. Great effects and little else for fans. Both films will likely do well on video and DVD when released. A.I. however is doing extremely well overseas in Japan and should reach the $90M mark.

JULY 16: Good Weather at Fault: Studio executives are blaming the good weather across America for the lukewarm box office this summer. Instead of blaming the weather studio executives should be looking at the horrible quality of films this year, and the price of a ticket which fans have a 50/50 chance of seeing something worth the price of admission.

JULY 16: E.R. & V.I.P.: Both series have joined the VideoCD and CDR label areas today. If you recording these to CDR then check them out. Over 60 VCD labels are on site now. Other dramas include The District, Deadline, Le Femme Nakita, Miami Vice, Pacific Blue, and the Titans.

JULY 16: Stargate SG1 & Relic Hunter: Both genre series have been added to the VideoCD area. Check them out.

JULY 15: Jurassic Park IV: Spielberg already has people working on ideas for a fourth film should the third installment do well at the box office. Spielberg would once again produce but never helm another Jurassic sequel.

JULY 15: EFC's Final Season?: While reading through X-pose' magazine I came across an interesting not during an interview with actress Anita La Selva, who plays Zo'or. In the interview on page 23 the note that season five will be undergoing extensive retooling (as we all already know), and that this will be the series final season. Anyone have anymore on this?

JULY 15: Crime Story Returns: It isn't Sci-Fi but this series has a huge fan following and I got an email from Scott who thought I should tell you guys about it... Well, A&E will be airing the pilot movie again for 'Crime Story' tonight and then begin airing blocks of the 80's series every 'Monday'. Get your VCR ready folks. You just don't know when the series will be broadcast again.

JULY 15: Series Listing Update: The full genre series listing has been revamped a bit to make it easier to find your favorite old series and me to add new series. TV Series Listing.

JULY 15: Mists of Avalon: The mini-series begins airing on TNT beginning tonight at 8pm. Update 7.18.01 Mists of Avalon did well the first night and the fell flat on the second. Overall ratings for the mini-series were decent.

JULY 15: Robinson Crusoe on Mars: Have you seen it? Do you even remember it? Where the hell, is the DVD for this classic? Criterion did a wonderful 'Laserdisc' for the feature years ago, that would be easily transfer to the DVD format. RCoM is an incredible character based classic that is nearly forgotten. The special effects are below standard, but the film is so well done the effects are easily overlooked for the story being told. The feature is currently out of print in VHS and laserdisc, and there is no word on a future DVD release.

JULY 15: New Series Reminder: Starhunter 2300: The series starring Michael Pare, Tanya Allan, Claudette Roach, and produced in partnership with Canal + production arm LeSabre, Grosvenor Park Productions UK Limited, and Das Werk. Starhunter is already airing in Canada on the Movie Network, and Alliance Atlantis is planning to pitch the new series this fall for syndication. Star Hunter portrays a dangerous frontier where there aren't many rules, and few to enforce the ones that are. Set in 2275 A.D., bounty hunter Dante Montana (Michael Par� - The Virgin Suicides) and his small crew, consisting of security officer Lucretia 'Luc' Scott (Claudette Roche - Free of Eden) and Dante's niece Percy (Tanya Allen - Regeneration), take their aging hunter ship, the Tulip, out on dangerous intergalactic missions to track down and capture interplanetary criminals. This series is not to be confused with the series starring Adrian Paul as an intergalactic Bounty Hunter. The Co-head writer is Peter Norton. There will be at least 44 episodes of this series. Check out all the new series being considered in Channel News.

JULY 15: New Mini-Series & Franchise ideas: With all the remakes and sequels getting done these days, there is a great deal of fresh material and old that could make a great viewing for fans. Check out my ideas for them. Pern, Battleteck, Alien Hive and more...

JULY 14: Trek-a-Thon: TNN, which bought the rights the Star Trek franchise and five features, will open with a Next Generation in a week long marathon beginning October 1st and runs through October 7. The marathon will air 77 of the series best episodes.

JULY 14: Mechwarrior: Several production companies have announced a live action series based on the video game, 'Mechwarrior'. Producer Paul Bryant described the series as Romeo and Juliet in space. (x-pose)

JULY 14: Hamill Still Joking Around: In the upcoming 'Justice League' animated series for the Cartoon Network, Mark Hamill, of Star Wars, will reprise his role as the voice of 'the Joker' while Clancy Brown continues to do the voice of Lex Luthor.

JULY 14: Rangers: If the new series 'Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers' is picked up as a series on the Sci-Fi Channel, creator JMS says he won't be writing all the scripts in order to avoid burn-out.

JULY 14: Forever Knight: The 'Forever Knight' VideoCD cover label has been added to the site. Check out all the VideoCD labels and VideoCDR labels on site for download. A CDR label for Forever Knight is already up on the website too. Enjoy... There are over 60 total VideoCD labels on site right now with more in work.

JULY 14: Wonder Woman: Ex-Xena star 'Lucy Lawless' has told Entertainment Weekly that she is would be interested in the upcoming Wonder Woman feature role. The ex-WWF's Chyna has a very remote chance now, with Joel Silver recently mentioning 'Sandra Bullock' was interested and him in her. Chyna says she will do everything possible to make sure they notice her. If she gets it, the picture becomes a 'B' style movie. Lawless or Bullock its an 'A' film.

JULY 13: Black Knight: The Martin Lawrence time travel comedy 'Black Knight' has been moved up to November of this year rather then a 2002 release. Test audiences showed Fox that the picture deserved a holiday audience viewing. Martin Lawrence plays a con man as a medieval theme park worker who finds himself in 14th-century England, where he has to use his street smarts to help a down-and-out knight and a beautiful woman defeat an evil king.

JULY 13: Gremlins 3: Rumors about this sequel continue to gain steam as the Diabolical Dominion is reporting that director Joe Dante may produce the third installment that will be directed by Donald Petrie.

JULY 13: Robocop PD: It is time... July 16th at 9pm thru July 19th at 9pm. Get them VCR's hot! Hopefully the DVD boxed set will be right behind the mini-series.

JULY 13: Burton's Enterprise: Cinescape Online has posted that Levar Burton, of ST: the Next Generation, will directing some of the episodes of UPN's new Trek series, 'Enterprise'.

JULY 13: Fantasy Makes Five: The premiere of Final Fantasy at theatres on Wednesday grossed nearly $5M, which should indicate the feature doing well over the weekend.

JULY 12: Justice League: According to a source reporting to Comics2Film, the new animated series premieres November 17.

JULY 12: Madonna, No Money-No See: Madonna has let it be known to all her celebrity pals who want complimentary tickets to one of her shows... no pay, no way! The 42 year old singer is charging her... buddies that she is charging them $125 plus booking fees for sold out shows. She is adamant that no one gets comp tickets this tour. Madonna's Garden dates have been selling on eBay to idiot fans for as much as $2050 for tickets originally costing $45 to $250.

JULY 12: Final Fantasy: The story isn't that much to talk about, but the special effects are... so incredible. This is a film you watch many times just to see the wonderful job that was done creating the CGI. Man, impressive!

JULY 12: Episode One, Deleted Scenes: The upcoming Episode One DVD will include deleted scenes. They are the complete pod race sequence, extended pod race lap two, the waterfall sequence, dawn before the race, An air taxi sequence, Anakin's Scuffle with Greedo, and a farewell to Jira. Big wonder whether the scenes will be restored or just included material.

JULY 12: Not so Charming: Shannon Doherty has been kicked off two Aaron Spelling series. The actress told Zap2It that 'No' she would not do a future Spelling project. However Doherty did go on to say that she did say that after '90210' also. The WB series 'Charmed' struggled in the ratings before Doherty was cut loose. It will be difficult for the series to keep it present audience and still maintain stable ratings.

JULY 12: New Enterprise: The photos of the new Enterprise in this weeks TV guide are awesome. The new NX-01 Enterprise looks sharp and will have a max of warp 5. The 22nd century starship will hold a crew of about 70 or 80. The ships interior will give the feel of a submarine style ship with low beams, and the bridge will be wider and broader than previous ships and has 80 plasma screens built into it. The new series will host many alien races we haven't seen before and during the series we will get to see why that is. And the show will not avoid the sex thing with Captain Archer. Says Rick Berman, "He's single and healthy."

JULY 12: Spiderman Sequel: Sam Raimi has not been signed to the sequel, but he told Spiderman Hype.com that if he was asked to do the sequel he would love to continue the storyline moving Peter Parker into the college years, as well as have Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi in the picture. He loves to watch Bruce in a film. The other Comic characters he would have enjoyed doing were both from DC Comics in Batman and Superman, but Spiderman was 'The One' he really wanted to do.

JULY 12: Daredevil News: On the hells of an amateur directors $5000 made commercial comes news that the real 'Daredevil' film may begin production as early as November of this year. The Marvel character turned live action star was written by 'Mark Steven Johnson' who wrote 'Grumpier Old Men'. and Brian Helgeland 'A Knights Tale'. Mark Johnson will direct the script. Producer Gary Foster would love to see someone like, Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Guy Pearce or even a Mark Wahlberg do the film which will be more character driven and edgier than most superhero films. I think a Barry Pepper or Thomas Jane (both from 61) would be great for this film.

JULY 12: Darksiders: New Line Cinema has purchased a spec script from Tom S. Parker and Jim Jennewein titled 'Darksiders'. The story is about a band of what-else... bloodsucking Vamprires, who are turned into a group of special operatives for the FBI. Tracie Graham and Alison Rosenzweig will produce the film.

JULY 12: PS2 Hard Drive: Sony created 40gb hard drives for the Japan owner of the PS2. Over 10,000 units were put online and were promptly sold out. Each unit cost about $150 U.S. dollars. The impressive sell out might not be so special considering there are over 3,000,000 PS2 units currently in use in Japan.

JULY 11: Bond 20: Director Brett Ratner is wanted by the studio and Pierce Brosnan to helm the 20th installment. The Broccoli's however don't want the young actor because he is an American. And no American has ever directed a Bond film. Ratner told the Zap2It website that it also has to do with the fact that he isn't over 50 and has a mind of his own with a strong personality. He has contacted the Broccoli family every day asking for the job.

JULY 11: Taken: The 10 part, 20 hour Steven Spielberg mini-series will begin production in none other than 'Vancouver' Canada in September with a scheduled fourth quarter premiere on the Sci-Fi Channel. Taken will star Steve Burton, Julie Benz, and Joel Gretsch with more actors being announced in the coming weeks.

JULY 11: Blade 2: Upcoming Films has posted that New Line has set a March 22, 2002 release date for its upcoming 'Blade 2' feature.

JULY 11: EFC of the SFC: Beginning Aug 6 at 10pm the Sci-Fi Channel will begin its in order run of the first 88 episodes of Gene Roddenberry's 'Earth: Final Conflict'. In its deal with Tribune Entertainment the channel will be broadcasting future seasons as well. EFC wrapped it fourth season this year. This is a series which has survived major character and cast changes almost every season.

JULY 11: Rush Hour 3: The film has yet to hit theatres, but Jackie Chan has confirmed while in London that he and Chris Tucker are signed on for a third Rush Hour film. The film would likely begin production after he finishes up 'Sidewinder' and 'Shanghai Knights'. It would take place somewhere where both of them are fish out of water. Chris Tucker says Africa, while Jackie Chan prefers Eqypt.

JULY 10: Smallville Update: Annette O'Toole, who played Lana Lang in Superman III, will be playing young Clark Kent's mother in the upcoming WB series 'Smallville'. (hollywood reporter)

JULY 10: Scary 3: Shawn Wayans has been tapped to script a third 'Scary Movie'. (Chicago Sun Times)

JULY 10: Renters Win: The U.S. appeals court has ruled that renters have the right to install satellite dishes on patio, roofs, and balconies. The decision, handed down Friday -- determined that a viewer, even if a renter, should not be blocked from receiving broadcast satellite services. The judicial decision is a defeat for landlords, who argued that the Federal Communications Commission did not have the constitutional authority to dictate the terms of a lease.

JULY 10: Brosnan to Bond: James Bond, Pierce Brosnan's long time girl toy, Keely Shaye Smith has finally agreed to marry the 49 year old actor. He has proposed twice before to the 36 year old Smith.

JULY 10: Planet of the Apes: The new trailer premiering on televisions across the U.S. look incredible. The special effects shown on the commercials is easily better than those show for Tomb Raider during its commercials. I look forward to seeing the premiere.

JULY 10: Frakes is IN!!!: Jonathan Frakes will once again place his ass in the directors chair for another Star Trek film. The name for the new Trek feature? Ain't It Cool is passing on the name 'Star Trek: Nemesis'. Cool title eh... Reports are that John Logan's scripts is outstanding and if Paramount doesn't skimp on the FX it could be one of the best, if not the best, Trek films of all time. The script appears to be extremely action packed from near middle to end, and Paramount knows that this is may be the final attempt to re-invent the features and say farewell to the Next Generation cast. Sorry Rick but here's another personal comment. It is my hope that the future Trek films will use a mixture of all the series. Time for Captain Benjamin Sisko to return.

JULY 9: Connery in TREK X?: The 'Coming Soon' website is reporting that the ex-007 star, Sean Connery is in negotiations to star as the lead villain in the upcoming 'Star Trek X' feature film. He would play 'Shinzon', the leader of the Reman - a Romulan off-shoot slave race that's been living for centuries on the dark side of a planet that doesn't rotate.

JULY 9: Buffy Guest Star: Ian Thorpe, the Australian swimming phenom, is slated to guest star in an upcoming episode of Buffy this season on UPN. He looks to be getting a guest appearance on 'Ally McBeal' too.

JULY 9: Watcher Greenlighted: The Buffy Britain spin-off series 'the Watcher' starring Anthony Stewart Head , as Giles, has been given the go ahead by the BBC. The series will be more adult oriented than Buffy or Angel and will feature less vampires.

JULY 9: Diesel X: Vin Diesel (Fast and the Furious) has signed on to star in the upcoming feature 'Triple X'. (Entertainment Weekly)

JULY 9: Tomb 2 Doomed: There may be a long delay on the sequel to Tomb Raider, and it has nothing to do with the first film bombing at the box office. Angelina Jolie wants to start her family with husband Billy Bob Thorton. Guess having a contract these days means nothing.

JULY 9: Enterprise Pilot: The two-hour opening movie for the new 'Enterprise' series, used over forty different sets and locations. Many feature films use less than thirty. All the previous images of the new Enterprise you have seen on the various sites appears to be the official design.

JULY 9: Lucas Steals Writers $$$$: It never seems to stop with George Lucas over how much money is enough. Bantam Books recently decided to alter its standard contract for Star Wars novels. The original terms, an advance plus a 2% royalty, were dropped in favor a flat fee. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc are outraged by such a contract. These contracts do NOT meet professional standards. The 2% royalty was already less than most other contracts, which are 6%. The Writers Assoc. also pointed out that writing Star Wars novels requires extensive research and attention to detail. Under the new scheme writers will have less incentive to work hard and excel. Bantam has indicated that they are happy with the new contract. A number of current Star Wars writers have indicated the would not agree to write further novels under the new contract, which includes authors Steve Perry, Kevin J. Anderson, A.C. Crispin, Barbara Hambly, and Vonda N. McIntyre. This really sucks for writers who get shit to begin with for their work. Hey George, did you kiss them first, before you F#$%ed them?

JULY 9: Flatland: Dennis Hopper is set to headline this new 22 episode TV series, 'Flatland'. A series done in the vein of 'the Matrix' and 'Crouching Tiger'. The new series is from Shanghai, China based Hweilai Studios, and Rudy Morgan Organization. The series cast also includes... Liam Waite, Katherine Kendall, Philip Rhys, Francoise Yip, and Bumper Robinson. "Flatland" will borrow from the history of Chinese martial-arts and swordplay films, which have people flying through the air seemingly effortlessly. The series has yet to find a home in the United States. Morgan and Ruddy said they are in talks with several major broadcast and cable networks but declined to give further details. All 22 episodes are completed. Special effects will account for "a very healthy portion" of the show's budget of $1.75 million an episode.

JULY 9: A.I. Got Flop?: The new long talked about, long anticipated feature A.I. dumped 52% of it audience base at the box office in its second week of release. Maybe if this is a box office flop they'll have a two DVD boxed set where you get A.I. and Tomb Raider. What a deal... No excitement, no fun, and awesome special effects for only $24.95. Nahhhhhhh...

JULY 9: Warner Gets Greedy: Warner Brothers is playing greedy to the extreme by asking the four networks for $70M to the network broadcast rights for the feature film 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone'. That's more than twice what 'Titanic' got. This $110M feature hasn't even proven to be a hit yet. Warner wants to make the deal four months before the pictures gets released. I hope no one forks over this much stupid cash.

JULY 9: More Floating Ads: Did you get tired of visiting a website and having 'A.I.' promos floating across the screen? Well, get use to it. Now, over the next three weeks the same type ads will be running for Jurassic Park ///. This is the new ad campaign for the internet and likely to be around for a while. It's all part of the new interactive campaign.

JULY 9: Upcoming Movies: The Movies In Work area has been updated with new genre films in development. CHECK IT OUT.

JULY 8: Not so Scary 2: The new sequel to Scary Movie came in at number 2 this weekend, after being chewed up by the number one feature 'Cats and Dogs'. Last weeks number one feature 'A.I.' from Stephen Spielberg dropped from the first spot down to number three. (this could be another flop in the vein of Tomb Raider) Fast and the Furious starring Vin Diesel continued to do well at number five slipping from number two.

JULY 8: Robocop Primed: Only 8 more days til the US premiere of Robocop: Prime Directive. July 16 thru 19th marks the date. Get the VCR ready. The new mini-series takes place about ten years from the first film. The four movie - 8 hour mini-series is for adult audiences, unlike the less than stellar television series that last just one season. Canada has already seen the mini-series and the reviews were excellent.

JULY 8: Robocop: SE: Looks like Robocop will be getting another special edition in 2002. The first Special Edition had nearly one minute of restored footage. The standard Robocop feature will again be released this year, on Oct 2nd, that includes anamorphic widescreen and Dobly Digital 5.1. It is unknown what extras will be included in the new Special Edition.

JULY 8: Witchblade Marathon Tonight: The Witchblade Marathon airs tonight on TNT. Fans of the mini-series will get to see the pilot movie and the first four episodes. It begins tonight at 4pm et/pt.

JULY 7: Total Recall: SE: Artisan Entertainment will release a special edition of the film on September 18th @ $26.98. This collectible, limited edition DVD is presented in a round, metal "Mars" DVD case, designed to look like the "Red" planet complete with a bumpy surface featuring "the face" of Mars. The tin rests on top of square bottom packaging that fits easily on display merchandisers. The digitally re-mastered Total Recall Special Limited Edition DVD also features the "Imagine Total Recall" documentary that takes you behind-the-scenes with the film's stars, including a new rare Arnold Schwarzenegger interview, and special effects wizards. It also includes a special feature called "Rekall's Virtual Vacation" that is a selection of mini visual vacations and relaxing images and the "Visions of Mars" featurette. The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound (the digital bits)

JULY 6: Tomb Raider DVD News: Director Simon West is likely planning a directors cut of the film for DVD. The version he already has done for DVD has some deleted scenes restored, which is said to be the 'British Humor' that was deemed too much for American audiences. Any change, is likely to be a good thing for this bomb.

JULY 6: Invisible Man News: A source close to the series has let me know that though there is no official word yet, things are looking extremely positive that the Sci-Fi Channel's 'Invisible Man' series will be renewed for its third season.

JULY 6: Special Unit 2: The six episodes of the mid-season replacement series for UPN, 'Special Unit 2' were shot in Los Angeles. However, for this season production moves to Vancouver, Canada. A normal move since the U.S., and particularly L.A. in general cost to much to film. Special Unit 2 will air on UPN, Wednesday at 10pm after the new Enterprise series.

JULY 6: Indiana Jones 4: Well, Paramount has confirmed to the New York Post that they have greenlighted looking at scripts. Three scripts at least have been written. Rumors have one searching for Atlantis, and another for Indy's lost brother. Lucas and Spielberg will take less to do the film than they normally charge but want writing control and original credit for the film. Harrison Ford want $25M plus some of the back end. Paramount figures the film will cost $150M to make and but can't figure out how they will make any money with the three stars demanding money off the back end of the film. Sean Connery has also expressed interest in returning as Indy's dad. This sounds like the Men In Black sequel with the financial situation.

JULY 6: Rings Effects: The New Zealand SFX company, WETA Digital, originally signed on for 337 special effects for the first film in the trilogy. But with cuts and editing the SFX increased to over 500. So WETA, already a maximum capacity, has farmed out some of the effects to outside houses. Six effects went to Digital Domain in L.A., and three to Animal Logic in Australia.

JULY 5: Vampire Hunter D: The animated sequel to Vampire Hunter D, based on the third 'D' novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi, will get a theatrical release this fall. The film has an entirely new storyline and characters. The sequel, titled Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, has been animated by 'Madhouse Studios'.

JULY 5: Upcoming Genre Flicks: The 'UPCOMING GENRE FEATURES' has been updated with some of the new releases expected for 2002. Check them by clicking the link.

JULY 5: A Sound of Thunder: A new film from Renny Harlin, starring Pierce Brosnan, about A game hunter who goes on a safari through time to hunt a T'Rex, chickens out and stumbles from the assigned path and changes the future. This has been done in books and was an 'Outer Limits' episode. Due in theatres in 2002.

JULY 4: Happy Fourth of July to everyone.

JULY 4: No Strike: There is now a tentative agreement in place for the two union/ 135,000 members. The contract is a three year deal which Union reps hail the settlement as achieving their principal objective of securing money for the working class - actor.

JULY 4: Enterpirse: The upcoming issue of 'TV Guide' will feature the new UPN series 'Enterprise' on its cover. The issue is expected to sell out quickly.

JULY 4: Chyna is OUT!: The WWF has decided not renew the contract of the huge grapplers contract. She made headlines last year when she posed for playboy.

JULY 4: Maybe I Suck in Feature Films: David Duchovny has YET to do a truly successful feature film. Maybe the actor is seeing that for himself as he is backtracking on previous statements about absolutely NOT wanting to appear on the ninth season of the X-Files. It has recently been reported that the actor NOW says he would consider appearing in the 9th season. Hey dude, you want out, your out... see ya. The X-Files was successful in season 8 without the actor. Fox would likely welcome the actor back despite his childish behavior over the past two season concerning the series.

JULY 4: Stargate Ends: As season six gears into production for Stargate SG-1's likely series finale on Showtime, the fans of the series are already starting a writing campaign to the production office and Showtime to continue the series. There have been reports over the past year that Stargate may be moving to feature films after season six wraps.

JULY 4: The Franchise: Hollywood's term... franchise has taken on a whole new meaning. Today it refers to a film idea being a trilogy. Like Matrix, Lord of the Rings, or their hope for a X-Men trilogy. But... a franchise would be... Star Trek - 10 pictures, Star Wars - 6 pictures, Freddy Krueger - 6? films, Halloween - 8 films, Friday the 13th - 10? films. Some of these may be me features that turned into 'B' movies. But they are a true franchise. It takes more than a trilogy to make one.

JULY 3: Queen a Damned Rumor: A spokesman for Warner Brothers says the Ain't It Cool website rumor about 'Queen of the Damned' heading straight to video has no truth to it. The film is still scheduled for a 2002 release.

JULY 3: Tuxedo: The new Jackie Chan action comedy may be getting Jennifer Love Hewitt as co-star in the film. Hewitt, should she sign on, will play the role of a government agent working with Jackie Chan wearing the experiment suit, the Tuxedo. Dreamworks is hoping to turn the film in a franchise. Production begins in September, and where else but Canada. Location... Toronto.

JULY 3: Witchblade Slipping: The new... maxi-series 'Witchblade' on TNT has slipped in the ratings each consecutive week. At this rate, the series will NOT be picked up for another season. Fans are not sticking around to see the complete story arc. Superstations like TNT or TBS are just not a place for new series. Taking the series into syndication would have been better for Witchblade.

JULY 3: Superman Screwed: This might be the appropriate title if rumors from 'Coming Attractions' is true that X-Files X-star David Duchovny is a contender for the lead role as... Superman. The site is also reporting that Apes director 'Tim Burton' might be up for the directors chair, and possible titles for the film are 'Superman Reborn' or 'Superman Destruction'. Duchovny... what a mistake. He's no Superman.

JULY 3: Gremlins 3: The second one was horrible but we may be getting a third film in this franchise if the rumor from Dark Horizons is correct. According to the site Phoebe Cates , Zach Galligan, Stephen Burkoff, and even Rob Lowe may be in the new film... should it happen.

JULY 3: Batman: Are you interested in seeing Batman return to the theatres? Sony is. Sony is waiting to see how 'Spiderman' does before putting this one on the fast track for a Christmas 2003 release. Rumors are that producers Michael E. Uslan and Benjamin Melniker may be joining director David Nutter and Dan Hill as executive producers. Go on Batman. Sony did not specify which of the two in development Batman themes they will go with. And... who will be putting on the mask?

JULY 3: Scully Backtracks: Now Gillian Anderson is backtracking her recent statements through here manager Connie Freibergh who says... "She's happy going back to do the ninth season, so the assumption is that will be the end. We don't even know if the show is continuing (beyond season 9). We can only face a tenth season when it happens."

JULY 3: Halloween 8: The eighth installment of the Halloween franchise has wrapped principle photography.

JULY 3: Cinescape Revived: After nearly being drawn into the bankruptcy by 'Fandom.com's' terrible business sense, Cinescape has been saved by Mania Entertainment, when they stepped in to purchase the magazine.

JULY 2: Ghost in a Cage: Ghostrider producer Jon Voight has told Empire Online that Nicolas Cage has officially signed on to star in the feature film.

JULY 2: Robo-Game: Virgin Interactive has announced a new Robocop Playstation 2 game based on 1987 film. The game will have characters and situations though, that were not in the three films.

JULY 2: Damned Video: Queen of the Damned, the sequel to 'Interview With a Vampire' will going direct to video. (Andy Jones -E online)

JULY 2: Rings is Rough: Peter Jackson has completed a rough cut of the first film. Sean Aston, Elijah Wood, and Liv Tyler are to re-record some dialogue this month for the first film, 'Fellowship of the Rings'. Composer Howard Shore is also currently working on the films score.

JULY 2: Turtle Spoiler: Dark Horizon's received an email from a supposed inside source of John Woo's upcoming 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle' animated movie. He/she is claiming that while the script is in the early stages, he has confirmed that Splinter will die at the end of the film. Also reported is that Woo preliminary sketches for the film are very much in the style of his early work.

JULY 2: Done Deal?: Looks like the actors strike may be averted as they are putting the finishing touches on a new three year deal. A tentative deal should be announced today.

JULY 2: Rollerball Bad?: MGM is bumping its anticipated feature 'Rollerball' from its August 17th release date to sometime to the first quarter of 2002. John McTiernan is very happy to have the extra time to work on the feature. He is pleased with the decision. Early reports of the film have been less than... stellar. The time should allow some time to tweak, and possibly re-shoot some aspects of the film, if need be.

JULY 2: No Scully for Ten: Actress Gillian Anderson will in no way, shape or form return to the series 'The X-Files' for a tenth season. She is adamant about that as she will be taking a role on the West End Stage. Says Anderson, "The stuff I am going to do is as far from Scully as humanly possible." I haven't seen Gillian Anderson express to much appreciation for getting her start with 'the X-Files'. She has spent most of her time in the tabloids complaining about doing the series that made her a household name.

JULY 2: A.I. Number One: As expected the new Spielberg thriller, A.I., was number one at the box office this weekend taking in about $30M. Fast and the Furious did well coming in at number two with a $20M take while Eddie Murphy's 'Dr. Dolittle 2' racked up $15M.

JULY 2: Crazy Taxi: Sega most successful video game, 'Crazy Taxi' is coming to the big screen. Richard Donner (lethal weapon) will direct as well as produce the new film slated for a summer release. Goodman/Rosen Prods. optioned the movie rights from Sega and brought them to Donner Productions. Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2, the video games, have generated over $27M on the Dreamcast alone. Sega will serve as a consultant throughout the film's production and might incorporate original characters scripted for the film in a future 'Crazy Taxi' video game. At the very least, Sega will try to time a future video game release with the film or home video window.

JULY 2: HP Screwed Up: H.P., thanks to the lousy way these computer companies are doing business have actually asked their employees to take a friggin' 'Pay Cut'. A 10% pay cut. Maybe, just maybe they could get the top executives give up the million dollar salaries, and some of that bonus money. They want the employees to pitch in... How much are the executives... pitching in? What a bunch of losers. I'm sorry, but we screwed up our business model, and you'll have to help pay for that. Man!!!

JULY 2: Bomb Raider: Simon Well's 'Tomb Raider' has broken the $100M but in its third week the film dropped to a mere $9M take. While breaking the $100M mark, which use to mean something, it is safe to say this film is a BOMB. What could have been an awesome piece of summer work based on the quality script that was used,, this should be a big disappointment for Paramount and Laura Crofts creators. Big question now is... will there really be a sequel. Fans of the video games have waited so long for this.

JULY 2: Web Stats: Hey, end of the month and another thank you to everyone visiting the site. Year to date stats have surpassed last year by far. Nearly 200,000 pageviews, and over 2.7M hits. Thank you everyone. Thanks for coming to Sci-Fi 2000!

JULY 1: Tracker Update: (from a recent question & answer email from Grant Rosenberg) The new series starring Adrian Paul begins casting this coming week in Toronto, where the filming will take place until the first of the year, at which point the production will likely be relocating overseas to London, Paris or even Australia. While the aliens in hiding appear human, we will get to see the alien image each episode. Viewers waiting for the series should take note 'Tracker' has now been sold to 90% of the market as well as Germany and Italy. Deals are in work for France and the UK too. City TV in Canada has bought the rights there.
Trackers has yet to decided on a SFX production house and the series will have four main writers, (Gil Grant, Peter Lenkov, Charles Heit from Relic Hunter, and Scott Peters from Outer Limits), plus use quality works from Freelance writers. This isn't like from Star Trek, the scripts must come from an agent.

JULY 1: Farewell Lost World: Sources have confirmed that another fan favorite has been cancelled. 'Lost World' has become a lost series, after Canadian producers backed out. The series once renewed, was unable to secure U.S. funding and thus, scrapped. This makes two series, 'the Lost World & First Wave', which were good enough to be renewed for another season, but due to behind the scenes problems won't be here this fall....

JULY 1: Robocop: Prime Directives: Get the VCRs hot my friends. July 16 marks the date for our favorite crime fighter to return. 'Dead or alive, your coming with me.' I look forward to seeing Robocop return in a bold new light for adults. Robocop:PD is a new eight hour $15M mini-series from 'B' director Julian Grant and Fireworks Entertainment.

JULY 1: Dark Angel: I have added a new 'Dark Angel' VHS Cover Sheet per a request a few weeks ago based on the VCD cover I put up a last month. There are over 85 VHS Cover Sheets on site for download, and 220+ VHS side and top labels.

JULY 1: Escape From New York: Word came out months ago about the series 'Escape From New York' based on the movies from John Carpenter. Kurt Russell and Carpenter will co-produce the series. I haven't heard anything about the series development since. If you have any news, drop me an email.

JULY 1: Voting Area: Got a favorite series? Who's the best Starship Captain?, or best director for that matter.. Spielberg; Lucas, Carpenter? Is Jason better than Freddy? What about that best action hero thing? Vote for your favorites.... 'Click Here' to vote...

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