THE ZOCALO TODAY – August 16, 2008

NEW SCRIPT BOOK COMING SOON - ASK JMS A QUESTION
Here is a note from the Babylon 5 script team:
Later this year we will be releasing the "Babylon 5 Scripts of J.
Michael Straczynski: TV Movies". With this book is a special
opportunity. J. Michael Straczynski is letting fans submit questions
he will respond to in the introduction about the four TV
Movies "Thirdspace", "The River of Souls", "Legend of the Rangers"
or "The Lost Tales "

CRITICAL NOTE:
No questions will be personally answered. A committee will select the
questions that JMS will respond to from the submissions received. All
responses will appear in the forthcoming "Babylon 5 Scripts of J.
Michael Straczynski: TV Movies" being released later this year.
Questions are being accepted by the official submission form only. Go
to <http://b5quotes.com/tinc?key=Q8SJLjPQ&formname=AskJMS> to submit
a question to JMS.

THE CHANGELING PREMIERES
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) announced today that Changeling
will be the centerpiece of the festival(September 26 =96 October 12,
2008.

The Changeling may also be shown at the Vienna Film Festival and the
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

When asked if he would attend these events, JMS responded:
At this point, I'm planning to be at the Deauville Film Festival and
the New York Film Festival for the premieres there. There still
hasn't been any confirmation that I've seen on the others, so until
there's an announcement, I'm hanging fire. I don't yet have a firm
date on when Changeling screens, only that it's somewhere in the
middle of the festival.

Should be pretty exciting all around.

THE DEADBOOKS PROJECT - LAUNCHES AUGUST 18
Here's something new for you to take a look at.
The creator of The Deadbooks Project was looking for a new form of
SF/Horror entertainment. With the help of 30 actors and about 40
musical groups from almost as many countries, he is taking a novel
and transforming it into something that has not been seen on the Net.
It's not really a novel anymore, but nor is it a movie, nor an old-
time radio show, though it contains attributes of all those story-
telling techniques. He calls it a Hyper-Serialization.

Web-launch of the first 10 hour season is set for August 18.

Right now there are movie trailers on YouTube giving everyone a sneak
peak at what PantherRun Productions has created. If you have a
moment, would you please drop by YouTube and put in DeadBooks…

NEW SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS COMING

Here are a couple of books that would make any science fiction fan's
library complete.

Science Fiction Television Series: Episode Guides, Histories, and
Casts and Credits for 62 Prime Time Shows, 1959 - 1989. Written by
Mark Phillips & Frank Garcia, the book looks at science fiction
series, providing excerpts, trivia and much, much more.

Science Fiction Television Series: Histories, Casts and Credits for
58 Prime Time Shows, 1990 - 2004
By Frank Garcia and Mark Phillips - with a foreward by Stargate's
Brad Wright.

This books covers more recent shows, including BABYLON 5, THE DEAD
ZONE, QUANTUM LEAP, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and THE X-FILES.
Go to http://legacyweb.com/scifibook/index.shtml for more information
and a link for ordering.

If you enjoy science fiction and have followed a number of TV series
over the years, you'll love these books.

BABYLON PODCAST: SHOW 124
Welcome to Show #124!
Kosh. Rastaman. I got nothin'.

Feedbackapalooza Part Deux!! Chris Lester from Metamor City Podcast
and C.A. Sizemore are still in on the Feedback Fun.
Colin doesn't appreciate the tone of JMS' announcement; Freehold
South chimes in on the JMS announcement, and feels blindsided by it;
Bethany from OK comments on "Into the Fire", agreeing with Tim's
desire to see what was going on in the Alliance ships saving Sheridan
and Delenn, and disagreeing with Summer calling the
Vorlons/Shadows "whiny".

Email from Jerry in Ashburn comments on alternatives to deeper
explorations of the revelations from "Into the Fire", and suggests
that "Intersections in Real Time" could have been cut (we disagree!);
Edmund weighs in on the JMS announcement, theorizing that JMS might
be trying to flex his newly found status to see what he might be able
to create; John in Birmingham agrees with Brad's viewpoint on JMS'
announcement (a comment from PodCulture).

New question: Vipers vs Starfuries? What do you think? Summer thinks
the Vipers might actually take out the Starfuries, and while
Thunderbolts might fare a shade better, they'd still lose out.
Mike Smithwick responds with what he would have cut from B5, and what
he would have added in; Ann in CA wonders if JMS' announcement was
more of an indication that he hasn't had the chance to really focus
on creating more B5 stories, be it lack of time or introduction of a
block; an X-Files tangent leads to a comparison between Chris
Carter's long-term work versus JMS' long-term work.

Jeffrey notes that we haven't gotten Christopher Franke and Ed Wasser
for us to talk to, and promises to do better; comments on
inconsistencies "Into the Fire"; Andy comments on the "Into the Fire"
discussion, and chimes in on what he thinks could have happened had
Londo failed in his plan to kill Cartagia and destroy the Shadow
ships on Centauri Prime; Valerie in MD disagrees with Tim's opinion
that "The Long Night" was a bad title… she also would love to listen
to a Lensman podcast, and is waiting for our commentary on the Script
Books (we're working on that last one).

Go check out Deep Geeking when you get a chance, and if you want to
contribute something, get ahold of Summer.

To catch up on previous Babylon 5 Podcasts, go to
www.babylonpodcast.com.

NEW DVDS

Here are some of my favorite new DVDs. Many are old TV series that
have finally been released on DVD so that we can enjoy them again –
again. Be sure not to miss TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES
and WITCHBLADE.

WONDER WOMAN
On Blu-Ray, DVD and On Demand February 2009
Official Site: www.wonderwomanmovie.com
Synopsis:
On the mystical island of Themyscira, a proud and fierce warrior race
of Amazons have raised a daughter of untold beauty, grace and
strength – Princess Diana. When an Army fighter pilot, Steve Trevor,
crash-lands on the island, the rebellious and headstrong Diana defies
Amazonian law by accompanying Trevor back to civilization. Meanwhile,
Ares (the god of War) has escaped his imprisonment at the hands of
the Amazonians and has decided to exact his revenge - intending to
start a world war that will not only last for centuries – but will
wipe out every living being on the planet, starting with the Amazons!
It is up to Princess Diana to save her people and the world – by
using her gifts and becoming the ultimate Wonder Woman!
Voice Talent: Keri Russell (Felicity, Waitress)-voice of Wonder
Woman, Nathan Fillion (Waitress, Desperate Housewives)- voice of
Steve Trevor, Virginia Madsen (Sideways)-voice of Hypolyta, Oliver
Platt (West Wing, Huff) -voice of Hades , David McCallum (The Man
From U.N.C.L.E., NCIS) – voice of Zeus, Alfred Molina –(Spider Man 2)-
voice of Ares, Rosario Dawson (Sin City)-voice of Artemis)

JUSTICE LEAGUE
Release Date: August 19, 2008
Synopsis:
Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian
Manhunter and Hawkgirl they have all used their unique powers to
fight evil across the galaxy. These 7 super heroes unite to become
the Justice League. These 26 adventures feature battles with favorite
villains like Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage and sorceress Morgan Le Fey.
Acts of justice include saving Aquaman from a coup and clearing Green
Lantern's name in a charge of genocide. From the smash hit TV series,
these triumphant tales of teamwork will enthrall and inspire!

TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES
Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season
Comes Out August 19

The series stars Lena Headey (300), Summer Glau ("The 4400", "The
Unit", "Firefly"), Thomas Dekker ("Heroes"), and Richard T. Jones
(Vantage Point, "Judging Amy").
The mother of all destiny. Her son, the future leader of mankind.
Their protector, a terminator from the future. Together they must
take back the future as Sarah Connor (300's Lena Headey) prepares her
son to fight the war against machines determined to annihilate the
human race. The clock is ticking. Can they stop Judgment Day? The man-
vs-machines tale that has thrilled millions gets a reboot with this
popular series, set after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Will John Connor (Dekker) seize his destiny? Will a cell phone
salesman's chess program evolve into Skynet? Can the sweet but deadly
cyborg (Glau) be trusted? Answers - and the fight for the future -
are here and now!

DC SUPER HEROES: THE FILMATION ADVENTURES
Official website http://www.DCSuperheroesfilmation.com
Release date: August 12, 2008
Synopsis:
Episodes. Disc 1. The Atom Cartoons, Invasion Of The Beetle-Men
(1967), The Plant Master (1967), The House Of Doom (1967), The Flash
Cartoons, The Chemo-Creature (1967), Take a Giant Step (1967), To
Catch a Blue Bolt (1967), Green Lantern Cartoons, Evil is as Evil
Does (1967), The Vanishing World (1967), Sirena, Empress of Evil
(1967), Disc 2. Hawkman Cartoons, Peril from Pluto (1967), A Visit To
Venus (1967), The Twenty Third Dimension (1967), Justice League Of
America Cartoons, Between Two Armies (1967), Target Earth (1967), Bad
Day on Black Mountain (1967), Teen Titans Cartoons, The Monster
Machine (1967), The Space Beast Round-Up (1967), Operation: Rescue
(1967)

WITCHBLADE: THE COMPLETE SERIES
Release date: July 29, 2008
Official website: www.witchbladedvd.com
Synopsis:
In this adaptation of the Top Cow comic book, Witchblade is the story
of a New York detective, Sara "Pez" Pezzini, whose search for justice
brings her into contact with the Witchblade, an ancient, intelligent,
living weapon so powerful it can battle Earth's darkest evil forces.
Week in and week out, "Pez" employs her skills as a police detective
to fight crime. She finds she must employ the Witchblade to combat a
much greater and frighteningly organized conspiracy of evil that
threatens the very soul of humanity. As Sara tries to keep the secret
of the Witchblade, do her job and have a personal life, she finds
that her most formidable adversary may be the Witchblade itself.

BIRDS OF PREY: THE COMPLETE SERIES
Release Date: July 15, 2008
Birds of Prey: The Complete Series
Synopsis:
Who will stand up to villains now that a heartbroken Dark Knight has
mysteriously vanished? Never fear, New Gothamites, a trio of
champions is ready to take wing - and Helena, the daughter of Batman
and Catwoman, is among them. She calls herself Huntress and crime is
her prey. Teenaged Dinah is the youngest of the group, learning as
she goes and gifted in clairvoyance. And overseeing the awesome
threesome's high- tech nerve center is Batgirl. Left wheelchair-bound
by The Joker, she has reinvented herself as Oracle, the team's cyber
expert. Huntress, Dinah, Oracle: They are the Birds of Prey. Fighting
together. Living together. And soaring into adventure together in 13
breathtaking live-action episodes.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD OF SCIENCE FICTION

WARNER BROS AND DC COMICS
Variety discussed the challenges of turning more DC properties into
movies besides just the "Batman" and "Superman" franchises with
Warner Bros. Pictures President and Chief Operating Officer Alan
Horn, Production President Jeff Robinov and Gregory Noveck, Senior VP
of Creative Affairs for DC Comics. Excerpts are below:
Warners and DC (both Time Warner entities) have labored in vain over
another Superman, and launches for Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green
Arrow and Green Lantern. It's maddening for fans as rival Marvel
Comics has successfully begun financing its own slate of pics, first
with "Iron Man," then a reboot of "The Incredible Hulk" this summer.
That could soon change, as Warners is readying to revamp how DC's
properties are developed -- changes that could be announced within
the next month.

TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES
Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season
Comes Out August 19
But You Can Recruit and Destroy Now!!
Choose to fight for the MACHINES or the HUMANS, then recruit friends,
fight the enemy and rise through the ranks with the official TSCC
Facebook widget at www.terminatorondvd.com

VIRTUALITY
VIRTUALITY, Ronald D. Moore's SF pilot for Fox, is shooting in
Vancouver, Canada, and during an exclusive sneak peek at sets and
costumes, SciFi Wire talked with cast and crew, who said the show is
not about ships and aliens, but about characters and conflict. The
show takes place aboard the Phaeton, Earth's first interstellar
starship, whose 12-person crew is on a 10-year voyage. "To keep them
occupied and give them an outlet for privacy, they've been given
these virtual-reality modules," writer/producer Michael Taylor said
in an interview. "They each have a little corner to call their own,
and it can be anything they want it to be. A place they can be alone,
they can do some sort of activity or be in some time period. It's
whatever they want." The main set is a single module, which will be
redressed to represent various ship modules that serve different
purposes. While I was there earlier this week, the module was filled
with plants, in beds and on racks on the walls. The overall effect
was something like a cross between the International Space Station
and a mall common area. VIRTUALITY is a backdoor pilot created by
Moore and Taylor (Battlestar Galactica) and directed by Peter Berg
(Hancock). Like the sets, the show's costumes reflect the time
period, only 30 years in the future. The crew's uniforms consist of
gray jackets and pants with white piping and shoulder patches, more
like current warmup gear than Starfleet uniforms. Under the jackets,
cast members wear street clothes; as most are scientists, they wear T-
shirts with the names of colleges. The entire cast could walk down
the street in costume and not get a second look. (The cast includes
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Clea DuVall and Sienna Guillory.) "Six months
into this voyage, as they're about to reach the point of no return,
fire up the big engines and head for the star they're headed for,
something has started going wrong with these virtual modules," Taylor
said, adding coyly: "It's something that will unnerve them and
something that portends serious trouble down the road for this crew."
The smallish sets and large cast seem designed to make the space feel
crowded, to ramp up the pressure on the characters as things get out
of control. One surprising aspect of the show is that the mission is
privately funded. As such, the crew is contractually obligated to
participate in a reality show being shot onboard. Phaeton is studded
with surveillance cameras, like the Big Brother house in space. While
shooting the pilot itself, the cast are also shooting webisodes built
largely around this reality-show concept. A surprising amount of
material is being improvised by the actors, with aspects of this
improvisation making it into the show. VIRTUALITY promises to take
space-based science fiction in some very new directions when it airs
on Fox, probably sometime in 2009.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
Warner Brothers announced yesterday that it is delaying the release
of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE to July 17, 2009, from its
original Nov. 11 opening date. Alan Horn, Warner's president and
chief operating officer, cited two reasons for the move. "We know the
summer season is an ideal window for a family tent-pole release, as
proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the
second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first
installment," Horn said. "Additionally, like every other studio, we
are still feeling the repercussions of the writers' strike, which
impacted the readiness of scripts for other films--changing the
competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of
opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of. We agreed the best
strategy was to move HALF-BLOOD PRINCE to July, where it perfectly
fills the gap for a major tent-pole release for mid-summer." Jeff
Robinov, president of Warner's motion picture group, added in a
statement that the move will not affect production of any future
Potter films. (The seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's series,
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, will be adapted as two
movies.) "The release date change does not alter the production
schedule for this or future Harry Potter films," Robinov said. "Post-
production on Half-Blood Prince was completed on time, and the
studio's release plans for the two-part HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY
HALLOWS will not be affected by this change. We know Harry Potter
fans are eagerly anticipating seeing the final chapters unfold
onscreen. In fact, the good news for them is that the gap will now be
shortened between Half-Blood Prince and the first part of HARRY
POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS."
In HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes)
is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, and
Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry (Daniel
Radcliffe) suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but
Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is more intent upon preparing him for the
final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Meanwhile, the
students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage
hormones rage across the ramparts. Love is in the air, but tragedy
lies ahead, and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

MOONLIGHT FANS REJOICE
According to the Hollywood Reporter, MOONLIGHT star Alex O'Loughlin
is staying at CBS. The Australian actor has signed a talent holding
deal with the network, sister studio CBS Paramount TV and ABC
Studios. Under the one-year pact, O'Loughlin will star in a new
series project for CBS that will be developed by top TV producer Mark
Gordon, whose ABC Studio-based company is behind such series as
ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," Lifetime's "Army Wives" and CBS' "Criminal
Minds." O'Loughlin won quite a following for his portrayal as vampire
PI Mick St. John on CBS' "Moonlight." Unfortunately, the series was
canceled in May. At the Television Critics Assn. press tour in July,
CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler credited the show's intense
fan appeal to the actor. Under the new deal with CBS, he also will be
able to pitch theatrical projects to CBS Films. O'Loughlin, next
appears in the feature WHITEOUT.

TRANSFORMERS 2
When Shia LaBeouf was involved in a car accident July 27, word
started flying that production would be shut down for 4 weeks so that
he could recover. Today trades are indicating he'll be back to work
today. Reportedly, the studio lost two days of production before Bay
and actors worked around their schedule to film alternative scenes
with his co-stars while Shia was on the mend. The upcoming sequel co-
stars Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Isabel
Lucas, Rainn Wilson and Jennifer Alden. Bay is directing again, based
on a screenplay by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Ehren Kruger.
There are rumors that we can expect our first teaser trailer look at
the sequel attached to Paramount and DreamWork's next Shia-led film
EAGLE EYE, which hits theaters September 26, 2008. TRANSFORMERS:
REVENGE OF THE FALLEN will hit standard and IMAX theaters June 26,
2009.

VALKYRIE FOR CHRISTMAS
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures announced today they will be releasing
the suspense film, VALKYRIE, from Director Bryan Singer, on Friday,
December 26, 2008. "We saw and tested the movie," says Clark Woods,
President of MGM Distribution. "and we believe a strong movie
deserves a strong playdate." Tom Cruise stars in the suspense
thriller, VALKYRIE, based on the true story of Colonel Claus von
Stauffenberg (Cruise) and the daring and ingenious plot to eliminate
one of the most evil criminals the world has ever known. Director
Bryan Singer re-teams with Academy Award®-winning USUAL
SUSPECTSscreenwriter Christopher McQuarrie to bring to life the story
of the men who led the operation to assassinate Hitler. The film also
stars an acclaimed cast including Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom
Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Eddie Izzard,
Christian Berkel and Terence Stamp. A proud military man, Colonel
Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal officer who serves his country all
the while hoping that someone will find a way to stop Hitler before
Europe and Germany are destroyed. Realizing that time is running out,
he decides that he must take action himself and joins the German
resistance. Armed with a cunning strategy to use Hitler's own
emergency plan - known as Operation Valkyrie - these men plot to
assassinate the dictator and over-throw his Nazi government from the
inside. With everything in place, with the future of the world, the
fate of millions and the lives of his wife and children hanging in
the balance, Stauffenberg is thrust from being one of many who oppose
Hitler to the one who must kill Hitler himself.

HEROES PREVIEW
NBC's preview of "Heroes'" third season, subtitled "Villains,"
scheduled to air on August 30th during its "NBC Primetime Preview"
presentation is already online at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=fJxBw3uc5cU>. HEROES returns on September 22.

LOST BOYS SEQUEL
While out promoting his new movie MIRRORS, Kiefer Sutherland, one of
the original stars of 1987's cult vampire movie LOST BOYS, was asked
if he was approached about appearing in the straight-to-DVD sequel
film, LOST BOYS 2: THE TRIBE. "If they had [asked] I wouldn't have
done it," Sutherland said. The 24 star added that original LOST BOYS
helmer Joel Schumacher wasn't contacted by the sequel's producers
either, and he didn't seem too happy about it. "It's not a question
of going back to that," Kiefer said. "That's a huge part of my life,
[and] I really value that. To kind of not consider any of the others,
Joel Schumacher and I ... You want to go make that, go make that.
That's your right to do it. But if you're not going to talk to us
about it ... To do a cameo in that ... would be really disrespectful
to something that I thought we made at one time that I thought was
special." LOST BOYS 2: THE TRIBE, directed by P.J. Pesce, features a
largely new cast, with the exception of original LOST BOYS cast
member Corey Feldman. Kiefer Sutherland added that he didn't find out
about half-brother Angus' participation until later. "He had a great
time making it, so I'm glad about that," Kiefer said. "I found out
after the fact. I think I was in Romania [shooting Mirrors] when he
did it." Kiefer retains warm feelings about LOST BOYS, which he
doesn't consider a horror movie, unlike MIRRORS. "LOST BOYS was a
conglomeration of a lot of things," he said. "It was funny. It was
rock 'n' roll. It was cool-looking. It was scary at moments; it was
touching at moments between, you know, Star and Michael." He
chuckled. "God, I haven't said those two names for a long time."

2012
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Sony Pictures Imageworks has been
awarded a substantial amount of visual-effects work on Roland
Emmerich's upcoming apocalyptic movie 2012. The SF thriller recently
started production in Vancouver, Canada, and will include a large
number of visual effects. A July 10, 2009, release is planned. The
production has a contingency plan in case of an actors walkout or
strike. Emmerich helmed last year's 10,000 B.C..

MIRABILIS
Emmy winner Christopher Lloyd has been cast opposite David James
Elliott in SCI FI's upcoming original fantasy miniseries MIRABILIS,
according to The Hollywood Reporter. The four-hour miniseries centers
on four knights who must save their great land of Mirabilis. Lloyd
(BACK TO THE FUTURE) will play one of the knights, Tesselink, a
venerated senior elf who is an accomplished master of "bloodsteel"
sorcery. The cast also includes Natassia Malthe. Sam Egan (JEREMIAH)
wrote the script. The movie will be produced by Reunion Pictures,
with RHI Entertainment and Industry Entertainment attached.

PERFECT GIFT FOR TREK FAN
CBS Consumer Products announced that it will sell a full-size,
operational replica of the chair piloted by Capt. James T. Kirk on
the original Star Trek TV show. Cost: only $2,000. The officially
licensed product features a working swivel design, light-up controls
and sound effects from the series (intercom hail, photon torpedoes,
etc.). The chair also issues snippets of dialogue from the show,
including the famous "Space: The final frontier" prologue and William
Shatner's voice uttering such deathless phrases as "Lt. Uhura, open a
channel to all decks" and "Kirk to engineering: Scotty, report!" The
chair will be available online and at retail outlets in time for the
holidays.

EARTHQUAKE
As the ground shakes in California, according to the Hollywood
Reporter, producer/director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) and David
Seltzer, the screenwriter of the original Omen, are working together
to develop an earthquake-themed movie for Universal Pictures. The
project is untitled and not intended to be a remake of Universal's
1974 movie EARTHQUAKE. Details of the story are being kept under
wraps. Abrams is producing with Bryan Burk and Sherryl Clark via the
trio's Bad Robot company. Abrams is finishing up directing STAR TREK
for its May 2009 release. At the moment, he only plans to produce the
earthquake movie.

HEROES
Michael Ausiello, Entertainment Weekly columnist reported that Seth
Green and Breckin Meyer are close to joining NBC's Heroes as guest
stars for a multi-episode arc. Green (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and
Meyer (a frequent voice on Green's Robot Chicken TV show) will play
Atlanta-based comic-book nerds who cross paths with (and perhaps
serve as advisors to) one of the title heroes, Ausiello reported.
HEROES returns Sept. 22 with a retrospective clip show at 8 p.m.
ET/PT and a two-hour season premiere at 9.

ARGONAUTS
Variety reports that X-Men writer Zak Penn is writing and will
produce THE ARGONAUTS, a new take on the classic Greek myth, for 20th
Century Fox. Fox's version of THE ARGONAUTS is based on Penn's
original take on the story, about the Argonauts, a band of heroic
sailors, who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason
to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. The Argonauts name
comes from the sailors' ship, the Argo. John Davis (Alien vs.
Predator) is also on board to produce. THE ARGONAUTS tale has spawned
a number of projects, including the 1963 film Jason and the
Argonauts, as well as a 2000 NBC miniseries. DreamWorks is developing
a project, also titled THE ARGONAUTS, about a group of treasure
hunters who discover the wreck of the mythological sunken ship
thought to have been captained by Jason and are transported back in
time to ancient Greece. Penn is also writing THE AVENGERS, which is
based on the Marvel comic book.

THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK
According to reports in Variety, ABC has ordered a pilot for a new TV
version of THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, a variation on the 1987
supernatural movie of the same name. Maggie Friedman (Dawson's Creek)
will write the new pilot. The movie starred Jack Nicholson, Cher,
Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer and was based on the John Updike
novel, about three women who turn to witchcraft after losing (or
booting) the men in their lives. They conjure up a devil-like
character, who then proceeds to seduce all three of them. Warner
Brotheres Television has been looking to create a small-screen
version of the franchise for years. In 1992, writers Carlton Cuse and
Jeffrey Boam were behind a WITCHES OF EASTWICK pilot for NBC. That
version starred Catherine Mary Stewart, Julia Campbell, Ally Walker
and Michael Siberri. Fox developed a different version, also with
Warner, in 2002. The abbreviated-titled EASTWICK, from executive
producer Jim Leonard and writers Jon Cowan and Robert Rovner, focused
on the teenage sons of the original witches. Lori Loughlin, Marcia
Cross and Kelly Rutherford starred.

LOBO
Scott Steindorff's Stone Village has acquired LOBO, a spec script for
a werewolf- themed action thriller by Dikran Ornekian and Ryan
Colluci, Variety reported. Ezna Sands will direct the movie, about a
colony of werewolves in Brazil. The film has been fast-tracked for an
Oct. 15 production start and will shoot outside Rio de Janeiro. The
film's under-$15 million budget will be financed independently. In
the film, a man receives a photo and letters from his mother's will,
then heads to an isolated town in the Amazon to discover his roots.
There, he discovers a near-extinct species of werewolves and his true
identity, and he helps the werewolves wage a battle for survival.

AMPHIBIAN
Today's Hollywood Reporter writes that Stone Village Pictures has
acquired one the most popular Russian properties in history,
acquiring film and publishing rights to Alexander Belyaev's novel THE
AMPHIBIAN. Stone Village head Scott Steindorff will produce the
romantic adventure drama with Jenia Kokotuha, who brought the project
to the company. AMPHIBIAN follows an American surgeon living in the
Amazon who gives his son shark gills to survive a fatal respiratory
disease. The young man's underwater life is complicated when he saves
a local fisherman's daughter from a shark attack and romantic
feelings surface between them. The 1928 novel was turned into a 1962
big-screen Russian blockbuster, AMPHIBIAN MAN, released domestically
on DVD from Image Entertainment. As with the earlier properties,
Steindorff said, the sci-fi elements will remain as a backdrop to the
film's dramatic and comedic love story, which he likens to " 'Splash'
meets 'Forrest Gump.'" Steindorff is hiring a screenwriter to adapt
the book and plans to publish a new English translation. Comic book
and graphic novel adaptations also are planned through the Stone
Village imprint, handled by Intellectual Property Group's Joel
Gotler.

NEW HAWAII FIVE-O
According to the Hollywood Reporter, CBS is developing a new
installment of the HAWAII FIVE-O franchise from CRIMINAL MINDS
executive producer/showrunner Ed Bernero. Bernero is writing the
project, based around the Leonard Freeman cop series that aired on
CBS from 1968-80.
Plot Concept: Like the original series, it is a procedural
chronicling the workings of the fictional Hawaiian state police
department. In the original, the unit was headed by Steve McGarrett,
played by Jack Lord. In the new series, McGarrett's son Chris will be
the top cop. While the characters, storytelling and pacing will be
updated, "we will try to keep as much of the original show as
possible," Bernero said. "I'm not trying to reinvent it." As an
example, the famous opening music will be back but may also get a
face-lift.

CONVENTION CALENDAR

August 22-24, 2008
STARGATE CONVENTION
City: Chicago, Illinois
Place: Wyndham O'Hare
Guests: Michael Shanks, Ben Browder, Alexis Cruz, Lexa Doig, David
Kykl
For more information, go to http://www.creationent.com/cal/sgchi.htm.

August 29-September 1, 2008
DRAGONCON 2008
Guests: Sean Astin, Adam Baldwin, Brad Dourif, Robert Englund, Walter
Koenig, Phil Morris, Peter David, as well as Michael Dorn who was in
Capt Simian with Jerry Doyle.
For more information, go to http://www.dragoncon.com

September 18-20, 2008
MID-ATLANTIC NOSTALGIA CONVENTION
Place: The Clarion Hotel
City: Aberdeen, Maryland
Guests: Edd Byrnes, Patty McCormack, Jon Provost, Kathleen Hughes,
Larry Storch, Margaret Kerry -- and more to come
For more information, go to
http://www.midatlanticnostalgiaconvention.com/. Last year the
convention raised over $4,900 for the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive
Cancer Center

That is it for now.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Be sure to stop in at the website (http://www.isnnews.net) often.
There are many more stories, video clips, pictures and information
about your favorite movies and TV series. If you don't see one of
your favorites, let me know and I'll be sure to include it!

Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
Babylon 5 ISN News: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net