Sci-Fi Storm

The hoped-for release for a fourth Indiana Jones movie in 2005 is unlikely to happen as George Lucas has reportedly rejected Frank Darabont’s script. Darabount (The Green Mile) had been brought on to develop a concept that Lucas, star Harrison Ford and director Steven Spielberg all liked, but appanretly didn’t come through and a new scribe will be brought in.

Patrick Stewart has apparently spilled the beans about X-Men 3, saying the movie will be due out next year, and that he hopes it will go several more. As for Trek, “I think Star Trek is over.”

The Hollywood Report is running a story that the casting is done for The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. As previously reported, Martin Freeman (The Office) is Arthur Dent, Mos Def (The Italian Job) is Ford Prefect, and Zooey Deschanel (Elf) as Trillian. No confirmation on Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast, or who is playing Zaphod Beeblebrox.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King swepts its categories at the Golden Globes, winning Best Film Drama, Best Directory (Peter Jackson), Best Original Score and Best Song (“Into the West” performed by Annie Lennox). Those bodes well for the Oscars, for which nominations come out tomorrow. However, it will have to fight some Oscar traditions, which generally don’t favor sequels. Update 1/27: RotK took the lead with 11 nominations, but not for Cinematography, which the first one won in 2002, or any acting categories.

According to SCI FI Wire (I couldn’t find the original), in an interview with BBCi Films Bill Nighy, previously rumored to be a front runner for the Doctor Who position, spilled the beans that he has been cast as Slartibartfast in the new Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy feature film, with fellow Love, Actually actor Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent.

We’ve been following the slow progress of Morgan Freeman’s production of Rendezvous with Rama for a while, but there hasn’t been any new news until now. Revelations Entertainment announced at CES that they plan to release a movie in the future simultaneously in theaters as well as on the Internet – and this is apparently Rama. Note that I saw another report about this, and the movie name wasn’t given, but it is the likely candidate.

Want to see The Hobbit on the big screen? Apparently so does New Line, which is is looking to pick up the rights, although they apparently haven’t discussed the possibility with Peter Jackson yet. Jackson also is trying to build a museum in Wellington, NZ as a thank you for filming there, but the Tolkien Estate so far won’t allow it, so negotiations for The Hobbit could be at issue as well. Update 1/5: There is more info about the rights. Apparent New Line does own the production rights, but somehow United Artists owns the distribution rights, and I’m guessing the hangup is that they won’t work together…

Want to join the “Igeneration” with your own model NS-5 fully automated Personal Domestic Assistant? Complete with positronic brain, Teresa 2.1.2 OS (and free for life US updates!), and 24/7/365 support, you can free up your life for the more enjoyable things. Guaranteed 3 Laws Safe! Head on over to IRobotNow. (Flash and Quicktime required)

Over at Dark Horizons there is mention that Lion’s Gate Films is working on a prequel to the interesting 1997 film Cube, where several people find themselves prisoners inside a maze of cubes, some of which move, and some of which are deadly. The prequel, named Cube Zero, looks to wipe away the “clean” look of it’s predecessor (and the sequel Hpercube, which I haven’t seen yet), and go for a dirtier, grittier look.

Not a lot newswise worth publishing over the weekend that we haven’t already covered. Even this isn’t really new news, but a confirmation – the 7 minute scene fearturing the defeated Saruman originally filmed for the The Two Towers but later tacked on to The Return of the Kins only to be cut, will appear on the extended edition DVD of The Return of the King. The original edit clocked in at 4 hours and 15 minutes. In the meantime, the limited release of the extended edition of The Two Towers in theaters brought in another $700k.