Hailing Frequencies Issue #321

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Pralines are harder to make than they look! In other news, my cat broke my espresso cup. Grrrr.

As predicted, the critics absolutely despise live-action Aeon Flux, and the film has grossed a paltry $15 million in its first week.

The best driving game to while away the hours until the Grand Canyon has got to be the one based on Death Race 2000, staring David Carradine, about a car race where drivers get points for running people over. "Little kid! 50 points! Guy in a wheelchair! 60 points!"

Roger Corman produced the original, and now wants to do a remake, Death Race 3000, which has been optioned by Tom Cruise's company. ("Tom Cruise! 80 points!") The movie's hit some snags, some we may have to settle for just enjoying the 2000 version, which is coming out in a special-edition DVD December 13 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Makes a great Christmas present.

The release is actually part of a series of Corman films, and will be joined by Rock 'N' Roll High School, Big Bad Mama and Dinocroc. Corman explained to the SCI FI Wire that he will record commentaries for dozens of his movies that Buena Vista Home Entertainment will distribute over the next year. Such commentaries are "like mini-reunions or parties....I'm thinking of the great time I had with Bill Shatner for The Intruder or Angie Dickinson with Big Bad Mama.... I hope that the good times we were having comes across on the screen." Currently eighty years old, Corman is "King of the B-Movies" with over 400 movies produced.

Leaky Cauldron has gotten official word from Rowling's rep that her recent comments about wanting to kill off Harry in the last book "were taken out of context in a gossip column in the British tabloid newspapers."

Regardless, Goblet of Fire is killing 'em at the box office. For the third weekend in a row, the movie's #1, having raked in another $20.5 million, for a domestic $229.8 million and worldwide $560 million. Wow.

Robbie Coltrane told Manchester Online that his contract hasn't been signed for playing Hagrid in Order of the Phoenix film, but he has talked with Rowling about Hagrid's specific fate in the final book "because I couldn't do it unless I knew what the story was."

Julie Walters, meanwhile, has confirmed that she'll be back as Molly Weasley in the next film.

J.K. Rowling and Stephen Fry's interview with BBC Radio4 has a clip up at Radio Times. Great bit from Rowling: "Yes, I do know what's going to happen in the end. And occasionally I get cold shivers when someone guesses at something that's very close, and then I panic and I think. 'Oh, is it very obvious?' and then someone says something that's so off the wall that I think, 'No, it's clearly not that obvious!' So much that happens in [book] six relates to what happens in [book] seven. In six, although there is an ending that could be seen as definitive in one sense, you very strongly feel the plot is not over this time and it will continue. It's an odd feeling, for the first time I'm very aware that I'm finishing."

The interview will be broadcast December 10 on BBC Radio4 at 9 AM GMT and again on Christmas Eve at 5 PM.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is in preproduction and should go before cameras February 2006.

Pro: Advanced screenings have led to rave reviews from the New York Daily News and others.

Con: Three hours and seven minutes, which Peter Jackson told SCI FI Wire "certainly didn't include everything we shot. There's a lot left for a DVD if we wanted to do a DVD. And we just did the process we normally do."

Pro: The infamous "spider pit" scene is back in, showing more of Skull Island. SCI FI Wire explains "In the scene, Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) and Carl Denham (Jack Black) find themselves with other survivors at the bottom of a deep canyon, beset by giant bugs and disgusting slug-like creatures," which is pretty cool.

Title: Shell Game
Origin: Original (!)
Screenwriter/Director: Len Wiseman
Studio: Lakeshore Entertainment
Premise: 50something years in the future, immortality is sold on the black market.
Production Date: Not sold yet.

Title: When World Collide
Origin: Novel by Edwin Balmer & 1951 film, directed by Rudolph Mate
Screenwriter/Director: Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, The Mummy 2)
Producer: Steven Spielberg
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Premise: A big ole planet is gonna hit Earth.
Production Date: 2007?
Special Note: The book is fun and has a superior sequel, After Worlds Collide.

Title: Fantastic Four 2
Origin: Comic book series & sequel to first film ($320 million worldwide, and you guys have only yourselves to blame)
Screenwriter: Mark Frost
Director: Tim Story
Studio: 20th Century Fox & Marvel Enterprises
Premise: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis are superheroes who battle a couple of supervillains.
Release Date: July 4, 2007

Title: Before
Origin: Original (!)
Screenwriter: Niall Johnson
Studio: Hal Lieberman Co. and Gold Circle Films
Premise: Psychic therapist investigates a series of deaths at a psych ward.
Production Date: Unknown

Title: Orbit
Origin: John Nance's novel.
Screenwriter: Sheldon Turner (The Longest Yard)
Studio: Apartment 3B Productions & Fox 2000
Premise: Civilian wins the prize of a space shuttle flight, then is all alone when crew dies. Kind of Airport 2007.
Production Date: Unknown.

Title: Peter and the Starcatchers
Origin: J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan
Screenwriters: Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Studio: Walt Disney Feature Animation
Premise: Pan: The Early Years.
Production Date: Unknown.

Title: Caved In: Prehistoric Terror
Origin: Sci Fi Channel original movie (and you know what that means)
Starring: Colm Meaney, Angela Featherstone & Christopher Atkins
Director: Richard Pepin
Premise: A family working as guide to Romanian caves is trapped by thieves and falls under attack from man-eating, prehistoric rhinoceros beetles.
Broadcast Date: January 7, 9 PM.

Title: Horton Hears a Who
Origin: Dr. Seuss' book & previous cartoon
Screenwriters: Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul
Directors: Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Animation & Blue Sky
Premise: An elephant hears a voice on a speck of dust and realizes there's tiny little itty bitty world there.
Production Date: Soon, for a Spring 2008 release

TItle: Get Smart
Origin: TV show
Screenwriters: Tom Astle and Matt Ember
Director: Peter Segal
Studio: Warner Brothers'
Starring: Steve Carell
Premise: You never saw the show?
Production Date: Soon

Plastic Man #4, Summer 1946, Art by Jack Cole
Batman #1, Spring 1940, Art by Bob Kane
The Brave And The Bold #36, June/July 1961, Art by Joe Kubert
Green Lantern #4, Jan./Feb. 1961, Art by Gil Kane & Joe Giella
The Flash #111, Feb./Mar. 1960, Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella
Wonder Woman #22 (2nd series), Nov. 1988, Art by George Pérez
Aquaman #5 (of 5), Oct. 1989, Art by Curt Swan & Al Vey
The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1, Nov. 1982, Art by Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano
Superman #11, July/Aug. 1941, Art by Fred Ray
Green Arrow #15, Sept. 2002, Art by Matt Wagner
Batman, Art by Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Wonder Woman, Art by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito
Plastic Man, Art by Dick Giordano
Superman, Art by Curt Swan & Sheldon Moldoff
Green Lantern, Art by Neal Adams
The Flash, Art by Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson
Aquaman, Art by Jim Aparo
Hawkman, Art by Murphy Anderson
Supergirl, Art by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye
Green Arrow, Art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer

Bryan Singer, who did a cameo in Nemesis, told SCI FI Wire that he would like to to direct a Trek movie: "We're huge Trekkies. And we've always talked about what we would do, and what would I do, if I were to make a film in that universe...It would involve...it would be big. It would be very big."

But Trek giveth and Trek taketh away. Decipher will no longer publish Star Trek Communicator, the official magazine of the Star Trek Fan Club, after #155, and subscribers will be refunded for remaining issues. There's little doubt another official Trek magazine will take its place in time, but there's nothing in place yet.

Just can't get enough of that heavy breathing? Then you'll want Star Wars: Dark Lord -- The Rise of Darth Vader, by James Luceno and published by Del Rey Books. It spans the gap in Vader's life between the third and fourth episodes. Excerpts are here, and you can see for yourself that it completely reads like fanfic: fragments and all.

As I've just been burned on too many SCI FI Channel miniseries, I didn't really promote The Triangle, but the December 5 premiere was the highest-rated program to air on the network since 2003 and is SCI FI's highest-rated miniseries premiere since 2002's Steven Spielberg Presents Taken. The first installment got a 3.7. So, good going, guys!

Writer/director Len Wiseman, told SCI FI Wire that the second in the Underworld series Underworld: Evolution is coming out January 20, and he's already full of ideas for the third movie in the trilogy: "We sort of mapped out an entire history and story that we then went into and decided which...one will embody the first film, second film, third film....What it is, more so than three scripts, it is a massive collection of ideas and stories that we're putting out at certain times."

One of the following news items is false. Can you spot it? (For the answer, highlight below.)

Reveal the fake (highlight): Season four of Quantum Leap will be released on DVD March 28, 2006. (TRUE SO FAR) Variety reports that Scott Bakula has been offered a tentative deal to produce and star in a feature version of the show for United, but further details have not come to light yet. (FAKE)

This Week's Question: When Harry Mudd returns in the Animated Series, what does he bring with him?

Send your answer to scifi@about.com. All correctly answering trivia maniacs will have their names mentioned in the next newsletter. 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: Name the character who gave Jadzia Dax some Klingon earrings.

For her request, Susan wants to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season. (Awww.)

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

Honorable Mentions..

"EEEEEEEK!!!! Please don't ravish me, Captain Proton!" - wow

Lobby Card from David Cronnenberg's The Elephant Man - perryder

"Where's my dinner, woman?" - BTCHONWHLS

“Little Julia never did get the hang of charades…”- Raymond

When Gracie’s wooden leg fell off, she waited patiently for the kind Shadowman to help her put it back on. - Raymond

“Hey, sailor…”- Raymond

The long-awaited “Julia in Fear” dolls from Rob Zombie Studios still needed work…”- Raymond

“Where, oh where, oh, where is Shadow…?” - Raymond

Remaxx Agents get state-of-the-art training in the "hard sell." - Raymond

“No, no, no, NOOOO!... I don’t know, I tell you!.. I don’t know whatever happened to Mary Jane…(sob).”- Raymond

“It’s no good,” Gordon spoke over his shoulder to his men. “The Joker’s been here and told The Killing Joke.”- Raymond

This week's topic: Would you like it if they made another Star Trek Next Gen movie?

It MUST be a good story, first and foremost. It will not be worthwhile, and in fact damaging to the franchise, if they do one just to bleed more money from 'the fans'. If it were done in the context of bringing together the casts from DS9 and (even) Voyager (of which, I must admit to not being a big fan of BTW), so much the better. They more than deserve to be included in Treks future, and by right, should be. I for one would be thrilled to see a DS9 movie or mini-series alone.

But it most be vital and not full of 'remeber when' sequences or tired jokes. I have always said that the best ST:TNG movie was never a movie. I am referring to the last 2 episodes, "All Good Things". It had it's retrospective moments, of course, but it was a great story and did not depend on special effects.

There is a lot left to do with Star Trek. It is not "tired" and "needs a rest". It needs good writing and stand-alone stories that is what made TOS a legend and made Star Trek a household name.

I love Star Trek: Next Gen. I watched the first run of the original series as a kid but didn't really get into Trek until Capt. Picard and crew arrived. The adult examination of complex moral issues, the admission that there aren't always easy answers even for heroes and the breadth of imagination of that series really grabbed me. (Although the most mature incarnation of Star Trek remains DS9--plop the very ethical Federation into the middle of a dirty war it can't afford to lose and watch the agonizing decisions the characters must make. Great stuff!)

That said, I haven't been happy with most of the Star Trek films. In order to make money, they pretty much have devolved into noisy shoot-'em-ups in space, which is all that most Sci Fi is in Hollywood's lectionary. The only thing the films have avoided is the cliché of making all the villains aliens or robots so the good guys can kill as many as they want without being thought of as genocidal war criminals. (Although Picard and Data may cross the line in First Contact.) But then I'm still a fan of the very first Star Trek movie--Kirk and crew can't outgun V'ger, so can they figure out what it wants and can/should they meet that desire? That's a true SF scenario.

So if the new Next Gen film is just another action film, I'm not interested. Plus the actors are getting too old to go running and hopping over rocks. Sorry, Brent; sorry, Jonathan. I think Trek needs to rest for a while. Maybe when it gets resurrected in a few years it will be fresh and exciting again, like the new Dr. Who.

NO, I don't want another bloody TNG movie. I want Trek turned over to Manny Coto, or at least to someone who has a fresh take on the franchise. I am heartily sick and tired of Paramount going back to the same old crap because it did so well back in 1990 when it was new and well-written. It's NOT like that any more. TNG is stale and exhausted, and the actors have either grown out of the characters and moved on (like Stewart and Spiner) or are clinging to their former glory because they have nothing else to do (I'm talking to you, Jon and Marina, you backstabbers). There are other stories to be told by other people who aren't afraid to take risks and go boldly and write compelling drama about characters we care for.

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.)

1. Harry Potter & Goblet of Fire..........$232,682,657
2 Walk the Line................................$70,534,542
3 Aeon Flux.....................................$15,013,103
4 Just Friends..................................$22,209,000
5 Pride and Prejudice.........................$23,488,000
6 Yours, Mine and Ours......................$35,398,774
7 Rent............................................$24,628,610
8 Chicken Little...............................$124,733,624
9 Derailed........................................$33,266,897
10 Good Night and Good Luck..............$21,273,287

1. Lost 12.7
2. Medium 8.4
3. Ghost Whisperer 7.7
4. Invasion 6.6
5. Surface 5.9
6. Alias 4.4
7. Smallville 3.5
8. Charmed 2.9
9. Supernatural 2.7

1. Alias 2.5
2. Smallville 1.8
3.Stargate Atlantis 1.8
4. Stargate SG-1 1.8
5. Star Trek: Enterprise 1.4
6. The Twilight Zone 1.1
7. Farscape 1.0
8. The Outer Limits 1.0
9. Sabrina 0.8

1. Narnia box set
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
4. Harry Potter paper box set
5. The Penultimate Peril (Lemony Snicket 12)
6. The Chronicles of Narnia
7. Eldest (Inheritance 2)
8. Wicked
9. A Feast for Crows (Ice and Fire 4)
10.The Da Vinci Code

1. Star Wars: Episode III
2. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
2. Madagascar
4. The Polar Express
5. Lost season one
6. Cinderella platinum edition
7. Firefly complete series
8. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
9. Batman Begins
10. Serenity