Conference noted::sf

389.0. "Tinsletown News" by NUTMEG::BALS (Never read the handbook) Thu Sep 25 1986 15:15

    Rather than looking up and then replying to n number of notes, I'm
    using this one as a catch-all to impart some sf movie info I just
    learned of. My apologies for the inelegance of it all :-).
    
    Note, information contained herein is from the column, *THE REEL
    STUFF* by Jessie Horsting, from the magazine, *ABORIGINAL SF* (no
    kidding, that's the title), available at speciality bookstores or
    by subscription from:
    
                                ABORIGINAL SF
                                   Dept 101
                                 PO Box 2449
                            Woburn, MA 01888-9989
    
    With the plug out of the way, here I go:
    
    STIV - Interesting gossip about the Shatner/Paramount salary wars.
    As most probably know, Nimoy has an equal compensation clause in
    his ST contract, guaranteeing him the same amount of money Shatner
    gets for ST films. Shatner was reportedly asking $2 million for
    STIV. With $4 million just for two actor's salaries, the producer
    called a halt on production, and called in Harlan Ellison for a
    script meeting.
    
    Why? One theory goes it was because Ellison has often been quoted
    that if given the opportunity to script an ST film, his first act
    would be to kill off Kirk. Shatner settled soon after :-). Negotiations
    with Ellison were dropped soon after that because he reportedly asked for 
    a half million dollars to do the script.
    
    Other Ellison news - While the executive producer of the "Twilight
    Zone" wants Ellison back, Ellison is still demanding that TZ must
    air his script, "Nackles," (based on a Donald Westlake story) as
    written before he will consider returning as creative consultant.
    The controversial script was nixed by CBS standards and practices
    a day before it went into production last winter. 
    
    David Brin may be the possible scripter for Warner's adaptation
    of his post-holocaust novel, *The Postman.*
    
    William Gibson's Hugo-winning *Nueromancer* has been optioned for
    a reported $100,000. Don't count on ever seeing a film coming to
    screen, though. This is the deal-makers' first attempt at ever
    producing a movie, and they are currently trying to raise the capital
    or interest a studio for what is planned to be a $20 million
    production.
    
    The big story is that RAH's *Tunnel in the Sky* is currently "under
    development" at Columbia. As the article notes, "under development,"
    is one of those fuzzy Hollywoodisms that can easily mean nothing
    more than a chat over lunch. Bester's *The Star's My Destination,*
    Clarke's *Childhood's End,* Asimov's *I, Robot,* and Heinlein's
    *Stranger in a Strange Land,* are just a few classics that have
    been under development in past years.
    
    However, Heinlein and a writer named Tim Curren *are* collaborating
    on a script for *TitS* (just realized what the acronym spells :-)),
    and there is a possibility the movie could be on screen as early
    as late `87.
    
    Fred