Sci-Fi Storm

Fans in Los Angeles bid Jimmy Doohan farewell at his last convention appearance. The beloved Scotty is retiring from the convention circuit after announcing he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Later today he will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Need a Scotty fix? The first season of the original Star Trek is out today.

Mira Nair, who directed this years Vanity Failr and is best known for Monsoon Wedding, has told the Delhi Times that she has been offered the helm of Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, the fifth installment of the bespectacled franchise. Although she hasn’t decided, her son is excited (surprise!)

Jeremiah will finally conclude it’s second (and perhaps final) season on Showtime, starting September 3rd with two episodes each Friday starting at 8PM ET. Enid-Raye Adams (Taken, B5: Legend of the Rangers) will appear in 5 of the 8 episodes as Gina, who becomes an aide to Jeremiah in the town of Millhaven.

JMS recently posted on what he’s up to, giving news on what comics are coming out when (including the last three issues of Rising Stars), when Jeremiah will finally air (starting Sept. 3rd on Showtime), two possible TV projects (neither named, neither Trek), something going on in London (G’Kar: The Musical? :), and the next-to-final draft of the Babylon 5: TMoS screenplay.

Totally unsubstantiated, but there is a report circulating that Industrial Light and Magic employees are signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement to not talk about Star Wars movies 7, 8, and 9, even though George Lucas has denied their existence or plans to make them repeatedly. Update 8/26: Of course the official denial is out.

diablo-d3 writes “Elmer Bernstein has passed away.” Bernstein was the composer of over over 200 theme songs, including some classics (The Magnificent Seven), the comedic (Spies Like Us), and some you’d rather forget (Leonard Part 6)…

The Babylon 5 Movie Set is out today, which includes all 5 B5 TV movies, The Gathering (Special Edition), In the Beginning, Thirdspace, River of Souls, and A Call to Arms, completing the release of Babylon 5 to DVD. The Crusade series is still to be released, and no word yet on The Legend of the Rangers.

OK, so we are in crossover hell (no pun intended) – we’ve had Freddy vs. Jason, and Alien vs. Predator hit this past weekend. New Line wants to take the Freddy and Jason franchises further still, with a sequel – and they want to bring in Evil Dead‘s Ash into the mix, if Sam Raimi agrees. If he doesn’t, New Line will apparently move ahead anyways with a new character. Bruce Campbell will apparently reprise Ash if it happens. What’s next? Chucky vs. Puppet Master vs. Pinhead vs. Indiana Jones? I should register that web site…

Wiley Saichek writes “Suzy McKee Charnas has written an essay about teaching at the Clarion (East) Workshop this past June. Her essay, “Clarion: Teaching the best fiction writers’ workshop for fantasy and science fiction” can be found on her website at: http://www.suzymckeecharnas.com/Esy_clarion-writer s-workshop.html

Charnas has also created a blog at
http://www.livejournal.com/users/suzych“

Dreamworks and Paramount in a co-financing deal have fasttracked a remake of H.G. Wells classic War of the Worlds, set to have Steven Spielberg direct and star Tom Cruise. The contemporary adaptation is scheduled to start production in November for a 2005 release date, and the budget could exceed $100 million. This puts Cruise’s Mission Impossible 3 on a backburner, after J.J. Abrams (Alias) was brought in to replace Joe Carnahan as director.