In the past few weeks, rumors have cropped up that there could be a new series of “Star Wars” movies headed directly to the small-screen.
Turns out these rumors are false.
Lucasfilm representative Steve Sansweet squashed the speculation and updated fans on what they can expect from “a galaxy far, far away…”
“I can absolutely tell you that is not true,” he said. “There are going to be two more Star Wars television series. One of them is well into production. That is Star Wars: Clone Wars. It’s a CG animated show, which we suspect will be on the air sometime next year. And then George and Rick McCullen were just now starting work on a live action series. A drama. That will probably be coming out in 2009 or 2010. He is actively at work on both of those. But the CG animated series is more adult. It has a lot of humor in it. It is very cinematic.”
Sansweet also confirms that there’s no plans to air footage at the upcoming SW Celebration convention – “The tv show has not yet found a home on television. Until that happens, they are telling me that they are unable to show any actual footage.”
CHUD is reporting that Karen Allen will return to the Indiana Jones franchise for the series’ fourth installent.
Allen played Marion Ravenwood in the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and has been rumored to reprise the role in each of the last two installments of the Indy series. Speculation has it that Marion would return and be revealed as the mother of Indy’s son, played by Shia LaBeouf.
As of now, these are just rumors and nothing official has been confirmed by the studio or anyone officially involved with the production.
The cast of the upcoming “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” discussed the evolution of their characters from the first film to the upcoming sequel.
The returning cast features Jessica Alba as Susan Storm, Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm and Michael Chiklis at Ben Grimm.
“We’re all very much a family,” Alba said during a break in filming. “We all live together. We’re getting married—that’s sort of the centerpiece for my character in this movie. … It’s all about the wedding. She’s sort of Bridezilla, in the best way. You know, she’s stressed.”
Richards comes into his own as the leader of the Fantastic Four, Ioan Gruffudd said. “Yes, finally,” he said. “Reed Richards is taking center stage. And about time, too, really. … He’s much more comfortable with his role as the leader and as the sort of the father figure, really, of the family. And I’m delighted about that. … And, of course, [the] relationship between Sue and [me] is much more intimate. Much more real. It’s more three-dimensional and developed and evolved. And an interesting part that Jessica brought up [is] … that we’re much more comfortable now at being superheroes.”
For Ben Grimm, “he’s taken another step with his relationship with Alicia in this picture,” Chiklis said. “If Reed Richards is the leader and the brain of this outfit, I would think that Ben Grimm would be the heart. … He’s a lovable curmudgeon. He’s … come to grips much more with his malady [laughs] of being a superhero.” Chiklis added that the rubber suit he wears is more comfortable and manageable this time around. “The last one didn’t have a zipper,” he said. “So it just made it into, like, a 45-minute ordeal to urinate, frankly. Sorry.”
Evans said that Johnny Storm is less of a loner in the sequel. “In the first one, I think Johnny was kind of a one-man show and wanted center stage,” he said. “And I think the reason the Fantastic Four have always succeeded as a group of superheroes and as a comic book is that they’re a family. They’re a unit. They’re a group. I think Johnny has to know and respect that, and I think in this movie he kind of learns to appreciate the relationships around him.”
We will be talking more about the next F4 film on our Slice of SciFi Show #111 due out on May 30 from the Balticon.
Anthony Michael Hall has a small but pivotal role in the upcoming “The Dark Knight” but if you want to know more, you’ll have to wait until the movie comes out.
“I signed a confidentiality agreement, and I can’t say which part I’m playing because it affects the story,” says Hall. “I can’t give away the suspense — it’s a $200 million surprise, and I don’t want to be the guy to ruin it.”
He adds, “I’m excited about it — Christian Bale back as Batman. Heath Ledger is joining the cast as the Joker. Of course, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine return, and they’re great.”
Producers for “The Dark Knight” wanted Hall on set the day filming began on the sequel and Hall had to bend-over backward to get there. Hall was able to work out a break from filming the sixth season of “The Dead Zone” to fly to London and film his scenes.
“My crew agreed to take a three-day weekend so I could fly Friday to go to London,” says the actor, who’s also one of the series’ producers. “It was just a thrill. I felt like a rock star leaving the set, flying to London, going to shoot on a Saturday, you know?” He adds, “My crew really gave me a gift because they had to all vote union-wise to agree to not take a day’s pay to help me out. I felt very honored that they did that for me.”
He says he’s not scheduled to rejoin “The Dark Knight” shooting till August, after “The Dead Zone” has wrapped. “They’re shooting in London, Chicago and Hong Kong. My next dates are in Chicago, the third week of August with Morgan, then I get to go back to London.” He adds he’s never been a comic-book fan, but “I loved the ‘Batman’ series, so Batman has truly always meant something to me. It’s really been one of my dreams as an actor to become Batman.”
For now, he’s just happy flying in the same airspace. “It’s really a great role. I’m in throughout the whole movie, and I’m really looking forward to working with Christian, Caine, Morgan and all these real Hollywood heavy hitters.”