Sci-Fi Storm

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…

weefle writes “Yep, it’s up now at http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/x-men_2/ ! Looks like Magneto is back, and there’s a raid on Prof. X’s school for mutants. Check it out!”

Trying to piece this all together, based on the scoops at Coming Attractions: First we heard that Superman vs. Batman would go ahead with Wolfgang Petersen (The Perfect Storm, Air Force One) at the helm. Then we hear that he’s planning on doing Troy next, based on Homer’s The Illiad. Now it appears that BvS may have been put on the backburner after J.J. Abrahms (TV’s Alias, Armageddon) turned in a 200-page script for Superman 5 that apparently knoecked the socks off executives, and if they can sort out a director that project may go ahead instead.

Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, has confirmed on his web site that his cameo appearance near the beginning of Star Trek: Nemesis has been cut. He received a call from Rick Berman personally – apparently the first cut of the movie clocked in at three hours! And since the scene didn’t involved the main storyline, it got cut. Although I’m sure we’ll see it on the “super-duper extra-platinum collector’s mega-ultimate gift set” DVD…

The trailer for the movie The Core has hit the web. The movie stars Aaron Eckhart (Erin Brockovich) and Hillary Swank (Insomnia) and is about a trip to the Earth’s core to prevent a global disaster precipitated by the dumping of nuclear waste.

Update 8/19: Forget the nuclear waste. Seems it is an “unknown force” that causes the Earth’s core to stop spinning, disrupting the magnetic field.

Stumbled upon this one at Outpost Gallifrey: Sky’s entertainment channel (in the UK) announced on August 2nd that Dreamworks SKG was about to start production in a Doctor Who feature film – with Will Smith as producer! Seems far fetched, but hey – sometimes those are the true ones…

Producer Bryan Singer has confirmed most of what was reported earlier. One difference – Jubilee didn’t make the cut. Also, Storm’s role is expanded.

MTV.com is reporting that X2, the sequel to X-Men, is just full of new mutants – some we’ve already reported. But here is a list: Colossus (played by Daniel Cudmore), Jubilee (Kea Wong), Kitty Pryde (Katie Stuart), Siryn (Shauna Kain), Pyro (Aaron Stanford), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), Beast (just a cameo, probably CGI) and Gambit (Unknown). They also confirm that Toad and Sabretooth will not return.

dugh writes “It looks like Vin Deisel is hinting that there will be sequels to the great movie, Pitch Black. Of course what they could be about… who knows?” We already know about the first sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick. Apparently director David Twohy is planning ahead…

I’m pretty sure I’ve reported on the sequel to the sleeper hit Cube titled Cube 2: Hypercube, but a search doesn’t turn up anything. Anyways, Dark Horizons is reporting that it will be released in April 2003 – and apparently it is a direct-to-video release.