Hailing Frequencies, Issue #292
5.6.05 - 5.13.05
HELLO
And here's the two hundred and ninetieth edition of "Hailing Frequencies."
If you want to be notified when this newsletter is updated, email me to be put on my "notification" list.
Usually, when you don't get a new HF, you can figure it's because of Christmas or another holiday. So why no HF two weeks ago? I moved! Whee! And why no HF last week? I was sick as a dog! Waaaa!
BEWITCHED
Sometimes, shameless promotion and pandering to tourists actually will irritate people. Such is the case for the people of Salem, Mass., who don't want a 9-foot bronze statue of Elizabeth Montgomery in their city park. The mayor thinks tourists will like to take pictures with it, and the statue will also help promote the upcoming Bewitched movie, starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell, but since Salem's witch trials led to the torture and execution of innocent men and women, people with a brain might see why such a statue could be a little inappropriate.
BLADE
After a disappointing third film, the story will now find a home in a TV show on Spike TV, according to Zap2It. David S. Goyer, Blade scriptwriter and Blade: Trinity director, will be the executive producer of the pilot. Wesley Snipes, who is suing New Line, Goyer, et al. for breach of contract, with most likely not be involved with the TV project.
CHARMED
Executive Producer Brad Kern told SCI FI Wire that "Something Wicca This Way Goes?" might be the end of the series: "Halfway through the show [the Halliwell sister] end the act by saying, 'I don't think we're going to get out of this one alive.' And that sets up a surprising ending that is so surprising and so top-secret that even in the episode outline that I've sent to the studio and the network, I've not included that scene. It will only be distributed on the day we shoot it. The idea is to not let spoilers spoil things for the loyal fans."
He adds: "The network loves Charmed creatively and have been especially happy with it this season...But whether we come back or not still all boils down to ratings—which means it's up to the fans."
WB will announce the show's fate this month May. The season finale should air on May 22.
This week's poll:
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
Is stuff about DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES really sci-fi news?
Yes 0%
No 66%
No, but include it anyway 32%
Okay! No more DH stuff here!
GAMING
Check out the new trailer at GameSpot for Eidos Interactive's Tomb Raider: Legend. Lara Croft has redder hair and a less va-voom body, but you'll get explosions galore! The game is due this fall on the PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2. PSP and Xbox 360 will come out later.
HARRY POTTER
The great LeakyCauldron has posted images from Goblet of Fire.
Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski)
Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson)
Fleur Delacour (Clemence Poesy)
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) before the first task
Krum puts his name in the goblet
Ron at the Yule Ball
Hermione at the Yule Ball
The maze
The Horntail
Around the Goblet
May 7th, 7 PM will bear witness to clips from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie during ABC's airing of Chamber of Secrets. The trailer will then be released on satellite Sunday May 8th at 6 AM.
Goblet of Fire's coming to theatres November 18, and Half-Blood Prince
will be available July 16.
LAND OF THE LOST
"..in the laaaa-and of the lo-o-ost!"
Beware the Sleestack
Okay, enough down memory lane, but I did love this show! Holly was so great, and Ta and Sa and the rusty dirty and feeding strawberries to dopey and using the fly-swatter on Grumpy. Great stuff.
So it's with mixed feelings that I hear that Universal is going to do it as not only a movie, but as a comedy. Will Farrell will play Rick Marshall, with Sid and Marty Krofft, Jimmy Miller, and Julie Wixson-Darmody producing.
Oh well, if it's not any good, I can get the originals now on DVD.
PIRATES
Disney is going to do a Matrix-Online-style massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the Pirates of the Caribbean films, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The game should go live when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is out in summer 2006. The game will have action and humor as players personalize their own pirate character and form their own crews to engage in adventures. Subscription should probably be around $10/month. No word if the films' stars will be involved.
REMAKES AND SEQUELS
Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes production label is in negotiations with producer Peter Guber and Mandalay Pictures to remake Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. What a great idea.
We have no one to blame but ourselves. The first Alien vs. Predator movie made enough money that they’re going to make another one. 20th Century Fox will probably make this one happen on modern-day Earth. Joy.
I guess we just can't be expected to enjoy a movie once it's more than a couple years old, as New Line Cinema will remake All of Me (1984), that features Steve Martin's best body humor ever, and Lily Tomlin in top form. Wanda Sykes is up for Tomlin's role. I'm going to get in line now.
SPIDER-MAN
Sam Raimi told SCI FI Wire that Sony Pictures may make four more Spider-Man sequels, but he doesn’t know how many of them will end up being directed by him. With the third film in preproduction, Raimi is getting ready to craft the tale of Peter Parker's coming to terms with his uncle’s death.
"The task that I had was to try and understand where he was when we last left him ... at the end of Spider-Man 2, trying to figure out what he lacked as a human being, as far as where he was immature and what he had not learned," Raimi said. "And certainly there's so much for that kid to learn. He really has been denied a social life. He's just been focused on being this do-gooder. And never really even dealing with the death of his uncle, just paying down his guilt with every criminal he brings to justice, never really addressing his own guilt that he feels in his heart and coming to terms with it. He's never really looked inside himself. So I think this picture ... he's going to have [to] look a little more inside himself and recognize and deal with some of the deficiencies that he has as a human being."
Danny Elfman won't be doing the soundtrack for the third film. Boo!
STAR TREK
Scott Bakula told SCI FI Wire that any plans for a ENT movie are dead now, but he would do it later if asked. However, "Paramount has been under such internal upheaval in the last year that right now there's really nobody that's there that is a fan of Star Trek...It's all turned over, so I don't know what's going to happen with Star Trek as a franchise."
Rick Berman says plans for a movie are still boiling, however, and blames ENT's cancellation of ENT on "an oversaturation of the franchise" at SCI FI Wire:
"There are a lot of people who criticized us for saying what I'm about to say, but I do believe that there was some degree of fatigue with the franchise...I think that we found ourselves in competition with ourselves. Enterprise in many markets was running against repeats—whether it be cable or syndication—of the original series, Next Generation, Voyager [or] Deep Space Nine. And I think that after 18 years and 624 hours of Star Trek the audience began to have a little bit of overkill with Star Trek, and I think that had a lot to do with it. And I think if you take a look at the last feature film we did, Nemesis, which I still believe was a fine movie, it did two-thirds the business that the previous films had done. So I think it's, again, another example of the franchise getting a little bit tired."
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
If you're interested in having ENT cancel on schedule, just wait.
STAR WARS
The first reviews for Episode III are coming in, and the buzz is good. Variety says the sixth movie "irons out most of the problems [from Episodes I and II], and emerges as the best in the overall series since The Empire Strikes Back."
The Hollywood Reporter's review is equally positive, as is, unsurprisingly, the TheForce.net's review.
Bai Ling and her character, Senator Bana Breemu, have been cut from Ep. III, perhaps in response to her recent nudie pix. Perhaps just because the film already had enough senators.
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.ay major roles—at least one of them will play a major role."
THRESHOLD
CBS' Threshold, produced by Brannon Braga, David S. Goyer, David Heyman, Mark Rosen and Bragi Schut (whew!) has the pilot in the can. The show deals with the discovery of an alien spaceship and Earth's "fist contact" with alien life. The show stars Charles S. Dutton, Brent Spiner, and Robert Benedict.
NEWS BITS
INSANE TREK TRIVIA
This Week's Question: In what episodes do we hear the songs "Isn't It Romantic" and "I Only Have Eyes for You"?
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: Longtime starship-loving fans were outraged when the picture of the NX Enterprise came out, because it looks almost exactly like what other class ship?
Answer: Akira class.
First winner
LMATTMANN
Second winner
Lucas
Third winner
Jim
Fourth winner
David
Fifth winner
Tony
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.]
THIS WEEK'S WINNER:
"Now, how does that Earth custom go again? Here's the church, here's the steeple..."- sexualuniverse"
Honorable Mentions...
"I am Florg, your waiter. The soup of the day is Regulan Bloodworm and Noodle." - Debra Smith
"We thank thee, lord, for this beautiful sex toy." - BTCHONWHLS
"Talk to the head!" - Webby
"I told you I didn't want to be filmed right now!" - Webby
"Ooooh, look at the pretty light!" - Webby
"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray to Kah-Les my soul to reap,
If I die before I wake,
Take me to Stovocore for pity's sake!" - sexualuniverse
"Oh, I knew I should have bought my make-up bag with me!" -- Nancy
"Help me Yoda, you're my only hope..." - David
"LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"
This week's topic: I might be able to snag an interview with Connor Trinneer. Any questions to suggest?
***
Thanks for the suggestions! :-)
***
[on another topic]
Why is the Wonder Woman movie taking so blasted long in making? And why did they pick a director that will toss out the staple part of Wonder Woman's costumer? He says he's a fan of the comic book but doesn't he remember the total lack of sales and interest in Wonder Woman when someone took away her costume??
Jordan Bayne for Wonder Woman! (to put a household name will result in "Look! Xena's playing Wonder Woman!"
that's my question and opinion and from what I've read and been told, I'm not alone!
webby
***
[on another topic]
Is there a place to go to applaud the cancellation of ENT? Jeez, don't they want to attract a new generation of Trekkies rather than chase them away?? Let's get a better quality show, please, or the franchise will end up like the NBA...nobody to watch their once-great-but-now-inferior product.
RK (who, as a junior higher, used to try to stay awake on Friday nights to watch TOS/firstrun but usually fell asleep during Time Tunnel or something)
***
Next week's topic: Are there others who want to applaud ENT's demise?
***
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 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy....$24,923,000
2 Interpreter, The.........................$45,766,000
3 XXX: State of the Union..............$14,785,000
4 Amityville Horror, The..................$56,471,000
5 Sahara.....................................$57,902,000
6 Lot Like Love, A..........................$15,482,000
7 Kung Fu Hustle...........................$13,528,000
8 Sin City.....................................$71,314,000
9 Fever Pitch...............................$36,845,000
10 Guess Who..............................$65,813,000
TOP SF/F NETWORK SHOWS, NGR, 3/21- 3/27/05
1. Desperate Housewives 14.4
2. Medium 7.8
3. Lost 5.6
4. Alias 4.5
5. Smallville 1.9
6. Charmed 1.4
7. Enterprise 1.3
TOP SF/F SYNDICATED SHOWS, NGR, 4/11/05 - 4/17/05
1. Stargate SG-1 1.6
2. Andromeda 1.3
3. Mutant X 1.3
4. The X-Files 1.3
5. She Spies 1.2
6. Twilight Zone 1.2
7. Angel 1.1
8. Buffy 1.1
9. The Outer Limits 1.0
10. Ripley's 0.8
TOP SCI-FI/FANTASY BOOKS, Amazon - 4/22/05
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2. The Da Vinci Code
3. Angels and Demons
4. Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl 4)
5. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
6. Eldest (Inheritance 2)
7.The Time Traveler's Wife
8. Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith
9. The Five People You Meet in Heaven
10.A Stroke of Midnight
TOP SCI-FI/FANTASY DVDS, Amazon - 4/29/05
1. Phantom of the Opera
2. The Incredibles
3. Lemony Snicket
4. Blade: Trinity
5. Star Wars trilogy
6. House of Flying Daggers
7. Finding Neverland
8. Team America: World Police
9. Star Wars: Episode I Blade:
10. Star Wars: Clone Wars vol. 1
HAILING FREQUENCIES CLOSED
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Julia Houston
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Guide @ About.com
scifi@about.com