Sci-Fi Storm

BaronMoritani writes “Despite his very busy schedule, the author of the new Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune novels,
Brian Herbert, agreed to a very brief interview with BaronMoritani and The Landsraad Dune site.
In this interview, Brian Herbert discusses a never before mentioned Dune novel
concerning Maud’Dib’s Jihad, visiting the set of the Children of Dune miniseries,
and talks about the love of his parents, Frank and Beverly Herbert.

The interview can be viewed here:

http://groups.msn.com/TheLandsraad/bh.msnw“

Ain’t It Cool News is running an interview with Steven Lisberger, the creator of Tron. Don’t expect firm news of a sequel – Disney’s got a gag order on him about it – but there is some…

hossman writes “The past few years, I’ve found that pazsaz.com is the most
useful site for getting info on the
fall lineup, the
premiere dates, and the
new shows.”

This years Hugo Awards were given out last night, and Cinescape has the list. Here is an abbreviated version:

• Best Dramatic Presentation: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Best Short Story: ?The Dog Said Bow-Wow? by Michael Swanwick
• Best Novelette: ?Hell is the Absence of God? by Ted Chiang
• Best Novella: ?Fast Times at Fairmont High? by Vernor Vinge
• Best Novel: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

I’m sure a full list will appear at the ConJose site later.

The trades are reporting that Brad Pitt may take leave of The Fountain, the latest blow to the troubled Darren Aronofsky project. Pitt apparently believes the script is too complex, and rumors have Pitt joining the cast of Troy. With co-star Cate Blanchett (Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings) pregnant, and the previous pre-production problems, this could get shelved.

IMDB News is reporting that due to health concerns, Richard Harris, 71, who plays Professor Albus Dumbldore, may need to be replaced for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He already has had a double in the first two films, the unknown Harry Robinson, and he is the favorite to take over if Harris is too ill.

Update 8/30: Perhaps not. The Beeb is reporting that “his recovery was imminent”, and filming isn’t set to begin until February or March. At least they still have a backup…

The SCI FI Channel has announced that Stargate SG-1 is its first original series to achieve a 2.0 rating, with its August 23rd Summer Finale (Season 6 will continue in January). It’s averaging a 1.7, and is beating UPN and the WB in several key demographics. Now, I caught a rumor somewhere that the plans for a feature movie had been scrapped because it couldn’t hit 2.0 – I wonder if that has changed?

Update: It appears Avatar Press will be producing a Stargate SG-1 comic, along with several other MGM properties such as Robocop.

I heard about this prank a while back – apparently they went through with it. 70,509 people declared Jedi as their religion on the official Australian census, in the face of a AUS$1,000 fine for providing false information. Authorities say they don’t actually have any plans to collect the fines though.

Some genre movies have had their DVD dates announced (and some Amazon pre-order pages too): Scooby-Doo will be release October 11th in Widescreen and Fullscreen; Spider-Man will be released on November 1st in Widescreen, Fullscreen, and a Widescreen Collector’s Gift Set; and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones will be released in Widescreen and Fullscreen on November 12th. Men in Black II is reported for November 26th.

Actor Jeff Corey, who Babylon 5 fans will remember as the Shadows’ human spokesman Justin in the episode “Z’ha’dum”, died on August 16th at the age of 88. He also appeared in such movies as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Devil and Daniel Webster, and Beneath the Planet of the Apes.