Movie & TV News: Inkheart, Madman, Battlestar Galactica, DreamWorks & Aardman Split, Meet the Little Focker, Marlowe, SF at the DI, Mike Fright, Comic Previews

Inkheart
Andy Serkis spoke to SCI FI Wire about his character in the film version of the Cornelia Funke novel "Inkheart." He said: "He's described as being sort of androgynous in a way. He's kind of feminine-lipped. But there was a sort of slightness to him, a slightly more diminutive [type]. He's kind of thinner. And he's weaker in the book." In both the book and the film, the main character, Mo (Brendan Fraser) has the ability to move fictional characters into this world just by reading aloud. Capricorn is a character from a book called Inkheart, who is inadvertently read into the real world and finds that he enjoys it so much he'll stop at nothing to ensure he stays there. Serkis, who plays Capricorn (who loves the real world so much he'll do anything to stay there), said director Iain Softley worked with him to insure the reality of the character. He says: "Iain has really nudged the way of playing it from a much, much less theatrical [standpoint]. I think my bent was to play it much more theatrically, but he's very good at bringing it in. He always wants to really give this a sense of reality, and I think he's always seen Capricorn as a very droll and dry character. And so he's kind of led me down that way. And I've just really kind of enjoyed doing it. When we were doing costume meetings and makeup meetings, we went off on a completely other tangent, and they were quite fantastical. And it was a lot of makeup and prosthetics. It was very, very different. And I thought that was the way it was going to go. But Iain wanted to make it not so much a fantasy world versus a real world, but a parallel universe, so the characters out of the book felt as real as the people in this world, so emotionally they could connect. Otherwise, once you get the gag it sort of becomes a one-note thing."
"Inkheart" should be released in 2008.

Madman
When Michael Allred talked to AnarchyMusic.net he said this about the development of the project: "We've actually talked to some people who have expressed great enthusiasm to be involved. Nothing's signed yet so I don't want to throw anything out there, but so far I seem that kid on Christmas morning that's getting everything he wanted."

Battlestar Galactica

Syfy Portal spoke with producer David Weddle who said that fans may be shocked and angry at what's upcoming on the show. He told them: "In the second half of this season, you can expect many stunning surprises and revelations. We will experience the devastating loss of a much loved character who is central to 'Galactica,' and it will shake the crew to the core. I imagine many fans will be outraged and screaming for our heads. But others may take comfort in the fact that every time we upset the chessboard and scatter the pieces, it opens the door to many new provocative and exciting stories in the season to come." The full interview is here. "Battlestar Galactica" airs on Sundays at 10pm ET.

DreamWorks & Aardman Split
DreamWorks Animation SKG and Aardman Animations, Ltd. have announced that they are closing their exclusive partnership, which began in 1999. Their press release is here.

Meet the Little Focker
Teri Polo said about reprising her role as Ben Stiller's wife in "Meet the Little Focker," the next installment of the movie franchise: "I think he cast me in the role because I play a great straight man. Actually, I think I'm funnier off-camera." About working with Robert DeNiro she said: "I literally glued myself to his side because I didn't know if I ever was going to get this opportunity again. I asked him what was more difficult - - comedy or drama - - and it surprised me when he said it's basically the same thing. It's all in the way you deliver the line."

More Marlowe
First we told you that Clive Owen will move from Bond to Marlowe for the films, now The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Jason O'Mara is in talks with ABC to play Philip Marlowe on a drama pilot about the detective. The big difference is that while the Owens version is in the milieu created by Raymond Chandler, the television version of "Marlowe" is "a procedural crime drama set in present-day Los Angeles." (sigh(and not a good sigh at that))

SF at the DI
In the continuing parade of folks who want to turn your computer into a TV, a new marcher has been added. Sci Fi Channel has posted the Sci Fi Drive-In, with public domain movies and serials for your watching, and it is free. They have silents ("Voyage to the Moon" & "Metropolis") and soundies too ("Radar Men From the Moon."). Looks like fun and worth a look.

Comic Previews
Comics Continuum has posted preview pages for
Spider-Man Family #1,