If you happen to be in the crowd watching this year’s Rose Bowl parade, look out! There will be a whole squad of Lucas’ Stormtroopers in full regalia marching in formation behind the floats.
Before the age of 30 this actor/writer co-starred in two TV classic series known for breaking new ground when it came to overcoming stereotypes and he was instrumental in creating another family sitcom that continued that barrier-breakdown effort. Mike Evans, not generally associated with the scifi/fantasy/horror genre died this week of throat cancer at the age of 57. He was part of the cast of “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons” and co-created family sitcom “Good Times.” He also starred in the award-winning miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man.” What many may not remember is that early in his career, Mike starred in the horror flick “The House On Skull Mountain” and the SF/comedy movie “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t” with Kurt Russell.
Hugh Jackman put an end to any rumor that he will be playing District Attorney Harry Dent (Two Face) in Chris Nolan’s next Batman production titled “Batman: The Dark Knight.” Jackman told the The Herald-Sun newspaper, “I think because I’d worked with Chris Nolan (in Prestige)…. I think it was just fanboy stuff.”
Director James Cameron, just this week, gave out an update concerning his highly anticipated film “Avatar.” Here is what he had to say about some the technology involved and a possible release date: “The film requires me to create an entirely new alien culture and language, and for that I want ‘photo-real’ CGI characters. Sophisticated enough ‘performance-capture’ animation technology is only coming on stream now. I’ve spent the last 14 months doing performance-capture work – the actor performs the character and then we animate it….I’ll spend many months completing the special effects on ‘Avatar’, and it will not be released until the summer of 2009. It’s quite a challenge – and for that reason, I embrace it.”
Actor Malcom McDowell will take on the role made popular by another famous English actor. Director Rob Zombie has cast McDowell to portray Dr. Loomis, the psychologist so wonderfully played by the award-winning actor Donald Pleasence in John Carpenter’s original 1978 Halloween film. Also cast are Daeg Faerch, who will play Michael Myers at age 10 (Faerch will also be in the remake of “Freakshow” due out in 2007), Heather Bowen and Sheri Moon (one of Zombies’ staples). Look for its release on August 31, 2007.
All you Tom Cruise fans will be happy to know that “Mission Impossible III” is the top selling DVD in the high definition format for 2006.
In our final bit of news, just to keep everything in the holiday spirit; Dark Horse Deluxe, (the merchandising wing of Dark Horse Comics) is offering to Firefly/Serenity fans and those who enjoy collectibles, a limited edition ornament that has the Serenity movie as its theme. Called “Serenity in Disquise” the ornament displays the vessel as it looked once the crew camouflaged it in order to pass through Reaver space. You have until March 1, 2007 to get your order in and it will only set you back $19.99 SRP (US). Orders will be shipped in May 2007.