Science Fiction Weekly, July 24, 2006

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NEWS OF THE WEEK FOR JUL. 24, 2006

SG-1's Anderson Back In Saddle

Richard Dean Anderson, who played Jack O'Neill for most of Stargate SG-1's ( http://www.scifi.com/stargate/ ) previous nine seasons, returns for a few episodes in the SCI FI Channel original series' current 10th season and told SCI FI Wire that it took a little adjustment to play the general again. "It took a couple of hours," Anderson said in an interview at a party to celebrate the show's unprecedented run in Pasadena, Calif., over the weekend. He added: "I was a little rusty, I have to be honest. ... I didn't stretch, let's put it that way. I should have. My wind was a little low. But once I got back over there with the group that I grew up with, let's say, in the Stargate franchise, everything all just fell back into line, and we all remembered each other right away."

Anderson's O'Neill returns in the show's upcoming 200th episode, and he will also make special guest appearances in a number of additional episodes of both SG-1 and its spinoff series, Stargate Atlantis ( http://www.scifi.com/atlantis/ ). "It was by invitation only," Anderson joked. "[Executive producers] Brad [Wright] and Robert [C. Cooper] both called me, independent of each other. I don't know if they knew that. Of course they did: They collaborate on everything. But they called and asked if I'd be interested in ... being part of the 200th episode, and ... I wouldn't miss that. It's a milestone. As you may have heard tonight, it's a record [for an American SF show]. Two different kinds of records, and I think Guinness wants a part of us, too. But yeah, I was fine with that. I wouldn't have missed that for anything. And then the four more episodes were negotiated, I guess, to be fair about it, and it all fell into place. And I was ready to come back and see the folk. If they hadn't invited me to come back to work for a little while, I would have been up there anyway vacationing and checking in with everybody. In fact, my daughter and I, Wylie and I are leaving tomorrow to go back up there. We're going to go up to a friend's cabin and spend some time north of Vancouver."

As for where Gen. O'Neill has been all this time? "Good question," Anderson said with a smile. "You should ask that of more people who work there, because I don't [know]. In the four ... extra episodes that I came back to do, three of them were Atlantis, or Atlanti. But I think the answer was there. We sort of had to make it up while we were standing there. Not a writer to be found. It was basically, he's been in Washington, sort of hiding behind a desk somewhere in charge of [something]. I think Brad might have told me what it was, but I don't recall. Apparently he's in Washington, and they don't have an answer for me or for anybody when it comes to, I guess, the ultimate question: What's going to happen to O'Neill, since he is still alive. I'm hoping that, God forbid this show should be over, but if it is, I'd love to be seen just floating away into space naked. Or partially naked. Or CGI naked. ... Yeah. Stand-in. Use a stand-in. It would be fun to just float away. But I'm still alive, so I have no answers for you." Stargate SG-1 is currently airing Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

Ledger To Play Batman's Joker?

Latino Review ( http://www.latinoreview.com/news.php?id=736 ) is reporting a rumor that Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger is being offered the coveted role of the Joker in the upcoming Batman Begins sequel film.

"We just got word from a very trusted source that the offer last night was officially made to Heath Ledger to star as the Joker in the Batman Begins sequel," the site reported.

The movie will reportedly reintroduce the Caped Crusader's most famous nemesis.

Howard Drops Trou In Lady

Bryce Dallas Howard, who stars in M. Night Shyamalan's fantasy film Lady in the Water, told SCI FI Wire that playing a mythical "narf" who suddenly appears clad only in her birthday suit meant that she had to walk around dressed only in a man's long-sleeved shirt for the majority of the film. "It was breezy," the actress said with a laugh about her revealing costume in an interview in New York. "That was an interesting thing, because I have a tendency in my own personal life to dress very modestly and to be slightly inhibited physically, and I was constantly thinking, 'If I put on under garments will that make me comfortable so I won't be inhibited? Or do I just go there ... and wear the shirt only?' It was something that I always had to think about and negotiate with myself."

In Lady in the Water, Howard plays Story, a mythic storybook creature who gets trapped in the human world, where she finds herself protected by a community of disparate neighbors in an apartment complex in suburban Philadelphia.

Describing the physical transformation needed to become the very pale and delicate creature, Howard said: "I was a lot thinner when I did the film, because [Story] was ill, and I did want to create a fragile look, as much as my bone structure would take." The actress said she underwent full body makeup daily to achieve the character's translucent look. "It took about three hours to take all my freckles away. It was my whole body, making me very, very pale," she said with a laugh. Lady in the Water opened nationwide on July 21. —Tara DiLullo

Lady's Shyamalan Gets In The Act

M. Night Shyamalan, writer and director of the fantasy thriller Lady in the Water, told SCI FI Wire that he also appears in the film as a struggling writer, his largest acting role in a major film to date. "There is always this thing of 'Well, what do you do? Do you do the Hitchcock thing? Do you do the Woody Allen thing? What do you do?' I don't really do anything," Shyamalan said in an interview in New York. "This is just what I do. And this is as big a role as I will ever play, because there is a physical limit to it, because I can't direct. In the end, I think I was in 20 scenes out of a hundred and something, and that is the limit that it could be. It's more comfortable in maybe 15 scenes."

Asked why he writes parts for himself in his films, Shyamalan offered, "In each movie, there is a spiritual center for me in the movie. There is the movie's overall theme, and then, like in Signs, there was the redemption guy [Shyamalan's character killed Mel Gibson's wife in a car accident in that film] that wants forgiveness, so there was something I needed to express like that. They really tie me to the movie in a way, so there is only one door out now ... if I am truthful, and I have faith in that, and I am telling a story of genuine truth, and I'm not artificial, and there is nothing about ego. There is one thing: to be vulnerable with it. I have also been dancing with who I am in these movies. I want to be comfortable with the oddity and the misfit part of it."

Addressing the casting of Paul Giamatti as Cleveland Heep, the main character in Lady in the Water, Shyamalan said, "I just think he is the greatest. As a director, I can't believe he isn't the first choice for every movie. He can convey every emotion. He can do physical comedy. He can do drama. He can scare the s--t out of you. He can do anything. His eyes are so pure."

As for casting Story, the mystical heroine of the film, Shyamalan returned to actress Bryce Dallas Howard, who starred in his previous film, The Village. "Bryce is not normal, so she is a perfect choice to play not normal," Shyamalan said. "There is nothing in her makeup that is like a normal 24-year-old girl. She is just from another planet. The Island of Misfits. We are definitely on that together." Asked if she matured in her craft since 2004's The Village, Shyamalan said: "There was definitely a kid on The Village, and now there is a woman. There is elegance, like a royalty, about her, and now she's attained that." Lady in the Water opened nationwide on July 21. —Tara DiLullo

Eureka Breaks Ratings Record

SCI FI's new original series Eureka ( http://www.scifi.com/eureka/ ) garnered the network's highest-ever ratings for a series telecast in its history. The July 18 two-hour premiere got a 3.2 household rating, or more than 4 million viewers. That included 1.9 million aged 25-54 and 1.7 million aged 18-49.

Eureka was the number-one cable program on July 18 in household ratings, in total viewers and in the 25-54 and 18-49 demographics.

Eureka was also the highest-rated and most-watched premiere telecast of a cable original series in Tuesday prime time this year.

Eureka is executive-produced by Andrew Cosby and Jaime Paglia and stars Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Joe Morton, Jordan Hinson, Debrah Farentino and Ed Quinn. It airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Eureka's Farentino Loves Science

Debrah Farentino, who co-stars on the SCI FI original series Eureka ( http://www.scifi.com/eureka/ ), told SCI FI Wire that the show was a perfect fit for her. Farentino plays Dr. Beverly Barlowe, a respected psychotherapist living and working in Eureka, home to a variety of brilliant and sometimes emotionally troubled scientists and inventors.

"Well, my hobby is science, actually, molecular biology," Farentino said during a conference call. "In between jobs I've slowly been continuing my studies. I'm probably on a very long road, still, to getting my bachelor's. So, actually, when this script came to me, I had taken a couple of years off to study molecular biology. And my agent called me and said, 'Debrah, here is one I think you are going love, because it combines science with great characters and intriguing stories.' So, yeah, I brought some of that to the plate."

Farentino said that she expects Eureka—in which she stars with Colin Ferguson, Joe Morton, Matt Frewer and Salli Richardson-Whitfield—to be a very different experience from her best-known previous genre entry, the SF series Earth 2. "Earth 2 was a great experience, we worked about 90 hours a week for 11 months," she said. "Just to get that show made was really a huge mountain to climb, and that scared me. But I saw that [Eureka] seemed very well thought out, well put together, with a great ensemble cast. Colin has had to carry the burden of the work, and he does it with such a great attitude and always has energy. Given the hours [he's] working, it's impressive. And for me it's just the most fun genre to work in, because you don't get these characters in more traditional storytelling." Eureka premiered July 18 at p.m. ET/PT. —Ian Spelling

[b]Illusionist's Giamatti Does Period

Paul Giamatti, who plays a Viennese police inspector in the supernatural period movie The Illusionist, told SCI FI Wire that the film role offered him a rare departure on screen. "Neil Burger, the guy who wrote it, came to me with the script, and they were interested in me for the part," Giamatti (Lady in the Water) said in an interview. "I haven't done a period thing like this on film, and I was really excited at the idea of going to Prague [to shoot it]. I like the idea of the period thriller, and people don't make many of them anymore."

An adaptation of Steven Millhauser's short story "Eisenheim the Illusionist," The Illusionist stars Edward Norton as a turn-of-the-century magician who falls in love with a young woman (Jessica Biel) far above his social standing. Once she becomes engaged to the Crown Prince of Vienna, the magician uses his powers to enthrall her into his favor, potentially disrupting the stability of the royal house. Giamatti plays the dour Chief Inspector Uhl, who is investigating the magician.

Asked what was the major challenge of the role, Giamatti said: "The accent was a thing really wanted for the movie. He was very concerned that there be this consistent accent, because there were British actors and American actors, and he wanted a certain heightened sensibility in it, so he wanted us to do this German thing. The accent was huge for my character. ... It really gave me the character, basically. I worked with an amazing Irishman named Brendan Gunn, who is one of the best dialect guys in the world. He worked with us, and it was great. We didn't have a whole lot of time. I wish I had more time, but it was great. An accent for me always helps me. It changes everything, especially that German thing for that kind of guy makes me all kind of somber, like a big German guy drinking beer," he said with a laugh. The Illusionist opens nationwide on Aug. 18. —Tara DiLullo

[b]Giamatti Bugs In Ant Bully

Paul Giamatti, who voices Stan the exterminator in the upcoming animated film The Ant Bully, told SCI FI Wire that he plays the villain of the piece. "It's a very fun movie," Giamatti said in an interview in New York. "I'm the guy trying to kill all the ants, not very successfully. I play this really scummy guy. Way scummier than I thought it was going to be. I was a little disturbed by how scummy the way they make me look. He was less scummy-looking, and they made him fatter and scuzzier after I recorded it," he added with a laugh.

The Ant Bully centers on a little boy named Lucas Nickle (Zach Tyler), who is obsessed with flooding his backyard ant hills with his water pistol. He is magically shrunk down to insect size and then sentenced to hard labor by the ant colony on the receiving end of his torture. Giamatti's character is called in to rid the property of the ants, providing another life-threatening challenge for Lucas to overcome.

Giamatti is still relatively new to animation voice work and said it is surprisingly challenging. "I find it hard," he said. "I don't necessarily think my voice is my best feature. I'm not sure what my best feature is, but it's not my voice. But I find it hard because of that disembodied thing. I still find it hard to put all that expression just into my voice. It's weird. You stand in a booth, and you never interact with the other people, and somehow it works great, which is always amazing to me." The film also features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Cheri Oteri, Bruce Campbell and Julia Roberts. The Ant Bully opens nationwide on July 28. —Tara DiLullo

Craig Reprising 007 In Bond 22

Daniel Craig, who is slated to make his debut as James Bond in November's Casino Royale, will again play superspy 007 in the proposed 22nd Bond movie, producers told the Reuters news service on July 20. The as-yet-untitled 22nd Bond movie is slated for release on May 2, 2008.

The story and details of the 22nd Bond movie were not disclosed.

Michell To Helm Bond 22?

Daniel Craig hasn't made his debut yet as James Bond, but producers of Craig's upcoming Casino Royale are busy making plans for the next chapter in the 007 franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

U.K.-based helmer Roger Michell is in negotiations to direct the follow-up to Casino Royale, which has a working title of Bond 22, the trade paper reported.

Columbia Pictures, which is producing Casino Royale and Bond 22 alongside MGM, declined comment. And while plot details for Bond 22 remain sketchy, sources told the trade paper that the film is based on an original idea from Bond producer Michael Wilson. Eon Productions is looking for a writer to adapt.

Casino Royale opens Nov. 17.

Sky's The Limit In Super Ex

Ivan Reitman, director of the superhero romantic comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend, told SCI FI Wire that one of the film's funniest sequences was also one of the most grueling to shoot. In the film, Uma Thurman plays Jenny Johnson/G-Girl, a superhero who gets involved with a regular guy named Matt (Luke Wilson); in the particular scene, G-Girl whisks Matt high above New York City for what cast and crew referred to as a "sky-bonk."

"I didn't want to do that scene at all," Reitman said during a press conference in New York. "One thing that was hard was that it was really cold this [past] fall. This was one of the coldest falls that we've ever had, and we had carefully sort of tried to schedule [the sky-bonk and the finale] out on the street in the early part of the schedule so that we could get everyone in there. We had a lot of scheduling issues on this film as well. We were finally able to do it in the beginning of November, hoping that, 'Well, New York, beginning of November, it's usually quite nice. It should be all right.' It turned out to be, like, minus 10, minus 5 [Celsius]. It was horrible out, and we were dying out in the street."

Reitman, whose credits include Ghostbusters and Evolution, added: "That was the worst part of it, but it's not about that. The special effects are difficult, because they're not as fun to do. Most of the time it's fun to do these things, because you have really talented actors doing humorous things together, and that's the joy of it." My Super Ex-Girlfriend opened July 21. —Ian Spelling

Thurman Sees Life In Super-Ex

Uma Thurman, who stars in the superhero romantic comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend, told SCI FI Wire that she got a kick out of playing a somewhat twisted superhero in the film, but that she appreciated that the film is steeped more in reality than most SF fare. The Ivan Reitman-directed movie stars Thurman as Jenny Johnson/G-Girl, a powerful, jealous, controlling and manipulative superhero who wreaks all kinds of havoc on mere mortal Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) after he makes the mistake of breaking up with her.

"Well, I think that one of the great things about the script is that, unlike the typical valiant-type superhero that's like, 'Oh, yes, I must go save the world,' unlike that, there's a whole comedy base here with the reality of it all," Thurman said during a press conference in New York. "Here's this girl like any of us, who stumbles on a rock, and by the way she says 'girl' [rather than woman] because she is [a] girl, and so if she called herself [a] woman at 17, she would have a problem. But she really is more tense than kryptonite."

Thurman added: "She's just a real person. She wants to have a real life. She just deals with her responsibility of having super powers, but she really resents it. I guess that's the humor in the piece." My Super Ex-Girlfriend swooped into theaters on July 21. —Ian Spelling

Devlin's Isobar Moves Forward

Producer Dean Devlin (SCI FI Channel's The Triangle ( http://www.scifi.com/triangle/ )) told SCI FI Wire that he's resurrecting the long-gestating SF movie Isobar, to be directed by Peter Winther, a longtime producing partner of Devlin's.

"Isobar is the film that originally brought Roland Emmerich [Independence Day] from Germany to the U.S. back in 1990," Devlin said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 20. "And at the time it was going to be a $90 million movie. ... It was going to star Sylvester Stallone and Kim Basinger. Joel Silver was the producer, and the executive producer was Mario Kassar."

The story has evolved since then, as has the casting, Devlin said. "It's evolved, but, I mean, the central concept is still a world that has no air," he said. "And all cities are now underground, with forced air. And the story centers on the first luxury-liner underground train ride from Los Angeles to Tokyo, and, of course, something goes horribly wrong."

Silver, Kassar, Stone and Basinger are no longer involved; as for the current casting, Devlin declined to say.

The film has been delayed because of disagreements. "Roland asked me to write the script, or rewrite the script," Devlin said. "Before I even handed in my draft, the studio hired somebody else to write a different script. So when the two scripts came out, Roland said, 'I'll do Dean's script. I won't do the other script.' They said, 'You'll do the other script, and that's it.' And Roland quit the picture, and everyone was shocked. They said, 'Why? You know, he's getting his big break, and he's quitting the picture.' And he said, 'Well, I don't want to make a $90 million failure.' And he walked off the movie, and he and I enjoyed a nice 12-year partnership making movies."

Isobar will begin shooting at the end of October or beginning of November. "The irony is the man who's going to direct it was Roland's assistant when he was originally going to direct it, back in 1990," Devlin said.

Devlin was at Comic-Con to promote his upcoming World War I drama Flyboys, starring James Franco, a movie based on the famed Lafayette Escadrille of fighter pilots. It opens Sept. 29. —Patrick Lee, News Editor, with Maria Virobik

Devlin Develops New Stargates

Dean Devlin, co-writer and producer of the original Stargate movie, told SCI FI Wire that he has struck a production deal with MGM and is developing the long-delayed sequel feature films that will pick up the story from the 1994 original—but not the mythology subsequently elaborated on in the SCI FI Channel original series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Devlin added that he hopes to enlist original stars Kurt Russell (Jack O'Neill) and James Spader (Dr. Daniel Jackson), who have expressed an interest.

"When we created the original Stargate, we always envisioned it as a trilogy, and, unfortunately, the way in which the movie got made, we didn't really have control over [it]," Devlin (The Triangle) said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 20. "We didn't have the ability to do two and three. MGM had then made a big commitment to doing the [SG-1] series, and they were worried that the movie could interfere with the series. Well, now that the series has run so successfully for so long and spawned a second series, and there's a whole new regime at MGM, they're not really worried about [it]. The series is running great on its own. And they think there is an audience out there who would like to see what parts two and ... three were intended to be. Because there was a larger story arc that we had in mind, and we never got to explore it so I think it will be very exciting to actually get to go do parts two and three."

Both Russell and Spader have expressed interest, Devlin added. "They've always said they wanted to do it. ... The irony is actually because it was 12 years ago that we made Stargate, [and] part two was actually supposed to take place about 12 years later. We were just going to kind of age them up as actors. So it actually works out really nicely."

The sequels would steer clear of the TV show mythologies, Devlin added. "That's right," he said. "We would just continue the mythology of the movie and finish that out. I think the series could still live at the end of the third sequel. So we're going to try to not tread on their stories."

Roland Emmerich directed the first film. "Roland wants to be involved in the development of it, and he wants the first opportunity to decide if he gets to direct it," Devlin said. "I think a lot of it will depend on what it costs to make. Roland now, he's making some pretty big pictures, so a lot of it will depend upon how much money I can raise to [do] parts two and three. But he definitely is interested in it. He's always loved the story arc, and the second and third parts are really interesting, and so it would be fun, it would be fun to explore."

Devlin was at Comic-Con to promote his upcoming World War I drama Flyboys, starring James Franco, a movie based on the famed Lafayette Escadrille of fighter pilots. It opens Sept. 29. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

Descent Was Dirty Job

Shauna Macdonald, the Scottish actress who stars in the upcoming SF horror movie The Descent, told SCI FI Wire that making the film was a grueling physical experience, compounded by the fact that she was called upon to, among other indignities, roll through dirt and sand, get soaked in blood spatter and then be immersed in a red, goopy liquid that looks like a mix of blood and water. The film, directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers), follows six friends and adventurers who become trapped in a cave inhabited by blind humanoid creatures that pick them off one by one.

"The film was shot chronologically, so we got dirtier and dirtier throughout the seven weeks of shooting," Macdonald (The Mutant Chronicles) said in an interview. "So it was layer upon layer, and you couldn't even get all the dirt off at night. And it didn't matter because you knew that at 6 o'clock the next morning you were just going to be sprayed with more dirt. It was makeup dirt, and they sprayed baby oil to make the sweat."

Macdonald added: "But then we were rolling around in this sand that you didn't see, so we had sand sticking to us. Then they had dust they blew on us and makeup blood, but the makeup blood made your skin [stick] together. So, in your tiny crevices, which were sticking together, you had sand and dirt and oil. When we went to the pub or to dinner after shooting, we still had some stuff on us. One of the girls, Natalie [Mendoza], said she went to the gym and still had these huge makeup bruises on her, and people thought she'd been battered. We got to the point where we didn't even see it anymore, the blood and the dirt." The Descent descends into theaters on August 4. —Ian Spelling

Skinwalkers Returned To Winston

Stan Winston, whose Stan Winston Studios oversaw creature effects for the upcoming werewolf film Skinwalkers, told SCI FI Wire that he nearly lost the opportunity to work on the project. "I went after this script, and it got away from me," Winston said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego July 20. "This was five years ago. Some young person had gotten ahold of it and optioned it and went out to make the movie."

Winston, who said that werewolves were his favorite characters and creatures from childhood, had been searching for a werewolf project since opening his production company seven years ago. The Skinwalkers script appealed to him immediately. "It was the best werewolf script that I had ever read," he said. "And it was about ... people that were dealing with a dysfunction, with a problem that they had. ... They … happened to be werewolves. They were people, both good and bad, who had an affliction, ... a curse. And I cared about these people; I cared about their families. I cared about everybody involved."

But Winston got a second chance to work on the film. "Three years ago, I was ... approached by ... [director James Isaac], who had gotten ahold of the script, wanting to know if I would ... consider making the movie with him ... This script that I had loved, that had gotten away, came back. And it was like this is the script that I had always wanted to do."

When asked what made these werewolves different from those seen in recent films, Winston stressed a return to prosthetics over more digital effects to create the creatures, as well as an emphasis on the humanity within the beasts. "You are going to recognize the characters in these werewolves, and you're going to recognize the performance of the characters in these werewolves, and you're going to recognize the actors in these werewolves," he said.

Skinwalkers is the type of werewolf film that Winston himself has wanted to see. "I would hope that the audience will go away from this movie with more of the feeling that audiences went away from the classic tales of the early Universal and Hammer films," he said. "It's small, and it’'s emotional and ... suspenseful and ... action-packed, and it is definitely, definitely about werewolves." Skinwalkers is slated for release sometime in 2007. —Nephele Tempest

Cosby Readies Damn Nation

Andrew Cosby, creator of the upcoming SCI FI original series Eureka, told SCI FI Wire that another of his projects, a film based on his Dark Horse comic-book miniseries Damn Nation, is steadily coming together. "It's at Paramount, where [he and co-screenwriter Jaime Paglia] are about to start on the script right now," Cosby said during a conference call while promoting Eureka. "We had to put the script off a little bit to finish the series, and the minute we're done with [the first season], that's the project I'm jumping into, probably in a couple of weeks."

Cosby (Haunted) described Damn Nation as his political statement about today's political goings-on, albeit couched in a vampire apocalypse movie. "The truth is it's a vampire apocalypse movie, but I kind of like ... grew up on movies like Alien and a lot of these great genre pieces, and I always remember what Ridley Scott did with Alien," he said. "Before I saw Alien I had no idea that a sci-fi monster could be that scary, and I kind of want to do the same thing with the vampire. I actually think there have been a lot of great vampire films in the past decade, Blade being one of them, but the vampire has definitely become this house music, dressed in leather, [a] puffy-shirt character, and I wanted to see the vampire returned to its roots of being just a very frightening monster. That's what I wanted to do with Damn Nation, to do a story where we can kind of reinvent the vampire, and do with the vampire what Ridley Scott did with the alien, and just create a movie creature that's terrifying." —Ian Spelling

Monster Kids Talk Toon

Spencer Locke, Mitchel Musso and Sam Lerner—who star together in the motion-capture animation feature Monster House—told SCI FI Wire that for each of them, and for a variety of reasons, making the film was vastly different their previous acting experiences. The teens play a trio of kids who team up to take on a living, breathing house that devours anything and anyone that dares to cross its lawn.

"It was interesting, because when we all first auditioned we had no idea that it was actually motion-capture," Locke (Phil of the Future) said in an interview as she sat between Musso and Lerner. "Then we found out, and we heard about the process, and ... 'Wow!' The first day, I remember going, and we had to get the dots placed on the right spots on your face. We saw the sets. It was pretty weird, but I was excited, this brand-new technology, to be a part of it. It was very cool."

Musso, currently a regular on the TV series Hannah Montana, said, "As far as directors go, like, when you're working on TV, they switch directors a lot. Sometimes they'll be there two episodes, three episodes, but, I mean, working with a director [on a film] for three months—because that's about how long we worked on Monster House—getting to know them, you just become so close. I find it so much easier. You go in, and your director is your friend, because you've known him for so long. And [Monster House director] Gil [Kenan] was so cool. He'd take us all out to In and Out or Wendy's sometimes. He was so much fun, because he's a total kid at heart. So I find it a lot easier."

Lerner (Envy) said, "It's a big change from just regular TV or film to go to this motion-capture process, because, as Spencer says, we had no idea that this was motion-capture when we first started. So we were just like, 'Wow, we're doing a movie. Awesome.' And then they were like, 'OK, go put on your dots.' And we were like, 'What are dots?' Those were the motion sensors we had to get glued on our face every day. So it was a really big change." Monster House opened its doors on July 21. —Ian Spelling

Evil III's Locke Wraps Role

Spencer Locke, who co-stars in the upcoming action-horror sequel Resident Evil: Extinction, told SCI FI Wire that she recently wrapped production on the film. "I just got back from Mexico [after] eight weeks," Locke said in an interview while promoting her latest film, the animated feature Monster House. "That was fantastic. My character is nicknamed K-mart, because I'm actually found in the ruins of a K-mart by Claire [Ali Larter] and the rest of the convoy. Then Alice [Milla Jovovich] joins the gang again, and we go searching for a safe place. And we think Alaska is safe. So it's all about our journey, trying to get to Alaska."

Along the way, of course, the convoy battles both the Umbrella Corporation and plenty of the undead. Locke said that the film, directed by genre veteran Russell Mulcahy, will be as violent as its predecessors, Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse. "It's awesome," Locke said. "I love it. I got to shoot a shotgun. I got to blow an undead out the window. It was so exciting."

Mike Epps, Oded Fehr and Iain Glen, all of whom appeared in Apocalypse, return for Extinction. Jovovich is taking her third turn as the saga's leading lady. Everyone, Locke said, welcomed her with open arms. "Milla is awesome," Locke said. "Coming on to a movie where all of these actors, they've done two movies together, you don't really know what to expect. 'How am I going to be treated? I'm kind of nervous.' Everybody—everybody—is so fantastic, [and they] treated me like an equal, which was fantastic. And I love Milla. She's fantastic." Resident Evil: Extinction will be released in 2007.

Atomic Announces 2006-'07 Slate

Fox Atomic, the new youth-focused division of Fox Filmed Entertainment, announced its 2006-'07 lineup and theatrical release dates for three of its upcoming films. They include Turistas, a recent acquisition, due this December, followed by the sequel films The Hills Have Eyes 2 and 28 Weeks Later, both going into production this summer for release in 2007.

Also on the production slate is a re-imagining of the 1984 classic Revenge of the Nerds and The Comebacks, a sports comedy. The announcement coincides with the kickoff of this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Turistas tells the story of a terrifying bus accident that maroons a diverse group of young adventure travelers in a remote Brazilian beach town, where they slowly discover that the white sand beaches and lush jungles conceal a darker, unsettling secret. Turistas stars Josh Duhamel and Melissa George and is directed by John Stockwell.

The Hills Have Eyes 2, due March 2, 2007, is the sequel to the 2006 horror remake. It follows a group of young National Guard trainees who are attacked by mutants during a training mission in the New Mexico desert.

28 Weeks Later, due May 11, 2007, comes from the creative team of Danny Boyle, Alex Garland and Andrew Macdonald, the minds behind the original zombie movie 28 Days Later. The sequel is directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and picks up six months after the rage virus has decimated the city of London. The U.S. Army has restored order and is repopulating the quarantined city when a carrier of the rage virus enters London and unknowingly re-ignites the deadly infection.

Del Toro Producing Deadman

Warner Brothers will adapt DC Comics' Deadman for the big screen, produced by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy) and Angryfilms' Don Murphy and his producing partner, Susan Montford, Variety reported.

The character is a ghost who, when alive, was a circus acrobat named Boston Brand. He was murdered during a trapeze performance by an unknown assailant, but his spirit was granted the power to possess the living in order to search for his murderer, as well as to help the innocent.

The producers are working on giving Deadman a contemporary take and are zeroing in on a screenwriter to adapt for the screen.

Del Toro's latest movie, the Cannes competition selection Pan's Labyrinth, is due to have its North American premiere at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival.

Leterrier To Helm New Hulk

Action director Louis Leterrier has signed on to helm The Incredible Hulk for Marvel Studios, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Avi Arad, Kevin Feige and Gale Anne Hurd will produce the movie, which will return the monstrous superhero to his comic-book roots.

Arad and Feige first met with Leterrier two years ago and were struck by his passion for the Marvel Comics universe. It was that passion that shone through recently when—after approached to gauge his interest in directing a new Hulk movie—Paris-based Leterrier went back to his studio and, with the help of an artist, storyboarded two action sequences and developed a take on the monster.

The script is being penned by Zak Penn, whose credits include Marvel's X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Warner Enlists Doom Patrol

Warner Brothers is giving new life to the DC Comics cult favorite Doom Patrol, about a band of superheroes with freakish powers, with Akiva Goldsman producing the big-screen adaptation through his Warners-based Weed Road Pictures, Variety reported. The studio has hired Adam Turner to pen the screenplay.

Debuting in 1963, Doom Patrol was often compared to Marvel's X-Men. Both comics follow the exploits of a band of super-powered social misfits ostracized by the rest of the world.

As with X-Men, the Doom Patrol is guided by a wheelchair-bound mentor in fighting evil. The characters include Elasti-Girl, Negative Man and Robotman.

The series was created by Bob Haney, Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani. It ceased in 1968 after failing to woo a big audience. DC revived the series several times over the years, however, with more recent incarnations turning Doom Patrol into a much darker, edgier comic than X-Men.

Atomic Plans Hills, 28 Comics

Fox Atomic, the youth-focused entertainment unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, announced a partnership with HarperCollins to publish and distribute graphic novels from Fox Atomic Comics based on the films The Hills Have Eyes and 28 Days Later, among other titles. Up to four graphic novels are planned for release in 2007, with content tied to Fox Atomic theatrical releases as well as original content.

The first title slated for release is 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, due in spring 2007, written by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and edited by Jimmy Palmiotti. It bridges the gap between the original film and its sequel, 28 Weeks Later.

Next up will be The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning, a prequel book inspired by Wes Craven's film The Hills Have Eyes and the upcoming sequel, The Hills Have Eyes 2.

Due out in the fall of 2007 is The Nightmare Factory, adapted from the anthology series by Thomas Ligotti, which will be a recurring anthology series of one to three separate horror tales per novel.

Metallic Mulls Robot Love

Two-time World Fantasy Award-winning author Tanith Lee—whose novel Metallic Love was recently nominated for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for adult literature—told SCI FI Wire that Metallic Love is the sequel to The Silver Metal Lover, which was first published by DAW Books in 1981.

Lee said that the novel is about a young woman named Loren, who, abandoned by her mother, grows up in a house of merciless religious fanatics. "Not surprisingly, when she finds and reads the autobiography of another young girl (Jane) hidden under the floorboards, Loren falls in love with the book's exceptional hero—and indeed with the whole tragic story," Lee said in an interview. "The book concerns how Jane fell in love herself with a beautiful, totally humanlike robot, the red-haired Silver, who was soon destroyed by sinister commercial/govern*mental forces. Years later, the by-now-independent Loren learns that Silver has been brought back to 'life.' She can't resist when the chance of meeting him comes her way. But what follows this time is not only love, but terror and horror. For Silver is no longer as he was. Now he is Verlis, the pack leader of seven creatures, his fellow super-robots, whose powers dwarf the highest human achievement. And whose godlike regard for human life amounts to zero."

The potential duel between man and machine has long intrigued Lee. "Along with the idea, not quite un*common in SF, that humans could end up the dupes, slaves and pets of superior robots," Lee said, "one other pivot for me is the question of what would ... come back into a previously dead body of any kind. ... The debate as to whether a machine can, like a human being, have a soul quickly became a truism for me. If there are souls, then why not?"

Lee added: "Silver in The Silver Metal Lover very definitely seems to have a soul, a lovely and mature one. Verlis, who himself doubts he has a soul at all, may indeed be empty but for the electronic impulse—but if there is a soul in there, it certainly isn't Silver's."

Lee said that she just completed the third and concluding novel of her Lionwolf trilogy, which consists of Cast a Bright Shadow, Here in Cold Hell and No Flame But Mine. "This project has been, for me, rather than a trilogy, one whole book, published in three sections," she said. "It's set in an adapted ice age of suspended veget*ation, huge landmasses and sea, and strange gods, where magic is the high-tech survival method."

Next up for Lee is Piratica 3, her third pirate novel for young adults, featuring the wild young pirate girl Art Blastside, she said. Readers can also expect to see some new short fiction appearing shortly in Asimov's and Weird Tales.

"My line of contemporary/magical reality novels is still slowly but surely emerging from Egerton House Publishing," Lee added. "L'amber is out; Greyglass will follow. Though not SF, I mention them as they are just as peculiar; in fact, more so than any SF I've written." —John Joseph Adams

Smallville's Olsen Finds Romance

Aaron Ashmore, who joins the cast of The CW's Smallville as Jimmy Olsen, told SCI FI Wire that the well-known Superman character will get romantic in the show's upcoming sixth season. "He's also going to be a love interest for Chloe [Allison Mack]," Ashmore said in an interview at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif., on July 17. "They met a couple of summers before and had a bit of a thing, so now they're kind of reconnecting."

Ashmore's Olsen is only the latest character from the DC Comics Superman mythology to find his way into Smallville. As in other incarnations, this Olsen will work at the Daily Planet, he said. "He's basically been hired as an intern at the Daily Planet, and his job right now is, like, scanning pictures into the computer and stuff like that. But he really wants to be a photographer. Hasn't really perfected his skills yet, you know, half of it's out of focus."

Ashmore, the twin brother of X-Men star Sean Ashmore, added that he's only just now begun work on Smallville, which started up production again recently in Vancouver, B.C. "Yeah, I worked with Allison Mack and Tom Welling [Clark] the first day, because I've only done, like, a couple of scenes this one day, and they're both, like, super friendly, and the crew as well," Aaron said. "You know, they've got, like, a real family atmosphere down there. I guess they've been doing it for long enough that everyone really knows each other, and, yeah, they're very welcoming."

Ashmore added that his Jimmy Olsen won't be much younger than Clark Kent or Lois Lane, unlike the movies and comics. "He is supposed to be younger, but we're all peers, I think," Ashmore said. "That's the way it's playing." And will Jimmy call Clark "Mr. Kent?" Ashmore laughs. "I call him CK, actually," he said. "Yeah, CK. I don't know how much he likes that, but that's what he's been labeled." Smallville will return Sept. 28 in a new Thursday 8 p.m. ET/PT timeslot. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

Reaping Trailer Goes Live

The new trailer has gone live for The Reaping, Oscar winner Hilary Swank's new movie, and is linked through SCI FI Wire's Trailers ( http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=8 ) page.

In this supernatural horror film, Swank plays a former Christian missionary who lost her faith after her family was tragically killed and has since become a world-renowned expert in disproving religious phenomena. But when she investigates a small Louisiana town that is suffering from what appear to be the biblical plagues, she realizes that science cannot explain what is happening, and she must regain her faith to combat the dark forces threatening the community.

The Reaping, which is written and directed by the Hayes brothers, opens Nov. 8.

Monster Stars Grew Fast

The three youths in the center of the animated movie Monster House told SCI FI Wire that they experienced some growing pains during the filming. Both of the boys, actors Mitchel Musso and Sam Lerner, were pre-teens when they started voicing the motion-capture animated film two years ago. Their deepening voices forced them to go back and do some re-dubbing.

"We had to go back and re-do the lines, about two years later after puberty hit both of us," said Musso, who strained his voice during the reshoots. "We had a lot of hot tea."

Lerner recalled: "Every time I went in, I was sick. Imagine being sick and having to talk high, in a really high voice."

The female lead, Spencer Locke, went through a growth spurt between ages 12 and 14, and the suit that captured her movements for the animation ended up being way too small.

"It was really uncomfortable for me, because I grew two inches while filming," Locke said. "Toward the middle [of the filming], it was uncomfortable for me ... until I got the new suit."

The three actors play DJ, Chowder and Jenny, neighborhood friends who go on an adventure trying to discover the secrets of the odd house owned by Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi). Other voices in the film include Kathleen Turner, Jason Lee, Nick Cannon, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Catherine O'Hara and Jon Heder. The film opened nationwide July 21 and will show in 3-D at some theaters. —Mike Szymanski

Day Repeats Itself, But It's OK

Producers of ABC's upcoming SF series Day Break told reporters that the show will center on a cop, played by Taye Diggs, who finds himself repeating the same, awful day over and over again for the 13 episodes of the first season. "The season is a day," executive producer Paul Zbyszewski (After the Sunset) told reporters at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif., on July 18. "So in 13 episodes we have a payoff, a big payoff. And the following season would be another day. I mean, it could be three months later; it could be six months later, the point being [that] Hopper [Diggs] would be at another crossroads in his life, different set of circumstances, and, you know, chaos happens."

ABC describes the unorthodox series this way: Diggs plays Detective Brett Hopper, who is accused of killing Asst. D.A. Alberto Garza. He will offer a solid alibi that no one will believe, then realize he's been framed. And he will run, discovering en route that not only he, but also his loved ones, are in danger. He'll then wake up and relive the same day over and over again. In order to break the cycle and move on, he will have to figure out who framed him and solve the complex mystery surrounding Garza's death. He will also be forced to heal the fractured relationships with those he loves. Only when Harper figures out why his life is broken and how to fix it will he awaken to a brand new day.

The producers told reporters that they have a plan to keep viewers coming back. "There's a season arc, and ... there's a conspiracy behind what's happening to Taye's character, Hopper," said executive producer Jeffrey Bell (Angel). "And as he goes through that, he's going to have to get pieces of the puzzle and solve those. So the way we're designing the episodes is each episode will have ... a certain criterion. There will be a beginning, a middle and end to each episode so that, as Hopper progresses, ... yes, it's one day, but each day is kind of a blank slate."

For Diggs, it will be a challenge keeping each of the day's threads straight in his mind. "It's quite a challenge," Diggs said. He added: "The idea of being forced to go all these different places emotionally under the amount of stress that this character is under, I thought, was something that, one, I'd never done before, and, two, I was definitely up to that challenge. So I'm excited about it."

Day Break also stars Victoria Pratt, Adam Baldwin, Moon Bloodgood and Meta Golding. It premieres Nov. 15 and will air for 13 consecutive weeks in the Wednesday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot vacated by Lost.

ABC Head Talks Abrams Defection

Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment, told reporters that he'll be happy to have Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams back working with his show, but added that it was "a shame" that Abrams decided to sign a development deal with Warner Brothers Television, cutting his ties with ABC's sibling studio Touchstone Television. Abrams' Bad Robot production company developed Lost and Abrams' previous series, Alias, at Touchstone.

"It's a shame to lose him from the studio, because, obviously, we have a special connection with in-house," McPherson said in a news conference at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif., on July 18. "But we have a lot of shows with Warner Brothers. We do more with them than any outside studio, and Peter [Roth, president of Warner Brothers Television,] and I have already talked, and we intend to keep in business with him. But my reaction is, really, 'Thank you for all your work,' and, you know, we look forward to the shows that we have on the air this year, and we're really excited to have him back full-time."

Abrams devoted most of his time last season to directing Paramount's Mission: Impossible III. This season, Abrams has two other series on ABC: What About Brian and Six Degrees, in addition to Lost, which returns for a third season on Oct. 4 in its regular Wednesday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.

Miller To Adapt The Spirit

In advance of the public announcement July 22 at Comic-Con International in San Diego this week, The Hollywood Reporter said that Frank Miller (Sin City) will adapt and direct the big-screen adaptation of Will Eisner's seminal comic series The Spirit.

Odd Lot Entertainment's Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker will co-finance and produce The Spirit, the trade paper reported. Also producing is Batfilm Productions' Michael Uslan. Batfilm co-founder Benjamin Melniker will executive-produce. Odd Lot's Linda McDonough and Batfilm's F.J. DeSanto will co-produce.

Unlike most comic-book heroes, the Spirit (real name Denny Colt) is not endowed with special powers or wealth. He is a regular guy who is thought to have been killed by an archvillain's experiments, but who instead returns to fight evil from his secret lair in a cemetery. Eisner created the comic more than four decades ago.

Production is slated to begin in about a year. Miller already is working on a draft, but must finish Sin City 2 first.

Peter Flies In Shadow Thieves

Best-selling author Ridley Pearson told SCI FI Wire that he and his co-author, humorist Dave Barry, knew they had more story after they completed Peter and the Starcatchers, their prequel novel to J.M. Barrie's beloved children's play Peter Pan. "We had established the genesis of the characters, but now there were stories to tell to explain Peter's situation with shadows, the origin of his name, who Molly is, etc.," Pearson said in an interview. "So [Peter and the] Shadow Thieves, and the third book we're presently working on, built on that."

Peter and the Shadow Thieves, which was just released and debuted in third place on the New York Times children's best-seller list, picks up where Starcatchers left off. "In Shadow Thieves, Peter has to leave Mollusk Island and go to London—a dangerous place—to warn Molly about some evil men and one very evil creature who are after her family and the starstuff," Barry said.

Since Peter Pan is in the public domain in the United States, Barry and Pearson took it upon themselves to continue Barrie's legacy. "My daughter asked me, 'How did Peter Pan meet Captain Hook in the first place?' And the rest is now history," Pearson said.

Why write prequels instead of sequels? "A prequel is a kind of puzzle," Barry said. "You have to construct a plot that plausibly ends at the beginning of another plot. We found it was a lot of fun solving that puzzle with the story of Peter Pan."

Peter Pan is an iconic figure because he appeals to everyone's desire to be free, Barry added. "Free of the cares of age, free of the obligations of responsible citizenship, free of gravity," he said. "All he worries about is having fun. Although in our books we give him some other things to worry about."

Pearson added: "There is [also] a timeless nature in the human urge to stop the clock or turn back the clock. As a boy who never grows old, Peter has discovered the fountain of youth. And a boy who can fly is a radical, and there's a little bit of radical in all of us."

Pearson said that he and Barry fell in love with some of the new characters on Mollusk Island in Peter and the Starcatchers and so decided to write two novels based on them. "We've written two smaller, shorter and more easily read books that take place on Mollusk Island and should publish fairly soon," he said. "The first is titled Escape From the Carnivale. These books lack Peter and Molly, but the rest of the gang is there." —John Joseph Adams

Bell Finds Inner Fanboy

Kristen Bell, who will play a Star Wars fangirl in the upcoming Fanboys, told SCI FI Wire that she got to change her look from the sunny blond high-school detective familiar to fans of her TV series, Veronica Mars. "I wore, like, a short dark bob that has, like, really tight bangs, and, yeah, it was funny and cute, and I sort of dressed ... in, like, skull tights, and ... it was kind of like Goth comic-store nerd fangirl," Bell said in an interview at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif., on July 17. Like Thora Birch's Enid in Ghost World? "Totally."

In Fanboys, Bell plays Zoe, one of several fans who set out in 1999 from the Midwest to California to honor the wish of their dying friend to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch and watch Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace before the movie's worldwide release.

"Dude, it's a rad idea," the ebullient Bell said. "It stars Chris Marquette, Sam Huntington—who is Jimmy Olsen in Superman [Returns]—Jay Baruchel and Dan Fogler. And ... it's got amazing cameos, like [a] Billy Dee Williams cameo, Carrie Fisher cameos and William Shatner. I mean, it's hysterical." Why Shatner? "There's a war between Star Trek and Star Wars. It's an absolute love letter to any cult fans, but especially the Star Wars ones."

Is Bell herself a Star Wars fangirl? "Kind of," she allowed. "I'm a Star Wars fan. I don't know that I'm as much as the people that we met on the movie. But, ... I mean, I've always loved that trilogy. But we met some crazy fans, man, that have like devoted their life [to it]." Fanboys, directed by Kyle Newman, is tentatively slated for a February 2007 release. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

Author Happy With Dresden Files

Producers of SCI FI Channel's upcoming original series The Dresden Files ( http://www.scifi.com/dresdenfiles/ )told reporters that the show, based on Jim Butcher's best-selling books, will take stories from the series—and that Butcher himself likes the series. "Well, let me say that Jim Butcher is very happy," said Hans Beimler, a writer and executive producer of the series, at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif. "Jim came to the set, and ... he really enjoyed himself. And he's been very complimentary."

The Dresden Files stars Paul Blackthorne (24) as Harry Dresden, a Chicago-based private detective who happens to be a wizard. Where others see typical crimes of assault, kidnapping and murder, Harry sees otherworldly forces at work.

Writer and executive producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe (Andromeda) told reporters that Butcher has been supportive. "Jim is a great guy who created this terrific world," Wolfe said. "And the terrific thing about Jim is that he understands that, in order to adapt what he created to television, we were going to have to make certain changes ... to the story, certain changes to the sort of visual [look], even certain changes to the rules that he created, because everything is different. The book is not the comic book is not the movie is not the TV show."

But Butcher embraced the changes, Wolfe added. "In his mind, you know, the best way for him to stay sane, to a certain extent, is to concentrate on the books and let us do the TV show," he said. "Which isn't to say that we don't consult with him, and he doesn't have notes like, 'You know, he really shouldn't fall out of the third-floor window and float to the ground, because that's just a first-level D&D spell. It's not that great.' That's the kind of notes Jim gives, which are great." The Dresden Files premieres on SCI FI Channel this summer.

Rhames, Suvari Cast In Dead

Ving Rhames, Mena Suvari and Nick Cannon have been cast in Day of the Dead, the remake of George Romero's cult horror classic, which is being produced by Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla Films, Variety reported.

Steve Miner (Halloween H2O) is directing the zombie movie from a screenplay by Jeffrey Reddick, who had a hand in writing the Final Destination franchise.

Romero's original was released in 1985. The story revolves around a group of military personnel and scientists who hole up in a bunker while flesh-eating zombies run riot above ground.

Jones Casting To Be Announced

SCI FI Wire has confirmed that Hellboy actor Doug Jones (Abe Sapien) will be making a casting announcement at Comic-Con International in San Diego this week concerning his participation in an upcoming, unnamed comic-based film. "There will be a major casting announcement regarding a popular comic-book film at Comic-Con," John Zander, Jones' publicist, said in an interview.

But Zander declined to comment on rumors, first reported on Ain't It Cool News ( http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23873 ), that Jones would be the motion-capture actor for the Silver Surfer in the upcoming Fantastic Four sequel.

Jones is also expected to reprise the role of the amphibious Abe Sapien in a proposed Hellboy sequel.

Jones will be appearing with Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro at Comic-Con to promote del Toro's upcoming fantasy film Pan's Labyrinth, in which Jones also has a role. —Maria Virobik

Madsen's Number Is 23

Virginia Madsen, the Oscar-nominated Sideways star who co-stars with Jim Carrey in the upcoming drama The Number 23, told SCI FI Wire that the movie is a dark journey into the mind of a man who's losing touch with reality. "It's very dark and scary," Madsen said in an interview while promoting her new CBS TV series Smith in Pasadena, Calif., on July 15. She added: "This is going to be such an important film for Jim, because he was so ready to be this. Jim was never really a standup comic, really. Jim's always been an actor."

Madsen said that she has wanted to work with Carrey for years, but not in a comedy. "A couple of years ago, I decided I would start talking about it," Madsen said. "I would just kind of put it out there in the universe that I wanted to work with Jim Carrey. ... They said, 'Well, you want to do comedy?' I said, 'No, I want to do a drama with him.' All my friends knew this, which was really funny: My agent called me up, and he goes, 'You're not going to believe this, Madsen! I just got a call. Guess who wants to work with you? Jim Carrey!' And I'm like, 'Is it a drama?' And he goes [yelling] 'It's a drama!' [laughs] And I'm like, 'Oh, my God, it came true!' Yeah, it came true."

In The Number 23, Madsen plays the wife of a man (Carrey) who begins to see similarities between his life and a book. "It's basically this man's descent into madness, as he slowly loses his mind, and I'm trying to pull him back from the brink," she said. Madsen added: "He's going into this other world as he's reading a book called The Number 23. And he starts to think that the book is about him, because of all these similarities. Then he's convinced that it is him. Then he's convinced that this is being done to him. So he's madly trying to find out who's to blame and becomes suspicious of me, and he just gets darker and darker and darker. And you go into the world that he's seeing as you read the book, too. So visually [there's] all this wild stuff—it's [director] Joel Schumacher— ... it's all these weird worlds that you go into and stuff. It's going to be very cool."

Though the movie fufills her dream to act with Carrey, Madsen added: "It was a long journey, the movie, and I was very happy when it was over [laughs]." The Number 23 is slated for release in February 2007. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

Simm Travels Time In Mars

John Simm, star of the British time-traveling police series Life on Mars, told SCI FI Wire that the show owes its look and feel to such classic 1970s movies as Get Carter and such TV shows as Starsky and Hutch—with a little Back to the Future thrown in for good measure. In the show, which arrives on BBC America after a successful first season in the United Kingdom, Simm plays Sam Tyler, a by-the-book Manchester police detective who is knocked unconscious in an auto accident while pursuing a serial killer and awakes in the year 1973, with all of his memories intact.

"He just thinks he's having a nightmare, and he's got no idea what's going on, and he's trying to wake up, and he can't," Simm said in an interview during the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif., over the weekend. "So the only thing he knows how to do is his job, and he knows where the police station is, so he finds his badge and goes to the station and meets his boss, ... DCI [detective chief inspector Gene] Hunt [Philip Glenister], who's an unreconstructed copper of the old school. And, basically, Sam stays there, and he tries to find out a reason that he's there. Is he in a coma? Is he mad? Is he back in time? He's got no idea. But all he can do is his job. So they become quite a formidable partnership. Sam's very technical. He's very good. And Gene goes with his heart and his instinct."

For his part, Glenister said that he modeled his retro character after a legendary soccer coach (or football manager, as they say in Great Britain). "I based my character actually on a football manager from the '70s, a very sort of strong-willed kind of guy, called Brian Clough," Glenister said. "[He] was very much a man of his time, again, and is known in our country as the greatest football manager that never managed a national team. ... He was the Guv'nor. None of these pampered sorts."

The show also plays with its 1973 milieu, from its title (taken from David Bowie's hit song of the period), soundtrack (which features such classic U.K. rock acts as The Who and Pink Floyd), cars (the Ford Corti