NEWSCHUNKS for 06.17.09

INDY 5 GEARING UP, LABEOUF SAYS: Speaking with BBC News, Shia LaBeouf says that the next Indiana Jones picture is already on track and Steven Spielberg has decided on a story. "Steven just said that he cracked the story on it before I left, and I think they're gearing that up," LaBeouf said. Note that he only mentioned Spielberg, and not George Lucas. That could be significant. Rumors had Lucas and Spielberg squabbling quite a bit over the story of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and some of the more unfortunate comedy in the film (remember the monkeys?) had that unmistakable Jar-Jar stink to it. It could be that Spielberg is handling the next film alone, which could only be a good thing at this point. (Click the image at left to buy Indiana Jones - The Complete Adventure Collection (Raiders of the Lost Ark/ Temple of Doom/ Last Crusade/ Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN LURCHES AHEAD: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal and Imagine are now in talks with The Illusionist screenwriter/director Neil Burger to helm a remake of the horror classic The Bride of Frankenstein. The project has had plenty of stops and starts over the years, with American Splendor writers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini previously attached. It's the latest horror remake at Universal - the company also has Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Wolf Man reboots in the works.

MAJOR DOCTOR WHO SPOILERS: One of the hazards of this job is that by digging for news on all these sci-fi and horror websites, I ended up reading a lot of spoilers by accident. So, (no) thanks to I09, I now know something pretty major about David Tennant's last episodes of Doctor Who. Skip the rest of this blurblet if you wish to remain unspoiled... So, it turns out the rumors were true. Not only does former James Bond star Timothy Dalton appear as the High Chancellor of the Time Lords (no word yet on whether this is a flashback or the Time Lords are brought back from the dead somehow) and John Simms returns as the Master.

ANOTHER CABONAUTS MICRO-SCOOP: Hayden Black writes in to remind us that his upcoming web series is actually called The Cabonauts, not just Cabonauts as I've been stupidly calling it. More interestingly, he also hinted I could be wrong about my conjecture regarding who will or won't appear on the show, writing, "just because someone's in the UK won't be stopping them from doing the show..." So, that seems to put former Buffy star Anthony Stewart Head back in the running.


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