THE ZOCALO TODAY – June 8, 2007

It has been an awesome week. It has brought us more B5: THE LOST
TALES clip exposure, a terrific second installment from the CG
Society on Babylon 5 and fantastic news about the renewal of
JERICHO. While only renewed for 7 episodes, it is a major triumph
for fans of the series. After delivering tons of nuts to CBS, word
came of the limited renewal, probably for mid-season placement. Read
more about all this below.

I have a lot of news for you today so be sure to visit all of the
sites to see the clips, trailers and special information about
upcoming projects.

THOR #1 -
If you are interested in seeing what JMS is doing over in the comic
book realm, pop over to
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=10790 and get
a rundown of the latest THOR issue. It goes on sale July 5, 2007.

B5 CHAT
Ranger Suzy sent me a note to tell me about a B5 chat on Sunday
nights at midnight ET. It lasts an hour and because it is a web chat,
anyone with different isps can join. Here is the link to sign up
Other*Worlds*Cafe Chat . You will need to register a screen name and
password.

BABYLON 5 MOVIE CLIPS

BABYLON 5: THE LOST TALES
Warner Bros. is getting the word out about THE LOST TALES. Besides
posting the latest trailer over at www.babylon5.com, they have also
posted to the WB Channels on the following UGC sites
vMix at <http://www.vmix.com/wb>

LiveVideo.com at <http://www.livevideo.com/WarnerBros>

YouTube at <http://youtube.com/profile?user=WarnerBrosOnline>

and Google Video at
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9025857401896040923>
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9025857401896040923&hl=en>

Ranger James alerted me to the second installment of BABYLON 5: The
Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark' Production diary. This one is
SWEET!!!!! Go to <http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?
story_id=4102> to see some great pictures of the ship, docking bay and
the New York City picture is awesome!

MORE B5 DIARIES
Ranger Michael alerted me to more video diaries from JMS on B5: THE
LOST TALES. Go to B5 Diaries to view them. Don't be afraid of the
German you'll see. Click on the B5 station logo (not the shield).
This will take you into another section. The videos you haven't seen
yet are: Small Brown Cat, Writer/Director JMS and Set Construction.
Thanks to Warner Bros., we have some additional video to watch from
the Babylon 5: The Lost Tales. Use the links below. More versions of
these clipls will be posted shortly.

Aftermath
<http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us/whv/med/babylon5/diaries/bts_babylon_5_\
the_aftermath_qt_300.mov>

<http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us/whv/med/babylon5/diaries/bts_babylon_5_\
the_aftermath_300.asx>

Reunion
<http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us/whv/med/babylon5/diaries/bts_jc_babylon\
5thereunioon_qt_300.mov>

<http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us/whv/med/babylon5/diaries/bts_jc_brucebo\
xleitner_300.asx>

Bruce Boxleitner
<http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us/whv/med/babylon5/diaries/bts_jc_brucebo\
xleitner_qt_300.mov>

<http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us/whv/med/babylon5/diaries/bts_jc_brucebo\
xleitner_300.asx>

Joe's First Day
<http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us/whv/med/babylon5/diaries/bts_joes_first\
_day_qt_300.mov>

<http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us/whv/med/babylon5/diaries/bts_joes_first\
_day_300.asx>

Over on B5: The Lost Tales page
<http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/lost-tales.shtml>, you will find a lot of
different versions of these
clips -- with a number of different bandwidth flavors. Pick which one
works best for you and watch and enjoy.

BASICS
Street Date: July 31, 2007
Languages: English
Audio: 5.1
Rating: NR
Price: $24.98 SRP / No MAP
DVD catalog: #1129844

Pre-Order at Amazon
You can pre-order the DVD through Amazon.com. Click on this link to
go directly to the site. <http://www.amazon.com/Babylon-5-The-Lost-
Tales/dp/B000PHX8RA>. You can save a few dollars from the original
price by ordering now.

BABYLON 5: The Lost Tales - Original Soundtrack
Music Composed by Christopher Franke

Ranger Jason found this information posted at Verese Sarabande.
BABYLON 5 has been one of the most successful and enduring science
fiction franchises since it debuted in 1994.

Ten years after he became President of the Interstellar Alliance,
President John Sheridan returns to Babylon 5 for the IA?s anniversary
celebration. When a technomage shows him a glimpse of a future Earth
destroyed in a devastating Centauri assault, and a demonic entity
makes itself known closer to home, the stakes are raised, with
billions of lives in the balance.

In Voices in the Dark, series creator J. Michael Straczynski reunites
with stars Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins and Peter Woodward in two
richly imagined stories set after the events of the original series.
In one, a supernatural force penetrates Babylon 5 on a mission whose
success or failure will devastate or redeem whole planets, and in the
other, Sheridan must make a decision to take, or save, one life ? a
decision that will result in either the salvation, or the
destruction, of Earth herself. Also returning to the BABYLON 5
universe is composer Christopher Franke.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases the already best-selling DVD
BABYLON 5: THE LOST TALES on July 31.
Catalog #: 302 066 829 2
Release Date: 07/24/07

BABYLON 5 SCRIPTS - VOLUME 11
Synopsis:
VOLUME 11
• Endgame
• Rising Star
• Sleeping in Light
• The Deconstruction of Falling Stars
• No Compromises
• The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
• The Paragon of Animals
Release date: Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 10am Pacific.
For more information on the scripts, go to www.babylon5scripts.com or
visit our Babylon 5 Scripts page at Babylon 5 Scripts.

BABYLON PODCAST #68
The universe is back to the way it should be: Tim, Summer and Jeffrey
joshing around in the open, and the invasion of the chatroom lurkers
is held off one more day. Or was that because the studio is too full
to hold them?

Tim also gives us scientific reasons why he and Summer should always
work together, else the show will remain out of balance… and Jarsto
has already provided us an ad for the "Kosh for President: All Sex,
All The Time" campaign.

Deep Geeking: This week's episode is "The Long, Twilight Struggle",
and Tim and Summer talk about the reeling shifts in plot arcs and
characterization that we all came to know and love in the series.
Jerseys Are Go! Interested? Let us know if you'd place a pre-order!
For more information on Babylon 5 Podcasts, go to
<http://www.babylonpodcast.com>.

DISCUSSION TOPIC
There are hundreds of "classic" science fiction tales that have yet
to be brought to the big screen. If money were no object (yes, I
know, I wish too), which stories would you bring to the big screen?
Who would you have play the main character/s?

Send your comments along to sgbruckner@.... I'll post them for
everyone to read on the Discussion Page.

CONVENTION CALENDAR

July 13-15, 2007
Shore Leave 29
City: Baltimore, MD
Place: Hunt Valley Marriott
Babylon 5 Guest: Claudia Christian
Other Guests: Paul McGillion (Stargate Atlantis' Dr. Carson Becket);
Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek:TOS's Lt. Uhura); Aaron Douglas
(Battlestar Galactica's Chief Galen Tyrol); Colin Cunningham
(Stargate SG-1's Major Davis); Gary Jones (Stargate SG-1's CMSgt.
Walter Harriman); Dean Haglund (X-Files & The Lone Gunmen's Richard
Langly); William Campbell (ST:TOS's Trelane and ST:TOS and ST:DS9's
Koloth); Louise Sorel (ST:TOS's Rayna Kapec; Days of Our Lives'
Vivian Alamain) and Casey Biggs (ST:DS9's Damar ).
For more information, go to http://www.shore-leave.com/

July 28-29, 2007
STEEL CITY CON
Location: Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Guests: Jeremy Bulloch – "Boba Fett" - from Star Wars. Felix
Silla "Twiki" from Buck Rogers. Doug Wangler - "Quinlan Vos" from
Star Wars. Christy Hemme and Gail Kim from SPIKE TV - Wrestling
Knockouts!
For a list of guests and more information, go to
http://www.steelcitycon.com

AROUND SCIENCE FICTION TODAY

JERICHO RENEWED!!!!!!!
Fantastic news this morning! CBS has renewed JERICHO for another
seven episodes, to air sometime mid-season. Nina Tassler, president,
CBS Entertainment, made the announcement on the official JERICHO
message board on June 6. "Wow!" Tassler wrote. "Over the past few
weeks you have put forth an impressive and probably unprecedented
display of passion in support of a prime-time television series. You
got our attention; your e-mails and collective voice have been heard.
As a result, CBS has ordered seven episodes of JERICHO for mid-season
next year." Tassler added that the show, about the residents of a
small Kansas town who struggle to survive in the wake of a nuclear
disaster, would still need to bring in viewers. "A loyal and
passionate community has clearly formed around the show," she
said. "But that community needs to grow. It needs to grow on the CBS
Television Network, as well as on the many digital platforms where we
make the show available. We will count on you to rally around the
show, to recruit new viewers with the same grass-roots energy,
intensity and volume you have displayed in recent weeks."

CBS offered no date or timeslot for the show's return. But it said
that it would rebroadcast JERICHO reruns over the summer, stream them
online and release the first season on DVD on Sept. 25. The network
also plans on "continuing the story of JERICHO in the digital world
until the new episodes return," Tassler wrote. "We will let you know
specifics when we have them so you can pass them on."

Tassler added: "Please stop sending us nuts :)"
The latter was a reference to the tons of peanuts that fans have sent
to the network to protest its earlier cancellation, a campaign that
CBS credited for its change of heart.

THE INVASION TRAILER
Warner Bros. Pictures has revealed the new trailer online for The
Invasion, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam and
Malin Akerman. Opening August 17, the sci-fi action thriller is
directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel.

30 DAYS OF NIGHT
The official site for director David Slade's 30 Days of Night has
launched here with the new trailer for the graphic novel adaptation,
produced by "Spider-Man" franchise director Sam Raimi. The thriller,
opening October 19, stars Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny
Huston, Ben Foster and Manu Bennett.

THE LOSERS
Variety reports that Tim Story (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver
Surfer) is set to direct the big screen adaptation of DC-Vertigo's
gritty comic book THE LOSERS for Warner Bros. Jamie Vanderbilt will
adapt Andy Diggle's comic, working from a first draft by Peter Berg.
Berg and Weed Road's Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster are producing.
Also producing is Sarah Aubrey, Berg's partner at Film 44, and John
Cameron, who brought the project to Film 44. The movie will center
around a small band of elite and highly trained commandos who are set
up to to be killed by their own government. They set out to avenge
the wrong, as well as avenge other injustices. THE LOSERS was
published by DC Comics imprint Vertigo in the 1970s. It was revived
several years. Story's feature adaptation will be set in contemporary
times, with the special ops team carrying out missions around the
world before the members are left for dead. Flying under the radar,
they return and move around the U.S.

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
Director Guillermo del Toro has set Danny Elfman to score HELLBOY II:
THE GOLDEN ARMY. On his message board, Del Toro posted, "Danny Elfman
IS going to score HELLBOY II and I feel privileged. I have worked
with Marco Beltrami many times and will work with him soon enough but
I believe we will have a beautiful score with Elfman, whom I admire
greatly and with whom I share a dark view of the world." Del toro
also noted, "In the first HELLBOY film we had about 8 creatures
(total, between CGI and animatronics/ prosthetics) but in this one we
have around 30 or more and the emphasis is still heavily on a 50% 50%
balance with CGI as enhancemnet or as a choice but not THE choice."
HELLBOY II will arrive in theaters in August 2008.

INDIANA JONES 4
In a statement posted on the official Indiana Jones Web site, Sean
Connery said that he will not reprise the role of Henry Jones in the
upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie. "I get asked the question so
often, I thought it best to make an announcement," the 76-year-old
actor said. "I thought long and hard about it, and if anything could
have pulled me out of retirement, it would have been an Indiana Jones
film. I love working with [director] Steven [Spielberg] and
[producer] George [Lucas], and it goes without saying that it is an
honor to have Harrison [Ford] as my son. But in the end, retirement
is just too damned much fun." Connery, who played Indy's dad in
1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, retired from acting in
2005. He had this advice for Ford, who turns 65 in July and whom he
referred to as "junior": "Demand that the critters be digital, the
cliffs be low and for goodness sake keep that whip by your side at
all times in case you need to escape from the stunt coordinator! This
is a remarkable cast, and I can only say, 'Break a leg, everyone.'
I'll see you on May 22, 2008, at the theater!" INDIANA JONES 4 will
co-star Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone and John Hurt.
It's in preproduction.

HARRY POTTER PREVIEW
ABC Family will offer viewers a sneak peek at the upcoming HARRY
POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX as part of its broadcast of the
previous three Potter films, July 6-8. During the broadcast of each
of the three earlier movies—HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE,
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS and HARRY POTTER AND THE
PRISONER OF AZKABAN — the cable network will air never-before-seen
footage from the upcoming fourth installment, which opens July 11.
Air dates and times follow: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,
July 6 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT, with a repeat on July 7 at 3:30 p.m.;
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, July 7 at 7 p.m., with a
repeat on July 8 at 1 p.m.; and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban, July 8 at 5 p.m., with a repeat on July 8 at 8 p.m.

STAR TREK FAN STORY
Star Trek actors George Takei and Wil Wheaton and writer Andre
Bormanis have teamed up with FanLib.com and CBS Interactive for Kirk
vs. Picard, an event in which fans will be invited to write pieces of
a new online Trek narrative. The event, which kicks off June 13,
marks the first time that CBS has ever allowed the use of Star Trek
characters for an official online fan-writing event, organizers said.
The storyline will require that Capt. James T. Kirk be pitted somehow
against Capt. Jean-Luc Picard. Takei (Sulu) and Wheaton (Wesley
Crusher) will act as online "hosts" for the endeavor. Bormanis will
moderate and help fans navigate the site. Writers of winning scenes
and several other winners will be featured prominently online during
the event and will win prizes, including a trip to Las Vegas with a
VIP tour of Star Trek: The Experience, Apple MacBook computers, an
Apple iPhone and Star Trek merchandise and memorabilia.

I AM LEGEND
Warner Bros. Pictures has revealed the new trailer for Will Smith's
highly-anticipated I AM LEGEND, opening in theaters on December 14.
In the action-thriller, directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine),
Smith plays brilliant scientist Robert Neville who could not contain
the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable, and man-made.
Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is
left of New York City and maybe the world. The link can be found at
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/iamlegend/medium.html.

NARNIA RELEASE DATES
Walt Disney Pictures has set release dates for THE CHRONICLE OF
NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TRADER and PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS
OF TIME. The former will hit theaters on May 1, 2009 while the
latter, an adaptation of the video game produced by Jerry
Bruckheimer, opens on July 10, 2009. Disney has also set a June 12,
2009 date for a Pixar film titled Up.

DEATH RACE
At Universal, Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race remake has received a
September 26, 2008 release date. Produced by Tom Cruise and Paula
Wagner, the futuristic thriller stars Jason Statham.

UNSTOPPABLE
CASINO ROYALE director Martin Campbell is in talks to board
UNSTOPPABLE, a 20th Century Fox drama about a runaway train carrying
a cargo of toxic chemicals. Variety says the drama, written by Live
Free or Die Hard screenwriter Mark Bomback, pits an engineer and his
conductor in a race against time. They're chasing the runaway train
in a separate locomotive and need to bring it under control before it
derails on a curve and causes a toxic spill that will decimate a
town. Julie Yorn is producing for Firm Films, along with Mimi Rogers.
Chris Ciaffa is executive producing.

HEROES: ORIGINS
The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Tim Kring, creator of HEROES,
has signed a new overall two-year deal with show's production
company, NBC Universal Television Studio, under which he will
continue as the show runner and will shepherd its upcoming spinoff,
HEROES: ORIGINS, as well as various HEROES offshoots in print and
digital media.

CITY OF HEROES
Variety reports that TRANSFORMERS producer Tom DeSanto has secured
the film rights to NCsoft and Cryptic Studio's video game CITY OF
HEROES. The plan is to adapt the massively multiplayer online role-
playing game into a live-action feature and then transition it to
television in some form. The movie revolves around a group of
superheroes who live in Paragon City and must team up in order to
fight an invasion of aliens known as the Rikti. In the game, players
design their own superhero characters and pay a monthly fee of $14.99
to battle supervillains, aliens, madmen and other criminals. An
expansion of the game also enables players to create their own
villainous characters. CITY OF HEROES first bowed at retailers in
2004 and turned into a franchise, spawning the sequel City of
Villains and a comic-book series published by Top Cow Productions.

TESTER
According to the Hollywood Reporter, DreamWorks and Parkes/MacDonald
Productions have acquired the spec SF script TESTER by first-time
scribe Colin Trevorrow, about a war vet who discovers that the chip
implanted in his brain is not medicine, but rather neurotechnology
designed to control his body as a weapon of war.

EMPIRE
Orson Scott Card's SF novel EMPIRE is being adapted for the big
screen by Oren Moverman as a large-scale drama for Warner Brothers
and Silver Pictures, Variety reported. Joel Silver is producing. Set
in the near future, the novel centers on an America in chaos: The
assassination of the president and vice president plunges America
into civil war, and a team of special forces operatives try to
unravel the conspiracy and save the country. The book was published
last year. Warner is also developing Card's classic ENDER'S GAME as a
big-scale SF film by director Wolfgang Petersen. Moverman most
recently co-wrote the Bob Dylan movie I'M NOT THERE with director
Todd Haynes.

STAN LEE AND DISNEY
The Walt Disney Studios announced that it has entered into an
exclusive multiyear first-look deal with Spider-Man creator and
producer Stan Lee and his production company, POW! Entertainment.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lee and his production company will
develop and produce all forms of entertainment. Disney Studio
Chairman Dick Cook said in a statement that the deal was designed to
create characters and projects that can become franchises for Disney.

THE SHANNARA
Variety reports that Warner Brothers has acquired screen rights to
THE SHANNARA, the best-selling fantasy book series by Terry Brooks.
Brooks is the second biggest-selling living fantasy book writer,
after Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. Warner has franchise hopes
for Brooks' 14-book series, which is set 1,000 years in the future in
a world populated by elves, trolls, gnomes and dwarves in a post-
apocalyptic Earth. THE SHANNARA family is a half-elf, half-man clan
with magical abilities and warrior skills who must save the world.
THE SHANNARA has never been optioned for film treatment because the
author has avoided it until now. Warner intends to develop The
Elfstones of Shannara, the second book in the series, as the first
film.

TUDORS
Variety reports that Peter O'Toole will follow his Oscar-nominated
role in Venus by playing Pope Paul III on Showtime's "The Tudors."
The actor has booked a seven-episode arc on the second season of the
cable channel's new success story. He'll film his episodes later this
year for broadcast next spring. The season two storyline promises to
pit O'Toole's pontiff against Jonathan Rhys Meyers' Henry VIII. The
series will follow the historic showdown between the two men.

DEXTER
Keith Carradine is also joining Showtime's "Dexter" as a series
regular. He'll play an FBI agent who comes to investigate a series of
murders that turn out to be the work of the show's title character
(Michael C. Hall). He'll end up romantically involved with Dexter's
sister (Jennifer Carpenter).

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Executive producer, Ron Moore, said in a recent interview that he and
fellow executive producer David Eick are planning to send the series
off on a note of finality at the end of the coming fourth
season. "The plan is to end the show," Moore said. "The plan is to
bring us to a definitive conclusion. There's no plans or thoughts in
our heads, really, of then doing a follow-up feature or any series or
anything beyond that." Moore and Eick announced on May 31 that they
would wrap the acclaimed series at the end of the upcoming fourth
season and elaborated on their decision in a call with journalists a
day later. Moore said that he and the writers have been thinking
about how they wanted to end the series since the middle of the
second season and began talking seriously about the conclusion
towards the end of the third. "Those ideas about where we were headed
and what it all meant started to really sort of coalesce over the
course of the third season," Moore said. "And in between seasons four
and three is when we started talking in earnest about, 'OK, if we do
end it next year, what would it really be?' And it just felt like,
yeah, this is the right time to do it. ... We're really sort of
taking our cues from the story itself, and it just feels like the
story has moved forward aggressively." Moore said that he's proud
that the show has been unafraid to take risks. "And it's been
unafraid to move strongly forward instead of trying to sort of tread
water," he said. "And it just feels like the momentum of the series
is moving towards a conclusion." Moore and Eick have not yet begun
writing the script for the finale, but they have had some discussions
about how they will wrap up the story. One thing that has been talked
about is leaving some of the relationships open to
interpretation. "The intention is to certainly concentrate on the
characters and their relationships and sort of bring them all to an
end point," Moore said. "I don't know if we'll resolve every single
thing about every relationship, and I think there's value in leaving
some things open to the imagination and having some things that are
sort of tantalizingly unresolved. But the intention is to move
towards what is the final chapter." In November, a special two-hour
Battlestar episode, "Razor," will air. The fourth season kicks off in
early 2008.

NOTTINGHAM
The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Brian Helgeland (L.A.
Confidential) has been brought on board to rewrite NOTTINGHAM,
Universal Pictures' revisionist take on the legend of Robin Hood.
Russell Crowe is starring, Ridley Scott is directing and Imagine
Entertainment's Brian Grazer is producing. Crowe stars as the Sheriff
of Nottingham in a scenario that sees him more noble lawman than an
evil king's right- hand man and facing off with a more shadier Robin
Hood in the Sherwood Forest. Universal is hoping to being production
early next year.

BLINDNESS
Variety reports that Mark Ruffalo will star with Julianne Moore in
director Fernando Meirelles' adaptation of BLINDNESS, the Jose
Saramago novel about an outbreak of blindness that sweeps an
unidentified town. The trade says shooting begins this summer in Sao
Paolo, Brazil. Ruffalo will play a doctor who loses his sight along
with everyone else in town, except the doc's wife. Don McKellar wrote
the script, and Meirelles' 02 Filmes will produce.

INDIANA JONES 4 CASTING CALL
SpielbergFilms.com reports that there will be a casting call for
Indiana Jones 4 in New Haven, Connecticut on June 11 and June 12:
The production is holding an open casting call for extras to appear
in a sequence where Indy tears through campus on a motorcycle (along
Chapel Street in New Haven). The call, organized by Billy Dowd
Casting, will be held on Monday, June 11 and Tuesday, June 12 at the
Omni Hotel at Yale between 1 p.m.-9 p.m. both days. For more details,
go to SpielbergFilms.com. The production will film in New Haven
between June 28 and July 7.

DOLCE'S INFERNO
Russell Crowe's new production company, Fear of God Films, Mark
Staufer's script DOLCE'S INFERNO as the first film to be made under
this banner. Variety reports that the film will revolve around a
cranky Los Angeles gossipmonger whose love life spins out of control.
It will supposedly be a romantic comedy. Crowe bought the rights to
the script using his own money. While he plans on developing the
project, he does not plan on starring in it. Crowe said in a
statement, "I'm looking forward to collaborating with Mark, who is
such a talented writer." The film does not have a firm start date at
this time.

PATRICK STEWART
According to The Argus, Patrick Stewart and screenwriter John Logan
are teaming up to make a new theatrical version of THE MERCHANT OF
VENICE. The two are currently working on a theatrical performance of
Macbeth together.
The Argus writes:
"He's carrying on that association with the Bard with his next film
project, producing and starring in a film version of The Merchant Of
Venice, set in the Las Vegas of the 20th century. The screenplay was
written by John Logan, the man behind Hollywood successes such as The
Last Samurai and The Aviator. The idea came out of an argument the
two had after Logan described it as a "loathsome play".
"I spent half an hour arguing the contrary," says Patrick. "He said,
Would you like it if I started working on a screen project for
nothing?' He earns about $2 million a project, so I thought it was a
decent offer. "It is a startling way of doing the play; it is about
money and sex and love and corruption." There is no word on when The
Merchant of Venice will go into production.

TRANSFORMERS
Director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg's
Transformers was featured on the MTV Movie Awards Sunday night and
four new clips and two new featurettes have come online at
http://www.transformersmovie.com/. Opening July 3rd (with a July 2nd
evening screening), the Paramount/DreamWorks release stars Shia
LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Rachael
Taylor, Megan Fox, John Turturro and Jon Voight.

HIGHWAY 61
Variety reports that filming has begun on HIGHWAY 61. Tobin Bell,
best known for portraying Jigsaw in the Saw films, has signed to play
the Devil in and executive- produce the project for British financier
Halcyon Pictures and Utah-based Prankster Film Co. The movie, written
and directed by Luke and Jeremy Jackson, chronicles a struggling rock
group whose manager arranges a meeting with the Devil at the
Crossroads, the intersection in Mississippi made famous by blues icon
Robert Johnson. Nick Thune (License to Wed) stars as the lead
guitarist.

SPEED RACER
Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights) has landed a role in Warner
Brothers' SPEED RACER, which starts shooting this month in Berlin,
Variety reported. Porter joins Matthew Fox who will play Racer X and
Emile Hirsch plays the title role. The cast also includes John
Goodman and Susan Sarandon. Andy and Larry Wachowski wrote and will
direct the movie. Based on the classic series created by anime
pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida, the live-action film will follow the
adventures of the young race car driver Speed in his quest for glory
on and off the track in his thundering Mach 5. In addition to Speed
and Trixie, the movie will feature other characters that fans of the
show will remember, including Speed's family and his mysterious arch-
rival, Racer X.

ALL ABOUT ADAM
Variety reports that Disney has purchased ALL ABOUT ADAM, a spec
script by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons. Scott Rudin will produce
the project. The story follows the biblical Adam as he trails Eve to
modern-day New York after they have a lover's quarrel. Adam discovers
Satan was behind the breakup.

That's it for now. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Be sure
to visit the website for the latest information on Babylon 5 and
other science fiction projects.

Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net