SAG is taking a page out of the WGA play-book by trying to force the AMPTP into the kinds of negotiations the actors desire by beginning to initiate separate talks and contract deals with some independent filmmakers and studios.

MGM has confirmed that it will release the next Stargate SG-1 film titled “Stargate: Continuum” on July 29 release date. This is the second of Stargate SG-1 film going straight to standard DVD, plus this one will also be issued on Blu-ray. The first film, “Stargate: The Ark of Truth” has been a monumental success story, so the possibility for more after this next film is highly possible.

Top HD DVD backer, and one of the last hold-outs — Universal Studios has finally gotten aboard the Blu-ray disc bandwagon. Good news for Incredible Hulk fans because the Edward Norton flick comes from Universal, as does other SF and genre films like “Wanted,” “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” with Brendan Fraser and Jet Li and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.”

Author J.K. Rowling said on Wednesday publication of an unofficial encyclopedic companion to her Harry Potter books would “open the floodgates” and threaten other authors. The British author and Warner Bros. are suing the independent U.S. publisher RDR Books, because of its plans to publish “The Harry Potter Lexicon,” a 400-page reference book written by Steve Vander Ark based on his fan Web site, according to a Reuters news release.

Warner Brothers has bought film rights to “The Rapture,” an new SF novel by novelist Liz Jensen, according to Variety. Story is about a young girl with the ability to predict natural disasters as she teams up with her psychologist and a physicist to stop an offshore drilling project. The girl is convinced continued drilling will cause an apocalyptic earthquake.

Max Thierot (”Jumper) will replace Henry Lee Hopper as the lead in Wes Craven’s horror thriller “25/8″ , according to The Hollywood Reporter. The reason given for Hopper’s departure was a minor illness which would have caused too long of a delay in production. The young actor and son of the legendary Dennis Hopper is responding to treatment for mononucleosis, a minor teenage disease.

This past Tuesday night, a standing room only crowd gathered at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood to hear a sold-out concert conducted by Bear McCreary, the composer for the music in the hit television series “Battlestar Galactica,” now in its fourth and final season.

Comic book legend Stan Lee, one of the forces behind Spider-Man and the X-Men, is helping to develop a new superhero property called “Legion of 5.” Details on the story and character development are being kept locked as tight as any government top secret file and Stan is laying low, keeping out the press’ radar until it is well on its way.