Roddenberry's Andromeda Set For Launch
ribune Entertainment has given the green light to a new hour-long SF TV series called Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.
The show was developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe and will be headlined by former Hercules: The Legendary Journeys star Kevin Sorbo.
Sorbo will play the role of Dylan Hunt, the last starship captain of the Earth-based government known as the Commonwealth, which spans a thousand worlds and embraces hundreds of races and cultures. In recent years the Commonwealth has been plunged into darkness and ruin by a civil war, and Hunt is determined to restore the society to its former greatness.
Hunt finds unlikely allies in a group of mercenary aliens who sign on to crew his ship. Together they travel the cosmos, weaving together the many diverse worlds of the galaxy in order to bring peace to the far-flung reaches of space.
The syndicated series has already received two-year commitments from 60 TV markets--which represent 60 percent of the United States--and is set for a fall 2000 launch. Sorbo is executive producing Andromeda along with Majel Barrett Roddenberry and Eric Gold, while Wolfe will co-executive produce.
Andromeda is one of two Roddenberry projects that are under development at Tribune, which also produces the successful syndicated series Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict. All of the shows are based on concepts that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry developed before his death.
Star Trek Stamp Unveiled
he United States Post Office gave the public a sneak peek at a new 33-cent stamp that commemorates the Star Trek TV series created by Gene Roddenberry in 1966.
The stamp was unveiled on Sept. 8, 1999--the 33rd anniversary of Star Trek--at the Star Trek: The Experience ride at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nev.
The stamp features the U.S.S. Enterprise shown against a brightly lit background that includes the Starfleet insignia. The stamp will be officially issued on Sept. 17 in Green Bay, Wis., along with 14 other stamps that pay homage to famous events of the 1960s.
Farscape Star Discusses Pitch Black
arscape star Claudia Black (Aeryn Sun) recently visited the SCI FI Channel offices in New York, N.Y., and took the opportunity to talk to SCI FI Wire about her upcoming SF film Pitch Black.
Pitch Black is currently scheduled to hit theaters in January 2000 and stars Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell and Cole Hauser in a story that has been likened to Scream in space.
In the film Black, a native of Australia, plays the supporting role of Shazza, a biologist who specializes in extraterrestrial life forms. Shazza and her husband Zeke are passengers aboard a starship that crash lands on a planet which is usually bathed in perpetual sunlight but which falls into total darkness once every 60 years.
Unfortunately for the stranded passengers, when darkness falls a variety of vicious creatures wake up from 60 years of sleep and begin eating anything that moves. Zeke quickly falls prey to the nighttime carnivores, and it becomes clear that the only hope of the survivors lies in a convicted murderer named Riddick (Diesel), whose eyes have been enhanced for night vision.
"The job came up and I thought that it was exciting because it was a big budget
by Australian standards," Black said. "It was a groovy story. I thought it was quite
interesting and it had a few original concepts in it that I liked. And it was a
nice way to get into feature films without having the burden of a lead role for my
first feature."
Unfortunately for Black, she was still filming Pitch when the Farscape producers began looking for someone to play Aeryn Sun, and she almost missed out on the TV role. "[The Pitch Black producers] had enormous troubles making me available, and they had to delay the shoot of the principal photography on Farscape until I was ready to come."
However, things worked out in the end, and playing Shazza even helped Black prepare for her role as the tough-as-nails Sun. "Shazza was a nice stepping stone to Aeryn," Black explained. "It was good to find that sort of raw, strong physicality in Shazza."
Guinness Killed Obi-Wan
lec Guinness, the actor who is most widely remembered for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy, isn't a big fan of the Force.
According to Variety, Guinness reveals in an upcoming issue of Talk magazine that he was the one who thought of having Obi-Wan die in the first film, telling director George Lucas that the character would be more poignant as a ghost.
"What I didn't tell him was that I just couldn't go on speaking those bloody
awful, banal lines," he tells Talk. "I'd had enough of the mumbo jumbo."
The 85-year-old Guinness also says that he thinks Star Wars fans are obsessive and that he simply throws away his fan mail. "I shrivel up every time someone mentions Stars Wars to me," he adds.
Spielberg Undecided About Kubrick's AI
teven Spielberg may not be getting ready to take the helm of Stanley Kubrick's unfinished SF film AI after all.
Earlier this week Reuters cited the U.K.'s Sunday Times as saying that Warner Bros. and Kubrick's family were on the verge of giving Spielberg the go-ahead to take over the project.
However, a Spielberg spokesperson told USA Today that the director is not thinking beyond his next two films, Minority Report and Memoirs of a Geisha. That doesn't mean Spielberg won't eventually take on AI, just that his schedule is already filled for the near future.
Rhys-Davies, Bloom Join Rings Fellowship
in't It Cool News is reporting that former Sliders star John Rhys-Davies has been cast as Gimli in Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Also, the relatively unknown actor Orlando Bloom has been signed to play the role of Legolas, despite previous rumors that Jude Law would land that part.
All of the major "Fellowship" roles have now been cast for Rings, except for the pivotal part of Boromir.
Showtime Beyond Is A Go
howtime Networks officially launched its new Showtime Beyond SF channel on Sept. 12.
The multiplex channel is designed "to transport viewers beyond their everyday reality" by focusing on science fiction, fantasy and horror programming.
Showtime Beyond will showcase movies such as Starship Troopers and Phantoms, as well as episodes from Showtime's original SF series like The Hunger. Showtime Beyond is available on cable and DBS platforms as well as to C-Band users who have General Instruments' 4DTV receiver.
Sixth Tops Box Office For 5th Week
he Sixth Sense finished No. 1 at the box office during the Labor Day holiday, marking its fifth week in the top spot.
The supernatural thriller pulled in an estimated $28.5 million over the four-day weekend, breaking the record of $17.2 million set by The Fugitive in 1993.
The Sixth Sense has now become the only film other than Titanic to earn more than $20 million for five straight weekends. The movie has taken in $175.5 million to date and will likely finish its U.S. domestic run with more than $250 million in ticket sales.
Meanwhile, The 13th Warrior picked up $8.4 million for a No. 3 finish, and the SF action comedy Chill Factor took the No. 6 spot with $5.7 million. The Blair Witch Project claimed eighth place with $3.8 million, and The Astronaut's Wife rounded out the SF movies in the box-office top 10 by earning $3.5 million for the No. 10 spot.
Briefly Noted
- David Hasselhoff will reportedly make a guest appearance as a plastic surgeon on an upcoming episode of 3rd Rock From the Sun.
- Showtime has canceled Total Recall 2070, the TV series that was loosely based on Arnold Schwarzenegger the movie Total Recall. Stargate SG-1 and The Outer Limits have been renewed.
- The new Sci-Fi UK Web site is up and running at http://uk.scifi.com.
- Sean Bean has landed the role of Boromir in the upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Ain't It Cool News.
- Rena Mero, the female wrestler formerly known as Sable, is reportedly interested in joining a TV series based on the SF feature film Heavy Metal.
