Movie & TV News: Raimi & The Hobbit, Jericho, Wolfman, Sony DVD Player Problems, Voyagers, Mike Fright, Comic Previews

Raimi & The Hobbit
Entertainment Weekly spoke to director Sam Raimi about directing "The Hobbit," and he said: "If Peter [Jackson] didn't want to do it, and Bob [Shaye, chairman of New Line Pictures] wanted me to do it (and they were both okay with me picking up the reins) that would be great. I love the book. It's maybe a more kid-friendly story than the others."

Jericho
SyFyPortal reports here a rumor that CBS plans to renew its "Jericho" for a complete second season. The site also states that the network may move the show from its Wednesdays at 8 p.m. slot, opposite "American Idol." Formal announcements about series pickups aren't expected to until May.

The Wolfman
CinemaBlend reports that Anthony Hopkins is negotiating to join Benicio Del Toro in the cast of the film to be directed by Mark Romanek. The script by Andrew Kevin Walker follows the classic story and shooting is expected to start this Fall.

Sony DVD Player Problems
On tech websites complaints have begun to surface about copyright-protection coding on new releases from Sony, including "Stranger Than Fiction," "The Holiday," "Casino Royale," and "The Pursuit of Happyness," making them unplayable on certain DVD players. On an Amazon.com discussion board someone said that when inserted in Sony's DVP-CX995V player, the disks "load up to the splash title screen and then load no further, then after about 60 secs the player turns itself off!" Sony told the writer that the company was aware of the problem and that it was working on a firmware update. He then asked Sony, "Would it not be a good idea to test changes you intend to make on your DVDs at least on your own equipment so that if you find a problem you could have the firmware update available instead of not only inconveniencing, but alienating your own customers?"

Voyagers
TVShowsOnDVD.com has great news: fans of the short run show "Voyagers" can now get all 20 episodes on July 17th. The whole story is here.

Mike Fright: Stand Up!