Fifth and Sixth 'Alien' Movie Plots Revealed
HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) – Time to visit the razor and shave the head again, Sigourney, as the plotlines to "Alien 5 and 6" have now surfaced.
The ultra-successful "Alien" series will have the shaven Sigourney Weaver slotted to play Ripley as she fights off the seemingly indestructible beast. Weaver has previously said she'd be interested in reprising her role, which she has done four times since the original 1979 blockbuster.
She has said, "I'm not interested in returning back to Earth," yet sources say that much of the fifth film takes place when Earth is attacked.
Number five is set on Earth, with the planet under attack from alien warrior drop ships, which made their debut in the original "Alien" movie. In the process they make Earth look like an incubator while attacking, leaving alien eggs around the humans.
That's when Ripley realizes her dreams have played a role in what's happening and she evacuates and confines herself to a cell, but inevitably she will meet her nemesis face to face again.
Number six takes place on the home turf of the navigator of the ship. Aliens are taking over other plants and Ripley finds herself forced to turn to the dark side in order to save civilization.
Zeppelin Smashes Records As CD/DVDs Debut At No. 1
Led Zeppelin scores its first No. 1 album since 1979's "In Through the Out Door" this week with the three-CD live set "How the West Was Won." The Atlantic collection, which combines recordings from two 1972 California concerts, sold 154,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, and debuts on top of The Billboard 200.
"How the West Was Won" is the band's third compilation since 1990 to reach the top-20 of the album chart: a 1990 boxed set entered at No. 18, and 1997's "BBC Sessions" landed at No. 12.
The live album was released simultaneously with the "Led Zeppelin DVD," which set a record for highest debut-week and highest single-week sales for a music DVD. The title sold 120,000 units in the U.S. to bow at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart. It easily broke the record previously held by Paul McCartney's "Back in the U.S." (Capitol), which sold 61,000 units in its debut week late last year.
This is the third week in a row a rock album has topped The Billboard 200, as releases from Marilyn Manson and the Deftones led the album tally in the past two weeks. The only other album on the chart to top 100,000 copies this week is 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" (Shady/Interscope). The album saw a 7% sales increase to 109,000 units, and rises 5-2 on the chart.
Evanescence's "Fallen" gains one position to a new peak at No. 3 despite a 12% sales slip to 91,000 units. One of the year's biggest success stories, the Wind-Up album has sold about 1.2 million units in its 13 weeks on the chart.
Kelly Clarkson's RCA debut "Thankful" slips one to No. 4 on a 17% sales dip to 88,000 units. Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me" is back in the top-5 with a 7-5 jump, thanks to a 2% sales gain to 85,000 copies. The Disney soundtrack to "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" also received a 2% sales boost. With sales up slightly to 79,000 units, the soundtrack jumps two slots to No. 6.
Last week's No. 1, Staind's "14 Shades of Grey" (Flip/Elektra) falls to No. 7 on a 64% slide to sales of 79,000 units. The Murder Inc./Def Jam soundtrack to "2 Fast 2 Furious" parks at No. 8 on sales of 76,000 copies in its debut week. The hip-hop heavy compilation features selections from Ludacris, Lil' Flip, and Fat Joe, among others. The soundtrack to the original "The Fast and the Furious" peaked in July 2001 at No. 7.
"The Very Best of Cher" (Geffen/MCA/Warner Bros.) edges up one slot to No. 9 on sales of 72,000 copies, about 2% below its previous week. Rounding out the top-10 is the Maverick/Warner Bros. soundtrack to "The Matrix Reloaded," which is down 6-10 on a 34% dip to sales of 62,000 copies.
Elsewhere on The Billboard 200, Ginuwine's "The Senior" (Epic) rockets 52-25 on a 44% sales gain to 33,000 copies, and Good Charlotte's "The Young and the Hopeless" (Epic) glides 48-31 on a 21% burst sales of 29,000 copies.
This week's only other new arrivals inside the top half of the chart are Frankie J's "What's a Man To Do?" (Columbia), which enters at No. 53 with sales of 20,200 copies, and O.A.R.'s "In Between Now and Then" (Atlantic) which bows at No. 54 on sales of 20,000 copies.
INDY IV Script is Done
Harrison Ford says the script to INDIANA JONES IV is done.
Harrison Ford told SCI FI Wire that Frank Darabont has completed his script for a proposed fourth Indiana Jones movie. "Steven [Spielberg]'s quite happy with it," Ford said in an interview. "I'm expecting to see it in a couple of weeks."
Ford added that he worked closely with director Spielberg, Darabont and executive producer George Lucas on the story. "The way the process works is that George and Frank work together, then Steven gets the script, then I get the script, and we all work together. We all met together and talked about it before they started writing."
Ford said that he remains eager to reprise his most famous role because of fans' demands for a fourth installment in the franchise. "It pleases me to play a character that audiences want to see," he said. "I know that it's eagerly anticipated, and I want us to do a good job, make a film at least as good as the ones we've made before." The fourth as-yet-untitled Indy movie is slated to begin filming in the summer of 2004, with an eye to a July 2005 release.
FAMILY GUY May Get a Movie, At Least on DVD
THE FAMILY GUY creator Seth MacFarlane may make a new feature-length FAMILY GUY DVD movie.
Yes, the cancelled FOX adult animated comedy could be making a comeback. The three-season long show ran on Fox from 1999-2001 but was pulled due to low ratings which weren't helped by an unstable airing schedule - since then however the studio has been very impressed with both the first wave of DVD sales and Cartoon Network re-run ratings, so much so that a direct-to-DVD feature-length new movie is being considered by creator Seth MacFarlane.
Seth told Variety that "It's certainly some vindication and a sign that the show is as popular as we always suspected. Fox certainly gave the show more of a chance than a lot of shows would've gotten, and we're indebted to Gail [Berman, Fox Entertainment Chief] for the fact that we even got a third season. But it's also frustrating for everyone who worked on the show. We all felt it was killed before its time". Fox will release a second batch of episodes on disc later this Fall.
SUPER SPY! MGM Home Entertainment announcing it's shipped a record 16 million special-edition DVDs of the latest James Bond installment, Die Another Day, worldwide.
OOPS!
Barry Manilow accidentally breaking his nose after waking up disoriented in the middle of the night and walking into a wall and knocking himself unconscious, the entertainer revealed on Tuesday.
NOT A GOOD THING
Domestic diva Martha Stewart indicted on federal charges of securities fraud and obstruction of justice in a New York City court today. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $2 million fine. She's also facing civil charges from the SEC.
MORE MARTHA
Late Wednesday, Martha Stewart Omnimedia released a statement saying Stewart was relinquishing her post as the company's chair and CEO effective immediately. She will remain the company's chief creative director and a member of the board.
Norah Jones Eager to Do Another Album
NEW YORK - As dreamlike as Norah Jones' past year has been, the folky jazz singer is ready to snap out of it.
"I'm kind of anxious to do (another album) because I wanted to move on so badly," says the Grammy winner, who starts a summer tour Friday. "Even if it's a big flop, I just want to go to the next stage, because some of the record was recorded so long ago, I just got so sick of it."
Jones seems to be in the minority with those sentiments.
"Come Away With Me," which became a surprise double-platinum sensation last year, has refused to die. The disc has hovered at or near the top of the album charts for months since her Grammy wins in February. It's now sold more than 6 million copies. And Friday, she kicks off a summer tour in Fort Myers, Fla., playing in front of thousands of fans each night.
But she acknowledges she's more comfortable singing to a few dozen in a nightclub; that's how she's been spending her time recently, warbling country tunes with a couple of friends in a tiny New York City bar.
"There were only 50 people there, and if we had sucked, then nobody would have cared," Jones says in an interview at the offices of her label, Blue Note Records.
"This year has been so pressurized, and every show, somebody's coming that's important, or somebody's going to write an article — `Oh no, we've got to be good.' And I need to stop thinking about that. But this summer, we're playing for like 5,000 people, and it's like, `Oh no, that's going to be scary too!'"
Jones wasn't supposed to have that kind of pressure. "Come Away With Me," was expected to sell 100,000 copies, at best.
But the album's mellow jazz garnered her mass appeal, especially with older listeners. Though the disc didn't have a Top 40 single, the smoky, sensual "Don't Know Why" became an underground hit, and the album's popularity kept growing — and growing. It netted a total of eight Grammys at February's ceremony, including for album of the year, producer of the year, and song and record of the year for "Don't Know Why."
"Just when we thought that it was at the apex, it exploded again, it was crazy," she says with a smile. "We kept thinking, `Ah, this is great, it's all going to stop next week probably,' and then it kept going. At least I had a little time to adjust to each level."
Jones admits to being a bit embarrassed, even apologetic, about all the attention, especially her Grammy success. Mention her success, and she'll quickly point out that there were other albums just as worthy as hers.
"I kind of get uncomfortable when people mention it," she says with a shy glance. "I'm not special. It's not like I'm the best."
In fact, she hasn't even had her trophies delivered by the Recording Academy yet.
Jones' failure to claim her trophies in a prompt fashion is indicative of her low-key style. She doesn't go to celebrity events and parties, and refuses to live the life of a superstar, although she's becoming one.
"I'm afraid I'll become some sort of diva," she jokes.
She concedes her "Come Away With Me," was a sleepy-sounding disc, and with her self-deprecating humor, describes her stage show as "boring" — although she gives herself credit for improving her performance since she toured last year.
"I was too self-conscious and I wasn't really paying attention enough, because I was so worried ... And now, I'm a little more laid-back."
Jones is looking forward to getting out on the road and connecting with her fans — and says she's even excited to sing some of the songs she was previously tired of, including "Don't Know Why."
"It's funny, all the songs on the record, they've all gone through their roller coasters," she says. "It got like, `Oh great, everybody likes it!' (Then), `Oh God, I'm so sick of this song, oh my God — please let us stop.' And then it comes back up and it's like, `Oh, this song's cool, it's fun, so it's kinda cool.'
"It's finally gotten less annoying to play all those songs. I enjoy playing them."
She has recorded 11 songs for her next album and hopes to release it next year. She describes the music as more up-tempo and funky — but still very much Norah Jones.
"When we were making it we were like, `Wow, this is a way different record! This is like a funky record!'
"And then we listened to it again, and we're like, wow it's still a snoozer," she says, laughing. "I'm just a mellow chick. I can't help it."
L.A. Police Want Spector Interview Too
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Legendary rock producer Phil Spector has told Esquire Magazine that actress Lana Clarkson killed herself in his Los Angeles mansion by putting a gun in her mouth and blowing her head off -- details about the death he apparently hasn't shared with police.
Spector touched off an uproar on Wednesday with his interview about the death that led to his arrest on suspicion of murder because police say he hasn't granted them an interview since Feb. 3., the day the 40-year-old B-movie star died.
A source close to the case characterized the Esquire interview and a previous e-mail circulated by a Spector associate that claimed the producer would not be charged as part of "a calculated campaign" to pressure officials not to prosecute him.
Meanwhile, Lt. Dan Rosenberg of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told Reuters that detectives were just as eager as Esquire's editors to land an interview with the reclusive record producer.
"My door is always open," Rosenberg said. "He can sit down here at any time with the lead investigator in this case and chat with him ... he is welcome any time."
No charges have been brought against Spector and Rosenberg said investigators were waiting for evidence to be analyzed by the county's crime lab.
He said he expected the investigation to be completed by August when the department will present its findings to the district attorney.
In his first public accounting of what led to Clarkson's death, Spector told Esquire Magazine, "She kissed the gun. I have no idea why -- (I) never knew her, I never even saw her before that night ... I have no idea who she was, or what her agenda was."
"She killed herself," Spector added in the interview with Esquire contributing editor Scott Raab. "If they had a case, I'd be sitting in jail right now."
He added that she had asked him for a ride home when the two met at the House of Blues nightclub in Hollywood, where Clarkson worked as a hostess.
"She was loud and drunk before we even left the House of Blues. She grabbed a bottle of tequila from the bar to take with her. I was not drunk. ... There is no case. She killed herself."
The Los Angeles County Coroners office has not ruled on the cause of death. The actress was dead in a pool of blood in the foyer of Spector's castle-like mansion in the L.A. suburb of Alhambra. He was arrested within hours of the Feb. 3 shooting on suspicion of murder and released on $1 million bond.
Spector wrote and produced his first No. 1 hit, "To Know Him Is To Love Him" at age 17 and went on to produce 17 top-10 U.S. hits in a decade, helping the Beatles put out their "Let It Be" album.
Clarkson was a tall blond who idolized Marilyn Monroe and starred in such films as "Amazon Women on the Moon" and "The Barbarian Queen."