Details about the first transformation of Bruce Banner into The Hulk in the upcoming movie.
The latest issue of Wizard Magazine has details on the first time we see Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) first changing into the green meanie during next year's action epic from Ang Lee. Seems that Banner is "trapped in a watery tank called 'The Containment Unit' wearing a scuba mask and purple trunks. He starts to nod his head, then shakes violently, opens his eyes and changes into the Hulk for the first time".
WHOLE LOTTA TALK
Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones issuing a joint statement denying plans to get back together for a Led Zeppelin reunion tour. The three rockers said they were responding to "completely speculative" British press rumors.
I maintain that there is no such thing as a false rumour in the music industry.
ALL YOU NEED IS RECOGNITION
Late Beatle George Harrison set to receive a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to British cinema at the British Independent Film Awards next Wednesday.
CALLING IT QUITS?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon telling TV Guide Online that the Buffster might hang it up in May. "I'm beginning to suspect that it may be [Buffy's] last season," Whedon said. "Nothing's official, but. . .the way people are talking, there's a finality to it." Ratings for this season are off 16 percent compared to this time last year.
Actor Richard Harris Dies At Age 72
LONDON (Reuters) - Oscar-nominated Irish actor Richard Harris, whose stage and screen roles ranged from King Arthur of "Camelot" to the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in "Harry Potter" films, died on Friday at age 72.
Harris, for years one of the hard-drinking wild men of the stage and screen along with British compatriots Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole, died in a London hospital after a battle with Hodgkin's disease, a form of lymphatic cancer.
Familiar in later years for his shaggy white mane of hair, Harris made his name with such films as "Camelot," "This Sporting Life," and "A Man Called Horse" as he carved out a distinctive acting niche for himself.
But like Burton and O'Toole, Harris gained as much notoriety for his hell-raising off-stage exploits as for his acting talents, though he swore off alcohol in the 1980s.
Harris, who was twice married and twice divorced, told Reuters in an interview last year: "I have made 72 movies in my life and been miscast twice -- as a husband."
The Limerick, Ireland-born actor with a habitual twinkle in his eye endeared himself to a new generation of fans with his role as the benevolent wizard, Professor Albus Dumbledore, in last year's big-screen fantasy hit "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."
It was a role he initially turned down, but was then nagged into taking it by his 11-year-old granddaughter, Emily, who threatened never to talk to him again if he refused.
"She called me up and said, 'Poppa, if you don't play Dumbledore, I will never speak to you again.' I hung up and called my agent and said I'd do it. I can't afford to lose that kid," he said at the time.
A brief statement from his three children announced his death.
"With great sadness, Damien, Jared and Jamie Harris announce the death of their beloved father, Richard Harris. He died peacefully at University College Hospital."
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
At a news conference earlier in the day to launch the second Harry Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," producer David Heyman said he and director Christopher Columbus had recently visited Harris in the hospital and he appeared to be fighting back.
"He did threaten to kill me if I recast (Professor Dumbledore). I cannot even repeat what he said. He still has got that fight inside of him," Columbus said.
Harris earned two Oscar nominations during his film career, once for his breakthrough 1963 supporting role as a bitter young coal miner who becomes a professional rugby star in "This Sporting Life" and again nearly 30 years later for his comeback role as an elderly curmudgeon determined to hold on to his property in the 1990 drama "The Field."
Other film credits included the role of King Arthur in the 1967 movie adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe musical "Camelot" and the portrayal of an English aristocrat captured and tortured by Sioux Indians in the 1970 western "A Man Called Horse."
Harris, whose gravelly voice made him an unlikely pop star -- despite his singing role in "Camelot" -- confounded critics by scoring a hit in 1968 with a recording of "MacArthur Park."
Harris spent several years on the British stage, including a London production of "View from the Bridge," before making his movie debut in the 1958 film "Alive and Kicking."
In addition to his film performance in "Camelot," he starred in stage revivals of the show, including a career-reviving turn as King Arthur after Richard Burton fell ill at the end of a 1982 tour. Harris ended up sticking with the tour for five years.
Other stage shows included "The Ginger Man,"" "Diary of a Madman" and a 1990 London run of "Henry V," which won several awards.
The actor, who long had a reputation as a hell-raiser, has said publicly he gave up drinking in 1982, going cold turkey after a "farewell" celebration in which he and friends indulged in two $370 bottles of Chateau Margaux.
"When the bottle was empty, and I had this much left in my glass, I looked at my watch, and it was 20 past 11, and I said, 'This is my last drink.' And I never touched the stuff again," he told the New York Times in a 1990 interview.
Here's hoping he's remembered for being more than just Professor Dumbledore from the Harry Potter films.
CBS Looking At Victoria's Secret Swimsuit Show
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Is CBS going scantily clad?
The network, which will air a Victoria's Secret lingerie fashion show next month, says it is also looking at the idea of a Victoria's Secret swimsuit special featuring that company's signature clothes and models.
A CBS spokeswoman said the network had talked with Limited Brands Inc. about the idea of such a show and was open to airing it. A spokeswoman for Limited Brands was not immediately available for comment.
This year's Victoria's Secret lingerie show is scheduled for Nov. 20 at 10 p.m., and CBS is promoting it as a major special during "sweeps," the periods where advertising rates are set based on network ratings.
The networks generally run a number of specials and promotions in the period to boost results.
Last year's special drew 12.4 million viewers for ABC in a November airing at the Thursday 9 p.m. time slot, but also garnered a slew of complaints to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, alleging the show was indecent. Those complaints were dismissed.
CBS is a unit of Viacom Inc. and ABC is a unit of Walt Disney Co.
McLachlan covers Kermit song
Sarah McLachlan will be croaking for charity with a version of The Kermit The Frog-sung Muppets' classic, "The Rainbow Connection."
The song will appear on the children's album, "For The Kids," and released through Nettwerk Records.
Proceeds from the release of the album will be donated to U.S. video channel VH1's Save The Music Foundation, which works towards restoring music programs in U.S. public schools.
The album also features songs by fellow Canadian artists Barenaked Ladies and Chantal & Raine Maida, as well as Cake, Guster, and Billy Bragg and Wilco.
It hits Canadian stores on November 5.
Hey Look!
It's online Rubik's Cube!
Fulks Invites Fans To Heckle Ryan Adams
Roots rock rabble-rouser Robbie Fulks is adding a little fuel to a recent controversy involving fellow singer/songwriter Ryan Adams. At one of the latter's concerts earlier this month in Nashville, someone in the audience yelled out a request for "Summer of '69," a hit for veteran Canadian rocker Bryan Adams. Ryan Adams reacted with a stream of profranity, located the fan, and paid him $30 as a refund before ordering him to leave. A similar incident had occured at a prior show in New York.
A note posted on Fulks' official Web site reads, "Any reader who attends a Ryan Adams show and disrupts the show with a Bryan Adams song request will receive in return merchandise of his or her choice, equal to the cost of the ticket, from my online store. You're on the honor system, necessarily; but please provide the date and location of the show, what you yelled, and what Ryan's reaction was."
Fulks is known for such irreverent tunes as "She Took a Lot of Pills and Died" and "Roots Rock Weirdos," the latter of which lambasted fans of the so-called "alt.country" genre. He and Ryan Adams have recorded for noted Chicago independent label Bloodshot.
"There's nothing really personal behind it," Fulks tells Billboard.com, noting that he has only met Adams on a handful of occasions. "I just don't like his music is all, or his persona. He's something of an ambassador for the roots music corner of the world to the public at large. I think he's the wrong person for that job. Not that he sees himself as occupying that role, but essentially that's what he's become. That's why I'd pick on him as opposed to Britney Spears."
Never one to rest on his laurels, Fulks says he is two-thirds done with a Michael Jackson covers album that he hopes to release next summer under the title "Dear Michael, Love Robbie." Among the tracks that have been recorded so far are "Billie Jean," "Ben," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," and "Privacy." Of the latter, Fulks says, "We did it in kind of a John Zorn/Metallica speed metal style with Bob Weston and Todd Trainer from [Chicago rock outfit] Shellac."
Tonight (Oct. 24), Fulks plays Elkhart, Ill., while Adams, whose rep had no comment on the situation, descends on San Francisco.
Mariah Carey Covers Def Leppard On New Album
Mariah Carey covers Def Leppard's 1980s song "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" on her upcoming album, Charmbracelet.
Carey was 11 years old when the song first came out, featured on Def Leppard's 1981 album, High And Dry. It was also included on the band's 1995 greatest hits set, Vault. The new cover version is done rock-ballad style, and boasts a guitar solo by musician Rob Bacon.
Other tracks on Carey's album include the current advance single "Through The Rain," and "My Saving Grace." In another song, the title of which has not been anounced, the half-Irish, half-Puerto Rican pop star sings a line sure to draw attention: "I was stigmatized for being black and white."
Justin Timberlake's vocals have reportedly been added to one of the numbers as well, to create a duet.
Charmbracelet arrives December 10 in stores, on Island-Def Jam MonarC Music.
Max Weinberg May Not Be Back to Conan For a While
According to Little Steven, guitarist for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the group will be hitting the road for a second tour beginning in spring 2003. "Well, we're gonna continue. We're gonna step things up. Really, this first four months is really just a quick hit warm-up. The real tour is gonna start in March, April, I think. You know, we're gonna probably start camping out in cities. Right now, we're doing nothing but one-nighters, literally--I mean, we have not done two shows anywhere, and we won't through December--just sort of to introduce the record to as many different cities as we can," said Steven. The group is currently working on finishing its first tour in support of THE RISING; the last date is December 14 in Albany, New York.
TWIN HAPPENINGS
Filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly planning to direct Stuck on You, a comedy about the adventures of conjoined twins. The brothers are in talks with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear to star.
UP FOR RE-ELECTION
Robert Redford and screenwriter Larry Gelbart hatching a sequel to their 1972 political drama The Candidate. Redford will reprise his role as idealistic politician Bill McKay.
The Final Frontier?
Who was it that said films aren't finished, they're abandoned? Such words may never have proven more true than in the case of the much-maligned Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. William "I am not Kirk!" Shatner's directorial debut failed to win over either critics or most Trekkers, yet rumors continue to swirl of a "Director's Cut" finally popping up on DVD.
As fans already know, Paramount will be releasing special editions of all the original cast Trek films (with installments I, II and III already out), and several sources have indicated that Shatner is currently in talks to supervise a new cut of the film, a la The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition, complete with new effects.
Stay tuned...