Hailing Frequencies, Issue #289

3.24.05 - 4.1.05

HELLO

And here's the two hundred and eighty-ninth edition of "Hailing Frequencies."

If you want to be notified when this newsletter is updated, email me to be put on my "notification" list.

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter/spring break/whatever. :-)

Point Pleasant's been canceled. Even the online petition to keep it on the air only had two signatures when I checked. sigh

ALIAS

Jennifer Garner has directed the May 11 episode, "In Dreams," with guest stars Joel Grey and Amy Irving, whose character we all thought was dead.

DR. WHO

Uh, I'm pretty sure there's little you can do that's dumber as an actor than prove yourself completely unreliable, but Christopher Eccleston has evidently decided it's better to be a verbal-contract-breaking flake than "typecast" as a sci-fi character.

The BBC reports that after the first episode of the revamped Dr. Who aired to an impressive 10.6 million viewers with a 43.2 audience share, he freaked out and quit. (Well, they didn't actually say "freaked out.") Now the BBC needs to get another guy and is reportedly considering David Tennant, Bill Nighy, and Eddie Izzard, among others.

Just a few days ago, the person believed to be the who put the new Dr. Who episode "Rose" on the Internet March 7 was fired. No name for the person, but they worked for a "third-party company in Canada." BBC Worldwide is "considering" whether to take legal action.

FIRE BREATHER

Paramount and Nick Movies are after the film rights to Fire Breather, the graphic novel by Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn and published by Image Comics. The main character, Duncan Rosenblatt, is a high school student whose parents are divorced. Oh, and he's a half-human (mom's side) and half-dragon (daddy). Dad, it seems, wants him to rule Earth, while Mom worries about his social skills.

No word on whether my own spec script, Mouth Breather, has yet garnered any interest.

GAMING

The Matrix Online launched March 22 in North America and will debut on April 8 in Europe. The Matrix Online continues the story from Matrix: Revolutions, with voices by Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus), Monica Bellucci (Persephone), Mary Alice (The Oracle), Lambert Wilson (The Merovingian), Harold Perrineau Jr. (Link), Harry Lennix (Lock), Nona Gaye (Zee), Collin Chou (Seraph) and Tanveer Atwal (Sati). Players will meet, battle and eventually team up with the familiar characters on high-profile missions or at player-organized events. SRP $49.99, and gamers can either subscribe online for a monthly subscription fee of $14.99 or purchase prepaid game cards with 60 days' worth of playtime for $29.99.

HARRY POTTER

Last week's poll:

If they have to change the actors up in the major roles for puberty reasons, will that ruin the later movies for you?

Yes 57%
No 29%
Have no clue 13%

Goblet of Fire's coming to theatres November 18, and Half-Blood Prince will be available June 16.

LOST

The season finale was going to be ninety minutes, but ABC has expanded it to two hours to air on May 25 finale. This puts it directly against American Idol's big finale, which will be the first time we've had a real question regarding "Who will win?" in the history of Idol.

KING KONG

They're done with principal photography in New Zealand for Peter Jackson's remake, more than a thousand people made the guest list for the wrap party, an elaborate and lavish bash at the New York set in Seaview, Lower Hutt, N.Z., March 19. The movie roars into theatres in December.

PROJECTS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMM?

Paul W.S. Anderson will write and direct Deathrace 3000 for Paramount, an updated remake of Roger Corman's Deathrace 2000, which has given rise to much fun in Julia's car. ("How many points for the poodle? How much for the guy who needs to wash his T-shirt?")

FilmEngine will be doing a sequel to The Butterfly Effect, even though that movie didn't really do all that well, with a production price of $13 million and domestic gross of $58 million. Well, I guess that is a lot, percentage-wise. But I bet the sequel with have a production cost closer to $58 million and a domestic gross of closer to $13 million. You watch and see.

SPIDER-MAN 3

Finally! They must have figured out who the big bad will be for the next Spidey film, because Thomas Haden Church has been cast to play him. Of course, we mere mortals don't get to know about the villain yet, but production starts soon for a May 4, 2007, release, so we'll know in a little while. Rumor already pegs it as The Sandman.

STAR TREK

From Cinescape and TrekToday comes a possible spoiler via Brent Spiner (highlight to read): "Sources say, this past weekend at the Vulkon Sci-Fi Convention in Orlando, Florida, special guest Brent Spiner told the crowd that he speaks four lines of off screen dialogue, written by him, in the final episode of ENTERPRISE."

Rick Berman says he and Braga wrote "These Are the Voyages..." before they knew it would be the finale of the ENT series, not just the season: "We did it with a feeling that there was a very good chance that the show would not be continuing, but that there was a possibility it might....It's not like we're destroying the ship or the crew. It's a very special and unique episode, a kind of episode we've never really done before."

The Official Site has a cute story up about how some members of the band Flaming Lips got to be extras on the ENT episode "Demons."

TrekToday reports that Shatner pitched a Star Trek: Academy concept to Paramount with boy-versions of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.

Shatner revealed the news to fans during Creation's Grand Slam convention, which took place in mid-March in Pasadena, California. Shatner said he had developed the idea together with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, who worked as staff writers on Enterprise's fourth season, and who previously cooperated with Shatner on Trek novels such as The Return and Captain's Blood.

When Shatner pitched the idea to Paramount, he apparently went directly to the studio's top executives, without involving current Trek executive producer Rick Berman. Paramount eventually rejected Shatner's idea, but the actor is not letting go of it completely. He revealed he has signed a contract with Pocket Books to turn The Academy into a two-novel book series that is tentatively scheduled for publication in 2006. Presumably, the Reeves-Stevenses are again co-writing these novels with Shatner.

With the exception of a few wraparound scenes starring Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as an older Kirk and Spock returning to the Academy, The Academy Years would have featured an all-new cast. Bennett completed a script for the project and went as far as scouting for locations, but heavy opposition from people such as Gene Roddenberry eventually killed the project. Bennett left the Star Trek franchise, and Paramount ended up developing The Undiscovered Country for Trek's 25th anniversary in 1991.

If you're interested in protesting the cancellation of ENT, try SaveEnterprise.com and/or The Enterprise Project. TrekUnited.com is trying to get fans themselves to pay for a fifth season. You can also write your own plea to Bonnie Hammer, Sci Fi Channel, and David Stapf, Paramount.

Ms. Bonnie Hammer
President and General Manager
Sci Fi Channel
1230 Avenue Of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Mr. David Stapf
President
Paramount Television
5555 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038-3112

STAR TREK MERCHANDISE

Star Trek 20th Anniversary jacket, made in 1986. Size XXL Black sating with black elastic collar, black elastic cuffs and black elastic waistband. Front left of jacket has the 20th Anniversary patch. Back of jacket has a beautiful full color screen print of the USS Enterprise. The jacket is lined with soft fuzzy white material (I'm not sure if the lining is cotton or nylon). This jack is in mint condition. I bought it new in 1986 and it has been in the closet ever since. The jacket was sold by Paramount Pictures. The label says "made in the USA by Satins." I have never seen one of these on eBay. The ones I have seen at conventions average $200. It cost me $75 brand new in 1986. If you want details, photos, or want to make an offer, email Mike.

STAR WARS

Nowplayingmag.com has the scoop that while Lucas still says Sith is the last of the SW movies, the franchise will live on via TV:

“We are looking into all kinds of things for the future,” Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm’s Director of Content Management and Fan Relations, recently told Now Playing Magazine. “We’re looking for television clearly: Animation [and] we are looking into live action television.”

What kind of live action television, be it an ongoing series or some kind of TV movies, Sansweet wouldn’t say....“Certainly with LucasArts we are looking into interactive games; not only the kinds of things that are there now, but as technology progresses we’re looking at what direction that can go,” Sansweet continues. “We’re also continuing to see how we can expand Lucas Online in various ways.”

W. Rinzler has written a behind-the-scenes book called The Making of Revenge of the Sith, in which a explains that that Steven Spielberg helped work out the imagining of some scenes for the film, such as the Mustafar duel and Yoda's duel with the Emperor.

From the IMDB: "Actress-turned-novelist Carrie Fisher is set to expose the secrets of the original Star Wars films in a behind-the-scenes expose of the classic sci-fi trilogy. Fisher, 48, kept a diary during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when she played Princess Leia Organa opposite Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill. She explains, My publisher has told me not to talk about it... oh what the hell. When I was in Star Wars, I kept diaries. Big books full of what went on, what I thought, what I did. I am going to write them all up as a narrative. It will be riveting. Once I get started, that is. I'm months behind already.

Look for plain and peanut dark chocolate varieties of M&Ms at your local supermarket or just check out the new Star Wars-style trailer here.

Hey, is this an April Fool's Post at TheForce.com?

My name is James Morales and I work in the Casting Department on ABC Television's, Extreme Makeover. We are interested in having a show involving the ultimate comic book/sci-fi enthusiast. We are looking for people with energetic personalities who can shine on television in front of America. If you are interested in this opportunity of a lifetime please contact me asap with your information. James Morales Casting Production Assistant New Screen Entertainment exmjames@yahoo.com www.abc.com keyword: makeover

Spoiler (highlight to read): Here's the opening "crawl" for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith:

War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku. There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere. In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate. As the Separatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor....

Episode III explodes into theaters worldwide on May 19. Watch the trailer here and the behind-the-scenes featurette here.

STARGATE

Much congrats to Amanda Tapping and Alan Kovacs on the birth of their baby girl, Olivia B. Kovacs, born March 22 in Vancouver, B.C. She is Tapping's first child and weighs in at a healthy 9 pounds, 4 ounces. No word on whether the child has been born with the knowledge of the ancients.

TRU CALLING

Fox, which just loves to cancel shows, will air the six remaining episodes of Tru Calling, starting with a two-hour episode on March 31, after which it will air in the 9 PM ET/PT Thursday (where Point Pleasant has been!). You may remember that Eliza Dushku stars as Tru Davies, who can relive a 24-hour period to save people who just died.

WONDER WOMAN

Joss Whedon will be writing and directing. He told TV Guide Online that he doesn't know who'll play the "younger version" of WW, and says this movie won't be done as a star vehicle. "We want to write the thing, find the right character and then figure out who should play her. There are various famous people whose names have come up, because that always happens, but you know, we're talking about Wonder Woman here. Those are tough booties to fill." When asked if he'd get someone from his Buffy/Angel shows, he made faces and said it wasn't a "party" for his friends. And you know, excuse us, I'm sure.

X-FILES

David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Chris Carter -- having all realized that the great things after X-Files aren't really happening -- are gearing up for the next X-Files film, which at one point looked iffy and now looks like a no-brainer.

Meanwhile, Duchovny told SCI FI Wire he'll be starring in a sci-fi thriller from John Boone, Parallel: "Parallel is really an alternate-world story in the classic mold of SF, where not quite time travel, but dimension travel has happened, and something has been changed from one dimension to the other that has to be set right. And I would play a couple of characters in both the worlds, as would the other actors. And we'd be trying to make it all square up between the dimensions."

Duchovny has also recorded a voice-over for the videogame Area-51 for Midway Games. Oh. And David? We know that's you in the dog food commercial.

X-MEN

Matthew Vaughn will direct X-Men III, with cameras rolling early next summer. Hugh Jackman is a confirmed return for Wolverine, and Fox is in negotiations with Halle Berry, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Look for the film to come out Memorial Day 2006.

NEWS BITS

David Benioff has been signed by WB to script the film version of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.
Desperate Housewives' first original episode in a few weeks drew 24 million viewers last Sunday.
Sony Pictures wants Marvel Entertainment's Killraven for a movie.
Dark Water will now be released July 8.
Look for Shaun of the Dead as a comic book with a four-issue, 32-page, miniseries starting in June 2005 that will include deleted and unshot material.
The next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie will be CGI. Kevin Munroe is writing and directing, and pre-production has started. The film's U.S. release should be spring 2007.
ABC's The Muppets' Wonderful Wizard of Oz, directed by Our Favorite Punk Kirk Thatcher, airs May 20.
Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village) will star in Shyamalan's upcoming Lady in the Water. (The surprise twist: she's a guy!)
Devil's Due Publishing is set to get the entire Dungeons & Dragons library from Hasbro and plans to develop comic-books on it.
Ben Affleck's deleted cameo in Elektra will be on the DVD.
Pendragon Pictures has pushed back the theatrical release date of their War of the Worlds Movie to late April.

NOT SCI-FI, BUT I DON'T CARE

Kenneth Branagh will direct As You Like It with Kevin Kline Bryce Dallas Howard, Brian Blessed (of course), Jimmy Yuill and hopefully Branagh himself as Touchstone. Filming starts in England April 21. Wee hoo!

INSANE TREK TRIVIA

This Week's Question: Who sings a song (and to whom) about how a young man is "looking for his first embrace"?

Send your answer to scifi@about.com. All correctly answering trivia maniacs will have their names mentioned in the next letter. The first winner gets to make a request, anything they like -- within reason -- for the next "Hailing Frequencies" Issue. Please let me know if you don't want me to post your email address if you win.

Last Week's Question: When they showed the Animated Series during the '70s, they had the "cast" do a promotional spot promoting what?

Answer: Exercising to music.

No winners, but Sexualuniverse had the following suggestions: "Tribble ear muffs? Inflatable Klingons? Shuttlecraft can-openers? Chekhov's recipe for borscht?"

CAPTION CONTEST

Send in your best caption for the picture below. The best (as in, my favorite) entry will appear in next week's issue.

[Insert caption here.]

"LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"

This week's topic: What makes Lost such a hit, do you think?

***

Lost is a hit for the following reasons:
1) It's not predictable. Most shows are so formulaic that if you watch the first 10 minutes you can accurately predict the end. With Lost all bets are off.
2) This extends to the characters, who defy the typical good guy/bad guy dualism found in most TV shows. Each character has a back story that's not only interesting but gives you a reason to root for them, including those who would initially appear to be villians (Sawyer, Jin.) Even the presumed heroine, Kate, turns out to have been a truly dangerous criminal. In fact, the title of the show seems to apply equally to the characters predicament on the island as well as their moral/psychological direction in life before the plane crash.
3) The show has a good ratio of intelectual problems to emotional connections. Many high-concept sci-fi shows have intriguing ideas and cardboard characters. This has an almost perfect balance.

TKitfox

***

[on a previous topic]

Hey Jul! Did you happen to be suckered into watching the ABC program about "UFOs" tonight?

Talk about desperation! I'm really embarrassed for Peter Jennings! How could a "real news personality" lend themselves to such a shoddy, presentation of the "facts"?

There was ABSOLUTELY, nothing new offered in this "report"! Iam so sorry that I even watched that thing! Rehash, after rehash! Leonard Nemoy did this stuff on "Unexplained Mysteries" years ago.

What the Hell was ABC thinking? No wonder their ratings suck. I hope people call and write in, to "roast their cookies" for airing that waste of time.

Have the "Networks" fallen so far? That they have to offer such a sorry review of information and interviews, that have been out there for years?

I am really outraged! That program was total B.S. Fortunately, I recorded C.S.I., but I still feel like I lost 2 hours of my life viewing that total let down. Granted, I was multi-tasking, while watching the show, but I could have been doing something else. A.B.C. should be made to pay for wasting peoples' time!

End of rant! I hope you didn't watch the show, and waste YOUR time.

Larry Moran

Next week's topic: At this point, what do you think would have to happen for UPN to decide to renew Enterprise?

***

Send me something if you've got something to say.  It can be about anything that's on your mind! (Please let me know if you don't want your email address to accompany your name in either contest or for the LTE.)

TOP MOVIES FROM THE NUMBERS

1 Beauty Shop............................$2,074,000
2 Guess Who.............................$26,667,000
3 Robots...................................$92,921,000
4 Miss Congeniality 2...................$21,682,000
5 Ring 2, The.............................$61,452,000
6 Pacifier, The...........................$89,297,000
7 Ice Princess............................$15,406,000
8 Hitch...................................$167,897,000
9 Hostage.................................$27,562,000
10 Million Dollar Baby...................$94,945,000

TOP SF/F NETWORK SHOWS, NGR, 3/7/05 - 3/13/05

1. Lost 7.9
2. Alias 6.3
3. Point Pleasant 2.3
4. Smallville 2.1
5. Charmed 1.6
6. Enterprise 1.0

TOP SF/F SYNDICATED SHOWS, NGR, 3/7/05 - 3/13/05

1. Stargate SG-1 1.9
2. Andromeda 1.4
3. Mutant X 1.4
4. The Twilight Zone 1.4
5. The X-Files 1.4
6. She Spies 1.3
7. Angel 1.1
8. Buffy 1.1
9. The Outer Limits 1.1
10. Ripley's 0.8

TOP SCI-FI/FANTASY BOOKS, Amazon - 3/25/05

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2. The Da Vinci Code
3. The Time Traveler's Wife
4. Angels and Demons
5. State of Fear
6. The Five People You Meet in Heaven
7. The Hard Goodbye (Sin City 1)
8. Eldest (Inheritance 2)
9. Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith
10. The Big Fat Kill (Sin City 3)

TOP SCI-FI/FANTASY DVDS, Amazon - 3/25/05

1. The Incredibles
2. Star Wars: Clone Wars, Vol. 1
3. Finding Neverland
4. Bambi
5. Phantom of the Opera
6. Return of the King platinum edition
7. Star Wars: Episode I
8. Star Wars trilogy
9. Lord of the Rings trilogy
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

HAILING FREQUENCIES CLOSED

Visit the "Hailing Frequencies" Archive
http://scifi.about.com/blhailarchive.htm
Julia Houston
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Guide @ About.com
scifi@about.com