Well geeks, Euro-AICN's very own Hildy Johnson in the personage of Ozymandias has filed a frontpage story of great interest today with ol Father Geek and without further adieu here it is...
Harry, Father Geek and all......
It had to happen sooner or later - UK site
Popcorn has come up with the first piece of semi-solid Harry Potter
casting and of course Euro AICN is on the job!! It reads:
It had to happen sooner or later - UK site Popcorn has come up with the first piece of semi-solid Harry Potter casting and of course Euro AICN is on the job!! It reads:
"The search may still be on for a young star for 'Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone', but it seems Warner Bros. has found their Professor McGonagall in the shape of British stalwart Maggie Smith. The actress is in talks with the studio to play the professor who is the deputy head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and also the head of the Gryffindor House, which Harry and his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, belong to.
Smith may be the ideal sorceress but her place in the movie isn't confirmed. The dates Smith will be required to work on the film may clash with her other work. She is currently starring in the West End in Alan Bennett's play 'The Lady In The Van'.
Meanwhile the studio is still on the lookout for their perfect Harry, but after receiving applications from 40,000 and interviews with 300 boys, in the words of U2, they still haven't found what they're looking for. The studio is also toying with the idea of turning Harry's arch-nemesis, Lord Voldemort, into a CGI character."
And also from our friends at Popcorn a confirmation on a director for the upcoming big screen version of Douglas Adams Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy:
"'Austin Powers' director Jay Roach will direct the screen version of 'The Hitchhicker's Guide To The Galaxy', the book's author Douglas Adams has confirmed. Roach, whose directing credits aside from the two 'Austin Powers' films include 'Mystery, Alaska' and the upcoming 'Meet The Parents' with Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, has seen a host of projects come his way since his success with Mike Myers.
Adams also says in an interview with Salon.com that the film, to be produced by Roger Birnbaum ('Rain Man', 'The Sixth Sense') - and rumoured to be budgeted at around $120m - is now set to be released in 2002.
But the author, who is drafting the screenplay for 'HGG', seems to be getting a little frustrated with the delay in the production. "I can tell you nothing original or startling or new about this," he says, "except that it's Hollywood doing what it does best, which is take one step forward, two steps back."
Adams originally signed the deal with Disney back in 1997 and the movie was supposed to be out this year."
And finally Harry I know you're not going to be too happy either way with this one. After reading your impassioned call for the return of Alec Baldwin to the role of Jack Ryan on the site the other day I thought you should know about this one - it comes from the extremely reliable Press Association newswire in London (incorrect movie order and all!!!):
"America's top cinematic agent Jack Ryan may be hanging up his gun after becoming one of Hollywood's most lucrative exports.
Box office favourite Harrison Ford was the first to play writer Tom Clancy's dashing daredevil in the IRA saga Patriot Games before returning to face a Republican revenge attack in Clear and Present Danger.
Alec Baldwin took over the role when Harrison backed away from a third outing alongside Sean Connery playing a maverick Russian sub commander in The Hunt For Red October.
But neither Ford nor Baldwin are showing much interest in Ryan's fourth movie adventure The Sum of All Fears which is due to go into production shortly.
Director Philip Noyce is understood to have had a meeting with Ford but decided he needed to make too many changes in the script to come on board. Baldwin is apparently committed to other projects.
An insider on the production said: "With Harrison, it's always about the script and he felt it wasn't up to standard. He wouldn't normally play the same role three times in any case so it had to be better than superb.
"Steven Spielberg has spoken many times on him making a comeback as Indiana Jones but they have never found the right vehicle. Harrison says he'd hate to devalue such a brilliant character as Indiana.
"Like with Jack Ryan, he'd sooner end on a high."
From Empire Online:
Top Secret for Dr Who... 12/06/2000
Internet rumours surrounding a proposed small and big screen outing for classic sci-fi hero Dr Who have gone into overdrive today following a scoop by Dark Horizons. In a feature posted this morning, an anonymous source 'confirms' that a film from BBC films is in the offing but insists that there is no director or script yet. British writer/cirector Paul Anderson had originally been linked to the project, but the source alleges that disagreements between Anderson - who wanted Lawrence Fishbourne in the lead - and the BBC (who have their own preference for the role) caused discussions to break down.
The feature suggests that the favoured actor is already known in the halls of the BBC, and refuses to name him, but did someone spill the beans already? In the latest issue of Empire (July 2000), Stephen Fry responds to a question from a reader about his possible appearance in a Dr Who radio programe as follows: 'It is true. It's extraordinarily clever of him to know that. I've been sworn to the utmost secrecy by the BBC because there is such a huge contingency of Whovians, I think they call them. So it is true, but I can't tell you what part I play of what happens in it because I would be assassinated if I did.' While Fry doesn't reveal whether he plays the Dr, Empire Online feels he would be perfect to take the role of the doctor in the millennium. Could the BBC be thinking the same thing?
Latest score from the European football championships: Euro AICN 3 The Rest 0
L8r,
Ozymandias
Penthouse Suite,
Ozymandias Towers,
Dublin,
Ireland.
Mail me at ozymandias@ireland.com
Mail me at ozymandias@ireland.com
PS Re: The Christopher Lee story yesterday mucho congratulations from this side of the pond!! I used it in my Hot Gossip feature on my radio show last nite (with of corse a full credit to AICN for originating it!!)
