July 30 IN one of the best Star Wars stories for a while, a former waitress is suing her employers, claiming they duped her with a Star Wars toy as a prize, rather than a new car.
In a brilliant piece of ingenuity, the bar firm Hooters offered its staff a Toyota for whoever could sell the most beer. But when Jodee Berry was led out blindfolded to the restaurant car park to claim her prize she was presented with a toy Yoda.
A disgruntled, and humourless, Ms Berry is now suing Hooters in Florida for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation. Oh, and she wants the cost of a new Toyota. As the BBC site says: "Joke leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suing."
July 27 THE new Star Wars film promises less costumes and more working class folk, according to the latest Homing Beacon.
In it costume designer Trish Biggar said: "I think we have less quantity, in terms of uniforms. We don’t have groups or soldiers; in Episode I, we had big groups of Naboo soldiers and Royal Palace Guards. This episode, the costumes are very much more individual.”
She said Episode II is a more ‘civilian’ movie, with a more in depth peak at galaxy’s working class. The site adds: "Padmé Amidala, who is no longer the elected queen of Naboo in Episode II, is also seeing a less institutionalized wardrobe. “She has many, many more costumes this time,” says Biggar. “Hard to believe, but yes. We’ll see her as more of a person, this time, and less as a figurehead of a nation. She has softer clothes, which are less formal. She’s also a little bit older, so she has some sexier clothes. It’s nice. I think she likes them.”July 26 A BUNCH of Star Wars fans were given a sneak preview of Episode II at a convention in San Diego. The new footage featured interviews with all the main stars, and more detail on the storyline.
The official site said: "Perhaps the greatest cheer from the audience came when the subject turned to Boba Fett. Star Wars: Connections offers a new look of the bounty hunter set to appear in Episode II, promising many surprises next year in the forms of Boba and Jango Fett.
"I love Boba Fett," said Producer Rick McCallum. 'We get to spend a lot of time with him in this movie. We get to understand that his identity is forged in some of the most powerful events that take place in the Star Wars saga.'"
The footage doesn't actually have scenes from the new film, and was shown as the comic convention was where Star Wars was first introduced to fans in 1976.
CORPORATE sponsors are queuing up to back the forthcomng Spiderman film - but are not interested in Episode II, it's been claimed. Sci-fi.com said Taco Bell and the Kelloggs have signed on, and Nokia may come on board soon.
But the site added: "Tricon Global Restaurants--which owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut--has signaled that it is not interested in sponsoring next year's Star Wars: Episode II, which also opens in the spring of 2002. The conglomerate had sponsored Episode I in 1999, which included a large-scale promotional sweepstakes that many marketing industry watchers have suggested was a failure, the site reported."
July 20 THERE'S been a few interesting updates at the official Star Wars page. A few new names have been added to the Episode II list, notably Jango Fett (Boba's dad).
July 17 LOOKS like fan power may have come to the rescue of one Canadian chap who was about to feel the full 'force' of Lucasfilm.
Lucas had sued 34-year-old Gerardo Follano for selling homemade versions of Stormtrooper, but it looks like now the suit, blimey, another pun there, will soon be settled.
More than 300 sci-fi fans sent letters demanding Lucasfilm drop the case and that may have done the trick.
July 14 DR Who is making a comeback! The world's longest running sci-fi series will have a new web audio broadcast on the BBC, with Sylvestor McCoy returning to the role today (Friday).
The BBC said: "McCoy will be joined by Sophie Aldred as his companion, Ace, in a continuation of the roles last played on TV in 1989."
They will be joined by Stephen Fry, John Sessions and Jacqueline Pearce, who played Blake's 7 baddie Servalan.
Death Comes to Time will broadcast as six real audio files at the BBC's official Doctor Who website. It is hoped the new adventure could signal a new era of Doctor Who.
STAR Trek actor Patrick Stewart has picked up his OBE from Buckingham Palace, London.Stewart, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard, accepted the medal for his services to acting and the cinema.
The Prince of Wales was at the palace to bestow the medal on Stewart on behalf of the Queen, who made the award in her New Year's honours list. Stewart said: "I'm very touched and very pleased with this and it was a delightful morning."
July 13 LADY Penelope is going under the hammer at an auction soon - together with a host of other sci-fi memorablia. The fan with more money than sense can get their hands on everything from Dr Evil's costume from Austin Powers, to an original Stingray model, at the sale on July 31 at Planet Hollywood, London.
Fleetwood Owen are the organisers, and the show, which kicks off at 7pm and is ticket only, will be shown live simultaneously in San Francisco. Other lots include the dress Christina Ricci wore in Sleepy Hollow, Brain's puppet cast from Thunderbirds and the mobile phone Pierce Brosnan used to call up his BMW in The World Is Not Enough.
For more go here.
July 11 FANCY a free day out and a date? Channel X has been in touch to tell us it is making a 13-part teenage dating show - and the good news is they're looking for sci-fi fans.
The show will be screened on Channel 5 and be called Date That, and aims to bring together two sets of teenagers from different cultural groups, and send them on a day out. Out of the bi-cultural soup two individuals will then emerge to go on a date with each other.
If you're interested you will be needed for one day's filming, some time between July 14 and August 31. Each all-male or all-female team will consist of four 14-16 year olds who know each other well and all subscribe to the same cultural group.
The series will be presented by The Pepsi Chart Show’s Abbie Eastwood and will go out on Saturday afternoons from mid-November 2001.
If all that's whetted your appetite, you now need to call Sue on 020 7428 3977 or email sue.agyeman@channelx.co.uk
July 8 A NEW sci-fi club is busy recruiting for new members to sign up for its newsletter. Starfleet Academy covers all areas of Sci-Fi, including Star Trek, Star Wars, The X-Files, Dr Who, Sevendays, Darkskies and Thunderbirds.
It is said to be the biggest sci-fi club in the UK and has a massive fan database archive, and publishes a newsletter bi-monthly, either as a paper newsletter or as an interactive CD-Rom featuring downloads, desktop themes, demos, animations articles etc.
Interested in learning more? You can write to Starfleet Academy Scotland, 22 Glenview Cresent, Stoneyburn, West Lothian, EH47 8DD, or Starfleet Academy England, 9/3 Swinley Road, Wigan, Lancs, WN1 2DN. Alternatively e-mail them here.
July 7 SAMUEL Jackson has been talking about his role in Epside II to the official site. The new Star Wars Insider magazine features a new interview with the man himself, along with a chat with Silas Carson, who played several parts in The Phantom Menace In Ep II he will be back to play two of them, Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi and Nute Gunray.
The magazine also has coverage of the development of the Jedi Knights Trading Card Game, and features like the Prequel Update, 2-1B's column and Star News. Star Wars Insider is out on August 7.
July 6 HARRISON Ford is to play Indiana Jones for a fourth time, reports claim. It's thought George Lucas and Steven Spielburg could also team up again, and the only stumbling block could be how the film studios work out how to make a profit after paying the trio. Ford, now 59, was a sprightly 47 last time he played Indiana, but he wouldn't be the oldest actor on set. Sean Connery, now in his 70s, is also said to be interested in reprising his role as Indiana' dad.
July 1 GILLIAN Anderson is to quit The X-Files to spend more time with her daughter, it has been reported. She told the Sunday Times she was going to perform in a West End play in London and move away from the role which made her famous.
She said: "The stuff I am going to do is as far from Scully as humanly possible. Having been Scully for such a long time, I have to prove myself in other roles."
Her co-star since the show launched in 1993, David Duchovny, recently quit, and Anderson's move surely signals the end for one of the most popular sci-fi shows in recent years.
MAY 2002 is not just the time when Episode II will be released, there will be a huge Star Wars celebration in Indianapolis to mark 25 years of the Star Wars saga.
A recently-spotted flyer saod: "Star Wars fans from around the world will converge on the Indianapolis convention center, May 3rd through 5th, 2002, and meet SW Celebrities, view never before seen footage, purchase rare collectibles, exclusive Celebration II merchandise, play games, share memories, attend special presentations and so much more. Everyone present will be part of the ultimate SW fan experience."
EVER wondered why Hayden Christensen was plucked from obscurity to be the next Anakin Skywalker? Now you can find out as the official Star Wars site has released the audition tape that gave the actor the role.
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