Sci-Fi Storm

Word is out on the street – on August 6th, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings will be released on 2-disc DVD set – but you may not want it – because a 4-disc set with 30 minutes of additional footage and a likely ‘R’ rating will be released in November, just 5 weeks before The Two Towers hits theaters.

Looks like James Cameron is looking to update the classic Fantastic Voyage. In an interview with SCI FI Wire, Dean Devlin (Independence Day) said he and partner Roland Emmerich, at one time involved in the project, said they no longer are, but that Cameron had it now.

David Fincher, pegged to be the the director of the Rendesvous With Rama feature film spearheaded by Morgan Freeman we reported on over a year ago, gave an interview with Cinescape Online in which it is mentioned. They are still working on a script, and (surprise) it will take a lot of digital effects. Sounds like not a lot has actually progressed with it.

I haven’t seen A Beautiful Mind yet, so I don’t know if it was better, but it beat out strong contender The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in all the big categories, seemingly showing the Academy is still unwilling to accept fantasy in the mainstream. The most mainstream category LOTR got was for Original Score, plus the usual techincal stuff (Makeup, Visual Effects, Cinematography). Dreamworks’ Shrek, however, took home the first-ever Animated Feature award, beating Disney/Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., who instead took Best Song for Randy Newman’s “If I Didn’t Have You”.

We’ve already got The Outer Limits; they are talking about two Time Tunnel series, and even Lost in Space – now Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, which has come back as a series twice and even a movie, may come back again as a series – with Jonathan Frakes at the helm. The current Roswell EP and Clockstoppers director is joining The Outer Limits EP Pam Densham in developing the pilot, with Pam writing it.

This has been around – apparently the I Am Legend project is back on, but now Arnold is just a producer, and there is talks with Will Smith to star; Director Brian Singer (X-Men) will make a cameo as a bridge officer on Star Trek: Nemesis; and we’ve reported about the possible return of Knight Rider – now David Hasselhoff is talking about it as a feature film, producing it with creator Glen A. Larson.

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Thank you for your time. OK, this has actually been out since February, but its the first I’ve heard of it.

SCI FI Wire is back updating again, so here are a few of the headlines: James Cameron is set to direct the second-season finale for his show Dark Angel – the first time he ever directed a TV episode; Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to star produce and star in a remake of Michael Crichton’s Westworld; news is fast spreading on the net that Janet Jeppson’s It’s Been a Good Life, a condensed version of Issac Asimov’s autobiography, reveals the famed author died of AIDS in 1992, contracted from a blood transfusion in 1983; and Gerald DiPego (Message in a Bottle) and his two sons have been named to write the screenplay for a movie version of The Outer Limits.

According to Variety, Andrea Thompson has resigned from her position as primary anchor for the revamped CNN Headline News. The former actress (Babylon 5, JAG, NYPD Blue) became a local news anchor and then was brought in when CNN wanted to change the image of its Headline News channel. Now after only seven months, she’s decided for another change. No idea to what…

Showtime is inviting people to a chat session with Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who plays Kurdy on Jeremiah, this Friday (3/15) after the show (chat will start at 11:30pm). And on Friday, March 22nd, it will be J. Michael Straczynski himself in the chat room. Head on over to SHO.com.Update 3/15: Alas, the chat tonight is cancelled.