SCIFI.COM Launches Fidgit

SCI FI Channel and SCIFI.COM have launched Fidgit, a new consumer entertainment general game site and the latest extension of the SCI FI brand, following on the success of DVICE, SCIFI.COM's tech site.

Tom Chick, who has been covering the game industry for more than 15 years for various Web sites and publications, will be Fidgit's content editor.

Fidgit will review games, cover industry trends and gameplay and comment on and analyze game creation. The site will report news about game makers and the latest games, along with game strategies; market trends, conferences and luminaries; players and designers; and game hacks, virtual easter eggs and cheats.

Fidgit will also feature a gallery of images, some of which will be submitted by readers, as well as screen grabs, player photos, player dress-ups, products and accessories. It will also publish a weekly newsletter recapping the week's news and in-depth articles. Features and topical lists will highlight the top accessories, careers and easter eggs.Garbage's Manson Joins Connor

Shirley Manson, leader singer of the pop band Garbage, has taken a regular role next season on Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Scottish musician will play Catherine Weaver, the chief executive of a cutting-edge high-tech company, the trade paper reported.

Sarah Connor Chronicles is returning for a second season in the fall after launching in midseason as the highest-rated new scripted series of the 2007-'08 season.

It stars Lena Headey as Sarah Connor; Thomas Dekker as her son, John Connor; and Summer Glau as terminator Cameron Phillips.Potter Prequel To Be Auctioned

A brief prequel to the Harry Potter series of books will be sold in a charity auction next month in the United Kingdom, the Reuters news service reported.

Potter creator J.K. Rowling wrote an 800-word outline of a prequel to the seven-book series, which will be sold at the auction on June 10 by bookseller Waterstones, Reuters reported.

The outline, which ends with the line "From the prequel I am not working on--but that was fun!" is one of 13 story outlines written for the auction by famed authors, including new James Bond writer Sebastian Faulks and Nobel laureate Doris Lessing.

The money raised will go to charities English PEN and Dyslexia Action.Del Toro, Jackson Talk Hobbit

Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, who will respectively executive-produce and direct two upcoming films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit, interacted with each other and fans during an international Internet chat dubbed "An Unexpected Party," answering dozens of the 6,000-plus questions sent in and offering tidbits about things to come.

According to the filmmakers, 2009 will be dedicated to preproduction on both movies, with the films set to be shot back to back in New Zealand in 2010. The Hobbit will open in December 2011, followed by the tentatively titled Film Two in 2012. Several actors and behind-the-scenes figures from Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy are confirmed or likely to return, among them co-stars Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis, writer-producers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, composer Howard Shore and conceptual designers Alan Lee and John Howe.

Del Toro and Jackson confirmed that the first film will tell the story of The Hobbit, while the second will be an original tale bridging the period between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. And, they said, del Toro's films will be designed to stand on their own while syncing up with Jackson's Rings trilogy.

"I believe that it's a little bit of both; the world must feel like the same world, [in] the aspect ratio, music, essential established costume and production design trademarks," del Toro wrote from England. "But I would love to bring a lot of new flavors to the table. The Hobbit is, in essence, an overture to a massive symphonic work, so main themes are reprised, but new modulations and new colors are introduced, thematically and texturally."

Jackson, who was in New Zealand, added, "I love Guillermo's symphonic allusion. The 'overture' can have a different flavor, a different texture, yet be a carefully crafted introduction to what's to follow. Film Two is perfect to dramatize the shift in Middle-earth that propels us into the dark days of LOTR. If LOTR is World War I, then The Hobbit is like an Edwardian adventure tale, set in the days before [the] world notices the looming storm clouds."

Jackson, responding to a question about why he chose not to direct the Hobbit films, explained that "essentially competing against my own movies" seemed to be an unsatisfying way to spend the next five years. However, he wrote, "I love Tolkien and care deeply about the movies we made. I couldn't bear the idea of somebody else making them without our involvement. Being a writer and producer is the perfect way for me to work here. Guillermo has the ultimate responsibility of directing, and for him it's easier to make these movies feel different, simply because he's not me, and he therefore has an original vision, with new ideas to offer."

Del Toro, meanwhile, explained that The Hobbit was the only one of Tolkien's works with which he connected as a youth and that he dreamt of Mirkwood and Smaug for "ages." However, once he saw that Jackson had undertaken the Lord of the Rings trilogy he assumed that The Hobbit "would never come to be" for him. When it did, he leapt at the opportunity.

"The proposition of spending half a decade [to] craft these films received, as Peter will attest, a five-second 'YES' from me," del Toro wrote. "To people in my industry I'm usually a guy that tries to generate his own projects, and I remain very elusive when people try and attach me to big projects. For decades I have passed on films of enormous scope, but this is a fantastic privilege and I immediately said, 'Yes.'" --Ian SpellingAbrams' SF Fringe Previewed

Fox previewed Fringe to a group of TV writers on May 29, offering a look at a rough cut of the SF show's two-hour pilot and releasing new details about the series, which comes from J.J. Abrams (Lost). (Major spoilers ahead!)

Fox also released a new description of the series, with more details about the show's casting. "When an international flight lands at Boston's Logan Airport and the passengers and crew have all died grisly deaths, FBI special agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is called in to investigate," the description read.

"After her partner, special agent John Scott (Mark Valley), is nearly killed during the investigation, a desperate Olivia searches frantically for someone to help, leading her to Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble), our generation's Einstein. There's only one catch: He's been institutionalized for the last 20 years, and the only way to question him requires pulling his estranged son, Peter (Joshua Jackson), in to help."

SCI FI Wire viewed the entire pilot, which mixes elements of Abrams' previous series Alias and Lost with bits of The X-Files and even outright homages to the 1980 SF movie Altered States (that film's star, Blair Brown, is a Fringe cast member, playing a manipulative corporate executive).

The show, which begins very darkly and features a fair share of grisly visual effects, is also liberally dosed with Abrams' trademark quirky humor. The title refers to "fringe science"--mind control, teleportation, astral projection, reanimation--which Dunham begins to uncover in the course of her investigation.

Torv, a relative newcomer and native of Australia, is the show's center, whose character is a mix of Dana Scully, Sydney Bristow and Kate Austin and who recalls Without a Trace's Poppy Montgomery, a fellow Aussie who also plays an FBI agent.

The show's cast also includes Lance Reddick (The Wire), as head FBI agent Phillip Broyles, and Kirk Acevedo and Jasika Nicole as other FBI agents. The show's executive producers are Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (writers of Transformers and Abrams' own Mission: Impossible III and Star Trek), Bryan Burk, Jeff Pinkner and Alex Graves. Fringe, which a Fox spokesman said is a "tentpole" for the TV network, premieres Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will air on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. --Patrick Lee, News EditorMirrors Featurette Now Live

Fox has released a behind-the-scenes video featurette from the upcoming supernatural horror film Mirrors, starring Kiefer Sutherland (TV's 24) and directed by French helmer Alexandre Aja (High Tension).

Sutherland plays troubled ex New York cop Ben Carson, who takes a job as a night security guard at a long-closed department store ravaged by fire. He discovers that the store's mirrors harbor a horrific secret that threatens him and his family. The film opens Aug. 15.Andromeda Speeds To DVD

Robert Schenkkan, who wrote A&E's adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel The Andromeda Strain, told SCI FI Wire that the week-long window between its broadcast airing and its release on DVD was a vote of confidence from the network.

"I think A&E feels they have a winner," Schenkkan said in a phone interview on May 27, one day after the premiere of the first installment. "They feel they're going to do good business with this, not only in the short term on broadcast, but also in the long term, and they're eager to get it out there."

In adapting the script, Schenkkan went back to the book for inspiration, but updated many of Crichton's ideas in order to make it relevant to contemporary audiences.

"This book, it really created the genre, I think, of science techno-thriller, and in some ways, it holds up very well even today," Schenkkan said. "It's quite prescient in some ways. And in other ways, having been written in 1969, the world has moved on. And I think it's also important to not be slavish about an adaptation, which I do a fair amount of. My feeling is you absolutely want to be respectful of the original material, and you want to honor the spirit of it, but you can't let that prevent you from creating something that is new and fresh for an audience that may or may not be familiar with the original."

Some of the new elements incorporated in the miniseries include terrorism, bio-terrorism, political conspiracy and global pandemics, all of which contribute to "the sense that we're at the mercy of small cliques who can threaten to undo our world," according to Schenkkan.

"I think part of it is also a new and really much greater appreciation for how the micro interfaces with and affects the macro," he said. "The smallest events can have huge repercussions, and I think that's very much what we're about in this version."

The miniseries--starring Benjamin Bratt, Eric McCormack, Ricky Schroder, Andrew Braugher, Christa Miller, Daniel Dae Kim and Viola Davis--will be released on DVD June 3, one week after the final installment of the two-night miniseries airs on A&E. --Cindy WhiteSCI FI Premiere Dates Unveiled

SCI FI Channel announced summer premiere dates for new and returning series, including Ghost Hunters International, Stargate Atlantis, Eureka and a new version of Scare Tactics.

The new third season of Scare Tactics kicks off July 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT with two back-to-back episodes. New host Tracy Morgan (NBC's 30 Rock) joins the show.

Before that, Ghost Hunters International returns with seven new episodes beginning July 9 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Stargate Atlantis's 20-episode fifth season begins July 11 at 10 p.m. The new season introduces a powerful new race and will feature the show's 100th episode. Robert Picardo joins the regular cast as Richard Woolsey, and fan favorite Paul McGillion returns for five episodes as Dr. Carson Beckett. Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter) and Stargate SG-1 star Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) will also appear as special guest stars this season.

Eureka's third season premieres July 29 at 9 p.m. Season three delves deeper into the classified inner workings of Global Dynamics and will feature new characters, including Eva Thorne, aka "The Fixer" (Frances Fisher), whose mission is to clean up Global Dynamics.Emily Feature In The Works

Gothic icon Emily the Strange will be featured in a new film from Dark Horse Entertainment, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film will recount the origin of the character and her four mysterious cats.

Skateboarder Rob Reger created the character in the 1990s for stickers, T-shirts and skateboards sold through his company, Cosmic Debris. Since then, Emily has adorned a wide variety of merchandise, including toys, school supplies, accessories and other apparel. In 2005 she appeared in her first Dark Horse Comics series, Emily the Strange #1: Chairman of the Bored. The character, often seen with four cats, has also become a figure for female empowerment and anti-conformity. Reger has remained the creative director behind the character and is one of several artists responsible for Emily.

Dark Horse Entertainment president Mike Richardson will be overseeing the project. He's been a producer on both Hellboy films as well as 30 Days of Night. He and Reger are still looking for a director who "gets the character." The filmmaker choice may in turn dictate what format will serve the story best: live action, animation or a combination of the two. The project is not yet set up at a studio, though Universal is a contender as Dark Horse has a first-look deal there.

The storyline is being kept under wraps, though Reger, who concocted it, said it will offer up some backstory and will feature Emily's four cats--troublemaker Sabbath, schemer Nee-Chee, imaginative Miles and leader Mystery. It will also have 13 new characters with names like Earwig, Umlaut, McFreeley and Officer Summers. The story forms the basis of an Emily young adult novel, which will be published next year by HarperCollins.

Reger, who is influenced by Dr. Suess and M.C. Escher among others in his designs, said Emily's popularity is due to the character's punk fashion sense, the clean and direct graphic quality of her design, her feline companions and the message of empowerment she represents.

"In their life, everybody has, especially in the teenage years, looked to find themselves and felt like they don't fit in," Reger told the trade paper. "Emily represents that person, but in a positive light. She prefers to be different and to look at things in her own way. She's a great role model for people to think for themselves."

He adds: "It was one of my many designs that just stuck. I remember three years (after I created it) thinking 'They're still ordering the same dang shirt!' There's something there."Shorts Cast Announced

Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann and James Spader are set to star in Robert Rodriguez's family comedy adventure Shorts, Variety reported. Rodriguez is writing, directing and producing the film for Warner Brothers. Production will begin soon in Austin, Texas.

Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Leo Howard, Devon Gearhart, Rebel Rodriguez, Jake Short and Jolie Vanier also star.

Shorts is set in a suburb where all the houses look the same and everyone works for Black Box, manufacturer of the ultimate communication and do-it-all gadget. Chaos follows when an 11-year-old boy is hit in the head with a rainbow-colored rock that grants wishes to anyone who holds it.

Rodriguez is serving as his own director of photography, editor and visual effects supervisor.McBride Cast As Your Highness

Danny McBride will star in the fantasy comedy Your Highness for director David Gordon Green, Variety reported. Scott Stuber will produce through his Universal-based company. Production begins in January, 2009.

McBride, who wrote the script with Ben Best, will play an arrogant, lazy prince who must complete a quest to save his father's kingdom.

"This is such an original idea for a comedy that takes place in a kingdom with dragons and wizards, with Danny at the center as the outcast brother who gets an opportunity to prove himself," Stuber told the trade paper.

Former college classmates Green and McBride previously collaborated on the drama All the Real Girls, which was McBride's acting debut. McBride has also worked with Best on the comedy The Foot Fist Way, in which he played a small-town martial arts teacher. He is currently filming the big-screen version of Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell and Anna Friel.Ninja Assassin Shoot Begins

Filming is underway on Ninja Assassin, under the direction of James McTeigue (V For Vendetta), Warner Brothers announced. Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) co-wrote the screenplay, which is being produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers.

Ninja Assassin stars Korean pop star Rain (Speed Racer) as the central character, Raizo; Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) as Europol researcher Mika Coretti; Ben Miles (V For Vendetta) as Europol Agent Ryan Maslow; legendary martial arts performer Sho Kosugi (Revenge of the Ninja) as the ruthless leader of the Ozunu Clan; and Rick Yune (Die Another Day) as Raizo's rival, Takeshi.

Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive, and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.

Principal photography is taking place at Babelsberg Studios and on location in various parts of Berlin.Darko 2 Adds Two

Elizabeth Berkley and Briana Evigan have joined the cast of S. Darko (aka Samantha D), the sequel to Donnie Darko, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Chris Fisher is directing the project, which also stars Daveigh Chase (reprising her role from the original film), Ed Westwick and Justin Chatwin.

The story, set seven years after the first film, follows Donnie Darko's sister, Samantha (Chase), who, in dealing with her broken family, flees town with her best friend (Evigan) when they are plagued by bizarre visions. Berkley is playing a speed freak turned Jesus freak whose sentiments about ridding the world of its exponential sin are rivaled only by her infatuation with her dreamy pastor.

Production has begun in Utah.

Richard Kelly, who wrote and directed the original Donnie Darko, has said that he has had no involvement in the sequel.Wilson Has Transformers 2 Role

Rainn Wilson (NBC's The Office) told MTV that he has been cast in DreamWorks' Transformers 2, the sequel to last year's megahit about a race of automotive automatons, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The sequel reteams director Michael Bay with returning stars Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro.

Wilson will reportedly have a small role in the sequel as a college professor to LaBeouf's new undergraduate. Discussions with Jonah Hill to take another small role did not pan out.

The story was conceived by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who wrote the first movie, as well as Ehren Kruger, who wrote the screenplay. Filming began in Los Angeles in recent weeks and is moving to Pennsylvania and then overseas.Trek's Courage Dead At 88

Alexander (Sandy) Courage, an Oscar-nominated film and TV composer best known for writing the original Star Trek theme, died May 15 in Pacific Palisades, Calif., Variety reported. He was 88 and had been in declining health since 2005.

Courage's fanfare for the U.S.S. Enterprise, written in 1965 for the first of two Star Trek pilots, was heard throughout the three original seasons of the show and has been reprised throughout all the Trek feature films and several of the TV series, notably Star Trek: The Next Generation in the 1980s and '90s.

Courage also won a 1988 Emmy as principal arranger for the ABC special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas and received Oscar nominations (both shared with Lionel Newman) for his adaptation scores for The Pleasure Seekers in 1963 and Doctor Dolittle in 1967.

Born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, Courage received his degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., in 1941, then moved to California.

Courage scored dozens of films and TV series, including episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space and Land of the Giants.

But it was Star Trek that became his most famous work. In addition to the fanfare, series theme and scores for two pilots, Courage composed the music for just four other episodes. Bay's Platinum To Make Ouija Film

Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes has been brought on board to turn Hasbro's Ouija "spirit board" game into a movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The project is set up at Universal, where Hasbro has a six-year strategic partnership.

Platinum Dunes' Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller will produce Ouija along with Hasbro.

Although the specific story for the film is being kept under wraps, the film will be a supernatural adventure with the Ouija board playing an integral part of the story.

While divination or spiritual boards have been around for centuries, they began being sold as novelty items in the late 1800s, with the first Ouija board, one with an alphabet on it, being patented in 1890. Players' fingers are placed on a small planchette that mysteriously moves to letters and numbers in order to spell out messages from beyond the earthly realm.

The board has been produced by Hasbro's Parker Brothers since 1966, with millions being sold worldwide.

Bay's Platinum Dunes partner David Berenbaum wrote Elf and worked on The Spiderwick Chronicles, Zoom and The Haunted Mansion. (Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.)Fallen Plumbs Noreela's Past

Fantasy author Tim Lebbon told SCI FI Wire that his latest novel, Fallen, is set in his Noreela milieu but takes place in the distant past.

"After writing Dusk and Dawn, I wanted to write a stand-alone book in the same world, concentrating on two competing characters," Lebbon said in an interview. "The events in Fallen still resound across the land, but they involve a very small group of people, and I enjoyed working with just two point-of-view characters. It makes the book more intense and gives me the opportunity to really get to know these two."

Lebbon also wanted to take a look at Noreela's early history. "The idea of previously friendly explorers becoming enemies and racing each other to perhaps the greatest discovery in Noreela appealed to me greatly," he said. "And they're both characters I love; they have their good sides and their bad. There are no 'good guys' or 'bad guys' in this book, just flawed, very human people."

Fallen follows those two explorers--known in Noreela as voyagers--as they journey south to the Great Divide, a cliff spanning the land and rising into the clouds. "Their aim is to climb the Divide, which legend suggests has no top, and discover what just might be sleeping up there," Lebbon said. "In doing so, they will guarantee their place in history as the greatest voyagers ever."

But jealousies intrude, and the two friendly explorers fall out. "In the space of one long night, when some terrible past betrayals are brought into the open, they become mortal enemies," Lebbon said. "The journey to the Great Divide becomes a deadly race. And at journey's end awaits something beyond even their wildest imaginings."

Lebbon would have loved to have been an explorer, he said. "I enjoy traveling, and wherever I am, I'm always tempted by mysterious paths, steps curving out of view, tunnels leading deep into the ground," Lebbon said. "Much of this book is about discovery, and there's a genuine enthusiasm with which the two main characters approach their journey--initially, at least, until things turn sour. Actually, writing a book is always a process of discovery for me, and I found that doubly so with Fallen."

Also recently published is Mind the Gap, a novel written in collaboration with Christopher Golden. --John Joseph AdamsBioShock Coming For PS3

2K Games announced that it is developing a PlayStation 3 version of BioShock, which will be released in October. The PS3 version will include new features and content, 2K said.

BioShock was originally released in 2007 for the Xbox 360 and PC. The narrative-driven action title allows players to journey through Rapture, an Art Deco underwater utopia gone mad. Quinto: Trek Honors Original

Zachary Quinto, who takes over the role of Spock in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek film, told SCI FI Wire that the rebooted version honors the original television series that spawned the franchise.

"It was done with real heart and real respect and a real effort to honor the origins of this franchise, while at the same time sort of re-imagining those origins," Quinto said in an interview. "People have been enormously supportive of me playing this role and of our making this movie. We're all really excited about it."

While Quinto is appreciative of the support he's received from fans of the series, he said that the most important thing to the filmmakers was to make a good movie.

"I feel strongly that we've done really good work as a group, as a cast, as a crew," he said. "And I don't really feel like any of us can or do concern ourselves with anything other than making the best project that we can possibly make. And the response that people have to that is neither in our control nor can it be a concern, because then what are we making it for? The reality is, if we make what we know is in our hearts, then hopefully people will respond to that, and they'll respond to the fact that it was done with integrity and imagination and creative vitality."

Quinto first gained notoriety for his performance as the villainous Sylar on NBC's Heroes. He acknowledged that the show was directly responsible for his winning the role of Spock, originated by Leonard Nimoy in the 1960s series and subsequent feature films.

"I don't think I would have gotten the movie if I hadn't already been on the show," he said. "It sort of really helped me in that regard, as well. I think it made me sort of a bankable commodity. Like, having never really done a movie before, I think being a part of a show as successful as this one gave the studio the confidence to get behind me as the choice for the role. Also, I'm sure J.J.'s and Leonard's support helped."

Quinto is not the only connection between the show and the Star Trek franchise. Heroes has also featured guest appearances by former Star Trek cast members George Takei and Nichelle Nichols.

"I think it really started as sort of an inside joke," Quinto said. "It started in the writer's room, like the license plate on [Takei's character's] limousine was the call letters of the Enterprise, and that sort of fostered some buzz, and then with the casting choices, then that sort of continued. I think they were all just happy coincidences. I don't think anybody set out to intentionally draw those parallels. It just so happened that they made themselves available, and opportunities were seized. And then, with me doing the movie, I think it was just a happy stroke of serendipity."

Quinto nearly went on to describe the process as "logical," but stopped himself before uttering the word because of its close association with the character of Spock.

"I always do that," he said. "When I'm going to say the word 'logical,' and then I stop myself. There are certain things that I can no longer do with as much ease as I used to. Using the word logical is one of them." Star Trek is set to open on May 8, 2009. Heroes returns to NBC on on Sept. 22 with a one-hour clip show at 8 p.m. ET/PT and a two-hour season premiere at 9. (NBC is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.) --Cindy WhiteHulk Goes Its Own Way

Kevin Feige, producer of Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk, told SCI FI Wire that the film takes a neutral position with regard to its predecessor, Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk, which was a critical and box-office disappointment.

"When [star] Edward [Norton] came on board, we were sort of early on considering a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy [about it]," Feige, who is also president of Marvel Studios, said in a group interview in Incredible Hulk's editing bay at Universal Studios last week.

Feige added: "People who want to think it's a sequel can think it's a sequel. People coming in off the street who've never seen the first one can enjoy it as well. And, actually, it was Edward: ... One of the things he did in his polish, his rewrite, was to firmly establish a unique origin--which actually dovetailed perfectly with what we were trying to do at Marvel--which was [to] create individual franchises that can live and breathe on their own, but--as you already see in the first three minutes--can interconnect with each other for people who want to see a bigger picture." (Spoilers ahead!)

Universal screened the film's opening credit sequence, a montage of footage that sets up the origins of the Hulk and Dr. Bruce Banner's (Norton) transformation into the big green monster. The montage sequence is designed to catch viewers up with the Hulk backstory without completely ignoring Lee's film.

"We decided, 'OK, let's take everything--all the storytelling, backstory-telling--and compress it and make it the coolest credit sequence to explain everything, just to make it very graphic," Leterrier said. "Which is literally an homage to the [1980s Incredible Hulk] TV show, which I love. I actually love the TV show."

A sharp-eyed viewer will catch glimpses of the words "S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Nick Fury," as well as "Doc Samson," a character who will also reportedly appear in the movie. Fans of the Marvel universe will recognize the allusions to other characters and organizations that play into the Hulk mythology and that of the Avengers, the superhero team that will be the subject of a Marvel film in 2011.

"Going back to a unique origin, the Banner [mythology] allowed us to start weaving in some of these other elements that may or may not pop up in future Marvel films," Feige said coyly. (Marvel has already admitted that these allusions--and similar ones in the recent Iron Man film--are deliberate and intended to feed anticipation for The Avengers.) Lee's Hulk, by contrast, had no such connections with the rest of the Marvel universe. The Incredible Hulk opens June 13. --Patrick Lee, News EditorNew Spidey Stars Rumored

Latino Review reported a rumor that Sony may be considering Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) or Michael Angarano (Forbidden Kingdom) to take over the title role in future Spider-Man films if Tobey Maguire isn't available.

The site reported that producers Laura Ziskin and Grant Curtis are tossing a number of names around and that no offers have been made.

The site added that a fourth and fifth Spider-Man movie are moving forward.D'Arcy Enters Fox's Virtuality

James D'Arcy (An American Haunting) has been tapped as the lead in Virtuality, Fox's two-hour backdoor SF pilot from Ronald D. Moore, who rebooted Battlestar Galactica for SCI FI Channel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun are producing the pilot; UMS is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

The SF pilot, to be directed by Peter Berg, is set aboard the Phaeton, Earth's first starship, on a 10-year journey to explore a distant solar system. To help the crew endure the long trip, NASA equips the ship with advanced virtual-reality modules, allowing them to assume adventurous identities and go anywhere they want.

The British D'Arcy will play the ship's psych officer, who produces the virtual-reality shows. Last year, D'Arcy starred in another Fox SF pilot, Them, which was co-created by Moore's Battlestar partner, David Eick (NBC's Bionic Woman).007 Is Back In Devil

A warship moored in the Thames and Royal Marines mounted guard on May 27 to mark the return to action of the world's most famous spy, James Bond, in a new novel in London, the Reuters news service reported.

Devil May Care, published on May 28, is the latest adventure for the hard-drinking, womanizing action hero created by Ian Fleming and adored by millions worldwide through 14 books and a series of blockbuster films.

Penned by British novelist Sebastian Faulks at the request of Fleming's estate, the new novel is set in 1967 and portrays the aging licensed killer as vulnerable and damaged but with an undiminished sex drive.

The publication marks the centenary of Fleming's birth.

Devil May Care's plot remains a secret but, Faulks stresses, still contains enough exotic settings and culinary indulgence to please devotees of the devil-may-care secret agent.Elom Posits Prehistoric UFOs

SF Author William H. Drinkard told SCI FI Wire that his novel Elom was inspired, in part, by his reading of Jean M. Auel's novels of prehistoric life.

"The Valley of Horses ... introduced 'Venus figures' to me and the opinion that they were the remnants of an Earth mother fertility cult, which, apparently, existed in the beliefs of early man for tens of thousands of years," Drinkard said in an interview. "In an epiphany, I came to appreciate the fact that 99 percent of human existence predates recorded history. If thinking man has existed for hundreds of thousands of years and modern man has walked this planet for better than 50,000 years, then the chances are that if there has been extraterrestrial contact with man, it would have [also] happened long before Roswell in 1947."

Elom is a "what if?" story, Drinkard said. "If human abductions have taken place, would not some of these abductions have happened thousands of years ago?" he asked. "If they did occur, who did the abducting and why? I ran with the idea and tried to develop a storyline using this basic idea."

The book tackles the age-old conundrum--who are we, where did we come from, and why are we here?--through the adventures of seven young people and their journey to discover who abducted their ancestors and placed them on the planet of Elom and why, Drinkard said.

During the last ice age, a young girl named Geerna, undergoing her rite-of-passage ceremony, is abducted while clutching a Venus figure. "[Those are] crude carvings made by paleolithic man--40,000 B.C. to 15,000 B.C.--of female figures that anthropologists believe were fertility goddesses: evidence of an Earth mother cult," Drinkard said. "Many hundreds of generations later, seven of Geerna's descendants (and other humans abducted from Geerna's time) learn they are not native to Elom."

Drinkard is currently working on Fair Chance, his second novel. "It is the story of the survivors of Earth's first 300-year journey to the Alpha Centauri AB star system," he said. "The story begins 3,500 years later, when the first [faster-than-light] ships brings 3,000 young people from Earth to marry randomly chosen survivors in a clandestine effort to stop the colonists from mutating into a superior race by controlling their gene pool." --John Joseph AdamsHulk Footage Previewed

Louis Leterrier, who directed the upcoming The Incredible Hulk movie, told SCI FI Wire that he took the 1970s TV series of the same name as his principal inspiration for the film, which is envisioned as both

a reboot and a sequel to Ang Lee's 2003 film Hulk.

"My emotional entry point for The Incredible Hulk was the TV show, and that's why it's ... so heavily based, in the beginning at least, on the TV show," the French-born director said to reporters during a visit to the film's editing bay and scoring stage at Universal Studios last week.

Leterrier added that the film owes part of its inspiration to Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's 2004 Hulk: Gray miniseries of Marvel Comics, which returns to the creature's origin story and offers psychological underpinnings for its mythology.

"[It] is like [a] super-stylistic but very simplistic approach ... to the Hulk and, like, super emotional," Leterrier said. "That thing is beautiful. It's poetry. It's like comic-book poetry. And I read it, devoured it, and I said, 'This, guys, ... this is amazing. This is what I want to do.' And there's actual visual scenes in our movie that are homages, you know, panel after panel kind of homages, to this comic book, because I love it."

Universal screened several scenes of the upcoming film for SCI FI Wire and other online reporters. (Spoilers ahead!)

The first clip was the main title sequence, a montage with backstory for the movie that sets up the origin, with homages to the TV series (the chair for Bruce Banner, played by Edward Norton) and point-of-view shots of the transformed Banner wreaking havoc on a lab, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) and Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt), ending with his banishment and exile.

In a second clip, Gen. Ross and his troops are assembled on a green outside what appears to be a college building, Norton has run onto a glass-enclosed overpass connecting two buildings and is trapped by the soldiers. The scene erupts into a major battle between Hulk and the troops and Hulk's main nemesis, Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), a grizzled and fearless commando who openly challenges the much-larger Hulk before he is kicked into a tree. The scene ends with Betty trying to reach out to the Hulk as a helicopter fires at them, which the Hulk destroys in a massive fireball, engulfing Hulk and Betty.

A third clip features the cameo performance of Lou Ferrigno, the original Hulk from the TV series, who shares a scene with Norton.

A final clip shows the beginning of the major showdown between Hulk and the Abomination, the transformed Blonsky, on the streets of New York. As the Hulk tears a police cruiser in half and uses it to pummel Blonsky, the Abomination shakes it off and challenges Hulk again: "Is that all you got?"

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who produced the film, said that it merges "the pathos of Banner from the television series [and] the spectacle and smash of Hulk from the best of the comics. And Hulk: Gray, the Loeb/Sales [series], really is the link between them. And ... the scenes that you're talking about, panel for panel, [are] the centerpiece of the film. It sort of links the two stories."

One other thing that fans can look forward to, Leterrier said: "When I saw Ang's movie, I was frustrated that I didn't get to see the Hulk [until] 40 minutes [in]. So the first thing Kevin told me--Kevin and [producer] Gale [Anne Hurd] told me--[was] 'We need Hulk soon.' Like, not right away, because it would be kind of weird, but ... soon enough so the audience doesn't get that restless feeling of, 'Oh, 40 minutes into the movie, [and no Hulk,]' you know? And when you see Hulk, you really see him." The Incredible Hulk opens June 13. (Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.) --Patrick Lee, News EditorMcG Blogs Terminator Salvation

McG, who is directing Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, wrote on the film's official blog that production has begun and that he intends to honor the franchise's heritage.

"Everything we're shooting is designed to be tactile and real," the director wrote on May 23. "You'll be seeing a whole set of inspired designs you've never seen before, and, best of all, you'll finally get to see some of the post-judgment day future that was only hinted at in the previous movies."

Production kicked off earlier this month on the sequel, which stars Sam Worthington and Christian Bale as an adult John Connor, based on a script by Michael Ferris and John Brancato (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines). The fourth film in the franchise is set in post-apocalyptic 2018, and Bale's Connor is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators.

"John Connor will be pushed to the brink," McG wrote. "And, for me, Christian Bale embodies Connor's strength and tenacity perfectly. And after visiting Sam Worthington on the set of Avatar, I know he's perfect for his role. As you know, Anton Yelchin is playing Kyle Reese, and his prep has been unbelievable. The guy's been watching all three Terminators incessantly, and he's definitely going to capture the essence of the character Michael Biehn created in [director James] Cameron's first film."

McG said that principal photography began with a sequence at Los Angeles' Griffith Observatory, a key location from the first movie as well. "I've already seen a cut of it," McG wrote. "Anton and Sam are excellent. I'll have more on that soon and can't wait to share some of what we're doing with you all. Stay tuned for more." Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is envisioned as the first film in a new Terminator trilogy and is slated for release on May 22, 2009. Watchmen's Tales Due On DVD

The New York Times reported that Zack Snyder, director of the upcoming Watchmen movie, will release the comic-within-a-film Tales of the Black Freighter as a DVD within days of Watchmen's opening.

Snyder had originally contemplated either incorporating the pirate-themed comic into the film itself or adding it as a DVD extra on the Watchmen DVD.

But Warner Brothers, which is releasing Watchmen, will now release Tales as a separate-but-related Snyder-helmed movie exclusively on DVD five days after the main movie rolls out in theaters. The DVD will also include a documentary-style film called Under the Hood that will delve into the characters’ backstories.

Fans of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen graphic novel will recognize both Tales and Under the Hood as key side narratives that inform and illuminate the main storyline, about a group of costumed superheroes who investigate the death of one of their own in an alternate-history 1980s New York.

Eventually, Tales of the Black Freighter will be followed about four months later by the DVD release of Watchmen itself and then an "ultimate" edition in which the two are edited together into one megamovie, the newspaper reported.

Watchmen is slated for release on March 6, 2009.One Jump Wins Crook Award

Mark L. Van Name's SF novel One Jump Ahead is the winner of this year's Compton Crook Award, which is given to the best debut SF, fantasy or horror novel of the year. The announcement came May 23 at the opening ceremonies of Balticon 42 in Baltimore. Van Name was presented with a commemorative plaque and a check for $1,000.

The other nominees for this year's award were The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin.

The award, which is presented annually by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, is named after Towson State College professor of natural science Compton Crook, who wrote SF under the name Stephen Tall. Crook died in 1981, and the award was first presented in 1983. --John Joseph AdamsFantasy Author Asprin Is Dead

Best-selling fantasy author Robert Asprin died May 22 of natural causes at his home in New Orleans. He was 61.

Asprin was best known for his MythAdventures fantasy series, which began in 1978 with Another Fine Myth. The long-running series consists of 18 volumes, with a 19th volume forthcoming. Other notable work includes the Phule's Company series and the creation of the Thieves' World shared-world anthology series. The first book of a new series, Dragons Wild, was published in April.

According to Asprin's Web site, he had been "in good spirits and working on several new projects" at the time of his death.

Asprin, whose full name was Robert Lynn Asprin, was born on June 28, 1946, in St. Johns, Mich. Prior to publishing his first novel in 1977, he attended the University of Michigan and served briefly in the U.S. Army.

He is survived by his mother, sister, daughter and son. --John Joseph AdamsBRIEFLY NOTED

Writer-producer Tim Minear (Firefly, Wonderfalls) has signed a new two-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Under the seven-figure pact, Minear will work on existing 20th TV series, such as Joss Whedon's upcoming Dollhouse, and develop new projects for the studio. For his future development, Minear is leaning toward genre shows.

The New York Times has published a report on the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel The Road, including images from the upcoming movie.

Variety has posted video clips from the upcoming season finale of ABC's Lost, which airs May 29.

The Walt Disney Studios has signed a multi-year deal with Ahmet Zappa, Harris Katleman and Christian Beranek to oversee Kingdom Comics, a new venture to develop graphic novels for film projects and to re-imagine and rejuvenate live-action motion pictures from the studio's library.

Sony Pictures told SuperheroHype.com that there is no truth to the rumor that the studio is looking to replace Tobey Maguire in the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in future Spider-Man movies.

The three-day Star Wars Celebration fan convention will move to Tokyo for the first time July 19-21 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Japanese release of the first movie in 1978, Lucasfilm announced.

Christian Bale, dressed in his The Dark Knight Batman regalia, wears a milk mustache as part of a new advertising campaign to promote the beverage: TDK opens July 18.

Willem Dafoe has joined the cast of the supernatural film Cirque du Freak, now filming in New Orleans, IGN.com reported; it's the third time that Dafoe is playing a vampire.

The two-hour first installment of A&E's SF miniseries The Andromeda Strain averaged 4.8 million total viewers, including 2.7 million adults aged 25-54, more viewers in key demographics than any other movie or miniseries on basic cable so far this year, Variety reported.

A 20th-anniversary edition of a newly remastered Beetlejuice drops on DVD and Blu-ray disc on Sept. 16, packaged in a lenticular sleeve and featuring a soundtrack sampler CD and collectible booklet.

Sideshow Collectibles is selling a 7-foot-tall Cylon Centurion robot figure from SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica for $7,900--manufactured by Fred Barton Productions and licensed through Universal Studios--featuring a red visor light and electronic hum in stereo.

Ain't It Cool News has posted an image from Zack Snyder's Watchmen movie, a black-and-white photo of the 1940s-era "Minutemen" team of superheroes; the movie opens March 6, 2009.

NBC announced that it will bring back Heroes on Sept. 22 with a one-hour clip show at 8 p.m. ET/PT and a two-hour season premiere at 9, Variety reported; Chuck, meanwhile, returns for a second season on Sept. 29 at 8 p.m., and Knight Rider debuts at 8 p.m. on Sept. 24.

British actor Rob Knox, 18, who plays Ravenclaw student Marcus Belby in the upcoming film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was stabbed to death during a brawl in London on May 24, the Associated Press reported; Knox was stabbed after he got caught up in a fight outside a bar in southwest London.