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Strike hits local shows – Metro US

Strike hits local shows

Seventeen days into the Hollywood writer’s strike, and with a press blackout effectively in place for the time being, Vancouver has already witnessed the loss of two high-profile shows. NBC’s Bionic Woman, which shut down Nov. 9, well ahead of its scheduled Dec. 12 finish, and Sci-Fi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica, which was originally scheduled to shoot until mid-March but instead went dark last Friday. Other series may or may not be affected before Christmas, depending upon how far ahead of the curve they were with completed scripts, and how long the strike lasts.

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Heath Ledger

Film production soldiers on … for now: Director and Monty Python alumnus Terry Gilliam is teaming up with Christopher Plummer and Heath (the ‘Joker’) Ledger on The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, set to lens in Vancouver after Christmas. The film, which begins its shoot in London, is a modern-day fantasy adventure about Dr. Parnassus (Plummer), who runs a travelling theater troupe and has the gift of guiding the imaginations of others using a magical mirror.

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Kathy Bates

Meanwhile, with Jennifer Connelly signed to play Helen Benson in The Day The Earth Stood Still remake (assuming the role Patricia Neal played in the 1951 original), attention now focuses on Kathy Bates (Titanic). Commonly reported as already being signed to the project, Bates is actually still in negotiations to star in the film as of this writing. The Fox pic is being directed by Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism Of Emily Rose) and concerns aliens who land on Earth carrying a message for all humans: Live in peace or be destroyed. Filming kicks off next month here in Vancouver.

robert.falconer@metronews.ca